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Rus’ (Русь, IPA: [rusʲ], Русичи, Русы) are an ancient people whose name survives in the cognates Russians,[1] Rusyns, and Ruthenians, and who are viewed by the modern Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians as the predecessors of their own peoples. The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Rusyns (also referred to as Русины Ruthenians Ruthenes Rusins Carpatho-Rusyns and Rusnaks) are a Slavic Ethnic group that speaks The term Ruthenians (Русини Rusyny) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used Belarusians or Belorussians (Беларусы Biełarusy previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Ukrainians (Українці Ukrayintsi,) are an East Slavic Ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly— Citizens

Contents

Etymology

Main article: Etymology of Rus and derivatives

The origin of the name is matter of considerable dispute. In general, the hypothesis of E. Kunik and Vilhelm Thomsen has met with the widest acceptance. Vilhelm Ludwig Peter Thomsen ( January 25, 1842 – May 12, 1927) was a Danish linguist. According to them this appellation derives from the Finnic languages. The name of Sweden in Finnish is Ruotsi; in Estonian: Rootsi. Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside This name is commonly held to be derived from Roslagen, the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden. Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago. Uppland ( is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital The Danish scholar T. E. Karsten has pointed out that the territory now occupying the areas of Uppland, Sodermanland and East Gotland in ancient times were known as Rođer or rođin. Thomsen accordingly has suggested that Rođer has probably been derived from rođsmenn or rođskarlar, meaning seafarers or rowers.

However, it is also suggested that the name Rus originates from the Iranian name of the Volga River (by F. Knauer Moscow 1901), as well as from the Rosh of Ezekiel. According to religious texts Ezekiel ((יְחֶזְקֵאל Yehezkel, jəx Prof George Vernadsky has suggested that the name derives from the Roxolani or from the Aryan term ronsa (moisture, water). George Vernadsky ( August 20 1887 – June 20 1973) Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский was The Rhoxolani were a Sarmatian people who are believed to be an off-shoot of the Alans. Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable" There is a recurrence of river names like Ros in Eastern Europe. Ros (Рось Ros’) is a River in Ukraine, 346 km in length a Right tributary of the Dnieper river. [2]

Key sources

Slavic sources

According to the earliest East Slavic record, the Primary Chronicle, the Rus' was a group of Varangians among others like Swedes and Gotlanders who lived on the other side of the Baltic Sea, in Scandinavia and as far as the land of the English and the French. The Primary Chronicle (ѣѣтъ Пóвесть временны́х лет Povest' vremennykh let; Пóвість врéм'яних літ Povist' vremjanykh The Varangians or Varyags ( Old Norse: Væringjar Greek: Βάραγγοι Βαριάγοι Váraggoi / Varyágoi, Ukrainian The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. [2] The Varangians were first expelled, then invited to rule the warring Slavic and Finnic tribes of Novgorod:

The four tribes who had been forced to pay tribute to the Varangians — Chuds, Slavs, Merians, and Krivichs drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them further tribute, and set out to govern themselves. Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod Chude Poland The term Chudes was first applied by the Russians to the Estonians as mentioned by a monk Nestor in the earliest Russian chronicles Merya people (Меря also Merä) were an ancient Finno-Ugric people who lived in the regions of modern Russian cities of Moscow, The Krivichi (Крывічы Kryvičý Кривичи krʲivʲi'tɕi was one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries But there was no law among them, and tribe rose against tribe. Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other. They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom. Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus. These particular Varangians were known as Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. The Angles is a modern English word for a Germanic-speaking people who took their name from the cultural ancestral region of Angeln, a modern district located in is a county, province and municipality of Sweden and the largest Island in the Baltic Sea. The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs and the Veps then said to the Rus, "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Veps or Vepsians are a Finnic people that speak the Veps language, which belongs to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages Come reign as princes, rule over us". Three brothers, with their kinfolk, were selected. They brought with them all the Rus and migrated[3].

Later, the Primary Chronicle tells us, they conquered Kiev and created the state of Kievan Rus' (which, as most historians agree, was preceded by the Rus' Khaganate). Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan The Rus' Khaganate Volkhov Rus, Ilmen Rus, or Novgorod Rus --> was a Polity that flourished during a poorly documented The territory they conquered was named after them as were, eventually, the local people (see Etymology of Rus and derivatives for further details).

