Recently, the efforts of the Normanists to prove the Scandinavian origin of the chronicle Rurik are aimed at identifying him with the so-called Rorik of Jutland / Friesland. At the end of the last century and in the first years of the present, Russian historians, far from Normanism, were also interested in the personality of this Rorik, but gradually their interest faded away, for lack of serious evidence. However, among the Normanists, on the contrary, it is gaining momentum as the possibility of bringing the chronicler Rurik out of Sweden disappears. In recent years, not only articles, but also books have been devoted to the biography of Rorik (Pchelov E. V. Genealogy of Old Russian Princes. M., 2001; his. Rurik. M., 2010).
The exact lineage of this Rorik is unknown, although the Normanists persist in attributing him to the so-called Skjoldung dynasty. This does not constitute labor, for the dynasty is legendary, i.e. pretty much the fruit of literary fiction. Its founder is the "son" of the deity Odin Skjold, so here, as we can see, the matter is very serious.
It is known about this Rorick that he, together with his brother Harald, was expelled from Jutland, after which the brothers began to pirate and live by robbery. At some point, they managed to get involved in the inter-dynastic struggle of the Carolingians. Charles the Bald (823-855) formed an alliance with Roric, as he was able to establish himself in Frisia, including the wealthy city of Dorestad. Roric continued to plunder along the Rhine, and already Lothar I (795-855) in 850 offered Rorik to go under his high hand, donating Dorestad and other inheritances in the land of the Frisians in exchange for performing vassal service. But in 867 Rorik was expelled from Friesland, and according to some vague information, he again tried to establish himself in Denmark, but clearly unsuccessfully. The last time it was mentioned in 873, after which its trace in history is lost (Bröndsted J. Vikingarna hemma och i härnad. Stockholm, 1992. S. 40-41).
What image arises before your eyes on the basis of the information given from some Western European annals? In my opinion, we see a run-of-the-mill regional robber. He clearly did not stand out in anything special among the masses of robbers and extortionists who overcame in the 9th century. lands of modern Germany, Holland, France. He entered the service now to one king of the Franks, then to another, received a land allotment for the service, which he used while serving, was expelled from there, became a vassal of a new lord, etc. So, running from one gentleman to another, in the end, he disappeared without a trace from the field of view of the chroniclers. And this loser and muddler is offered by a part of the Normanists to us as a chronicler Rurik? So, in his small lands he lost and lost everything,and on the gigantic expanses of the Novgorod and Kiev regions, he allegedly organized a great European state ?! Norman miracles in the sieve!
At the same time, it is somehow "forgotten" that in order to "approve" this confused raider on the throne in the reign of Slovenes, it is necessary to eliminate two brothers of the chronicler Rurik - Sineus and Truvor. As you know, there were no such brothers from Rorik from the Western European chronicles. But Rorik’s supporters would not care: boorishly careless handling of ancient Russian sources has long come into use! For example, the infamous "linguistic" manipulations with the names of the chronicles Sineus and Truvor, performed by some Russian historians. These figures who did not speak any of the Scandinavian languages, nevertheless, allowed themselves to interpret the names of Truvor and Sineus as supposedly simple tracing copies from the Swedish expressions "sine hus", i.e. "With kindred" and as "tru varing", ie "Faithful squad". These expressions were, they say,misunderstood by the chronicler due to poor knowledge of the Swedish language. The absurdity of these manipulations, which are no different from the word production of O. Rudbek and other creators of the Swedish political myth of the 16th-18th centuries, was sharply criticized in science as analysts of chronicle sources (Fomin V. V. Curved mirrors of Normanism // Coll. RIO. T. 8 (156). M., 2003. S. 95-98), and Scandinavians, who noted that in these "reconstructions" all norms of morphology and syntax of Old Norse languages were violated (Melnikova E. A. Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in Old Russian historiographic tradition // DGVE 1998. M., 2000. S. 157). It was bitterly criticized in science both by analysts of chronicle sources (Fomin V. V. Curved mirrors of Normanism // Collected RIO. T. 8 (156). M., 2003. P.95-98), and by Scandinavians, who noted that in these "reconstructions" all norms of morphology and syntax of Old Norse languages are violated (Melnikova E. A. Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in the Old Russian historiographic tradition // DGVE 1998. M., 2000. P. 157). It was bitterly criticized in science both by analysts of chronicle sources (Fomin V. V. Curved mirrors of Normanism // Collected RIO. T. 8 (156). M., 2003. P.95-98), and by Scandinavians, who noted that in these "reconstructions" all norms of morphology and syntax of Old Norse languages are violated (Melnikova E. A. Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in the Old Russian historiographic tradition // DGVE 1998. M., 2000. P. 157).
