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Together with other Finnic groups, the Viking Age Kvens are believed to have participated in the Varangian/Viking conquests abroad.
The following selection of sources can help us understand how the Kven/Finnish rulers were viewed in historic texts during the Viking Age (approx. 800-1200 AD):
In 870 AD, the Norwegian explorer and leader Ottar from Hålogaland writes a thorough account about his Northern Scandinavian and White Sea exploration trip, where he discusses the Kvens. According to Othar, the Kvens ruled the territories of the Northern Scandinavia - east from the Norwegian mountain chain - which he traveled through.
In 890 AD, the English King Alfred the Great writes in the Universal History of Orosius about the Kvens and the land they rule.
In 1075 AD, Adam of Bremen, one of the most important German medieval chroniclers, discusses Kvens in Gesta (a history of Bremen/Hamburg and of the northern lands). He calls Kvenland Terra Feminica. Comparisons to Tacitus' (98 AD) similar Sithons' (i.e. Kvens') female leadership reference and the historic Nordic references to the female leader "Gygr" and/or "Pohjan akka" have been drawn ever since.
In 1154 AD, the Arab historian and scientist, Muhammad al-Idrisi tells that the King of FMRK has possessions in Norway. "Fmrk" is believed to refer to Finnmark, which area - based to the reporting by the Norwegian leader "Othar" and according to the Universal History of Orosius (republished by King Alfred the Great in 890 AD) - was ruled by the Kvens.
In 1157 AD, in his geographical chronicle, Nikolaos, the abbot of the monastery at Thingeyrar in Northern Iceland, talks about "two Kvenlands" that reach the areas "north from Bjarmia".
In 1170 AD, the Historia Norvegiae tells about the whereabouts of Kvenland. According to the text, the Kvens served pagan gods.
In 1187 AD, according to a Swedish chronicle, the main Swedish center, Sigtuna, is conquered and destroyed by an attack from easterly direction. Later medieval Swedish sources explain the Karelians to have been behind this attack. However, around this time the Kvens and the Karelians are known to have began their cooperation. Historians believe the River Kemijoki (part of the historic Kvenland) settlement name of Sihtuuna to derive from the name Sigtuna.
In 1200 AD, the Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, tells about Finnish kings.
In 1220 AD, the Icelandic bishop, poet, and historian, Snorri Sturluson, writes the Ynglinga Saga, in which marriages and wars of Finnish and Swedish royal families are mentioned.
In 1230 AD, in the introduction to the Orkneyinga Saga, Fundinn Noregr discusses Fornjótr, the King of Finland and Kvenland and the conquest of Norway by his son, Nórr (source: KVENLAND / KAINUUNMAA, 1986, page 61 - includes the Icelandic and Finnish spellings of the original text -, Professor Emeritus Kyösti Julku).
Based on the information given in this saga, the ruling families of Sweden, Norway, the Orkney Islands, Normandy, and England descend from these Finnish and/or Kven kings.
In 1230 - 1240 AD, in Egils saga - presumably by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 A.D.) - discusses Faravid, the King of Kvenland (source: KVENLAND / KAINUUNMAA, 1986, page 73 - includes a picture of an old manuscript - Professor Emeritus Kyösti Julku).
In 1251 AD, the Karelians fought against the Norwegians.
In 1271 AD, the Kvens and the Karelians cooperated in battles against the Norwegians in Haalogaland. These battles had a lasting effect in the life of the entire Northern Scandinavia.
Assimilation of the South-Western Finns becomes part of the birth of Sweden
By the mid- 14th century the extreme southwestern corner of the modern-day "Finland" (less than 10% of the land inhabited by the Finns then and now) had become assimilated to Sweden, through a rather peaceful process. At the time this area was referred to as Finland. As prior to this slow assimilation process - lasting nearly two centuries - the country of Sweden did not exist, it can be said that this process was part of the birth of the nation of Sweden.
The rest of the modern-day Finland stayed - for long time to come - outside this union.
Once King Karl IX had strengthened his hold on the crown of Sweden he appended to it the title "King of the Kainulaiset" (Kvens), apparently using it for the first time on 16.3.1607.
This title was later dropped, but Kainuu, or Ostrobothnia, occupied a separate position from the rest of Finland for a long time to come. Thus when Queen Christina appointed Count Pehr Brahe as Governor-General, he became officially Governor-General of Finland, Åland and Ostrobothnia.
This can only be interpreted, of course, as implying that the incorporation of Ostrobothnia into rest of the country by international agreement was still a recent event and remained fresh in people's memories."
Kainu(u) - as seen by most historians - means Kvenland in Finnish language, and kainulaiset means Kvens. In historic texts Kvenland has also been referred to as Ostrobothnia, which term thrives from the Swedish language.