Northern Russia

Main article: History of Russia

II century: Hatched ceramics on the Novgorod settlement

Rurikovo Settlement 1 of the early metal - early Iron Age era has a cultural layer with shaded ceramics dating back to the first centuries of the new ^[1]

III century: The unsupported site of Finno-Ugric fishermen on the site of the future Lyubsha

More detailed information about the settlement in Lyubsha, available to Ryabinin and Chernov, was interpreted by them as the presence of traces of an uncoupled site of Finno-Ugric fishermen on the site of a settlement since the III century.

4th century: Way from Sweden through Ladoga in the Urals

There was an ancient route from Sweden through Ladoga in the Urals. It functioned intensively in the second half of the IV - the first half of the VI ^[2] Ladogee County was obviously a station along the way.

600

Settlement by Slavic tribes of Priilmenye

According to V.V. Sedov, the settlement by the Slavic tribes of Priilmenye took place in the VI-VII centuries.

On the site of the future fortress of Lyubshi there is a wooden fortification of the Finno-Ugric tribes

At the turn of the VI-VII centuries, on the site of the future stone fortress in Lyubsha, the strengthening of the Finno-Ugric tribes appeared and functioned. It was a wooden prison, fortified with a rear on the shaft. Nevolin belts and some other incidental finds indicate that the settlement was included in the contact system between Prikamye, South Ladoga , Finland and Central Sweden.

Nevolin culture is an archaeological culture of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples and the beginning of the Middle Ages in the main part of the river basin. Sylva. Kungur district Perm Territory. Verkh-Sainsky burial ground: 1 - reconstruction of the Nevolin-type women's belt; 2 - details of the men's belt of the 8th century. Collection of Udmurt State University (Izhevsk)

The discovery of this early settlement further testifies in favor of the fact that contacts with the Scandinavians were started by the Finno-Ugric population - Perm, weight, miracle and soul, and the Slavs joined them later.

Languages spoken in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in 600g (as of 2021)

650: Unsupported settlement on the site of the future Ladoga: Slavs, Scandinavians, Finns

2 km from the prison of Lyubsha higher along Volkhov, on the other side there was already an uncoupled settlement - the future Ladoga. Other sources mention that the advance of immigrants from the Åland Islands to Ladoga began in the Vendel period (550-793).

Russian scientists have determined the date 753 g from a saw from the wooden structure of the Earthen settlement by the method of dendrochronology. However, later experts drew attention to new studies of archaeological finds in the radiocarbon laboratory of the RSPU: they showed that the formation of the settlement began earlier.

"The settlement of the southern section of the Earthen settlement in Ladoga began no later than the middle of the 7th century. Wooden structures have not been preserved there, unlike the western section, so it is not possible to conduct dendrochronological research and set an exact date, "said Marianna Kulkova, associate professor of the Department of Geology and Geoecology of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen in April 2023^[3].

Work on radiocarbon dating of archaeological finds was carried out by the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen in the framework of cooperation between the university and the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The finds associated with the first century of Ladoga's life, like her entire culture of this and subsequent periods, are multi-ethnic, wrote A.N. Kirpichnikov. Sorting the finds associated with the first palms indicates the presence of three main material components: Slavic, Scandinavian and Finnish.

Thousands of fragments of Slavic pottery are represented in all strata of Ladoga. However, particular attention is paid to the temporal rings and some decorations of the female dress, which can serve as a stable ethno-defining sign.

Bronze temporal rings with a curl were discovered in Staraya Ladoga. The oldest rings of this form were found in Pobuzhye, Smolensk Dnieper and Pskov region; they belong to the VI- ІKh centuries. These decorations penetrated the Ladoga north along with the Slavs who moved here no later than the VII-VIII centuries. from the zone between the Balkans and the Dnieper.

These decorations are noteworthy in that they allow us to firmly certify the Slavic component in the multi-ethnic culture of the early medieval population in the lower reaches of the river. Volkhov and indicate the presence of southern groups of Slavs among the population of the lower Povolkhovye.

The Scandinavians who settled in Ladoga, who made up here, "probably a relatively independent political organization" (Lebedev 1975. P. 41), created the toponym Aldeigja, and then gave the city the name Aldeigjuborg (Aldeigyuborg), in accordance with the familiar toponymic model X-borg.

From the Finnish name of the Ladoga River (modern: Ladozhki) came the Scandinavian toponym Aldeigja (most likely, first as the name of the river, and then - settlements), and from it (with metathesis ald > lad) - Old Russian Ladoga^[4].

Russia was included in the system of Norse mythology and was described as the possession of one of the sons of Odin, from whom came the dynasty of "Russian kings" who lived long before the arrival of Rurik.

In the Scandinavian legend "about ancient times," in the "Saga of Herver," the ancient dynasty of the Jarls Aldeigyuborg (Ladoga) and Holmgard (probably Prednovgorod, Novgorod settlement) is noted. The son of the supreme god Odin Sigrlami reigned within Gardarika. His successor Swafrlami, according to the saga mentioned, became the first owner of the conspired sword of Turfing, who delivered victory in battles to his owner. The robber Arngrim took possession of the sword. His sons were friends with Jarl Aldeigyuborg Bjartmar. Angantiur, one of the sons of Arngrim, married the daughter of Ladoga Jarla Swafa. Their daughter was brought up in Aldeigjuborg, and she managed to get the coveted sword. She became very strong, constantly exercising in javelin throwing, archery and sword possession. She then gave Turfing to her son, the great hero Haydrick.

