The reign of Rurik, the half-legendary prince of old Russia

The reign of Prince Rurik is a time enveloped in legends and secrets. Until now, it is not known exactly who this legendary person was, who gave the Slavs the first ruling dynasty.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" tells that in 862 the Ilmen Slovens (Chodi tribes, measures and weights), tired of protracted internecine wars for power, called on a foreign ruler. They hoped that this way they would be able to conclude a long-awaited peace. At their request, three brothers immediately responded: Truvor, Sineus and Rurik. The first of them was a donkey in Izborsk, the second - on the White Lake, and the third - in Novgorod. After the death of the brothers, Rurik collected all power over their lands.

Rurik's rule is connected with the hypothesis that the northern prince was not completely alien to the Slavs. Later sources say that he was a descendant of Gostomysl, the Novgorod prince-elder: his middle daughter, Umila, married one of the Varangian rulers. The new prince of Novgorod took as his wife Efanda, who came from a noble local family.

During the reign of Rurik, the Novgorodians raised an uprising. However, the prince severely suppressed the forces of Vadim the Brave, and he himself was executed. Many insurgents, fearing revenge of the ruler, fled to Kiev. Also, the chronicle describes how two boyars had asked the prince for a campaign (whether to help Constantinople). Askold and Dir left Novgorod with their families and druzhinas, but they did not reach their destination, and also settled on the banks of the Dnieper. The reign of Rurik lasted for another twelve years after these events. After the death of the ruler, power passed to his closest relative, Oleg Veschem, appointed guardian of the young Igor. He drove Askold and Dir out of the gilded Kiev, and declared himself Grand Duke.

However, some historians believe that the reign of Rurik was not at all based on calling him boyars. Most likely, he seized power during the military campaign, so the Novgorodians rebelled against him. Perhaps the boyars did not agree: some of them supported the Varangian, and some were against the stranger. It is also unknown who the legendary prince was: the Baltic Slav, Finn or Scandinavian.

The name Rurik in Europe is known since the fourth century. Some researchers believe that it occurs from the name of one Celtic tribe - whether raourikov, or rurikov. In the eighth-ninth century princes with this name ruled the Jutland peninsula. Sineus can be translated from the same Celtic language as the "senior", Truvor means "third by birth." Other historians consider Rurik Rerik, the leader of the Vikings. Perhaps the plot with the vocation of the Varangian to the throne of Novgorod was introduced in the annals much later, so there is so little detailed information in it.

However, despite a number of inaccuracies, the reign of Rurik on the territory of the Russian lands remains a fact. It had important consequences for the Slavs, since it established the ruling dynasty (Rurikovich), promoted the development of Russia as a state, centralized power. The reign of Rurik, whose tribal sign was a trident (or a dzhu), marked a new page in the development of Kievan Rus, its golden age, whose apogee fell on the reign of Yaroslav the Wise.