Preparation for school

Norman theory. On the question of the origin of the Varangians. Varangians - who are they? Where did the Varangians live?

The “Varangian question” is usually understood as a set of problems:

the ethnicity of the Varangians in general and the Rus people 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 solve a purely historical problem were often politicized and combined with the national issue. In the XVIII - first half of the XX centuries. the Norman theory (“Normanism”) was accused of praising the superiority of the Germanic race; this connection has now been dismissed as unscientific. In Soviet times, historians were forced to be guided by party guidelines, as a result of which chronicles and other data were rejected as fiction if they suggested Scandinavians among the founders of the Russian state.

Etymology

Retrospectively, Russian chroniclers of the late 11th century attributed the Varangians to the middle of the 9th century (“the calling of the Varangians”). In the Icelandic sagas the Varangians ( væringjar) appear when describing the service of Scandinavian warriors in Byzantium at the beginning of the 11th century. The Byzantine chronicler of the 2nd half of the 11th century, Skylitsa, first reports about the Varangians (Varangs) when describing the events of 1034, when the Varangian detachment was in Asia Minor. Concept Varangians also recorded in the work of the scientist from ancient Khorezm Al-Biruni (g.): “ A large bay is separated 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 varanki, and these are the people on its shore.» 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 Rus' was highlighted.

The famous expert on Byzantium V. G. Vasilievsky believed that the Greek name “varangi” ( Βάραγγοι ) and the Russian “Varangians” were formed independently of each other. He believed the first to come from the Greek words “farangi” ( ϕάραγγοι ), that is, francs or "marangs" Μαράγγο , that is, “a stranger from the sea,” and the second - came from the language of the Crimean Goths and, through the Normans, borrowed by Russian mercenaries in the service of Byzantium. Subsequently, as a result of a chronicler's mistake, these two terms merged into one.
The translator of the sagas from Old Icelandic O. I. Senkovsky expressed the following versions of the origin of the word “Varyags”. In his opinion, “Varangians” meant a distortion of the Slavic self-name of the Viking squad - felag. The lexeme “verings” (væringjar) that arose later in Byzantium could have been borrowed from the Rus, that is, distorted “Varangians”.
Tatishchev also suggested, referring to Stralenberg, the origin of varg - “wolf”, “robber”
Another common version - “Varangians” comes from ancient Germanic. wara(oath, oath), that is, the Varangians were warriors who took an oath. Max Vasmer, generally adhering to this etymology, derives the word from the supposed Scandinavian *váringr, vœringr, from vár “fidelity, guarantee, vow”, that is, “allies, members of a corporation”
According to A. G. Kuzmin, the word comes from the Celtic var(water), that is, the Varangians meant the inhabitants (according to Kuzmin: the Slavic Celts) of the coast in general (analogous to the etymology in Russian: Pomors). In his opinion, the word “Varangians” goes back to the ethnonym “Varina” or “Varna”, through the intermediate ethnonym “Varangi”, from which the ancient Russian derives. “Varangians” and “Varangian Sea”, and possibly “Vagrs” and “Varns” (in German translation the names of some tribes of the Baltic Slavs).
The 19th century historian S. A. Gedeonov found another similar meaning in the Baltic-Slavic dictionary of the Drevan dialect, published by I. Pototsky in 1795 in Hamburg: warang"sword".
Herberstein, being an adviser to the ambassador to the Moscow state in the 1st half of the 16th century, was one of the first Europeans to become acquainted with Russian chronicles and expressed his opinion on the origin of the Varangians:

...since they themselves call the Baltic Sea the Varangian Sea... I thought that due to their proximity, their princes were Swedes, Danes or Prussians. However, Lübeck and the Duchy of Holstein were once bordered by the Vandal region with the famous city of Vagria, so it is believed that the Baltic Sea received its name from this Vagria; since ... the Vandals were then not only distinguished by their 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 to cede power to foreigners who were different from them and faith, and customs, and language.

Varangians in Rus'

Varangians-Rus

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

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

In Russian service

The last mention of the Varangian mercenaries as part of the Russian army was placed in 1036, when they took part in the battle under the walls of Kyiv with the Pechenegs.

Varangians and Germans

Varangians in Byzantium

In Byzantine sources, the Varangians appear under their own name in the 11th century, sometimes together with the Rus. Starting from the 9th century, Greek chronicles mention fargans (φαργανοι) as the emperor’s guards: in the “Psamathian Chronicle,” a document of the 1st half of the 10th century, and in “On Ceremonies” by Constantine Porphyrogenitus

Mercenaries

For the first time, Varangians in Byzantine service were noted in the chronicle of Skylitzes in 1034 in Asia Minor (theme of Thrakezon), where they were placed in winter quarters. When one of the Varangians tried to forcefully seize a local woman, she responded by stabbing the rapist with his own sword. The delighted Varangians gave the woman the property of the murdered man, and threw away his body, refusing burial.

The ethnic understanding of the word “Varangians” by the Byzantines is evidenced by letters of grant (chrisovuls) from the archives of the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Athos. The emperors' charters freed the Lavra from military duties and listed the contingents of mercenaries in Byzantine service. In Chrysobul No. 33 of 1060 (from Emperor Constantine X Duca) the Varangians, Rus, Saracens, and Franks are indicated. In Chrysobul No. 44 of 1082 (from Emperor Alexei I Komnenos), the list changes - Rus, Varangians, Kulpings, Inglins, Germans. In Chrysobul No. 48 of 1086 (from Emperor Alexios I Komnenos), the list expands significantly - Rus, Varangians, Kulpings, Inglins, Franks, Germans, Bulgarians and Saracens. In old editions of 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 photocopies of the original documents appeared.

Emperors Guard

In Byzantine sources of the 12th-13th centuries, the mercenary corps of the Varangians is often referred to as ax-carrying guard of the emperors (Τάγμα των Βαραγγίων). By this time its ethnic composition had changed. Thanks to the Chrysovuls, it became possible to establish that the influx of Englishmen (Inglins) into Byzantium apparently began after 1066, that is, after the conquest of England by the Norman Duke William. Soon immigrants from England began to predominate in the Varangian corps.

Foreigners had previously been used as palace guards, but only the Varangians acquired the status of the permanent personal guard of the Byzantine emperors. The head of the Varangian Guard was called Akoluf, which means "accompanying". In a 14th-century work by Pseudo-Codin, a definition is given: “ Akoluf is in charge of the Varangs; accompanies the basileus at their head, which is why he is called akoluth».

The saga of Hakon Broad-shouldered from the “Earthly Circle” series tells of the battle in 1122 between the Byzantine Emperor John II and the Pechenegs in Bulgaria. Then the “flower of the army,” a selected detachment of verings of 450 people under the command of Thorir Helsing, was the first to break into the nomadic camp, surrounded by carts with loopholes, which allowed the Byzantines to win.

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

Varangians in Scandinavia

Word Værings found on 11th century rune stones Ög 111 and Ög 68. In northern Norway, near the Russian Murmansk, there is the Varanger Peninsula and the bay of the same name. For the first time the Varangians væringjar(verings) appear in the Scandinavian sagas recorded in the 12th century. Verings were the name given to mercenaries in Byzantium.

“went east to Gardariki [Rus], and spent the winter there. 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.”

In “The Saga of Saint Olaf” and “The Life of Saint Olaf” the Varangians appear in a slightly different capacity: a slave-blacksmith in Novgorod of Norwegian origin is called a Varing.

In the Saga of Egil Skalagrímsson, Egil in one of the vises calls himself and his people “væringja”.

Varangians in the toponymy of Europe

Russia Ukraine

Varangolimen is a bay in the western part of Crimea. First appears on Pietro Visconte's nautical chart of 1311.

