). If, according to ancient Russian sources, the Varangians were mercenaries "from across the sea" (from the shores of the Baltic), then the Byzantines add a clear ethnic connotation to the name with a blurred geographical localization of this ethnic group. Scandinavian sources borrow the concept of Varangians from the Byzantines, although most versions of the etymology of the word Varangians come from the Germanic languages.

It should also be noted that in the story about the calling of the Varangians in The Tale of Bygone Years, there is an enumeration of the Varangian peoples, among which, along with Rus (the supposed tribe of Rurik), there are Swedes (Swedes), Normans (Norwegians), Angles (Danes) and Goths ( Gotlanders): Idosha across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Sitse bo you call the Varangians Rus, as if all friends are called their own, the friends are Urmani, Anglians, Ini and Gotha, so and si.. Noteworthy is the listing of the same peoples, together with the Varangians, in the list of the descendants of Japheth: Afet’s tribe and that: Varangians, Svei, Urmans, Goths, Rus, look ...

In modern historiography, the Varangians are most often identified as Scandinavian "Vikings", that is, the Varangians are the Slavic name for the Vikings. There are other versions of the ethnicity of the Varangians - like the Finns, Prussians, Baltic Slavs and the Varangians of the "Russian" (that is, salt) craft of the Southern Priilmenye.

The “Varangian issue” is commonly understood as a set of problems:

• ethnicity of the Varangians in general and the people of Rus as one of the Varangian tribes;
• the role of the Varangians in the development of East Slavic statehood;
• the importance of the Varangians for the formation of the Old Russian ethnos;
• etymology of the ethnonym "Rus".

Attempts to resolve a purely historical problem were often politicized and tied to the national-patriotic issue. With an answer to the question of which people brought the ruling dynasty to the Eastern Slavs and transferred their name - Slavic (Eastern, Western or Baltic Slavs (Bodrichi)) or German - opponents could associate this or that political interest of the researcher. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the "Germanic" version ("Normanism") was polemically linked to the superiority of the Germanic race. In Soviet times, historians were forced to be guided by party guidelines, as a result of which chronicle and other data were rejected as fiction, if they did not confirm the formation of Russia without the participation of Scandinavians or Bodrich Slavs.

Data on the Varangians are rather scarce, despite their frequent mention in the sources, which allows researchers to build various hypotheses with an emphasis on proving their point of view. This article fully sets out the well-known historical facts related to the Varangians, without delving into the solution of the Varangian issue.

Etymology

Retrospectively, Russian chroniclers of the late 11th century dated the Varangians to the middle of the 9th century ("the calling of the Varangians"). In the Icelandic sagas, the Varangians ( vaeringjar) appear when describing the service of Scandinavian soldiers in Byzantium at the beginning of the 11th century. The Byzantine chronicler of the 2nd half of the 11th century, Skylitsa, first reports on the Varangians (Varangians) when describing the events of 1034, when the Varangian detachment was in Asia Minor. concept Varangians also recorded in the work of a scientist from ancient Khorezm Al-Biruni (r.): “ A large bay separates from the [ocean] in the north near the Saklabs [Slavs] and extends close to the land of the Bulgars, the country of the Muslims; they know it as a sea of ​​monitors, and these are the people on its shore.» Al-Biruni learned about the Varangians most likely through the Volga Bulgarians from the Slavs, since only the latter called the Baltic by the Varangian Sea. Also, one of the first synchronous mentions of the Varangians dates back to the reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) in Russkaya Pravda, where their legal status in Russia was highlighted.

• A well-known specialist in Byzantium V. G. Vasilevsky, having collected extensive epigraphic material on the history of the Varangians, noted the difficulties in resolving the riddle of the origin of the term Varangians:

“Then it will be necessary to accept that the name of the Varangians was formed in Greece completely independently of the Russian “Varangians” and did not pass from Russia to Byzantium, but vice versa, and that our original chronicle transferred the terminology of the 11th and 12th centuries in a wrong way to previous centuries. ... So far, it is much easier to assume that the Russians themselves, who served in Byzantium, called themselves Varangians, bringing this term with them from Kyiv, and that those Greeks who first of all and especially became acquainted with them began to call them that way. "

• Austrian Herberstein, being an adviser to the ambassador in the Moscow state in the 1st half of the 16th century, one of the first Europeans got acquainted with the Russian chronicles and expressed his opinion about the origin of the Varangians:

... since they themselves call the Baltic Sea the Varangian ... then I thought that due to the proximity of the princes they had Swedes, Danes or Prussians. However, the Vandal region once bordered on Lübeck and the Duchy of Holstein with the famous city of Wagria, so it is believed that the Baltic Sea got its name from this Wagria; since ... the vandals then not only differed in power, but also had a common language, customs and faith with the Russians, then, in my opinion, it was natural for the Russians to call the Vagrians, in other words, the Varangians, as sovereigns, and not cede power to strangers who were different from them and faith, and customs, and language.

According to Herberstein's assumption, "Varangians" is the name of the Slavs-Vagrians distorted in Russia, and he follows the opinion widespread in the Middle Ages that the Vandals were Slavs.

Varangians in Russia

Varangians-Rus

In the earliest of the ancient Russian chronicles that have come down to us, The Tale of Bygone Years (PVL), the Varangians are inextricably linked with the formation of the state Rus, named after the Varangian tribe Rus. Rurik, at the head of Russia, came to the Novgorod lands at the call of the union of Slavic-Finnish tribes in order to put an end to internal strife and civil strife. The annalistic code began to be created in the 2nd half of the 11th century, but even then there is inconsistency in information about the Varangians.

When, according to the chronicle version, the union of the Slavic-Finnish tribes decided to invite a prince for themselves, they began to look for him among the Varangians: “ And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Rus, as other [peoples] are called Swedes, and others are Normans and Angles, and still other Gotlanders - like these. […] And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed.»

In Western European sources of the 10th century, there are not always clear references to Ruthenia, located on the Baltic coast. In the Lives of Otto of Bamberg, written by the bishop's companions Ebon and Gerbord, there is a lot of information about the pagan "Ruthenia", bordering Poland in the east, and about "Ruthenia", adjacent to Denmark and Pomerania. This second Ruthenia is said to be in the hands of the Archbishop of Denmark. Herbord's text describes the mixing of Eastern and Baltic rutens:

“On the one hand, Poland was attacked by Czechs, Moravians, Ugrians, on the other hand, the wild and cruel people of the Ruthenians, who, relying on the help of the Flavians, Prussians and Pomeranians, resisted Polish weapons for a very long time, but after many defeats suffered, they were forced, together with their prince ask for peace. The world was sealed by the marriage of Boleslav with the daughter of the Russian king Svyatopolk Sbyslava, but not for long.

It is believed that by "rutens" they mean pagans who relied on the tribes of the Baltic states. However, it is not excluded that this is a genus of rutens (Latin for "redheads").

The Varangians, as a hired military force, participate in all military expeditions of the first Russian princes, in the conquest of new lands, and in campaigns against Byzantium. At the time of the Prophetic Oleg, the chronicler meant Russia by the Varangians, under Igor Rurikovich, Russia began to assimilate with the Slavs, and mercenaries from the Baltic were called Varangians (“ sent across the sea to the Varangians, inviting them to the Greeks"). Already in the time of Igor, there was a cathedral church in Kyiv, since, according to the chronicler, there were many Christians among the Varangians.

The largest "fortification and burial ground of the Varangians" in Kievan Rus of the 9th-12th centuries, apparently, is the "Shestovitsky archaeological complex" near Chernigov.

In Russian service

Although in the immediate circle of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav there were governors with Scandinavian names, the chronicler does not call them Varangians. Beginning with Vladimir the Baptist, the Varangians are actively used by the Russian princes in the struggle for power. Vladimir was served by the future Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason. One of the earliest sources on his life, “Overview of the sagas of the Norwegian kings” (ca.), reports on the composition of his squad in Russia: “ his detachment was replenished by Normans, Gauts and Danes". With the help of the Varangian squad, the Novgorod prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich seized the throne in Kyiv in 979, after which he tried to get rid of them:

“After all this, the Vikings said to Vladimir:“ This is our city, we captured it - we want to take a ransom from the townspeople for two hryvnias per person“. And Vladimir said to them: Wait a month until they collect your kunas“. And they waited a month, and Vladimir did not give them a ransom, and the Vikings said: He deceived us, so let him go to the Greek land“. He answered them: Go“. And he chose from them good, intelligent, and brave men, and gave them cities; the rest went to Constantinople to the Greeks. Vladimir, even before them, sent ambassadors to the king with these words: Here come the Vikings to you, do not try to keep them in the capital, otherwise they will do you the same evil as here, but settle them in different places, but do not let a single one in here.“.»

Although Russian mercenaries served in Byzantium before, it was under Vladimir that evidence appeared of a large contingent of Rus (about 6 thousand) in the Byzantine army. Eastern sources confirm that Vladimir sent soldiers to help the Greek emperor, calling them Russ. Although it is not known whether these "Rus" belonged to the Varangians of Vladimir, historians suggest that the name Varangi (Βάραγγοι) soon came from them in Byzantium to designate a select military unit consisting of various ethnic groups.

How many Varangians managed to attract princes from across the sea can be estimated from the squad of Yaroslav the Wise, who in 1016 gathered 1,000 Varangians and 3,000 Novgorodians on a campaign against Kyiv. The saga "The Strand of Eymund" retained the conditions for hiring the Varangians in the army of Yaroslav. The leader of the detachment of 600 soldiers, Eimund, put forward the following requirements for a year of service:

“You must give us a home and all our retinue, and make sure that we do not lack any of your best supplies that we need […] You must pay each of our warriors airir silver […] We will take it with beavers and sables and other things that are easy to obtain in your country [...] And if there is any military booty, you will pay us this money, and if we sit quietly, then our share will become less.

Thus, the annual fixed payment of an ordinary Varangian in Russia was about 27 g (1 airir) of silver, or a little more than ½ of the ancient Russian hryvnia of that period, and the soldiers could receive the agreed amount only as a result of a successful war and in the form of goods. The hiring of the Varangians does not look burdensome for Prince Yaroslav, since after seizing the grand princely throne in Kyiv, he paid the Novgorod soldiers 10 hryvnias each. After a year of service, Eymund raised the pay to 1 airir of gold per warrior. Yaroslav refused to pay, and the Varangians went to hire another prince.

