Jeg vil anbefale, at man læser denne bog
Wladyslaw Duczko: Viking Rus - Studies of the Presence of Scandinavian in Eastern Europe. Brill 2004.
Den som har denna bok vad exakt skriver Duczko om Annaler Bertiani?
Jag har engelsk översättning som här:
"Envoys from the Greeks also came, sent by the Emperor Theophilus, namely Theodosius, bishop and metropolitan of Chalcedon, and the [imperial] swordbearer Theophanius, who together with the worthy gifts from the Emperor also delivered a letter...
Along with them he also sent some men
who called themselves, i.e. the people to whom they belonged, Rhos. Their king, by the name of Chagan, had sent them to him out of friendship, so they said; and he in the said letter asked that they with the good permission and support of the [Frankish] Emperor be allowed to return home through his realm without danger, since the roads by which they had come to Constantinople had led through barbarian and most ferocious peoples and he did not want them to use these on the return journey lest they expose themselves to danger.
Through a more thorough investigation of the reasons for their journey the Emperor found that they belonged to the people of the Swedes (eos gentis esse Sueonum); and as it seemed to him that they were spies in his and our realm rather than peace envoys, he decided to keep them by him until it could be ascertained for sure whether they had come in earnest purpose or not."
Det finns två viktiga saker. Först, de kallade sig själva rhos.
Sen "a more thorough investigation" avslöjer att de var svioner och spioner. Vad kunde betyda "a more thorough investigation"? Jag tror att tortyr var på den tiden viktig investigations metod. Blev rhoserna tortyredare och de medgav "ja, ja vi är svioner"?
En annan sak som intresserar mej är hur trovärdig betraktar Duczko Nestors krönikan.
En engelsk översättning om krönikan:
"Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom [po nravu]". Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus.
These particular Varangians were known as Rus', just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named. The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichians and the Ves then said to the Rus, "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come reign as princes, rule over us". Three brothers, with their kinfolk, were selected. They brought with them all the Rus' and migrated. The oldest, Rurik, located himself in Novgorod; the second, Sineus, in Beloozero; and the third, Truvor, in Izborsk."
Krönikan jämför ruser till svear, normanner och angler. Detta betyder att ruser var inte svear.
Men andra sidan är, att detta berättelsen kanske är inte historisk. Det kan vara en sentida makthavares försök att argumentera sin makt. Hans förefader hade blivit bett att behärska och därför hade makthavaren rättighet att behärska.
