Rurik
Prince of Novgorod
Rurik in the Tsarsky Titulyarnik, 1672
Reign	864–879
Buried	?
Predecessor	New creation
Successor	Oleg
Offspring	Igor
Dynasty	Rurik Dynasty
Religious beliefs	Paganism

Rurik or Riurik (Russian: Рюрик, Old East Norse: Rørik, meaning "famous ruler"; ca 830 – ca 879) was a Varangian chieftain who gained control of Ladoga in 862, built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod, and founded the Rurik Dynasty which ruled Russia until the 17th century.

Name[link]

Riurik is the Slavic rendering of the same Germanic name as the modern English Roderick, or Spanish and Portuguese Rodrigo. In old Germanic languages it had forms such as Hrodric (Old High German) and Hroðricus (Old English). In Old Norse, Hrœrekr (Norway, Iceland) and Hrørīkr or Rørik (Denmark, Sweden), from which Riurik is derived. The name also appears in Beowulf as Hrēðrīk[1].

History[link]

A monument celebrating the millennium of Rurik's arrival to Novgorod.

There is a debate over how Rurik came to control Ladoga and Novgorod. The only information about him is contained in the 12th-century Russian Primary Chronicle, which states that Chuds, Slavs, Merias, Veses and Krivichs "…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 Rurik to reestablish order.

Rurik remained in power until his death in 879. His successors (the Rurik Dynasty), however, moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus, which persisted until 1240, the time of Mongol invasion. A number of extant princely families are patrilineally descended from Rurik, although the last Rurikid to rule Russia, Vasily IV, died in 1612.

Grave[link]

There is a large 9th-century funerary barrow in Novgorod Oblast, reminiscent of the mounds at Old Uppsala which is called Shum Gora. Intricately defended against looting, it remains to be excavated. The local inhabitants refer to it as Rurik's Grave.

Disputed origin[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

Even though some historians emphasize folklore roots for the Rurik legend and consequently dismiss Rurik as a legendary figure, there is a controversy about his ethnic origins in Eastern Europe.^{[citation needed]}

According to the Primary Chronicle Rurik was one of the Rus, a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, English and Gotlanders. In the 20th century, archaeologists partly corroborated the chronicle's version of events. It was discovered that the settlement of Ladoga, whose foundation has been ascribed to Rurik, was actually established in the mid-9th century, although doubt is now cast on this by the dendrochronological evidence that Ladoga existed by the mid-8th century. Earthenware, household utensils, and types of buildings from the period of Rurik's foundation correspond to patterns then prevalent in Jutland.

Rurik and his brothers Truvor and Sineus arrive in Ladoga.

Some Slavic historians argue that the account of Rurik's invitation was borrowed by a pro-Scandinavian chronicler from a hypothetical Norse document. For instance, the Primary Chronicle states that Rurik arrived to Slavic lands with two brothers, Sineus and Truvor, and sent them to rule the towns of Beloozero and Izborsk, respectively. Instead of connecting Sineus to Signjotr and Truvor to Torvald, they suggest that the chronicler read a hypothetical Scandinavian document and misinterpreted the Norse words 'sine hus' (their houses) and 'tru voring' (with loyal guard) as the names of Rurik's brothers: Sineus and Truvor.

There is another theory that Rurik, on account of common intermarriages between Varangians and Slavic women, was of mixed Slavic-Varangian descent. This theory is based on the information of the first modern historian of Russia, Vasily Tatishchev (a Rurikid himself), who claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction. He went so far as to name his wife, Ufanda of Norway (Endvinda? Alfrind?); mother, Umila; his maternal grandfather, Gostomysl; and a cousin, Vadim. Those who assume good faith on Tatishchev's part point out that he based his account on the lost Ioachim Chronicle.

Hrörek of Dorestad[link]

Rorik of Dorestad, as conceived by H. W. Koekkoek.

