THIS BOOK HAS investigated the Old Norse-Icelandic texts as a source for the history of Eastern Europe, and Old Rus’ in particular. These texts comprise skaldic poetry, runic inscriptions, sagas (Íslendinga-, konunga-, byskupa-, fornaldarsögur), chronicles, books of homilies, and lives of saints, geographical treatises, and annals. The book begins with an introduction to the first three (I would say, the main) groups of sources, while all the rest are discussed when necessary. The book continues with fourteen chapters grouped into two parts of completely different character, the first one dealing with the geographical image of Eastern Europe, the second one devoted to investigating a specific, important issue among those issues connected with the history of Old Rus’.

The character of historical information contained in the sources clearly indicates that they reflect the period preceding their recording, in any case not later than the midthirteenth century. Accordingly, the ethno-geographical nomenclature of the works of Old Norse literature is rather archaic. It is most logical to assume that it was formed via the acquaintance of Scandinavians with the territories in Eastern Europe. Although it is hardly possible to establish the exact time of its formation, still we have its upper chronological boundary, a terminus ante quem: this is the year 839 of Annales Bertiniani (Annals of Saint Bertin), under which we have the first evidence of the existence of Slavic– Scandinavian relations. On the basis of our analysis, we can speak of the existence in Scandinavia of two ethno-geographical traditions recorded in skaldic verses, runic inscriptions and early kings’ sagas, on the one hand, and in late kings’ sagas, geographical treatises, skaldic þulur, and sagas of ancient times, on the other, and reflecting a certain spatial and temporal sequence of Scandinavian penetration into Eastern Europe. An important result of the study of Old Norse place-names of Old Rus’ and Eastern Europe in general is the conclusion that in their formation there is a general tendency towards the obligatory reproduction of the phonetic appearance of local geographical names.