So how did they end up in what is now Western Russia? There is a story that they were invited there.

Evidence of this is found in the early chronicles, which tell the story about the famous and controversial "Rurik invitation."

According to the monks who wrote these chronicles the event took place in the year 862. "Clan rose up against clan, and there was strife between them. Our land is great and rich, yet there is no order in it." So the Eastern Slavs appealed to the northern Varangians: "Come, bring order to us and dispose over us."

Many scholars today are challenging the credibility of this legend. Some even doubt the existence of Rurik. But there is some element of truth in the chroniclers saga. The existence of a Norse-controlled state in the Northwest before 862 is supported by non-Russian sources. The "Annales" of Bertiani speak of "Rhos" appearing in Constantinople in 839. Kluchevsky, the great nineteenth century Russian historian, thinks they were emissaries of the Khazars, a non-Slavic tribe living near the mouth of the Volga..