860. The patriarch of Constantinople looks down from the city walls to see a fleet of ships. Ships with dragons on their prows. The Vikings are about to meet the heirs of Rome. The Viking age truly began in the East. Forty years before the raid of Lindisfarne, Swedish vikings were already trading with Arctic nomads in Finland. Using settlements
there as a jumping-off point to raid and explore lands in modern Latvia and Lithuania, The Vikings took with them Finnish translators who introduced the Swedes using the Finnish word for them. A name the Slavic people of the Baltics pronounced "Rus," the name stuck and the newly christened Rus Vikings began their first tentative expeditions . These Eastern lands were promising. Rich in timber and amber with a political landscape that was too fragmented to offer much defense, And best of all, there were rivers. Rivers that led to trade centers, richer than any in Western Europe. The Volga tracked south to the Caspian Sea in Baghdad, the Dnieper to the Black Sea and Constantinople Initially, they focused on the Volga, as the more easily navigated option. Here, their flat-bottomed, light ships proved just as perfect for river navigation as they had in Western Europe, allowing the Rus to sail in shallow water and drag their vessels several kilometers if they needed to avoid obstacles or transfer to another waterway. They sailed south, encountering a stunning array of peoples and cultures. Forest dwelling Slavs, nomadic Steppe peoples, Turkish tribes, and the multi-ethnic, multi-religious lands of the Khazars. En route, they'd capture locals to increase their cargo of slaves Once through the Khazar lands, they could launch their boats on the Caspian sea, cross into modern-day Iran, and join the Ambasad caravan routes to the jewel of the Muslim world: Baghdad. There, they could exchange their northern cargoes of honey, furs and, enslaved humans for silver coin, spices, and Chinese silk. But often, it was unnecessary to go all the way to Baghdad. These rivers were dangerous, even for battle-hardened Viking crews, especially during the sections where they had to drag their ships over land. In the East, the Rus vikings were strangers in a strange land, operating without local allies. Often, it was smarter to settle down and become merchant princes, trading goods up and down river and selling supplies to passing ships. Gradually, fortified Scandinavian settlements began springing up along the Volga and Dnieper, and that is where we get our first records. Records of a Viking named Rurik. Rurik and his crew arrived in modern Ukraine sometime in the 850s, raiding, trading, and looking for a place to settle. He established a fortified market town at a point where several rivers met and called it Holmgard. Today, know it by the Slavic name of Novgorod ,and it was Rurik's Vikings who first attacked Constantinople. The raid would set a pattern for future military encounters between the Rus Vikings and the Byzantines, And, it has to be said that this Viking contingent was incredibly lucky. It caught the city undefended, during a period when the Byzantine Emperor Michael the Drunkard, Ah... Yes really, had taken the army on campaign. The longships approached without warning, striking the surrounding villages and monasteries, before the peasants and monks could flee. These were ideal conditions. The Rus would never get a better chance to take what they called Mikelgard, "The Great City," And yet, they failed hard. Because Constantinople had walls, big ones. Vikings did poorly during sieges, a lesson that, unlike Western Europe, the Byzantines had already learned from centuries of fighting barbarians. City officials simply shut the Rus out and paraded holy relics until a storm wrecked the Viking fleet, driving the Northmen away. This was only the first of several Rus attacks. After all, the prospect of conquering this great city was nearly as irresistible as it was unrealistic. Most sieges ended with the Byzantine Navy, driving the vikings off with flamethrowers. Yes. You didn't mishear me there, I said flamethrowers, Specifically, Greek fire, a petroleum-based combustible the Byzantines packed in two hand grenades or sprayed from brass nozzles. The Viking longships had no defense. But, these raids weren't complete catastrophes. The first led to trade negotiations, and each subsequent campaign won the Rus vikings a better trade deal. Indeed, they may have counted on this. There was no real downside. If they won, the Rus would capture a massive trading hub, and, if they lost, they'd get a more favorable treaty. So they lost, and within 50 years, the Rus had favored trading rights and their own district in the city. These trade links with Byzantium supercharged the Rus expansion plans. Rurik and his family founded new market towns along