The only Hrörek described in Western chronicles was Rorik of Dorestad, a konung from the royal Scylding house of Haithabu. Since the 19th century, there have been attempts to identify him with the Viking prince Rurik of Russian chronicles.^[1]

Roerik of Dorestad was born about 810/820 to Ali Anulo, 9th King of Haithabu. Frankish chroniclers mention that he received lands in Friesland from the Emperor Louis I. This was not enough for him, and he started to plunder neighbouring lands: he took Dorestad in 850, captured Haithabu in 857 and looted Bremen in 859. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that Roerik disappears from the Western sources for a considerable period of time. And at that very moment, in 862, the Russian Rurik arrives in the Eastern Baltic, builds the fortress of Ladoga and later moves to Novgorod.

Roerik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland demesne was returned to him by Charles the Bald; in 882 he is already mentioned as dead. The Russian chronicle places the death of Rurik of Novgorod at 879. According to Western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks. This may have parallels with the Christianization of the Rus', as reported by Patriarch Photius in 867.

Rurikid dynasty[link]

The Rurikid dynasty went on to rule the Kievan Rus', and ultimately the Tsardom of Russia until 1598. Numerous noble Russian and Ruthenian families claim a male-line descent from Rurik, and via Anne of Kiev, wife of Henry I of France, Rurikid ancestry can also be argued for numerous Western European lineages.

Genetic investigation[link]

According to the FamilyTreeDNA Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project, Rurik appears to have belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup N1c1, based on testing of his modern male line descendants.^[2] But while genetically related to the later Baltic Finnic peoples, the Rurikids do not possess the DYS390=24 mutation associated with the Finnic languages, theirs remaining the ancestral DYS390=23, with the Rurikid haplotype itself (all values considered) more closely associated with Northern Germanic language speakers (Varangians).^[3]

References[link]

lez:Рюрик

Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule, December 2010
Background information
Born	(1975-12-19) December 19, 1975 (age 36) Keokuk, Iowa
Genres	Orchestral, classical
Occupations	Composer, symphonist
Years active	1994–present
Labels	DirectSong

Jeremy Soule ( /ˈsoʊl/;^[1] born December 19, 1975^[2] in Keokuk, Iowa) is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television and video games. He has won multiple awards and has been described as the "John Williams of video game music" and "a model of success" for Western composers.^[3][4] He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen other works during his career. He is best known for his work in The Elder Scrolls series, the Guild Wars series, and several other top-selling titles such as Total Annihilation, Neverwinter Nights, Dungeon Siege and Harry Potter.

After earning the equivalent of a Master's degree in composition before completing high school, he became an employee of Square in 1994. After composing the soundtrack to Secret of Evermore, he left to join Humongous Entertainment, where he composed several children's games as well as Total Annihilation, his first award-winning score. He left to form his own music production company, Soule Media in 2000, now called Artistry Entertainment. Through the company Soule has created several award-winning soundtracks, including Icewind Dale, the Harry Potter series of games, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and most recently The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

In 2005 he founded DirectSong, a record label that publishes digital DRM-free versions of his soundtracks as well as those of classical composers. Soule's works have been played in several live concerts such as the Symphonic Game Music Concert in Germany and the international Play! A Video Game Symphony concert series. While many of his works are orchestral, he considers himself a "music practitioner", or someone who creates music in general rather than just one type of music.^[4] Several of Soule's soundtracks have been created both credited and uncredited with the help of his brother Julian Soule, who works for Artistry Entertainment. His favorite type of game to compose for is ambitious games by people with new ideas, rather than any specific genre.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Jeremy Soule, born in Keokuk, Iowa to a public school music teacher father and a graphic designer mother, became interested in music and symphony orchestras at the age of five.^[5][6][7] Soule began taking piano lessons at an early age and became entranced with music, even writing music notation in the margins of his math homework; after his teachers and his father realized his talent, he began taking private lessons with professors from Western Illinois University when he was in sixth grade.^[8][9] He ended up earning the equivalent of a Master's Degree in composition before completing high school, though, as he never enrolled in the school, he did not technically earn a degree.^[8] He was split between trying to become a concert pianist and a composer when he grew up; he ended up deciding to become a composer once he realized how difficult it would be to do both.^[6]

