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 who ruled Kiev in the 870s. The chronicle impliesthat they
were neither his relatives nor of noble blood.

The Primary Chronicle relates that Askold and Dir were sanctioned by Rurik 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.

The only foreign source to mention one of the co-rulers is the Arab historian
Al-Masudi. According to him, "king al-Dir [Dayr] was the first among the kings
of the Saqaliba (Slavs)." Although some scholars have tried to prove that "al
Dir" refers to a Slavic ruler and Dir's contemporary, this speculation is
questionable and it is at least equally probable that "al-Dir" and Dir were
the same person.[1] It seams, that old Russian it was originally "askold Dir"
and not "Askold i Dir" as it is known from the Primary Chronicle. The word
askold or oskold is derived from Old Norse óskyldr meaning strange - so
probably there was a ruler Kiev called Dir by the Slavs and the Varangians
called him something like "óskyldr Dyri" - stranger Dir, later the Russian
Varangians forgot the meaning of óskyldr so Nestor wrote about two rulers of
Kiev - about Askold and Dir.

<HR>

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 who ruled Kiev in the 870s. The chronicle impliesthat they
were neither his relatives nor of noble blood.

The Primary Chronicle relates that Askold and Dir were sanctioned by Rurik 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.

The only foreign source to mention one of the co-rulers is the Arab historian
Al-Masudi. According to him, "king al-Dir [Dayr] was the first among the kings
of the Saqaliba (Slavs)." Although some scholars have tried to prove that "al
Dir" refers to a Slavic ruler and Dir's contemporary, this speculation is
questionable and it is at least equally probable that "al-Dir" and Dir were
the same person.[1] It seams, that old Russian it was originally "askold Dir"
and not "Askold i Dir" as it is known from the Primary Chronicle. The word
askold or oskold is derived from Old Norse óskyldr meaning strange - so
probably there was a ruler Kiev called Dir by the Slavs and the Varangians
called him something like "óskyldr Dyri" - stranger Dir, later the Russian
Varangians forgot the meaning of óskyldr so Nestor wrote about two rulers of
Kiev - about Askold and Dir.

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Rurik or Riurik (Russian: &#1056;&#1102;&#1088;&#1080;&#1082;, Old East Norse: Rørik, meaning "famous
ruler"; ca 830 – ca 879) was a Varangian chieftain who gained control of
Ladoga in 862, built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod, and founded the
Rurik Dynasty which ruled Russia until the 17th century.

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Haakon I (Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri), (ca. 920–961), surnamed the
Good, was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald Fairhair.

Haakon was fostered by King Athelstan of England, as part of a peace agreement
made by his father. The English king brought him up in the Christian
religion, and on the news of his father’s death provided him with ships and
men for an expedition against his half-brother Eirik Bloodaxe, who had been
proclaimed king. On his arrival in Norway, Haakon gained the support of the
landowners by promising to give up the rights of taxation claimed by his
father over inherited real property.

Eirik fled and thereafter concentrated his efforts in the British Isles,
eventually meeting a violent end there. His sons allied themselves with the
Danes, but were invariably defeated by Haakon, who was successful in
everything he undertook except in his attempt to introduce Christianity, which
aroused an opposition he did not feel strong enough to face. He was mortally
wounded at the Battle of Fitjar in 961, after a final victory over Eirik’s
sons. So entirely did even his immediate circle ignore his religion that
Eyvindr Skáldaspillir, his court poet composed a poem, Hákonarmál, on his
death representing his welcome by the heathen gods into Valhalla.

The succession issue was settled as Harald II, third son of Eirik, ascended
the throne. However the Norwegians were severely tormented by years of war and
welcomed the Danish invading force led by Harold Bluetooth.

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Halfdan the Black Gudrødsson (820 – 860CE)(Old Norse: Hálfdan svarti) was the
father of the first King of Norway Harald I and of the House of Yngling.
According to the sagas In 838, when he was eighteen years old, Halfdan became
king of Agder. He quickly began adding to his kingdom, through political
negotiation and military conquest.

