Ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs and the role of the Varangians in the fate of ancient Russian civilization. Varangians in the history of ancient Rus'

The oldest Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, reports the names of the peoples who, along with the Slavs, took part in the formation of the Old Russian state - Varangians, Rus, Chud, Ves, Merya. Anthropological studies show that some Iranian peoples, whose names seem to be unknown to us, also participated in this process.

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

Back in the 18th century, German scientists who then lived in Russia - G.Z. Bayer, G. Miller and L. Schlözer were the first to argue that the Rus and Varangians who came to the Slavs were Germanic tribes, or rather Swedes, known in Europe under the name of the Normans (“northern people”). This is how the Norman theory of the origin of the Rus and Varangians arose, which still exists in historical science. But then, in the 18th century, the Norman theory was decisively refuted by M.V. Lomonosov, who considered the Rus and Varangians to be Baltic Slavs who previously lived in the Southern Baltic.

So discussions have continued for more than three centuries about who the Varangians and the Rus are? But only recently in the works of A.G. Kuzmin, a theory emerged that explains most of the contradictions around which more than three centuries of debate have been going on. A.G. Kuzmin showed that the scientific disputes themselves surrounding the origin of the Varangians and Rus' are largely connected with conflicting messages in ancient Russian chronicles. In the Tale of Bygone Years itself, as A.G. emphasizes. Kuzmin, cited three versions origin of the Varangians and two versions origin of the Russians. All these versions were included in the chronicle text at different times, sometimes supplementing the narrative, sometimes contradicting it. Based on deep knowledge of the sources, A.G. Kuzmin proved that the questions themselves about the Varangians and about Rus' should be considered separately, since both of them belonged to different ethnic groups.

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

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

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

Another later insertion, added to the chronicle at the end of the 11th century, also lists the tribes living in the Baltic states: “And they went overseas to the Varangians, to Rus', for that was the name of those Varangians - Rus, as others are called Swedes, others Normans, Angles , other goths, these same ones - so.” Here, “Varangians” mean different tribes. This means that this message in the chronicle implies the Varangians are more in a broad sense and assumes the inclusion of Scandinavians among the “Varangian” peoples. But the chronicler tries to emphasize that it is “Rus” that is meant, and not other peoples, clearly contrasting “Rus” with the Swedes, Goths, Norman-Norwegians and Angles (actually the Danes). From this message it follows that in this case, different ethnic tribes, including Scandinavians, may be hiding behind the designation “Varangians”.

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

To summarize, let's summarize everything that has been said. In The Tale of Bygone Years we meet three different characteristics of the Varangians. First: the Varangians are the rulers of a state-territorial entity that arose on the Volga-Baltic route from Jutland all the way to Volga Bulgaria. Second: The Varangians are some kind of separate ethnic group, but not the Germans. Third, latest: Varangians are a multi-ethnic definition of the “Western” peoples of the Baltic region, including the Scandinavians. In other words, “The Tale of Bygone Years” consistently shows us how, during the 8th-11th centuries, the meaning of the definition of “Varyag” changed in the minds of ancient Russian chroniclers, constantly being filled with new content. This is what a complex riddle the ancient Russian scribes gave us!

And this riddle can be more or less finally solved using not only the chronicle, but also other - archaeological, toponymic, anthropological and ethnographic material. And when this material is comprehended in its entirety, then a complex, but logical and substantiated picture of ethnic processes in the South Baltic region emerges.

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

But who were the “Varangians” ethnically? A comparison of chronicle messages with other sources allowed A.G. Kuzmin to show that initially the “Varangians” of the Russian chronicle are those known to Roman authors “Varins” (“Varins”, “Vagry”, “Vars”).