Varangians and Germans

Varangians in Byzantium

Mercenaries

For the first time, the Varangians in the Byzantine service are noted in the chronicle of Skylitsa in 1034 in Asia Minor (theme Thrakezon), where they were housed in winter quarters. When one of the Varangians tried to take possession of a local woman by force, she in response stabbed the rapist to death with his own sword. The admiring Varangians gave the woman the property of the murdered man, and his body was thrown away, refusing to be buried.

As the Byzantine Kekavmen testifies, in the 1st half of the 11th century, Varangian mercenaries did not enjoy the special favor of the emperors:

“None of these blessed sovereigns elevated Frank or Varyag [Βαραγγον] to the dignity of a patrician, did not make him a hypat, did not entrust him with the supervision of the army, but only barely made anyone in spafarii. All of them served for bread and clothes.”

The ethnic understanding of the word "Varangians" by the Byzantines is evidenced by letters of commendation (chrisovuli) from the archives of the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Athos. The letters of the emperors free the Lavra from military posting, they list the contingents of mercenaries in the Byzantine service. In khrisovul No. 33 of 1060 (from Emperor Constantine X Doukas), Varangians, Russ, Saracens, Franks are indicated. In khrisovul No. 44 of 1082 (from Emperor Alexei I Komnenos), the list changes - Russ, Varangians, Kulpings, Inglins, Germans. In khrisovul No. 48 of 1086 (from Emperor Alexei I Komnenos), the list expands significantly - Russ, Varangians, Kulpings, Inglins, Franks, Germans, Bulgarians and Saracens. In the old editions of the Khrisovuls, the neighboring ethnonyms "Rus" and "Varangians" were not separated by a comma (an error in copying documents), as a result of which the term was erroneously translated as "Russian Varangians". The error was corrected after the appearance of photocopies of the original documents.

Imperial Guard

Varangians in Byzantium. Illustration from the Skylitzes chronicle.

In Byzantine sources of the XII-XIII centuries, the mercenary corps of the Varangians is often referred to as ax-bearing guard of emperors (Τάγμα των Βαραγγίων). By this time, its ethnic composition had changed. Thanks to the chrisovuli, it became possible to establish that the influx of the English (Inglin) into Byzantium apparently began after 1066, that is, after the conquest of England by the Duke of Normandy William. Soon immigrants from England began to dominate the Varangian corps.

Foreigners were previously used as palace guards, but only the Varangians acquired the status of a permanent personal guard of the Byzantine emperors. The head of the Varangian guard was called akoluf, which means "accompanying". In a 14th-century work, Pseudo-Codin defines: Akoluf is in charge of the warangs; accompanies the basileus at the head of them, which is why he is called akoluf».

The saga of Hakon with Broad Shoulders from the Circle of the Earth cycle tells of a battle in 1122 between the Byzantine Emperor John II and the Pechenegs in Bulgaria. Then the “color of the army”, a select detachment of 450 people under the command of Thorir Helsing, was the first to break into the nomad camp, surrounded by wagons with loopholes, which allowed the Byzantines to win.

After the fall of Constantinople, there is no news about Varangian warriors in Byzantium, but the ethnonym "Varangian" gradually turns into a patronymic, an integral part of a personal name. In the documents of the XIII-XIV centuries. Greeks of apparently Scandinavian origin were noted with the names Varang, Varangopul, Varyag, Varangat, of which one was the owner of the baths, the other was a doctor, the third was a church lawyer (ekdik). Thus, the military craft did not become a hereditary business among the descendants of the Varangians who settled on Greek soil.

Varangians in Scandinavia

On the runic stones erected by the Scandinavians in the 9th-12th centuries, the word "Varangians" is not found. In the north of Norway, not far from Russian Murmansk, there is the Varanger Peninsula and the bay of the same name. In those places inhabited by the Sami, military burials dating from the late Viking era were found. For the first time the Varangians vaeringjar(veringi) appear in Scandinavian sagas recorded in the 12th century. Werings were called mercenaries in Byzantium.

The Nyala saga tells about the Icelander Kolskegge, who, around the 990s:

“I went east, to Gardariki [Rus], and stayed there for the winter. From there he went to Miklagard [Constantinople] and joined the Varangian squad there. The last thing they heard about him was that he got married there, was the leader of the Varangian squad and remained there until his death.

The Salmon Valley Saga somewhat contradicts the Njal Saga chronology by naming Bolli in the 1020s as the first Icelander among the Varangians:

“After Bolli spent the winter in Denmark, he went to distant countries and did not interrupt his journey until he arrived in Miklagard. He did not stay long there, when he joined the Varangian squad. We have never heard before that any Norwegian or Icelander before Bolli, the son of Bolli, became a combatant of King Miklagard [Constantinople]."

see also

• Varyazhskaya street in Staraya Ladoga

Notes

1. Tale of Bygone Years
2. V. N. Tatishchev, I. N. Boltin
3. Chronicles from the 16th century, starting with The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir
4. A. G. Kuzmin, V. V. Fomin
5. Anokhin G. I. "A new hypothesis of the origin of the state in Russia"; A. Vasiliev: Edition of the IRI RAS “S. A. Gedeonov Varangians and Russia. M.2004.p.-476 and 623 / L.S. Klein “The dispute about the Varangians” S-pb. ; G. I. Anokhin: Collection of the Russian Historical Society "Antinormanism". M.2003.S.-17 and 150 / Edition of the IRI RAS “S. A. Gedeonov Varangians and Russia. M.2004.p.-626 / I.E. Zabelin "History of Russian life" Minsk.2008.S.-680 / L.S. Klein "The dispute about the Varangians" S-pb. IRI RAS "The Expulsion of the Normans from Russian History" M.2010.S.-320.
6. The term "Russian craft" (salt mining) refers to the text of the grand duke's charter: "The city of salt - Staraya Russa at the end of the 16th - the middle of the 18th centuries." G. S. Rabinovich, L. 1973 - p. 23.
7. See History of Normanism in the Soviet Era
8. The Skylitsa message is repeated by the 12th-century Byzantine author Kedrin.
9. Al-Biruni, Teaching the Principles of Astronomical Science. The identification of Varangians with the Varangians is generally recognized, for example, A. L. Nikitin, “The Foundations of Russian History. Mythologems and Facts”; A. G. Kuzmin, “On the ethnic nature of the Varangians”, etc.
10. Vasilevsky V. G., Varangian-Russian and Varangian-English squad in Constantinople in the 11th and 12th centuries. // Vasilevsky V. G., Proceedings, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1908
11. Notes to the Eymund Saga: Senkovsky O.I., Sobr. op. SPb., 1858, v. 5
12. The book of the historian Vasily Tatishchev Russian history. Varangians what people and where was
13. Vasmer's etymological dictionary
14. A. G. Kuzmin develops a hypothesis about the Celtic roots of the Rus tribe:
15. A. Vasiliev "On the ancient history of the Slavs before the time of Rurik and where Rurik and his Vikings came from" SPb.1858.p.70-72. and To Varyag to Rous from 862
16. "The city of salt - Staraya Russa at the end of the 16th - the middle of the 18th centuries." G. S. Rabinovich, L. 1973 - pp. 27,45-55.
17. "The city of salt - Staraya Russa at the end of the 16th - the middle of the 18th centuries." G. S. Rabinovich, L. 1973 - pp. 45-55.
18. Collection. Russia XV-XVII centuries through the eyes of foreigners. S. Herberstein "Notes on Muscovy" L.1986. - c36
19. "The city of salt - Staraya Russa at the end of the 16th - the middle of the 18th centuries." G. S. Rabinovich, L. 1973 - p. 23.
20. T. N. JACKSON. FOUR NORWEGIAN KINGS IN RUSSIA
21. See article Vandals (people)
22. The Tale of Bygone Years translated by D. S. Likhachev
23. in the Novgorod I chronicle this insert is missing, there literally: And he decided to himself: "We will look for the prince, who would own us and dress us by right." Idosha across the sea to the Varyag and rkosha: “Our land is great and plentiful, but we have no outfit; Yes, come to us to reign and rule over us". see Novgorod First Chronicle of the older and younger editions. M., Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950, p.106
24. Jaxon T.N., Four Norwegian kings in Russia: from the history of Russian-Norwegian political relations in the last third of the 10th - the first half of the 11th century. - M.: Languages ​​of Russian culture, 2002
25. Tale of Bygone Years. In the year 6488 (980).
26. See more in the article Vladimir I Svyatoslavich
27. Novgorod first chronicle of the younger version. In the year 6524 (1016).
28. The saga "The Strand of Eymund" (or Eymund's saga) was preserved as part of the "Saga of Olaf the Saint" in the only manuscript of the "Book from the Flat Island", 1387-1394.
29. The Saga "The Strand of Eymund": in the lane. E. A. Rydzevskaya
30. Peace treaty between Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich and German ambassadors c. 1190 Found in the archives of Riga.
31. also the Tver Chronicle. PSRL.t.15 M.2000.s.-291.
32. Laptev A. Yu., Yashkichev V. I. Staraya Russa of the Apostle Andrew. - M.: Agar, 2007. - P.32 - 36.
33. "Sophian Second Chronicle" M.2001.s.-206; and "Novgorod Fourth Chronicle according to Dubrovsky's list" M.2000.p.-512. and across the sea To the Varyag to Rous from 862
34. Typographic, Resurrection Chronicle
35. Second message to the Swedish king Johann III. Messages from Ivan the Terrible. M.-L., 1951, p. 157-158
36. From the chronicle: "At this time, one of those who are called fargans, having caught up with a deer, drew his sword." The event refers to the year 886.
37. “At this time, another event worthy of memory happened. One of the Varangians scattered in the Thracian region for the winter, meeting a native woman in a deserted place, made an attempt on her chastity. He did not manage to persuade her by persuasion, he resorted to violence; but the woman, drawing (from the scabbard) the sword of this man, struck the barbarian in the heart and killed him on the spot. When her deed became known in the circle, Varangi, having gathered together, paid honor to this woman, giving her and all the property of the rapist, and he was left without burial, in accordance with the law on suicides.
38. I. Skilitsa, Review of Histories: after S. Blondal, The Varangians of Byzantium, 1978, Cambridge, p. 62
39. Kekavmen, 78: Edition of 1881: Tips and stories of a Byzantine boyar of the 11th century. With comments by V. Veselovsky
40. "Chronicle of Kartli"
41. Spafariy - the average military rank in Byzantium, which does not provide for independent command. Spafari- literally "sword-bearer" (from the Greek spathe - a wide sword); Byzantine title between Spafarokandidat and Hypat. (Dictionary of historical names, titles and special terms (S. Sorochan, V. Zubar, L. Marchenko))
42. Kekavmen, 243
43. M. Psellos: "a tribe of those who shake the ax on the right shoulder" (Chronography. Zoya and Theodora)
44. The Scandinavian world in Byzantine literature and acts: article by M. V. Bibikov, Doctor of History, Head of the Center for the History of Eastern Christian Culture of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
45. Vasilevsky V. G. Varangian-Russian and Varangian-English squad in Constantinople in the XI and XII centuries. // Vasilyevsky V. G., Proceedings, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1908
46. Vasilevsky V. G.
47. Saxo Grammaticus does not use the term Danish bodyguards Varangians, but the historians of the XVIII century L. Holberg V. N. Tatishchev in their writings identified them as a Varangian.
48. Report by M. V. Bibikov at the XIII Conference of Scandinavians, 1997, Petrozavodsk
49. Anna Komnena, Alexiada, 2.9
50. Nikita Choniates. Story. The reign of Alexei Duka Murtsufl.
51. The date of the first retrospective mention of the Varangians in the sagas is calculated according to synchronously acting historical heroes: the Norwegian jarl Hakon the Mighty (970-995) and the Danish king Sven Forkbeard (c. 985-1014)
52. Nyala's Saga, LXXXI