Little of. The appearance of this absurd "reconstruction" by some "true" scientists began to attribute to Bayer. According to V. V. Fomin, the process was initiated by L. M. Pyatetsky, who told the Russian society that “the German scientist Johann Gottfried Bayer, who worked in the 30-60s. XVIII century. in Russia, argued that the chronicle version is distorted, i.e. the names of the Rurik brothers are actually Scandinavian words, meaning that he came to the land of the Slovenians with his squad - "tru-thief" and his house "blue hus" ". As VV Fomin sarcastically commented, the scientist "Johann Gottfried Bayer" never existed, but, as you know, there was Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer, who arrived in Russia in 1726 and died here in 1738. But "IG Bayer" with the "discovery" attributed to it got into the work of the archaeologist V. Ya. Petrukhin, and apparently from there - to the historians I. N. Danilevsky and E. V. Pchelov, as well as the archaeologist E. A. Shinakov. But as far as one can judge from Bayer's legacy, he did not draw such analogies (Fomin V. V., Varyags and Varangian Rus. M., 2005. P.226).
And he could not, I would like to add, since Bayer did not speak either Russian or Scandinavian languages. And he received all the material for the article "Varyags" from his Swedish correspondents, who knew something but their language. Therefore, Bayer's reasoning about Rurik's brothers is presented in the same spirit as was customary among the Swedes in the 18th century, i.e. as attempts to adjust the chronicle names to the possible "Scandinavian" proformas: “To Rurikov's brother Truvor, Trubar, Trovur, the name was, as Russian stories declare. Saxon Grammar … between the dukes of Ringon, King of Sweden, against Harald of Hildetansky and Ivar Truvarov is named. Stefan Stephanie … from an ancient Danish book - Iver Truer. I have not found another brother named Sinei among the northern peoples”(Bayer GZ About the Varangians // Fomin VV Lomonosov. The genius of Russian history. M., 2006. P. 348).
Thus, the Russian Normanists have done so much that even Bayer quotes are copied from each other, being lazy to refer to the original. But L. M. Pyatetsky is the author of reference books on the history of Russia and textbooks on the history of Russia for applicants (Pyatetsky L. M. Reference book on the history of Russia from ancient times to the present day. M., 1995, p. 11; his. History of Russia for applicants and high school students. Ed. 3rd. M., 1996. P.47).
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Poor-poor Russian applicants! If we add to Pyatetsky the textbook by Vovina-Lebedeva for students-historians, which says that the "land of dews" was in the Swedish Roslagen (Vovina-Lebedeva V. G. History of Ancient Rus. Textbook for students of institutions of higher professional education. M., 2011 S. 65-66), which, as I reported in my works, in the IX century. did not exist in nature, then the conclusion is unambiguous: as long as the Normanists occupy key positions in the Russian university-academic system, studies of the initial period of Russian history on a strictly scientific basis will be impossible.
But back to Rorik of Jutland. In addition to the complete discrepancy in the biographical data between this person and the chronicler Rurik, the path of the homegrown Normanists Rorik to the ancient Russian princely throne is blocked by a whole galaxy of solid Western chroniclers who paid special attention to the history of the Danish rulers and carefully singled out those of them who really distinguished themselves in the political arena. Adam of Bremen and his informant King of Danes, Sven Estridsen, know nothing about the "great" career of Rorik of Jutland in the reign of Slovenes. The Danish writer Saxon Grammaticus, the Danish writer Saxon Grammatik, whose main goal of historiographic activity was to select and celebrate all who became famous in the history of the Danes, did not notice the great deeds of this Rorik in Eastern Europe. create a version of the "bright past" of Danish history.
