HIS250Y1 Lecture 2: 2. The Origins of Rus
Document Summary
Ros" comes from the term ruotsi, a finnish word for sweden. Several sources refer to rus" as swedes (year 839 in the annales of st. berlin) Islamic travelers made a distinction between ros" and slavs. The term ros" refers to people living in the kievian area. Sources does not prove that ros" were of swedish origin. 9th century islamic source links to the ros" to a slavic tribe. Archeology disproved the presence of scandinavians in the kievian area. Swallowed by dominant slavic culture, mainly slavic in the end. Note that names of princes change --> begin with scandinavian tones (rurik), change to slavic (sviatoslav) Civil war arose in 9th century in khazaria. Demographic boom because of prosperity --> expand to survive. Byzantine empire started signing treaties with vikings to help survive attacks. Attempts to colonize and settle in west (france, normandy) Never tried to take land in russia, only would trade and fight.
