The Varangians were Scandinavian (mainly Swedish) Vikings who, from the 8th–11th centuries, traveled, traded, fought, and eventually ruled among the Eastern Slavs in what became Kievan Rus’ and later served as elite bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors.

Origins and identity

The term Varangians was used by Greeks and East Slavs for Viking groups operating in Eastern Europe, especially along the river routes from the Baltic toward the Black and Caspian Seas.

Most early Varangians came from what is now Sweden and were part of the wider Viking Age movement, mixing raiding, trading, and mercenary service.

Role in Eastern Europe

According to the 12th‑century Primary Chronicle, a Varangian group known as the Rus’ was invited to rule over Slavic and Finnic tribes, with the leader Rurik taking Novgorod around 862.

Rurik’s kinsman Oleg then captured Kiev in 882, laying the foundations of the state of Kievan Rus’, whose ruling dynasty traced its origin to these Varangian leaders.

Trade, warfare, and routes

Varangians controlled key river routes such as the Volga route to the Caspian Sea and the Dnieper route to the Black Sea and Constantinople, moving furs, slaves, and silver between Northern Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic world.

They engaged in both trade and piracy, sometimes attacking cities like Constantinople, and at other times securing lucrative treaties that made these routes central to the region’s economy.

The Varangian Guard in Byzantium

Over time, many Varangians entered service as mercenaries in the Byzantine army, forming the famed Varangian Guard—an elite unit renowned for fierce loyalty and heavy axe fighting.

Around 989–c. 1000, Vladimir of Rus’ sent thousands of warriors to aid Emperor Basil II, and these men became the core of the Guard that protected the emperor and fought in campaigns across the empire.

Decline and assimilation

As the Viking Age faded and more local Slavic elites rose, the distinct Varangian identity in Eastern Europe gradually blended into the broader East Slavic population.

By the late 11th–12th centuries, the Varangian Guard increasingly recruited non‑Scandinavian warriors (including Anglo‑Saxons), and the old Varangian world of river‑Vikings became part of the background to later Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian history.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.