Ukraine

“Varyazhsky Island” is one of the islands at the confluence of the river. Trubezh to the Dnieper in 1223;
Varandigo - the toponym appears only on the Conte Ottomani Ferducci map of 1497.

France

Saint Pierre de Warengiville near Dieppe, Normandy. First mention - 1154-164 as Warengiervilla.
Varengeville sur mer near Dieppe, Normandy. First mentioned in 1035 as Waringivilla.
Waringueval, modern village of Zote near Dieppe. First mention - 1173.
Waringzelle north of Boulogne on Cape Gris-Nez, Normandy. First mentioned - Waringueselle, 1583
Warinchtun north of Boulogne on Cape Gris-Nez, Normandy.

Holland

Wieringen is a commune and island of the same name in the Netherlands in the group of West Frisian Islands. The first reliable mention is 1184.

England

Warrington at the Mersey Estuary, Lancashire. The earliest mention is under 1086 in the Domesday Book: Walentune.
Wallingford, Oxford County. One of King Alfred the Great's burghs, built against the Normans. First mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book: Warengeford.

Sweden

Väringsö, an island in Sweden on the main fairway to Stockholm (Roslagen). First mention - 1561

Notes

, With. 225.
, With. 226.
, With. 227.
A Tale of Bygone Years
N. M. Karamzin. “History of the Russian State” Chapter IV RURIK, SINEUS AND TRUVOR. G. 862-879
History of the Russian language Lecture by A. A. Zaliznyak
V. N. Tatishchev, I. N. Boltin
Chronicles from the 16th century, starting with “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir”
A. G. Kuzmin, V. V. Fomin
Anokhin G.I. “New hypothesis of the origin of the state in Rus ”; A. Vasiliev: Publication of the IRI RAS “S. A. Gedeonov Varangians and Rus'.” M.2004.p.-476 and 623/ L. S. Klein “The Dispute about the Varangians” St. Petersburg.2009.P.-367/ Collection of the Institute of Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences “The Expulsion of the Normans from Russian History” M.2010.P.-300 ; G.I. Anokhin: Collection of the Russian Historical Society “Antinormanism”. M.2003.P.-17 and 150/ Edition of the IRI RAS “S. A. Gedeonov Varangians and Rus'.” M.2004.p.-626/ I. E. Zabelen “History of Russian life” Minsk.2008.p.-680/ L. S. Klein “Dispute about the Varangians” St. Petersburg.2009.p.-365/ Collection IRI RAS “Exile of the Normans from Russian History” M.2010.P.-320.
The term “Russian trade” (salt extraction) refers to the text of the Grand Duke’s charter: “The city of salt - Staraya Russa in the late 16th - mid 18th centuries.” G.S. Rabinovich, L.1973 - p.23.
I. Evers. Preliminary critical research for Russian history. . - Translation from German. - Moscow: Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities Lovers, 1825. - T. 1. - P. 213. - 366 p.
Golubovsky P. V. Pechenegs, Torks and Cumans before the invasion of the Tatars (History of the southern Russian steppes in the 9th-13th centuries). - K.: University. type. I. I. Zavadsky, 1884. - P. 51.
P.V.Golubovsky. Pechenegs, Torks and Cumans before the Tatar invasion. History of the southern Russian steppes in the 9th-13th centuries. . - Kyiv: University Printing House (I. I. Zavadsky), 1881. - P. 110. - 91 p.
Degree book. I. 50: “Kievstia princes Oskold and Dir... captivated the Roman country, with them I gave birth to the names of Rus', like the Cumans, living in Euxinopont (on the Black Sea coast), and with those Rus', King Basil I the Macedonian created a peaceful dispensation...”. The Nikon Chronicle considers Askold and Dir to be the princes of precisely these “born of the people of Rus', like the Cumans, living in Euxinopont...” (I. P. 21). The same is given in the Russian-Slavic edition of the translation of Chronicles by Zonara (CHOIDR. 1847. No. I. P. 99-103). The Serbian edition of the same monument, without mentioning Askold and Dir, writes: “Rus, the Cuman of existence, lived in Euxine and planned to capture the Roman country...” (Starine. Knj. XIV. S. 138-139).
Fomin V. A. Varyago-Russian question in historiography.
See History of Normanism in Soviet times
V. O. Klyuchevsky. Course of Russian history. Lecture IX.
Evers considered the Khazars as a cultural and political community of different tribes, including the Slavs of the Great Steppe, but believed that we will never know the exact ethnicity of the Russian clan, and this is not important at all.
V.Ya.Petrukhin. Varangians and Khazars in the history of Rus'. 2017
Melnikova E. A., Petrukhin V. Ya. “The Legend of the Calling of the Varangians” in a comparative historical aspect // XI All-Union Conference on the Study of History, Economics, Literature and Language of the Scandinavian Countries and Finland / Editorial Board: Yu. V. Andreev and etc. - M., 1989. - Issue. 1. - pp. 108-110.
Petrukhin V. Ya. Chapter 4. To the initial history of the Russian state // The beginning of the ethnocultural history of Rus' in the 9th-11th centuries. M., 1995.
Petrukhin V. Ya. Legend about the calling of the Varangians and the Baltic region // Ancient Rus'. Questions of medieval studies. 2008. No. 2 (32). pp. 41-46.
Melnikova E. A. Row in the Legend of the Calling of the Varangians and its European and Scandinavian parallels // Melnikova E. A. Ancient Rus' and Scandinavia: Selected Works / ed. G. V. Glazyrina and T. N. Dzhakson. - M.: Russian Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Science, 2011. - P. 249-256.
Petrukhin V. Ya. Rus' in the 9th-10th centuries. From the calling of the Varangians to the choice of faith / 2nd edition, rev. and additional - M.: FORUM: Neolith, 2014.
Melnikova E. A. Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in the Old Russian historiographical tradition// The most ancient states of Eastern Europe. 1998 / Rep. ed. T. M. Kalinina. - M.: Vost. lit., 2000. - 494 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-02-018133-1..
Ancient Rus' through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (IX-XII centuries). Course of lectures Danilevsky I. N.
K. Tiander. Danish-Russian studies. Petrograd. 1915
Skylitzes' message is repeated by the 12th-century Byzantine author Kedrin.
Al-Biruni, “Teaching the beginnings of astronomical science.” The identification of the Varanks with the Varangians is generally accepted, for example A. L. Nikitin, “Foundations of Russian History. Mythologems and facts"; A. G. Kuzmin, “On the ethnic nature of the Varangians” and others.
Vasilievsky V.G., Varangian-Russian and Varangian-English squad in Constantinople in the 11th and 12th centuries. //Vasilievsky V.G., Proceedings, volume I, St. Petersburg, 1908
V. V. Fomin. Chapter 1 Anti-Normanism of the 19th century// Varangians and Varangian Rus'. To the results of the discussion on the Varangian issue. - Moscow: Panorama, 2005. - 123 p. - ISBN 5-93165-132-2.
Vasilievsky V.G., Varangian-Russian and Varangian-English squad in Constantinople in the 11th and 12th centuries. // Vasilievsky V. G., Proceedings, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1908
Notes to Eymundova's Saga: Senkovsky O.I., Collection. Op. St. Petersburg, 1858, t. 5
Book of historian Vasily Tatishchev Russian history. Varangians what people and where were
Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary
A.G. Kuzmin develops a hypothesis about the Celtic roots of the Rus tribe:
The Tale of Bygone Years translated by D. S. Likhachev
in the Novgorod I Chronicle this insert is missing, there literally: And I decided to myself: “Let’s look for a prince who would rule over us and rule over us by right.” I went across the sea to the Varangians and rkosha: “Our land is great and abundant, but we have no outfit; Yes, you will come to us to reign and rule over us" see Novgorod First Chronicle of the senior and junior editions. M., publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950, p. 106
Jackson T. N., Four Norwegian kings in Rus: from the history of Russian Norwegian political relations of the last third X - the first half of XI century. - M.: Languages of Russian culture, 2002
A Tale of Bygone Years. Per year 6488 (980).
See more in the article Vladimir I Svyatoslavich
The saga "The Strand of Eymund" (or Eymund's Saga) was preserved as part of the "Saga of Saint Olaf" in the only manuscript "The Book from the Flat Island", 1387-1394.
Saga “The Strand about Eymund”: in trans. E. A. Rydzevskoy
Peace treaty of Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich with German ambassadors ca. 1190. Discovered in the archives of Riga.
also the Tver Chronicle. PSRL.t.15 M.2000.s.-291.
Laptev A. Yu., Yashkichev V. I. Staraya Russa of the Apostle Andrew. - M.: Agar, 2007. - P.32 - 36.
“The Second Sofia Chronicle” M.2001.p.-206; and “Novgorod Fourth Chronicle according to Dubrovsky’s list” M.2000.p.-512. and overseas to Varyag to Rouse from 862
Typographic, Resurrection Chronicle
Second message to the Swedish king Johann III. Messages of Ivan the Terrible. M.-L., 1951, p. 157-158
GILES FLETCHER. ABOUT THE RUSSIAN STATE
Solovyov, S. M. History of Russia from ancient times / S. M. Solovyov. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg. : Comrade. "Public Benefit", 1851-1879. - T. 1, Chapter 3.
V. Fomin. Varangians in the correspondence of Ivan the Terrible with the Swedish King Johan III.
From the chronicle: “At this time, one of those called Fargans, drawing level with the deer, drew his sword.” The event dates back to 886 .
Constantini Porphyrogeneti imperatoris de Ceremoniis aulae byzantinae libri II, graece et latine, e recensione Jo. Jac. Reiskii, cum ejusdem commentariis integris… Accedit Hieroclis Synecdemus cum Bandurii et Wesselingii commentariis. Recognovit Immanuel Bekkerus. Impensis E. Weberi, 1840 p.576
Quote from the book by Yu. Venelin “Scandinavian mania and its fans, or centuries of research about the Varangians: Historical and critical discussion of Yuri Venelin” Moscow 1842: “Among the troops sent to Longobardy during the time of Emperor Roman Lekapin, the 8th indictment, there were mercenaries : from the big ether 31, from the middle 46, from the Fargans 45.”
“At this time, another event worthy of memory happened. One of the Varangs, scattered in the Thracian region for the winter, met a native woman in a deserted place and made an attempt on her chastity. Not having time to persuade her with persuasion, he resorted to violence; but the woman, snatching the man's sword from its scabbard, struck the barbarian in the heart and killed him on the spot. When her deed became known in the area, the Varangs gathered together and honored this woman, giving her all the property of the rapist, and he was abandoned without burial, in accordance with the law on suicides.”

