Voivode Sveneld and the Russian princes of the Rurik dynasty in the chronicles

The authors analyze the history of the long-lived voivode Sveneld, associated with many of the most important events during the formation of Kievan Rus, trying to determine how reliable the established “black legend about Sveneld” is. They focus on the problem of the relationship between the warlord Sveneld and the Rurikids princes and his role in the destinies of the first Russian princes and Ancient Russia as a whole. The authors sought to develop the topic both on the basis of modern achievements of historical analysis, source studies and textual criticism, and in the light of new archaeological data.