Eastern Slavs
The Eastern Slavs are related to modern day Russians and Ukrainians. They lived near the north-eastern border of present day Europe. People who the Eastern Slavs knew as Varangians, or vikings from Sweden, came and took over the Eastern Slavic people in order to trade with the Byzantine Empire. There is a story that says that a man named Rurik, a viking, came and settled in Novgorod in 862. The viking group over which he ruled was known as the Rus, which is where Russia comes from. There was another man named Oleg who lived in Kiev and was a friend of Rurik. Oleg began the Rus state, and people after him kept widening the territory. The vikings did intermarry with the Slavs, and therefore their cultures became intertwined. The Byzantine Empire had an affect on the Rus. Vladimir, who was a ruler of the Rus, married the sister of a Byzantine emperor, and then was converted. Because of this, the Eastern Slavs were greatly influenced by the Byzantine Empire.