Sometimes our story is distorted by misreading or translating terms and names. A number of erroneous interpretations are associated with the "Tale of Bygone Years" - the main source on the history of Russia in the early period. Were there Sineus and Truvor, why did the governor Yaroslav the Wise go blind, and what the Golden Horde was actually called - in our material.
Sineus and Truvor: there was no mistake?
According to the "Tale of Bygone Years" (PVL), when the Slavs called the Varangians, three brothers arrived from across the sea. Rurik became a prince in Novgorod, Sineus - in Beloozero, Truvor - in Izborsk. Sineus and Truvor died, and Rurik began to rule alone.
There is a hypothesis that the two brothers became a translation error. That is, the name "Sineus" is a distorted Old Swedish sine hus - "one's own kind", and "Truvor" - thru varing, or "faithful squad". That is, the chronicler used the Scandinavian tradition, the meaning of all the words of which he did not understand. And Rurik actually came with his family and a faithful squad!
But such an interpretation is now being criticized as not conforming to the norms of the morphology of the Scandinavian languages. These researchers believe that the annalistic Sineus and Truvor are the well-known Old Norse names Signjótr and Þórvar [ð] r. That is, the characters could be real.
Who was Prophetic Oleg?
"Oleg" comes from the Scandinavian name Helge, which originally meant "saint." The Russian meaning of the word "prophetic" and the Scandinavian "helgi" are very close. And perhaps this is not without reason.
There is Khazar news about the Russian ruler Hlgw, who tried to capture the Khazar city on Taman, but was defeated by the nomads and sent to Constantinople. There, the Romans burned the Hlgw fleet with Greek fire, after which the prince went on a campaign to Persia, where he died. In general, this Hlgw is a loser.
Which of the following facts coincides with the events known to us? During the campaign of Prince Igor, the son of Rurik, to Byzantium in 941, his fleet was really badly damaged by Greek fire. And the subsequent campaign against Persia corresponds to the Rus raid in 943 or 944 on the city of Berdaa (on the territory of modern Azerbaijan). The last event remained unnoticed by our chronicles, but it is well described by Eastern chroniclers. The Rus army brought a lot of problems to local soldiers and residents, but suffered heavy losses from some kind of epidemic.
There are several explanations here. According to one of the versions, “helgi” is not a name, but a title or a nickname. And the events of the chronicle could refer to another prince. According to another, Oleg ruled together with Igor - and all this was somewhat later than the dates indicated in the "Tale of Bygone Years" give. According to another hypothesis, there were several Olegs. At least two, whom the author-compiler of PVL turned into one person.
It is too early to put an end to this question.
Vyatichi on shelyag
The phonetics of the modern Russian language does not coincide with the one used by our ancestors a thousand years ago. In the Old Russian language there was a letter "yus small" - Ѧ. It was pronounced as "e" nasal.
The Eastern Slavs then spoke "in the nose" - this pronunciation was preserved among the Poles. And the name of Svyatoslav was heard by the Romans as "Sfendoslav".
Therefore, the mention in the PVL of the Vyatichi, who in the 10th century paid tribute to the Khazars "according to the shelyag", should be read somewhat differently. Not Vyatichi, but ventilators, and not on a shelyag, but on a shilling.
Then the name "Vyatichi" becomes consonant with the word "Veneti".
And he is a shilling in England a shilling.
Was Yakun handsome?
As the chronicle wrote about this leader of the Varangians in the army of Yaroslav the Wise, Yakun is “slѣp, and his luda is golden otkana”.
The blind squad leader is a little strange. Most likely, the chronicler was misunderstood. That is, "slѣp" is the result of distortion of scribes, and it would be more accurate to read "сь лѣпъ", that is, "handsome." And luda is a cloak or, according to another version, a brocade bandage that tied his hair.
The historian Igor Danilevsky suggested that the chronicler, who wrote that Yakun was not just "lep", but "with lep", used a play on words, hinting at the shortcomings of the leadership of the Kiev-Varangian army. Yaroslav was lame (he unsuccessfully fell off his horse in childhood), and Yakun was "with lep".
Sometimes historians identify the chronicler Yakun with the Norwegian Jarl Hakon Eiriksson. And he was not blind.
Golden Horde
Oddly enough, this state did not have an official name. It was called ulus - and then the name of the one to whom it belonged. For example, Ulus Berke. And the term "Golden Horde" was originally used in relation to the Khan's luxurious tent, that is, to a mobile headquarters.
There are also questions about its administrative division. So, according to the most common version, Ak-Orda (White Horde) is the western part of the horde, and Kok-Orda (Blue Horde) is the eastern part. However, there are historians who believe that everything was strictly the opposite.
And in Kazakhstan, it is believed that both Ak-Orda and Kok-Orda were located in the eastern part of the Jochi ulus, that is, they were located on the territory of modern Kazakhstan.
There is a lot of fog in history. Messages about the first century of Russian history (mid-9th - mid-10th centuries) are not unambiguous. And one cannot get to the bottom of the truth - after all, new written sources, if they suddenly appear, can create new puzzles.
Mikhail Polikarpov