From the beginning of the 9th century, from the end of the reign of Charlemagne, armed gangs of pirates from Scandinavia began to scour the shores of Western Europe. Since these pirates came mainly from Denmark, they became known in the West under the name of the Danes. Around the same time, overseas newcomers from the Baltic Sea began to appear on the river routes of our plain, who received the name of the Varangians here.

Varangians

In the 10th and 11th centuries, these Varangians constantly came to Russia either for trading purposes, or at the call of our princes, who recruited their military squads from them. But the presence of the Varangians in Russia becomes much earlier than the 10th century. The Tale of Bygone Years has known these Varangians from Russian cities for about half of the 9th century. The Kievan tradition of the 11th century even tended to exaggerate the number of these overseas aliens. According to this legend, the Varangians, ordinary inhabitants of Russian trading cities, have long filled them in such numbers that they formed a thick layer in their population, covering the natives. So, according to the Tale, the Novgorodians were at first Slavs, and then they became the Varangians, as if they were turned over as a result of an increased influx of newcomers from across the sea. They were especially crowded in the Kyiv land. According to chronicle legend, Kyiv was even founded by the Varangians, and there were so many of them that Askold and Dir, having established themselves here, could recruit a whole militia from them, with whom they dared to attack Constantinople.

The time of the appearance of the Varangians

A vague recollection of our chronicle seems to push back the appearance of the Varangians in Russia as early as the first half of the 9th century. We meet foreign news, from which we see that indeed the Varangians, or those who were so called with us in the 11th century, became known to Eastern Europe in the first half of the 9th century, long before the time to which our Primary Chronicle dates the appearance of Rurik in Novgorod . The aforementioned ambassadors from the people of Russia, who did not want to return home from Constantinople on the same road, were sent in 839 with a Byzantine embassy to the German emperor Louis the Pious, and there, after investigating the case, after verifying their identity, they turned out to be Sveons, Swedes, that is, Varangians, to whom our Tale also includes the Swedes. Following this testimony of the Western chronicle, the news from the Byzantine and Arab East goes towards the dark tradition of our annals that already in the first half of the 9th century Russia was well known there from trade with her and from her attacks on the northern and southern shores of the Black Sea.

The exemplary critical studies of Academician Vasilevsky on the lives of Saints George of Amastrid and Stefan of Surozh revealed this important fact in our history. In the first of these hagiographies, written before 842, the author tells how Russia, a people that “everyone knows”, having begun the devastation of the southern Black Sea coast from Propontis, attacked Amastrida. In the second life we ​​read that after a few years from the death of St. Stephen, who died at the end of the 8th century, a large Russian army with a strong prince Bravlin, captivating the country from Korsun to Kerch, took Surozh (Sudak in the Crimea) after a ten-day battle.

Other news puts this Russia of the first half of the 9th century in direct connection with overseas aliens, whom our chronicle remembers among its Slavs in the second half of the same century. Russia of the Vertinsky Chronicle, which turned out to be Swedes, embassyd in Constantinople on behalf of its king Khakan, most likely the Khazar Khagan, who then controlled the Dnieper Slavs, and did not want to return to their homeland by the nearest Road because of the dangers from the barbarian peoples - a hint of the nomads of the Dnieper steppes. The Arab Khordadbe even considers the “Russian” merchants whom he met in Baghdad to be directly Slavs, coming from the most remote parts of the country of the Slavs.

Finally, Patriarch Photius calls Russia those who attacked Constantinople under him, and according to our chronicle, this attack was carried out by the Kyiv Varangians Askold and Dir. As can be seen, at the same time as the raids of the Danes in the West, their relatives, the Varangians, not only crowdedly scattered around the large cities of the Greek-Varangian route of Eastern Europe, but had already become accustomed to the Black Sea and its shores, that it began to be called the Russian and, according to the testimony of the Arabs , no one, except Russia, sailed on it at the beginning of the 10th century.

Origin of the Varangians

The Baltic Varangians, like the Black Sea Rus, in many ways were Scandinavians, and not the Slavic inhabitants of the South Baltic coast or present-day southern Russia, as some scientists think. Our Tale of Bygone Years recognizes the Varangians as a common name for various Germanic peoples who lived in Northern Europe, mainly along the Varangian (Baltic) Sea, which are the Swedes, Norwegians, Goths, Angles. This name, according to some scientists, is the Slavic-Russian form of the Scandinavian word "vaering" or "varing", the meaning of which is not sufficiently clear. The Byzantines of the 11th century were known by the name of the Normans, who served as hired bodyguards for the Byzantine emperor.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the Germans, who participated in the campaign of the Polish king Boleslav against the Russian prince Yaroslav in 1018, having looked closely at the population of the Kyiv land, later told the bishop of Merseburg Titmar, who was then finishing his chronicle, that in the Kyiv land there was a myriad of people, consisting mainly of fugitive slaves and "nimble dans". The Germans could hardly mix their fellow Scandinavians with the Baltic, Slavs. In Sweden, many ancient inscriptions are found on gravestones that speak of ancient sea campaigns from Sweden to Russia.

The Scandinavian sagas, sometimes dating back to very ancient times, tell of the same campaigns in the country of Gardarik, as they call Russia, that is, in the “kingdom of cities”. This name itself, which goes so little to rural Russia, shows that the Varangian newcomers stayed mainly in the large trading cities of Russia. Finally, the names of the first Russian Varangian princes and their warriors are almost all of Scandinavian origin. We meet the same names in the Scandinavian sagas: Rurik in the form of “Hrorek”, Truvor - “Thorvardr”, Oleg, according to the ancient Kievan pronunciation on “o” - “Helgi”, Olga - “Helga”, Igor - “Ingvarr”, Oskold - “Hoskuldr ”, Dir - “Dyri” and the like. As for Russia, the Arab and Byzantine writers of the 10th century distinguish it as a special tribe from the Slavs over whom it dominated, and Konstantin Porphyrogenitus in the list of the Dnieper rapids clearly distinguishes their Slavic and Russian names as words belonging to very special languages.

Military-industrial class education in cities

These Varangians-Scandinavians became part of the military-industrial class, which began to take shape in the 9th century in the large trading cities of Russia under the influence of external dangers. The Varangians came to us with different goals and with a different physiognomy, not with the one worn by the Danes in the West, there they are given - a pirate, a coastal robber. In Russia, the Varangian is mainly an armed merchant, going to Russia in order to get further into rich Byzantium, to serve the emperor with profit, to trade with a profit, and sometimes to rob a rich Greek, if the opportunity presents itself. This character of our Varangians is indicated by traces in the language and in ancient legend.

In the regional Russian lexicon, the Varangian is a peddler, a petty trader, Varangian - engage in petty bargaining. It is curious that when a non-commercial armed Varangian needed to hide his identity, he pretended to be a merchant coming from Russia or to Russia: this was the mask that inspired the greatest confidence, the most familiar one, to which everyone took a closer look. It is known how Oleg deceived his countrymen Askold and Dir in order to lure them out of Kyiv. He sent to tell them: “I am a merchant, we are going to Greece from Oleg and Prince Igor: come to us, your countrymen.”

The excellent Scandinavian saga of St. Olaf, full of historical features, tells how this Scandinavian hero, who long and zealously served the Russian king Valdamar, that is, St. Vladimir, returning home with a squad on ships, was brought by a storm to Pomerania, into the possession of the Dowager Princess Geira Burislavna and, not wanting to reveal his rank, he pretended to be a merchant from Garda, that is, a Russian. Settling in the large trading cities of Russia, the Varangians met here a class of the population that was socially related to them and needed them, a class of armed merchants, and were part of it, entering into a trading partnership with the natives or hiring for good food to protect Russian trade routes and trade people, that is, to escort Russian trade caravans.

Cities and surrounding population

As soon as such a class was formed from native and newcomer elements in large trading cities and they turned into armed points, their attitude towards the surrounding population also had to change. When the Khazar yoke began to waver, these cities became independent among the tribes that paid tribute to the Khazars. The Tale of Bygone Years does not remember how the meadows were freed from the Khazar yoke. She says that Askold and Dir, having approached Kyiv by the Dnieper and having learned that this town pays tribute to the Khazars, remained in it and, having recruited many Varangians, began to own the land of the meadows. Apparently, this marked the end of Khazar rule in Kyiv.

It is not known how Kyiv and other cities were ruled under the Khazars; but it may be seen that, having taken the protection of the commercial movement into their own hands, they soon subjugated their commercial districts. This political subordination of commercial areas to industrial centers, now armed, apparently began even before the call of the princes, that is, before the middle of the 9th century. The story of the beginning of the Russian land, talking about the first princes, reveals a curious fact: a large city is followed by its district, a whole tribe or part of it. Oleg, having gone south from Novgorod after the death of Rurik, took Smolensk and installed his governor in it: because of this, without further struggle, the Smolensk Krivichi began to recognize Oleg's authority.

