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.

Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019.

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

The Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire is the best known formation made up of barbarian mercenaries ( see next section ).

In 980, Vladimir returned with the Varangian mercenaries and attacked Yaropolk.

During this period, the Varangian mercenaries were included in the Great Companions ( Gr. Μεγάλη Εταιρεία ).

* Varangian Guards can be hired as mercenaries in Crusader Kings II.

Since much of the Byzantine military focused on the strategy and skill of generals utilizing militia troops, heavy infantry were recruited from Frankish and later Varangian mercenaries.

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

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.

The royal army commanded by King Bagrat was joined by a Varangian detachment of 700 men, probably a subdivision of the expedition of the Swedish Viking, Ingvar the Far-Travelled.

* 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.

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 ".

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.

When the Greek general Giorgio Maniace publicly humiliated the Salernitan leader, Arduin, the Lombards withdrew from the campaign, along with the Normans and the Varangian Guard contingent.

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.

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.

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

The Varangian dynasty of Ruriks became dukes in the neighboring Duchy of Kiev.

Here, he was assisted by the Varangian Guard, which was at that time led by Harald Hardrada, who later became king of Norway.

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.

According to the Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from Rus ' people, named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862.

Map showing the major Varangian trade routes: the Volga trade route ( in red ) and the Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks ( in purple ).

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

Apart from Ladoga and Novgorod, Gnezdovo and Gotland were major centres for Varangian trade.

In Sweden with the help from his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk.

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.

Map showing the major Varangian trade routes: the Volga trade route ( in red ) and the Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks ( in purple ).

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

In Kievan Rus ', these came from the Varangian nobles ( Rurik Dynasty ), while in Bohemia ( Přemyslids ) and Poland ( Piast Dynasty ) they were of local origin.

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.

Oleg gradually took control of the Dnieper cities, captured Kiev ( previously held by the Varangian warlords, Askold and Dir ) and finally moved his capital from Novgorod there.

Igor I ( Old East Slavic / Russian: Игорь ; Old Norse: Ingvar ; Ukrainian: Ігор, Ihor ) was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus ' from 912 to 945.

Guests from Overseas, 1901 ( Varangian s in Russia )

In the Viking – late Iron Age, from the 750s onwards, Ladoga was a bridgehead on the Varangian trade route to Eastern Europe.

* Akolouthos – " Acolyte ," the chief of the Varangian Guard from the Komnenian era onwards.

Varangian Guardsmen, an illumination from the John Skylitzes | Skylitzis Chronicle.

An illumination of a scene from the Skylitzes Chronicle, depicting a Thracesian Theme | Thracesian woman killing a Varangian who tried to rape her, whereupon his comrades praised her and gave her his possessions.

Many of the last catepans were sent from Constantinople with Varangian units.

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.