The question of the origin of the term “Varang/Varangian” is thoroughly confused. Among the most common are two misconceptions: that this term originated in ancient Rus' and that it meant mainly Scandinavians. Meanwhile, both are false. In Rus', the word “Varangian” no earlier than the second half of the 11th century, that is, later than in Byzantium and even in the Arab East. Moreover, an analysis of the sources shows that the first mention in medieval literature of the people of the “Varanks” and the “Varank Sea” (“Varangian Sea”) belongs to the Arabic-speaking author - the Central Asian scientist al-Biruni (“Canon of Astronomy and Stars”, 1030) , who drew his information from Byzantium.

In turn, the Scandinavian sagas identify the “Varangians” and the Vikings. The Old Russian term "Varangian" was known in Scandinavia in the form "vaering". But this word came to the Scandinavian languages from outside. Moreover, the Warings in the sagas in most cases differ from the Viking Normans.

In Rus', the term “Varang/Varangian”, before acquiring the expanded meaning of “a native of overseas”, was applied primarily to the inhabitants of the Slavic Pomerania. Thus, in the introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years, the Varangians “sit down” to the Varangian Sea, in the vicinity of the Poles, Prussians and Chuds - the population of the southern coast of the Baltic. In the Nikon Chronicle, Rurik’s “Varangian Rus'” comes “from the Germans.” In the 1189 agreement between Novgorod and the Gothic coast, these same “Germans” appear as the Varangians - residents of the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic Pomerania, that is, former Slavic lands colonized in the 11th-12th centuries. German feudal lords. Finally, the Ipatiev Chronicle (Ermolaevsky List) directly states in an article dated 1305 that “Varyaz Pomorie” is located behind “Kgdansk” (Polish Gdansk, German Danzig), that is, again in the former Slavic Pomorie.

Arab writers in their news about the people of the “Varanks” are practically Russian chroniclers. According to their ideas, the “Varank” people lived on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, in its Slavic region. Finally, the Byzantine chronicler Nicephorus Bryennius in the second quarter of the 12th century. wrote that the Varangi “shield bearers” came “from a barbarian country near the Ocean and were distinguished from ancient times by their loyalty to the Byzantine emperors.” The phrase “near the Ocean” implies precisely the southern, and not the Scandinavian, coast of the Baltic.

However, despite the fact that the term “Varang/Varangian” was endowed with a certain ethnic content, a Slavic tribe with that name never existed. Meanwhile, the word “Varangian” existed primarily in the Slavic environment of the Baltic Pomerania and, moreover, had a certain symbolic meaning. In one place in Saxo Grammar you can read about the Slavic prince Warisin (that is, Varyazin, Varyag), defeated by the Danish king Omund in Jutland along with six other Slavic princes. The use of the word “Varangian” as a proper name convincingly testifies to its sacred meaning among the Slavs.

One philological find by Count I. Pototsky, who in 1795 published in Hamburg a dictionary that was still preserved in the 18th century, helps to clarify this meaning. Drevan dialect (Drevans are a Slavic tribe on whose land Hamburg arose). In it, among the surviving Drevani words, there was the word “warang” - “sword” ( Gedeonov S.A. Excerpts from research on the Varangian issue. 1862-64. T. II. pp. 159-160. It's him. Varangians and Rus'. St. Petersburg, 1876. pp. 167-169).

The word “varang” was destined for long adventures.

The Byzantines, apparently, became acquainted with him quite early, having heard him from the lips of the Pomeranian Slavs, who entered the Byzantine service together with the Rus, or from the Rus themselves. However, it was not in use in Constantinople, at least until the end of the 10th century. (“Varangs” are not yet in the list of imperial mercenaries by Constantine Porphyrogenitus). But the sonorous foreign word did not go unnoticed. At the turn of the X - XI centuries. The common people of Constantinople made it a household name, which is clear from the words of the Byzantine writer John Skylitzes that the Varangs “were called that in the common language.” This dating is also supported by the use of the word “varank” in the “Canon of Astronomy and Stars” by al-Biruni.

It follows that the term “varang” to designate a detachment of mercenaries arose in Byzantium, and not in Rus' and not in Scandinavia. From reports of medieval authors it is known that the Slavs and Rus revered the sword as a sacred object; in particular, oaths were taken on it. Therefore, Pototsky’s news gives the right to believe that by Varangs the Greeks meant sword-bearers who swore an oath of allegiance on the sword, in other words, Slavic warriors-bodyguards (hence the Slavic word “varit” - to protect, to protect). Officials of the imperial chancellery only legitimized this word from the local “argot” as the official term of state documents - chrisovuls *, and Byzantine writers of the 12th century introduced it into “high” literature. Meanwhile, in Greek it means nothing and, therefore, is a borrowing. Its literal coincidence with the Drevani "varang" proves that at the turn of the X - XI centuries. the hired Vendian Slavs in Byzantium began to be called “sword-bearers” - “varangs”** based on the type of their weapons. This is confirmed by the information of medieval Arab writers, gleaned mostly from the Byzantines, about the “Varank people” on the southern coast of the Baltic.

