Rurik. Lost past

Umila, the daughter of Gostomysl , one of the rulers of the eastern Slavic tribes from Lake Ladoga , married Godslav , the prince of the western Slavic Bodriches . They had three sons - Rurik , Sineus and Truvor . Over time, Gostomysl became one of the elders who called "the Varangians from across the sea" ^[5] .

Gostomysl remembered his grandson, Rurik, since by this moment he had lost his own children. Four of his sons were killed by the Khazars and Normans . Rurik, who for several reasons became a formidable Baltic pirate, heeded the request of his grandfather and even brought along a trained army, which included his countrymen, Vikings , and other mercenaries. He remained to reign in Ladoga , and the brothers, in order to protect themselves from the Normans and the Khazars, were imprisoned in Izborsk and Beloozero . Novgorod Rus gradually formed in this triangle. So, according to the authors of the film, there was a unification of the Western and Eastern Slavs ^[5] .

The film was created by Russian satirist writer, member of the Union of Writers of Russia Mikhail Zadornov . Zadornov, who published in the same 2012 the book “ Prince Rurik. Where did the Russian land come from ” ^[6] , the film claims that Rurik is the chronicler of the statehood of Russia , the Varangian , the Prince of Novgorod from 862 and the ancestor of the princely, and later tsarist, Rurik dynasty - like all Varangians, he was a Slav from the South Baltic , and that the history of the Slavs goes back more than five thousand years. According to him, these statements are based on annals, myths, legends, excavation results, etymology, toponymy of words, results of genetic examinations. The essence of the film, Mikhail Zadornov formulated in the following words ^[5] :

They like to say that before the advent of Christianity, the Slavs were savages. Honestly, the film is dedicated to this. Not Rurik , he is just a draw. Our culture was the greatest. And today we chop off a thousand years of existence of the Slavs at least. I would like today's churchmen to not be afraid of paganism. The Greeks, after all, are also Christians. But remember the ancient gods. And proud of them. And we, the Slavs, today know more about Zeus than about our Perun .

According to Zadornov, the film was shot with money collected by subscription ^[7] . The original title of the film is “ Rarog . Flight of the falcon ” ^[7] .

In 2013, Zadornov’s self-titled book “ Rurik. Lost Story ” ^[8] , also Zadornov (co-authored with V. and Yu. Gnatyuk ^[9] ) in 2013 published the book“ Rurik. Flight of the falcon ” ^[10] .

• Mikhail Zadornov is a Soviet and Russian writer , playwright .
• Ilya Glazunov - Soviet and Russian artist, painter , teacher. Founder and Rector of the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture I. S. Glazunov . Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts .
• Vyacheslav Fomin - Professor, Faculty of History, Leningrad State Pedagogical University, Doctor of Historical Sciences
• Anatoly Klyosov - visiting professor of biochemistry at Harvard School of Medicine in 1990-1998.
• Sergey Bezrukov - People's Artist of Russia.
• Vladimir Platonov - Chairman of the Moscow City Duma .
• Andrei Sakharov - Director of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1993—2010, doctor of historical sciences, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences .
• Ekaterina Krushelnitskaya - Head. sector of the manuscript department of the Russian National Library .
• Sergey Alekseev is a writer.
• Svetlana Zharnikova - ethnologist , candidate of historical sciences.
• Vitaly Sundakov - writer, traveler.
• Konstantin Sokolov is a falconer.
• Andrei Lukoshkov - historian, underwater archaeologist.
• Lydia Grot is a historian.
• Adrian Celine . Doctor of Historical Sciences, Deputy Director of the Staraya Ladoga Museum-Reserve

Criticism of specialists

The historian Yevgeny Pchelov in his review of the film Zadornova writes:

Attributing ethnic importance to genetics, Zadornov followed A. A. Klyosov (who, by the way, together with the pseudo-scientist A. A. Tyunyaev , the founder of the “science” of the organism, published a large book on the origin of man) became convinced of the greatness of the Slavs, from where only Varangians-Rus could come to the future Russia, that is, light-brown Solevars ^[2] .

