The name of Prince Rus will say nothing to most Russians today. Although, probably, we owe our name to him.
We certainly associate the birth of Rus with the name of Prince Rurik, summoned by the Novgorodians in 862. We owe this to the chronicle collection "The Tale of Bygone Years", or rather to the centuries-old love for this, the sources of Russian academicians. The report of Russian history in the Nestorov Chronicle indicates the year 6360 from creation (852 in the current calendar). Until now, The Tale has avoided specific dates.
The name "Rus" is absent from Nestor, but it is present in other sources. So, in the X century, the Byzantine writer Simeon Metaphrast mentions a certain powerful leader Rosa, who gave the name to the warlike tribe of the Ros.
In the Persian chronicles, created at about the same time as the Tale of Bygone Years, we already meet a more detailed story about Ruse. According to these sources, Rus was the younger brother of the Khazar (the epic ancestor of the Turks). According to legend, he went in search of a place that "would be to his liking." Somewhere to the north, he found an island, “with swampy soil and rotten air; there he settled."
Rousse is also mentioned in the “Great Chronicle of Poland, Rus and their Neighbors,” where he is presented as the brother of Chech and Lyakh.
But the main evidence we find in the "Legend of Slovenia and Ruse and the city of Slovensk". The first records of the legend date back to the 17th century, but many historians say that by that time the oral legend could have existed for several centuries. The antiquity of the legend is confirmed by the Joachim Chronicle, which contains the story of Prince Slovenia, the founder of the city of Slovensk. Even Mikhail Lomonosov himself used The Legend as an argument against the Norman theory:
“Before the election and arrival of Rurikov, Slavic peoples lived within the Russian borders. Firstly, the Novgorodians were called Slavs by their excellent name and the city from ancient times was known as Slovenian”.
According to the "Legend …" in the summer of 3099 from the creation of the world (compare with the date of the first mention of the Russian Land by Nestor) Sloven, Rus and their sister Ilmera set off from the land of the fathers, the Black Sea coast, "across the countries of the universe, like razor-eagles preletah through the desert many who are going to take over the place are useful."
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It is curious that the chronicle says that the "colonialists" went in search of new lands, following the blessing of Noah.
“By hearing from his ancestors, as if our forefather Noah blessed our great-grandfather Afeta part of the land of all the western and northern and midnight winds, and now, brothers and friends, listen to our advice, let us leave this enmity and disagreement far from us, even now for the sake of is happening in us, and we will move, and we go from the sowing earth and from our kind, and we will go through the universe of light, which is in the lot of our great-grandfather, but the happiness and blessing of our blessed forefather Afet will lead us and give us a good land for our habitation and by our origin”. And whatever this speech of Slovenov and Rusov was to all people, and wei, as if the lips of the decision were the same: "The advice of our princes is good and the speech is good and the wise holders are pleasing."
After 14 years of wandering, the brothers came to the shores of Lake Moysko, which was named after their sister - Ilmen. Sloven founded the city of Slovensk, on the basis of which Veliky Novgorod will grow, and Rus - Russa, which we know as Staraya Russa.