Rurik. It would be surprising if, within the framework of the study of Rurik's personality in the light of his Norman origin, researchers did not attempt to establish his identity with any historically reliable character of that time.
Oddly enough, the only worthy candidate for the role of the first ruler of the ancient Russian state was the Danish nobleman, the representative of the Danish royal dynasty of Skjoldungs Rorik, known from European chronicles as Rorik (Rörik) of Friesland or Jutland.
Rorick is a very remarkable person. He was a very active, ambitious, brave, decisive and enterprising leader. It is necessary to dwell on his biography in more detail, if only because the possible identity of Rorik Friesland and Rurik Novgorodsky was recognized and recognized by such luminaries of historical science as B. A. Rybakov, G. S. Lebedev, A. N. Kirpichnikov and others.
Jutland layouts
For the first time, Rorik is mentioned when describing the events of 850 at the same time in the Fulda, Bertine and Xanten annals, probably in connection with the death of the ex-king of Jutland, Harald Kluck.
After the death of King Goodfred of Jutland at the hands of his own warrior in 810, a long and bloody feud for the throne broke out among the Danes. One of its most active participants was Harald, nicknamed Kluck, that is, "the raven." Twice (in 812 - 814 and in 819 - 827) he occupied the Danish throne, but both times he was expelled by his rival Horik I. In his struggle against Horik, Harald Clack relied on the help of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious (in 826 BC). he even got baptized to win the support of Louis). Having finally lost the struggle for power in Jutland in 827, Harald Klack received flax from Louis in Friesland (the coast of the North Sea west of the Jutland Peninsula) with the capital in the city of Dorestad, with the condition to protect the lands of the Franks from the raids of their relatives - Svei and Danes. After the death of Louis in 840, Harald fulfilled his vassal obligations to his son Lothar, supporting him in the struggle against the brothers Louis the German and Karl the Bald.
Rorick in the historical annals
So, the first mention of Rorik of Jutland in the Frankish annals is associated with the death of Harald Kluck. At the same time, the Bertine annals call him Harald's brother, and the Fulda and Xanten annals call him his nephew. Probably, Rorik was, after all, the nephew of Harald Kluck, since the Bertine annals, speaking of Rorik, call him "the brother of young Hariold", and Harald Kluck could not be young at that time. Therefore, probably, the Bertine annals meant some other Harald, not Clack.
The essence of these references is as follows: after the death of Harald, Rorik was accused of treason by King Lothar and imprisoned, however, he managed to escape and joined the enemy of Lothar, his brother Louis the German, the ruler of the East Frankish kingdom. Relying on the support of Louis, Roric managed to gather a significant army and began to recapture the lost possessions - Dorestad and the adjacent area, which he owned together with Harald Kluck until the latter's death. The "recapture" consisted in the systematic plunder of the coast, which he, together with Harald, defended from the Viking raids a few years ago, and ended with the forceful capture of Dorestad itself. Not having the strength to expel Rorik from this city, where he was apparently well known and supported, Lothair presented his need as a virtue and confirmed Rorik's ownership of this city and lands as a vassal.
Frisia at the beginning of the 8th century
The Bertine annals add to this information the fact that in the process of revenge against Lothar, not only Friesland, but also Flanders (that is, the entire coast of Europe, from Jutland to the English Channel) and even Britain suffered from Rorick's actions.
In 855, Rorik and his cousin Godefried, son of Kluck, tried unsuccessfully to try on the Danish crown after the death of King Horik I. Having failed in this endeavor, both brothers returned to Dorestad. It is noteworthy that the son of King Lothair, the future Lothar II, meekly liberated this city for them, which, by order of his father, he ruled during their absence.
In 857, Rorik again participates in a conflict with his relatives - this time after the defeat inflicted by him on King Horik II, he for some time took possession of part of his lands on the Jutland Peninsula.
In 863 Rorik renounces his oath to Lothar II and swears allegiance to Karl the Bald, from whom he receives additional possessions.
In 869 Lothair II dies, after which his kingdom is divided between Charles the Bald and Louis the German. In the period from 870 to 873. The annals celebrate Rorick's repeated meetings with Karl, during which he invariably confirmed Rorick's ownership rights.
In 873 Rorik again changed his citizenship, taking the oath of vassal to Louis of Germany. What caused his decision, the annals are silent, as they are silent about the reaction to such an act of Rorik Karl the Bald. This is the last mention in the Frankish annals of Rorik of Friesland. There is no information about his death, as it was usually customary to write in the case of such noble and well-known persons. Only in 882, his lands will be transferred to his relative - Godfried, which could mean the official fact of recognizing him as dead, or the fact of his refusal to take the vassal oath.