Let's see how Adam Bremen describes the historical background of events at the time when Rorik was acting: “Eighteen years have passed since the day when Saint Ansgar was ordained bishop in Bremen. And before that, he had been bishop of Hamburg for sixteen years. … Full of joy from such generosity on the part of the emperor, he rushed to Denmark. There he met the Danish king Horik and converted him to Christianity. The king immediately erected a church in the port city of Schleswig and gave permission to all his subjects to convert to Christianity, if someone so desired. … Meanwhile, a conflict broke out in the kingdom of the Franks over the episcopal see in Bremen, caused by envy of Ansgar. … Ansgar returned to Denmark, where Horik the Younger was already on the throne. About this period in the Frankish history of the Danes is told … that they sacked Lorraine and captured Frisia and that their punishing hand did not spare even their own flesh and blood. When the leader of the Normans, Guttorm, fought against his uncle, the Danish king Horik, both sides were distinguished by such cruelty that all their warriors died, and only one boy named Horik escaped from the royal family. And when he at one time took the royal throne of the Danes, his fury turned against the Christians. He drove out the servants of God and burned churches. … Saint Rimbert served as bishop for 23 years. … Who were the kings of the Danes at that time is not indicated in his life. Frankish history tells that Siegfried ruled with his brother Halfdan. With a prayer for peace, they sent gifts to the emperor Louis … But among the Danes and Normans there were other kings,who at this time robbed in Gaul and traded in piracy. The most famous among them were Horik, Ordwig, Gottfried, Rudolph and Ingvar. The most cruel was Ingvar, the son of (Ragnar) Lodbrok … In the twelfth year of Mr. Rimbert's ministry, the pious Louis, the great emperor, died … (Adam av Bremen. Historien av Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar / Översatt av Emanuel Svenberg. Kommentekrik av, Tore Nyberg, Anders Piltz. Stockholm, 1984 S. 36-45). Historien av Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar / Översatt av Emanuel Svenberg. Kommenterad av Carl Fredrik Hallencreutz, Kurt Johannesson, Tore Nyberg, Anders Piltz. Stockholm 1984 S. 36-45). Historien av Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar / Översatt av Emanuel Svenberg. Kommenterad av Carl Fredrik Hallencreutz, Kurt Johannesson, Tore Nyberg, Anders Piltz. Stockholm 1984 S. 36-45).
The above passage describes events from 834 to 876, i.e. about the time that Rorick was in action. Well, where is this "successful king" (as the Normans sometimes call him) with Adam of Bremen? Neither the famous chronicler, nor his informant, the king of the Danes, Sven Estridsson, simply did not notice him in the crowd of other robbers.
Now let's see what Saxon Grammar has on the question of interest to us (1140/1150 - 1150/1220). And we can immediately say that practically nothing. Saxon's account of the period of interest is centered around the legendary personality of Ragnar Lothbrok, whose life and adventures, in addition to Saxon, are told in many Icelandic sagas. Saxon Grammaticus tells of Ragnar as the son of the Zeeland king Siward. Ragnar became king of Zealand after the death of his father. Ragnar is presented as a ruler with ramified contacts in the Scandinavian world. He went to woo the daughter of the King of the Svei and got her as his wife. Ragnar was especially famous for his belligerence. One of his military campaigns was a campaign against the King of Northumbria Ella II (863-867), where he won. After that, says Saxon,Ragnar set out on a campaign to Scotland and further to the islands, where he planted the sons of Siward and Radbart as rulers … But in Denmark Ragnar had many enemies … they formed an alliance with the military leader Harald … However, Ragnar managed to deal with the rebels, Harald fled to Germany … But that wasn't enough for Ragnar. He decided to attack the Saxons, since Harald and his companions were hiding with them. Ragnar's sons helped him in the fight against Emperor Charles … The Saxons were defeated and began to pay tribute to the Danish king … Ragnar arrived in Kurland and Zemland, where he was received with great honors, since he was glorified by his victories. … In Denmark, Harald rebelled again … Ragnar hurried home and attacked the rebels. Harald lost, after which many of his supporters left him,and he himself fled to Mainz and began to seek support from the emperor Louis … (Saxo. Danmarkskrøniken 1. Genfortalt af Helle Stangerup. Aschehoug, 1999. S. 347-360).