The "Saga of Herver" was recorded in the late XIII - early XIV centuries. It was compiled by two Icelanders in the second half of the 10th century and tells about the events of about the V-VI centuries. Whether the saga concludes a historical grain, it is difficult to judge ^[5].

700: Ilmen Slovenes destroy wooden fortifications of Finno-Ugric and erect stone-earthen Lyubshan fortress

The destruction of the Finno-Ugric fortification in Lyubsha probably dates from the beginning of the VIII century. The destruction of the Finno-Ugric settlement in the VIII century was recorded by Ryabinin and Chernov as catastrophic - the prison was burned, presumably as a result of a conflict with the Ilmen Slovens that appeared in the region, which Ryabinin considered carriers of the culture of long ^[6]..

At the beginning of the VIII century, a stone-earthen Lyubshan fortress was built on the site of the Finnish prison, the origins of the fortification traditions of which date back to the Slavs of Central Europe.

Thus, this monument precedes the appearance of development on the Staroladozhsky Zemlyanoy settlement in the middle of the VIII century. The nature of the finds and the cultural layer allows its population to be attributed to Slavs of Central European origin, who had a connection with the Western Slavs of the Baltic Pomerania, the Slavs and Kriviks of the Upper Dnieper region, and with the remote Slavic lands of Podunavye.

760: Arab Silver Stream on Volga Way Draws Vikings to Ladoga

On the Ladoga bargaining ground, furs (furs of sables, squirrels, martens, stoats, foxes, beavers), beads, bone ridges, metal jewelry, weapons, wax, amber, and, probably, slaves were sold (or changed) to visiting merchants for dirhams, while some were taken to the countries of the West and East by the Ladoga themselves.

In Staraya Ladoga and its environs, at least 7 treasures and 34 kufic coins were found separately in different years. In total, there are more than 467 coins found. In total, these finds date back to the 7th-11th centuries, and in terms of the time of concealment or loss by the second half of the VIII- KhІ century.

According to the concentration of finds of treasures and individual coins corresponding to the first three centuries of its existence, Ladoga knows no equal both among Russian cities and among the cities and trading places of the Baltic region.

It is noteworthy that a coin was found in Staraya Ladoga (in sediments of 750-760)., made in Damascus in 699-700, and a treasure of 28 whole and 3 fragments of dirhams, minted in 749-786, these coins, some of the oldest among those still encountered in Eastern Europe, taking into account the time of distribution and all sorts of accidents indicate the beginning of international "silver" trade, reached the lower reaches of Volkhov no later than the 750-760s. It was Ladoga who was one of the first centers of the Russian plain, where dirhams are recorded as soon as their distribution began in the countries of Eastern and Northern Europe.

This fact is reinforced by the very rare gold dinar of 738/739, found in Ladoga in 1866 when digging a grave on the territory of the fortress.

The coins found in Ladoga fell into Nizhny Povolkhovye along the Great Volga Route, and, therefore, its phased functioning began, most likely, before the middle of the VIII century. It was this initial stream of Arab silver that attracted Vikings to Ladoga V. ^[7].

800

Slavic princely dynasty in the Great City, probably Ladoga

Reports of the Ioakimov Chronicle were published by the historian of the XVIII century. V.N. Tatishchev. The scientist was struck by the information of this chronicle about Northern Russia and Russian-Scandinavian relations. Part of the mentioned chronicle was sent to Tatishchev in 1748, and then disappeared, which later gave scientists reason to doubt its reliability. Doubts about the objectivity of this source would not have subsided to this day if some of the news presented in the lost manuscript had not unexpectedly been confirmed.

The Joachim Chronicle reports on the local Slavic princely dynasty, which ruled in the north of Russia until the appearance of Rurik here in the 860s. The names of the princes of several generations are given, the wars they fought are marked, their residence is indicated - the Great City was founded by Prince Slaven. This Great City was erected by Slavs who moved from distant Podunavye.

Not only the chronicle, but also archaeology, which discovered the existence of Ladoga in the VIII - first half of the ІKh century, allows us to consider the comparison of Ladoga with the Great City not so legendary. Developed craft and residential areas appeared in a settlement in the lower reaches of Volkhov already in the first decades of its existence. In Ladoga, as an established tribal center, a "pre-Georgian" tribal princely dynasty could also exist.

Jewelry is one of the main activities of Ladozhan

In the cultural strata of Ladoga, the remains of workshops for the manufacture of bronze and glass products, skin and bone processing were found. During the excavations carried out by the Old Ladoga archaeological expedition, crucibles, lilies, sometimes craft tools, as well as pieces of amber, bone blanks, fragments of bronze, semi-processed beads, drops of glass and bronze, foundry molds, including for casting metal and glass ingots, are constantly found in almost all residential buildings. Obviously, the owners of these buildings were engaged in jewelry and decoration, sometimes several varieties at once. It can be assumed that these houses served as housing and at the same time workshops in which artisans made various jewelry.

Complex multi-range jewelry craft was one of the main, if not the main sphere of activity of the Ladozhans, both in the VIII - ІKh and in the X in, wrote ^[8].

It is characteristic that the mounds of the southeastern Ladoga, which belonged to the Finns-miracles, are filled with beads, fasteners, bracelets, pendants, ridges, axes, spears, knives, either produced in Ladoga, or received here through this city.