Islamic sources

Ibn Haukal and two other early Islamic sources such Muhammad al-Idrisi, who would follow them later) distinguish three groups of the Rus: Kuyavia, Slavia, and Arcania. Mohammed Abul-Kassem ibn Hawqal (محمد أبو القاسم بن حوقل born in Nisibis; travelled 943-969 CE was a 10th century Arab writer geographer and Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply El Idrisi ( Arabic أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي Latin: In the mainstream Russian-Soviet historiography (as represented by Boris Rybakov), these were tentatively identified with the "tribal centres" at Kiev, Novgorod and Tmutarakan. Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov ( Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в June 3 1908 — December 27 2001 Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod Tmutarakan (Тмутаракань is an ancient city that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

The Muslim diplomat and traveller, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who visited Volga Bulgaria in 922, described the Rus (Rusiyyah) in the terms strongly suggestive of the Norsemen:

I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil. Ahmad Ibn Fadlān ibn al-Abbās ibn Rašīd ibn Hammād (أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن رشيد بن حماد was a 10th century Arab Muslim Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is an historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of Events By Place Asia The Khitan Empire led by Abaoji, raids Hebei, China. Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort. Each woman wears on either breast a box of iron, silver, copper, or gold; the value of the box indicates the wealth of the husband. Each box has a ring from which depends a knife. The women wear neck-rings of gold and silver. Their most prized ornaments are green glass beads. They string them as necklaces for their women. [4]

Apart from Ibn Fadlan's account, the Normanist theory draws heavily on the evidence of the Persian traveler Ibn Rustah who allegedly visited Novgorod (or Tmutarakan, according to George Vernadsky) and described how the Rus' exploited the Slavs. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Ibn Rustah (in Persian احمد ابن رسته اصفهانی - Aḥmad ebn Roste Eṣfahānī was a 10th century Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod Tmutarakan (Тмутаракань is an ancient city that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. George Vernadsky ( August 20 1887 – June 20 1973) Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский was

As for the Rus, they live on an island . . . that takes three days to walk round and is covered with thick undergrowth and forests; it is most unhealthy. . . . They harry the Slavs, using ships to reach them; they carry them off as slaves and…sell them. They have no fields but simply live on what they get from the Slav's lands. . . . When a son is born, the father will go up to the newborn baby, sword in hand; throwing it down, he says, "I shall not leave you with any property: You have only what you can provide with this weapon. "[5]

Greek sources

When the Varangians first appeared in Constantinople (Paphlagonian expedition of the Rus, Siege of Constantinople (860)), the Byzantines seem to have perceived the Rhos (Greek: Ῥώς) as a different people from the Slavs. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Paphlagonian expedition of The Rus is documented in the Life of St Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly At least they are never said to be part of the Slavic race. Characteristically, pseudo-Symeon Magister refers to the Rhos as Δρομΐται, a word related to the Greek word meaning "a run", suggesting the mobility of their movement by waterways. A dugout is a Boat which is basically a hollowed tree trunk Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon.

In his treatise De Administrando Imperio, Constantine VII describes the Rhos as the neighbours of Pechenegs who buy from the latter cows, horses, and sheep "because none of these animals may be found in Rhosia". De Administrando Imperio is the commonly used Latin title of a scholarly work written in Greek, by the 10th-century Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" ( Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος The Pechenegs or Patzinaks ( Turkish: Peçenekler, Hungarian: Besenyő, Greek: Patzinaki/Petsenegi or Πατζινάκοι/Πετσενέγοι/Πατζινακίται His description represents the Rus as a warlike northern tribe. Constantine also enumerates the names of the Dnieper cataracts in both Rhos and in Slavic languages. For the rocket see Dnepr rocket. For other uses see Dnieper (disambiguation. The Rhos names have distinct Germanic etymology:

Western European sources

The first Western European source to mention the Rus is the annals of Saint Bertan which relate that Emperor Louis the Pious' court in Ingelheim, 839 (the same year as the first appearance of Varangians in Constantinople), was visited by a delegation from the Byzantine emperor. The Annales Bertiniani, or Annals of St Bertin, is a Frankish chronicle that was found in the Monastery of St Louis the Pious (778 &ndash 20 June 840) also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and co-Emperor Ingelheim am Rhein is the capital of the Mainz-Bingen district situated on the left bank of the Rhine within the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Events By Place Europe Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons The Varangians or Varyags ( Old Norse: Væringjar Greek: Βάραγγοι Βαριάγοι Váraggoi / Varyágoi, Ukrainian Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians In this delegation there were two men who called themselves Rhos (Rhos vocari dicebant). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers, the Danes, he incarcerated them. The term Dane may refer to People with a Danish ancestral or ethnic identity whether living in Denmark, emigrants or the descendants of emigrants Subsequently, in the 10th and 11th centuries, Latin sources routinely confused the Rus with the extinct East Germanic tribe of Rugians. The Rugians (Rugii were an East Germanic tribe whose ultimate origins have been traced to Rogaland in Norway, whose population probably was the Olga of Kiev, for instance, was designated in one manuscript as a Rugian queen

