Did Vikings Establish Rus? The Norman Controversy

The modern countries of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, all claim descendance from an early medieval polity known as Rus. By 950, Rus was a nation centered around the city of Kiev, ruled by a Slavonic-speaking aristocracy. What happened before 950, and the origins of the Rus state, lay shrouded in mystery. Sources: Archaeological Evidence for Staraya Ladoga as an Early Scandinavian Emporium of the Global North - Natalja V. Grigorjeva A History of Russia(Seventh Edition) - Riasanovsky, Steinberg Genetic study of the Rurik Dynasty - Vladimir G. Volkov, Andrey N. Seslavin In Austrvegr - Marika Mägi On the origin of the name Rurik - A.V. Oleinichenko Міждисциплінарні гуманітарні студії Серія: Історичні науки. 2017. Вип. 3 New Data on the Ryurik Gorodishche near Novgorod - E.N Nosov Population Genomics of the Viking World - Margaryan et. al Rusernas rike - Mats G. Larsson Svear i Österviking - Holger Arbman The early Slavs - Pavel Markovich Dolukhanov The emergence of Rus, 750-1200 - Simon Franklin, Jonathan Shepard The Historiography of Normanist and Anti-Normanist theories on the origin of Rus’ - Roman Zakharii The Primary Chronicle - Anonymous The Rus in Arabic Sources - Thorir Jonsson Hraundal The Varangians - Sverrir Jakobsson The Vikings in the East - Fjodor Androshchuk Viking Rus - Wladyslaw Duczko Was there a Riurikid Dynasty in Early Rus? - Donald Ostrowski Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 5:07 Meaning of ’Rus’ 12:03 Origin of ’Rus’ 19:56 A Nordic Dynasty? 23:44 Scandinavian colonization 29:41 Scandinavian state involvement 34:21 Conclusion