Varangians

This book is the history of the Eastern Vikings, the Rus and the Varangians, fromtheir earliest mentions in the narrative sources to the late medieval period, whenthe Eastern Vikings had become stock figures in Old Norse Romances. Acomparison is made between sources emanating from different cultures, such asthe Roman Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate and its successor states, the earlykingdoms of the Rus and the high medieval Scandinavian kingdoms. A keyelement in the history of the Rus and the Varangians is the fashioning of identitiesand how different cultures define themselves in comparison and contrast withthe other. This book offers a fresh and engaging view of these medieval sources,and a thorough reassessment of established historiographical grand narrativeson Scandinavian peoples in the East.