Sweneld

Sweneld ( Russian Свенельд '; * around 920 ?; † after 975) was a Warrior commander under the Kiev princes Igor , Swjatoslaw and Jaropolk .

Surname

Sweneld is the Old Slavonic spelling for Sveinalðr .

Life

Sweneld was of Scandinavian origin. He or his ancestors had come to the Rus . His year of birth is unknown.

Zveneld served in the Varangian Guard of Prince Igor of Kiev. It was first mentioned around 944 when it was collecting tribute from the Ulitschen tribe. He also brought in income from the Drewlyans . They were so angry about the procedure that they killed Igor. Sweneld was involved in the retaliation of the widow Olga against the Drewljanen.

Sweneld had a large fortune, his own guard ( Druschina ) and possibly his own property. He was probably the most influential person after the princes in Russia at the time.

In 969 he accompanied Prince Sviatoslav on his military campaigns against the Bulgarians and the Byzantine Empire . He also survived the death of Svyatoslav in 971 and returned to Kiev.

In 975 his son Lyut was killed by Oleg , a son of Svyatoslavs, in the Drewlyan area. Sweneld is said to have instigated Jaropolk, Oleg's brother, to wage war against this. Oleg died in 977, and Sweneld has not been mentioned in the chronicles since.

literature

• В. Г. Лушин: Свенельд: князь или воевода? In: Историко-археологические записки. Vol. 1, 2009, pp. 45-57 online