The Varangians or Varyags (; Greek: Βάραγγοι, Βαριάγοι, ''Varangoi'', ''Variagoi''; Russian and Ukrainian: Варяги, ''Varyagi / Varyahy''; Belarusian: Варагі, ''Varahi''), sometimes referred to as ''Variagians'', were people from the Baltic region, most often associated with Vikings, who from the 9th to 11th centuries ventured eastwards and southwards along the rivers of Eastern Europe, through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine,.

According to the Primary Chronicle, compiled in Kiev about 1113, one group of Varangians was Rus' people. Their name became that of the land of Rus' (later transformed into Russia) as well as ethnonym of its majority East Slavic population, ''rusichi'' or ''russkiye'' (later Russians); this happened because one of Rus' princes, Rurik, had been recognized by several East Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples as their ruler, founding the Rurikid Dynasty, which later would rule over Rus' and Russia for many centuries. Rurik first came to Staraya Ladoga in 862 and then moved his capital to Novgorod in 864, while his relative Oleg the Seer conquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', later inherited by Rurik's son Igor. But even before the Rurikid Dynasty, a hypothetical polity called Rus' Khaganate could have existed in place of Kievan Rus', also led by Rus' Varangians.

Engaging in trade, piracy and mercenary activities, Varangians roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki, as Rus' lands were known in Norse sagas. They controlled the Volga trade route (''Route from the Varangians to the Arabs''), connecting Baltic to the Caspian Sea, and the Dnieper trade route (''Route from the Varangians to the Greeks'') leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople. Those were the critically important trade links at that time, connecting Dark Age Europe with wealthy and developed Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire; via those routes most of the silver coinage came from the East to the West. Attracted by the riches of Constantinople, Rus' Varangians initiated a number of Rus'-Byzantine Wars, some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. At least from the early 10th century many Varangians served as mercenaries in the Byzantine Army, comprising the so-called Varangian Guard (the personal bodyguards of Byzantine Emperors). Eventually most of them, both in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from paganism into Orthodox Christianity, culminating in the 988 Christianization of Kievan Rus'. Coinciding with the general decline of the Viking Age, the influx of Norsemen to Rus' stopped, and Varangians were eventually assimilated by East Slavs by the late 11th century.

The exact ethnic origins of Varangians (in particular Rus' people), their role in establishing the first states in Rus' region and the nature of their relationship with Slavic and Finnish peoples are disputed, especially in Russian historiography, where the so-called Normanist theory of the Norse origin of the Varangians is challenged by a number of Anti-Normanist theories. The latter often include the statement that the term ''Varangian'' denoted a specific way of life rather than ethnicity; the origin of Varangians (or at least some of them) is argued to be related to Baltic Slavs, Celts or Germans. While the dispute continues, the event of Rurik's arrival in 862 to Northern Russia on the request of its peoples, known as the ''Invitation of the Varangians'' (), continues to be regarded as the traditional starting point of Russian history.

Etymology

Greek ''Várangos'' and Old East Slavic ''varęgŭ'' are derived from Old Norse ''væringi'', originally a compound of ''vár'' "pledge" and ''gengi'' "companion", i.e. "a sworn person" or "a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him, or protégé". Some scholars seem to assume a derivation with the common suffix ''-ing-''. Yet, this suffix is inflected differently in Old Norse, and furthermore, the word is attested with ''-gangia-'' in other Germanic languages in the Early Middle Ages: Old English ''wærgenga'', Old Frankish ''wargengus'', Langobardic ''waregang''. The reduction of the second part of the word is parallel to that seen in Old Norse ''foringi'' "leader" = Old English ''foregenga'', Gothic ''fauragangja'' "steward".

Kievan Rus'

Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in the 750s, Scandinavian colonists played an important role in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people and in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate. The Varangians (Varyags, in Old East Slavic) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe; England began to pay Danegeld in 859, and the Curonians of Grobin faced an invasion by the Swedes at about the same date.