*Chrisovuli - decrees of the Byzantine emperors. Varangi are mentioned in the chrisovuls of the 60s - 80s. XI century, which freed houses, estates, monasteries, at the request of their owners and abbots, from the station of hired detachments. The latter are listed in the following order: Chrisovul of 1060 indicates “Varangs, Ros, Saracens, Franks”; Khrisovul 1075 - “grew up, Varangs, Kulpings [Old Russian Kolbyags], Franks, Bulgars or Sarakins”; Khrisovul 1088 - “Ros, Varangs, Kulpings, Yinglings, Franks, Nemits, Bulgars, Sarakin, Alans, Obes, “immortals” (a detachment of the Byzantine guard, whose numerical strength always remained unchanged - the warriors who left it were immediately replaced by others. - S. Ts.) and all the rest, Greeks and foreigners.” It is noteworthy that the Varangs constantly coexist with the Dews, as they come from the same region.
**Here it is appropriate to note that the characteristic weapon of the Vikings and the peoples of Northern Europe in general was not a sword, but an ax. Byzantine writers call the Norman mercenaries “axe-bearers”; They also call the Celts from the British Isles “axe-bearing Britons.”

Apparently, the need for a new term arose among the Greeks due to the need to distinguish the old “Rus-Franks” from the new ones - a large corps of Kyiv Rus, sent in 988 by Prince Vladimir to help Emperor Vasily II.

Later, the word “varang” in Byzantium acquired the meaning “faithful”, “one who took an oath of allegiance” - from the custom of the Pomeranian Slavs to swear on a sword. In this meaning it was included in the Byzantine chronicles. From the second half of the 11th century, when the influx of Pomeranian Slavs into Constantinople sharply decreased, the name Varangs was transferred to the inhabitants of the British Isles, mainly Celt-Britons. According to Skylitzes, “Varangi, by origin Celts, are hired servants of the Greeks.”

At one time, V. G. Vasilievsky convincingly showed that the Norman conquest of England in 1066 should have caused significant Anglo-Saxon emigration. But the island Britons experienced even greater oppression, since along with national oppression they were also affected by religious persecution. In 1074, Pope Gregory VII anathematized married priests. This was an attack not so much against the Greek Church as against the British-Irish Church, which lived according to a special charter that allowed, in particular, monks to live with their families and pass chairs by inheritance from father to son. Another decade later, in 1085, Gregory VII virtually eliminated the independence of the British-Irish Church. Therefore, mass emigration primarily affected not the Anglo-Saxons, but the Britons and other Celts, who continued to adhere to their beliefs (see: Vasilievsky V. G. Varangian-Russian and Varangian-English squad in Constantinople of the 11th and 12th centuries. Proceedings. St. Petersburg, 1908. T. 1).

The Britons, naturally, joined the Slavic corps of the Varangs for many years and did not immediately gain a numerical advantage in it. Their religious affiliation played an important role in the “bewitching” of the Britons. Slavic mercenaries, as a rule, adopted Greek-style Christianity in Constantinople. The Rus, and then the Varangs, had a special church in the Byzantine capital, which was called the Varangian Mother of God and was located at the western facade of the Church of Hagia Sophia. Evidence was found that it belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Britons, persecuted by the Roman Church, entering the Warang corps, also prayed in this temple and generally easily found a common language with Orthodoxy, which was facilitated by some common features of the Irish and Greek Churches: allowing marriage for priests, communion for the laity under two types (wine and bread), denial of purgatory, etc. The confessional closeness of the Britons to Orthodoxy led to the fact that they inherited the nickname of the Vendian Slavs - “varangi”, meaning “faithful”, for no other mercenaries in Byzantium professed the Greek faith.

Byzantine authors of the 12th century had already forgotten about the ethnicity of the first, real Varangs-sword-bearers and retained only vague memories that they lived in some “barbarian country near the Ocean” and that they were somehow related to the “Rus”, next to which the Varangs and continued to be mentioned in historical writings and documents. But Arab writers, who received in the 11th century. from the Byzantines, information about the Varangs (Pomeranian Slavs), consolidated this knowledge as a stable literary tradition about the “sea of Varanks” and the “people of Varanks” - “Slavic Slavs” living on the southern coast of the Baltic (such processing and transmission from generation to generation of news, obtained once from the original source, is generally characteristic of Arab geographical and historical literature about distant lands and peoples).

In Rus', the term “varang” in the form “Varangians” became known in the first half of the 11th century, that is, at a time when it still designated mercenaries from the Slavic Pomerania. Some ancient Russian texts speak in favor of such a dating, such as the Ermolaevsky list of the Ipatiev Chronicle, in which “Varangian Pomorie” is equivalent to the lands of the Pomeranian Slavs.
The memory of their presence as Pomeranian “Varangians” was preserved in the medieval name of the current Black Sea village - Varangolimen. The “Book of the Antiquities of the Russian State” (late 17th century) also talks about the Varangians who lived even before the founding of Kyiv on the shores of the Warm (Black) Sea.

But then, due to the disappearance of the Vendian Slavs from the Byzantine Varangian corps and the active Germanization of Slavic Pomerania that began, its former significance was forgotten. For Nestor, a “Varangian” is already a “mercenary warrior” or simply “a native of overseas.” However, even in the 12th century. there is still a vague memory of the ethnic meaning of the term: the chronicle places the Varangians, as an ethnos, on the southern coast of the Baltic, to the west of the Poles and Prussians, and the Novgorodians in the treaty document with the Gothic coast call the Hanseatic merchants Varangians, who again live on the territory of the former Slavic Pomerania .
However, it is characteristic that Russian people of the 12th century can no longer clearly separate the new meanings of the word “Varangian” from the old. Therefore, when Nestor tried to define Rurik’s “Rus” through the term “Varangians”, and taken in the chronicler’s modern meaning of “resident of overseas” (“for those Varangians were called “Rus”, as others are called “Svei”, others “Urmans”, “Anglians”, other “Goths”), this unintentional anachronism became the cause of centuries-old historiographical error, giving rise to the notorious “Varangian question”, which, as one of the historians aptly put it, became a real nightmare of early Russian history.

Which terrify the local population. Since the Vikings mainly came from Scandinavian countries, especially from Denmark, after getting to know them closely, they began to be called Danes. History says that around the same time, the Varangians began to appear on the primordially Slavic lands, who are now considered to be the same Vikings.

If you carefully analyze all the documents that have reached us concerning the appearance and calling of the Varangians in Rus', you will notice a strange inconsistency. If the Vikings were hated in Europe, then among the Slavs the Varangians were treated, as a rule, with respect. This raises serious doubts about the reliability of the version that the Varangian is the same Viking.

The appearance of the Varangians in Rus'

The first mentions of the Varangians are found in the Tale of Bygone Years. Representatives of this people appeared in the Slavic lands around the 9th century. As a rule, at that time the Varangians were rich traders who came to Rus' in huge numbers. In large Slavic cities there were so many of these traders that they formed large communities, which often prevailed even over the local population.

After the Russian princes began to intensively recruit Varangian squads into their service in the 10th-11th centuries, the number of these foreigners increased even more. It got to the point that Novgorod, originally considered a Slavic city, after the massive calling of the Varangians, began to be considered a Varangian city. A huge number of Varangian traders and mercenaries were repeatedly recorded in ancient Kyiv documents.

