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Friedrich Klára Hungarians and Vikings: Connections, Marriages, Questions...
Friedrich Klára Hungarians and Vikings: Connections, Marriages, Questions...
Budapest, 2022
2
Contents
5/6. Summary p. 40
5/7. Acknowledgements p. 41
5/8. Bibliography p. 41
3
Historians place the Viking age between 800 and 1100. The
Vikings were descendants of the Normans or Nordmanns, that is
people of the North. They were believed to be a Scandinavian
tribe of the Germanic family of people.
“Their ships were their homes, their castles, their lands, their
everything… The Norman youths, under the leadership of their
princes, the Vikings, obtained their warrior training during their
pirating campaigns… Their characteristics and valiant traits, in
many ways were like those of their contemporaries, the kindred
4
The Vikings undertook great journeys not only toward the West but
in all directions of the compass. For example, they reached Paris on
the Seine with 120 ships, and they were given 3500 kg. of silver to sail
8
away again. The lead ships were decorated with the head of a
dragon, so these fast vessels, equipped with sails and rowers, were
called drakkars (Viking longships) after the dragons.
On dry land, they made wheels for these ships (amphibious vehicles,
a technological development!). They traded and transported goods,
for example furs, skins and marine ropes made of skins…
Their writing was a 16 letter variation of the common Germanic runic script.
Their most characteristic custom was the ship burial. For the burial of
the high classes, a decorated ship was prepared. Its size varied but it
was large enough to hold the corpse and his servant, certain artifacts
to accompany him to the otherworld: food for the journey and
barrels of drinks, and in the bow of the ship the dead man’s horse.
Sometimes, the ship was set on fire close to the shore and sent out to
sea. On other occasions, the ship was buried under a mound of earth.
The most highly-decorated ship grave, the Oseberg ship, can be seen
in the ship museum in Oslo, Norway. It is made of oak, 22 meters
long and 5 meters wide. Two women are laid at rest in the ship grave,
perhaps the Scandinavian Queen Asa and her lady-in-waiting. The
Viking women were equal to the men.
If a warrior died far away from the Viking Sea, and there was no way
to prepare him a ship burial, or if he was not rich, they arranged
stones around the grave in the shape of a ship.
11
The Viking ships are often pictured with a sail striped with vertical red
and white stripes. It resembles the flag of Árpád, which has
horizontal red and white stripes. For example, the Mogyoródi Battle
– Illustrated Chronicle.
“The enemies of the Vikings wrote their history”. This is the opinion
of the afore-mentioned Raymond Page. This is unfortunately, with
few exceptions, true of Hungarian history written after 1867.
13
At the invitation of the Slav delegates, three brothers from the Rus
nation, Rurik, Sineus and Truvor set out from Scandinavia, together
with their entourage. They arrived first at the territory of the Staraya
Ladoga (Ancient Ladoga), near Lake Ladoga, on the banks of the River
Volkhov, which was an important trading center. Based on the
legends, several mounds that can be found in Ladoga are believed to
be burial mounds of the Rus princes. Rurik later moved south to
Novgorod.
From 862 on, the three brothers united the Slav peoples, who were
warring with each other, into a strong tribal alliance. They liberated
them from the Kazar rule and taxation. Some historians call this tribal
alliance (which was not yet a state) Kievan Rus. This is not entirely
accurate because, at that time, the center of the Viking-Varangians
was not Kiev but Novgorod. Of the three brothers, Rurik was the
eldest and he became the leader of the tribal alliance and Prince of
Novgorod.
So, Rurik, the Norman (Viking, Varég, Varangian) leader and his
brothers of the Rus tribe were the founders of the Russian Empire.
The name of Russia originates from the Rus nation. Likewise, the
name of the Rusyns and Ruthenians. Among others, the Illustrated
Chronicle and Petrus Ransanus mention Kievan Rus as Ruthenia.