Due largely to geographic considerations, it is often argued that most of the Varangians who traveled and settled in the eastern Baltic, Russia and lands to the south came from the area of modern Sweden .

In the 9th century, the Rus' operated the Volga trade route, which connected Northern Russia (Gardariki) with the Middle East (Serkland). As the Volga route declined by the end of the century, the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks rapidly overtook it in popularity. Apart from Ladoga and Novgorod, Gnezdovo and Gotland were major centres for Varangian trade.

According to the Primary Chronicle, in 862, the Finnic and Slavic tribes in the area of Novgorod rebelled against their Varangian rulers, driving them overseas back to Scandinavia, but soon started to conflict with each other. The disorder prompted the tribes to invite back Varangians "to come and rule them" and bring peace to the region. Led by Rurik and his brothers Truvor and Sineus, the invited Varangians (called Rus') settled around the town of Holmgård (Novgorod). The Primary Chronicle twice names Rus' among the other Varangian peoples, including Swedes, Normans, Angles, Gutes (''Normans'' was an Old Russian term for Norwegians, while Angles may be interpreted as Danes). In some places the chronicle mention Slavs and Rus' as different groups, but other places it mixes them.

Under the leadership of Rurik's relative Oleg, the Rus' Varangians expanded southwards by capturing Kiev from the Khazars, founding the medieval state of Rus'. Attracted by the riches of Constantinople and the Arab world, Rus' Varangians initiated a number of Rus'-Byzantine Wars, some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. Meanwhile, descendants of Rurik expanded the Russian state and unified the local tribes. Contact with the Byzantine Empire increased, culminating in the 988 Christianization of Kievan Rus' during the reign of Vladimir the Great.

In contrast to the intense Norse influence in Normandy and the British Isles, Varangian culture did not survive to a great extent in the East. Instead, the Varangian ruling classes of the two powerful city-states of Novgorod and Kiev were gradually slavicised by the end of the 11th century. However, the successor descendants of Rurik were the ruling dynasty of medieval Rus', the successor principalities of Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the founders of the Tsardom of Russia. The name of the Varangian Rus became that of the land modern Russia and the ethnonym of its population.

Western historians tend to agree with the Primary Chronicle that these Varangians organized the existing Slavic settlements into the political entity of Kievan Rus' in the 880s and gave their name to the land. Many Slavic scholars are opposed to this theory of Germanic influence on the Rus' and have suggested alternative scenarios for this part of Eastern European history because the author of the Primary Chronicle, that is a monk named Nestor, worked in the court for the Varangians. Russian historiography includes a number of Anti-Normanist theories, antagonistic to the Normanist theory of a Scandinavian origin of Varangians. For example, according to Yu. Shilov, Varangians ('' Vargi'') were supposed to be a tribe of Baltic Slavs without roots to Norse Vikings.

Islamic world

Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland in the 9th century traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. Hoards of 9th century Baghdad minted silver coins have been found in Sweden, particularly in Gotland. The first small-scale raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged Gorgan, in the territory of present day Iran, and the adjacent areas, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by Khazar Muslims in the Volga Delta, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on the middle Volga.

During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Barda, the capital of Arran, in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav, prince of Kiev, commanded the next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established the Rus's hold on the north-south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea taking place in 1041 by Ingvar the Far-Travelled.

Byzantine Empire

The earliest Byzantine record of the Rus' may have been written prior to 842. It is preserved in the Greek ''Life of St. George of Amastris'', which speaks of a raid that had extended into Paphlagonia. Contemporary Byzantine presence of the Rus are the mentioned in the Frankish Annals of St. Bertin. These relate that Emperor Louis the Pious' court at Ingelheim, in 839, was visited by a delegation from the Byzantine emperor. 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.