“Varins”, or “varings”, back in the 4th century. among other tribes participated in the invasion of Britain. They were part of the group of "Ingevons", tribes that were not Germanic, but in this group there was a strong admixture of Uralic elements. German medieval authors called the Varins “Värings” and considered them one of the Slavic tribes. Frankish authors - “Varins”, Baltic Slavs - “Varangs”, “Wagrs”. In the East Slavic vowels, the “Vagrs” began to be called “Varangians”. The very ethnic name “Varangians” is completely clear, Indo-European: “Pomeranians”, “people living by the sea” (from the Indo-European “var” - water, sea). The Varins, as a tribe neighboring the Frankish possessions proper, gave the name to the Baltic Sea, which even in the 16th century was called the Varangian Sea, but only in Russia and among the Baltic Slavs.

The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea gives interesting story about the people who already in the 6th century. knew under the name “Varna”: “At this time, between the Varna tribe and those warriors who live on the island called Brittia (i.e. Britain. - S.P.), a war and battle took place for the following reason. The Varnas settled north of the Istra River and occupied lands extending to Northern Ocean and to the Rhine River, separating them from the Franks and other tribes who settled here. All those tribes that lived on both sides of the Rhine River each had their own proper name, and their entire tribe together was called the Germans, receiving one common name...

...A certain man named Hermegiscles ruled the Varnas. Trying in every possible way to strengthen his royal power, he took as his legal wife the sister of the Frankish king Theodebert, since his former wife, who was the mother of only one son, had recently died, whom she left to his father. His name was Radigis. His father married him to a girl from the Brittian family, whose brother was then the king of the Angil tribes; He gave her a large sum of money as a dowry. This Hermegiscles, riding on horseback through some area with the noblest of the Varni, saw a bird on a tree, croaking loudly. Did he understand what the bird was saying, or did he feel it somehow differently, be that as it may, he, pretending that he miraculously understood the bird’s prediction, told those present that in forty days he would die and that the bird had predicted this to him . “And so I,” he said, “caring in advance so that we could live completely calmly in complete safety, entered into a relationship with the Franks, taking my current wife from there, and found a bride for my son in the country of the Britons. Now, since I assume that I will die very soon, having no offspring from this wife, either male or female, and my son has not yet reached marriageable age and is not yet married, listen, I will tell you my opinion, and, If it seems useful to you, as soon as the end of my life comes, stick to it and fulfill it in good time.

So I think that a close alliance and kinship with the Franks would be more useful to the Varnians than with the islanders. The Britons can only come into conflict with you with great delay and difficulty, and the Warns are separated from the Franks only by the waters of the Rhine River. Therefore, being your closest neighbors and possessing very great power, they can very easily bring you both benefit and harm whenever they want. And of course, they will do harm if their relationship with you does not prevent them from doing so. This is how it is in human life that power that exceeds the power of neighbors becomes heavy and most prone to violence, since it is easy for a powerful neighbor to find reasons for war with those living next to him, even if he is not guilty of anything. In this state of affairs, let my son's islander bride, who was summoned here for this purpose, leave you, taking with her all the money that she received from us, taking it with her as payment for the insult, as required by the law common to all people . And let my son Radigis in the future become the husband of his stepmother, as the law of our fathers allows (the custom described here has no analogues in the customary law of the Germanic tribes. - S.P.)».

That's what he said. On the fortieth day after this prediction, he fell ill and ended the days of his life at the appointed time. The son of Hermegiscles received royal power from the Varni, and in accordance with the opinion of the noblest persons among these barbarians, he followed the advice of the deceased and, refusing to marry his bride, married his stepmother. When Radigis's bride found out about this, she, unable to bear such an insult, was inflamed with a desire to take revenge on him.

