Askold and Dir

Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, Ukrayina, /ukraˈjina/) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The territory of present-day Ukraine was a key centre of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers, notably Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Austrian Empire, Romania and the Ott ...

Including:

• Ukraine - Name
• Ukraine - History
• Ukraine - Government and Politics
• Ukraine - Subdivisions
• Ukraine - Geography
• Ukraine - Economy
• Ukraine - Demographics
• Ukraine - Religion
• Ukraine - Culture
• Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia - Ukraine

The name Viking is a borrowed word from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century. Vikings traveled to the west and Varangians, who were best known as the Varangian Guards of the Byzantine emperors, to the east. This period of European history (generally dated to 793 - 1066 AD) is often referred to as the Viking Age. The word “Viking” was introduced to the English language with ro ...

Including:

• Viking - Etymology
• Viking - Historical records
• Viking - Adam of Bremen
• Viking - Rune stones
• Viking - Icelandic sagas
• Viking - 13th century
• Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships
• Viking - The Viking Age
• Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?
• Viking - Decline
• Viking - Modern revivals
• Viking - Romanticism
• Viking - Fascism
• Viking - Living History
• Viking - Myths about Vikings
• Viking - Horned helmets
• Viking - Skull cups
• Viking - Uncleanliness
• Viking - Famous Vikings
• Viking - Books
• Viking - Movies
• Viking - Culture
• Viking - Historians
• Viking - Archaeology
• Viking - Place names
• Viking - Military
• Viking - Popular Culture
• Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia - Viking

The etymology of "Viking" is somewhat unclear. One path might be from the Old Norse word, vík, meaning "bay," "creek," or "inlet," and the suffix -ing, meaning "coming from" or "belonging to." Thus, viking would be a 'person of the bay', or "bayling" for lack of a better word. In Old Norse, this would be spelled vikingr. Later on, the term, viking, became synonymous with "naval expedition" or "naval raid, and a vikingr was a member of such expeditions. A second etymology suggested that the term is derived from Old English, wíc, ie. "trading city" (cognat ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - Etymology

Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late neolithic Trypillian culture flourished from ca. 4500 BC to 3000 BC. In antiquity, the southern and eastern parts of modern Ukraine were populated by Iranian nomads called Scythians. The Scythian Kingdom existed in Ukraine between 700 BC and 200 BC. In the third century, the Goths arrived, calling their country Oium, and formed the Chernyakhov culture before moving on and defeating the Roman empire. In the 7th century Ukraine was the cor ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - History

For a long time the original compilation was attributed to a monk named Nestor, and hence it was formerly referred to as Nestor's Chronicle, or Nestor's manuscript. Among many sources he used were earlier (now lost) Slavonic chronicles, Byzantine annals of John Malalas and George Hamartolus, native legends and Norse sagas, several Greek religious texts, Russo-Byzantine treaties, oral accounts of military leaders and much more. Nestor worked at the court of Sviatopolk II of Kie ...

See also:

Primary Chronicle, Primary Chronicle - Three editions, Primary Chronicle - Two manuscripts, Primary Chronicle - Assessment

Read more here: » Primary Chronicle: Encyclopedia II - Primary Chronicle - Three editions

Smolensk is among the oldest of Russian cities. The first recorded mention of the city was 863 A.D., two years after the founding of ancient Russia. According to Russian Primary Chronicle, Smolensk (then located slightly downstream) was the capital of the Slavic Krivichs tribe in 882 when Oleg of Novgorod took it in passing from Novgorod to Kiev. The town was first attested two decades earlier, when the Varangian chieftains Askold and Dir, while on their way to Kiev, decided against messing with Smolensk ...

See also:

Smolensk, Smolensk - Medieval origins, Smolensk - Between Russia Lithuania and Poland, Smolensk - Modern history, Smolensk - Sister Cities, Smolensk - Other pictures

Read more here: » Smolensk: Encyclopedia II - Smolensk - Medieval origins

Smolensk has been a special place to Russians for many reasons, not least for the fact that the local cathedral housed one of the most venerated Orthodox icons, attributed to St Luke. Building the new Cathedral of the Assumption was a great project which took more than a century to complete. Despite slowly sinking into economic backwater, Smolensk was still valued by tsars as a key fortress defending the route to Moscow. It ...

See also:

Smolensk, Smolensk - Medieval origins, Smolensk - Between Russia Lithuania and Poland, Smolensk - Modern history, Smolensk - Sister Cities, Smolensk - Other pictures

Read more here: » Smolensk: Encyclopedia II - Smolensk - Modern history

Formerly an important agricultural and industrial region of the Soviet Union, Ukraine now depends on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas, although lately it has been trying to diversify its sources. The lack of significant structural reform has made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. After 1991 the government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - Economy

Although spared by the Mongol armies in 1240, Smolensk paid tribute to the Golden Horde, gradually becoming a pawn in the long struggle between Lithuania and Muscovy. It was taken by the Vitaut in 1395, 1404 and 1408. After the city's incorporation into Grand Duchy of Lithuania, some Smolensk boyars (e.g., the Sapiehas) moved to Vilnius; descendants of the ruling princes (e.g., the Tatischevs, Kropotkins, Mussorgskis, Viazemskis) fled to Moscow. With a population of tens of thousands of people, Smolensk was probably the largest city i ...