The town of Ilmen Slovenes on the Novgorod settlement

At the Blagoveshchensky excavation of the Novgorod settlement, developed on the site of the Annunciation Church, under the oldest fortification (under the Gorodishchensky rampart, fortified with log log log cuttings), archaeologists found a cultural layer of a small town of Ilmen Slovenes with Slavic stucco ceramics and traces of fire. The layer dates from the VIII - the first half of the 9th century.

Excavations on Novgorod Gorodishche/Vladimir Bogdanov

Sanctuaries of Perun at Novgorod and Veles at Ladoga

On the banks of Volkhov in the area of ​ ​ modern Novgorod in the VIII-IX centuries., If not from the VII century, the tribal center of the Ilmen Slovenes is formed with the sanctuary of Perun in Peryn as one of the important administrative and cult components.

The mythological boundary of the space associated with the ancient heavenly thunderbolt god (Ilmen, Ilmsr - from Ilmeri, the name of the heavenly deity among the pre-Slavic autochthonous population) was, apparently, the Volkhov rapids 180 km downstream of Volkhov from Novgorod (in Indo-European mythology, river rapids are the site of the battle of the Thunderbolt with the Serpent, his main opponent). The lower part of the Volkhov current, from the Rapids to Lake Ladoga, the sea coasts, the Prinev lowland, was associated in the mythology of the Slovenes (and, apparently, autochthonous predecessors, the Protocarelian "miracle." - PVL) with the second most important deity after Perun of the pagan pantheon, Veles, the lord of the ways in Zamorye and the master of earthly and underground waters, the patron saint of the world of the dead, the forest, the beast, livestock, wealth, trade, poetry.

Perun and Veles, the "Scotch god," swore pagan "Rus" of Oleg in 907 and Svyatoslav in 971: "his husbands, according to the Russian law, swear with their weapons, and Perun, by his god, and Volos, by the bestial mantis...," "may we have an oath from God, in my own way I will turn into Peruna and in Volos, by the bestial of God, and let us both gold and our weapons yes to the wisdom" (PVL 1926:31, 72; Rabinovich 2000: 348-352).

The feathers in Novgorod corresponded to the sanctuary of Veles, the tract of Veles in Ladoga.

Volkhov, in accordance with the Slavic semantics of his name (the magician is a priest, an intermediary between the worlds of gods and people), in the natural movement of the current from top to bottom, connected the region of Perun and Veles, "top" and "bottom," Novgorod and Ladoga, Ilmen and Lake Nevo (Ladoga).

Slavic and Scandinavian burial grounds in Ladoga on the banks of Volkhov

In ancient times, the Ladoga settlement was surrounded by burial grounds - mounds, dirt, group or single hills. All of them can be dated to the VIII-X centuries. or even earlier time and testify to the constant stay of the population who chose certain cemeteries for the funeral right on the outskirts of their ^[9].

Hills in the Far East are called gentle low hills. However, in the 19th century, this term began to be applied to a certain type of monuments in the North-West of Russia - mounds with a special height. The term itself was introduced into use by Zorian Dolenga - Khodakovsky. He probably used a definition that was mentioned locally, going back to the verb "to pour."

Hills were poured in the VIII-IX centuries. and, possibly, served as house and family tombs. Burials are found there according to various rites, but mainly according to the rite of corpse burning. It is believed that such hills were first erected in Ladoga and its environs, and only then spread to the wider territory of Slavic settlement of Northern Russia.

Most researchers associate the hills with a new wave of Slavic settlement in the North-West of Russia - just since the beginning of the appearance of this type of monuments here.

The hills are high steep-sided embankments with a somewhat flattened apex and a ring of boulders at the base. The Sopok area covers the basins of Lake Ilmen, the Msta, Volkhov and Luga rivers. On the territory of the Leningrad Region, they are known in the Luga, Boksitogorsky and Volkhovsky districts. Archaeologists attribute this culture to the Slovenes of Novgorod. The height of the hills is more than 2-2.5 m. Embankments up to 5 m prevail. The hills are located alone or grouped into small burial grounds from 2-3 to 12 embankments.

Hills are collective funerary structures erected in two or three steps. At each stage, burials were made in the embankment. At the bases of some hills there are masonry (platforms and small heaps), sometimes associated with burials.

In the vicinity of the village of Staraya Ladoga, hills with complex stone covers, boulder walls, triangular designs have been excavated. Such structures are characteristic of Viking-era royal mounds in Scandinavia. Cremation of the dead was performed on the side. The burning remains collected from the burial pyre were placed in shallow pits or on the surface.

It was possible to trace the stages of the creation of hills. At first, the area was burned for "ritual purification." Then, in several stages, an embankment was formed, inside which stone structures were created, in which burials were made.

There is also speculation that the hills are pagan shrines. It is assumed that they could have been buried on the temples, and some of the burials in the hills can be interpreted as sacrifices.

Archaic early urban structure of Ladoga VIII - X in

I is the "princely" zone, II is the "urban" zone, III is the "sacred" zone. 1 - hills; 2 - mounds with burning of various types of rite; 3 - mounds with corpses; 4 - long mounds; 5 - Old Russian churches; 6 - soil burial grounds]]

The most impressive survived near Staraya Ladoga in the tract Sopka, on the left bank of Volkhov, behind the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Strekovets stream flowing here (now dried up). In the center of this tract is a large hill about 10 m high (originally at least 15 m). Previously, it was called the burial place of Oleg the Leading Unifier of Northern and Southern Russia. The chroniclers did not exactly know the circumstances of the end of the life of this prince. According to one version, Oleg "ide to Novgorod and from there to Ladoga (...) there is his grave in Ladoz." According to another, he died and was buried in Kyiv on Mount Schekovice. They also said that Oleg went "overseas." The North Russian version is recognized as more plausible. Ladoga was obviously associated with Oleg's name. In search of his remains in Staraya Ladoga in 1820, ten people for nine days dug up the previously damaged so-called "Oleg Hill" with a well, under the supervision of amateur archaeologist Z.D. Khodakovsky, until they reached its foundation. The finds turned out to be more than modest: burned bones, something similar to a castle gate, spruce, pine, alder coals, finally, a two-type iron dart about 34 cm long. It is difficult to say anything definite about the buried from these finds.