While playing video games as a child, Soule came to believe that the experience they created could be greatly enhanced by having a better musical score.^[6] After completing high school, he took a year to create a portfolio showcasing what he felt video game scores should sound like. Soule sent the tape to LucasArts and Square. Square very much appreciated the portfolio; he does not believe that LucasArts ever listened to his tapes as they had a "no unsolicited package" policy.^[8] Soule began working at Square in Seattle only two weeks after first submitting his demo tapes.^[6]

Career[link]

Soule was promptly given the task by Square to score Secret of Evermore. The finished game features an untraditional score incorporating ambient background sounds (like wind blowing and ocean waves) into the music and utilizing a more mellow orchestral sound.^[8] Part of the reason for this was that the sound program used in Evermore was not up to the technical challenge of what Soule wanted to do with it, forcing him to work creatively within his limitations.^[3] When Ron Gilbert of LucasArts left to form his own company, Humongous Entertainment, and Square moved from Seattle to Los Angeles, Soule quit Square to score Gilbert's children's adventure game series, Putt-Putt; he was the company's third employee.^[10] Soule composed the soundtracks to 11 children's games over the next three years, with multiple titles in the Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish and Spy Fox series.^[5]

While working at Humongous, Soule met fellow employee and video game designer Chris Taylor, and signed on to compose the soundtrack to his major project, Total Annihilation. Soule convinced Taylor that, given the large amount of other real-time strategy games coming out at the same time as Total Annihilation with techno scores, that to separate themselves they needed to do a large orchestral score. He went so far as to bet a year's worth of reduced pay that it would pay off; Gilbert felt that it did after the first sentence of the first review of the game he read was about the music.^[3][8] Given the software limitations at the time, to make the sound work correctly required a full live orchestra, the first that Soule had ever worked with; the orchestral tracks in Evermore had been performed by Soule and his brother by themselves, two instruments at a time.^[3] The soundtrack earned Soule his first award, that of "Best Music" of 1997 from GameSpot in their year-end awards.^[11] Soule spent the next two years composing music for the game's two expansion packs and for children's games.^[5]

In February 2000, Jeremy and his brother, Julian, formed Soule Media as an independent music production company; its name has since been changed to Artistry Entertainment.^[12] Julian works as a sound engineer and composer for the company, and has assisted Jeremy in several projects throughout his career, both credited and uncredited.^[3][6] The first large project that Jeremy Soule worked on through the company was 2000's Icewind Dale, which won the best music of the year award from both IGN and GameSpot.^[13][14]

In 2001 Soule scored the first of five Harry Potter games that he would work on between then and 2005. His first game, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was nominated for a Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", while Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban won and were nominated, respectively, for a British Academy of Film & Television Arts award for "Best Score" in the Game Music Category.^[15][16][17] The other games he composed for that year include Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Azurik: Rise of Perathia, which he later described as a bad game lifted up in the eyes of testers and reviewers by good music.^[18] He was responsible for composing the soundtracks to three top-selling role-playing games in 2002, those of Dungeon Siege, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and Neverwinter Nights; Morrowind earned him his second Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award nomination.^[19]

Since then Artistry Entertainment has grown and scored a string of highly successful games such as the Guild Wars series, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.^[5] Oblivion was an award-winning soundtrack by Soule. It was nominated for the 2006 British Academy of Film & Television Arts and Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awards, and won the MTV Video Music Awards and Official Xbox Magazine soundtrack awards.^{[20][21][22][23]} In 2005 Jeremy and Julian Soule founded DirectSong, a company which sells DRM-free downloads of Jeremy's compositions as well as works by dozens of classical composers. By 2007 the company had grown to over one million registered customers, though Soule noted that not all of those customers resulted in a sale of a non-free product.^[3] Soule also uses the company to sell "expansion packs" of music for games such as Guild Wars that can be played in game like the rest of the soundtrack; he estimates that at least 10% of the players of Guild Wars have bought an expansion pack of music from DirectSong. Soule says that the traffic numbers for DirectSong have surpassed some major record labels at times.^[18] Since 2005 he has worked on several more games, including Prey, Company of Heroes, and Supreme Commander; the last was another real-time strategy game with Chris Taylor.^[5]

