The Greece Runestones # Ög 81 | Högby Runestone is one of the c. 30 Greece Runestones in Sweden that commemorate members of the Varangian Guard.

In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6, 000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into a new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard.

Later in the 11th Century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England.

He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard.

Thus, there was a short-lived eleventh century attempt to re-establish an independent Galatia by native Galatians whose aristocracy and people appealed to Anglo-Saxon and Russo-Norman mercenaries of the Byzantine Varangian Guard and Frankish Crusaders alike in establishing a new kingdom.

Many served as mercenaries, and the famed Varangian Guard, serving the Emperor of Constantinople was drawn principally of Scandinavian warriors.

This was known as the Varangian Guard.

The most eminent Scandinavian to serve in the Varangian Guard was Harald Hardrada, who subsequently established himself as king of Norway ( 1047 – 66 ).

* Harald III of Norway, at this time leader of the Varangian Guard in the Byzantine Empire, returns to Norway, possibly because of his involvement in Maniaces ' revolt.

The Rus ' recruitments were instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the Varangian Guard.

Basil escaped with the help of his Varangian Guard and attempted to make up his losses by turning Samuel's brother Aaron against him.

Rosemary Sutcliff's 1976 historical fiction novel Blood Feud depicts Basil II from the point of view of a member of his recently created Varangian Guard.

Some modern historians have suggested that at some point during these years Edgar served in the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire, a unit which was at this time composed primarily of English emigrants, but this is unsupported by evidence.

In Constantinople, he quickly rose to become the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and saw action on the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia Minor, Sicily, possibly in the Holy Land, Bulgaria and in Constantinople itself, where he became involved in the imperial dynastic disputes.

After a few years in Kievan Rus ', Harald and his crew of around 500 men moved on south to Constantinople ( referred to in the sagas as Miklagard ), the capital of the Byzantine Empire, where they joined the Varangian Guard, probably sometime in 1034.

While the Varangian Guard was primarily meant to function as the emperor's bodyguard, Harald was found fighting on " nearly every frontier " of the empire.

During the campaign, Harald probably also held command over a group of Norman mercenaries in addition to the Varangian Guard.

While the campaign was initially successful, Harald and the Varangian Guard were called back to Constantinople following Maniakes ' imprisonment by the emperor and the onset of other more pressing issues.

The English became the predominant element in the elite Varangian Guard, hitherto a largely Scandinavian unit, from which the emperor's bodyguard was drawn.

Byzantine Emperors followed the Roman practice and contracted foreigners especially for their personal corps guard called the Varangian Guard.

One of the most famous guards was the future king Harald III of Norway, also known as Harald Hardrada (" Hard-counsel "), who arrived in Constantinople in 1035 and was employed as a Varangian Guard.

However, his elevation had antagonised not only the Doukas family, in particular the Caesar, John Doukas who led the opposition of the palace officials to Romanos ' authority, but also the Varangian Guard, who openly expressed their discontent at the marriage of Eudokia.

The decisive moment of the battle was when John led the Varangian Guard, largely composed of Englishmen, to assault defensive Pecheneg wagon laager, employing their famous axes to hack their way in.

The term Varangian remained in usage in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century, largely disconnected from its Scandinavian roots by then.

Near-contemporary depiction of Byzantine Varangian Guardsmen, in an illumination from the John Skylitzes | Skylitzis Chronicle.

The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians ( ON: Væringjar, meaning sworn men or from Slavic варяги supposedly deriving from the root " вар "—" profit " as coming from North they would profit by trading goods and not producing them, which had a negative connotation in Slavic culture of that time ), and the Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard.

Due to the combined Greek and Roman tradition of its military, or perhaps through the Varangian Guard's presence in Constantinople, the spatha had a place within the Byzantine Empire and its army.