It can be surmised that Rurik was born in 820, ruled from 862 on, and
died in 879 or 882. His headquarters were in Novgorod. He had the
15
Apart from the explanation that they are letters, they have been
identified as diving falcons and three-pronged harpoons. Those who
consider them as falcons also believe that the name Rurik means
falcon. I was very happy to discover this, because it would mean that
it is related to our (Hungarian) word ráró, which, according to Mór
Ballagi, is a predatory bird belonging to the class of falcons called the
fisher-falcon. (1873)
If we examine the tamgas, we can see that they are not quite
identical. Each one is different in a small detail, so a member worthy
of belonging to the Rurik nation had an individual tamga, but also a
17
On the list of the rulers of the Rurik dynasty, many names ended in
“sláv”, which was rather strange sounding for people of Norman-
Viking origin. I believe that this was to differentiate the children born
of Slav mothers. This is sometimes difficult to trace back. For
example: Igor’s wife, Rurik’s daughter-in-law, was of Slav origin. At
the time of her marriage, she received the name Olga, whose
German origin was Helga. We do not know Olga’s true name,
because in Pszkov or Izborszk, from where she came, she was called
Prekrásza, which meant “pretty”, which was probably not a name but
rather an adjective. The princess, who became known as Olga, was
canonized as a saint in Byzantium, because of her work in spreading
Christianity, and thereafter she was called Helena. Her Slav origin is
also substantiated by the fact that her son, Rurik’s grandson, was
called Szvjatoszláv.
Insert: Kievan Rus and some of its associated principalities. We can speak of
Kievan Rus only after 895, after the Homecoming of the Hungarians. Until
then, Álmos was the Prince of Kiev. (F.K.)
19
Kornél Bakay writes: “One thousand years before this, “Rus” was the
territory of the united principalities of Kiev and Novgorod. The first
princes ran down the Slav tribes one by one: the Drevljáns, the
Szeverjáns, the Radimicses and the Vjaticses and so, by the eleventh
century, the lands of Kievan Russia extended from the Carpathians to
the River Oka, that is to the Northern Caucasus. Because of the
conflict between their interests of power, the Russian and Byzantine
armies and fleets often came face to face. Therefore, the Russians
began to expand toward the East. In 964, they overthrew the formerly
immensely powerful Kazar kaganate and waged war on the nomad
Pechenegs, who were at that time allies of Byzantium. The Pechenegs
killed Szvjatoszláv, the Prince of Kiev himself.” (1981/10)
20
There were also marriages between the Huns and the Germans.
Balambér, King of the Huns, great-grandfather of Attila, married the
granddaughter of Venetharius, the King of the Ostrogoths. Attila was
also married to three German women, the last of whom
unfortunately caused his death.
I surmise that the name of the Hun king Roga can be traced back to
the name of the Viking prince Rurik, and moreover, the territory
called Rugiland at the time of the Huns, which is now in Austrian
hands, and the settlement called Rogaland, in the Norwegian
territory, can be connected to his person.
I believe that one of the titles or honors of Saint Imre was connected
to the name Roga. Bálint Hóman, a historian and university professor,
in his commemoration written in 1930, mentions the fact that the
writer of the Hildesheim Yearbook calls Imre dux Ruizorum.
According to Hóman, Ruizorum was the territory between the Lajta
and Fischa rivers that was returned to the Hungarians in 1030. It was
the ancient Rugiland and Imre became the prince and leader of this
territory. The Rugi were a Germanic tribe in the 5th and 6th
centuries, which in my estimation adopted the name Roga (Ruga) out
of respect for Roga and the name of the territory of Rugiland
originates from this.
