The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE VARANGIANS. 197the Novgorod Slavs sent an embassy to the Varangians (Yaragi) " beyond thesea," inviting them to come and reign over them. The invitation was accepted byRurik and his two brothers, Sineous and Truvor, who either in 852 or 8G2 settledwith " all their Russian tribe " at Novgorod, about Lake Pskov, and on the shores ofthe White Lake (Bielo-Ozero). The somewhat mythical Oleg, successor of Rurik,transferred the seat of empire and the Russian name to Kiev. But who were theseRussian Varagi ? In the sixteenth century their home was traced to the Letto-Prussians, on the south of the Baltic, who were at that time supposed to representthe imperial race of Rome, in consequence of their national name Latvini, easilychanged into Latini, and the sacred city Romove, identified with Rome. Butmore recently their origin has been sought in Sweden, and this view is supportedFig. 96.Kurgans of Chernigov.Scale 1 : 600,000.