Pages: 131-142

Verification of annalistic “Varangian” legend — whether there was a voluntary calling of princes, or a Varangian conquest — has been the traditional problem in discussion of evolution of the Russian statehood since Klyuchevsky’s time. The formula used in the Early Chronicle — “rule over and judge according to the Rjad and Law” implies the existence of a treaty-rjad. Archaeological evidence — emergence of early Scandinavian complexes in the cities mentioned in the legend of calling of the Varangians (Ladoga, Novgorod), and distribution of silver hoards on the river ways connected to these cities — allow us to corroborate the Chronicles’s account of the rjad.

Keywords: Old Rus, statehood, rjad (treaty), tribute, Primary Chronicle, Rus’, Varangians

Information about author:

Vladimir Petrukhin (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of the Slavonic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. Leninsky Ave., 32A, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]