22
According to the archaeologist Csaba Bálint, in this data the word dux
means the leader of the royal bodyguard and Ruizorum refers to the
Rus people (Varégs, Varangians). (2012-2013/10)
It is not rare that the name of a ruler has been preserved over
centuries because of the historical events taking place in nations
scattered across many territories. This is convincingly proven in the
preservation of the name of Attila, the great Hun king, in the British
dynasty of Etheling, found among others in the book of Zsuzsanna
Somos, entitled: Attila nagykirály, a négy világtáj ura és hunjai (Great
King Attila, lord of the four corners of the world, and his Huns). In this
book, she also mentions that the wife and mother of King András I
were both Varangian-Rus princesses. (2020/32-37)
But let us return to the 9th and 10th centuries!
5. Hungarian Connections
In the Nestor Chronicle, there is mention of Kij, Scsek and Horiv, who
were Poljan (Eastern Slav) landowners and builders of castles, who
also built the city of Kiev (Kijev) in honor of their eldest brother, Kij.
According to George Vernadsky a Russian-American historian (1887-
1973) and Viktor Padányi, a Hungarian historian, the three builders
were not Slav but Magyar, and their names were originally Keve, Csák
and Geréb. Padányi dates the completion of the construction at 840.
(1956, 1989/325)
György Győrffy writes in his book: István király és műve (King Stephen
and his work), that, in the bodyguard of King (Saint) István, there
were Varangians serving alongside the German knights. (1977/313)
In this same book we can read that, among the auxiliary people
serving as border-guards for Prince Taksony, were the Scandinavian-
Varangian Kulpins. (1977/64) Their significance is demonstrated in
many place-names and names of bodies of water. According to
Anonymus1, the father of the valiant knight, Botond, was also called
Kölpény (Kulpin). (parts 41, 53, 56)
1
Anonymus: Twelfth century chronicler, whose name is unknown.
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5/3. How did Prince Álmos disappear from the history of Kiev?
I find that, in the studies that deal with the Viking- Hungarian
connections, there is a lack of information about the time that Álmos
was the Prince of Kiev. It is hardly mentioned. The historian Viktor
Padányi and a few of his scholarly colleagues have made up for this
lack in their works, so I shall quote from a few of these.
According to Viktor Padányi, the origin of the name Kiev was Keve,
that is the word kő (which means stone). I believe that this opinion is
supported by the way the name Kiev is written in the Gesta of
Anonymus: Kyeu. The Latin alphabet does not contain the letter Ő, so
that was the only way they could write the word KŐ. (In the ancient
Hungarian writing there was and still is a letter for every sound,
including the letter Ő.)
order, the executor of the laws… The ispán could enforce law and
order with armed force and impose his judgment too.” (1981/115)
https://index.hu/tudomany/tortenelem/2017/09/13/szlovak_regeszek_talaltak_meg_almos
_sirjat_fettich_nandor/
After the murder of Askold and Dir, Oleg ruled in Kiev, according to
the Nestor Chronicle. However, according to Padányi, Oleg “was the
leader of a gang of pirates, Norwegian or Danish condottieri
(mercenaries)” who was not the ruler of Kiev, but the ispán or bailiff
of Álmos. (1989/353) I would like to add that the ispán was not a
(land)owner or a ruler, but an employee, therefore according to this,
Oleg was an employee of Álmos.
László Götz explains that “the first political schemes that can truly be
called Slav, from the point of view of people and language, appeared
on the stage of history only after the fall of the Avar Empire
(beginning of the 9th century) and the decline of the Danube Bolgar
power (middle of the 10th century), mainly not even then
independently, … but for the most part in the west under the
direction of the Avar originated leading class, in the south,
dependent on Byzantium, in the east under the leadership of the
ruling classes of the conquering Norman-Varangians – in Novgorod,
and later, -- after the departure of the Magyars – in Kiev under the
Ruriks, in Poland under the rule of the Piaszt family (also probably of
Norman origin) and under the rule of their Norman military escort.”