How much the local barbarians value morality can be concluded from the fact that if they have just started talking about marriage, even if the act itself has not been completed, then they believe that the woman has already lost her honor. First of all, having sent her loved ones to him with the ambassador, she tried to find out why he insulted her so much, although she had not committed adultery and had not done anything bad towards him. Since she could not achieve anything this way, her soul gained masculine strength and courage, and she began military operations. Immediately gathering 400 ships and putting at least one hundred thousand fighters on them (this, of course, is an exaggeration, common in the tales of the era of military democracy. - S.P.), she herself became the head of this army against the Varns. One of her brothers also went with her to arrange her affairs, not the one who was the king, but the one who lived as a private person. These islanders are the strongest of all the barbarians known to us and go to battle on foot. Not only had they never ridden horses, but they also had no idea what kind of animal a horse was, since they had never even seen a picture of a horse on this island. Apparently, such an animal had never existed on the island of Brittia (of course, the horse was known here, and quite early. Among the Vendian Slavs it was a cult animal, but the northern peoples fought on foot. - S.P.). If any of them had to go on an embassy or for any other reason to the Romans, or the Franks, or other peoples who had horses, and they had to ride horses there, then they could not even sit on them, and other people, having lifted them, put them on horses, and when they want to get off the horse, they again lift them and put them on the ground. Likewise, the Varnas are not horsemen, and they are all infantrymen too... These islanders did not even have sails, they always sailed with oars.

When they sailed to the mainland, the girl who stood at their head, having set up a strong camp at the very mouth of the Rhine, remained there with a small detachment, and ordered her brother with the rest of the army to go against the enemies. And the Varnas then became a camp near the ocean shore and the mouth of the Rhine. When the Angyls arrived here in all haste, both of them entered into hand-to-hand combat with each other, and the Varnas were brutally defeated. Many of them were killed in this battle, while the rest, along with the king, fled. The Angils pursued them for a short time, as foot soldiers do, and then returned to camp. The girl sternly received those who returned to her and bitterly reproached her brother, claiming that he had not done anything decent with the army, since they did not bring Radigis to her alive. Having chosen the most warlike of them, she immediately sent them, ordering them to bring this man alive to them, taking him prisoner in any way they could. They, following her orders, went around all the places of this country, carefully searching everything, until they found Radigis hiding in a dense forest. Having tied him up, they delivered him to the girl. And so he appeared before her face, trembling and believing that he would immediately die the most shameful death. But she, beyond expectation, did not order him to be killed and did not do him any harm, but, reproaching him for the insult inflicted on her, asked him why, having despised the agreement, he took another wife on his bed, although his bride had not committed any crime against him no breach of fidelity. He, justifying his guilt, brought her his father’s will and the insistence of his subjects as proof. He addressed pleading speeches to her, adding many requests to them in his justification, blaming necessity for everything. He promised that, if she wanted, he would become her husband and what he had done wrong before, he would correct with his further actions. Since the girl agreed to this, she freed Radigis from his shackles and treated him and everyone else in a friendly manner. Then he immediately let go of Theodebert’s sister and married a Briton...”

At the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. The Varins had not yet been assimilated by the Slavs. In any case, at the turn of these centuries, the Frankish emperor Charlemagne granted the Varins a law common to the English - “The Truth of the Angles and the Varins or Thuringians.” But the active expansion of the Franks and Saxons prompted the Varins to look for new places of settlement. In the 8th century Varangeville (Varangian City) appears in France, in Burgundy on the Rhone River, in 915 the city of Väringvik (Varangian Bay) arose in England, the name Varangerfjord (Varangian Bay, Varangian Bay) is still preserved in the north of Scandinavia. The Saxon "Northern Mark" at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century was also called the "Mark of Waring". From the VIII - IX centuries. the names Varin, Varin and Varang are widely distributed throughout Europe, also indicating the dispersion of individual groups of Varins in a foreign-language environment.

From the middle of the 9th century. The Varins were gradually assimilated by the Slavs who came here, and in the second half of the 9th century the Slavic language. The unification of the Varins and Slavs occurred, obviously, as part of the general opposition of the Slavs and other tribes of the southern coast of the Baltic to the advance of the Franks and Saxons.

The main direction of resettlement of the Varin-Varangians 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 Eastern Baltic, etc.). This is where the double naming of settlers arose in the Tale of Bygone Years - 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 Tale of Bygone Years” specifically stipulates that Rus' is not Swedes, not Norwegians and not Danes.