Could Rorik have been to Russia?
So, the active military and political life of Rorik is reflected in the annals from 850 to 873. Did he have time to "visit" Russia and found a new state there?
To get from Dorestad to Ladoga, you need to travel about 2500 km by water, that is, about 1350 nautical miles. The average speed of the drakkar is about five knots, so the whole journey takes about 270 hours of net time. Taking into account the necessary stops for loading provisions (for example!) And refueling with fresh water (required!), Waiting out bad weather, dark time of the day (let's not forget about the "white nights") and other unforeseen delays, this time may increase by a third, that is, up to 360 running hours. It turns out 15 days. To go from Ladoga or Novgorod to Dorestad, to throw a couple of words there with someone and come back, on average, it takes exactly one month. There are much more temporary gaps in the recorded activities of Rorick. What we can say for sure is that he managed to visit Britain periodically, why not assume that he was not limited to Britain?
It should also not be forgotten that the entire Russian chronicle chronology of the pre-Christian period is conditional through and through. The years of the Russian chronicles may not coincide with the years of the European chronicles, and the difference, according to the most modest and optimistic estimates, can reach fourteen years, if only because the first Russian chroniclers kept a record of significant dates in the Byzantine Empire, but which of the events they took as a point the report is not always clear. In particular, it is not clear what date since the time of "Tsar Michael" the chroniclers had in mind when starting their countdown: the date of the entry of Michael III the Drunkard to the imperial throne in 842.or the date of the beginning of his independent reign without the regency of his mother in 856. The difference between these dates is the same fourteen years.
Thus, 873, the year of the last mention of Rorik of Friesland in European chronicles, “magically” may easily turn out to be 859 in Russian chronology (or it may not be), and then all dates, as they say, “beat” almost perfectly.
A little about Rorick's age
I would also like to say about the possible date of birth of Rorik. By reasoning based on indirect data, some of the researchers came to the conclusion that the year of birth of Rorik is most likely 817. In this case, in 873 he would have been 56 years old, the age at that time is quite respectable, but by no means critical. If we add to them the 17 years that Rurik ruled in Ladoga and Novgorod, then we get 73 years - an age already more than worthy, however, quite achievable for those times. Yaroslav the Wise died at the age of 76, and Vladimir Monomakh at the age of 72, so such longevity was not at all an exceptional case.
Is he or isn't he?
And yet, I am skeptical about the complete identification of Rorik Friesland with our Rurik. Despite the fact that there is no direct data indicating that these are two different people, there is no, apart from the similarity of names and the time of active activity, any data testifying in favor of such an identification. Indirect evidence testifies to both sides, forcing the supporters of each of the hypotheses to resort to assumptions and reservations.
So, for example, in favor of identifying Rorik with Rurik, one can argue that there is no information about his family and children in the annals. This, they say, can be explained by the fact that his family was located far to the east, the chroniclers knew that it was there, but they did not know anything else and were not interested. It can be argued that we know no more about the families of half, or even more of the heroes of the European chronicles, than about Rorick's family, but this does not mean that these families were somewhere far away. They are simply not mentioned.
In favor of the fact that Rorik and Rurik are different people, it can be argued that the ancestors of Rurik, as we know, come from the Uppsala region, and Uppsala is the ancient capital of the Swedish Ingling dynasty, while it is reliably known that Rorik belonged to the Danish Skjoldung dynasty. It can be argued that both the Ynglings and the Skjöldungs are known to us exclusively from the sagas, and in them it is written in black and white that they both descended from Odin. But seriously, in fact, the genealogies of the Scandinavian rulers are so confused that without a detailed genetic study of their descendants (and where to get them?), It simply does not make sense to draw any categorical conclusions.
One way or another, at present, historical science can neither reliably establish the identity of Rorik of Friesland with Rurik of Novgorod, nor unambiguously exclude this identity. It remains for me to invite the reader to join one or another point of view on this issue, in accordance with his own desires and aspirations, or, like me, not to join any one.
I would only like to add that, in my opinion, if Rorik Frisladsky really managed to become the founder of the Russian princely dynasty and the first ruler of the ancient Russian state, then for us, the heirs of those Slavs, Scandinavians and Finno-Ugrians, with whom he created and built Russia together, there is nothing shameful in this fact. One can and should be proud of such an ancestor.
