Calling of the Varangians
According to the Primary Chronicle, in 862 the Slovenes, Krivichs, Chud and Merya, torn by strife after expelling the Varangians, invited Rurik and his brothers from the Rus’ to rule over them — the founding legend of the Rurikid dynasty. The year is the chronicle’s, not a documented date.
- Date
- 862year known
- Place
- Rurik’s Hillfort (Ryurikovo Gorodishche)today: 2 km south of Veliky Novgorod, Russia · Eastern Europe
- Participants
- Varangians, East Slavs, Rurik
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Invitation of the Varangians; Rurik; Sineus; Truvor; Синеус; Трувор; Сказание о призвании варягов
The chronicle’s famous words — “our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it; come and rule over us” — introduce Rurik, who settled in Novgorod (in the Hypatian Codex, in Ladoga), while his brothers Sineus and Truvor took Beloozero and Izborsk; two years later both died and Rurik ruled alone. The Novgorod First Chronicle tells the same story under 854.
The dated part of the Primary Chronicle was compiled in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, and its year grid for the 9th century was built afterwards on a few Byzantine synchronisms, so 862 is a conventional date. The tale reflects a real process — Scandinavian leaders establishing their power over the Slavic and Finnic north in the mid-9th century — but its details, including Rurik’s brothers, are legendary. Novgorod itself has no layers older than the 930s; the 9th-century centre was Rurik’s Hillfort (Ryurikovo Gorodishche), 2 km upstream, where the event is marked.
Connections
Consequences
- Oleg takes Kyiv882 · Eastern Europe
Related events
- Founding of Ladoga753 · Eastern Europethe Hypatian Codex makes Ladoga Rurik’s first seat
- Viking raid on Lindisfarne8 June 793 · Western and Central EuropeWhile Danes and Norwegians raided the West, Scandinavian Varangians travelled the rivers of Eastern Europe
Same participants
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Varangians
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867 · Eastern Europevia Varangians
- Askold and Dir rule in Kyiv862–882 · Eastern Europevia East Slavs
Same place
- Muscovite–Novgorodian War (1477–1478)9 October 1477 – 15 January 1478 · Eastern Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Great Heathen Army in England865–878
- Mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia863 – 6 April 885
- Battle of EdingtonMay 878
- Treaty of VerdunAugust 843
- The “Rhos” at the court of Louis the Pious18 May 839
+ 1 event
Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860
- Christianization of Bulgaria864
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Calling of the Varangians
- Wikipedia (English): Rurik
- Wikipedia (Russian): Призвание варягов
- Wikipedia (Russian): Рюрик
- Мельникова Е. А., Петрухин В. Я. Легенда о «призвании варягов» и становление древнерусской историографии // Мельникова Е. А. Древняя Русь и Скандинавия: Избранные труды. — М.: Русский фонд содействия образованию и науке, 2011.
- Franklin S., Shepard J. The Emergence of Rus, 750–1200. — London; New York: Longman, 1996.
- Wikidata: Q4378226