Halfdan died when he fell through the ice of lake Randsfjorden and drowned.
Each of the districts of his kingdom wanted to claim his grave. In the end, it
was agreed to divide his body into four pieces so each district could bury a
piece of it.

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Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair (Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri),
(c. 850 – c. 933) was the founder and first king (872 – 930) over Norway.

He succeeded, on the death of his father Halfdan the Black Gudrødsson in A.D.
860, to the sovereignty of several small, and somewhat scattered kingdoms in
Vestfold, which had come into his father's hands through conquest and
inheritance, and lay chiefly in southeast Norway.

The constitution of Norway is, according to a tale, somewhat of a love story.
The tale begins with a marriage proposal that resulted in rejection and scorn
from Gyda, the daughter of a neighbouring king. She said she refused to marry
Harald "before he was king over all of Norway". Harald was therefore induced
to take a vow not to cut nor comb his hair until he was sole king of Norway,
and that ten years later, he was justified in trimming it; whereupon he
exchanged the epithet "Shockhead" or "Tanglehair" for the one by which he is
usually known.

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Sweyn Forkbeard, (Old Norse: Sveinn Tjúguskegg), (ca. 960 – February 3, 1014),<br> king of Denmark and England, a leading Viking warrior and the <br>father of Canute the Great (Cnut I). He succeeded his father Harald <br>I "Blåtand" Bluetooth) as king of Denmark in late 986 or early 987 and <br>controlled most of Norway in 1000. In 1013, shortly before his death, <br>he conquered England, forming a Danish North Sea empire.

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Canute I, or Canute the Great also appears as Cnut in the Chronicles of
the Anglo-Saxons (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki) (ca. 995 – November 12, 1035) was
a Danish king of England, Denmark, Norway, parts of modern Sweden), as well as
governor or overlord of Schleswig and Pomerania. He was in treaty with the
Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II and maintained good relations with
the papacy. He ruled a North Sea empire which saw Danish control at its height.
Son of Sweyn Forkbeard

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Eric the Red (950–1000) (Old Norse and Icelandic: Eiríkur rauði) founded the
first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The appellation "the Red" refers to his
red facial hair. Eric had to flee Norway because of "some killings", as The
Saga of Eric the Red recounts. His family settled in a Norse colony on the
coast of Iceland.

The Icelanders exiled Eric for several murders around the year 982. According
to The Saga of Eric the Red, his neighbor Thorgest borrowed a few wooden
bench-boards and when they did not come back to Eric, he sought an
explanation. When Thorgest refused to return them, Erik stole them back.
In the following chase, he killed Thorgest's two sons.

A second crime laid at Eric's door occurred when Eric insisted upon revenge
for the deaths of his slaves who had "accidentally started a landslide" on
Valthjof's farm. Valthjof murderously punished the slaves for this misfortune.
Erik did not take kindly to this and so slew Valthjof. The Icelanders
eventually convicted Eric of these murders and banished him from Iceland. This
event led him and a group of followers to travel to the lands nearly 500 miles
west of Iceland.

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Leif Eriksson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson) (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse
explorer and the first European thought to have landed in North America.
Son of Eiríkur rauði.

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Egill Skallagrímsson was a Viking and a skald. He was born in Iceland in the
year 910 and died some time around the year 990. Egils saga tells the tale of
his deeds. Egill is the great anti-hero of Icelandic literature, in many ways
resembling his god, Odin, breaking his oaths, killing for trifles, and
practicing sorcery. Many historians consider Egill to be one of the deadliest
men that ever lived in bladed combat- several accounts tell of him
slaughtering as many as 20 or more armed men singlehandedly, and even
dispatching a feared berserker with relative ease. In spite of this, he was
considered a great healer, and his saga tells of him curing a girl who had
been ill for quite some time where all other efforts had proven futile.

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Erik Bloodaxe (Old Norse: Eiríkr blóðøx), (circa 885–954), was the second
king of Norway (930-934) and the eldest son of his father Harald Fairhair.
Once the power was in his hands, he began to quarrel with his brothers and
had four of them killed.

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