Did actual Vikings patrol and raid what we know as today's Russia?
In a sense. Our foremost source for information on the activities of Norsemen in the region would be the Primary Chronicle, a history of the Kievan 'Rus that is believed to have been originally compiled by an Orthodox Christian monk named Nestor around the year 1113. This account of the area's rich history came from varied sources including tales of the Rus' Khanagate, oral accounts from notable figures, popular folk anecdotes, legal agreements with the Byzantine empire, and a recounting of contemporary Norse sagas.
It is from Nestor's Chronicle that historians have derived a starting point for their research into the Varangians, a tribe of Nordic warriors and merchants who are believed to have taken power in the town of Novgorod in the year 862 CE, under a legendary chieftain named Rurik. While the Chronicle claims that as a result of infighting amongst the native Slavs, the Varangians were invited to rule, it is not known if this actually happened at the behest of any local Slavic leader at the time. What has been established (through independent means) however is that Rurik's successor moved the area's capital from Novgorod to Kiev and became the founder of the Kievan 'Rus, a unified state that scholars almost universally accept as one of the earliest predecessors to what we recognize as a modern Russian nation.
From a grand historical perspective, the Varangians had a strong contributing role in the formation of contemporary Slavic cultures, as evidenced by the rule of Oleg of Kiev. Oleg's rule transformed the Rus' Khanagate, a loose collection of cities and minor states, into one of medieval Europe's sleeping giants with the later baptism of Vladimir the Great in 988 CE. So it can be said that while the Vikings once roamed Russia, we know more of their remarkable exploits as statesmen, than as skull splitting raiders of the type known to the Britons.
From the work you have done so far, I can't see anything that could become the paper that is due Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhat confused, but I followed the book's process. I had selected multiple topics from the Amon Amarth song that I could compose an informative paper on. I chose one of them, but before I could complete blog posts on them, time constraints demanded that I select the first one I happened upon as the topic for the paper I had to write. Wasn't the general idea to write a multiple-paragraph paper describing a topic from songs? Was it supposed to be a pressing issue, such as stem cell research? I do have a paper for tomorrow in the works, and I'm putting the finishing touches on it as I write this.
ReplyDeleteyou should use a five paragraph format with an intro, 3 paragraphs for 3 different points, and a closing. have a thesis at the end of the first paragraph that defines the three points you'll use in the body of your paper.
ReplyDelete