He also notes that:

Repeatedly appear on the screen and their portraits (even with horns once), but it’s bad luck, Schloetzer's portrait is faithful, Miller's portrait is similar, and instead of Bayer, the audience is shown no less than Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev , the same one to whom Zadornov praises the second parts of his film. But all this is also trifles ... ^[2]

Regarding the polemics of the "Normanists" and the "Slavists", the Bees remark:

There has been no normanism (nor anti-Normanism) in historical science for a long time, and Zadornov’s primitive views, attributed to them by historians, are pure fiction ... this same “Normanism” is understood by Zadornov very primitively, within the framework of the very 18th century, to which he appeals. According to Zadornov, the Norman scholars, who destroyed the historical truth, represented and represent the case as if the Slavs lived in absolute savagery, walked in almost animal skins, ate raw meat - until the Varangians arrived, and only the Varangians, whom the Normans considered Scandinavians, brought to Russia state, culture and civilization ^[2] .

An archaeologist , cultural anthropologist , philologist , science historian Lev Klein described Zadornov’s film as “militant amateurism” ^[11] :

So he recalls his constant saying about the Americans: "they are stupid." This is it about a nation that has beaten out first in the world in many basic vital indicators. Looking from the hearth of the laggards, occupying very different places in many respects. This has long been perceived as the malicious smile of a satirist. And suddenly it began to come: and he is serious!

The film is from the same opera. The author seriously believes that Russians are the most ancient people of Europe, that the truth about the origin of Russia is written in the Mecklenburg Genealogies, that Lydia Grot is a great scientist, and Rurik is a Slav from Western Germany, and that this is still better than from enemy Sweden . Is it always worth applauding to a comedian?

A participant in the film, a longtime opponent of Klein, Professor Vyacheslav Fomin objected to the criticism of the film and anti-Normanism ^[12]

Doctor of Biological Sciences Svetlana Borinskaya , chief researcher at the N. I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences , speaking out against assigning ethnic labels to genetic lines, noted that in the film the history of the Slavs and Russians is presented different from scientific ideas ^[13] .

The historian K. A. Zhukov, in a review of the film, calls the argument of M. Zadornov with Norman theory “a fight with a windmill”, because “the issue has lost its relevance and is no longer posed in science except in a historiographic vein” ^[3] . According to the historian, “Mikhail Nikolaevich is not fighting with the Normanists, but with science”, and “the set of forgeries, frauds, distortions surely takes Zadornov’s film (along with other“ historical ”studies) beyond the framework of scientific analysis directly into the field of pseudo-science” ^{[ 3]} .

Media criticism

In the print media, the film did not cause significant resonance. His discussion took place in online publications. Among the reviews, although there was a positive effect in the form of arousing interest in native history, the film was criticized for its one-sidedness and populism in its approach to the topic ^{[14] [15]} .

“Novgorod Vedomosti” writes: “despite the inherent theatricality of the presenter, the purpose of the film inspired respect - to revive national pride in the Russian people. The form for this was quite television for itself ” ^[14] .

Dmitry Bykov , speaking in December 2012 on the air of the program “ Minority Opinion ” (“ Echo of Moscow ”), described Zadornov’s works on the origin of Russia as xenophobic , conspiracy and parascientific ^[16] .

• The film "Rurik. Lost Story ”on the official channel of M. Zadornov // Website Youtube.com
• Horace was a vandal // Portal Lenta.ru , 11/28/2012
• Silver D. Satirik Zadornov and Prince Rurik - did you manage to come to the truth // ITAR-TASS , December 17, 2012.
• Lebedev V.P. The Praslavians conquer the world on elephants (banter of Zadornov and the science of Klyosov) // Almanac "Swan" , 02/03/2013. - No. 672.