Archaeologists investigated the burial in the hill according to the cremation rite. As the Soviet and Russian archaeologist and specialist in Varangian antiquities Lebedev G. S. wrote, it belongs to the 9th century and, therefore, cannot be the burial of Prince Oleg of Kyiv, who died in 912 (or 922).

On the right bank of the Volkhov in the tract "Plakun" was located another necropolis of the "city" zone. It is represented by a group of hills on the high edge of the terrace (Baltic features of the rite are noted in the excavated embankments: the burial of a horse with a bridle of the "East Lithuanian" appearance, an inverted urn, etc.) and a burial mound on the lower terrace site. The Plakun necropolis is associated with the Varangian squad of the times of Rurik and Oleg, the earliest (including female) burials here are dated no later than the second half of the 9th century, and the burial ground was used until the middle of the 10th century. (Korzukhina 1971: 128-131; Lebedev 1977a: 184-188; Mikhailov 2002: 63-68).

850

Vikings switch sale of slaves captured in Europe from European routes to Volga and Dnieper trade routes

Until the 9th century, Vikings transported European slaves they had captured in Europe from the Baltic Sea to the north or from the North Sea to the West via the Vistula or Donau Rivers to the southeast via Europe to the Black Sea.

The route of the Viking slave trade was redirected in the 9th century, and until the 11th century it ran in two directions:

• along the Volga trade route to the Abbasid caliphate through the Caspian Sea (and the Bukhara slave trade);

• "From the Varangians to the Greeks" from the Baltic Sea through Ladoga, Novgorod and the Msta River to the Byzantine Empire through the Black Sea slave trade.

According to the studies of T. Nunen, in the second half of the 9th century the number of treasures of eastern coins in Gotland and Sweden increased 8 times compared to the first half of the 9th century, which indicates the establishment and stable functioning of the trade route from Northern Russia to Scandinavia.

Settlements of the 9th century, bearing the names Novgorod settlement, Krutik near Beloozer, Sarsky settlement, later - the oldest settlements in Pskov, Kholopiy town on Volkhov, Petrovskoye, Timerevo, etc. - were located on the Volga trade route or its branches.

During its heyday in the second half of the 9th century, the Volga trade route ensured the economic well-being of three state entities - Russia in the upper reaches, Volga Bulgaria in the middle part and the Khazar Khaganate in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Inscription in Danish runic tradition on the rod in Ladoga

In 1950, on the Earthen settlement in Ladoga, in a layer dated 840-860, a wooden rod with a runic inscription was found, which is read in different ways.

In translations, it sounds like this:

• "Sparkling lunar alf (sparkling monster), be underground"
• or "Above (the shield is visible) a lord dressed in his plumage (falcon), covered with frost; a shining moon wolf; drink a plow wide path, "
• or "Tail (arrows) is dressed in feathers, a shiny tip attracts prey in large numbers,"
• or "The tents of Walfrid/embraced by witchcraft/From the copies of the Niflungs/the harvest of corpses will be terrible,"
• or "Died (fell after his death) in the height of the owner of corpses dressed in/grave/stone (warrior), the shining destroyer of husbands, in the mighty road of the plow (in the ground)."

Wooden rod, mid-9th century Excavations by V.I. Ravdonikas and V.P. Petrenko in Staraya Ladoga

The decryption of the inscription is not over, but no matter how it is interpreted, it clearly has a spell meaning. Another thing is clear: samples of runic writing fell into Ladoga not as a result of trade, but together with their Scandinavian owners who lived permanently or temporarily stayed here. It is noted that the inscription on the wooden rod is associated with the Danish runic tradition, which recalls the times of Rurik and his possible Danish "address" ^[10].

854: Slovene, Krivichi, Meria and Chud pay tribute to the Varangians who captured the Great City

In the Novgorod first chronicle, under 854, it is said: "In the times of Kiyev and Schek and Khoriv Novgorodsty, people, the recomes of Sloveni, and Krivitsi and Merya: Slovenѣ their volost imѣli, and Krivitsi their own, and Measure their own; the owner of his family; and Chyud is his own kind; and a tribute to Dayah Varyagom from her husband by bѣlѣi vѣveritsi; and the same biahu with them, then the violence dѣyakhu Slovenom, Krivichem and Meryam and Chyudi. "

Nicholas Roerich. Overseas guests, 1901 Tretyakov Gallery

In the Joachim Chronicle, it is noted that the Varangians began to possess the Slavic Great City (presumably Ladoga), "a tribute to the burden of laying on the Slovanians, Russia and Chud."

