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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2003-02 > 1045665812


From: (Stewart Baldwin)
Subject: Re: Iaroslav the wise
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 14:43:32 GMT
References: <b2rvkb$br2$1@news-reader12.wanadoo.fr> <5a635d65.0302181031.3ee262cf@posting.google.com>


On 18 Feb 2003 10:31:36 -0800, (Igor Sklar) wrote:

>Rogneda is not a Slavic name. Her father was Ragnvald of West Gotland,
>then of Polotsk (killed 970), the brother of Truggvi Olafson of Norway
>(died 965) and the illegitimate son of Olaf Haraldson of Norway (died
>934). As you may see, Yaroslav was a great grandson of Harald I
>Fairhair (died 931), the first Yngling king of Norway. This explains
>why in Norse sagas Vladimir is called a kinsman of Norse King Olaf
>Traggvison (who was brought up in Kiev) more than once.

The above claim seems extremely doubtful to me, and it looks like it
involves some careless same-name identifications. The father of
Rogneda cannot be identified with someone in the sagas based on name
alone, it looks very suspicious to place a grandson of Harald Fairhair
in West Gotland, and the Norse sources show no siblings for Tryggvi.

What are the specific references that call Olaf a kinsman of Vladimir?

Stewart Baldwin

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