The dispossessed Rorik of Dorestad may be…
862 CE
The dispossessed Rorik of Dorestad may be identical with the semilegendary Rurik, leader of a group of fellow Rus', or Varangian (Swedish Viking) adventurers from Scandinavia, who between 860 and 862 takes control of Novgorod, either by raids or in answer to invitations by the Slavic populace.
He establishes a trading center near Lake Ladoga (Oneya).
Even though some historians emphasize folklore roots for the Rurik legend and consequently dismiss Rurik as a legendary figure, there is a controversy about his ethnic origins in Eastern Europe.
According to the Primary Chronicle, the earliest East Slavic chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus', a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, English and Gotlanders.
In the twentieth century, archaeologists partly corroborated the chronicle's version of events.
It was discovered that the settlement of Ladoga, whose foundation has been ascribed to Rurik, was actually established in the mid-ninth century.
Earthenware, household utensils, and types of buildings from the period of Rurik's foundation correspond to patterns then prevalent in Jutland.
According to the Primary Chronicle for the years 859-862, the Varangians were first expelled, then invited to rule the warring Slavic and Finnic tribes of Novgorod: The four tribes who had been forced to pay tribute to the Varangians—Chuds (proto-Estonians), Merians (proto-Volga Finns), Krivichs, and other Slavs—drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them further tribute, and set out to govern themselves.
But there was no law among them, and tribe rose against tribe.
Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other.
They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom.
Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus.
These particular Varangians were known as Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named.
The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs, and the Veps then said to the Rus, "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it.
Come reign as princes, rule over us".
Three brothers, with their kinfolk, were selected.
They brought with them all the Rus and migrated.