Scholar Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII ( AD 905 – 959 ) in his book De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (" Book of Ceremonies of the Byzantine court ") of a " Gothic Dance " performed by members of his Varangian Guard ( Norse warriors working in the service of the Byzantine Empire ), who took part wearing animal skins and masks: she believes this may have been connected with berserker rites.

* Battle of Dyrrhachium ( October 18, 1081 ): Normans under the Duke of Apulia Robert Guiscard charged and routed the Varangian Guard, Byzantine levies and caused a widespread rout of the Byzantine army, ending in a devastating defeat for Byzantium.

The Varangian Guard ( Greek: Τάγμα των Βαράγγων, Tágma tōn Varángōn ) was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors.

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 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.

These men formed the nucleus of the Varangian Guard, which saw extensive service in southern Italy in the eleventh century, as the Normans and Lombards worked to extinguish Byzantine authority there.

Twenty years later, in 1067, the last Byzantine catepan in southern Italy, Mabrica, arrived with Varangian auxiliaries and took Brindisi and Taranto.

" Unlike the native Byzantine guards so mistrusted by Basil II, the Varangian guards ' loyalties lay with the position of Emperor, not the man that sat on the throne.

* 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.

* 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.

* Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire

* Spatharii and the Varangian Guard, in the Byzantine Empire

Perhaps at that time the Varangian warriors were recruited ; their presence is indicated by archaeological excavations in the vicinity of Poznań.

* Olava or Allogia ( Varangian or Czech ), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapena

The early part is rich in anecdotal stories, among which are the arrival of the three Varangian brothers, the founding of Kiev, the murder of Askold and Dir, the death of Oleg, who was killed by a serpent concealed in the skeleton of his horse, and the vengeance taken by Olga, the wife of Igor, on the Drevlians, who had murdered her husband.

Among Zuckerman's beliefs and those of others who have analyzed these sources are that the Khazars did not lose Kiev until the early 10th century ( rather than 882, the traditional date ), that Igor was not Rurik's son but rather a more distant descendant, and that Oleg did not immediately follow Rurik, but rather that there is a lost generation between the legendary Varangian lord and his documented successors.

This information is confirmed by sagas and archaeological evidence, which suggests that Ladoga gradually evolved into a primarily Varangian settlement.

Although his burial mound is still shown to occasional tourists, archaeological excavations of long barrows abounding in the vicinity did not reveal the presence of the Varangian settlement at the site, indicating that Izborsk was an important centre of the early Krivichs.

It is also recorded that there were Varangian contingents among the forces that fought the Arabs in Syria in 955.

The great losses that the Varangian Guard suffered is probably what is reflected by the largest group of runestones that talk of foreign voyages in Sweden, i. e. the Greece Runestones of which many were raised by former members of the Varangian Guard, or in their memory.

* Varangian Guards appear in the popular video game Assassin's Creed: Revelations ; although the game is set in 1511 / 1512.

The peninsula is one of the main settings in the Laxdœla saga and it was, according to this saga, the birthplace of the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard, Bolli Bollasson.

Byzantine politics, the formation of the Varangian Guard, life in the big city is interesting for someone of Raef's fey sensitivities.

The Dane-Axe is also known to have been used by the Varangian Guard, also known as pelekyphoros phroura ( πελεκυφόρος φρουρά ), the " axe-bearing guard ".

One surviving ivory plaque from the 10th century Constantinople depicts a Varangian holding an axe that is at least as tall as its wielder.

Its name is derived from the Rus ', a people of Finno-Ugric and Varangian composition who settled in the vicinity to control trade routes leading from Novgorod to Polotsk and Kiev.

Among the beliefs of Zuckerman and others who have analyzed these sources are that the Khazars did not lose Kiev until the early 10th century ( rather than 882, the traditional date ), that Igor was not Rurik's son but rather a more distant descendant, and that Oleg did not immediately follow Rurik, but rather that there is a lost generation between the legendary Varangian lord and his documented successors.

The battle is also known for the involvement of Varangian mercenaries, most probably on the king ’ s side.