the rivers, moving their capital to the developing trade city of Kiev. And. started taking more territory. No longer merchant princes, they were now the Granda princes of Kiev, forming not just a kingdom, but a dynasty. And increasingly, they were working for the Byzantines. See, the Rus had something Constantinople needed just as much as slaves, honey, and furs: Soldiers. Those early raids had impressed the Byzantine military. Sure, these barbarians weren't any match for any professional military, but, they were formidable when deployed as shock troops with the backing of the Byzantine Navy and Regular Army. At this point, the Empire started drowning Rus mercenaries in gold, eventually forming them into a special unit called the Varangian guard. In peace, they served as the Emperor's elite bodyguards, and in war, they spearheaded assaults and beach landings. But this contact with Byzantium also changed the Rus vikings, introducing them to Orthodox Christianity and imperial administration. As generations passed, Rus culture evolved, drifting further from Scandinavian norms. Yes, they might live in the lands of the Rus, but these Scandinavians were always ruling as a minority, a military elite, that had to adapt to local customs and intermarry in order to keep power and preserve alliances. Indeed one of their most pivotal rulers, Olga of Kiev, was probably part Slav. Olga found herself catapulted into politics when her husband, one of Rurik's sons, died in an argument over tribute. Reportedly, a nearby slavic tribe executed him in the most Looney Tunes method possible: Bending two saplings together, tying a leg to each, ohhhhhh, and letting them go. Whew. Afterward, the tribesmen came and proposed that she marry their prince, the same prince who'd just killed her husband, a prince that would surely disinherit or kill their three-year-old son. Olga's response, though probably exaggerated became legend. First, she buried the diplomats alive. Then, she sent their prince a letter of acceptance. But, she added, the current diplomats were an insufficient honor guard for a woman of her status. If the prince could send the leading men of his city to escort her, she would gladly accept. When they arrived, she offered them use of her own bathhouse, then locked them inside and burned it down. She then drafted another letter, stating that she was coming to the prince's city to proclaim her love. So excited by the match that she'd outrun the entourage he'd so kindly sent. But for her people to accept the match, her new betrothed would have to hold a funeral feast for her late husband. As a sign of submission, her men would serve the food and wine. Once everyone was drunk, her guards massacred the prince and his remaining Lords. Not done yet, he put the leaderless city under siege. But as a sign of mercy, She asked only for a small tribute: a bird from the thatched roof of each house. When she got them, She tied smoldering rags to the birds feet, released them, and watched as the animals returned home, setting the city alight. Again, this story is likely folklore, but the point stands: Olga was not to be trifled with. Olga's Regency marked a turning point for the Rus. She ended the hated tribute system, replacing it with a stable tax, giving rulers more autonomy in their own lands. She also forged closer ties with Constantinople, Converting to Eastern Christianity and encouraging the development of churches and monasteries in Rus territory. People in her lifetime were slow to abandon their pagan beliefs, but things were shifting. The Rus were becoming less Scandinavian. Olga's son may have been an able boatman and Pagan, like his Swedish father. But in dress and manner, he resembled the Slav and Steppe nomads he ruled. More of a Tsar or Khan than a Jarl. He would be the last Grand Prince of Kiev to hold both a Scandinavian and Slavic name. He would also die in an ambush and have his skull made into a drinking cup, but that's a story for another time. It would be Olga's grandson, Vladimir, who would convert to Christianity. Though, only because the Byzantine Emperor needed help putting down a rebellion and he offered his sister in marriage Upon his conversion, Vladimir would Christianize the Rus by force, burning Pagan images and driving the population of Kiev to the river at spearpoint for a mass baptism. He then tempered his ways a bit, becoming famous for giving alms and promoting literacy using the Cyrillic characters of Byzantium. From then on, the Rus States would be culturally Slavic and religiously Eastern Orthodox, living in the orbit of Byzantium rather than the Church of Rome, and gradually, a new kingdom would emerge from this mix. One with no hint of its Viking past but bearing the name of its long, dead ancestors. A land called Russia.
Olga is hardcore