Oleg occupied Kyiv, and the Kyiv glades, as a result, also recognized his authority. Thus, entire districts are dependent on their main cities, and this dependence, apparently, has been established. besides and earlier princes. It is difficult to say how it was installed. Perhaps the trading districts voluntarily submitted to the cities, as fortified shelters, under the pressure of an external danger; it is even more probable that with the help of the armed class that had accumulated in the trading cities, the latter took possession of their trading districts by force; could be in different places and that and another.

Formation of urban areas

Be that as it may, in the obscure news of our Tale, the first local political form, which was formed in Russia around the middle of the 9th century, is designated as an urban region, that is, a trading district ruled by a fortified city, which at the same time served as an industrial center for this district. These areas were called by the names of cities. When the principality of Kiev was formed, which absorbed the tribes of the Eastern Slavs, these ancient urban regions - Kyiv, Chernigov, Smolensk and others, previously independent, became part of it as its administrative districts, served as ready-made units of the regional division that was established in Russia under the first Kyiv princes. by the middle of the 11th century.

The ancient Tale of the beginning of Russia divides the Eastern Slavs into several tribes and quite accurately indicates their location. Perhaps, the regions of the Kyiv principality of the 10th-11th centuries were politically united tribes of glades, northerners and others, and not the industrial districts of the ancient trading cities of Russia? An analysis of the ethnographic composition of ancient urban areas gives a negative answer to this question. If these areas were of tribal origin, formed from tribal ties, without the participation of economic interests, each tribe would form a separate area, or, in other words, each area would be composed of one tribe. But this did not happen in practice: there was not a single region that would consist of only one and, moreover, an integral tribe.

Most of the regions were made up of different tribes or their parts, in other regions, torn parts of other tribes joined one whole tribe. So, the Novgorod region consisted of the Ilmenian Slavs with a branch of the Krivichi, the center of which was the town of Izborsk. The northern half of the northerners with a part of the Radimichi and a whole tribe of Vyatichi entered the Chernihiv region, and the southern half of the northerners made up the Pereyaslav region. The Kyiv region consisted of all the meadows, almost all the Drevlyans and the southern part of the Dregovichi with the city of Turov on the Pripyat. The northern part of the Dregovichi with the city of Minsk was cut off by the western branch of the Krivichi and became part of the Polotsk region. The Smolensk region was made up of the eastern part of the Krivichi with the adjacent part of the Radimichi. Thus, the ancient tribal division did not coincide with the city or regional division, which was formed by the middle of the 11th century. This means that the boundaries of urban areas were not outlined by the placement of tribes.

From the tribal composition of these regions, it is not difficult to see what force pulled them together. If two large cities arose among the tribe, it was torn into two regions (Krivichi, northerners). If there was not even one such city among the tribe, it did not form a special region, but was part of the region of the alien city. We note at the same time that the emergence of a significant trading city among the tribe depended on the geographical location of the latter: such cities, which became the centers of the regions, arose among the population living along the main river trade lines of the Dnieper, Volkhov and Western Dvina. On the contrary, the tribes remote from these lines did not have their own significant trading cities and therefore did not constitute special regions, but became part of the regions of alien trading cities. So, no large trading cities are visible among the Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Radimichi and Vyatichi; there were no special areas of these tribes. This means that the force that pulled together all these regions was precisely the trading cities that arose along the main river routes of Russian trade and which were not among the tribes remote from them.

If we imagine the Eastern Slavs, as they settled down in the second half of the 9th century, and compare this device with their ancient tribal division, then we will find eight Slavic tribes throughout the entire space from Ladoga to Kyiv. Four of them (Dregovichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi and Drevlyans) gradually, partly already under the first Kyiv princes, and partly even before them, became part of the alien tribal regions, and four other tribes (Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, Severyans and Polyana) formed six independent urban areas, of which none, except for Pereyaslav, had an integral, single-tribe composition. Each absorbed, in addition to one dominant tribe or the dominant part of one tribe, still subordinate parts of other tribes that did not have their own large cities. These were the regions of Novgorod, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov, Pereyaslav and Kyiv.

So, the large armed cities that became the rulers of the regions arose precisely among those tribes that took the most active part in foreign trade. These cities subjugated the neighboring populations of their tribe, for whom they had previously served as trading centers, and formed from them political unions, areas into which they were drawn, partly even before the appearance of the princes of Kyiv, and partly under them, and neighboring settlements of foreign cityless tribes.

Varangian principalities

The formation of this first political form in Russia was accompanied in other places by the appearance of another, secondary and also local form, the Varangian principality. In those industrial centers where armed newcomers from across the sea poured with particular force, they easily left the significance of trading comrades or hired guards of trade routes and turned into rulers. At the head of these overseas aliens, who constituted military-industrial companies, were leaders who, in such a coup, received the importance of military commanders of the cities they protected. Such leaders in the Scandinavian sagas are called konings or vikings. Both of these terms have passed into our language, having received the Slavic-Russian forms of prince and knight. Other Slavs also have these words, who borrowed them from the Germanic tribes of Central Europe. They passed into our language from the Scandinavians, northern Germans, who were closer to us in antiquity. The transformation of the Varangians from allies into rulers under favorable circumstances was quite simple.

The story of the Primary Chronicle is known about how Vladimir, having defeated his Kyiv brother Yaropolk in 980, established himself in Kyiv with the help of the Varangians called from across the sea. His overseas comrades-in-arms, feeling their strength in the city they occupied, said to their mercenary: “Prince, after all, the city is ours, we took it; so we want to take repayment from the townspeople - an indemnity - two hryvnias per person. Vladimir only by cunning got away from the hands of these annoying mercenaries, escorting them to Tsargrad. So other armed cities with their regions, under certain circumstances, fell into the hands of overseas aliens and turned into the possessions of the Varangian konings. We meet several such Varangian principalities in Russia in the 9th and 10th centuries. So in the second half of the 9th century in the north of the principality of Rurik in Novgorod, Sineusovo on the White Lake, Truvorocho in Izborsk, Askoldovo in Kyiv.

In the 10th century, two other principalities of the same origin become known, Rogvolodovo in Polotsk and Turovo in Turov on Pripyat. Our ancient chronicle does not remember the time of the emergence of the last two principalities, their very existence is noted in it only in passing, by the way. From this we can conclude that such principalities appeared in other places in Russia, but disappeared without a trace. A similar phenomenon took place at that time among the Slavs of the South Baltic coast, where the Varangians also penetrated from Scandinavia. To an outside observer, such Varangian principalities seemed to be a matter of real conquest, although the founders of their Varangians usually appeared without a conquest goal, they were looking for prey, and not places for settlement.

The Varangians are a mysterious people who participated in the formation of Ancient Russia. In ancient Russian chronicles, there are more than once references to them. Varangian warriors are the heroes of literary works. The origin of the legendary Varangians is constantly discussed. We will not find exact data in any historical source. And, although the chronicles imply reliability, scientists have different theories about the origin of this people.

We present the article by S.V. Perevezentsev about the Varangians, published on the Slovo portal.

Who are the Varangians?

S.V. Perevezentsev:

S.V. Perevezentsev

The oldest Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, reports the names of the peoples who, along with the Slavs, took part in the formation of the Old Russian state - the Varangians, the Rus, the Chud, the whole, the Merya. Anthropological studies show that some Iranian peoples also took part in this process, whose names we do not seem to know.

The ethnicity of the Chud, Vse and Merya tribes is not a secret - they were Finno-Ugric peoples. But the ethnic origin of the Varangians and Rus is mysterious. And this mystery takes on a serious scale when taking into account the fact that it was the Varangians and Russ who formed the dominant layer of the future Kievan Rus, and the Rus gave their name to the emerging state.

Back in the 18th century, German scientists who lived in Russia at that time - G.Z. Bayer, G. Miller and L. Schlozer - for the first time began to assert that the Rus and Varangians who came to the Slavs were Germanic tribes, or rather, the Swedes, known in Europe under the name of the Normans ("northern people"). Thus arose the Norman theory of the origin of the Rus and Varangians, which still exists in historical science. But then, in the 18th century, the Norman theory was resolutely refuted by M.V. Lomonosov, who considered the Rus and the Varangians to be Baltic Slavs who had previously lived in the Southern Baltic.

Varangians and Russians

For more than three centuries, discussions have been going on about who the Varangians and Ruses are? But only recently in the works of A.G. Kuzmin, a theory appeared that explains most of the contradictions around which there are more than three centuries of disputes. A.G. Kuzmin showed that the scientific disputes themselves over the origin of the Varangians and Rus are largely connected with the conflicting messages of the ancient Russian chronicles. In The Tale of Bygone Years itself, as A.G. Kuzmin, given three versions origin of the Varangians and two versions the origin of the Russians. All these versions were included in the annalistic text at different times, sometimes supplementing the narrative, sometimes contradicting it. Based on a deep knowledge of the sources, A.G. Kuzmin proved that the very questions about the Varangians and about Russia should be considered separately, because both of them belonged to different ethnic groups.

Tale of Bygone Years

So, The Tale of Bygone Years gives three different versions of the origin of the Varangians. The earliest mention is of the Varangians living from the land of the Angles in the west to the "limit of Simov" in the east. The land of the Angles is southern Jutland, a peninsula that now belongs to Denmark. By the way, the Danes themselves were called "Angles" in Russia. What is the "limit of Sims" - the question is more complicated. It is clear that this landmark is connected with the biblical story about the division of the lands after the Flood between Noah's sons Shem, Ham and Japhet. Scientists have found that the ancient Russian chroniclers considered the Volga Bulgars to be the descendants of Sim. Therefore, the “limit of Sims” in this case is the Volga Bulgaria.

In other words, here the name "Varangians" denotes the entire population scattered along the Volga-Baltic route, which controlled the northwestern part of this water trade route from Jutland to Volga Bulgaria. It is worth emphasizing especially - in this evidence of the chronicle about the Varangians, it is assumed not an ethnic, but a territorial definition. In addition to the Ilmen Slovenes and Krivichi, this early formation included Finno-Ugric tribes: Merya, Ves and Chud.

A little lower, the chronicle specifies the composition of the tribes of the Baltic coast, and this fragment is an insert into the chronicle text. This insert gives us a more detailed list of tribes living near the Varangian (i.e. Baltic) Sea: Varangians, Sueves (Swedes), Normans (Norwegians), Goths, Rus, Angles, Galicians, Volokhi, Romans, Germans, Korlyazi, Venetians , Genoese and others. In other words, the chronicle shows us that the Varangians did not belong to the Germanic peoples, but were a separate ethnic group.

