Rus' in the concept of Ragnar Lodbrok's Empire: scandinavian sources through the prism of politics of memory

• Main Author: Kiorsak Vladyslav
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Ukrainian
• Published: Zenodo 2021
• Subjects: Ragnar Lothbrok; «Viking empire»; Hvitserk; Icelandic sagas; Saxo Grammaticus; Norway; Rus’; Rowe; Raz; Vestnik; Hermanson; Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5804232; https://zenodo.org/record/5804232

The purpose of the publication is to analyse the collective ideas about Rus and the territories of Eastern Europe through the prism of the popular myth of the famous Viking leader Ragnar Lothbrok. Our goal is to understand how these images developed in different periods and different local environments. The outlined myth was an important component of the formation of the p olitics of memory in the XII – XIV c. Exactly at this time centralized states began to form and the processes of creating early modern identities began to appear. The result is the crystallization of Origo Gentis in the Scandinavian kingdoms. Rus was a part of this narrative. However, its coverage in various works depended on political and cultural factors. Scientific novelty. This work is the first study on the place of Rus in the context of the myth of Ragnar Lodbrok ’ s « empire ». The result is not only conclusions about the specifics of the perception of Eastern Europe in the collective ideas of the Scandinavians about the past. Through the prism of these results, we can better understand how the historical narratives of the time were formed in Scandinavia and better understand the environment in which these texts were created. Conclusions . Studies of works on the myth about the state of Ragnar show that they grew up based on collective memory, which existed in the form of oral tradition. Their analysis demonstrates that Rus and Eastern Europe are most fully depicted in the work of the Danish historian Saxon Grammar. A characteristic feature of this text is that it emphasizes the heredity of the rights of Danish rulers in Rus. In other works that had a similar purpose, Eastern Europe is mentioned only fluently and does not affect the context. The « Ragnars saga loðbrókar » , which mentions the war of Ragnar ’ s son in the Eastern lands, does not pay attention to the subordination of Rus. The same goes for another key text called the « Ragnarssona þáttr » . It does not contain any mention of the seizure of these lands. The author of this work does not incorporate Rus into the concept of Ragnar ’ s « empire » . The reason for this is the political conditions in which these works were created. Even though for the Danish kingdom of the XII c. Rus plots were familiar, for the Icelandic-Norwegian environment of the XIII – XIV c. they lost their relevance. : {"references": ["McTurk, R. (1991). Studies in Ragnars Saga Lo\u00f0br'okar and Its Major Scandinavian Analogues. Oxford.", "Glazyrina, G. (1996). Islandskiye vikingskiye sagi o Severnoy Rusi: Teksty. Perevod. Kommentariy [Icelandic Viking sagas about Rus: Texts, translations, and comments]. Moscow, Russia.", "Pritsak, O. (1997). Pokhodzhennia Rusi. 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