859: Payment of tribute to the Varangians from miracles, Slovenes, Meri, Vesi and Krivichs

According to Russian chronicles, in the middle of the 9th century, Slavic tribes of Slovenes, Krivichi and Finnish tribes of miracle, mary and vesi paid tribute to the Varangians who came from across the sea, possibly Varyazhsky (Baltic). According to the Tale of Bygone Years: "In lѣto 6367 [859]. Imakh's tribute to the Varyaz, coming from the castle, to the Chudi, and to the slovѣnekh, and to the Meryakh and to the vsѣkh, Krivichakh. "

862

Expulsion of the Varangians by Gostomysl and the beginning of conflicts between tribes

In 862, the tribes of Slovenes, Chudi, Krivichi, Meri and Vesi expelled the Varangians and began to rule themselves. After that, strife began between them. "A Tale of Bygone Years": "In lѣto 6370 [862]. And I drove the Varangians beyond the sea, and I did not give them tribute, and hourly myself in sobѣ volodѣti. And I do not bѣ in them the truth, and I will give birth to the family, and the former usobitsѣ in them, and fight yourself on an hourly basis. "

The Novgorod first chronicle: "Both Slovenѣ and Krivitsi and Merya and Chyud on Varyaga, and I went beyond the sea; and now vladѣti sobѣ and cities themselves put. And they themselves entered the battle, and the speed between them and the army is great and strife, and they entered the hail into the hail, and did not bѣshe in them the truth. "

The fact that inside the Northern Confederation of Tribes, created to repulse the common enemy, conflicts of interest began between the elders quite consistent with the realities of that time: such historical precedents were recorded among both the Baltic Slavs and the Prussians.

According to the Joachim Chronicle, Prince Gostomysl freed the mentioned tribes from tribute, who "the Varangians of the former hut, the oats of the outcast, (...) and the shed of victory (...) make peace from the Varangians, and the quickness of silence throughout the earth. This Gostomysbe husband is eliko brave, toliko wise, all his neighbor is terrible, but we love him. "

This is to a certain extent consistent with the evidence of the Tale of Bygone Years that the Varangians took tribute from the Slavic and Finnish tribes until these tribes "drove Varyaga abroad and gave them tribute." This "tax" war could occur with the greatest probability in Ladoga, the most suitable for Slavic-Scandinavian contacts and the only major settlement in the entire north of Russia. Therefore, as Kirpichnikov wrote, there is no particular risk in identifying the Great City and Ladoga, which, as reported by The Tale of Bygone Years, has become a place of anti-Varangian speech.

Gostomysl has no heirs. Calling Rurik to Ladoga and concluding an agreement with him on management and trial in accordance with local law

According to the Russian annals, Slovenia, along with the Kriviks and Finno-Ugric tribes, Miri, Meri, as well as, possibly, Vesi, participated in the vocation of the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reign in Ladoga in 862.

According to the Joachim Chronicle, Rurik (according to this chronicle, a semi-Skandin-semi-Slavic), and his brothers were invited to Russia due to the lack of male heirs from the local prince Gostomysl.

The Nikon Chronicle, which incorporates unknown sources, characterizes this event in extraordinary detail and with captivating consistency: "And according to this (strife between tribes) I decided to myself: I will look between myself, but who in us would the prince be and own us? We look and set it either from us, or from Kozar, or from Polyans, or from Dunaichev, or from Varyag. And quickness about this word of news: let's eat this, let's eat another who wants. The same conferred, sent to the Varangians ^[11].

According to the "Tale of Bygone Years": In the year 6370 [862 according to the modern chronology]... We went over the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Russian, as others are called Swedes, and others are called Normans and Angles, and other Goths are like this. They told Russia chud, Slovene, Krivichi and all: "Our land is large and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and own us. " And three brothers with their childbirth were elected, and they took all Russia with them, and came primarily to the Slovenes. And they put the city of Ladoga. And the eldest sat down, Rurik, in Ladoga, and the other - Sineus, - on White Lake, and the third, Truvor, - in Izborsk. And from those Varangians, the Russian land was nicknamed.

With reference to the name "Rurik," a detailed phonetic transformation is given from the Old Norse name "Hrórekr," which means "rich in glory" or "glorious ruler," a name sufficiently common, especially in Jutland.

Scientists have long noticed that, according to Mecklenburg traditions, Rurik and his brothers Sivar and Truvar are associated in their origin with a tribal association of emboldens who inhabited the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. One of their towns was Rerik. Tribal self-name could refer to Prince Rurik. The three brothers mentioned were called to Russia in 840. The origin of this information dates back to the lost manuscript of the Shverinsky archive ^[12] How reliable this information is has not been clarified. For the Slavic and Scandinavian probable genealogies of Rurik, see: Pchelov S.V. Genealogy of Old Russian princes. M., 2001. S. 53.

Whoever Rurik, Dane, Jutlander or Slavic, encouragement or blood of both, ethnically he was not associated with the conflicting Swedes-Varangians, who collected tribute in the North-Russian regions, so the invitation by the "Russian confederation" of such an independent person looks quite justified.

V.T. Pashuto considered historically reliable at least the core of the narrative about the vocation of the Varangians and drew attention to the contractual terminology of the annalistic story: the Varangian princes were called to "volodet," "judge" ("row") by law, by a number, that is, by an agreement that determined the conditions for inviting the prince to take the throne.

The practice of concluding agreements between the leaders of Viking detachments and the local rulers of non-Scandinavian countries who hire them for service was widespread. Are known

• the treaty of 878 in Wedmore between King Alfred Veliky of Wessex and the leader of the Danish Great Army Gutrum,
• the 911 treaty in Saint-Clair-sur-Ept between the French king Charles III the Simple and the leader of the Norman detachment settled in the Seine valley, Hrolv (Rollon) and other similar agreements.

