Garðaríki
Old Norse name for Rus' / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Garðaríki (anglicized Gardariki or Gardarike)[7][8] or Garðaveldi was the Old Norse term used in the Middle Ages for the lands of Rus'.[9][10][11][12][13][note 1] According to Göngu-Hrólfs saga, the name Hólmgarðaríki (also used as a name for Novgorodian Rus')[20][21] was synonymous with Garðaríki, and these names were used interchangeably in several other Old Norse stories.[22]
As the Varangians dealt mainly with the northern lands of Rus',[23][24][25] their sagas regard the city of Hólmgarðr/Hólmgarðaborg (usually identified with Novgorod)[note 2][43][44][45][46] as the capital of Garðaríki.[note 3][58][59][60][61] Other important places of Garðaríki mentioned in the sagas that have generally been identified with well known historical towns are Aldeigja/Aldeigjuborg (Ladoga),[62][63][64][65] Kœnugarðr/Kænugarðr (Kiev),[66][67] Pallteskja/Pallteskia (Polotsk),[68][69][70] Smaleskja/Smaleskia (Smolensk),[71][72] Súrdalar (Suzdal),[73] Móramar (Murom),[74] and Rostofa (Rostov).[3][1][75][76][77][78]
At least seven of the Varangian runestones, G 114,[79] N 62,[80] Sö 148,[81] Sö 338,[82] U 209,[83] U 636,[84] and Öl 28,[85] refer to Scandinavian men who had been in Garðar.[86][87][88][89]