"The Varangian Legend: Testimony from the Old Norse sources" Topic

" In the eleventh century there existed, within the great army of the Byzantine empire, a regiment composed mainly of soldiers from Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. This regiment was known as the Varangian Guard (tagma tôn Varangôn). The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact the existence of this regiment had on prevailing attitudes towards the Byzantine empire within the Old Norse linguistic and cultural community.

The Varangian Guard is well known from Byzantine sources of the period. John Skylitzes' chronicle Synopsis historiarum contains one of the earliest references to the term ‘Varangian', connected with the events of the year 1034. From then on, Varangians appear in various sources. According to Michael Psellos' Chronographia, the founding of the Varangian Guard took place during the reign of Basil II (976–1025), although Psellos calls these soldiers "Tauroscythians" rather than Varangians. This has often been connected with the evidence of Arabic and Armenian sources, according to which the nucleus of this regiment was formed by 6,000 mercenaries despatched by Prince Vladimir of Kiev in 989 to help the emperor Basil II quash a rebellion. From then on, Scandinavians formed the bulk of the guard, until expatriate Anglo-Saxons began to join in large numbers as a result of the Norman invasion of England in 1066. From the 1070s onwards, the Varangian Guard became predominantly English. Among notable Varangians serving the empire during the initial stage, when the force was predominantly Scandinavian (i.e. from 989 to the 1070s), was a certain Araltes, "son of the king of the Varangians [basileôs men Varangias çn uios]", who is mentioned in the Strategikon of Kekaumenos. This Araltes has commonly been identified with King Harald Hardrada of Norway (1046–1066). From sources such as these, it is possible to gain some insight into contemporary Byzantine attitudes about the Norsemen, i.e. the view from the centre to the periphery…"
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