Why the Vikings First Came to Russia*

Abstract

Over the course of two centuries, a voluminous literature has grown up regarding the Normanist controversy, i.e., what role did the Vikings or Normans play in the formation of the first Russian or Rus state. Given the numerous works on the Normanist question, one might imagine that almost every aspect of Viking activity in Russia had been discussed in great detail. There is, however, one area which has been neglected, namely, the reasons why the Vikings first penetrated into the interior of Russia. While much attention has been devoted to such problems as when the Vikings initially appeared in Russia, the reasons for this Viking interest in Russia have not been fully explored.

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