See also:

Smolensk, Smolensk - Medieval origins, Smolensk - Between Russia Lithuania and Poland, Smolensk - Modern history, Smolensk - Sister Cities, Smolensk - Other pictures

Read more here: » Smolensk: Encyclopedia II - Smolensk - Between Russia Lithuania and Poland

Ethnic Ukrainians make up 77.8% of the population. The minorities include significant groups of ethnic Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldavians (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%) [2]. The industrial regions in the east and south-east are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas. Ukrainian is the only official state language. Russian, which was the offi ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - Demographics

The original of the chronicle is lost, and the earliest known copies are the Laurentian codex and the Hypatian codex, so it is difficult to establish the original content of the chronicle, word by word. The Laurentian codex was copied by the Nizhegorod monk Laurentius for the Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich in 1377. The original text he used was a lost codex compiled for the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver in 1305. The account continues until 1305, but the years 898-922, 1263-83 and 1288-94 are for some reason omitted. The manuscript was acquired by the famous Count Musin-Pushkin in 1792 and subsequently presen ...

See also:

Primary Chronicle, Primary Chronicle - Three editions, Primary Chronicle - Two manuscripts, Primary Chronicle - Assessment

Read more here: » Primary Chronicle: Encyclopedia II - Primary Chronicle - Two manuscripts

The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains, or steppes, and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 metres (6,762 ft), and those in the Crimean peninsula, in the extreme south along the coast. Ukraine has a mo ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - Geography

Ukraine is a democracy under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President of Ukraine (elected by popular vote) nominates the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by the 450-seat parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The President (on advice and consent of the Prime Minister) appoints members of the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as heads of all central agencies and regional and district administrations. Laws, acts of the parliament and the Cabinet, presidential edicts, and acts of the ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - Government and Politics

See main article Viking Age. The period of North Germanic expansion, usually taken to last from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, is commonly called the 'Viking Age.' The Vikings may be seen as late joiners in the Migrations period, and thus the period links Late Antiquity with the high Middle Ages. Geographically, a "Viking Age" may be assigned not only to the Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark, and southern Norway and Sweden), but also to territories under North Germanic dom ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - The Viking Age

There were no specific "Viking ships" or "Viking longships"; Vikings used any of the common Scandinavian longships. These boats were identical to those used by the Scandinavian defense fleets, known as the ledung. The term "Viking ships" has entered common usage, however, possibly because of its Romantic associations. It is suspected that most Viking ships had an average length/width ratio of 4.5:1. Scholars also debate ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships

The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 AD when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a group of men from Norway sailed to Portland, in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official, and they murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods. The next recorded attack, dated June 8, 793 AD, was on the monastery at Lindisfarne – the "Holy Island" – on the east coast of England. For the next 200 years, European history is fille ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - Historical records

According to Joel Supéry, the French author of “Le Secret des Vikings”, the Scandinavian attacks against the Frankish Empire were carried out not by raiding adventurers looking for gold and silver but by armies applying a military strategy. In 795 AD, long before the start of the Danish invasion proper in 840, Scandinavians were present in Asturias, on the northern shore of Spain, where they fought with the local king against the Moors. In 799, the Franks attacked them in Noirmoutier ; in 812, a Viking fleet was seen off Per ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?

See also 19th century Viking revival. Early modern publications, dealing with what we now call Viking culture, appeared in the 16th century, e.g. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (Olaus Magnus, 1555), and the first edition of the 13th century Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus in 1514. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with Latin translations of the Edda (notably Peder Resen's Edda Islandorum of 1665). < ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - Modern revivals

The etymology of the Ukrainian name Ukrayina stems from the Old Slavic root *kraj-, meaning "cut". Opinions vary as to the immediate derivation: Borderland, frontier (cf. Russian okraina "outskirts"; a semantic parallel to -mark in Denmark, cf. Marches) Ukrainian krajina "country" (this is also one of the meanings of Ukrainian and Russian kraj) Ukrainian verb krajaty "to cut", indicating the land the Ukrainians carved out for themselves In En ...

See also:

Ukraine, Ukraine - Name, Ukraine - History, Ukraine - Government and Politics, Ukraine - Subdivisions, Ukraine - Geography, Ukraine - Economy, Ukraine - Demographics, Ukraine - Religion, Ukraine - Culture, Ukraine - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » Ukraine: Encyclopedia II - Ukraine - Name

Viking - Horned helmets. There is little evidence that the Vikings on any occasion wore horned helmets. Apart from two or three representations of helmets with protrusions that may be either snakes or horns, no depiction of Viking Age warriors' helmets, and no actually preserved helmet, has horns. The idea of horned Viking helmets is, rather, a latter-day myth created by national romantic ideas in Sweden at the end of the 19th century, notably the Geatish Society, blending the Viking Age with glimpses of the Nord ...

See also:

Viking, Viking - Etymology, Viking - Historical records, Viking - Adam of Bremen, Viking - Rune stones, Viking - Icelandic sagas, Viking - 13th century, Viking - Viking ships and Viking longships, Viking - The Viking Age, Viking - The Viking invasions: a commercial war?, Viking - Decline, Viking - Modern revivals, Viking - Romanticism, Viking - Fascism, Viking - Living History, Viking - Myths about Vikings, Viking - Horned helmets, Viking - Skull cups, Viking - Uncleanliness, Viking - Famous Vikings, Viking - Books, Viking - Movies, Viking - Culture, Viking - Historians, Viking - Archaeology, Viking - Place names, Viking - Military, Viking - Popular Culture, Viking - Bibliography

Read more here: » Viking: Encyclopedia II - Viking - Myths about Vikings