Uploaded July 2010 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The Italy runestones with English translation from the Scandinavian runic-text database.
The young men who applied for a position in the Varangian guard were not uncouth roughnecks, as in the traditional stereotype, but instead, it appears that they were usually fit and well-raised young warriors who were skilled in weapons. They were the kind of warriors who were welcome as the elite troops of the Byzantine Emperor, and who the rulers of Kievan Rus requested from Scandinavia when they were under threat.
The Italy runestones with English translation from the Scandinavian runic-text database.
The young men who applied for a position in the Varangian guard were not uncouth roughnecks, as in the traditional stereotype, but instead, it appears that they were usually fit and well-raised young warriors who were skilled in weapons. They were the kind of warriors who were welcome as the elite troops of the Byzantine Emperor, and who the rulers of Kievan Rus requested from Scandinavia when they were under threat.