The Varangians appeared in Eastern Europe in the middle of the 9th century. The Varangians-Rus first come to the northwestern lands to the Ilmen Slovenes, and then descend to the Middle Dnieper 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. Most likely, the legendary Rurik came from one of the Varangian (Verin) tribes. In some medieval genealogies, Rurik and his brothers (Sivara and Triara - in the Western European manner) are considered the sons of the prince of the Slavic tribe of Obodrites Godlav (Gottlieb), who was killed in 808 by the Danes. In turn, medieval authors tied the genealogy of the Obodrites to the Wendish-Herulian, which reflected the process of assimilation of the Wends and Herulians by the Slavs (mixed Slavic and non-Slavic names of princely families).

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

Names founded by Rurik in the 9th century. cities (Ladoga, White Lake, Novgorod) they say that the Varangians-Rus at that time spoke a Slavic language. It is interesting that 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 men were forced to swear allegiance according to Russian law: they swore by their weapons and by Perun, their god.” Worship of Perun was widespread among different nations It was on the southern coast of the Baltic, for example, that Perkunas was the god of Lithuania, with functions similar to Perun.

The idea of ​​the Slavs of the Varangians and their emergence from the South Baltic coast persisted for centuries not only in the lands of the former Kievan Rus. It was widespread in Western Europe, as evidenced by many monuments. An important place among them is occupied by the conclusion of the Ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire S. Herberstein, who visited Russia in 1517 and 1526. He said that the homeland of the Varangians could only be the South Baltic Vagria, inhabited by the Vandal Slavs, who “were powerful, finally used the Russian language and had Russian customs and religion.” “Based on all this,” wrote Herberstein, “it seems to me that the Russians summoned their princes from among the Vagrians, or Varangians, rather than entrusting power to foreigners who differed from them in faith, customs and language.” As a diplomat, Herberstein visited many Western European countries, including the Baltic countries (Denmark, Sweden), and was familiar with their history, which allowed him to establish a parallel between Vagria and Russia, and not between Sweden and Russia.

Legends about Rurik and his brothers on the southern coast of the Baltic persisted for a very long time - they were recorded in the second half of the 19th century. Modern historian V.V. Fomin notes that in the “Historical Mirror of the Russian Sovereigns,” which belonged to the hand of the Dane Adam Sellia, who had lived in Russia since 1722, Rurik and his brothers are also removed from Vagria. The fact that this kind of legend took place and existed for a long time on former lands South Baltic Slavs, confirms the Frenchman Xavier Marmier, whose “Northern Letters” were published in 1840 in Paris. Having visited Mecklenburg during his travels, located on the former lands of the Slavic Obodrites, Marmier wrote down a local legend that the king of the Obodrites-Rerigs, Godlav, had three sons: Rurik the Peaceful, Sivar the Victorious and Truvor the Faithful, who, going east, liberated from tyranny the people of Russia and sat down to reign, respectively, in Novgorod, Pskov and Beloozero. Thus, even in the first half of the nineteenth century. Among the long-Germanized population of Mecklenburg, a legend of Balto-Slavic origin about the calling of three Slavic brothers to Rus', separated from them by exactly a whole millennium, was preserved.

Numerous archaeological, anthropological, ethnographic and linguistic materials also testify to the long-standing and close interaction of the inhabitants of the southern coast of the Baltic with North-Western Russia. According to research by G.P. Smirnova, in the early archaeological layers of Novgorod, a noticeable component is ceramics, which has analogies on the southern coast of the Baltic, in Mecklenburg, which indicates two big waves migrations along the Volga-Baltic route from West to East: at the end of the 8th and in the middle of the 9th century. Important anthropological studies carried out in 1977 among the population of the Pskov Obozerie showed that it belongs to the Western Baltic type, which “is most common among the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and the islands of Schleswig-Holstein to the Soviet Baltic states...” Numismatic material also shows that that the earliest trade relations of Rus' on the Baltic Sea are recorded not with Scandinavia, but with the southern coast of the Baltic. D.K. Zelenin, I.I. Lyapushkin and many other archaeologists and linguists pointed to obvious linguistic and ethnographic parallels between Northern Rus' and the Baltic Pomerania. And it is no coincidence that the chronicle states that the Novgorodians came “from the Varangian clan” - in those days there were still some legends about the connection of the population of Novgorod with the South Baltic tribes.