Tribes of the Baltic

Another later insert, entered into the chronicle at the end of the 11th century, also lists the tribes that lived in the Baltic states: “And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia, for that was the name of those Varangians - Rus, as others are called Swedes, others Normans, Angles , other Goths, the same - so. Here, "Varangians" means different tribes.

Hence, this message of the chronicle implies the Varangians in a broader sense and implies the inclusion of the Scandinavians among the "Varangian" peoples. But the chronicler at the same time tries to emphasize that it is “Rus” that is meant, and not other peoples, clearly contrasting “Rus” with the Swedes, Goths, Normans-Norwegians and Angles (actually Danes). From this message it follows that in this case, the designation "Varangians" may be hiding ethnic tribes, including Scandinavians.

These three mentions of the origin of the Varangians are supplemented by two chronicle evidence of the relationship of the northwestern Slavic and Finno-Ugric population with the Varangians. Under the year 859, the chronicle reports that the Varangians "from overseas" took tribute from the tribes of Chudi, Meri, as well as from the Ilmen Slovenes and Krivichi. Under the year 862 in the annals, the story first follows about the expulsion of the Varangians "over the sea", and then that the union of the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Vesi, Chudi and Meri again called the Varangians-Rus, who came to them under the leadership of his brothers Sineus and Truvor. Rurik, Sineus and Truvor became a princely family among the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples and founded the cities - Novgorod, Ladoga, Beloozero. Interestingly, historians have established: “The Tale of the Calling of the Varangians” is also a later insert that appeared in the annals at the end of the 11th century.

Three characteristics of the Varangians

Askold and Dir. Varangians

Summing up a brief summary, we summarize everything that has been said. In The Tale of Bygone Years we meet three different characteristics of the Varangians. First: the Varangians are the rulers of the state-territorial formation that arose on the Volga-Baltic route from Jutland up to the Volga Bulgaria. Second: the Varangians are some kind of separate ethnic group, but not the Germans. Third, latest: Varangians - this is a multi-ethnic definition of the "western" peoples of the Baltic region, including the Scandinavians.

In other words, The Tale of Bygone Years consistently shows us how, over the course of the 8th-11th centuries, the meaning of the definition of “Varangians” changed in the view of the ancient Russian chroniclers, constantly being filled with new content. This is what a complex riddle the ancient Russian scribes have given us!

And more or less definitively solve this riddle using not only annalistic, but also other - archaeological, toponymic, anthropological and ethnographic material. And when this material is comprehended in the aggregate, then a complex, but logical and substantiated picture of ethnic processes in the South Baltic region arises.

Where did the Vikings live?

"The Tale of Bygone Years" gives a direct indication of where the Varangians lived - along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which in the annals is called the Varangian Sea. The western limits of the settlement of the Varangians are clearly marked: “to the land of Agnyanskaya and Voloshskaya”. At that time, the Danes were called Angles, and the Western Slavs called the Italians Volohs. In the east, the Varangians controlled the northwestern part of the Volga-Baltic route up to the Volga Bulgaria.

But who were the "Varangians" in ethnic terms? Comparison of chronicle messages with other sources allowed A.G. Kuzmin to show that initially the "Varangians" of the Russian chronicle are known to Roman authors "varins" ("varins", "vagrs", "vars").

"Varins", or "Warings", back in the 4th century. among other tribes participated in the invasion of Britain. They were part of the group of "ingevons", tribes that were not Germanic, but in this group there was a strong admixture of Uralic elements. German medieval authors called the Varins "Varings" and considered them one of the Slavic tribes. Frankish authors - "Verins", Baltic Slavs - "Varangs", "Vagrams".

In the East Slavic voicing, "Vagry" began to be called "Varangians". The very ethnic name "Varangians" is quite clear, Indo-European: "Pomeranians", "people living by the sea" (from the Indo-European "var" - water, sea). The Varins, as a tribe adjacent to the Frankish possessions proper, gave the name to the Baltic Sea, which was also called the Varangian in the 16th century, but only in Russia and among the Baltic Slavs.

People of Varna

The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea gives an interesting story about the people, which he already in the VI century. knew under the name of “Varna”: “At this time, between the Varna tribe and those warriors who live on the island called Brittia (i.e. Britain. - S.P.), there was a war and a battle for the following reason. The Varnas settled north of the Istra River and occupied the lands stretching to the Northern Ocean and to the Rhine River, which separates them from the Franks and other tribes who settled here. All those tribes that lived on both sides of the river Rhine, each had its own name, and all their tribe together was called the Germans, having received one common name ...

Tale of Bygone Years

... A certain man, named Hermegiskles, ruled the Varnas. Trying in every possible way to strengthen his royal power, he took the sister of the Frankish king Theudebert as his legal wife, since his former wife, who was the mother of only one son, whom she left to her father, recently died. His name was Radigis. His father betrothed to him a girl of the Britons, whose brother was then king of the tribes of the Anguils; He gave her a large sum of money as a dowry.

This Hermegiskles, riding through some country with the noblest of the Varnas, saw a bird croaking loudly in a tree. Did he understand what the bird was saying, or did he feel it in some other way, whatever it was, he, pretending to miraculously understood the prediction of the bird, told those present that in forty days he would die and that this was predicted to him by a bird .

Useful union

“And so I,” he said, “taking care already in advance so that we could live completely calmly in complete safety, concluded kinship with the Franks, taking my present wife from there, and found a bride for my son in the country of the Brittians. Now, since I suppose that I will die very soon, having neither male nor female offspring from this wife, and my son has not yet reached marriageable age and is not yet married, listen, I will tell you my opinion, and, if it seems to you not useful, as soon as the end of my life comes, hold on to it and fulfill it in a good hour.

So I think that the close alliance and kinship with the Franks will be more useful for the Varnas than with the islanders. The Britons can only come into conflict with you with great delay and difficulty, and the Varni from the Franks are separated only by the waters of the river Rhine. Therefore, being your closest neighbors and possessing very great power, they can very easily bring you both benefit and harm whenever they want. And of course, they will harm if they are not hindered by kinship with you.

So it is in human life that the power that surpasses the strength of neighbors becomes heavy and most prone to violence, since it is easy for a powerful neighbor to find reasons for war with those living next to him, even if he is not guilty of anything. In this state of affairs, let my son's island bride, called here for this purpose, leave you, taking with her all the money that she received from us, taking it with her as payment for an offense, as required by the law common to all people. . And let my son Radigis in the future become the husband of his stepmother, as the law of our fathers permits (the custom described here has no analogies in the customary law of the Germanic tribes. - S.P.)».

So he said. On the fortieth day after this prediction, he fell ill and ended the days of his life at the appointed time. The son of Hermegiscles received royal power from the Varnas, and according to the opinion of the most noble persons from among these barbarians, he carried out the advice of the deceased and, refusing to marry his bride, married his stepmother. When the bride of Radigis found out about this, then, unable to bear such an insult, she burned with a desire to take revenge on him.

Barbarians value morality

How much the local barbarians value morality can be concluded from the fact that if they only started talking about marriage, even if the act itself was not completed, then they believe that the woman has already lost her honor. First of all, sending her relatives to him with the embassy, ​​she tried to find out why he insulted her so much, although she had not committed adultery and had not done anything wrong towards him. Since she could not achieve anything in this way, her soul gained masculine strength and courage, and she began military operations.

Having immediately collected 400 ships and put on them fighters of at least a hundred thousand (this, of course, is an exaggeration, common in the legends of the era of military democracy. - S.P.), she herself became the head of this army against the Varnas. One of her brothers went with her to arrange her affairs, not the one who was king, but the one who lived in the position of a private person. These islanders are the strongest barbarians we know of and go to battle on foot.

Not only did they never ride horses, but they did not even have a clue what kind of animal a horse was, since even the image of a horse had never been seen on this island. Apparently, such an animal has never been on the island of Brittia (of course, the horse was known here, and quite early. Among the Wendish Slavs, it was a cult animal, but the northern peoples fought on foot. - S.P.).

But if any of them happened to be with an embassy, ​​or for any other reason, with the Romans, or with the Franks, or with other peoples who had horses, and they had to ride horses there, then they could not even sit on them, and other people, lifting them, put them on horses, and when they want to get off the horse, again, lifting them, they put them on the ground. Equally, the Varnas are not horsemen, and they are all foot soldiers too ... These islanders did not have sails either, they always sailed on oars.

He thought he was going to die

When they crossed over to the mainland, the girl who stood at their head, setting up a strong camp at the very mouth of the Rhine, remained there with a small detachment, and ordered her brother with the rest of the army to go to the enemies. And the Varnas then camped not far from the shore of the ocean and the mouth of the Rhine. When the Angils arrived here with all haste, both of them entered into hand-to-hand combat with each other, and the Varnas were severely defeated.

Of these, many were killed in this battle, while the rest, along with the king, fled. The Anguils pursued them for a short time, as foot soldiers do, and then returned to the camp. The girl severely accepted those who returned to her and bitterly reproached her brother, arguing that he did nothing decent with the army, since they did not bring Radigis alive to her. Choosing from among them the most warlike, she immediately sent them, ordering them to bring this man to her alive, taking him prisoner in any way.

They, following her orders, went around all the places of this country, carefully searching everything, until they found Radigis hiding in a dense forest. They tied him up and delivered him to the girl. And so he appeared before her face, trembling and believing that he would immediately die the most shameful death. But she, beyond expectation, did not order him to be killed and did him no harm, but, reproaching him for the insult inflicted on her, asked him why, having despised the contract, he took another wife on his bed, although his bride did not commit against him no breach of loyalty. He, justifying his guilt, brought her as evidence the will of his father and the insistence of his subjects.

He addressed pleading speeches to her, adding to them in his defense many requests, blaming necessity for everything. He promised that, if she pleased, he would become her husband and that what he had done before was unjust, he would correct with his further actions. Since the girl agreed to this, she freed Radigis from the shackles and treated him and everyone else in a friendly manner. Then he immediately let go of his sister Theudebert and married a Briton ... "

Variny

Emperor Charlemagne

At the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. the Varins had not yet been assimilated by the Slavs. In any case, at the turn of these centuries, the Frankish emperor Charlemagne granted the Varins a law, one with the Angles - "The Truth of the Angles and Varins or Thuringians." But the active expansion of the Franks and Saxons prompted the Varins to look for new places of settlement.

