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The ethnic origins of the Rus' people are highly controversial, as several theories have been put forward with much analysis. Whatever the origins of the name, it has been shown to have two meanings, one particular and one general. The narrow meaning applies to the people and land around the Rus' capital of Kiev, apparently encompassing the cities of Pereyaslav and Chernihiv. The broader meaning applies to all the peoples and lands of empire Rus.
This theory is called the Normanist theory, as it suggests that Russia may have been named after Scandinavian overlords just as Normandy. According to this theory, it has been claimed that there were Scandinavians by this name, evident as early as 839. Rus is supposedly a name of Varangians, who, according to the Primary Chronicle, were first expelled, then invited to rule Slavic and Fennic tribes of Novgorod. Later they conquered Kiev and created Kievan Rus'.
This theory claims that the name Rus is derived from an Old Norse term for "the men who row" (rods-) signifying their maritime heritage. Proponents of this theory also tries to link Rus' to the Swedish province of Roslagen (Rus-law) or Roden. This is due to etymological patterns, to the Primary Chronicle and to Ibn Fadlan who uses the name Rusiyyah for a group of people who are usually interpreted as Vikings near Astrakhan.
It is also due to the annals of Saint Bertain which relate that Emperor Louis II' court in Ingelheim, 839 (the same year as the first appearance of Varangians in Constantinople), was visited by a delegation from the Byzantine emperor. In this delegation there were two men who called themselves Rus (Ruzzi). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers, the Danes, he incarcerated them. Old High German Ruzzi was pronouned rootsi which is very close to the Estonian and Finnish names for Sweden (Rootsi and Ruotsi). This suggests that Rus' is etymologically identical to these Finnish and Estonian forms.
The Scandinavian sources, however called Eastern Europe Greater Sweden, Sweden the Cold or Gardarike (the land of cities), which does not support the Normanist origin of Rus, as the Vikings apparently used a different name for the area.
It has been suggested that the Vikings had some enduring influence in Russia, as testified by loan words, such as jabetnik "complaining person" (from aembetsman "official"), gospodin "lord" (from husbondi "master") and knut (from knutpiska a kind of whip with knots). Moreover certain Nordic names also became popularized, such as Oleg (Helgi), Olga (Helga) and Igor (Ingvar).
Scholarship from Eastern Europe has criticised this theory. For example Dolukhanov has written about how problematic he feels the Normanist theory to be.
Some non-Normanist origins for the origins of Rus have been postulated:
This complete absence of cultural traces (besides the name Rus, place names, loan words, and some personal names) is highly remarkable, and the Slavicists therefore call the Vikings "cultural chameleons", who came, ruled and then disappeared, leaving little cultural trace in Eastern Europe. They suggest that there was just as great a difference in levels of cultural advancement between the Slavs and the Scandinavians as there was between the Romans and the Germanic tribes. As the Varangians were in complete awe of the cultural achievements of the Eastern Slavs, they assimilated immediately.
This conclusion leads Slavicists to completely refute the Primary Chronicle, which claims that the Swedish Rus' were "invited". They claim the the cultural level of the Varangians could not have warranted an invitation from the culturally superior Slavs.
Other scholars note the presence of a West European (French?) trading company near the mouth of the Don River of a name very similar to the words Rus and Ruthenia. This trading outpost seems to have been present in the 800s and perhaps earlier.
Culture and heritage is what is ultimately at stake in this controversy. The question is whether East Slavic civilisation owes an element of its cultural origin to the Scandinavian rulers of the 9th to 11th centuries, as suggested by the Normanist theory, or whether that heritage can excusively attributed to the Slavs, as held by the Slavicists.\\
The question can become emotionally charged. In the 1700s, one imperial Russian historian presenting the Normanist theory in St,. Petersburg was forced to curtail his lecture by shouts from the audience and forced to cease his work on the issue. His work was destroyed (Source: Davies).
Ibn Fadlan and the Rusiyyah, by James E. Montgomery, with full translation of Ibn Fadlan
The Normanist theory
The Slavicist theory
Another theory
References
Related articles
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