The Kievan-Rus: Ukraine's Viking Founders - DOCUMENTARY

In this documentary, we look at the origins of the Kievan Rus. The Vikings who assailed the shores of Britain and France were mostly Norwegian or Danish. But Viking adventurers from Sweden were drawn east, to the Baltic Sea and beyond. What drove their wanderlust was the dirhem, a high-grade silver coin. In the 9th century, the Caliphate’s wealthy markets teemed with luxury goods. These coins found their way to Sweden, and sparked the curiosity of enterprising chiefs. On the Swedish island of Gotland, vast silver hoards filled with dirhems confirm the activity of Swedish Vikings trading and plundering in the Baltic.

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Sources:
-Ferguson, Robert - The Vikings, (Penguin, 2010)
-Haywood, John - Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241, (Head of Zeus, 2020)
-Ibn-Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travelers in the Far North, trans Paul Lunde, (Penguin, 20212)
-Logan, F. Donald - The Vikings in History, (Routledge, 1991)
-The Poetic Edda - Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes, trans. Jackson Crawford, (Hackett, 2015)
-Plokhy, Serhii - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, (Basic, 2021)

Animated maps by Daniel Weiss
Narrated by Tom Wylde
Written and edited by J Stephen Roberts

#Vikings #KievanRus #ProjectUkraine

End credits song: "Isabel" by Roman Lion:

[tohaason]

About the funeral ritual.. at that time the Scandinavians didn't burn their dead, they buried them (in ships, if possible). The "burn time", as it was called, was several centuries earlier. That alone tells that the described ritual was different from what was practiced in Scandinavia.

[anonanonymous]

You gotta love Olha. Her stunt with birds burning down Korosten is probably the first arial raid that pre-dates Wright brothers 😅

[danieldmelniki]

Grateful for this Playlist! @Kings and Generals & Company!!

[HistoryandHeadlines]

So far I have given a thumbs up to every video in this playlist and am looking forward to the others!

[EasternRomanHistory]

Wow, this video is great. I think your narrator and editor was fantastic and always enjoy your videos Stephen. Great to have collaborated with everyone on this project.

[petripaavonpoika]

Ro (Swedish) = to row a boat
Roslagen = peninsula east of Svealand, called "rowing strike"
Ruotsi (Finnish) = land of the Rus, land of the men who row boats
Rus = rowing men

[vergil]

Such a great and interesting video! Thank you for your content!

[PurelyGoliath]

Thanks for educating us, and bringing a smile to my face.

[Boric]

Always found it interesting the Swedes believed they came from the steppes in or near modern ukraine. They even thought Odin came from there. What is fascinating is that the Heruli, a germanic migration era tribe, who had been under the domination of the Huns, it is alleged moved back to Sweden in the 5-6th century. They is some archaeological evidence for this. And where did the huns find these people ? As part of the Goth empire in the 360's - somewhere on the steppe near modern ukraine. Its possible the viking legends of asgard, odin, thor etc are some kind of racial memory of their own history or at least that of their chiefs.

[dubsar]

If so, following some people's "logic", Russia should be returned to Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

[newsjunkie]

This reminds this of the movie The 13th Warrior!

[Chriscs]

You should put the year on topnright corner of the maps you show like kag do. Nice video

[SpillYahSauce]

I'm trying my best to learn more about the world it can get very difficult trying to remember everything and the different people and languages.

[Kuriver]

Maybe the symbol of long boat is a bit confusing. The rivers could not be traversed by ships but the travellers had to change to smaller boats. So, any longboats travelling to Byzantine would have been built at the other end of the river route. So the route was an advanced system with posts to change mode of transport, to winter and to store items.

[kimfleury]

I'd heard of the Silk Road but never looked for the trail. I had no idea it went through any Viking territory.

[JUAN_OLIVIER]

The Rus conquered the Slavs militarily and the Slavs conquered the Rus culturally in the end.

[missourimongoose]

I've always wondered if the vikings ever ran into any zoastrians

[rmp]

Your theme melody is like a lit match🔥

[vladfomin]

Rurik is as legendary and mythical as the dragons on the vikings' sails. Mentioned only in 1113 in the same source that tells the story of "tribes inviting vikings to rule over them". Most probably Nestor's or someone else's invention

[jaydeister]

"It's delightful and exciting to know that my ancestors were pagan barbarians (barbarian pagans? take your pick!)."