Askold (1902)

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.

The name Askold

Askold

Also — ''Oskold'', ''Oskol'd'', ''Oskolod''. (''Осколд'', ''Оскольд'', ''Осколод'')

There are several versions of the origin of the name Askold. The most likely version interprets it as the Norse name Haskuldr or Höskuldr. However, the spelling Askold may only be a change in the Scandinavian manner (similar to Vytautas – Vitold)." According to professor Igor Danilevsky, who is a specialist on the history of Kievan Rus, the Scandinavian origin of the name is certain and it has long been proved.

G. Magner defended the theory of the Slavic origin of the name, deriving it from the word "skoldyryt" – to accumulate. Other supporters of the theory of Slavic origin saw in the word the roots oskal (grin), sokol (falcon), kol (spike) and kolo (circle). It is also possible that the part -old is a contraction of -volod/-vlad (lord, ruler). This hypothesis does not contradict the data of modern historical grammar.

Boris Rybakov expressed a conjecture that the appearance of the names of Askold and Dir in the annals is a consequence of an error of one of the early chroniclers. Allegedly, in fact, in the original text it was about one Kievan prince Askoldyr or more precisely Oskoldyr. In this case, Dir did not exist at all. But such a reading of the annalistic text is the result of an assumption that has no textual basis according to Igor Danilevsky's assertion. It did, however, allow Rybakov to "establish" the Slavic etymology of the name Askold from the names of the rivers Oskil and Vorskla (in chronicle Voroskol). The name of the Oskil (Oskol) river, in turn, was associated by B. A. Rybakov with the Black Sea tribe of the "royal" Scythians, the Scolots, mentioned by Herodotus. Those were allegedly Slavs (contrary to Herodotus himself, who wrote that the Skolots called themselves Scythians), who later began to call themselves Rus'.

"Askolt" may be a borrowed word from Iranian-speaking nomads and mean "Border ruler."

Anti-Normanism

A direction in Russian pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet historiography, whose supporters deny the role of the Scandinavians in the creation of the Rus' state or deny at all any participation of the Scandinavians (Normans) in the socio-political life of Rus'; reject and seek to refute the "Norman theory" of the creation of the Kievan Rus'. Anti-Normanist historians denied the Scandinavian (Old Norse) origin of the name Askold. Anti-Normanism includes a wide range of concepts and hypotheses, the common features of which are the denial of the essentiality of the influence of the Scandinavians on the political and economic processes of the formation of ancient Rus' and the advancement of alternative Norman hypotheses.

A number of late medieval sources, among them the ''Kievan Synopsis'' (1674), report that Oskold was the last representative of the local dynasty of Prince Kyi. Referring to these annalistic evidences, Aleksey Shakhmatov considered the fact of the Slavic origin of Prince Oskold beyond doubt. Among the researchers of the 20th century this idea was shared by professor Mikhail Tikhomirov, and professor Rybakov, in confirmation of the Slavic origin of the prince, the name Oskold derived from the name of the river Oskil, and therefore in his opinion it would be correct to use not "Askold", but exactly "Oskold", as it is found in the Old Rus' chronicles (or "Oskolod" – as indicated in the Nikiforov Chronicle of the 15th century, Suprasl Chronicle of the 16th century or medieval Polish chronicle of Maciej Stryjkowski). But these conclusions are biased as they are part of the Anti-Normanism sentiment.

Historian F. Donald Logan wrote:

According to the historian and archaeologist L. S. Klein, the "Norman theory" or "Normanism" never existed as a scientific concept, while Anti-Normanism exists, but is primarily an ideological platform based on an inferiority complex. Anti-Normanism is distinctive for Russia.

Origins of Askold and Dir

Some historians, based on late and unreliable sources, try to declare Askold and Dir to be direct heirs of the legendary Kyi, a representative of the dynasty of " Kievichi". The existence of this "princely dynasty" is based on the information of the Polish historian of the 15th century Jan Dlugosz, who wrote that the chronicle's Kievan princes Askold and Dir, killed by Igor (according to the Primary Chronicle killed by Oleg), were descendants of Kyi. This message of Dlugosz was used in the works of Dmitry Ilovaysky (who treated the facts quite arbitrarily) and Mykhailo Hrushevsky (who strove to prove the existence of a distinct Ukrainian ethnos already in the 4th century); Aleksey Shakhmatov also referred to them in his historical reconstructions. However, this point of view is rarely supported by specialists.

The mention by Jan Dlugosz of the family ties of Askold and Dir with the legendary Kyi raises serious doubts. According to Vladimir Petrukhin: "Jan Dlugosz was not so naive as some modern authors who uncritically accepted his conclusions. The fact is that the Polish chronicler sought to substantiate the claims of the Polish state on Kiev and therefore associated the Kiev Polans with Polish Polans, considered Kyi a "Polish pagan prince", etc." Therefore, we have no grounds to believe that Askold and Dir belonged to the "dynasty of Kievichi" (or even were Slavs).

''Primary Chronicle'' and ''Novgorod First Chronicle''

Until the 19th century, the Primary Chronicle (the Nachal'naya Letopis') was habitually attributed to the monk Nestor. Modern investigators have not only placed his authorship in doubt, but have also sought to establish by internal evidence that the Primary Chronicle, instead of being a homogenous work, is a compilation from several chronicle texts of greater antiquity. Nestor the Chronicler is the undisputed author of the biographical work "The Narrative of the Life, Death and Miracles of the Holy and Blessed Martyrs Boris and Gleb" and a comparative study of two accounts presents no stylistic evidence that Nestor was in any way concerned with the composition or compilation of the Primary Chronicle, while the contradictions between the two narratives point rather in the opposite direction. A more likely candidate as author is Sylvester of Kiev, hegumen (abbot) of the St. Michael's Monastery in Vydubychi (a village near Kyiv), who may have compiled several sources in the year 1116. In any case, the Primary Chronicle was written approximately 250 years after the events involving Askold and Dir.

The beginning of the Synod Scroll or "Older Edition" of the ''Novgorod First Chronicle'' is missing. The surviving text starts in the middle of a sentence in the year 1016. The lost contents of the Synod Scroll before the year 1016 are unknown, and can only be speculated about.

The ''Laurentian Codex'' of the ''Primary Chronicle'' relates that Askold and Dir were sanctioned by Rurik to go to Constantinople ( Norse '' Miklagård'', Slavic ''Tsargrad''). When travelling on the Dnieper, they settled in Kiev seizing power over the Polans who had been paying tribute to the Khazars.

The murder of Askold and Dir

The chronicle also states that they were killed by Varangian