Prince Rurik

The ancestor of the royal family of Rurikovich. A semi-legendary Varangian, called to reign by the Slovenes, Krivichi, Chud and Vesja. He was the prince of Novgorod in 862-879. It is with the name of Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor that the formation of the united Russian state is connected (862). According to the Russian chronicles, Rurik was one of the three konung brothers, drafted "from across the sea" by the Novgorod Slavs to end their internecine strife. In 862 Rurik's troops occupied the lands along the banks of Ladoga. Rurik later made Novgorod the capital, and next to it he cut down a small town Gorodishche, where later the Novgorod princes lived.