Even one of the first campaigns of the squads of princes Askold and Dir to Constantinople became possible thanks to the Varangian militia gathered in Kyiv. By the way, according to legend, even the capital of Rus' was founded by the Varangians. The cult of Perun, who was the main god of the Varangians, confirms these legends.

Mentions of the Varangians in ancient European history

When analyzing the rare surviving sources of Europe from the early Middle Ages, one can find references to the Varangians dating back to the beginning of the 9th century. Examining these documents, one can see that the Varangians came to Europe from the territory of the Slavs long before the Varangians were called to reign in Novgorod.

For example, in 839, envoys from a people called Russia arrived in Constantinople. After resolving their issues, they were sent along with the Byzantine embassy to Germany, where they met with Louis the Pious. German sources clearly indicate the Swedish origin of the Slavic embassy, which hints that the ambassadors were purebred Varangians.

Around the same time, the Varangians were also mentioned in Arabic sources. Eastern chroniclers described in sufficient detail the military campaigns of Rus' on the shores of the Black Sea. The same warriors who attacked the coasts often came to the East on trade business. At the beginning of the 10th century, the Varangians became so comfortable in the Black Sea that in Byzantine documents it is often called “Russian”, since besides the Varangians, practically no one else swam in it in such large numbers.

The secret of the origin of the Varangians and Rus'

The Old Russian Varangians, most likely, were not Slavs. It was some kind of tribe related to the Scandinavians. If we again turn to the Tale of Bygone Years, then the Varangians are understood as all Germanic peoples, such as:

Noregui;
Are given;
Goths;
Angles and so on.

Most likely, the Varangians were the tribes that lived on the southern and northern coasts of the Varangian (Baltic) Sea. In the 11th century, the Byzantines called mercenaries who served as the emperor's personal guard Varangians.

As for the origin, according to one version it is believed that Varangians are a distorted word “varang”, the origin of which is not entirely clear. This word was used in the ancient Scandinavian language.

According to another version, which is also not confirmed, the first Varangians were named so because they revered the wolf as their patron. Moreover, this name was given to them by other peoples. Varg is the monstrous wolf Fenrir from Scandinavian mythology. His sons, Skol and Khati, were also called Vargs. It turns out that the Varangians are the children of the Vargs. Unlike the Slavic peoples, who treated the timber wolf as a thief, the Scandinavians revered polar wolves, which were much larger than forest wolves.

German sources from the 11th century, which tell about the Polish campaign against Russian lands, also speak about the non-Slavic origin of the Varangians. German soldiers told chroniclers that in Rus' there are many people who are Danes. You can be sure that the Germans would definitely not confuse their fellow Danes with other peoples. In addition, ancient gravestones are often found in Sweden, which contain information about military sea voyages to Slavic lands.

The most widespread ancient Scandinavian sources and sagas, which can be compared with Russian chronicles about the Varangians, directly indicate that the Scandinavians often went to Gardarika. It is interesting that the sagas call ancient Rus' Gardarika, that is, the “kingdom of cities”. This indirectly indicates that large trading Slavic cities were founded by the Varangians.

In addition, all the legends about the calling of the Varangians to Rus' claim that it was they who founded the state called Russia. The first Varangian, called to reign with his retinue and brothers Sineus and Truvor, is known to everyone under the name of Rurik. If we compare this name with Scandinavian sources, it becomes clear that this is none other than Hrörek. Other Russian princes also have distorted Scandinavian names:

Truvor is Thorvardr;
Oleg – Helgi;
Olga – Helga;
Oskold – Hoskuldr;
Dir - Dyri.

In the 10th century, all Arab and Byzantine chronicles about the Varangians clearly distinguished between two peoples: the Slavs and the Varangians. And the name Rus' initially did not mean a state, but a separate warlike people who dominated the Slavs. And the battles of the first Russian princes with the Drevlyans and other indigenous Slavs indirectly indicate that these are completely different peoples.

Education of the ruling military-commercial elite in the country

It was the Varangians, who were of Scandinavian origin and became the basis for the emergence of the military-mercantile class in large Slavic cities. Although many authors often associate the Varangians with the Vikings, these are completely different concepts. The Vikings are a union of warriors consisting of representatives of different nations. At its core, it is a prototype of the Zaporozhye Sich, that is, a huge robber wind. The most that the Vikings could do that was useful to others was to hire themselves out as mercenaries or guards.

In battles, the warriors of Norway proved themselves to be the best fighters of their time, but as for honesty, the Normans and Norwegians became famous as treacherous and dishonest opponents. Often, for the sake of profit, Scandinavian warriors serving a prince might refuse to fight or even attack their employer.

The Varangians who came from the shores of the Baltic Sea did not cause a negative attitude among the Slavs, since they traded mostly honestly. Rich merchants, who were armed to the teeth and knew how to handle weapons well, usually bought furs in Rus', after which they went to distant Byzantium to sell their goods profitably. Fabrics, spices, clothing, shoes and other goods went to Rus' from Byzantine markets.

In addition, in surviving traditions and legends, people from the Russian Sea, which was called the Varangian Sea at that time, often appeared as brave robbers. Many tales about daring merchants who did not hesitate to rob or even kill a foreign merchant on the road perfectly characterize the Varangians. The fact that it was the Varangians who were engaged in trade is evidenced by some words preserved in the Russian lexicon. In Imperial Russia, a small trader was often called a Varangian, and the expression “Varyag” meant engaging in petty trading.

Often the fighting squads of the Varangians pretended to be trade caravans, while no one suspected that the Varangian merchants were armed to the teeth. Here are some historical facts that confirm this:

Prince Oleg was able to lure Askold and Dir out of Kyiv, pretending to be a rich merchant with security;
The great Scandinavian hero St. Olaf, who served Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich for many years, also pretended to be a merchant when returning to his homeland.

As the Novgorod chroniclers write, the Varangians began their journey as mercenaries and guards of trade caravans, and having become rich, they themselves became merchants. Thus, it was the Varangians who formed the class of merchant warriors who developed trade in Rus'.

Establishment of Varangian rule in Rus'

If you believe ancient sources, the Varangians, after forming armed trading clans in the cities, began to gradually seize power into their own hands. Over time, the cities, which were ruled by the Varangian princes, turned into powerful armed centers around which the local population was grouped. Since before this the Slavs were under the yoke of the Khazars and paid them tribute, the unauthorized seizure of power by the Varangians was regarded by the local population almost as deliverance.

The Varangian princes, unlike the greedy Khazars, did not rob local residents. The Tale of Bygone Years tells that the princes Askold and Dir, having approached Kyiv and learned that the local residents were paying tribute to the Khazars, remained to rule there. Then they recruited a strong army, consisting mainly of fellow tribesmen, and began to capture the nearby Polyana towns. Soon all these lands recognized the power of the Varangian princes.

Prince Oleg, who seized power in Kyiv, called all the surrounding Varangians and local glades to arms, and began to further expand his sphere of influence. So he managed to subjugate the Smolensk Krivichi. The local residents did not particularly resist, although the same Drevlyans for a long time did not want to obey the Varangians.

Formation of the Varangian principalities

Gradually, Varangian power in Rus' strengthened significantly. The newcomers began to assimilate with the local population, since almost all of them took wives and concubines among the Slavs. The seizure of power in large cities took place suddenly. At first, the Varangians fenced off their trading yard from prying eyes, and began to accumulate weapons and forces. At one point, the merchants turned into warriors and removed or killed the local leadership. To resolve such an issue, the Varangians only needed one strong squad.

Naturally, the Kyiv princes did not like this state of affairs, who gradually began to consider themselves native Slavs. This marked the beginning of princely feuds that tormented the Russian lands for many centuries. In the fight against each other, the princes did not hesitate to invite not only mercenary Varangian squads, but also Scandinavian Vikings.

