Varangians and Slavic tribes found Rus rule at Novgorod
Scandinavian traders answer an invitation to rule and start the dynasty that runs to Ivan the Terrible
Quick facts
- Founder
- Rurik (r. 862-879)
- First seat of power
- Novgorod
- Key source
- Russian Primary Chronicle, c. 1113
- Dynasty span
- Rurikid dynasty, 862-1598
What happened
The Russian Primary Chronicle, compiled at Kiev around 1113, says that Slavic and Finnic tribes along the upper Volga and Dnieper, unable to govern themselves after driving out the Varangians (Scandinavian Vikings) who had been collecting tribute from them, invited the Rus back to rule and keep order in the mid-9th century. Three brothers accepted, and the eldest, Rurik, took Novgorod for himself in 862, while his brothers Sineus and Truvor took Beloozero and Izborsk. Historians who accept a Norse origin for the ruling dynasty are called Normanists, and this reading is now generally considered the stronger one against an Anti-Normanist school arguing for a Slavic origin of the state.
Why it matters
Rurik's line, the Rurikid dynasty, ruled without interruption until the death of Ivan IV's son Feodor I in 1598, more than seven centuries later. Rurik's successor Oleg later moved the seat of power from Novgorod to Kiev around 882, giving the emerging state the name historians use for it: Kievan Rus.
How we know
The main source is the Russian Primary Chronicle (also called the Tale of Bygone Years), compiled around 1113 and traditionally linked to the monk Nestor, though scholars now treat it as a compilation of earlier material. Its earliest surviving manuscript copy dates to 1377. Archaeological finds in the region support parts of its narrative but not all of it, and the ethnic identity of the Rus remains debated.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Kievan Rus · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Kievan Rus · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Related timelines
- The Vikings → · See the wider Vikings timeline for the Scandinavian raiding and trading world the Varangians came from.