The result of the calling of the Varangian princes was the conclusion of an agreement (other Russian row) between them and the local tribal nobility (Slavic and Finnish). The content of the series corresponds to the later practice of resolving relations with the Varangians in Russia. This agreement also finds parallels in treaties that were later concluded between Russian princes and cities.

The Varangians invited to reign were limited by the conditions of "judge and row" "in a row by law," that is, to manage and decide the court in accordance with the norms of local law, legal custom. This restriction made the prince dependent on local society and stimulated the rapid integration of the Scandinavians into the East Slavic environment.

According to the BRE, "There is no reason not to trust this tradition, but the annalistic chronology of events (the expulsion of the Varangians, the vocation of Rurik, the vocation in Kyiv of Askold and Dir in 852, the death of Rurik in 879, the capture of Kyiv by Oleg in 882) is clearly conditional."

Interestingly, in the Lavrentievsky, Ipatievsky and Trinity lists of "Tales of Bygone Years," as well as in the Russian edition of the 13th century "Chronicler Soon" by Patriarch Nikifor, placed in the Novgorod Kormchy Book (1280), Russia is named among the tribes that invited the Varangians: "coming Russia, chud, Slovene, Krivichi to Varangian, deciding: our land is great and abundant" or as in the "Tale of Bygone Years": "deciding Russia, Chud, Sloveni and Krivichi."

According to G.V. Vernadsky, a community of Scandinavian merchants arose in the area of ​ ​ Lake Ilmen by the middle of the 9th century, which, thanks to its commercial activities, was in one way or another associated with the Russian Khaganate. The latter, according to the historian, was located at the mouth of the Kuban River on the Taman Peninsula. Vernadsky considered Staraya Russa to be the center of the northern "branch" of the Russian Khaganate. According to Vernadsky, in the vocation of the Varangians, according to the Ipatiev list of "Tales of Bygone Years" ("rkosha rus, chud, Slovene, and krivichi and all: our land is large and abundant, but there is no outfit in it: let you go to reign and volodit us") - members of the Swedish colony in Old Rus participate "under the name" rus ", mainly merchants trading with the Russian kaganate in the Azov region. Their goal in "calling the Varangians' was, first of all, to reopen the trade route to the south with the help of new groups of Scandinavians."

The Legend of the Rurik Brothers: a folklore plot that coincides with the calling of the Varangians by the Britons

The Tale records that the mentioned brothers Rurika Sineus and Truvor died childless in 864. The search for their names in Old Norse onomastics did not lead to a clear result. It was also noted that the plot of three foreign brothers of the foundations - the bodies of cities and the ancestors of dynasties is a kind of folklore cliché.

According to E. A. Melnikova and V. Ya. Petrukhin, the legend of the calling of the Varangians corresponds to the traditional folklore story about the origin of state power and the ruling dynasty, which can be traced among different peoples. So, there is a significant semantic coincidence of the annalistic vocation of the Varangians with an episode from the work "Acts of the Saxons" by Vidukind of Korwei, in which the Britons turn to three brothers-Saxons Lot, Urian and Angusel with a proposal to transfer power over themselves to them: "They are ready to hand over your power to an extensive, endless country replete with various benefits...."

It was hypothesized that Sineus and Truvor did not exist, and the chronicler literally conveyed the words of the Old Vedic language sine hus and thru varing, meaning "with his own family" and "faithful squad." This presupposes the existence of a document in the Old Swedish language, a treaty that was concluded with Rurik - a "series" - in connection with his vocation by Slavic and Finnish elders. It is possible that this agreement was preserved in the princely state archive and was used at the beginning of the XII century. chronicler who did not understand some of its expressions.

If you believe that Rurik and the Danish Viking Rorik are the same person, then the latter really had two brothers, Gemming and Garald, but they died relatively early (in 837 and 841) and therefore could not accompany their brother to Russia. A certain bewilderment is caused by the cities or areas where Sineus and Truvor went upon arrival to the Slavs and Finns. Beloozero as a city arose in the 10th century, that is, later than the events described in the "Legend," and no characteristic complex of Scandinavian products was found in Izborsk.

Scandinavian burial ground Plakun on the right bank of the Volkhov in Ladoga

Among the population of Ladoga from the very moment of its foundation, from the middle of the VIII century, there were immigrants from Scandinavia. In the ІKh-X centuries. this ethnic group buries their dead in a burial mound in the tract Plakun, on the right bank of the Volkhov. The mounds of the Plakun burial ground stand out from other funerary monuments of the Ladoga district with a vivid ritual that has direct analogies in Central Sweden and Southern Denmark. In some cases, it is a rite of corpse burning with the placement of calcified bones in an urn or a bunch in the center of the mound. At least four embankments present the rite of corpse burning in the rook. A special device was mound No. 11, where there was a corpse in a wooden box placed in a cell.

Burial equipment of mounds consists of metal parts of playing boards and stalls, buckles, ice-moving spikes, arrows, knives, beads. Among the striking finds are a fragment of a sword blade, beads made of silver chopped wire, and fragments of "Frisian pitchers" of the 1st half of the ІKh century.

The burial ground in the tract Plakun is the only purely Scandinavian necropolis in Eastern Europe. Plakun mounds are not the graves of visiting merchants of Scandinavian mercenary Varangians, but the cemetery of part of the population of Ladoga. It is possible that the beginning of the functioning of the burial ground is associated with the arrival of Rurik with a squad in Ladoga.

