Vikings were a seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the 8th to the 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Northern and Eastern Europe, including the political and social development of England (and the English language) and parts of France, and established the embryo of Russia in so called Kievan Rus’. Yes of course, most of us associate ancient Rus’ with ancient Kiev (modern Kyiv). However, its origins trace back to Staraya Ladoga — a Viking settlement founded on former Finnish lands, now located in Russia, east of St. Petersburg. This is the central thesis of the book Ruś wikingów. Skandynawowie we wczesnośredniowiecznej Europie Wschodniej (English edition: Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe), written by the Polish archaeologist Władysław Duczko.
After many years of research in Sweden, Professor Duczko compared old chronicles with archaeological findings to reconstruct how the early Rus’ state was formed — on lands primarily inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples (modern-day northern Russia) — and how this Rus’ expanded southward into the areas of present-day Belarus and Ukraine. Professor Duczko’s book was republished in Polish in 2025 by the Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (University of Warsaw Press). The author passed away soon afterward from a serious illness. The publication was overseen by Beata Jankowiak-Konik, Director of the University of Warsaw Press. This new edition is a revised and expanded translation of the original English edition (first published in 2004, and in Polish in 2006). Since then, the book has become a rare collectible, but it continues to surprise even experts in the history of Rus’.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik: The author was very determined to bring the book back into circulation, especially now, with the war in Ukraine. He saw it as his protest against the imperial Russian narrative. As a scholar, he wanted to speak the truth and counter the falsification of history. Duczko gathered dispersed data from archaeological research across Eastern Europe to demonstrate the strong Scandinavian presence in these territories between the 8th and 11th centuries.
The history of early Rus’ begins in the mid-8th century, when the first guests from Sweden arrived in the Finnish lands. The name for these newcomers came from the Finns — Ruotsi, meaning ‘rowers’, derived from a Swedish word.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik: The word Rus’ itself doesn’t originate from a Slavic language but has Finno-Ugric roots — it was the name used by the Finns for the Scandinavian newcomers. The Rus’ were Scandinavians from central Sweden who settled in Eastern Europe. They were also known as Rhos in Greek and Latin sources. The state derived its name from them — Rus’ — and the local population came to be known as the Rus’. However, this state was a conglomerate of various ethnicities. The Scandinavians were certainly the organizers and creators of state structures, but the population itself was of diverse origins. Over time, contacts with Scandinavia weakened and the identity began to shift. Still, for about three centuries, a strong Scandinavian identity persisted — and that must be acknowledged.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik with Władysław Duczko’s book Ruś wikingów. Skandynawowie we wczesnośredniowiecznej Europie Wschodniej.
Archaeological excavations of early medieval settlements in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have for years yielded many Scandinavian-style artifacts — often nearly identical to items found in Sweden or Denmark. Władysław Duczko demonstrated that during the Viking Age, large Scandinavian communities existed in the territories of today’s Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. These communities retained their identity, maintained contact with their homeland, and used material culture as symbols of that identity. It was these people — the Rus’ — who created the first state structures in Eastern Europe. Duczko roughly estimated when the Scandinavians first appeared in the region.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik: The first Vikings came from central Sweden, initially as merchants, later settling permanently while retaining their ethnic distinctiveness. Eventually, as the influx of new Scandinavians declined, they intermarried with local populations, and the Kievan principality underwent Slavicization — evident, for example, in the rulers' names shifting from Norse to Slavic. Still, the Scandinavian identity lasted a very long time.
Before the Rus’ — merchants and warriors from what is now Sweden — reached Kiev, they had for a long time been building their state along rivers and lakes, across vast areas from Staraya Ladoga to modern Pskov, Novgorod, and Moscow. From there, they set off to the Caspian Sea and eventually Byzantium. They sailed boats, built strongholds, and raided local populations… This is how the Rus’ state formed on Finno-Baltic lands. Despite its later status as the metropolis of Rus’, Kiev was not the first Viking settlement in the region.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik: There were many other, often older, centers in Eastern Europe that played an important role. One could say that in the early stages — around the mid-8th and 9th centuries — these centers were far more significant than Kiev. Only in the 10th century did Kiev begin to gain prominence. In the north, Staraya Ladoga existed earlier, along with Rurikovo Gorodishche near Novgorod, Gnyozdovo near Smolensk, Chernihiv, and others. Professor Duczko presents archaeological finds from these areas, proving the long-term and consistent presence of Scandinavians well before the formation of the Kievan principality. Scandinavian communities were present there and in many other places. To sum up: Kiev was neither the first nor the most important center at the start of this period — absolutely not.
Even in the 12th century, Swedes referred to Rus’ as Great Sweden. This was not by chance. Meanwhile, the tyrant Ivan the Terrible of Moscow, one of the last rulers from the Rurikid dynasty — descended from the legendary Viking Rurik — considered himself German, as noted by Russian historian Konstantin Yerusalimsky in his book Император Святой Руси (The Emperor of Holy Russia). In the earliest centuries of Rus’, the material culture was identical to that of other Viking centers — in Sweden, Denmark, and Northwestern Europe.
Beata Jankowiak-Konik: We have artifacts found in the East and items found in Birka — the center of Sweden — and they are nearly identical. Of course, there were some modifications, which Professor Duczko described. He specialized in jewelry and even reconstructed ancient goldsmithing techniques himself. He was a master craftsman. This proves that the artifacts from Eastern European excavations and those from Scandinavia are practically indistinguishable. That Scandinavian communities existed and functioned in the West is widely accepted by historians. No one is surprised by it. Yet the fact that similar communities existed in the East is still not commonly recognized. It remains difficult to bring this knowledge into the mainstream, even though the situation was exactly the same.
The claim origins of the Rus’ state are a pillar of Putin’s great-power russian historical narrative. So, Viking Rus was labeled ‘dangerous’ by Russian scholars. This did not surprise the Polish researcher. In the foreword to the second edition, Duczko wrote:
What can we, as scholars of the past, do in such a situation? If we want to be true researchers, we must use our work to oppose the politically manipulated versions of history and express our disagreement with the use of the past for the purposes of violence and deceit. That’s why this revised and expanded edition of the book was created.
Władysław Duczko’s Viking Rus book offers readers an extraordinary journey into the real — not the Putin-invented — history of Russia. There’s a plan to issue the book Viking Rus again in English.
Viktar Korbut