Normanist theory

Map showing slavic settlements under Varangian control (in red) and location of Slavic tribes (in grey), mid ninth century CE. Khazar influence indicated with blue outline.
Map showing slavic settlements under Varangian control (in red) and location of Slavic tribes (in grey), mid ninth century CE. Saint Olga (Ольга also called Olga Prekrasa (Ольга Прекраса or Olga the Beauty, Old Norse: Helga; born c Khazar influence indicated with blue outline.

The "Normanist" theory suggests that Kievan Rus' may have been named after its Scandinavian ruling elite, much as was the case with Normandy. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy.

The proponents of this theory claim that the name Rus, like the Finnish name for Sweden, is derived from an Old Norse term for "the men who row" (rods-) as rowing was the main method of navigating the Russian rivers, and that it is linked to the Swedish coastal area of Roslagen (Rus-law) or Roden, from where the Varangians came from according to the Russian Primary Chronicle. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago. The Varangians or Varyags ( Old Norse: Væringjar Greek: Βάραγγοι Βαριάγοι Váraggoi / Varyágoi, Ukrainian The Primary Chronicle (ѣѣтъ Пóвесть временны́х лет Povest' vremennykh let; Пóвість врéм'яних літ Povist' vremjanykh [2] The name Rus would then have the same origin as the Finnish and Estonian names for Sweden: Ruotsi and Rootsi. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Estonian (; ˈeːsti ˈkeːl is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1

It has been suggested that the Vikings had some enduring influence in Rus, as testified by loan words, such as yabeda "complaining person" (from aembaetti "office"), skot "cattle" (from skattr "tax") and knout (from knutr, "a knotty wood"). A knout (ˈnaʊt is a heavy scourge-like multiple Whip, usually made of a bunch of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle sometimes with metal wire or hooks incorporated Moreover three Nordic names of the first Varangian rulers also became popular among the later Rurikids and then among the East Slavic people in general: Oleg (Helgi), Olga (Helga) and Igor (Ingvar). OLGA is an Acronym for On-line Guitar Archive, the oldest internet library of guitar and bass Tablature, or "tabs"

The Normanist theory was first elaborated by the German historian Gerhardt Friedrich Müller (1705-1783), who was invited to work in the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1748. Gerhardt Friedrich Müller ( 1705 - 1783) was a historian and ethnologist who studied Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and China The Russian Academy of Sciences (Российская Академия Наук Rossi'iskaya Akade'miya Nau'k, shortened to PAH RAN) consists of the National Year 1748 ( MDCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a At the beginning of his notorious speech from 1749, Müller declared that the "glorious Scandinavians conquered all the Russian lands with their victorious arms". Year 1749 ( MDCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a As the rest of the speech represented a lengthy list of Russian defeats by the Germans and Swedes, Müller was forced to curtail his lecture by shouts from the audience. The scathing criticism from Lomonosov, Krasheninnikov, and other academicians led to Müller being forced to suspend his work on the issue until Lomonosov's death. Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (Степан Петрович Крашенинников (1711 - 1755 was a Russian explorer and Geographer who gave the first Although the printed text of the original lecture was destroyed, Miller managed to rework it and had it reprinted as Origines Rossicae in 1768. Year 1768 ( MDCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

Other notable proponents of the "Normanist theory" of the Russian state — including Nikolai Karamzin (1766–1826) and his disciple Mikhail Pogodin (1800–75) — gave credit to the claims of the Primary Chronicle that the Varangians were invited by East Slavs to rule over them and bring order. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin ( Никола́й Миха́йлович Карамзи́н) (December 1 1766 – June 3 1826 a Russian author credited Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (Михаил Петрович Погодин 1800-1875 was a Russian historian and journalist who dominated the national historiography between the The theory was not without political implications. In Karamzin's writing the Normanist theory formed the basis and justification for Russian autocracy (as opposed to anarchy of the pre-Rurikid period), and Pogodin used the theory to advance his view that Russia was immune to social upheavals and revolutions, because the Russian state originated from a voluntary treaty between the people of Novgorod and Varangian rulers. Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod The Varangians or Varyags ( Old Norse: Væringjar Greek: Βάραγγοι Βαριάγοι Váraggoi / Varyágoi, Ukrainian