But under Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century, Scandinavian Swedes appeared in large numbers in the Varangian squads. This was facilitated by the fact that Yaroslav was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerd. Therefore, at the beginning of the 11th century. In Rus', people from Scandinavia are also being called Varangians. And it is no coincidence that the insertion into the chronicle, in which the Swedes are also called “Varangians,” appeared only at the end of the 11th century. By the way, the Scandinavian sagas testify that the Swedes themselves knew nothing about Kievan Rus until the end of the 10th century. In any case, the first Russian prince who became the hero of the Scandinavian epic was Vladimir Svyatoslavich. But it is interesting that in Novgorod the Swedes were not called Varangians until the 13th century.

After the death of Yaroslav, the Russian princes stopped recruiting mercenary squads from the Varangians. As a result, the very name “Varangians” is being rethought and gradually spreading to all people from the Catholic West.

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In the Russian language, the word “Varangian” is still sometimes used in a common noun meaning that has some humorous or ironic connotation. This is the name given to strangers who are invited to help in any matter, as well as those who, as uninvited guests, invade the measured life of local residents and behave confidently and independently. Does this image imprinted in people's memory correspond to the true meaning of the word? And who are they, these mysterious Varangians?

Back in the 9th century in trading settlements Eastern Slavs, as well as on the trade routes that went through their lands to Byzantium, “overseas aliens from the Baltic Sea” began to appear (sometimes it was also called the Varangian Sea). The Slavs called these overseas guests Varangians.

Many historians believe that the Varangians most likely came from Scandinavia. They came to the Slavs to trade, but often the leaders of the Slavs themselves invited them to their military squads, because the Varangians were famous for their strength and courage. And we had to fight a lot. The Slavs were surrounded on all sides by hostile tribes, who devastated their lands with raids, killed people, and stole livestock. In addition, the Slavic tribes themselves did not get along with each other; there was no peace and harmony among them. Of course, the Slavs themselves were distinguished by enviable courage and strength, and together with the Varangians they represented a very formidable force.

And then something happened that the famous Russian historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin calls “an amazing and almost unprecedented case.” The Slavs send their ambassadors overseas to the Varangians to tell them: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it, come reign and rule over us.”

Who would refuse such a tempting offer? The Varangians did not refuse either. Three brothers: Rurik, Truvor and Sineus - gathered a large squad and arrived to the Slavs to rule them. The elder brother, Rurik, went to Novgorod, the younger ones: Sineus - to White Lake, and Truvor settled in Izborsk (now the Pskov region).

Two years later, Sineus and Truvor died, and Rurik annexed their lands to his own. Then these lands began to be called Novgorod Russia.

Another thing applies to this time important event. The legend says that two Varangians, who also arrived with Rurik in Novgorod, Askold and Dir, went with their comrades from Novgorod further to Constantinople to seek their fortune. On the way, they saw a small town on the high bank of the Dnieper and asked: whose is it? They were told that it was built by three brothers, who had already died by this time. And that the inhabitants of this town live calmly, do not fight with anyone, only pay tribute to the Khazars. This town was Kyiv. Askold and Dir took possession of it and began to rule there, also subjugating the surrounding lands. Thus, according to legend, another Rus' arose - Kiev, led by the same Varangians.

