Origines Russicae by Gottlieb Bayer: The Ethnic History оf Rus’ Before the Calling of Rurik

The text being published here is a translation of an article by Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694–1738), a professor at the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1741, after the author’s death, the original Latin article was published in the journal Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Pteropolitanae. The article reflects Bayer’s views on the origin of the Russian people, the interaction of Russians and Scandinavians, and the origin of the name “Rus'”. Bayer also studied some aspects of the history of the Slavic peoples, analysed various forms of ethnonyms of the peoples of Eastern Europe, and criticised legendary information about the origin of the Slavs. Besides that, Bayer was interested in the form of government among the Slavs, the titles of Slavic and Russian rulers, and social terminology. In his article, Bayer studies a wide range of Byzantine, Old Russian, Latin, Eastern, and Scandinavian sources. He criticises both medieval writers and the authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who were keen on mythmaking. The article was not fully completed by Bayer; however, it reflects the ideas of the scholar well, demonstrates his characteristic good Latin language, his ironic style and extensive erudition. In the eighteenth century, the Latin text of the article was known to a certain extent and even received lengthy critical comments from V. K. Trediakovsky. Later, the article was virtually forgotten and was not translated into Russian. The proposed translation has been created from the original edition. The commentary explains Bayer’s numerous references to sources and literature and gives an idea of the discussions related to issues raised in the article. The publication is accompanied by an introductory article containing information about Bayer’s preparation of the text Origines Russicae, its historiographical fate, and aspects of the scholar’s conceptual positions.