The Varangians (; Old Norse: Væringjar; Medieval Greek: Βάραγγοι, Várangoi; or Varyags (Old East Slavic, Russian: варяги, varyagi; Ukrainian: варяги, varyahy; Belarusian: варагі, varahi; Medieval Greek: Βαριάγοι, Variágoi, sometimes referred to as Variagians, was the name given by Greeks, Rus' people, and others to Vikings, who between the 9th and 11th centuries ruled the medieval state of Kievan Rus', settled among many territories of modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard. According to the 12th-century Kievan Primary Chronicle, a group of Varangians known as the Rus' settled in Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik. Before Rurik, the Rus' might have ruled an earlier hypothetical polity named Rus' Khaganate. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Rurik's descendants.
