Rurik.

Rurik (? - 879+).

Parents: Godoslav (808x), Prince of Bodrich; Umila.
There are chronicles that suggest that Rurik's mother was the grandson of the Novgorod prince Gostomysl;

Children: Efanda, beloved wife, daughter of the Prince of Urman, from the family of Norwegian kings =>

Igor (877-946x); (see genealogical table)

Highlights of life

Prince of Novgorod (862-879);

Along with the legend about the "calling of the Varangians", Russian chronicles have preserved some specific data about Rurik, which allow us to get an idea of the events in Novgorod, which form the real basis of this legend. The Ipatiev Chronicle contains evidence that before Novgorod, Rurik sat in the castle town he built in Ladoga. This evidence, confirmed by Scandinavian sources, as well as archaeological finds of objects of Scandinavian origin in the Ladoga region, undermines the very basis of the legend about the "calling of the Varangians" from across the sea.

According to V.O.Klyuchevsky, Rurik arrived in Novgorod from Ladoga, located only two hundred kilometers from Novgorod downstream of the Volkhov River, as the leader of a hired Varangian squad, invited there by the Novgorod elders during internal strife. These strife helped him seize power in Novgorod. 
The transformation of Rurik from the leader of a mercenary squad into a Novgorod prince contributed to the cessation of strife and strengthening the role of Novgorod as a political center of the union of the northern group of Slavic tribes.

This allowed the successor of Rurik Oleg to organize a campaign to the south, which ended with the conquest of Kyiv by Oleg and the transfer of the center of the united state to Kyiv. This event, attributed by the annals to 882, is traditionally considered the date of the formation of the Old Russian state.

In reality, Igor (877-946x) was the founder of the Russian princely dynasty. And only in the XII century, the chronicler Nestor, in  "The Tale of Bygone Years", seeking to ideologically strengthen the unity of the Russian land, creates his legendary genealogy, in which Rurik, who reigned in Novgorod, becomes the "father of " Igor, who reigned in Kyiv.

Material from the site

FROM ANCIENT Rus' TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Rurik (tribe I). Legendary Varangian, called to reign by Slovenes, Krivichs, Chuds and all. The ancestor of the Rurikovich. Book. Novgorod in 862-879 + 879

"The Tale of Bygone Years" tells this about Rurik: from the Krivichi, and from the Vesi, and the Khazars took tribute from the meadows, northerners and Vyatichi. In 862, they expelled the Varangians across the sea and did not give them tribute, but began to rule themselves. And there was no truth among them, and generation upon generation stood up, and there was strife among them, and they began to fight with themselves, and they said to themselves: "Let's look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus, just as others were called Svei (Swedes), and others - Normans and Angles, and still other Gotlanders - that's how these were called. Chud Rus, Slavs, Krivichi and all said: "Our land is great and plentiful, but there is no order in it. Come reign and rule over us." And three brothers were chosen with their clans, and they took all of Rus' with them, and came to the Slavs. And the elder Rurik sat in Ladoga, and the other - Sineus - on Beloozero, and the third Truvor - in Izborsk. And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed.

In 864, when Truvor and Sineus died, Rurik ordered to cut down the city of Novgogod on Ilmen and settled there. And Rurik alone began to rule over all that land, and began to distribute cities to his men - Polotsk to that, Rostov to that, Beloozero to another.

In 879, Rurik died, passing the reign to his relative Oleg, and gave him his son Igor, for he was still very small.

All the monarchs of the world. Russia. 600 short biographies. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999

Currently, one of the leading Scandinavian philologists, E.A. and «faithful squad» (as tracing papers from the supposedly Old Norse "sine hus" and "thru varing", which goes back to the ideas of G.Z. Bayer and B.A. Rybakov). Such a version could only be established among historians who are not familiar with the Old Norse languages, since these "phrases" absolutely do not correspond to the elementary norms of the morphology and syntax of the Old Norse languages, as well as the semantics of the words hus and vaeringi, which never had the meaning "genus, relatives"; and "squad". Already in the middle of the XIX century. A.A. Kunik and N.T. Belyaev proved the origin of the chronicle names Sineus and Truvor from the Old Norse Signjótr and Þórvar[ð]r. E.A. Melnikova showed that these names are well known in runic inscriptions and the Icelandic anthroponymicon. Thus, in the text of "The Tale of Bygone Years" Sineus and Truvor appear as personal names

RURIK, SINEUS, TROVOR, according to Russian chronicle legends, three brother-kings, that is, the leader of the Varangian squads, allegedly called “from across the sea” Novgorod Slavs in order to end the civil strife in Novgorod and founded the Old Russian state. According to this version, Rurik sat in Novgorod, Sineus — in Beloozero, Truvor — in Izborsk. The quick death of the middle and younger brothers made Rurik the sovereign ruler of the Novgorod land. Some scholars identify him with Rorik the Danish, who led the Varangian squad to raid the countries of Western Europe (until 860). 

Rurik ruled first in Ladoga. He was not called "from across the sea", but seized power in Novgorod in 862, taking advantage of internal strife. This caused an uprising against the Varangians, led by Vadim the Brave. Rurik executed Vadim and his “advisors”, other Novgorodians fled to Kyiv. The legend of “calling” Varangians, which developed in Novgorod or Ladoga in the 11th century, was used in editing the Tale of Bygone Years” in n. 12th century to explain the origin and glorify the ruling Russian princely dynasty, the founder of which was Rurik. This version formed the basis of the anti-scientific Norman theory. The legend about the creation of the Old Russian state by Rurik is refuted by numerous sources that speak of the formation of statehood among the Slavs long before the 9th century. and about the formation of the Old Russian state as a result of internal social development.

B. Buganov