(Götz, 1994/II. 599)
Márta Font historian: “It seems to me that Oleg must have led the
Varangian Rus down from Novgorod, settled in Kiev and begun
engaging in military activities in the area between Kiev and the Black
sea, after the Hungarian tribal confederation had completely vacated
the Etelköz - that is to say the Hungarians’ departure in 896…”
(2021/103)
Kornél Bakay rightfully rejects the opinion of Gyula Kristó, who writes
that the Hungarian principality was a puppet state, subjected to the
Kazars, and Levedi and Álmos were puppet princes of the Kazars.
“…his statements are completely malicious assumptions, without any
historical base.” (Bakay, 1998/68)
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supported Borics in his claim to the throne and gave him a Byzantine
princess as his wife. Borics asked for and received help from the
Poles, Germans and French in his bid to acquire the throne but he
was unsuccessful. He named one of his sons Kalamanosz, and he held
fast to his claim that Kálmán the Booklover was his father. Eufémia
died in a convent in 1139.
I surmise that this unfortunate marriage was the reason that the
Hungarian presence and Prince Álmos were left out of the Nestor
and later Russian chronicles. Moreover, Eufémia’s father, Kálmán’s
father-in-law, Vlagyimir II. (Monomah) was ruling in Kiev at the time
of the writing of the Chronicle, from 1113 to 1125. The Nestor
Chronicle that was written in 1113, was re-written twice: in 1116 and
in 1118, both times under the reign of Vlagyimir II. (Monomah).
Probably the offended father-in-law, who, in addition was hoping
that his grandson, Borics, would become king of Hungary,
retroactively took out of the chronicle any reference to the activities
of the Magyars and the rule of Prince Álmos.
supports the fact that it was his daughter who was in question.
Szvjatoszláv had two marriages and a son called Vlagyimir
(Volodimir). I have mentioned him before, stating that in order to
claim Kiev, he killed Jaropolk, Taksony’s grandson, and he was later
canonized a saint, because he converted the Slavs to the
Byzantine Christianity.
Dezső Dümmerth writes that István III. “sent home” the Princess of
Halics, who at that time was already living in Hungary. (1977/347)
13. Prince András (1210-1234), son of András (Endre) II, married the
daughter of Misztyiszláv Udaloj, Prince of Novgorod. He later
wanted to divorce her, but the Pope would not give his permission.
15. Konstancia, the daughter of Béla IV. married Prince Leó, or Lev,
the son of Danyiil, the Prince of Halics, who later became king.
16. In the book of Márta Font: The Kings of the House of Árpád and
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the Rurikid Princes, I found the fact, that the first wife of Robert
Károly (1288-1342) of the House of Anjou, was a princess of Halics,
who came from the House of Rurik. (Font M., 2021/123-124) She
refers to the study by Gyula Kristó, which can be found in the
bibliography. Anjou Robert Károly on his mother’s side was
descended from the House of Árpád. His grandmother, Mária, was
the daughter of István V. and Erzsébet Kun.
It was not only among the princes and kings, but Hungarian - Viking
marriages took place among the nobles too. The daughter of the
bojár (aristocrat) of Halics, Szugyiszláv, married the bailiff of Sopron,
called Füle, who was also a master-carpenter and a bán (nobleman).
(Font M., 2017/44)
6. Wife of Prince Álmos (son of Géza I.) Predszláva, daughter of Szvatopolk, Grand
Prince of Kiev
7. Kálmán the Booklover’s first wife Felicia of Sicily, Norman Princess (not of the
House of Rurik but of the House of Hauteville
8. Kálmán the Booklover’s second wife Eufémia, daughter of Vlagyimir Monomach,
Grand Prince of Kiev
9. Husband of Zsófia, daughter of Kálmán Volodimirko, Prince of Halics
the Booklover (from his first marriage)
10. István II. (from the first marriage of Krisztina of Capua, Norman Princess (not of
Kálmán the Booklover the House of Rurik, but the House of Capua)
11. Wife of King Géza II. Efrozina, daughter of Misztyiszláv I, the Great,
Grand Prince of Kiev
12. István III’s fiancée or wife Jaroszlavna, daughter of Jaroszláv I, Prince of
Halics
13. Wife of Prince András (son of Endre II.) Daughter of Misztyiszláv Udaloj, Prince of
Novgorod
14. Husband of Anna, daughter of Béla IV. Rosztyiszláv, Prince of Novgorod
Compiled by Klára Friedrich from the works of Márta Font, Dezső Dümmerth,
Ferenc Bánhegyi and encyclopediae.