Who are these Varangians? What is known about them is that they are a certain group of people, either ethnic or professional, which once existed in Northern Europe, Rus' and Byzantium. The word “Varangians”, in addition to Russian, is present in both Old Scandinavian and Greek. So who are these Varangians? Let's try to understand this issue.

Nestor about the Varangians-Normans

The question regarding who these Varangians are, where they came from to Rus', who they were by nationality and profession, remains controversial in historical scholarship today. As a rule, it is believed that in Rus' the Varangians were people from Scandinavian countries, as well as their neighbors - the Slavs who lived in the Baltic region.

There is historical information that they lived in the Old Russian state from the 9th to the 12th centuries, and in Byzantium from the 11th to the 13th. The Varangians were known as mercenary warriors and trading people.

In the “Tale of Bygone Years” (“Nestor’s Chronicle”), the earliest chronicle document of the 12th century that has survived to this day, they are called “Varangians-Rus”. The emergence of a state called “Rus” is associated with them. That is, here we can see adherence to the so-called Norman theory, according to which the Varangians are northern people. The Russians invited representatives of this people to the kingdom. This is how the “calling of the Varangians” took place.

There are other sources that indicate the closeness of the concept of “Varangians” with the Vikings from Scandinavia. They indicate that, starting from the 12th century, the word “Varyags” in the Russian language is replaced by the word “Germans”. There are a number of Scandinavian and Byzantine documents that report that some of the Vikings in the 11th century were hired to serve in the Byzantine troops, including in a special imperial detachment. The Byzantines called them “varangi”, and the Scandinavians called them “varingi”.

Another view – “Slavic”

Other sources preach the Slavic theory, which says that Rus' is the Slavic peoples, and the Old Russian state, or Kievan Rus, appeared in the process of moving south from the northern regions (starting from the first half of the 9th century) of the “Russian family,” which was an association of warriors-combatants led by the Novgorod prince.

He managed to subjugate a number of tribes, including: Eastern Slavs, Balts, Finno-Ugric peoples. In addition, part of the tribal unions created by the Eastern Slavs became dependent on him.

Thus, reviews of the Varangians, their origin and role in the formation of the Old Russian state, and the “Norman” and “Slavic” theories from researchers are characterized as ambiguous. Both theories are controversial because neither is supported by reliable, consistent sources. And therefore the history of Rus' cannot be reconstructed with a sufficient degree of reliability.

The essence of the “Varangian question”

The main problems, or rather a set of problems on which scientists differ in their opinions, are questions such as:

1. What is the ethnicity of the Varangians as a whole people?
2. What is the origin of the people as a community that belonged to one of the Varangian tribes?
3. What role do the Varangians play in the development of statehood among the Eastern Slavs?
4. What is their significance in the formation of the ancient Russian people?
5. What is the origin of the name of the people “Rus”?

Scientists continue to wrestle with these questions to this day, but cannot come to a consensus. At the same time, new information appears, new discoveries are made. Next we will consider a short history development of the issue.

Varangians - who are they anyway?

Here are a few views of historians on who the Varangians were:

1. Nestor in The Tale of Bygone Years, talking about the calling to rule of the Varangians, considers them as a separate people. He mentions him among other peoples, such as: the Normans (Norwegians), the Swedes (Swedes), the English, the Goths. The Rurik tribe itself, which (allegedly) was offered to rule the Slavic people, is associated with the “Rus” people. Thus, the chronicler considers the Varangians and Rus' together, calling them “Varangians-Rus”.
2. N.M. Karamzin spoke of the Varangians as several Scandinavian peoples. This version is still followed by most historians today.
3. There are assumptions that they belonged to the Finns, Prussians, Baltic Slavs, Varangians of the “Russian” (which means “salt”) fishery, located on the southern shore of Lake Ilmen, in the Novgorod region.
4. There is also a version by I. Evers, according to which the Varangians were divided into northern and southern. Moreover, the former traced their origins to the Scandinavians, and the latter were the ancestors of the Cossacks who came from the Khazars. These were the so-called Slavs of the Great Steppe, who gave rise to the ruling Russian family.