In 860, from Kiev, that the Rus under Askold and Dir launched their first attack on Constantinople. The result of this initial attack is disputed, but the Varangians continued their efforts as they regularly sailed on their monoxyla down the Dnieper into the Black Sea. The Rus' raids into the Caspian Sea were recorded by Arab authors in the 870s and in 910, 912, 913, 943, and later. Although the Rus had predominantly peaceful trading relations with the Byzantines, the rulers of Kiev launched the relatively successful naval expedition of 907 and the abortive campaign of 941 against Constantinople, as well as Sviatoslav I's large-scale invasion of the Balkans in 968–971.

These raids were successful in the sense of forcing the Byzantines to re-arrange their trading arrangements; militarily, the Varangians were usually defeated by the superior Byzantine forces, especially in the sea and due to the Byzantines' use of Greek fire.

Varangian Guard

The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα των Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') were a part of Byzantine Army and personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors from the 9th to the 14th centuries. Intially the guard was composed of Varangians who came from in the Kievan Rus.

The guard was first formed under Emperor Basil II's after 988, following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and union with Vladimir I of Kiev, who sent 6,000 men to Basil as a part of military assistance agreement. Basil's distrust of the native Byzantine guardsmen, whose loyalties often shifted with fatal consequences, as well as the proven loyalty of the Varangians, many of whom served in Byzantium even before, led the Emperor to employ them as his personal guard. Over the years, new recruits from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway kept a predominantly Scandinavian cast to the organization until the late 11th century. So many Scandinavians left to enlist in the guard that a medieval Swedish law from Västergötland stated that no one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term or the Byzantine Empire. In the eleventh century, there were also two other European courts that recruited Scandinavians: Kievan Rus' c. 980–1060 and London 1018–1066 (the Þingalið).

Composed primarily of Scandinavians for the first 100 years, the guard began to see increased inclusion of Anglo-Saxons after the successful invasion of England by the Normans. By the time of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the late 11th century, the Byzantine Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons and "others who had suffered at the hands of the Vikings and their cousins the Normans". The Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic peoples shared with the Vikings a tradition of faithful (to death if necessary) oath-bound service, and after the Norman Conquest of England there were many fighting men who had lost their lands and former masters and looked for a living elsewhere.

The Varangian Guard not only provided security for the Byzantine Emperors, but participated in many wars involving Byzantium and often played a crucial role, since they were usually used at the critical moments of a battle. By the late 13th century Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantines, though the guard operated until at least mid-14th century and in 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as "Varangians" in Constantinople.

In popular culture

Rosemary Sutcliff's 1976 historical novel Blood Feud depicts the formation of the Varangian Guard by Basil II, from the point of view of a half-Saxon orphan who journeyed to Constantinople via the Dnieper trading route.

The John Ringo ''Paladin of Shadows'' series, features a fictional, long forgotten enclave of the Varangian Guard in the mountains of Georgia.

Turisas's second studio album The Varangian Way is a concept album that tells the story of a group of Scandinavians travelling the river routes of medieval Russia, through Ladoga, Novgorod and Kiev, down to the Byzantine Empire. Their third album, Stand Up and Fight, describes the history of the Varangian Guard's service to the Byzantine Empire.

Bearded axe-wielding Easterlings known as Variags, inspired by the elite Viking mercenaries, are described in the fantasy novel Return of the King.

In the PC game series Mount&Blade;, the name and location of the Vaegirs is used to represent this group of people. The unique unit for this race is called the Guard.

In the PC games Medieval: Total War and Medieval II: Total War the Varangian Guard is an axe-wielding elite infantry unit of the Byzantine Empire.

Track 5 of Amon Amarth's seventh studio album Twilight of the Thunder God is titled "Varyags of Miklagaard."

References

Bibliography

Rus' Varangians

Russian Primary Chronicle

Varangian Guard

See also

For the Scandinavians who travelled westward, see Vikings

Rulers of Kievan Rus

Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

Byzantine army

Komnenian army

Kylfings

Oeselians

Piraeus Lion (inscription made by Varangians)

Varangian Rossi

Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

Category:Kievan Rus' Category:Warfare of the Middle Ages Category:Scandinavia Category:Viking Age Category:Viking Age people Category:Germanic peoples Category:Norsemen

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