Legacy[link]

Music that Soule has composed has been played in numerous live concerts. His music from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was performed on August 20, 2003 at the first Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany, and his music from Morrowind was performed at the third Symphonic Game Music Concert on August 17, 2005.^[24] Selections of his pieces from Morrowind and Oblivion are played in the international concert series Play! A Video Game Symphony. Jeremy Soule attended the world-premiere of Play! on May 27, 2006 in Chicago.^[25] Music from Oblivion has also been played at the Press Start 2007 -Symphony of Games- concerts in September 2007 in Japan.^[26] Soule's music has been featured in numerous top-selling games; he once estimated in an interview that around 10 million games with his music in them were sold in 2006 alone.^[1]

Selections of remixes of Soule's work appear on English remixing websites such as OverClocked ReMix.^[27] Soule is a supporter of the game music arrangement community, even going so far as to submit his own arrangement to OverClocked ReMix. He did so to help promote and inspire younger and newer composers. The track, "Squaresoft Variation", arranges the Final Fantasy VI piece "Terra"; Soule has said that he chose the piece to remix because when he first started at Square he spent some time debugging the game before his composition duties for Evermore started.^[3][28]

Musical style and influences[link]

Soule rarely, if ever, gets to see the game he is composing the soundtrack for in any sort of completed state before he begins work; as a result he bases many of his musical decisions on the company's previous games. He credits his success with this strategy to the fact that many of the games he works on come from studios that have created several successful games in the past.^[8] He finds it much easier to compose a soundtrack to a game that is very visual in nature, such as a role-playing game.^[6] He also likes to see the storyboards and concept art for the game, as he considers them a good provider of "pure emotional intent" for the game.^[9] When composing a soundtrack, the first thing that he decides is the tempo and the amount of energy the music will have; this decision is as much based on the genre of the game as it is the artistic style of the game.^[8] After that, Soule starts composing smaller tracks in the soundtrack, to make sure that they match up with the vision of the game before he starts on the major themes.^[3] Soule tries to compose all of a game's soundtrack himself rather than in a team, though he sometimes collaborates with his brother.^[9]

Although many of his works are orchestral in nature, Soule has denied that it is his "style", as he feels that the term boxes him in to only creating one type of music. He prefers to call himself a "music practitioner", or someone who creates music in general rather than just one type of music as he is capable of many styles, such as Japanese pop, which he has written along with Jeff Miyahara. Soule considers music to be like a language, which can be arranged in many different ways if you understand the structure.^[4] He does not have a favorite genre of game to compose for, preferring instead to compose for "ambitious" games by people with "new ideas".^[18]

Soule's greatest musical influences are "Debussy's exploration of harmony", "Wagner's grand operas", and "Mozart's form and composition".^[6] While many of his orchestral works are based on movie scores in terms of scope, he does not often listen to movie scores, though he names his favorite composer as John Williams.^[6][8] The influence has been noted by critics, who have termed Soule "the John Williams of video game music".^[3] Among video game music influences, he has cited Square for providing him "with the education for what quality means to this business" and Nobuo Uematsu in particular.^[4] His favorite style of music to listen to is British pop and rock music, while his favorite video games are the ones that he has written scores to, especially the ones made by Chris Taylor, though one of his all-time favorites is The Legend of Zelda. He has said that the games he would most like to work on that he has not already are ones by Shigeru Miyamoto, a Final Fantasy game, and a Metroid game.^[8]

Discography[link]

Video games[link]

Other works[link]

• The Walk – film
• Ecstasy – play
• Storyeum – play
• "Passion is Everywhere" – international advertising campaign
• Journey Toward Creation (2003) – film
• 2003 MTV Movie Awards (2003) – awards show
• C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia (2005) – film
• Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: The Making of Tin Man (2007) – film
• Florence Nightingale (2008) – film
• The Offering (2009) – film
• Dracula's Stoker (2009) – film
• Witch Creek (2010) – film
• War for Peace (2011) – documentary series

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jeremy Soule

• Jeremy Soule's official website
• DirectSong: Game Music Store
• Jeremy Soule's official blog