12/10/2025
SVIATOSLAV was grand prince of the RUS from 945 to 970 AD. He was the war-like pagan son of a Christian mother, Saint Olga, that ruled as a regent after her husband Igor was executed by a rival Slavic tribe, the Drevlians. Igor’s feet were tied to two bent birch trees, and when they let the trees straighten again, his body was torn apart. The widow Olga then avenged his husband’s death by brutally punishing the Drevlians. Sviatoslav is mostly known for his military campaigns as far as the Balkans and the Caspian Sea. He destroyed the Khazar Khaganate and was finally killed by the nomadic Turkic-speaking Pechenegs. The khan of the Pechenegs, Kurya, turned Sviatoslav’s skull into a drinking cup. Sviatoslav’s illegitimate son, Vladimir the Great, took power with the help of the king of Norway, adopted Christianity and began the Christianization of the Rus, and married Anna Porphyrogenita, the sister of the Byzantine emperor Basil II “the Bulgar slayer”, as part of an alliance that also resulted in the creation of the Varangian Guard, the Viking personal bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors.
Sviatoslav was the grandson or great-grandson of Rurik, a Swedish Viking after whom the Rurikid dynasty is named. The Rurikids ruled the land of the Rus (a territory roughly corresponding to modern day Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia) from 862 AD to 1598 AD. One of the last members of the dynasty was Ivan the Terrible, the first “tsar” of all Russia. The Rus established their capital at Kyiv, reason for which 19th century Russian historians started calling this Early Medieval state “Kievan Rus”. It is believed that the term “Rus” originally meant “men who row”, as a reference to the Swedish Vikings that sailed the rivers of Eastern Europe from the Baltic. Despite the Norse origin of the ruling dynasty, and a strong Scandinavian ethnic component in the main urban centres, the population of the Rus was mostly East Slavic. The cultural and ethno-linguistic identity of the Rurikid grand princes after Rurik is uncertain, but we can guess they were Slavicized to some extent, if not almost completely. The Rus also had strong influences from the Eurasian Steppe.
References:
- The Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon described Sviatoslav as “a bright-eyed man of average height but of stalwart build, much sturdier than Tzimiskes (Byzantine emperor). He had a bald head and a wispy beard and wore a bushy moustache and a sidelock as a sign of his nobility. He preferred to dress in white, and it was noted that his garments were much cleaner than those of his men, although he had a lot in common with his warriors. He wore a single large gold earring bearing a carbuncle and two pearls.”
- No earring matching the one described by Leo the deacon has been found in the Rus, so I based mine on an interpretation by Katthund Workshop that resembles earrings worn by neighbouring steppe nomads.
- Sword from Karabchievo (Kyiv, Ukraine), late 10th - early 11th centuries (replica by Dima Hramtsov).
- Rus scabbard chape, 10th-11th centuries, replica by True History Shop.
- Long knife from Gnezdovo, with parallelisms in the Baltic and Sweden. Replica by Lars Jensen.
- “Tarsoly” Magyar (Hungarian) pouch with a decorated silver plaque. I used a replica of a Hungarian find made by Khazar Bazar, but a very similar silver tarsoly plaque was found in Shestovytsia, Ukraine, dating to the 10th century. Fancy eastern pouches of this type, sometimes with a large, embossed and gilded silver plaque, sometimes with small bronze fittings, were luxury items among the Rus and even among some Swedes. Notice that I made it smaller than the oversized replicas worn by most modern reenactors, because unlike us, they didn’t have giant smartphones in the Early Middle Ages.
- Magyar belt from Gnezdovo, Russia. Fancy belts of Hungarian or Eurasian manufacture were another popular exotic item among the Rus.
- The cloak pin is based on a typology that was common in the Baltic area, Sweden and the Rus during the 10th century. Replica made by Katthund Workshop.
- From the belt hangs a “marlinspike” made of antler, a tool used in marine ropework. One of these tools is represented hanging from the belt of a Bulgarian warrior in the Menologion of Basil II and some have been found in Viking contexts.
- The baggy pants are based on the famous find from Hedeby (German part of Jutland), as well as numerous depictions in runestones and other artifacts, mostly from Sweden. This seems to be the most up-to-date interpretation of the baggy pants from Hedeby, much more pleated than the ones worn by most modern reenactors. Replica made by Kvetun.
- The cloak, made of wool, has block-printed roundels, based on a find from Chernihiv, Ukraine.
- The tunic is trimmed with silk which is based on a find from Gnezdovo, Russia.
- Axe based on numerous finds. This axe type was specific to the Rus.
- Shoes from Novgorod, Russia, 10th century.
- Leg wraps from Hedeby, also represented in Early Medieval European iconography. Secured with a tablet woven band under the knee, which is fastened with a bronze hook based on identical finds from Timerevo (Russia) and Birka (Sweden).
- Viking shield with iron boss and iron edge clamps after numerous finds from the Rus area. Iron shield bosses were extremely rare in the Slavic context. Native Slavic shields were entirely organic and usually lacked a central boss. The few shield bosses found in Slavic territory come from areas that had contact with Scandinavia.
- Silk sash based on a presumed Early Medieval find from Kyiv and a later Medieval representation of the grand princes of the Rus in the Boris and Gleb Cathedral of Chernihiv, Ukraine.
- In the background there is a Slavic stone idol based on the Zbruch idol, found near Lychkivtsi, Ukraine.
HQ + close-ups: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/x3Boa2
