CHAPTER III.

HOW THE RUSSIANS GOT THEIR NAME.

BUT the time was coming when the Slav tribes round Novgorod should change their name, and become at last-Russians.

This was how it fell out. Up to the north-west of the city Novgorod there lived a race of men who were not Slavs but Norse. They were as tall as palm-trees, so men said, and carried huge shields of skins, as tall as themselves. They too had boyards, and princes who were heads over the boyards, and they loved to fight their neighbours; and one of the strongest and bravest tribes was the tribe of Rus.

So one day it came to pass that these Varangians, as the Slavs called them, of the tribe of Rus, came down over the plains near Novgorod, and conquered the Glorious People who lived there.

At that the Glorious People were a little ashamed. And to cover their shame, they made up stories and songs, in which they said that the Slavs had asked the Varangians to come and reign over them.

CH. III.] HOW THE RUSSIANS GOT THEIR NAME 29

This was the story they told. They said that they themselves had grown tired of fighting, and longed for peace, and wanted a prince who would rule them well. Then they heard of three brothers, princes of the tribe of Rus, who lived in Norway, and were strong and brave. So they sent a messenger to these princes, and the message was, "Our land is large and fruitful, but it lacks order and justice: come and govern us, and be our ruler."

Then, so goes the story, Rurik the king and his two brothers came in answer to the message. Rurik the king built towns on the banks of Lake Ilmen. And at Novgorod he built a castle, and there he lived and ruled. And from the name of his tribe, Rus, the Slavs were called Russians.

Two of his boyards, said the Russians, Askold and Dir by name, conquered a city called Kief, on the banks of the Dnieper. There they set up a kingdom for themselves.

Kief is like the yolk of the egg that is to feed the Russians. There the nation is going to form itself and to grow mighty, till the very Greeks tremble before its kings.

We cannot quite tell how much is true and how much false about those early men. But if Rurik and the rest were not real men, the real men were very like them.

After Rurik died, Oleg, his next brother, came to

the throne.

Oleg was fierce and brave. He determined that Ashold and Dir should not rule at Kief. But he feared their army was stronger than his, so he made up his mind to take them by craft. Then he dressed himself and his nephew Igor, Rurik's son, in the dress of Norwegian merchants. Then with some soldiers he rowed right under the hill where stood the mud walls of Kief.

Next he sent a message to Askold and Dir: "Askold and Dir, princes of Kief, down below, by the river, are some Norwegian merchants who have come from Greece. Come and see them, for they are your fellow-countrymen."

When Askold and Dir heard that, their heart yearned to see Norse faces. So they hurried down. to the bank of the river. But the moment they reached the beach, out rushed the warriors of Oleg and seized them. And Oleg said mockingly, "You are not princes, nor the sons of princes; here stands the son of Rurik," and he pointed to Igor.

At his words the warriors struck down Askold and Dir, and killed them with their spears. Then they buried them on the mountain. Those were the ways of the early men,-craft, and cunning, and treachery.

Oleg went up the hill into Kief, and took posses

sion of it. As he looked down, and saw the fruitful country round Kief, and the river flowing beneath, he said, “Henceforth Kief shall be the mother of Russian cities."

Oleg grew bolder after he had conquered Kief. He conquered many other tribes, and forced them to give him tribute. Not tribute of money, for they had none, but skins, or corn, or whatever their land brought forth.

At last he grew bold enough to lead his army against the mighty Constantinople. That was a great city with stone palaces and houses, and beautiful statues, and wonderful old manuscripts. Oleg knew nothing about all those, but he wished to conquer and grow mighty.

So with a hundred boats, and forty men in each, he rowed down the Dnieper. At the cataracts (which Dnieper made in his bad temper) they had to get out and drag their boats by land. The wild tribes on the banks fought against them from time to time; but they went on bravely. At last they reached the Black Sea. They sailed across it to the very gates of Constantinople. Then they turned against the villages round about it and burned them up. That was to terrify the Greeks in the city.

The Greeks were in great fear. They, too, tried cunning, and offered Oleg's men poisoned food when they came to treat for peace. But Oleg was still

more cunning, for he had forbidden the men to eat the Greeks' food. At last peace was made. It was agreed that the Greeks should pay Oleg sums of money, and that the Russians might live and trade in Constantinople. Only they were not to come

armed nor in large bands.

Then Oleg in his pride nailed his shield to the great gate of the city, called the Golden Door, and went back to Kief.

The people at Kief thought that a man could not have done what Oleg had done. So they said he had magic power. They told all kinds of strange stories about his doings at Constantinople. They said that he had put his boats on wheels, and the wind had driven them against the gates of the city. All the tribes about feared him yet more. But a magician had told Oleg that he would soon die, and that the gods said his death would come through a favourite horse of his. Oleg feared the decrees of the gods, and he rode the horse no more. Presently it died.

As he

Then Oleg went to look at its corpse. looked he said scornfully, "There lies my death," and, laughing, he kicked the horse's head with his foot. Then out of the skull crept a serpent, and stung Oleg's foot, so that he died. When the people heard it they sighed, and shed tears for the mighty Oleg.

Then Igor, Rurik's son, ruled the country. In his