Here, in the most concise summary, are those main events of the 9th century, on which the attention of Saxo Grammar is focused on the history of the acts of the Danes. And just like in the chronicle of Adam of Bremen, in the "Acts of the Danes" there was no place for the so-called Rorik of Jutland. In the history of his people, Saxon Grammar was interested in really outstanding personalities who carried out notable events on the scale of Danish history, for example, the victorious campaigns in Northumbria and Scotland or the victory over the Saxons and the imposition of tribute on them. The robbers and marauders, who knocked down flocks of the same renegades and scoundrels for a while, and engaged in extortion as long as luck was in their hands, were not assigned a place in the historical annals of the Danes. Frankish annalists on the continent could know by name a part of the "operational" composition of the knights from the high road, who rampaged in their lands,but on the tablets of native history, only the names of personalities who distinguished themselves in political life, or the names of rulers who by birth belonged to the clan nobility of significant caliber, were allowed. Losers and artistic trifles were left behind the threshold, because the images of miserable insignificant individuals did not work for the idea of the “great and bright past” of the Danes, which constituted the backbone of history writing for a consolidated society.
And just because the "version" of the great deeds of Rorik "Jutland" in the Russian lands does not find any support for itself in reliable sources, it is not accepted by Danish medievalists either.
The venerable Danish archaeologist and historian Johannes Brandsted (1890-1965) does not connect this Rorik with the chronicle Rurik in his work "Vikings at home and on campaigns", specially devoted to the deeds of Danes and other Scandinavians outside Scandinavia. Brandsted views the Danish Rorik and the chronicler Rurik as two different historical figures with the same personal names. Elsie Roesdahl, a modern Danish researcher who is a leading specialist in the history of Denmark in the so-called Viking period, believes the same. In her work that has become a classic, she stated so bluntly (apparently, she was tired of asking such questions): “The Danish leader, who was also called Rurik and who operated in Friesland at the same time when the annalistic Rurik was operating, was hardly the same same face”(Roesdahl E. Vikingernes verden. København, 2001. S. 294).
And the Danes would gladly “capitalize” such a major politician in favor of Danish history, if there was even the slightest chance for this! But Danish medievalists know both the language and the historical material of Denmark's past, unlike Russian dreamers on Scandinavian themes, so none of these historians wants to compromise themselves by supporting a "theory" of an obviously phantom nature.
And this unimportant Rorik would never have scrambled out of the mud of oblivion and would not have surfaced on the surface of historical life at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, if not for Normanism, which by that time had intoxicated Russian historical thought. How not to recall the mayor Anton Ivanovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky: "Icicle, a rag was taken for an important person!"
Completely in the traditions of Rudbekianism, the Russian Normanists composed a mirage biography for Rorik, giving him the nickname Jutland and elevating him to royal dignity. He never managed to master Jutland, so it would be more appropriate to call him a Jutland outcast or a flying Jutland. There is a tradition to name historical figures after the area where they won. But Rorik got a kick from Jutland, after which he disappeared somewhere on a country road. To title this Rorik as Danish king (for example, on the Wikipendia website: "one of the most successful Danish kings in the service of the Carolingians", etc.) Normanists have neither rights nor grounds.
Modern Danish medievalists Juhannes Brandsted and Elsi Roesdal do not call this Rorik the king, but only the leader (hövding) - a vague nickname that could refer both to a representative of the local tribal nobility and to the leader of a bandit gang (rövarhövding). Their caution is understandable: there is no reliable data on Rorik's lineage. It makes no sense to figure it out based only on the name of his brother Harald, since this name was popular among the Danes and in different sources could refer to completely different people. Brandstad, for example, speaks purely presumably on the question of whether Harald Kluck, the claimant to the throne in Jutland, was Rorick's brother or not (Bröndsted J. Vikingarna hemma och i härnad. Stockholm, 1992, p. 40).
But such a categorical statement is made by the modern Russian historian E. V. Pchelov: “Rorik belonged to the dynasty of rulers of Jutland. King Halfdan had four sons: Anulo, Harald Klak, Reginfried and Hemming, Rorik belonged to the same family … (Pchelov E. V. Genealogy of ancient Russian princes. M., 2001. P.71).
