Askold (Varangian prince)

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St. Nicholas Church on Askold's grave in Kiev (representation by Taras Shevchenko , 1846)

Askold († 882 ) was one of the two legendary Varangian princes (the other was you ), to whom, after a successful campaign against the Khazars between 858 and 862, the conquest and between 864 and 868 the founding of the principality of Kiev is ascribed - parallel to the Varangian Rurikids who had already founded the Novgorod Principality . Askold first attacked the Byzantine capital Constantinople with his ships in 860 and is said to have been converted to Christianity by the Byzantines and baptized in the name of Nicholas . After his death, Kiev fell to the Rurikids, and the unification of the principalities of Kiev and Novgorod, made possible by this, is considered to be the actual hour of birth of the Kievan Rus . According to legend, his grave is located under St. Nicholas' Church on Askold's grave in Kiev.

The Czech Slavophile historian Karel Jaromír Erben considered it possible that Askold and Dir meant one and the same person, Askold comes from the Old Norse óskyldr 'stranger' , whereas Dir is the actual Scandinavian name of this ruler, who was alien to the Slavs.

literature

  • August Ludwig von Schlözer : Oskold and Dir. A Russian story described critically. JC Dieterich, Göttingen / Gotha 1773 ( archive.org ).
  • Johann Philipp, Gustav Ewers: From the origin of the Russian state . In: Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung . tape 1 : January – April , No. 23 . Joh. Gottfr. Müllerischen Buchh., Halle / Leipzig January 25, 1809, Sp. 185-187 ( books.google.de ).
  • Askold, Oskold, Skald and Dir . In: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона - Enziklopeditscheski slowar Brokgausa i Jefrona . tape 2 [3]: Араго – Аутка. Brockhaus-Efron, Saint Petersburg 1890, p. 296–297 (Russian, full text [ Wikisource ] PDF ).
  • V. Ya. Petrukhin: АСКО́ЛЬД И ДИР. In: Great Soviet Encyclopedia . ( bigenc.ru )