Путь из варяг в греки: Граница, дорога, направление в представлении древних скандинавов
“Road from the Varangians to the Greeks”: Border, Way and Direction in the Medieval Thinking

Summary/Abstract: In the present paper we discuss the significance of the Way in Scandinavian medieval culture. Undoubtedly this concept – the concept of the Way – was extremely urgent for Scandinavians during the whole Viking Age. It should be emphasized, however, that this concept manifestly prevailed in Scandinavian culture over the idea of spatial fragmentation, i.e. the ability to distinguish the territories located in the outside world. The knowledge of routes was incomparably more sophisticated than the topographical knowledge. This is clearly observed on the linguistic material. In particular, the term “way” itself (Old Norse vegr / vegar) could be used as a toponymic formant for the designation of various countries which a certain arterial road passed through. The borders between countries and nations appeared to be less essential than, for example, the location of two different countries along the same way or even in the same direction. In view of this it is interesting to analyze the image of the Ancient Russia in some medieval sources (including Old Icelandic literature texts). Thus Russia is often described as a vast land that is situated straight on the way, i.e. as an open area without strictly defi ned borders, as the territory which “could be passed through”. Actually, this representation of Russia corresponds to two opposite points of view: Scandinavian and Byzantine. For both, Scandinavians and the Byzantine, Russia indeed was situated in the very middle of the Way, i.e. on the main trading road, which was called by the Russians at that time “road from the Varangians to the Greeks”. Such position of the Russian State caused the formation of two outlooks at the description of the inhabitants of the country. Thus, from the Byzantine viewpoint, the Russians were the representatives of the northern part of the world – this is only one of the reasons why they were often confused with Scandinavians in Greek and several Latin sources. On the contrary, Scandinavians identified the Russians with the Greeks because in their understanding the Russians apparently lived in the East (later this identification was rather intensified by adopting the Eastern Christianity in Russia). There were several reasons for combining the Russians with the Greeks in the Scandinavian outlook including also the linguistic reason. In fact, for a long time Scandinavians did not have any special ethnic designation of the Russians, which seems to be significant taking into account the close relations between the Ancient Russia and Scandinavia and the origin of Russian State. Thus the word gerzkr / girzkr served in the written literature tradition as a designation of the Greeks and the Russians together, being considered as one term for both of them, although an etymologist would reveal here two – originally separated – terms...

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