Antinormanist theories

Starting with Lomonosov (1711-1765), scholars from Eastern Europe have criticised the Normanist theory. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. During the imperial period, Karamzin's and Pogodin's official views were disputed by the more liberal sectors of Russian society and by some Polish historians. The Polish people, or Poles, (Polacy) are a Western Slavic Ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. In the early 20th century, the traditional anti-Normanist doctrine (as articulated by Dmitry Ilovaisky) seemed to have lost currency. Dmitry Ivanovich Ilovaisky (1832-1920 was an anti-Normanist Russian historian who penned a number of standard history textbooks However, the Normanist rhetoric was abused by Goebbels during the Soviet-German War and, in the eyes of the Soviet authorities, the theory was discredited forever. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign The war over, the anti-Normanist arguments were revived and adopted in official Soviet historiography. Mikhail Artamonov ranks among those who attempted to reconcile both theories by hypothesizing that the Kievan state united the southern Rus (of Slavic stock) and the northern Rus (of Germanic stock) into a single nation. Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov (Михаил Илларионович Артамонов ( in the village of Vygolovo Tver Guberniya - July 31 1972

The staunchest advocate of the anti-Normanist views in the post-WWII period was Boris Rybakov, who argued that the cultural level of the Varangians could not have warranted an invitation from the culturally advanced Slavs. Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov ( Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в June 3 1908 — December 27 2001 This conclusion leads Slavicists to deny or reinterpret the Primary Chronicle, which claims that the Varangian Rus' were "invited". Rybakov assumes that Nestor, putative author of the Chronicle, was biased against the pro-Greek party of Vladimir Monomakh and supported the pro-Scandinavian party of the ruling prince Svyatopolk. Saint Nestor the Chronicler (c 1056 - c 1114 Kyiv) was the reputed author of the Primary Chronicle, (the earliest East Slavic Chronicle For the cruiser see Russian armoured cruiser Vladimir Monomakh, for the submarine see RFS Vladimir Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich ( Cyrillic: Святополк II Ізяславич 1050&ndash April 16, 1113) was supreme ruler of the Kievan Rus He cites Nestor's factual inaccuracies as pro-Scandinavian manipulations and compares his account of Rurik's invitation with numerous similar stories found in folklore around the world.

Quite a few alternative, non-Normanist origins for the word Rus have been postulated by Sigismund von Herberstein, Ilovaisky, Rybakov, and others, although none was endorsed in the academic mainstream:

According to F. Donald Logan (The Vikings in History, cit. Montgomery, p. 24), "in 839, the Rus' were Swedes. Events By Place Europe Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons In 1043, the Rus' were Slavs. " The Scandinavians were completely absorbed and, unlike their brethren in England and in Normandy, they left little cultural heritage in Eastern Europe. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. This almost complete absence of cultural traces (besides several names, as discussed above, and arguably the veche-system of Novgorod, comparable to thing in Scandinavia), is remarkable, and the Slavicists therefore call the Vikings "cultural chameleons", who came, ruled and then disappeared, leaving little cultural trace in Eastern Europe. Veche ( Russian: вече Polish: wiec Ukrainian: віче was a Popular assembly in Medieval Slavic countries Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod See also Medieval Scandinavian laws A thing or ting ( Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: þing; other modern A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas This seems to suggest that these Rus' were a small group, less than a people in the nation sense of the word; less than an ethnos.

Notes

  1. ^ at Encyclopedia Britannica
  2. ^ a b c The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text Translated by O. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor ISBN 0910956340
  3. ^ The Primary Chronicle, 879–902.
  4. ^ Quoted from: Gwyn Jones. A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-280134-1. Page 164.
  5. ^ Ibn Rustah, according to the National Geographic, March 1985. Ibn Rustah (in Persian احمد ابن رسته اصفهانی - Aḥmad ebn Roste Eṣfahānī was a 10th century Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural
  6. ^ Christian 334; Goehrke 157-162.

References and further reading

External links

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