And from which side did Rorick belong to this family? What are the exact reasons for E. V. Pchelova to argue like that? Decisively, none. Only, arbitrary tolerances and assumptions based on their own tolerances. For example, having exhausted consideration of the well-known events in the life of Rorik and not finding any facts that would make it possible to identify the chronicle prince Rurik with Rorik, E. V. Pchelov ends this opus with a conclusion that is unacceptable for historical research: “… European sources do not say anything about any connections with Russia (just like in Russian chronicles - with Europe), but on the basis of not mentioning it is impossible to conclude that such there was no event at all”(Pchelov EV Decree, op. p. 74).
Wow! And on what basis should the historian draw conclusions ?! For a professional historian, the answer is unambiguous: the historian must rely in his work on sources, primarily on historical sources. If he does not find in them facts confirming his hypothesis, then he must admit that his hypothesis is not true. The writer can conjecture the facts, but the historian must adhere to the facts. But Normanism is not like that. Its supporters work on the principle: if the facts are against us, so much the worse for science. It does not matter that the sources do not contain any facts confirming the identity of Rorik from Danish history and the chronicle prince Rurik! Let's compose the facts ourselves! This is exactly what E. V. Pchelov: he leaves the path of a historian and embarks on the path of a writer. Following Holman, Kruse, Belyaev and their followers, he composes a fictional biography of the Danish Rorik. Without proving his relationship with the offspring of Halfdan (and it is impossible to prove him in the absence of evidence), E. V. Pchelov, without hesitation, begins to enlighten us about the interdynastic ties of the offspring of Halfdan. But for Russian history, information about the offspring of Halfdan is completely useless. But for E. V. Pchelova, these empty reasoning is the creation of an imitation of the search for information, the main thing is that there is no emptiness in the book, no matter what the book is filled with.whatever to fill the book.whatever to fill the book.
But no matter how hard the Russian Normanists try, they fail to "legitimize" the named Rorik in the ranks of the Danish royal lineage. The Danes themselves do not enumerate him there, who, as mentioned above, do not call this Rorik king, but only the leader (hövding).
The only clue for which they are trying to pull Rorik into Russian history is his name. But this name, as shown in my monograph "The Names of the Chronicle Princes and the Roots of the Old Russian Institute of Princely Power", is simply full of European names, starting from ancient times and throughout Europe, from its Eastern European borders to the British Isles. I will give a few examples from the names of Western Europe. There, these are the names of the most selected variety: royal, church fathers, aristocracy! It is a pity that in historical science, under the influence of Normanism, the conviction has been preserved that carriers of the name Rurik should be sought only within the framework of the naming conventions of the Scandinavian countries, in extreme cases, slightly expanding this framework to a certain common German environment. Gross error:even the most ancient and common Germanic names, due to their historical youth, are the successors of the Roman-Gallic names, which, in turn, go back to the names of the Indo-European substratum, where the Proto-Slavic names played a leading role.
In the Scandinavian names, the name Rurik is traced very late, especially in Denmark. There it became widespread not earlier than the 13th century, i.e. the name of Rorik from the Western European chronicles was not fixed in Danish names, as was the case with the names of famous figures. But on the territory of the future France, already in the Gallic time, very early uses of the name Rurik are found, the carriers of which were very famous personalities.
First of all, two bishops of Limoges should be named: Saint Ruric I (Ruricius / Roricius), Bishop of Limoges (430? - 507), a native of a noble Gallic family, and Saint Rurik II, Bishop of Limoges (+ 550) was the grandson of the grandson of Rurik I from son of Ommatius, bishop of Tours, confirmed in this dignity by order of the king of the Franks Chlodomir. Limoges Ruriks came from the local Gallic nobility, from the historical area of the settlement of the Ruthen people.
In addition to the bishops of Limoges, many persons glorified in the lives of Catholic saints or directly endowed with high priesthood in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church in early medieval Gaul, and then in the kingdom of the Franks, bore the name Rurik / Rorik, and even two hundred years before the time of the Rurik of Limoges. A pious man named Rurik is told in the Life of Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours (316-397).