864: Rurik moves to the wooden fortress of the Scandinavians on the Novgorod Gorodishche (Holmgard)

2-4 years after the justification in Ladoga, Rurik moved to Prednovgorod (Holmgard). According to the Joachim Chronicle, which contains a lot of information about genuine events, Rurik, being in the predecessor of Novgorod, himself "was called Prince the Great, the Greek Archicrator or Basileus" ^[13]. We are clearly talking about the peculiar coronation of Rurik and the assignment of the highest title to him "Grand Duke^[14].

For the first time the so-called. "Rurikov town" is mentioned in the annals as Gorodishche under 1103. This is how the places of the former settlement were designated. Under the same name, this place appears in the annals and in the future (Novgorod first annals of the younger and older editions. M.; L., 1950. S. 19 sl.). The original name of the settlement is not given in Russian sources, and in Scandinavian sources Holmgard is indicated in the decoding "fenced courtyard on the island" ^[15]; it is possible that in Russian speech this foreign word did not take root, the name Gorodishche was assigned to the settlement.

Such a designation arose, obviously, no later than the time when the historical role of the Privolkhov residence was a thing of the past. In the middle of the X century. Novgorod, existing in a new place, advanced. In the third quarter of X, eastern trade began to creep, the attention of the townspeople turned to the naturally more protected and spatial types of fortifications, in general, circumstances developed that contributed to the so-called "transfer of cities." It is characteristic that the predecessors of such cities as Smolensk, Yaroslavl, possibly Chernigov, also did not retain their names, it is possible, Scandinavian publicity. The transfer of cities opened a new era of their development under new Russian names.

On the territory of the Settlement, as a large administrative and trade and craft center, already in the ІKh century. there were princely choirs, residential buildings, a team, administrative and outbuildings, craft workshops.

The settlement was on the island, which gave it natural protection, and its central cape part was further fortified with a moat 4.5 m deep and up to 28 m wide, on the edge of which stood a fortress cut down from thick oak logs. Dendrochronological analysis of the spils from the wooden structures of the fortress gave the date of its construction in 862, which coincides with the annalistic date of the calling of the legendary prince Rurik.

As E.N. Nosov concluded, unlike Ladoga with its pronounced trade and craft functions, the settlement near the future Novgorod was a military-administrative town. This found some confirmation in the structure of the fortifications of the "town" in the form of a horseshoe plan. The tree-earthen contour of the walls and ditches was interrupted at the exit to the edge of the Volkhov water. There, of course, there were some barriers, but besides them there were berths, places of ship parking, port facilities.

During the reconstruction of the fortification, carried out according to the materials of E.N. Nosov and N.V. Khvoschinskaya, its horseshoe-shaped plan is not visible

Such defensive devices are not characteristic of ancient Russian, but turned out to be similar to some Viking fortifications in England, Denmark, Ireland, on the island of Gotland. It seems that this is exactly what Prednovgorod was - a kind of ship fortress that clearly controlled the movement of goods and ships on waterways. The foundation of this military-engineering building, laid on an uninhabited place, approximately corresponds to the report of the city erected in the Ilmenie, according to the annals, in 864 the Western form of fortifications directly or indirectly confirms the Scandinavian "address" of its founders, who used the type of newly built military residence known to them "by the water."

The Novgorod settlement, like the settlements of Georgy and Sergov, the town on the Veryazh River, are actually fortified ship sites. The most similar to the early fortifications of the Novgorod settlement are the later fortifications on Starokievskaya ^[16].

From the Gorodishchensky hill, it was easy to control the passage of ships from Volkhov to Lake Ilmen. On the opposite bank of the Volkhov upstream of the Settlement were the Slavic pagan sanctuary Peryn and the village on the Prost River.

The collection of finds obtained from archaeological research allowed scientists to conclude that along with everyday activities in agriculture, fishing, hunting, various crafts, priority activities of its inhabitants were trade, craft and military affairs. The nature of material culture testifies to the multi-ethnic nature of the inhabitants of the princely residence, a significant part of which were immigrants from Scandinavia, who were among the princely vigilantes, traders, artisans and partially lived families.

A diverse assortment of imported goods and jewelry found during excavations demonstrates a wide range of trade relations between the inhabitants of the Settlement: eastern and Byzantine coins, crystal, carnelian beads, glass vessels, precious metal products, rare delicacies (walnuts, peaches, almonds) delivered from southern countries; things of the Finno-Ugric type from the Perm Territory, the Middle Volga Region and the Baltic States, Frisian ridges, objects from steatite, weapons and jewelry from Scandinavia and Western Europe.

Parzella allotments near the river in Ladoga Danish type

The transformation of Ladoga into the capital of the Rurikovich empire also affected its civil construction. During excavations in 1991, archaeologists reached a five-meter depth, below the mainland lay - undisturbed clay. And on the last day of work, the contours of a burned-out two-part dwelling with a rectangular stove in one of the chambers appeared in the premetric layer.

Similar in type to the five-wall house in Ladoga was built starting from the VIII century. Next to the dwelling, a bugle was cleared for smelting iron, as well as a foothill pit where there was an employee who injected furs. The residential and industrial zones were separated by ditches, most likely serving to pull river vessels onto land. The plots of land separated by ditches were about 7 m in width and stretched to the Ladozhka River. Apparently, their ends approached the banks of the river, where there were wharves. Apparently, the person who lived in the building worked nearby - it was enough to step over the ditch. He must have been both a craftsman and a merchant. Did this universal class of coastal residents (in the West of Europe they were called studs) provide an unprecedented then rise in the welfare of the city, wondered A.N. Kirpichnikov ^[17]. The date of all discovered the second half of the ІKh century, that is, the time of the first Norman rulers of Russia.