Version A.G. Kuzmina

Soviet and Russian scientist, historian and publicist, A.G. Kuzmin, the author of many works on the origins of Ancient Rus', took the position of anti-Normanism. He believed that the Varangians were the tribes that inhabited Vagria. They were called “vars”, “vagrs”, “varins”. Today Wagria is the name given to the peninsula located in the east of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany.

In the Middle Ages, this was the name given to lands spread over a much larger territory. As the Slavic Encyclopedia says, Vagria is the historical name of the region located between the Baltic Sea, the island of Fehmarn, the rivers Sventina and Trava. Since the 10th century, it was subjected to numerous ruinous raids by German feudal lords, and at the beginning of the 12th century it was captured by them.

According to A.G. Kuzmin, after the inhabitants of Vagria, the Varangians began to be called the entire set of Slavic peoples who lived on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, that is, from Polish Pomerania to Vagria itself inclusive. And even later, other inhabitants of Europe who were subjects of the Frankish kings were also called this way.

Thus, there is no clear answer about the origin of the Varangians and their role in the formation of the Russian state today, but scientists continue their painstaking work.

Eastern trade route

The sea and river route that ran from the Baltic Sea to Byzantium through eastern Europe at the beginning of the 10th - mid-13th centuries, it was called the path “From the Varangians to the Greeks”, or the “Varangian Path”, or the “Eastern Path”. It was one of the waterways controlled by representatives of the peoples living on the Baltic coast. From there it led south, to the east of Europe and to Asia Minor.

According to Academician D.S. Likhachev, this trade route was the most important for Europe until the 12th century, until the moment when trade relations between north and south moved to the west. Iron, weapons, ambergris, whale skin products, walrus ivory, and art goods were brought south from the Scandinavian countries.

As well as products that were the subject of robbery carried out by the Vikings in the lands of Western Europe: fabrics, jewelry, silver utensils, French wines. Wine, spices, jewelry, icons, and books were supplied from Byzantium. From Rus' - furs, flax, wax, honey, resin, leather, weapons, bread, handicrafts, silver in coins.

It should be noted that for a long time the border between trade and robbery on the way from the Varangians to the Greeks was blurred.

Varyag - who is this? The history of Russia in the 9th – 11th centuries is closely connected with the Varangians. It is believed that the Russian state was created by them. This is written about in the earliest handwritten source - Nestor’s chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years”. So who are the Varangians, where did they come to our land from?

Who is the Varangian

Until now, scientists have not answered this question. There are several theories for determining who the Varangians are. Only in Russian history there are several main versions. Using various sources, scientists put forward their definitions. Until now, no one can say unequivocally that “the Varangian is...”.

Varangians, as a professional definition

The famous Russian historian V. Klyuchevsky rejected the Scandinavian origin of the Varangians in Russian history. That is, he did not equate the Vikings, Scandinavians and Varangians. He believed that the Varangians were armed merchants or their guards, consisting mostly of people from the ancient German tribe of the Danes and other people who joined them, consisting of runaway slaves of different nationalities. This also confirms that there was a water trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. And the Vikings are sea pirates and robbers.

From the Byzantine chronicles we can conclude that the definition of Varangians (Varangs) included mercenary soldiers in the service of the emperors. Most of them were immigrants from the northern territories: Normans, Swedes, Rus, Goths, Prussians, Franks, and Angles. All this heterogeneous tribe was called Varangs.

Who are the Varangians-Rus

According to Nestor’s chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years,” the Varangians are a tribe or people of Rus' that came with the princes Rurik, Truvor, and Sineus. Reading the chronicle, you can find out that in order to stop civil strife in their lands, the council of Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes went overseas and called the Varangians-Rus to their lands. “...Those Varangians were called Rus, just as others were called Swedes, and others were called Normans...”.

