Askold and Dir
 |
Ships on the Dnieper |
Askold (
Haskuldr in
Old East Norse and
Höskuldr in
Old West Norse) and
Dir (
Dyri in both dialects of
Old Norse) were according to the
Primary Chronicle, two of
Rurik's men. The chronicle relates that they were neither his relatives nor of noble blood.
They asked for permission to go to
Constantinople (
Norse Miklagard, Slavic
Czargrad). When travelling on the
Dnieper, they saw a settlement on a mountain and asked to whom it belonged. They were told that it was
Kiev and had been built by three brothers named
Kyi, Schek and Khoriv, who were the ancestors of the inhabitants, who were now paying tribute to the
Khazars. Askold and Dir settled in the town and gathered a large number of fellow
Varangians and began to rule the town and the land of the
Polyane.
Askold and Dir's attack on Constantinople in June
860 took the Greeks by surprise, "like a thunderbolt from heaven," as it was put by
Patriarch Photius in his famous oration written for the occasion. A Rus fleet of about 200 vessels arrived to the walls of Constaninople at the opportune moment when the Emperor
Michael III was absent from the capital, as was his navy dreaded for its skill in using the lethal
Greek fire.
The
druzhina of Kievan rulers proceeded to lay siege to the imperial capital and to pillage the neighbourhood. Despite the initial advantage of Kievans, their inexperience in military tactics proved their ruin. A violent storm scattered their ships, although a pious legend ascribed the storm to a miracle caused by a religious procession led by the Patriarch. Despite Photius' own assertion that he sent a
bishop to the land of Rus which became Christianized and friendly to Byzantium, most historians discard the idea of Askold's subsequent
Christianization as apocryphal.
When Rurik died he was succeeded by
Oleg who was of his kin and in whose care was Rurik's son
Igor. Oleg attacked and conquered Kiev around
882. According to the Primary Chronicle he tricked and killed Askold and Dir using an elaborate scheme. A local legend identifies their
kurgan with Uhorska Hill, where
Olga of Kiev later built two churches, devoted to
Saint Nicholas and to
Saint Irene. Today this place on the steep bank of the Dnieper is marked by a monument called
Askold's MoundAccording to the
Norse Sagas, Askold was the son of
Hvitserk, one of
Ragnar Lodbrok's sons. Hvitserk was a contemporary of Rurik and was said to have waged a war of conquest in
Eastern Europe. When Hvitserk met an army that was too big even for him, the enemies asked in what way he wished to die. He wanted to be burnt alive on a mound of severed heads.
# Byzantine chronicles date the attack to June 860, although the
Primary Chronicle, infamous for its faulty datings, erroneously puts it at 866. Many conflicting interpretations have been put forward to account for this discrepancy.
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Kiev and Ukraine Travel Guide *
Guide to Askold's Grave