In the 8th century Varangeville (Varangian city) appears in France, in Burgundy on the Rhone River, in 915 the city of Varingvik (Varangian Bay) arose in England, the name Varangerfjord (Bay of Varangians, Varangian Bay) in the north of Scandinavia is still preserved. The Saxon "Northern Mark" at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century was also called the "Mark of the Warings". From the VIII - IX centuries. the names Varin, Varin and Varang are widely distributed throughout Europe, also testifying to the dispersion of individual groups of varins in a foreign-speaking environment.

From the middle of the ninth century The Varins are gradually assimilated by the Slavs who came here, and in the second half of the 9th century the Slavic language prevailed here. The unification of the Varins and Slavs took place, obviously, within the framework of the general opposition of the Slavs and other tribes of the southern coast of the Baltic to the offensive of the Franks and Saxons.

The main direction of resettlement of the Varangians was the eastern coast of the Baltic. They moved to the east along with separate groups of Russ who lived along the shores of the Baltic Sea (on Rügen Island, in the Eastern Baltic, etc.). Hence, in the Tale of Bygone Years, the double naming of the settlers arose - Varangians-Rus: "And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia, for that was the name of those Varangians - Russia." At the same time, The Tale of Bygone Years specifically stipulates that Russia is not Swedes, nor Norwegians, nor Danes.

Eastern Europe and the Vikings

In Eastern Europe, the Varangians appear in the middle of the 9th century. The Varangians-Rus first come to the northwestern lands to the Ilmen Slovenes, and then descend to the Middle Dnieper. According to various sources and according to some scientists, at the head of the Varangians-Rus, who came to the Ilmen Slovenes from the shores of the South Baltic, was Prince Rurik. Most likely, the legendary Rurik came from one of the Varangian (Verin) tribes.

In some medieval genealogies, Rurik and his brothers (Sivar and Triar - in the Western European manner) are considered the sons of the prince of the Slavic tribe of Obodrite Godlav (Gotlieb), who was killed in 808 by the Danes. In turn, the genealogy of Obodrites was tied by medieval authors to the Venedian-Herulian genealogy, which reflected the process of assimilation of the Wends and Heruls by the Slavs (mixed Slavic and non-Slavic names of princely families).

In the Russian chronicle, the name Rurik sounds like it sounded in Celtic Gaul. This name, in all likelihood, goes back to the name of one of the tribes of the Celts - “ruriks”, “rauriks”, and the tribal name, apparently, is associated with the Rur River. At the turn of our era, this tribe left the troops of Julius Caesar who invaded Gaul, and it could only leave to the east. In later times, people from the banks of the Ruhr River also received the names (or nicknames) Rurik. The names of the Rurik brothers also find an explanation in the Celtic languages. The name Sineus is most likely derived from the Celtic word "sinu" - "elder". The name Truvor is also explained from the Celtic language, in which the word-name Trevor means "third born".

Names founded by Rurik in the 9th century. cities (Ladoga, White Lake, Novgorod) say that the Varangians-Rus at that time spoke the Slavic language. Interestingly, the main god of the Varangians-Rus was Perun. In the agreement between Russia and the Greeks in 911, which was concluded by Oleg the Prophet, it says: “And Oleg and his husbands were forced to swear allegiance according to Russian law: they swore by their weapons and by Perun, their god.” Worship of Perun was widespread among different peoples of the southern coast of the Baltic, for example, Lithuania had Perkunas as a god, with functions similar to Perun.

Slavism of the Varangians

The idea of ​​the Slavic Varangians and their exit from the South Baltic coast was preserved for centuries not only in the lands of the former Kievan Rus. It was widely used in Western Europe, as evidenced by many monuments. An important place among them is occupied by the conclusion of the Ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire S. Herberstein, who visited Russia in 1517 and 1526.

He said that the homeland of the Varangians could only be South-Baltic Vagria, inhabited by the Vandal Slavs, who "were powerful, used, finally, the Russian language and had Russian customs and religion." “Based on all this,” Herberstein wrote, “it seems to me that the Russians summoned their princes rather from the Vagrians, or Varangians, than handed over power to foreigners who differed from them in faith, customs and language.” As a diplomat, Herberstein visited many Western European countries, including the Baltic countries (Denmark, Sweden), was familiar with their history, which allowed him to establish a parallel between Wagria and Russia, and not between Sweden and Russia.

Traditions about Rurik and his brothers on the southern coast of the Baltic were preserved for a very long time - they were recorded in the second half of the 19th century. Modern historian V.V. Fomin notes that in the Mirror of the Historical Sovereigns of Russia, which belonged to the hand of the Dane Adam Sellius, who lived in Russia since 1722, Rurik and his brothers are also taken out of Wagria. The fact that such legends took place and existed for a long time in the former lands of the South Baltic Slavs is confirmed by the Frenchman Xavier Marmier, whose Northern Letters were published in 1840 in Paris.

Having visited Mecklenburg during his trip, located on the former lands of the Obodrite Slavs, Marmier wrote down a local legend that the king of Obodrite-Roerigs Godlav had three sons: Rurik the Peaceful, Sivar the Victorious and Truvor the Faithful, who, going east, freed from tyranny, the people of Russia and sat down to reign, respectively, in Novgorod, Pskov and Beloozero. Thus, in the first half of the nineteenth century. among the long-term Germanized population of Mecklenburg, a tradition of Balto-Slavic origin about the calling of three Slavic brothers to Russia was preserved, which is exactly a whole millennium away from them.

Inhabitants of the South Coast of the Baltic and North-Western Russia

Numerous archaeological, anthropological, ethnographic and linguistic materials also testify to the long-standing and close interaction of the inhabitants of the southern coast of the Baltic with North-Western Russia.

According to G.P. Smirnova, in the early archaeological layers of Novgorod, a noticeable component is ceramics, which has analogies on the southern coast of the Baltic, in Mecklenburg, which indicates two large waves of migrations along the Volga-Baltic route from West to East: at the end of the 8th and in the middle of the 9th century. Important anthropological studies conducted in 1977 among the population of the Pskov Lake District showed that it belongs to the Western Baltic type, which is “most common among the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and the Schleswig-Holstein Islands to the Soviet Baltic ...”

The numismatic material also shows that the earliest trade relations of Russia on the Baltic Sea are recorded not with Scandinavia, but with the southern coast of the Baltic. D.K. Zelenin, I.I. Lyapushkin and many other archaeologists and linguists pointed to obvious linguistic and ethnographic parallels between Northern Russia and the Baltic Pomerania. And it is no coincidence that the chronicle states that the Novgorodians descended “from the Varangian clan” - in those days there were still some legends about the connection of the population of Novgorod with the South Baltic tribes.

Yaroslav the Wise

Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise

But under Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century, Scandinavian Swedes appeared in large numbers in the Varangian squads. This was facilitated by the fact that Yaroslav was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerd. Therefore, at the beginning of the XI century. in Russia, people from Scandinavia are also beginning to be called Varangians. And it is no coincidence that an insert in the chronicle, in which the Swedes are also called "Varangians", appeared only at the end of the 11th century.

By the way, the Scandinavian sagas testify that the Swedes themselves did not know anything about Kievan Rus until the end of the 10th century. In any case, the first Russian prince who became the hero of the Scandinavian epic is Vladimir Svyatoslavich. But it is interesting that in Novgorod the Swedes were not called Varangians until the 13th century.

After the death of Yaroslav, the Russian princes stopped recruiting hired squads from the Varangians. As a result, the very name "Varangians" is being rethought and gradually extended to all immigrants from the Catholic West.

Interesting facts about the Varangians and Vikings from Pravmir:

• The legendary Varangians were such good warriors that they often became hired squads from picky Byzantine emperors.
• According to the chronicles, the ships of the Varangian detachment were made only of oak. Therefore, they served for a long time and were famous for their durability.
• For the British of that time, the Varangians were inextricably linked with cleanliness and accuracy: they washed themselves once a week!
• Despite the fact that the campaigns of the Normans were famous for their militancy and tough pressure, many of them traded. There is a lot of chronicle evidence about the trade of the Normans. There were also those involved in agriculture.
• Many historians identify the Varangians with ... the invention of skis! After all, they traditionally lived in areas with a cold and snowy climate, so they were looking for a suitable means of transportation.

• The theory of the origin of Greenland is based on the discovery of this island by the Vikings. They weren't just about conquest.
• Iceland was considered uninhabited before the advent of the Vikings.
• Viking settlements are found even in America, although for a long time scientists could not believe that this was possible. Are oak ships capable of this?
• The mysterious Varangians observed the customs and laws of Russia when they worked as mercenaries on Russian lands. And this, despite their warlike disposition!
• Many historical sources indicate that the Varangians could marry (and married) Slavic when they were on Russian soil.
• The word "Viking" of Scandinavian origin is translated as "pirate".

• The descendants of the legendary Rurik came from the Varangians.
• Yaroslav defeated Svyatopolk at Lyubech, thanks to Veliky Novgorod, where he hired the Varangians as his soldiers.
• However, the work of 1072 “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs” does not say anything about a special detachment of Varangian mercenaries.
• A number of historians believe that the role of the Varangians in the formation of Ancient Russia mainly has an annalistic version and refers more to legends than to real historical facts.

• Western European chronicles do not have a single mention of the Varangians on the territory of Russia.
• All reliable sources about the mysterious people on the territory of Russia, Scandinavia and Byzantium were written no earlier than in the 11th century.
• In the annals of Nestor, the Russian Varangians are called Slavic robbers. This theory, of course, is not shared by Normanists.
• The Eastern Slavs called the Baltic Sea the "Varangian Sea". And the path known as “the path from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed along the Slavic rivers.

Who are the Varangians?

Today, nothing is known about the ethnicity of the Varangians, as well as about the places of their settlement. For the first time the Varangians are mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" by the monk Nestor. This very name is Varangians- known only in connection with the history of Ancient Russia. In other sources, this name is completely absent. Perhaps for this reason, these tribes, which the Russian people called the Varangians, cause so many different questions and interpretations today.

The Varangians, according to Nestor, lived on the Scandinavian Peninsula, from which it follows that they were Vikings. In the annals, this information is confirmed by the words: "In the year 6367 (859) the Varangians took tribute from overseas ... and ... in the year 6370 (862) they expelled the Varangians overseas and did not give them tribute." The Tale of Bygone Years. - // Old Russian literature. - M., 1996. - S. 21. The word "overseas" allows us to assume that the territory of the Varangians was on the northern coast of the Baltic Sea, i.e. in what is now Sweden. CM. Solovyov, following N.M. Karamzin identifies the Varangians with the Vikings - the Normans. A. Mazurov in his article "The Formation of the Old Russian State" develops this version and even believes that the name Rus is by no means of Slavic origin, but "... most likely came from the North and was formed from the name of the southern coast of Sweden Ruslagen." Encyclopedia for children: V. 5, part 1. (History of Russia and its closest neighbors). - M., 1995. - S. 137.

