There is another theory that Rurik, on account of common intermarriages between Varangians and Slavic women, was of mixed Slavic-Varangian descent.

The reign of Oleg of Novgorod in the early tenth century witnessed the return of the Varangians to Novgorod and relocation of their capital to Kiev on the Dnieper.

The sagas note that aside from the significant spoils of battle he had retained, he had participated three times in polutasvarf, a term which implies either the pillaging of the palace exchequer on the death of the emperor, or perhaps the disbursement of funds to the Varangians by the new emperor in order to ensure their loyalty.

In De Administrando Imperio ( c. 950 ) he described Smolensk as a key station on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

The Tale of Bygone Years ( dated to 1113 ) writes about how the tribe Varangians arrived in Constantinople, and of piratical expeditions on the Black Sea and on the Caspian Sea.

A number of ancient civilizations, most notably the Thracians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Ostrogoths, Slavs, Varangians and especially Bulgars, have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria.

But the most appropriate explanation about etymological roots of the city according to М. П. Янко in his Топонімічний словник України is that the word is a Turkish word meaning the place of Khan. 2 In the Middle Ages it was located on the Road from Varangians to Greeks.

It lay on the historical trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, which followed the Volkhov upstream to Lake Ilmen and thence followed the course of the Lovat before eventually reaching the Dnieper River.

The Varangians did not return home without a lasting imprint of Byzantine culture to which testifies a Byzantine cross carved on the early eleventh century Risbyle runestone U 161, and which today is the coat-of-arms of Täby.

The Normans immediately set the church on fire, and all Varangians perished in the blaze.

Set in the 10th century, these novel focuses on a felag of oathsworn Varangians searching for the treasure of Attila the Hun in the Pontic steppe.

On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids ( they don't exist anymore as a chain of basins was established in 1950-70s ), where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

Not long after, the catepan Michael Doukeianos had a force of Varangians stationed at Bari.

Scandinavian Norsemen, called " Vikings " in Western Europe and " Varangians " in the East, combined piracy and trade in their roamings over much of Northern Europe.

However, when Maniakes ostracised the Lombards by publicly humiliating their leader, Arduin, the Lombards deserted and the Normans and Varangians followed them.

The Varangians hacked their way through the enemy's circle of Pecheneg wagons, collapsing the Pecheneg position and causing a general rout in their camp.

Writing about her father Alexius's seizing of Imperial throne in 1081, Anna Komnene notes that he was advised not to attack the Varangians who still guarded the Emperor Nikephoros for the Varangians " regard loyalty to the emperors and the protection of their persons as a family tradition, a kind of sacred trust.

Thus, instead of defending their absent emperor, the Varangians were used by the usurpers — proving their loyalty to the throne, if not always the current occupier of that throne.

As the Varangians dealt mainly with Northern Russian lands, their sagas regard the city of Holmsgardr ( Holmgarðr, Veliky Novgorod ) as the capital of Garðaríki.

The Varangians stood their ground while the Byzantine left, including some of Alexius ' elite troops, attacked the Normans.

With their massive battle axes, the Varangians attacked the Norman knights, who were driven away after their horses panicked.

The route from the Varangians to the Greeks was first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, but its effects were reported much earlier, in the early ninth century when the Byzantines noted newcomers in their regions, the Varangians.

The Varangians had been ordered to march just in front of the main line with a strong division of archers a little behind them.

The Varangians soon became separated from the main force and exhausted so they were in no position to resist an assault.

Michael Psellus writes that all Varangians without exception used the weapon called rhomphaia, but this is a product of Atticism in Byzantine literature.

From the 8th to the 11th century, the Vikings and Varangians traded as they sailed from and to Scandinavia.

Another group of East Slavs moved from Pomerania to the northeast, where they encountered the Varangians of the Rus ' Khaganate and established an important regional centre of Novgorod.

Since the 6th century, another group of Slavs moved from Pomerania to northeast of the Baltic Sea, where they encountered the Varangians of the Rus ' Khaganate and established the important regional center of Novgorod.

Harald and the Varangians were thereafter called to action in Bulgaria, were they arrived not before early 1041.

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.

The brutality of the Varangians was noted when they pursued the fleeing army and " cheerfully hacked them to pieces.

The Varangians served as the personal bodyguard of the emperor, swearing an oath of loyalty to him ; they had ceremonial duties as retainers and acclaimers and performed some police duties, especially in cases of treason and conspiracy.

When the Byzantine Emperor died, the Varangians had the unique right of running to the imperial treasury and taking as much gold and as many gems as they could carry, a procedure known in Old Norse as polutasvarf (" palace pillaging ").

When the Rurikid successors of the Varangians tried to subjugate the Semigallians, they heavily defeated the invading army of Polotsk led by Prince Rogvolod Vseslavich in 1106.

There they were sold to the Varangians who re-equipped them and loaded them with merchandise.

This was done with the help of Varangians, and according to Ingvar's saga, they were led by Ingvar's father Eymund.

Perhaps among them were the Varangians, which is indicated by archaeological findings in the vicinity of Poznań.

The Varangians or Varyags ( Russian,, Varyagi ) sometimes referred to as Variagians were Scandinavians, often Swedes, who migrated eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia and Ukraine mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Roughly in the same period, the Ilmen Slavs and Krivichs were dominated by the Varangians of the Rus ' Khaganate, who controlled the trade route between the Baltic Sea and the Byzantine Empire.

They were chosen among war-prone peoples, of whom the Varangians ( Vikings ) were preferred.

The Varangians are believed to be Vikings originally raiding the Rus, who in turn were retained as mercenaries for protection against invaders.

By the late 13th century Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantines, though the guard operated until at least mid-14th century and in 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as " Varangians " in Constantinople.

The Varangian guard was still operating at least as late as the mid-fourteenth century, and people identified as Varangians were to be found in Constantinople around 1400.

As well as the native troops, the Byzantines were joined by 2, 000 Turkish and 1, 000 Frankish mercenaries, about 1, 000 Varangians and 7, 000 Turkish auxiliaries sent by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm.

When the Varangians had suffered a devastating defeat, the victors were stunned at discovering armed women among the fallen warriors.

* Varangians, the term for Norse Vikings who were active in Eastern Europe