Rurik (also spelled Rorik, Riurik or Ryurik; ; ; died 879) was a

Varangian The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

who, according to tradition, was invited to reign in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

in the year 862. The ''

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

'' states that Rurik was succeeded by his kinsman

Oleg Oleg (), Oleh (), or Aleh () is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine, and Belаrus. Origins ''Oleg'' derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "blessed". The feminine equival ...

who was regent for his infant son Igor. Traditionally, Rurik has been considered the founder of the

Rurik dynasty The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

, which was the ruling dynasty of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

and its principalities, and ultimately the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

, until the death of Feodor I in 1598. As a result, he is considered to be the traditional founder of the Russian monarchy.

Life

The earliest mention of Rurik is contained in the ''

'', traditionally ascribed to Nestor and compiled in , which states that East Slavic and Finnic tribes in 860–862 (including the

Chud Chud or Chude (, , ) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Baltic Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. It has also been used to refer to other Finno-Ugric peo ...

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

Krivichs The Krivichs or Kryvichs ( rus, кри́вичи, p=ˈkrʲivʲɪtɕɪ, krivichi, links=y; , ) were a tribal union of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries. It is suggested that originally the Krivichi were native to the area a ...

Meryans The Meryans () or Merya people () were an ancient Finnic people that lived in the Upper Volga region. The '' Primary Chronicle'' places them around the Nero and Pleshcheyevo lakes. They were assimilated by the Russians by the 17th century, but ...

and Ves) "drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves". Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. Rurik came along with his younger brothers

Sineus and Truvor Sineus and Truvor () are mentioned in Rus' chronicles as brothers of Rurik, a Varangian chieftain of the Rus' who is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Rurikids. According to legendary calling of the Varangians as recorded in the '' ...

and a large retinue. * * According to the chronicle, Rurik was one of the

, a

Varangian The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

eastern Sweden around the eighth century. According to the prevalent theory, the name ''Rus'' is derived from an

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

term for "the men who row", from an older name for the Swedish coastal area of

Roslagen Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago. Historically, it was the name for all the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, including the eastern par ...

. Sineus established himself at Beloozero, and Truvor at the town of

Izborsk Izborsk (; ; ) is a rural locality (village) in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It contains one of the most ancient and impressive fortresses of Western Russia. The village lies to the west of Pskov and just to the east of the Ru ...

. Truvor and Sineus died shortly after the establishment of their territories, and Rurik consolidated these lands into his own territory, extending his rule in northern Russia.

Askold and Dir Askold and Dir (''Haskuldr'' or ''Hǫskuldr'' and ''Dyr'' or ''Djur'' in Old Norse; died in 882), mentioned in both the ''Primary Chronicle'', the ''Novgorod First Chronicle'', and the ''Nikon Chronicle'', were the earliest known rulers of Kiev. ...

, followers of Rurik who were sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, seized

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

before launching an attack recorded in Byzantine sources for the year 860. The Laurentian Codex of 1377, which contains the oldest surviving version of the ''

'', states that Rurik first settled in

("newtown"), while the

Hypatian Codex The ''Hypatian Codex'', also known as Hypatian Letopis or Ipatiev Letopis, is a compendium of three Rus' chronicle, Rus' chronicles: the ''Primary Chronicle'', ''Kievan Chronicle'' and ''Galician-Volhynian Chronicle''. It is the most important sou ...

of the 1420s states that Rurik first settled in Ladoga, before moving his seat of power to the newly founded city of Novgorod, a fort built not far from the source of the

Volkhov River The Volkhov ( ; ; ) is a river in Novgorodsky District, Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky District, Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. The Volkhov River, Volkhov, whi ...

, where he stayed until his death. Rurik is said to have remained in power until his death some time in the 870s. On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to

, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor, for he was very young. Oleg moved the capital to

(by murdering the then-rulers and taking the city) and founded the state of

, which was ruled by Rurik's successors (his son Igor and Igor's descendants). The state persisted until the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

in 1240.