We met a somewhat strange, in our opinion, version in the modern work "Kievan Rus", the author of which is Svetlana Zhuk. Here is her statement in full. "One way or another, there is no doubt that the Varangians have much in common with the Scandinavians - northern people (Normans or Vikings). Their name, according to some scientists, is the Slavic-Russian form of the Scandinavian or German word waering, or warang, the meaning of which is not enough clear.

The names of the first Russian Varangian princes and their warriors are almost all of Scandinavian origin. The same names are also found in the Scandinavian sagas: Rurik - Hrekr, Truvor - Thorvardr, Oleg (according to the ancient Kievan pronunciation for "o") - Helgi, the female form Olga - Helga, Igor - Jngvarr, Askold - Haskuldr, etc.

As a rule, the Varangians came to us as armed merchants who were heading to rich Byzantium in order to serve the emperor profitably, trade with a profit, and sometimes take part in robberies, if the opportunity presented itself. "Zhuk S.M. Kievan Rus. - M ., 2007. - S. 7. We see here a clear mixture of several versions: the Norman theory and the opinion that the Varangians were mercenary warriors. In addition to them, a new provision has been added about the Varangians-merchants. Nowhere in the literature have we found anything like this Moreover, S. M. Zhuk herself does not give any serious arguments in favor of this provision. The only evidence is the fact that Oleg and his people lured Askold and Dir from Kyiv, calling themselves merchants. However, this does not at all prove the position that the Varangians were engaged in In addition, other researchers do not confirm this. As for the arguments in favor of the Scandinavian origin of the Varangians, they are typical of the Normans and raise a lot of questions. Yuri Pe Tukhov, to whom modern venerable historians are rather skeptical, objects to this: “The initial residence of the Rus in Scandinavia and Northern Europe is still affecting today. Modern, extremely Germanized as a result of the late Germanic expansion, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish can be attributed to the Germanic group of languages ​​with a very big stretch (even in those phrases that are constantly heard like "Svenska bladet", "svensk-rysk ordbok", "historiska museum", we clearly and clearly see and hear Russian (Slavic) suffixes, and by no means German "Swedish-Rusish")". Petukhov Y.D. Normans - Russ of the North. - M., 2008. - P. 79. And if we carefully read the foreign words cited by both authors, we will understand that Y. Petukhov is much more right in his statements than S. Zhuk. correct view of the problem.

The Slavophiles believed that the Varangians were by no means Scandinavians, they were of Slavic origin and lived next door to the Ilmen Slovenes. Encyclopedia for children: V. 5, part 1. (History of Russia and its closest neighbors). - M., 1995. - S. 137. V.N. Demin also believes that the Varangians were neighbors of the northern Slavic tribes and inhabited the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. These Varangian tribes were called Rus and this name subsequently passed to the created state of the Eastern Slavs. Demin V. What is Old Russian Literature? - // Reader on the history of Russia. - / A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgiev, N.G. Georgieva, T.A. Sivokhina - M., 2004. - P. 10. This version is supported by many researchers, in particular, the modern scientist N.I. Khodakovsky in his work "Third Rome" also notes that the Varangians lived to the west of the Ilmen Slovenes, on the southern coast of the Baltic. Khodakovsky N.I. Third Rome. - M., 2002. - S. 9-10.

We will consider the question of the places of residence of the Varangians a little later. In this chapter, we are interested in the question of the ethnicity of these tribes.

We know about the Varangians due to the fact that the Varangians, again according to Nestor, had already conquered the territory of northern Russia, i.e. East Slavic tribes living in the North Russian territories, as well as the Chud and Merya tribes. Moreover, they were expelled by the united tribes, and later the Varangian prince Rurik was invited to reign in Novgorod. The Tale of Bygone Years. - P. 21. No other sources have recorded any other facts of contact between the Eastern Slavs and the Varangians. The evidence of Nestor does not at all give grounds for identifying the Varangians with the Vikings. From numerous sources, we know that the Viking tribes were very warlike, aggressive and had excellent weapons. They made predatory raids, leaving behind only death and destruction. Carnage was normal for them, because. from childhood, each of them was brought up as a fearless warrior. After devastating raids, which resembled a deadly hurricane, they went home, not staying anywhere for a long time and not establishing their own rules. The main goal of their raids was robbery, and not the conquest of new territories and the subjugation of the population. A similar feature is characteristic of tribes that were at the stage of military democracy, i.e. in the process of formation. This stage of development is characterized by military aggression against neighboring peoples with the sole purpose of profit. The princely power in this period is going through the process of its formation, and power is not yet inherited. Warriors choose the strongest and bravest warrior as a prince, who has shown himself more than once in battle. From all this it follows that it is still too early to talk about state unification among such tribes. According to K. Marx, the stage of military democracy corresponds to the period of decomposition of the primitive communal system.

The management of the conquered territories requires from the conquering people, first of all, a certain historical experience of statehood. The wealth exported from the conquered territories should be sent to the state of the conquerors, otherwise, why else do you need to conquer other peoples? However, we are well aware that the state formations among the Vikings begin to form only by the 11th-12th centuries. And Nestor describes the events of the 7th - 9th centuries. From here we clearly see that the Varangians could not possibly be Vikings. In addition, the princes of the Vikings were called kings, and the most fearless warriors were called berserkers or berserkers. These names quite often appear in various European sources in relation to the era of Viking raids on Europe - the end of the 10th - the beginning of the 11th centuries. But we do not find these names anywhere in relation to the Varangians. Invited to Novgorod, Rurik was called a prince, not a king, and there were no berserkers with him.

Again, let's pay attention to the period of the terrible Viking raids, which terrified the whole of Europe. This is the period of the end of the X - XI centuries. Rurik arrived in Novgorod in 862, i.e. in the second half of the 9th century, when no one had heard anything about any Vikings in Europe. It can be assumed that in the VIII-IX centuries. such an ethnic entity as the Vikings did not yet exist. All this absolutely does not allow us to identify the Varangians, with whom our distant ancestors had to deal, with the Scandinavian Vikings. But who, then, were these mysterious Varangians, about whom heated disputes have not ceased to this day?

L.N. Gumilyov, and after him S. Lesnoy, believe that the Varangians were not some kind of ethnic entity, the very name - Varangians - is a team. The Varangians, in their opinion, were mercenary warriors whose only job was war. "... In the annals

(Nestor - ed.) We are talking about paying mercenary Varangian detachments for service (and this is preserved in the Icelandic sagas that the Varangians entered into weather contracts, and there are even indications of the amounts paid by Russia to ordinary Varangian warriors, as well as their chiefs). Russia paid salaries to mercenary troops who ensured its peaceful existence ("sharing the world"), because in the presence of a permanent army, no one dared to attack Russia counting on easy prey. "Lesnoy S. Where are you from, Russia? The collapse of the Norman theory. - M ., 2007 - P. 21. A similar version is contained in the work of the Doctor of Philosophical Sciences of the 19th century Egor Klassen E. Klassen The Ancient History of the Slavs Issues 1-3 1854-1861 St. Petersburg: "Leningrad Publishing House", 2011. - S. 121-127.

However, in the work of S. Lesnoy there are no references to the sources he used, which in itself raises doubts. In addition, it is quite possible that in these Icelandic sagas the name appears not of the Varangians, but of the Vikings, who were actually hired by European rulers, about which there is a large amount of information. As for the Russians, ie. Slavic princes, we have not found anywhere mention that Prince Vladimir or Yaroslav the Wise, for example, kept mercenary troops with them and paid them for their service.

All history textbooks describe in detail the victories of the first Russian princes. There is no need to list all these brilliant campaigns of Oleg, Svyatoslav and other Russian rulers. It is unlikely that these victories would have been possible with mercenary troops, because, as you know, mercenaries work for money and will not risk their lives in vain. Moreover, perhaps the author did not understand what kind of Russia he was talking about. The fact is that not only the Eastern Slavs called themselves Rus, but also the Western ones. For example, Apollon Kuzmin in his most interesting work "The Beginning of Russia" reads: "... a densely populated island of the Russians is not Scandinavia or Gotland. There are a number of islands of suitable size near the southern and eastern coasts of the Baltic." Kuzmin A.G. Beginning of Russia. Secrets of the birth of the Russian people. - M.: Veche, 2006. - S. 178. Thus, there is a possible misinterpretation of the source. In addition, Nestor's chronicle clearly states that the Varangians ruled the northern Russian lands for some time, and were subsequently called to Novgorod also for management, i.e. Novgorodians invited the prince primarily as a ruler. But the chiefs, whose only profession is war, cannot be engaged in the economic and political life of an entire people settled over a fairly vast territory. And the Novgorodians themselves, thorough and serious people, would hardly want to be commanded as a military detachment.

The Novgorod lands prospered due to the development of handicrafts and trade, and, of course, they needed a ruler who would skillfully manage the economy of the people, protect their interests and, if necessary, with weapons in their hands.

In those days, the prince himself led his army on campaigns against enemies, which, in addition to control, also gave the Russian people reliable protection. Rurik came to Novgorod with his retinue; in those distant times, the squad and the prince were, as it were, a single whole and were connected by personal relationships based on camaraderie. The squad was personally devoted to their prince. A simple mercenary warrior could not have his own squad ( highlighted by us). However, the question of who Rurik came to Russia with still causes numerous controversies.

Nestor tells that Rurik arrived with his brothers: Sineus and Truvor, who also sat down to rule in the cities. The Tale of Bygone Years. - P. 19. At the same time, the chronicle does not report who else arrived with Rurik. N.M. Karamzin and S.M. Solovyov and convey this version. L.N. Gumilyov believes that the ancient chronicle was translated incorrectly, which also distorted the meaning. He claims that the chronicle says: "Rurik blue hus truvor." In modern language, this means: "Rurik with a house and a squad." Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. - M., 2006. - S. 26-27. Thus, Rurik arrived with his family and squad.

