amphora came to Gnëzdovo from the area of Bulgaria on the Danube (Arne 1952 : 342 ;
Nefedov 2001 : 66 ). Thus this is not adequate proof for the existence of a bilingual
population among the Northmen in the east at this time.
Some scholars have argued that the most important evidence that shows the cultural
assimilation of Scandinavians is the time when they stopped speaking their native
language and writing with runes (Melnikova 2003 : 455 ). Runic inscriptions written on
different artefacts from the ninth to twelfth centuries found in Old Ladoga, Riurikovo
Gorodishche and Zvenigorod are evidence that some Scandinavians still kept their
native language (Melnikova 2001 , 2003 : 456 ).
Another piece of evidence that could be taken into consideration in the problem of
whether they kept their Scandinavian identity are the Old Norse personal names that
appear in some inscriptions on the wall of the St Sofia Cathedral in Novgorod and birch-
bark letters from Novgorod (Melnikova 2003 : 462 ). According to these records, the
bearers of these names lived in the north-eastern rural areas of the Novgorod land and
until the fourteenth century kept their Scandinavian identity. On the basis of these data
it was summarised that in these rural areas, the process of assimilation developed much
more slowly than in the towns (Melnikova 2003 : 464 ).
The comparative analysis of both archaeological and written sources shows that pro-
cesses of cultural assimilation and shaping identities among the descendants of Scandi-
navians were more complicated in the urban communities. It could be seen on the basis
of the social topography of Kiev and Chernihiv. In both centres, a strong continuity
between family graves from the Viking Age, churches and graveyards from the tenth–
twelfth centuries could be suggested. The founders of chapels, churches and monasteries
often had Scandinavian origins. For example, Prince Yaroslav had the church of St Irina
built close to where Prince Dir lay in his grave. A certain ‘Olma’ (Holmi), who had a
property close to the grave of Prince Askold (Haskuld), had the church of St Nikolai
built there. There was also a building in the upper town called Turova bozjnica (Þórr’s
chapel), indicating its Scandinavian connection (Androshchuk 2004 b). The location of
the Scandinavian graves in the upper part of the town, the exceptional character of the
finds, and their continuation into and contact with the house plots of the aristocracy in
the eleventh–twelfth centuries, of which we know from archaeological and written
sources, are evidence that people of Scandinavian origin became a prominent part of the
elite in the town. The biographies of two Scandinavian families could be traced on the
basis of written sources. From The Primary Chronicle we learn that in Kiev on the domain
of one royal estate two boyar properties existed in the latter part of the eleventh century,
where the Boyars Mikyfor Kyanin and Mikula Chiudin lived. These two were involved
in the compiling of the first code of law for Rus’ territory entitled Pravda Yaroslavichej
from 1072. Mikula Chiudin was later to receive the town of Vyshgorod on loan from
Prince Izjaslav. Despite his Slavic name, there is reason to believe that Chiudin was a
descendant of eminent members of the Scandinavian royal bodyguards in tenth-century
Kiev. This is suggested by the name of his brother Tuki (Tóki), which was most frequent
as a name in Scandinavia. The collection of tales of the monastery’s history and inhabit-
ants (Pateric) at the Cave Monastery in Kiev tells about Varangian Simon (Sigmundr),
who was one of the sons of Varangian prince Afrikan (Alfrékr). He was a brother of Jakun
(Hákon) who served with Prince Yaroslav and took part in the battle of Listven against
Mstislav, brother of Yaroslav, in 1024. He lived the remainder of his life among the
Rus’, where he served first with Prince Yaroslav and then with his son. We also know the
–– Fjodor Androshchuk––