Askold and Dir

Askold (Haskuldr in Old East Norse and Höskuldr in Old West Norse) was a prince of Kiev and founder of the first Eastern Slavic state formation in Dnieper Ukraine. According to the Nikon Chronicle Askold's name was spelled out as Oskold. Nonetheless, Askold is widely popular however after the Primary Chronicle where he along with another voivode Dir were of Rurik's clan in the 870s. That chronicle implies that 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 Miklagård, Slavic Tsargrad). When travelling on the Dnieper, they saw a settlement on a mountain and asked to whom it belonged. They were told that it was Kyiv 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 eastern Polans. The chronicle also states that they were killed by Oleg the Seer around 882, yet they were buried in various places. According to the Primary Chronicle he tricked and killed Askold and Dir using an elaborate scheme. Vasily Tatischev, Boris Rybakov and some other Russian and Ukrainian historians interpreted the 882 coup d'état in Kiev as the reaction of the pagan Varangians to Askold's baptism. Tatischev went so far as to style Askold "the first Rusian martyr".

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