Hi I'm Russian too but have never actually been to Russia and don't know too many Russian people.
My question is what does Russian society think about the kievan rus and the vikings that founded it. Is pre romanov family history taught in schools, do people even know about them?
Cool thing is that the name Russia comes from the name of the tribe that the local slavs invited to rule them in the 9th century. They were called "Rus" or rowers in old norse.
The first ruler of this state was Knqz Rurik founder of the Rurikovich dynasty who'd go on to be rulers of Russia until the house of Romanov (a junior branch of the rurikovich dynasty) would gain power with mikhail the first becoming tsar after the last rurikovich tsar died without an heir.
What do you think of them do you think some norse influence still lingers from them? I know that they were a ruling minority and that there wasn't too many norse settlers to make a significant genetic impact but do you think that we have inherited some of their culture or do you think that it was all killed when the mongols sacked and conquered the kievan rus state?
A lot of historians contribute the Mongol conquest to be the death of the kievan rus and it's history and I wouldn't say that I disagree.
When reading about "Viking" expansion/conquest, it seems that the Western expansion was typically (but not exclusively) done by the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish vikings who pillaged England, France, etc.. Then, the Eastward expansion - into the Slav realm - was more so done by Finns.
Obviously, geography played a big part here. Though, none the less, I am trying to learn more about how these people were either different of the same from each other.
Edit/follow-up: thank you, all, for all of the great information and insight. I will be sure to a few folks individually, as well.
I knew I didn’t have my facts straight or entirely correct which is why I am glad I asked. There is much more to learn! Next, I will be looking for a list of identified and translated runes.
Kievan Rus doesn't equal Russia. Sure, they sound simillar, but they are absolutely distinct historical nations. Basically, the Kievan Rus was a medieval large nation spanning from modern day St. Petersburg to about the northern coast of the black sea. It was not either russian, or ukrainian, or belorussian, as many nationalists like to claim. Back then, these identities did not exist. Its capital was in modern day Kyiv.
Russia on the other hand is a different and later nation, also made up of mainly eastern slavs, but not related to Kievan Rus. Teritorically, the Kievan Rus territories were pretty equally spread between modern day Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.
TL:DR The Kievan Rus is not Russa, will never be Russia, and never was Russia.
[Eng]
Because our brain does not think in absolute terms. And only in "more or less". A classic example is hot coffee in one hand and cold ice cream in the other. Then both hands under the same stream of water, and the sensations will differ. It is difficult for us to evaluate is an object far or close, large or small - if there is no object of known size nearby. And the same for self-esteem. If a person doubts himself, an easy way to feel better is to surround yourself with those who are even worse. Or even better - by those who seem to be the great, and then humiliate them. Immediately fifty points of dopamine to this macho. (sarcasm). Alas, this method is not sound, work only in short-term and not only does not help in the long run, but makes situation even worse. The fact is that a person REALLY knows that he is not cool, but only looks like that (more often than not, he just thinks that he looks good). And he is very afraid that the "deception" will be revealed, which means that the difference between who he SHOULD be and who he REALLY is (both values - from his point of view) became bigger and bigger, which means more stress, more noradrenaline's aggression on others, more addictions to dopamine reactions, more toxic communications, etc. In short, the condition is progressing at an ever faster rate. It really sucks to be an abuser.
[Rus]
Потому что наш мозг не мыслит абсолютными значениями. А исключительно больше-меньше. Классический пример - в одну руку горячий кофе, в другую - холодное мороженое. Потом обе руки под одну струю воды, и ощущения будут различаться. Нам сложно оценить объект далеко/близко, большой или маленький - если рядом с ним нет объекта известного размера. И аналогично с самооценкой. Если человек сомневается в себе - простой способ это окружить себя теми, кто ещё хуже. Вообще идеальный - теми, кто вроде как лучше, а потом их унизить. Сразу пятьдесят очков дофамина этому мачо. (сарказм). Увы, этот способ не здравый, кратковременный и не только не помогает в дальнейшей перспективе, но делает даже хуже. Дело в том, что человек НА САМОМ ДЕЛЕ знает, что нифига он не крут, а только выглядит таким (чаще чем нет, лишь думает, что выглядит). И очень боится, что "обман" вскроется, а значит разница между тем, кем он ДОЛЖЕН быть и кем он есть на самом деле (обе величины - с его точки зрения) всё больше, а значит больше стресса, больше норадреналиновой агрессии на окружающий, больше зависимостей от дофаминовых реакций, ещё больше едкости
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