As for the high-ranking religious figures, the aforementioned bishops of Limoges were not the only carriers of the name Ruric in the territory of former Gaul. So, A. Holder indicates the name of the presbyter Rurik / Roric (Ruricio / Roricius) - he was mentioned in connection with cathedrals in Autissiodur / Autissiodor (city of Auxerre in modern France) in the period 573-603. One of the bishops of Neversk (614-653) also bore the name Rurik (Rauri (a, e) cus).
The Frankish historian and chronicler of the Carolingian era, Flodoard (894-966), has a record of Rorick, bishop of the Church of Lans. Lan or Laon in modern Picardy was still in the 5th century. appointed as the seat of bishops on the initiative of Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims and the Apostle of the Franks. Coming from the Roman-Gallic nobility and a native of these places, Remigius made this city an important spiritual and political center of the kingdom of the Franks. Bertrada, the mother of Charlemagne, was born in Laon. Kings Louis IV and his son Lothair III were born here. Only from the end of the 10th century, Paris became the residence of the French kings. Therefore, the dignity of Bishop Laon in the life of the Christian Church of France was shone with special glory, due to which the chronicler mentions with special reverence the Bishop of the Lansky Church Roric.
The name of Rurik (Rorico) under 822 was preserved in the acts of the Abbey of St. Peter in Salzburg - the oldest monastery, founded in 690. In addition, the name of Rurik (fr. Rorigius) under 946 is mentioned in the statutory documents of the Abbey of Cluny, founded in the 10th century. in Upper Burgundy and enjoyed great influence among the local nobility. Under 939 - in the statutory documents of the Abbey of Saint Maxentius in Poitiers, in the documents of the monastery of Saint Cyprian in Poitiers for the period 954-986. and others. In the catalog of personal names on the territory of former Gaul VI in the XII century, compiled by M. Morle, about a dozen more persons are named - carriers of the name Rurik.
On the territory of the former Gaul, many representatives of the secular nobility of the Franks bore the name Roric. In the collection of acts of the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, a document dated September 2, 820, drawn up in Chierzi, in Picardy, confirming the exchange of land holdings between the two monasteries and signed by a number of influential persons of the district, was preserved. Among them, in the top ten we see the name of Count Rorik.
The cream of the Frankish society belonged to Rorick, Counts of Maine and Rennes in Brittany. The name of the first of them went down in history in the French form Rorgon, but it also occurs in more familiar forms like Rorico (n) or Rorich. Rorgon / Roric I was the son of the Earl of Maine Gozlen and Adeltrude. Count Rorgon / Rorik named the parents' names in a self-written document, but nothing else is known about them. The personality of Rorgon / Rorik I (d. 840) is well known in no small part for his love affair with Charlemagne's daughter from his second marriage named Rotrude / Hruodrud (775 / 778-810). From this connection, the son Louis was born, who received the abbeys of Saint-Denis, Saint-Riquier and Saint-Vandril. Rotruda did not marry, but Rorgon / Rorik married a noble lady named Bileshilda. The firstborn in this marriage was named after his father Rorgon / Rorick.
Rorgon / Roric I is believed to be the founder of the Abbey of Saint-Maur-de-Glanfeil in 824. The counties of Maine and Rennes were wealthy and strategically important areas, so the Counts of Maine and Rennes were among the influential people in the kingdom of the Franks. The title of Count of Maine was inherited by the eldest son of Rorgon / Rorik I - Rorgon / Rorik II (849-865), whose younger brother Gozlin (834-886) had the rank of bishop of Paris (Grot L. P. / Varangians and Rus / Series “The Expulsion of the Normans from Russian history. Issue 5. Moscow, 2015. S. 301-374).
Thus, the name Rurik / Rorik in various forms was widely known in Western Europe from the first centuries AD, and its bearers were representatives of the Gallic and later Frankish nobility, as well as prominent representatives of the church. It can be assumed that a native of Jutland, having become a vassal of the Frankish kings, took the name Rorik for himself as an additional name, since this name was a status name in the territory of the kingdom of the Franks.
Lydia Pavlovna Groth, Candidate of Historical Sciences