Garðaríki

Garðaríki (anglicized Gardariki or Gardarike)[7][8] or Garðaveldi was the Old Norse term used in the Middle Ages for the lands of Rus'.

[22] As the Varangians dealt mainly with the northern lands of Rus',[23][24][25] their sagas regard the city of Hólmgarðr/Hólmgarðaborg (usually identified with Novgorod)[note 2][43][44][45][46] as the capital of Garðaríki.

[note 3][58][59][60][61] Other important places of Garðaríki mentioned in the sagas that have generally been identified with well known historical towns are Aldeigja/Aldeigjuborg (Ladoga),[62][63][64][65] Kœnugarðr/Kænugarðr (Kiev),[66][67] Pallteskja/Pallteskia (Polotsk),[68][69][70] Smaleskja/Smaleskia (Smolensk),[71][72] Súrdalar (Suzdal),[73] Móramar (Murom),[74] and Rostofa (Rostov).

[16] Garðar is a plural form of the Old Norse word garðr which referred to 1) a fence; 2) a fortification; 3) a yard; 4) a court; 5) a farm; 6) a village house,[121][122][94][note 5] while the related Old Russian word городъ[note 6] referred to 1) a fence; 2) a fortification; 3) a field defensive work; 4) a settlement.

[129] Thus, some researches interpreted Garðar as a collective name for Old Rus' towns[130][131] encountered by Scandinavians on their way from Lyubsha and Ladoga down the Volkhov River into other Slavonic lands.

Towns of Garðaríki mentioned in Old Scandinavian sources, according to T. Jackson, [ 1 ] E. Melnikova, [ 2 ] [ 3 ] K. Müllenhoff, [ 4 ] V. Thomsen, [ 5 ] and A. Bugge. [ 6 ]
Etymology of Garðaríki according to R. Cleasby & G. Vigfússon, [ 11 ] [ 90 ] R. Derksen, [ 91 ] J. de Vries, [ 92 ] P. Durkin, [ 93 ] T. Jackson, [ 94 ] [ 95 ] M. L. Jøndal, [ 96 ] J. T. Koch, [ 97 ] G. Kroonen, [ 98 ] [ 99 ] [ 100 ] J. P. Mallory & D. Q. Adams, [ 101 ] [ 102 ] [ 103 ] [ 104 ] E. Melnikova, [ 105 ] E. Nosov, [ 106 ] V. Orel, [ 107 ] [ 108 ] [ 109 ] O. Pritsak, [ 16 ] H. Rix & M. Kümmel, [ 110 ] [ 111 ] F. Wachler, [ 112 ] and G. Zoëga. [ 113 ]