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| '''Askold''' (''Haskuldr'' in ] and ''Höskuldr'' in ]) and '''Dir''' (''Dyri'' in both dialects of ]) were according to the ], two of ]'s men. The chronicle relates that they were neither his relatives nor of noble blood. | '''Askold''' (''Haskuldr'' in ] and ''Höskuldr'' in ]) and '''Dir''' (''Dyri'' in both dialects of ]) were according to the ], two of ]'s men. The chronicle relates that they were neither his relatives nor of noble blood. | ||
Revision as of 08:37, 21 March 2006
Askold (Haskuldr in Old East Norse and Höskuldr in Old West Norse) and Dir (Dyri in both dialects of Old Norse) were according to the Primary Chronicle, two of Rurik's men. The chronicle relates that they were neither his relatives nor of noble blood.
They asked for permission to go to Constantinople (Norse Miklagard, Slavic Czargrad). When travelling on the Dnieper, they saw a settlement on a mountain and asked to whom it belonged. They were told that it was Kiev and had been built by three brothers named Kyi, Schek and Khoriv, who were the ancestors of the inhabitants, who were now paying tribute to the Khazars. Askold and Dir settled in the town and gathered a large number of fellow Varangians and began to rule the town and the land of the Polyane.
Askold and Dir's attack on Constantinople in June 860 took the Greeks by surprise, "like a thunderbolt from heaven," as it was put by Patriarch Photius in his famous oration written for the occasion. A Rus fleet of about 200 vessels arrived to the walls of Constaninople at the opportune moment when the Emperor Michael III was absent from the capital, as was his navy dreaded for its skill in using the lethal Greek fire.
The druzhina of Kievan rulers proceeded to lay siege to the imperial capital and to pillage the neighbourhood. Despite the initial advantage of Kievans, their inexperience in military tactics proved their ruin. A violent storm scattered their ships, although a pious legend ascribed the storm to a miracle caused by a religious procession led by the Patriarch. Despite Photius' own assertion that he sent a bishop to the land of Rus which became Christianized and friendly to Byzantium, most historians discard the idea of Askold's subsequent Christianization as apocryphal.
When Rurik died he was succeeded by Oleg who was of his kin and in whose care was Rurik's son Igor. Oleg attacked and conquered Kiev around 882. According to the Primary Chronicle he tricked and killed Askold and Dir using an elaborate scheme. A local legend identifies their kurgan with Uhorska Hill, where Olga of Kiev later built two churches, devoted to Saint Nicholas and to Saint Irene. Today this place on the steep bank of the Dnieper is marked by a monument called Askold's Mound
Scandinavian sources
According to the Norse Sagas, Askold was the son of Hvitserk, one of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons. Hvitserk was a contemporary of Rurik and was said to have waged a war of conquest in Eastern Europe. When Hvitserk met an army that was too big even for him, the enemies asked in what way he wished to die. He wanted to be burnt alive on a mound of severed heads.
Notes
- Byzantine chronicles date the attack to June 860, although the Primary Chronicle, infamous for its faulty datings, erroneously puts it at 866. Many conflicting interpretations have been put forward to account for this discrepancy.
External links
This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.