Legacy

Rurik does not appear in the

regnal list A regnal list or king list is, at its simplest, a list of successive monarchs. Some regnal lists may give the relationship between successive monarchs (e.g., son, brother), the length of reign of each monarch or annotations on important reigns. T ...

in the opening section of the ''

'' (compiled 1425); the list of ''knyazi'' ("princes") of Kiev starts with " Dir and Askold", followed by "Oleg", and then "Igor". The Rurikids were the ruling dynasty of

, and ultimately the

, until 1598, and numerous

noble families Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

claim male-line descent from Rurik. He is considered to be the traditional founder of the Russian monarchy. The last Rurikid to rule Russia as tsar was Vasily IV, who reigned until 1610 and was from the House of Shuysky. The

Romanovs The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Nic ...

were also related to the descendants of Rurik through marriage. The descendants of the princely families allegedly inherited from Rurik are still living. The king

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki Michael I (, ; 31 May 1640 – 10 November 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 until his death in 1673 ...

reigned in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

until 1673; a member of the House of

Wiśniowiecki The House of Wiśniowiecki () was a Princely houses of Poland and Lithuania, Polish-Lithuanian princely family of Ruthenian origin, notable in the history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were powerful magnates with estates predo ...

, who traditionally traced their descent to the

Gediminids The House of Gediminas (), or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in th ...

, recent studies side with a Rurikid origin of the House of Zbaraski and its cadet branches including the House of Wiśniowiecki.

Alternative theories

The name ''Rurik'' is a form of the Old Norse name ''

Hrœrekr Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic (Proto-Germanic , from , + , ) is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward.Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'' (1856)740 Its Old High German forms are , , , , , ; in Gothic language ; in Old English ...

''. Rorik of Dorestad was a member of one of two competing families reported by the Frankish chroniclers as having ruled the nascent Danish kingdom at

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse: ''Heiðabýr'', German: ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig ...

. He may have been a nephew of king

Harald Klak Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson (c. 785 – c. 852) was a king in Jutland (and possibly other parts of Denmark) around 812–814 and again from 819–827."Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories" (1970), translation by Bernh ...

. He is mentioned as receiving lands in

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

from Emperor Louis I. He plundered neighbouring lands: he took

Dorestad Dorestad (''Dorestat, Duristat'') was an early medieval emporium, located in the present-day province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, close to the modern-day town of Wijk bij Duurstede. It flourished during the 8th to early 9th centuries, as a ...

in 850, attacked Hedeby in 857, and looted

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

in 859, while his own lands were ravaged in his absence. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that, Rorik disappears from western sources for a considerable period of time. In 862, according to Russian sources, Rurik arrived in the eastern Baltic and built the fortress of Ladoga. Later he moved to Novgorod. Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

was returned to him by

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

. In 882, Rorik is mentioned as dead (without a specific date of death). The ''Primary Chronicle'' places the death of Rurik of Novgorod in 879, three years earlier than the Frankish chronicles. According to western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks. The idea of identifying Rurik of Rus' with Rorik of Dorestad was revived by the anti-Normanists

Boris Rybakov Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov (; 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian archeologist and historian. He was one of the main proponents of anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. He is the father of Indologis ...

and Anatoly H. Kirpichnikov in the mid-20th century, but

Alexander Nazarenko Aleksandr Vasilievich Nazarenko (; 1948 – 19 January 2022) was a Russian historian who worked in the Moscow State University. He headed the project "Russia and Central Europe in the Middle Ages" in the World History Institute of the Russian Acad ...

and other scholars have objected to it.Nazarenko, Alexander. "Rjurik и Riis Th., Rorik", ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'', VII; Munich, 1995; pp. 880, 1026.

Gallery

File:Calling of varangians 01.jpg,

Calling of the Varangians The calling of the Varangians, calling of the (Varangian) princes or invitation to the Varangians (; ) is a legend about the origins of the Rus' people, the Rurik dynasty and the Kievan Rus' state, recorded in many divergent versions in various ma ...

miniature in the ''

Radziwiłł Chronicle The ''Radziwiłł Chronicle'', also known as the ''Königsberg Chronicle'', is a collection of illuminated manuscripts from the 15th-century; it is believed to be a copy of a 13th-century original. Its name is derived from the Radziwiłł family ...

'' (15th century) File:Rurik titularnik.jpg, Image of Rurik in the ''

Tsarsky titulyarnik The '' Tsarsky titulyarnik'' (), sometimes translated as Tsar's Book of Titles, in full the Big State Book or Root of Russian Sovereigns (), is a 1672 illuminated manuscript containing portraits of List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchs. It wa ...

'' (1672) File:Prizvanievaryagov.jpg, , alt=Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive at Ladoga. Painted by Viktor Vasnetsov (c. 1913) File:A01 Prizvanie varyagov.jpg,

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

, - {{Authority control Princes of Novgorod Founding monarchs in Europe 9th-century births Year of birth uncertain 870s deaths Year of death uncertain Rurikids Varangians 9th-century monarchs in Europe European people whose existence is disputed Primary Chronicle episodes