True, the Scandinavians did not miss their benefits, and often at the most crucial moment they could go over to the enemy’s side or kill their employer. However, these methods often turned out to be quite effective. For example, Prince Vladimir, who became famous for baptizing Rus', called a huge number of Varangians and Vikings from overseas. With their help, he wanted to defeat his brother Yaropolk, who was the prince of Kyiv.

It cannot be said that Vladimir did not know the character of the Scandinavians, since he was married to the daughter of one of the famous jarls at that time. But even Vladimir almost fell into a trap when, attracted by stories about the untold riches of Kyiv, the Vikings demanded that the city be given to them for plunder. “The city is ours, and we want to take the ransom, but if you don’t, then we’ll take it ourselves!” - they answered the prince with these words. Leaving only his Varangian squad and his father-in-law's Vikings, Vladimir sent the rest of the greedy Scandinavians to serve in Constantinople.

Some of the most intelligent Varangian princes not only captured cities, but also formed entire principalities. In the 9th century there were several of them in Rus':

The most famous was the Novgorod principality of Rurik (aka Jarl Hrorek);
Prince Sineus settled on White Lake;
Truvor reigned in Izborsk;
Askold - in Kyiv.

In the 10th century, the principalities of Polotsk and Turov appeared. We can say for sure that there were much more similar principalities, but they were not noted in the chronicles. With the strengthening of the power of the Kyiv princes, other Varangian principalities gradually lost their power and became part of Kievan Rus.

To reign in Staraya Ladoga. At the same time, we immediately from reality we fall into myth, created by the Russian chronicle, which in no way can serve as a source of reliable knowledge on the history of Rus'. This myth was created during the Rurik dynasty and recognized by the Romanov dynasty, and for many reasons the Bolsheviks accepted these provisions of the history of Rus' without criticism. Of course, with the abandonment of Marxist ideology there should have been a revision of the provisions of Soviet historiography, but then there was a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which brought the issue of the emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs to the forefront in the fight against Ukrainianism as an anti-Russian ideology.

Only the Bolsheviks could see in the fact of the creation of statehood by the Varangian Rurik some kind of humiliation of the Slavs, because the Normans created several in Europe and no one there died of shame. At the same time, one must understand that the Eastern Slavs already had statehood in the form of the Union, and Rurik, as a result of the coup in Novgorod, had only that management organization, which is usually called a state according to European criteria. Rurik only privatized power (there were many invited arbiters before him), made himself a monarch and thereby secured power not only for himself personally, but according to the principle of inheritance.

But the denial of the role of Rurik from the Germanic Ross tribe led to the search for small-town great Russians, similar to the fantasy that Ukrainian historians are now engaged in, looking for the new name Ukraine - the great Ukrainians in ancient times. We also read the History of Ukraine as a state

In the article I try to defend the hypothesis that “ Varangians" - there is a Russian adaptation of the Old Norse word Vaeringjar, as the Slavs imagined people from the Germanic peoples who descended along the rivers of the East European plain from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea in order to be hired as mercenary guards in the Byzantine Empire. The word sounded like “varing”, so the Slavs remade it into the word Varangians.

I think everyone understands that linking the appearance to the date of Rurik’s arrival is sycophancy to the descendants of Rurik, since right there we read that earlier the Union of Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes had already repeatedly invited the Varangians - then they were not paid tribute or were expelled. And by the time Rurik was invited, there was even a “public opinion” - that, they say, it was impossible without a foreign arbiter, since local princes were starting to fight among themselves. And it turns out = that BEFORE RURIK, statehood ALREADY IS at the level of “tribes” and EVEN THERE EXISTS A UNION that resolves issues of foreign relations = such as whether to invite the Germans to reign. Here, as in a fable, we see the Moscow, but we do not notice the ELEPHANT in the form of an already established statehood, again calling everything with the worthless word “tribes,” as if the Slavs BEFORE RURIK climbed trees in their savagery.

It is obvious that statehood already existed in the 4th century, which Roman and Byzantine sources even list as large unions of Slavic tribes -. These sources contain complaints from emperors about the defeats that their regular armies of the most organized states of that world suffered from the “detachments” of the Slavs. Then we must admit that the use of tribes is completely wrong, since the presence of armies capable of defeating Roman troops indicates the presence of strong centralized power in the alliances of Slavic tribes. We even know that the Western Roman Empire was deprived of its livelihood not by the barbarians, who periodically destroyed Rome, but by the Franks, simply by their onslaught on the Romans from the east and west, who squeezed its territory to the borders of Italy. Another thing is that the territory lay precisely on the road along which nomads from Asia broke into Europe, which did not leave them the chance to have this statehood as a purely Slavic one. The upper reaches of the Don and Dnieper and around the Carpathians into the Hungarian plain are the eternal passage for nomadic peoples, who often settled among the Slavs living here and formed states - in principle, from the Slavs, as the basis of the mass of subjects, but by name - belonging to the conquerors (as well as name Rus). We know the Germans from Sweden, who through negligence created their own in the Black Sea region, but were pushed back to the Slavic lands, where they dissolved among the Slavs, enriching them with Gothic words. If the Goths moved as a whole people, then the Huns were Turkic nomads who simply carried out an ordinary raid, but accidentally found themselves the owners of a huge region. The national composition of the Huns was predominantly Slavic, which was repeated under the Avars, who created the Khaganate in the center of the Slavic settlement. Relatively few nomads only constituted the elite of state formations, which quickly mixed with Slavic blood (similar to the Rurik state). fought with Byzantium with the help of an army that consisted of Slavs - objectively played a decisive role in the development of the Balkan Peninsula by the Slavs. The Slavs were simply subjects of the Avar Kaganate and settled the conquered warm lands in the Balkans. The Turks still entered the elite of the Kaganate, apparently to strengthen the army, but over time the Slavic elite matured there, which led to the dissolution of the Avar Kaganate among the Slavic Kaganates - for some reason called “tribes” of the Eastern Slavs, which became the prototype of Kievan Rus.

In general, the term “tribe” seems to imply the LACK of statehood in our usual sense, and therefore the Slavs look like a kind of people who are not capable of independently creating their own state formation. As I already said - IT’S ALL ABOUT GEOGRAPHY - the place at the crossroads is convenient, but uncomfortable, as we saw, which Herodotus mentioned in his descriptions of the war of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius back in the 6th century. BC. Actually, we are talking about the alleged Proto-Slavs - well, by the way, how could our ancestors differ from the Neuros, especially since they lived right in the upper reaches of the Don. The meaning of the descriptions is that the Scythians, who lived in the Black Sea steppes, before the invasion of Darius, assembled a council of representatives of 14 Sarmatian tribes, among which are mentioned. They, however, refused to participate in the war - they say that the Persians have not done anything bad to us yet - for which they were punished, since first the Persians passed through their lands, and then the Scythian allied army passed through them, pursuing the Persians. As a result, the Neuri had to flee from the Don to the Dnieper region, which is considered the ancestral home of the Slavs.

From this excursion into the history of the Slavs it follows that the Slavs had statehood long before Rurik - he only realized that it is necessary to create a hereditary monarchy, so that next time they wouldn’t drive him away and so twist the Slavs and their Rus', as the squad of his fellow Germans was called, that no one would mention a change of ruler in Rus' for almost a whole millennium. Today, due to the ignorance of Soviet historians, we perceive this as nothing other than a monarchy. They simply did not overcome the understanding of the state, inherited from tsarist historians, who did not think (and who would have allowed them) to form another form other than a monarchy.

