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Varangians
The Varangians or Varyags (; Greek: Βάραγγοι, Βαριάγοι, ''Varangoi'', ''Variagoi'') was the name given by Greeks and East Slavs to Vikings,〔"(Varangian )," Online Etymology Dictionary〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Oleg )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Varangian )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=væringer )〕 who between the 9th and 11th centuries ruled the medieval state of Rus' and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard. According to the 12th century Kievan ''Primary Chronicle'', a group of Varangians known as the Rus'〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Пушкинский Дом (ИРЛИ РАН) > Новости )〕 settled in Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik. Before Rurik, the Rus' might have ruled an earlier hypothetical polity. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Rurik's descendants.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rurik Dynasty )〕
Engaging in trade, piracy, and mercenary activities, Varangians roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki, as the areas north of the Black Sea were known in the Norse sagas. They controlled the Volga trade route (''Route from the Varangians to the Arabs''), connecting the Baltic to the Caspian Sea, and the Dnieper trade route (''Route from the Varangians to the Greeks'') leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople.〔Stephen Turnbull, ''The Walls of Constantinople, AD 324–1453'', Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-84176-759-X.〕 Those were the critically important trade links at that time, connecting Medieval Europe with wealthy and developed Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire;〔Schofield, Tracey Ann ''(Vikings )'', Lorenz Educational Press, p. 7, ISBN 978-1-5731-0356-5〕 Most of the silver coinage in the West came from the East via those routes. Attracted by the riches of Constantinople, the Varangian Rus' initiated a number of Rus'-Byzantine Wars, some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. At least from the early 10th century many Varangians served as mercenaries in the Byzantine Army, constituting the elite Varangian Guard (the personal bodyguards of Byzantine Emperors). Eventually most of them, both in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from paganism to Orthodox Christianity, culminating in the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988. Coinciding with the general decline of the Viking Age, the influx of Scandinavians to Rus' stopped, and Varangians were gradually assimilated by East Slavs by the late 11th century.
==Etymology==
Greek Βάραγγος, ''Várangos'', and Old East Slavic ''varęgŭ'' are derived from Old Norse ''væringi'', originally a compound of ''vár'' “pledge, faith" and ''gengi'' “companion", thus meaning “sworn companion, confederate" or “a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him, or protégé".〔〔H.S. Falk & A. Torp, ''Norwegisch-Dänisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch'', 1911, pp. 1403–4; J. de Vries, ''Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch'', 1962, pp. 671–2; S. Blöndal & B. Benedikz, ''The Varangians of Byzantium'', 1978, p. 4〕 Some scholars seem to assume a derivation from ''vár'' with the common suffix ''-ing-''.〔(Hellquist 1922:1096 ), (1172 ); M. Vasmer, ''Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'', 1953, vol. 1, p. 171.〕 Yet, this suffix is inflected differently in Old Norse, and furthermore, the word is attested with ''-gangia-'' in other Germanic languages in the Early Middle Ages, like in Old English ''wærgenga'', Old Frankish ''wargengus'' and Langobardic ''waregang''.〔Blöndal & Benedikz, p. 4; D. Parducci, "Gli stranieri nell’alto medioevo", ''Mirator'' 1 (2007)(in Italian ), (English abstract )〕 The reduction of the second part of the word could be parallel to that seen in Old Norse ''foringi'' “leader", correspondent to Old English ''foregenga'' and Gothic ''fauragangja'' “steward".〔Falk & Torp, p. 1403; other words with the same second part are: Old Norse ''erfingi'' "heir", ''armingi'' "beggar", ''aumingi'' "beggar", ''bandingi'' "captive", ''hamingja'' "luck", ''heiðingi'' "wolf", ''lausingi'' / ''leysingi'' "homeless", cf. Falk & Torp, p. 34; Vries, p. 163.〕〔Bugge, Sophus, ''(Arkiv för nordisk filologi )'' 2 (1885), p. 225〕
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