Rurik
Rurik,
Riurik or
Rörek was a
Varangian (
Viking) who gained control of
Novgorod in
862. The nationality of Rurik is disputed in Russia: he is often considered
Swedish, but some assimilate him with his contemporary
Danish namesake Rörek of
Jutland; due to the common intermarriages between Varangians and Slav women, some
Russian scholars suggest that he was in fact
both Slav and Scandinavian (his ethnicity is apparently a sensitive issue among some scholars in Russia). There is also a debate over how Rurik came to control Novgorod. The later
Slavic chronicles state that he was invited in by the local tribes who wanted order, but many scholars consider this unlikely and conjecture that he invited himself. Rurik remained in power until his death in
879. His successors (the
Rurik Dynasty), however, moved the capital to
Kyiv and founded the state of
Kievan Rus, which persisted until
1240. The ruling dynasty of this state is named the
Rurik Dynasty, after Rurik.
