From: tgpedersen
Message: 58078
Date: 2008-04-26
> ****GK: I don't know of any legend as such (other than= Svan-hild ?
> subsequent historical theories). There is, of course,
> the Kyiv Foundation Legend, which speaks of three
> brothers (and a sister) as original founders. I
> actually wrote a little book on this (in Ukr. back in
> 1991 "Tajemnytsja pervisnoji Rusy v Kyjevi" ("The
> mystery of Kyiv's original Rus'"). My view is that the
> legend is of Late Hunnic provenance (there is also an
> Armenian version from the 7th c.) and reflects
> political realities from ca. 455-520 CE, not in Kyiv
> but on the lower Dnipro and around central Crimea. It
> was "transplanted" to Kyiv along with this Hunnic
> aristocracy (actually an Iranic clan) which became
> slavicized as the "Polani" (the Armenian version knows
> them as "Paluni"). The "sister Lybid" ("sister
> swan")was added in the early 12th c., by reference to
> the well known Hermanaric and Sunilda "Rosomoni"
> story. Archaeologically, Kyiv was founded near the end
> of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th c. It was
> controlled by the Khazars for about one hundred years,
> then taken over by Varangian warlords in co-operation
> with local Slavs.****