The memory of the settlement of those who came from the Rus and
Kievan Rus nation is preserved in settlement names. Here are some
from the collection of geographers Elek Fényes and András Vályi:
Ruszka: County Zemplén, Rusz: County Zemplén, Ruszkócz: County
Ung, Göncz -Ruszka: County Abaúj, Ruszinócz: County Krassó etc.
Kölpény, according to the Czuczor-Fogarasi Dictionary, is a
Transylvanian village in the Maros region. According to Wikipedia,
the place-name Kölpény can also be found in County Bács Bodrog
and County Szerém.
5/6. Summary
In the ninth century, Álmos was the Prince of Kiev and Rurik, followed
by Oleg, was Prince of Novgorod. Although in the Nestor Chronicle
and other altered chronicles there was no mention of it, the role of
41
5/7. Acknowledgements
Thanks to István Atilla Szőke (Kerecsenfészek, 2021) and Ferenc
Bárdosi (Attila Hotel, 2022) for giving me the opportunity to deliver a
lecture on this theme.
Thanks to Margaret Botos for the excellent translation.
Finally, I thank my parents for the books that were published before
1945, and Erzsike, the mother of my husband, Gábor Szakács, for the
books of Ferenc Ribáry, from which I learned many Hungarian facts.
5/8. Bibliography
A magyar honfoglalás kútfői (MTA, 1900, Nap Kiadó, 1995)
42
Font Márta: The Kings of the House of Árpád and the Rurikid Princes
(Eötvös Loránd Research Network, 2021)
Friedrich Klára: Roga hun király (2009)
Friedrich Klára: Hunok, germánok, rovások, runák (2020)
Götz László: Keleten kél a nap I.- II. (Püski Kiadó, 1994)
Győrffy György: István király és műve (Gondolat Kiadó, 1977)
Hóman Bálint: Szent Imre (Magyar Szemle, IX. kötet, 1930/július)
Kanyó Ferenc: Régészháború Álmos állítólagos sírja miatt (Index,
2017/09/13)
Képes Krónika (Európa Könyvkiadó, 1986)
Kézai Simon: Gesta Hungarorum (Kézai Simon Magyar krónikája
címen: Magyar Ház Kiadó, 1999)
Kovárczy István: A magyar-normann kapcsolatokról
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Kristó Gyula: Orosz hercegnő volt-e Károly Róbert első felesége?
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Kristó Gyula: Az első magyar királynék (História, 2000/1.)
Kristó Gyula – Makk Ferenc: Az Árpád-házi uralkodók (IPM Könyvtár,
1988)
László Gyula: Vértesszőlőstől Pusztaszerig (Gondolat Kiadó, 1974)
László Gyula: Árpád népe (Helikon Kiadó, 1986)
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Historical Review, Buenos Aires, 1971. dec.)
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szeged.hu/6261/1/MOK_30_nyomda_beliv.pdf
Padányi Viktor: Dentumagyaria (1956, Veszprém - Turul, 1989)
Page, Raymond Ian: Runes (The British Museum Press, 1987)
Radics Géza: Eredetünk és őshazánk (2002, Eredeti kiadás: 1988)
44
Radványi Béla: Koppány herceg és Szár László (In: Kelet Kapuja, 2021.
okt. dec.)
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Könyvkiadó, 1985)
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(1881)
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(Püski Kiadó, 2020)
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Prince Álmos