The black myth of the "savagery" of pre-Christian Russia
Pre-christian story Russia is often shown in dark color, our ancestors in it are “wild” barbarians, living in animal skins by hunting and fishing in primitive forests and swamps. The only bright spots are the Norman-Normans who “brought” the light of the foundations of civilization to Russia (according to the Norman theory) and Princess Olga, who is trying to instill the principles of Christianity into the savages. As a result, for the majority of Russian citizens, the pre-Christian history of Russia is a real terra incognita (“Unknown Land” from Lat.).
In fact, at present, Russia needs something like the German “Ancestral Heritage” (Anenerbe). And do not get up in a position and say the type of fie “abomination”, fascism. The gloomy Teutonic genius introduced many new products into the global circulation. It is clear that mysticism, occultism, racism and Nazism have nothing to do in such an institution, but it is necessary to carry out a huge work in the field of archeology, history, the origins of Russia.
Tribes or state
When people talk about the Old Russian state (“protogosudarstvo”), you can often hear about the tribes - glade, Sloven, Drevlyane, Krivichi, Radimichi and many others. When the word "tribe" arises the image of some North American Iroquois or Papuans, but in no way developed community.
Although in reality, any Slavic-Russian "tribe" was a union or super union of tribes that controlled a huge space (equal or significantly more than European kingdoms). The union had a developed system of governance: an elected prince, governors, military squads, a council of nobles, boyars, a popular assembly — a veche. The union of the tribes was primarily a political, territorial, and not a generic phenomenon. Each “reign” or “land” had not only its “reign”, but also the “laws of its fathers,” that is, the legislative system.
In Western Europe, titles were taken very seriously. So in the message of the Bertinsky annals about the embassy of the “people of Ros” to the emperor of the Franks, Louis the Pious (in 839), the lord of the Russians is called “the king”. After more than a hundred years, Princess Olga (the Christian name Elena) was called “Queen Elena” (“Chronicle of the Follower of Reginon”). Eastern sources call the rulers of the Rus "kings" and "kagans" (imperial title). The Russian land is called the state, so Arab Ibn Haukal says: "Ar-Rus, just like al-Khazar and al-Serir, is the name of a state, not people and not a city."
And the fact that in the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) did not recognize the dignity of "kings", calling it "archons" (elders), speaks only of the policy of "Tsargrad". The Romans considered themselves to be the heirs of the Roman Empire, all the surrounding peoples were “barbarians” for them. In Constantinople, they did not recognize the royal title for the Bulgarian tsar (although the Bulgarians threatened the capital of the empire several times), the emir of Egypt, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation.
For contemporaries from the West, or the East, Russia was a mighty state, no worse than the kingdoms of Europe or the mighty and rich Khazar Kaganate.
Gardarika (Gardariki)
The ancient Scandinavians called the Old Russian state - "Gardarika", i.e. "state of cities". It is not surprising that this term is translated as “fence, fence, fortification”, or “yard, enclosed space”. At that time, the main value of the city is the fortification, the fortress.
For example, the largest city in the Mediterranean - Constantinople, was called by the Scandinavians Miklgard (Miklagarđr). And according to the German chronicler Tithmar of Merseburg, Kiev was a rival to the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople. They noted a large number of cities of Russia and Eastern sources, Arab ibn Ruste wrote that the Ruses have “many cities”.
It is clear that the people of the East, familiar with Baghdad and Cairo, the Scandinavians who saw the cities of England, France, Spain and Italy, unanimously assert that the Rus of the pre-Christian era had cities. Moreover, in such quantity that it was surprising to experienced travelers.
Such a source as the “Bavarian Geographer” is a list of peoples and unions of tribes, mainly of Slavic origin, who inhabited areas in the 9th century east of the Frankish state, reports dozens and hundreds of cities (!) Of East Slavic principalities. So the bougains had 231 hail (city), streets -418, etc.
And since there were cities, it means there were also craft “ends” (quarters). Russia was famous for its masters. Russian weapon already then it was a very salable commodity, Russian swords, according to contemporaries, were not inferior to the Frankish or Arabic blades. Ibn Ruste mentions the wonderful chain mail of the Slavs, and in the French poem "Renault de Montaban" refers to the "magnificent chain mail from Russia", which was acquired by the main character.
Russian faith
Many consider our ancestors to be dense pagans, although if we try to understand the faith of our ancestors, it becomes clear that it was a sunny, bright belief, filled with universal harmony, goodness and justice. The concepts of our ancestors, which we absorb from childhood through fairy tales, the ancient Russian epics, still do not allow us to completely degrade, to become "two-legged vegetables."
It is foolish to think that the paganism of the Rus is a wild, backward belief. Modern Japan, India, and in many ways China, retain their ancient beliefs and do not suffer from this. They make the life of their peoples more meaningful, they allow to restrain the onslaught of "universal" (Western) values.
It is interesting that in many ways the faith of the Rus is still alive today; it has been preserved not only in fairy tales and epics, but also has been absorbed into Christianity. By making it orthodoxy ("glory rule"). The main myth images are preserved: the Christian Trinity, the image of the Virgin, George the victorious serpent - the Slavic Triglavs, the Mother Lada - Rozhanitsa, Perun the victorious serpent (Veles-Volos), etc.
Russians need to know their roots, the faith of their ancestors, who believed in the One God the Father, the Parent of all things (the Genus), Mother Earth, God the Son (the Sun).
Russian writing. Population literacy
For centuries, Russians were inspired by the “good Greeks” written by “wild pagans” - the monks Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius. But now we have a lot of data that the Slavic Rus had their writing long before baptism. A written language is the hallmark of a developed civilization.
For example, two ancient Russian swords (of the pre-Christian era) were found, with Slavic inscriptions on them - apparently, the names of blacksmiths, “Lyudota Koval” and “Slavimir”. This also shows that literacy was quite widespread in Russia - it was owned by artisans (in Western Europe, the clergy were mostly literate, and even the highest nobility was illiterate). They report on the literacy of the Rus and Eastern sources.
Another tangible evidence of the existence of Slavic writing is the inscription on the famous “Nest of Korchag” of the middle of the 10 century (it was found in one of the Gnezdovo barrows in 1949 by D.A. Avdusin). The inscription consists of a single word "peanut" (apparently mustard), scratched on the surface of an already burnt-on crabs. There are other material evidence, as in Novgorod a wooden tag with an inscription was found, in layers of the 10th century.
In the life of Cyril (the "founder" of Russian writing) it is reported that while passing through Korsun-Khersones (an ancient city near modern Sevastopol), he saw the Gospel and the Shepherd written in Russian letters.
It should be noted that many Russ were literate before baptism and after the baptism of Russia. Archaeological finds say that not only princes and priests were literate, but also simple people - artisans, merchants, people who served.
Thus, our ancestors were very developed people, had their own power, civilization, long before baptism. The “black” myth of the savagery of the “ancient Slavs” is a tool of the information war, created to destroy the memory of a unique ancient Russian civilization, creating an inferiority complex in our country. We must do a great job of restoring the image of our ancestors, their history, faith, their spiritual and material culture. Currently, a number of researchers are making significant efforts to destroy the "white spots" in the history of Russia. We can recommend the remarkable encyclopedia of M. Semenova “We are Slavs” (author of the famous novel “Wolfhound”), research by Lev Prozorov (“The Times of Russian Bogatyrs”, “Varyazhskaya Rus”, etc.) and other authors.
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