Surprisingly similar in layout land plots with workshops for the manufacture of bronze, amber and bone products were discovered by archaeologists in the Danish city of Ribe. There, the sections were also divided by ditches into identical strips about 7 m wide. They also went out with their ends to the water. It turns out that in cities separated by 1600 km, one land management plan was built. How can this be explained?

The division of the urban territory into sections adjacent to the river, street, fortress wall is characteristic of the layout of a number of European cities, including Scandinavian ones. For example, according to the testimony of the "Saga of Olav the Holy" (placed in the work "Circle of the Earth" by Snorri Sturluson), at the founding of the trading city of Nidaros (Trondheim in Norway), the king "marked out the plots for development and gave them to bonds, merchants and other people who liked him and wanted to settle there." It becomes clear that the "marking of plots" is evidence of a certain order of urban land use and the presence of an administration that carried out the division of the territory, especially in such convenient and favorable areas of the city as the coastal land was at that time. Using the example of Ribe and Ladoga, the emergence of such a practice should be attributed to the VIII-IX centuries.

It is tempting to connect Ladoga parcels with the activities of Rurik or his successor Oleg Vesti. Under them, the Ladoga settlement expanded and occupied both banks of the Ladozhka River, and its mouth began to serve as a natural citywide harbor.

Tamgi Rurikovich in the form of a falcon

Family signs of the Rurikovich, Tamgi, appear in the first representatives of the ruling dynasty.

Tamgi Rurikovich

Artisans marked them with various objects: coins, seals, rings, pendants and even stones. Princely coats of arms were required to wear tyuns (princely or boyar governors) and vigilantes. Unlike Western European noble coats of arms, these heraldic elements had not generic, but personal significance. Each prince had his own coat of arms, which evidently represented his authority.

O.M. Rapov in the article "Signs of the Rurikovich and the symbol of the falcon" drew attention not only to the symbolic similarity of some emblems used by the princes-Rurikovich, with a diving falcon, but also to the fact that the Russian princes were called "falcons" in epics and in such a landmark work of Russian literature as "The Word about Igor's Regiment." It is possible that the falcon in ancient times was a totem of the clan from which the princely family came.

Double-toothed and trident tamgs were also characteristic of the Khazar culture (VIII-IX centuries AD). They appeared as decorations on the waist set, stamps on pottery, graffiti on stone blocks and bricks of fortresses. It is highly likely that the style of the emblems of the ancient Russian princes was taken from the Khazars. The Khazars at one time adopted a double-toothed sign from conquered pagan tribes, it was an image of a skull of cattle and was used as a charm over a dwelling or camp.

In general, all signs on the coats of arms of ancient Russian princes are similar. They are a figure resembling an inverted letter "P," often with an additional process in the middle or below. If on the seals the princely emblems were depicted schematically, then on the coins they were ornamented: the drawing was complicated by crosses, curls, circles.

A.A. Molchanov in the article "Signs of the Rurikovich: Old Russian princely emblematic" came to the conclusion that trapezoidal pendants with princely emblems are similar to Scandinavian credentials designed to certify the official nature of the mission. Academician Valentin Yanin agrees with this conclusion, he suggested that the pendants with the signs of the Rurikovich inscribed on them belonged to the Virniki - representatives of the princely administration, who collected court duties and fines.

Princes before Vladimir (Igor, Svyatoslav, Yaropolk), according to archaeologist Sergei Beletsky, used two-teeth. But after the reign of Vladimir, signs in the form of a trident dominated for seven generations. True, then, from about the XII century, double-toothed figures began to prevail again.

In 1970, V.P. Petrenko, in one of the hills located in the southern part of the Victory tract near Staraya Ladoga, discovered a corpse burning with four beads, seven weights and a bronze pendant decorated with Rurikovich signs. On one side of the plate is a trident of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (ruled 980-1015), on the other a more decorative sign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (ruled 1019-1054).

According to the witty guess of S.V. Beletsky, the combination of the signs of the two princes on the pendant could appear during the Novgorod reign of Yaroslav the Wise before his quarrel with his father, that is, about 1010-1015. In the described case, we are talking, perhaps, about the burial of a merchant who had the right of free trade. The owner of the suspension could confirm his status by showing signs of the sovereign father and son. His funeral, perhaps, was carried out according to the pagan rite after the adoption of baptism in Russia in 988.

879: Death of Rurik

In 879, Rurik died and Oleg began to reign in Novgorod as the guardian of his young son Igor.

882: Joining Kievan Rus'

Main article: Kievan Rus

In 882, Oleg goes on a campaign to Kyiv. On the way, as the chronicler writes, Oleg "took possession" of two cities, putting his governors in them. These cities were not besieged and ruined. Smolensk is a city of Krivichs that occupied the upper Dnieper, Western Dvina and Volga, part of the Neman basin and Lake Ilmen. Krivichi was among those who called for the reign of Rurik and was during the campaign in Oleg's army.

Lubech, which stood on the Dnieper somewhat higher from the confluence of the Pripyat, was a city of glades. Oleg did not want to rob these Russian lands and did not allow any of his soldiers. He only replaced the heads of local administrations.

In the same 882, Oleg came to Kyiv, killed the local rulers Askold and Dir and declared Kyiv the "mother of Russian cities," began to rule in it.

Novgorod and Leningrad Oblast

• Novgorod region
• Leningrad Oblast

Notes