Actually for the formation of statehood the origin of the Varangians themselves and their names - the most Varangian words– does not play any role. Today it is difficult for us to find out their source, since in history names with similar sounds appear regularly and everywhere, as do words with the root “rus” or “ros”. More likely, arrival of the Normans from the Rus tribe to the territory of future Rus', which resulted in the emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs - was no different from similar Norman conquests(even more correctly - the Scandinavians) in Europe, where they became the creators of several states.

To enlarge the FONT you need to hold down CnrL and scroll the mouse wheel forward.

Fig.1 Arrival of Rurik and his brothers in Novgorod. Varangians pictures can increase when pressed.

Varangians Rus

Characteristics of the Varangians is well described in the dictionary reference - Varangians (author Shaskolsky I.), which I quote in full below:

VARYAGS, Old Russian name for the inhabitants of Scandinavia. Derived from the Old Norse word for Norman warriors who served under the Byzantine emperors. The Baltic Sea was called Russian by the name of the Varangians until the 13th century. Varyazhsky, Arabs in the 9th -13th centuries. - Baghel-Varang. In Scandinavian literature this term is very rare; it is known in Ch. arr. in the poetry of the skalds. In Russian sources Varangians were first mentioned in the legend about the “calling of the Varangians” recorded in “”, with which the chronicler began the history of the Russian land. This legend served as the starting point for the creation in the 18th century. the anti-scientific Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state, rejected by Russian scientists due to its inconsistency. In Rus' in the 9th-11th centuries, as is known from the chronicle, Russian Pravda and other sources, there were many Varangian warriors-combatants who served with the Russian princes, and Varangian merchants who were engaged in trade in the " routes from the Varangians to the Greeks". Kyiv princes Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Yaroslav the Wise repeatedly invited hired workers from Scandinavia Varangian troops and used them in civil strife and wars with neighboring countries and peoples. Varangian warriors and merchants in the Russian lands participated in the general process of state formation, without playing any significant role in it, and quickly became glorified. In the XII-XIII centuries. in Russian sources the word " Varangian" also meant "Catholic" ("Varangian faith", "Varangian goddess", etc.). But in most Russian written monuments the term "is common to all Scandinavians" Varangians"from the 2nd half of the 12th century was replaced by specific names of individual Scandinavian peoples - "Svey" (Swedes), "Murmans" (Norwegians Vikings) or a common term for all Western peoples - “Germans”. In some areas of Russia in the 19th century. There was a dialect word “Varangian” in the sense of “small peddler”. Currently, the meaning is “a person from the outside, a stranger.” I. Shaskolsky

Fig.2 Nicholas Roerich. Overseas (Varangian) guests

The theory of the emergence of the state of the Eastern Slavs

Obviously, in those days the specific ethnicity of guests from the shores was not determined Varangian Sea, as the Baltic Sea was called for several more centuries, denoting all people from Scandinavian Normans or Germanic tribes with a general name - Varangians. Such uncertainty later became the reason to call the Varangians a geographical term - Germans, as a collective name for all “dumb” in the sense of “those who do not know the Russian language.” Some historians deduce the genus Rurik Varangian even from Hamlet’s great-grandfather, King of the Danish Rorik, others consider him to be from the Germanic Ros tribe, but the Norman invasion, which occurred throughout Europe, makes version of the Scandinavian origin of all Varangians- closest to the truth.

This article about the Varangians written in terminology and ideas laid out in the section in which the appearance of any explains. as an integral element of everyone as a group of people who have seized a privileged position in society, makes the debate around it pointless theories of the origin of the state of the Eastern Slavs. Formation of statehood among the Eastern Slavs occurred regardless of the ethnicity of a group of people who, apparently by force, took the place of the elite in the emerging state of Rus'. Any of - Norman theory, centrist or anti-Norman- it's racial theory of the emergence of the state of the Eastern Slavs, which does not explain in any way reasons for the formation of the state of the Eastern Slavs.

The emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs

Formation of statehood among the Eastern Slavs in reality, it probably happened in a spirit close to the Norman theory, only we Russians have nothing to be ashamed of our ancestors - this is simply how ALL states were created - by seizing and taking the place of the elite in a conquered society. In relation to Rus', we can say that armed bandits came - “nomads of the sea”, as all these Vikings, Normans, Varangians were called - who poured in in search of better places from Scandinavia due to overpopulation. Some Normans, making raids as outside bandits, having destroyed local rulers, no longer returned to their homeland, settling on the conquered land as their own property, they turned into stationary bandits, because in this way the collection of tribute from the conquered inhabitants was more guaranteed by the constant presence of the bandit himself nearby . In this way, the nomadic bandit became the elite of the state he created and now defended this system of his domination as his PERSONAL PROPERTY from the encroachment of other bandits, both neighboring stationary ones, and from the raids of other generally nomadic ones.

More details on the topic formation of the state among the Eastern Slavs disclosed in the article.

Varangians Wikipedia

Concept Varangians Wikipedia interprets as a general name for merchants or armed men in the service of the emperor of Byzantium, where everything Normans and Varangians were called in one word Warings (Varangi). changed the word Warings into your language like a word Varangians.

Varangian Slavs

We need to understand that whatever the origin Varangian Rurik and members of his squad, but already in the second generation (obviously, from Igor) they all adopted the self-name Rusyns and no longer separated themselves from the Slavs, as a nationality with a state-forming function. History of Rus' before Rurik is poorly known to us, the tribes of the Eastern Slavs and other ethnic groups could hardly even imagine Rus' to Rurik as a single state, but with the advent of the name Rus', to designate the territory of residence of all Eastern Slavs, the idea of a united Rus' as the state of all Slavs was born.

« But the Slavic people and the Russians are one; after all, they were called Rus from the Varangians, and before there were Slavs; Although they were called Polyans, their speech was Slavic. They were nicknamed Polyans because they sat in the field, and they had a common language - Slavic »

The bloodiness of the seizure of power by alien invaders, as follows from the theory of elites, is determined by the size of the elite of the invader himself. If the invader has a sufficient elite to rule the new territory, then the elite of the conquered people is completely destroyed, but if the invaders are small in number, then they take the place of the main political elite, and a significant part of the elite of the society they enslaved is forced to include in their composition. After all, the main elite requires constant support and military force to exercise its dominance, which presupposes a state (read correctly - only the supreme elite) monopoly on the use of force.

The emergence of the Varangians as the elite of the Eastern Slavic tribes blurs the line between local residents and Varangians. As the chronicler writes: “Oleg set out on a campaign, taking with him many warriors: Varangians, Chud, Slovenians, Meryu, all, Krivichi, and came to Smolensk...”, which indicates an increase in Oleg’s army by attracting local residents. Surely, only a large army of Rus, in which the few Varangians initially, obviously, acted as officers, could make significant campaigns not only to Kiev, but even more so to Constantinople.

First Rus'

Word Rus is fixed as a toponym in the names on maps of Byzantium and appears in the chronicles of the Eastern Roman Empire, however, where they immediately make a mistake in the name, associated with the Byzantines having a legend about the gloomy prince Ros (or Rosh), whose possessions, according to legend, were located just in the East beyond Pontic Sea, renamed Russian Sea. When Rus' became a powerful force threatening Byzantium from the North, then unknown to them Prince Askold, ruling in Kyiv, heading to the walls of Constantinople, the Greeks, by misunderstanding, called Prince Rosh. Thus, in the terminology of the Byzantine Empire, the letter “u” was replaced with the letter “o” in the name Rus'. Moreover, the chronicles of Byzantium contain mention of earlier raids on individual cities of the Byzantine Empire (Crimean Surzh Sudak) by unknown northern warriors, which Byzantine chroniclers also identify with Rosh, which confirms the version of an earlier arrival Varangian Rus' to the lands of the Eastern Slavs than Rurik's calling.