From this it follows that all the peoples living on the Varangian Sea for the Russians are Varangians, while they distinguished between the Varangians - Russia, the Varangians-Normans, and so on.

Varangians in Russian service

All information about the Varangians is taken from chronicles, one of which is the Tale of Bygone Years. This is practically the only Russian source in which you can glean some information about the Varangians. Undoubtedly interesting question is also the existence of a path from the Varangians to the Greeks. Did it really exist, and if so, how were ships transported overland, since at that time there was no direct route from the Baltic Sea along the rivers to Byzantium and Greece.

Byzantine chronicles indicate the Varangians as a people from the north, but do not specifically name from which land they came to serve. From the same chronicle of Nestor one can learn that Russian princes often resorted to the help of the Varangians in the struggle for power. With the help of Varangian mercenaries Novgorod prince Vladimir seized the Kyiv throne. After this, he sent a squad to Byzantium, and placed three princes in the cities.

During the time of Prince Vladimir, information appeared about large quantities Rus in the Byzantine service. In eastern sources there is a mention that the prince sends the Rus to help the emperor, and gives cities to their princes. As some historians suggest, it was after this that information about the Varangs, units of mercenaries of various nationalities, appeared in the Byzantine chronicles.

In history, many nationalities appeared and disappeared as if into nowhere, for the most part they mixed with more numerous nationalities and assimilated into them, adopting customs and language. Later historical documents do not contain any information about the Varangians. What happened to them, where did they go? There are only mentions of them in sagas, legends, and chronicles. The information in these documents is very contradictory, so one can only guess what a Varangian is.

The word "Varangian" in Russian

There is no unity among scientists in the formation of the word Varangian. What was the initial prerequisite for his education? There are many versions. Each scientist, before drawing up a definite explanation, worked with many primary sources.

Therefore, perhaps those scientists who argued that in Rus' the peoples who lived along the shores of the Varangian Sea were called Varangians were right. But the question arises, did people with the name Ros really live there? Since mentions of him are found only in Russian chronicles.

There is a version that the word “Varangian” comes from the ancient German varg, which translates as wolf or robber. This corresponds to the Byzantines' descriptions of the Varangians as fierce, strong warriors.

The ancient Germans have a word wara, which means oath or oath. Among the Scandinavians, the word var also means an oath, this explains the word Varangian, as a mercenary warrior who takes an oath of allegiance to the emperor.

An interesting suggestion was made by the historian Kuzmin A., who connected the word “Varangian” with the Celtic word var, which means water. Here another version arises that the Varangians are the predecessors of the Pomors living on the shores of the Varangian Sea.

But what about the Varangians-Ros? Maybe it’s true that the Slavic tribes called the peoples who lived on the coast of the Varangian Sea Varangians and this is a collective word?

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/Varyag”, 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 Varanki 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. Drevane dialect (Drevane - Slavic tribe, on whose soil Hamburg arose). In it, among the surviving Drevani words, there was the word “warang” (warang) - “sword” (Gedeonov S.A. Excerpts from research on the Varangian question. 1862-64. T. II. pp. 159–160. Aka. 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 is therefore a borrowing. Its literal coincidence with the Drevani “varang” proves that at the turn of the 10th – 11th 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.

*Chrisovuls - 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 - “ros, Varangs, Kulpings [Old Russian Kolbyags], Franks, Bulgars or Sarakins”; chrisovul 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 in connection with the need to distinguish the old from the new - the large corps of Kyiv Rus, sent in 988 by Prince Vladimir to help Emperor Vasily II.

Subsequently, 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 to 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: Vasilyevsky 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 Varangi corps, also prayed in this temple and generally easily found common language with Orthodoxy, which was promoted by some common features 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”, in the 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 works 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 argue in favor of this dating Old Russian texts, like 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. In the "Book of Antiquities" Russian state"(late 17th century) also speaks of 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 a treaty document with the Gothic coast, call the Hanseatic merchants Varangians, again living 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 “Varyag” 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.