By the late 12th century the eastern Baltic, from Prussia to Finland, was the last major bastion of European paganism. This was seen as an affront by the Church, but the Balts and Finns of the area were not barbarians. Their homeland's winters were cold, though not as ferocious as those of neighbouring Russia. Nevertheless, it was a region of forests, lakes, marshes and rivers, with little room for agriculture. A borderline between northern coniferous and Southern deciduous forests ran through what is now Estonia, where the silver birch featured most prominently in folklore. In the east a bleak region of swamp and marsh with thousands of tiny streams and several great rivers, all of which froze in winter, separated the Baltic peoples from Russia.
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