Somewhat later, the elite of Rus', who tried to adopt everything from Byzantium - and we know the claims of the kings to the title of the Third Rome, which Ivan III successfully realized through his dynastic marriage with Sophia Palaeologus, the former heiress of the Byzantine emperor, which made it possible to take possession of the coat of arms of the Eastern Roman Empire - the double-headed eagle and other regalia Eastern Roman Empire, switches to Greek terminology. Then the reverse translation of the Greek word “Rosh” becomes the Russian word “Russia”, which is adopted to replace the old self-name of Rus', by the kings of a powerful empire claiming to be the Third Rome.

That's why, The “peaceful” calling of the Varangians is not even an invention of the monk Nestor, but the public opinion that had developed by that time among the people about the harmfulness of internecine wars between rulers of different tribes or even of the same blood . Simply, Rurik’s squad had internal discipline and hierarchy, because the rulers he installed in the peripheral feuds obeyed him unquestioningly, without conflicting with each other, because they were afraid of the most powerful feudal lord - Rurik himself. This incoming Varangian military elite's understanding of the need and usefulness of a rigid hierarchy allowed them to control and centralize a much larger territory - as the center supported the peripheral rulers (elites) in exchange for their loyalty. The almost instantaneous centralization under Rurik of the vast territory inhabited by the Slavs in the north with the capital in Novgorod had a reason - the advantage of just such a situation: - the subordination of the peripheral elites to the central elite, recognized as the main one in Novgorod, in exchange for armed protection.

Apparently, similar processes took place among the Slavs and in the southern region around Kyiv, where members (according to the chronicle) of Rurik’s squad - Askold and Dir - arrived, which allowed them to seize power over the glades in a small detachment.

Most likely, the version about the special sending of their warriors Askold and Dir to the southern lands has historical confirmation, since the subsequently strengthened elite of Novgorod Rus' constantly knew about the southern lands inhabited by the Slavs, which these Askold and Dir successfully began to unite, as evidenced by the raids to Constantinople. The wealth captured by Askold and Dirov, and most importantly, the strategic location of Kyiv, made the seizure of the lands of the Kyiv Kaganate by the Varangian Novgorod Rus just a matter of time.

We need to interpret the rapid transfer by Prince Rurik of the capital from Ladoga to the Novgorod settlement, and then by Prince Oleg to Kiev, as a consequence of the almost unhindered seizure of a vast territory, which obviously had some kind of unity before Rurik, at least the residence of the Eastern Slavs, who had the same language (possibly in different dialects). The formation of a unified state entity obviously played a role in the emergence of the beginnings of national identity, which was manifested in the self-designation of residents as Rus, Then Rusyns– a generalized name for a resident of the territory of this proto-state under the Varangian name Rus, accepted not only by the Slavs, but also by the Finno-Ugric tribes.

Word Rus, obviously, had its origin as the name that Rurik himself gave to his feud - perhaps it coincided with the name of his Scandinavian (Varangian) tribe. Actually, before Rurik, the Slavs and other inhabitants of these territories had no idea of coming up with a common name, since they, as residents of tribes and small individual feuds, simply could not BEFORE imagine the size of the space occupied by the Eastern Slavs, which Rurik and his heirs.

Rurik, of course, did not have any national ideas - he acted as a conqueror of new territories accessible to him, which he could at least somehow control. Rurik was absolutely not interested in the national composition of the inhabitants of his state, since he acted according to the logic of the formation of a territorial empire. Only after the formation of a unified state do its inhabitants have some idea of common belonging to this state, on the basis of which the rudiments of citizenship begin to appear as a unifying feeling, and ethnic ones as a distinguishing one. Whatever the ethnic composition before Rurik, but the appearance united state of Rus' allowed the Russian ethnic group to emerge as the largest among the peoples of Europe. Belonging to one state quickly began to erase the boundaries and differences between small, heterogeneous tribes, fusing them into a single community, while on the basis of belonging to one state - one citizenship - Rusyns, laying the foundation for the emergence of a unified people.

in the matter of accepting or choosing a self-name Rus the population had no choice - as the elite began to call it, so did ordinary citizens. shows that Rurik most likely did not even know the word “Rus”, and the indication in the chronicle - The Tale of Bygone Years that the Varangian clan of Rurik had such a name - is an invention of the chronicler. The chronicler already lived at a time when the word Rus was the name of the state of the Eastern Slavs, and he retrospectively, but unlawfully - for the sake of only linking Rurik to Rus' - used it as the name of the family of Rurik. The words - Rus' and Varangians - have some connection since they sometimes denoted the same people, but the word Rus was the name of the prince’s squad (in which the majority often consisted of Varangians), but the word Varangians had an ethnic connotation, indicating the Baltic origin of a person who was somehow connected with traveling along the rivers to Byazantium and back.

VARYAGS- Slavic name for the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (in the 9th-10th centuries), as well as for the Scandinavian Vikings who served the Kyiv princes (in the 1st half of the 11th century).
"The Tale of Bygone Years" claims that the Varangians lived along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which in the chronicle is called the Varangian Sea, " to the land of Agnyanskaya and Voloshskaya". At that time, the Danes were called Angles, and the Italians were called Volokhs. In the east, the boundaries of the settlement of the Varangians are indicated more vaguely - " to Simova's limit"According to some researchers, in this case the Volga-Kama Bulgaria is meant (the Varangians controlled the northwestern part of the Volga-Baltic route up to the Volga Bulgaria).
A study of other written sources showed that on the southern coast, next to the Danes of the Baltic Sea, there lived the “Vagrs” (“Varins”, “Vars”) - a tribe that belonged to the Vandal group and by the 9th century. already glorified. In the East Slavic vowels, the “Vagrs” began to be called “Varangians”.
In con. VIII - beginning 9th century The Franks began to attack the lands of the Vagr-Varins. This prompted them to look for new places of settlement. In the 8th century “Varangeville” (Varangian city) appears in France; in 915 the city of Väringvik (Varangian Bay) appeared in England; the name Varangerfjord (Varangian Bay) is still preserved in the north of Scandinavia.
The main direction of migration of the Vagr-Varins was the eastern coast of the Baltic. They moved to the east together with separate groups of Rus who lived along the shores of the Baltic Sea (on the island of Rügen, in the Baltic states, etc.). Hence, in the Tale of Bygone Years, the double naming of the settlers arose - Varangians-Rus: " And they went overseas to the Varangians, to Rus', for that was the name of those Varangians - Rus'"At the same time, the chronicler specifically stipulates that the Varangians-Rus are not Swedes, not Norwegians and not Danes.
In Eastern Europe, the Varangians appear at the end. 9th century The Varangians-Rus first came to the northwestern lands to the Ilmen Slovenes, and then descended to the Middle Dnieper region. According to various sources and according to some scientists, the leader of the Varangians-Russ who came to the Ilmen Slovenes from the shores of the Southern Baltic was Prince Rurik. The names of those founded by him in the 9th century. cities (Ladoga, White Lake, Novgorod) they say that the Varangians-Rus at that time spoke a Slavic language. The main god of the Varangian Rus was Perun. The treaty between Rus' and the Greeks in 911, which was concluded by Oleg the Prophet, 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".
In con. IX-X centuries The Varangians played a significant role in the northwestern Slavic lands. The chronicle states that " from Varangian family"Novgorodians originated. The Kiev princes constantly resorted to the help of hired Varangian squads in the struggle for power. Under Yaroslav the Wise, who was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerd, Swedes appeared in the Varangian squads. Therefore, from the beginning of the 11th century in Russia, people from Scandinavia. However, in Novgorod the Swedes were not called Varangians until the 13th century. After the death of Yaroslav, the Russian princes stopped recruiting mercenary squads from the Varangians. The very name of the Varangians was rethought and gradually spread to all immigrants from the Catholic West.