We have already noted that in those days the prince and his squad were one. Each prince had his own squad and went on campaigns with it. Novgorodians did not have a ruler-prince at that time, which means that they also did not have military power, except for the people's militia. But the people's militia is an unprofessional army that needs organization, training and management by professional soldiers. In this regard, there is no doubt that Rurik arrived in Novgorod along with his retinue. Moreover, in the future, no information about the Rurik brothers is contained anywhere. The first Russian tsars called themselves Rurikovich, trying to emphasize their ancient and lofty origin. The fact of the existence of two other dynasties, equal to the Rurikovich, could not go unnoticed. From this we conclude that Rurik really arrived in the camp of the Ilmen Slovenes with his family and squad, and there were no brothers with him. However, why did the thorough and serious Novgorodians send their ambassadors for the prince precisely to the Varangians? Yes, for the simple reason that the Varangians were Russian tribes, related to the Novgorod Slovenes, and spoke with them in the same Old Russian language. In the work of the Russian researcher of the late 19th - early 20th century, Alexander Krasnitsky, it is clearly indicated that the Varangians were tribes related to the Novgorodians: "The Veche agreed with Gostomysl. It was finally decided to call the princes from across the sea, from the Varangians - the Russians." Krasnitsky A.I. Varangians (trilogy). T. 1: In the distance of centuries; The Thunderstorm of Byzantium (parts 1.2): Novels / M .: Mir knigi, Literature, 2009. - S. 91. In none of the sources did we find any mention that the arrived Rurik communicated with the Slavs through an interpreter. Slavs and Varangians freely communicated with each other, understanding each other perfectly. As for the Normans or Vikings, their language was clearly not Slavic. Modern descendants of the Vikings are Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. It is unlikely that we will understand them without an appropriate translation. The ancient Russian language can be understood by a modern Russian in general terms, even taking into account the fact that most of the words used then have long been forgotten. Moreover, modern Russian people can communicate without an interpreter both with Poles, Bulgarians, and with other descendants of the ancient Slavic tribes, because. their languages ​​developed on the same basis. Perhaps the Slavs called the Vikings and the Varangians the same word. Because these two names are consonant with each other. Or maybe the word Varangian really came from the word enemy or enemy. Considering that the Slavs had to free themselves from the power of the Varangians, then, probably, for some time they really considered the Varangians their conquering enemies. And hence the name of specific conquerors migrated to the entire ethnic group. Titles vikings, as we have already shown, in the VII-IX centuries. the Slavs did not know, therefore the name Varangians or enemies carried over to Vikings much later, namely at the end of the X-XI centuries. It was during this period of time that the Scandinavian Vikings really tried to make predatory campaigns on the northern Russian lands and established themselves in Russia as the worst enemies. But these campaigns were, apparently, rather short-lived. Obviously, there were reasons for this.

First of all, the Vikings penetrated into Russia through the White Sea, according to the official version, which was clearly problematic for them due to weather conditions. For most of the year, the northern seas are under ice, which did not allow the Vikings to linger for a long time and go deep into Russian territories, despite the attractiveness of Russian lands. Staying in enemy territory for a long time was extremely dangerous. Hence the lightning speed of predatory raids. In addition, it seems that the Vikings met with a serious military rebuff in the Russian lands. The military power of the Russians was afraid even in Byzantium, not to mention the neighboring smaller state formations. And the Russian princes could give a very serious rebuff to uninvited guests. Obviously, the powerful military resistance of the Russians, who were not inferior in strength, courage and weapons to the Vikings, became the most important factor that prevented the Vikings from making predatory raids on Russia for a long time and moving far south along the Russian full-flowing rivers. Moreover, in the first centuries of the formation of the Old Russian state, the Russians themselves often carried out predatory raids on their neighbors and had vast experience in such matters. So it was not difficult for them to give a good beating to the impudent Vikings. Europe, on the other hand, suffered from Viking raids for a very long time, which was a real disaster for it.

CM. Zhuk in the work "Kievan Rus" states: "In 862 ... they (Novgorodians - ed.) went to the Varangian tribe, which, according to the chronicler, was called" Rus "(similar to how other Varangian tribes were called Swedes, Normans , Angles, Goths)". Zhuk S.M. Decree. op. - S. 9-10. As you can see, the author not only separates the Swedes and the Normans, referring them to different Varangian tribes, but also ranks the Angles here, and is ready. At the same time, there is a reference to the "Tale of Bygone Years" in the work. But for some reason, not a single serious researcher has found anything like this in the Tale. There are no references to other sources in S. Zhuk's work. What is also rather surprising to us about said work is that it has been edited scientific editor, candidate of historical sciences, Mr. D.A. Vanyukov ( highlighted by us).

Thus, after a collision with Viking robbers, the Russians automatically transferred the name Varangian enemy on them, which probably caused confusion in the reading of The Tale of Bygone Years by different researchers. But the Varangians-Vikings of the X-XI centuries. and the Varangians, with whom Russia contacted in the 7th-9th centuries. - not the same tribes and peoples(highlighted by us).

We argue that the Vikings of the 7th-9th centuries. and Ilmen Slovenes were Russian tribes and had a common origin, but eventually settled in different territories.

In favor of the version that the Varangians were Russian, many modern researchers also speak out. In particular, V.N. Demin, V.N. Nazarov and V.F. Aristov in his wonderful book "Mysteries of the Russian Mesopotamia" draw conclusions based on a deep linguistic analysis of Russian names. "... In various versions of the poetic legend, the name of the hero itself sounds differently: for example, Yagor (Yagor) or even Yogor (Yogor). This suggests that the original name Yegor could sound like Igor and, therefore, according to its original roots, the names Yegor and Igor are identical, and the latter is of primordially Russian origin, and is not a modified Scandinavian Gyurgi or Ingvar (as Russophobe historians and Norman etymologists have been insisting on for more than two hundred years). Demin V.N., Nazarov V.N., Aristov V.F. Mysteries of Russian Mesopotamia. - M.: Veche, 2008. - S. 59. Above, we have already given the arguments of the Normanists, based also on the alleged linguistic analysis of all the same names.

In the same work, we meet with another very interesting version of the origin of the Russian people and the ruling Rurik dynasty from the Romans and the Roman Emperor Augustus Octavian. "The latter, allegedly after the defeat of the troops of Anthony and Cleopatra in Egypt, sent his pimp and associate named Prus to the banks of the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea, where he became the ruler, and the lands entrusted to him were called Prussia. Nine centuries later, Prus appeared in the family Prince Rurik, who, on the advice of the Novgorod ruler Gostomysl, was invited to reign in Russia and laid the foundation for the first grand ducal dynasty. Ibid - S. 53-54. We will not analyze this version, because This is a topic for a completely different study and is beyond the scope of this work. We will return to this quote in the next chapter, but in connection with a different problem. Here, it is important for us to confirm our version that the Varangians who came to Russia and the Norman Vikings are completely different ethnic groups that had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

It is worth noting another very interesting version in this regard. It is cited by Apollon Kuzmin, quoting a statement by a certain researcher N.Ya. Marr that "the Normans and the Rus are the same thing, equally having nothing connecting exclusively with the north of Europe, when it comes to the Rus, nothing exclusively German when it comes to the Normans." But then the author laments: "A very deep and, unfortunately, completely undeveloped thought." Kuzmin A.G. Decree. Op. - P. 175. Perhaps, if this thought had been more developed, then the conclusions could have been made much deeper.

From the foregoing, it is only clear that the Normans are not Scandinavians. But summing up our reasoning, we can confidently assert that the Varangians, about whom Nestor wrote in his "Tale of Bygone Years" in the story about their calling to Russia, were not just Scandinavians in origin. Moreover, they were Russian and constituted with the Russian northern tribes in the 9th century, in fact, one ethnic group and had a common origin, as well as a common language.

Ancient sources that have come down to us, under the Varangians or Vikings, mean warriors of Scandinavian origin who terrified medieval England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and other countries. They also served as military mercenaries, whom the rulers invited during internecine wars. For example, Norman warriors served at the court of the Byzantine emperor. The princes of Ancient Russia also invited the militant northern neighbors to serve.

The first mention of the Varangians on the territory appears in the 9th century. The Scandinavians discovered not only the famous trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", but also the rich country of Rus, which amazed them with the number and wealth of cities. Hence the name of our country in the Old Norse legends - "Gardarik". The legend about the arrival of the Varangian or, but it was the Scandinavian, Rurik with his brothers, who founded the state of Russia on the Slavic lands, causes a lot of controversy. Such a legend was needed by the Russian medieval nobility - princes, boyars, churchmen. They, just like the representatives of the feudal authorities in any other country, had to impress on their subjects that they differ from the rest in their origin. Its exclusivity had to be strengthened and reinforced. It is considered the main reason for the birth of the legend about the origin of Russian princes from the noble family of the Scandinavian king Rurik. This gave the descendants of Rurik and his brothers the right to boast, separating themselves from others, claiming that they are "white bone", and "blue blood" flows in their veins. It is this theory of the appearance in the first Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" of the legend of the origin of the ancient Russian state from overseas Varangians that the great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov opposes his own theory of the emergence of the Varangians in the ancient Slavic lands.

Based on world history, the bloodthirsty Vikings ruined, burned, drove the indigenous population, but did not form a state anywhere. Why would they start doing this on the lands of those Slavic tribes who lived at that time on the territory of Ancient Russia? In addition, it is known that even missionaries used weapons in their practice, and not just the Bible. But about the Varangians in the ancient Russian chronicles, on which the adherents of the origin of Russia from the Normans rely, there is no description of their bloodthirstiness. They are rather guests, though not always welcome, but they are guests - merchants, merchants, military mercenaries. The lack of their own lands, which were suitable for cultivation, forced many noble Scandinavians to go in search of a better, more well-fed life far beyond the seas. Most often in the role of military mercenaries. It was in this role that the ancient Scandinavians appeared - the Varangians in Russia.

The free city of Novgorod, which itself decided which prince would rule it, invited Rurik and his retinue to his service. It was for the service for which they were paid a reward. Reward is not only money, gold, silver. It could be land, hunting and fishing grounds. For the Varangian mercenaries, the laws of Russia were also obligatory. They could marry Slavs, adopt Slavic customs. Very often the Varangians settled so firmly in their new homeland that they forgot their native language. All archaeological finds associated with the ancient Scandinavians are found only in large cities that were located on the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Therefore, there was no mass settlement of the Varangians in Ancient Russia. Rather, this can be interpreted as assimilation, although M. V. Lomonosov did not consider that the Varangians were Scandinavians, but attributed them to the tribes of the same Eastern Slavs that inhabited Ancient Russia.