Varangian

American  

[vuh-ran-jee-uhn] / vəˈræn dʒi ən /

noun

1. any of the Northmen who, under Rurik, established a dynasty in Russia in the 9th century.

2. a member of the bodyguard Varangian guard of the Byzantine emperors, especially in the 11th and 12th centuries, made up of Northmen, Anglo-Saxons, and other northern Europeans.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the Varangians.

Varangian British  

/ vəˈrændʒɪən /

noun

1. one of the Scandinavian peoples who invaded and settled parts of Russia and Ukraine from the 8th to the 11th centuries, and who formed the bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor ( Varangian Guard ) in the late 10th and 11th centuries

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the Varangians

Etymology

Origin of Varangian

C18: from Medieval Latin Varangus, from Medieval Greek Barangos, from Old Norse Væringi, probably from vār pledge

Example Sentences

Inside, visitors find a buffet, a hodgepodge of Russophilia including traditional puzzles and a chart of every Russian leader dating back to Rurik, the 9th-century Varangian chieftain of the Rus who started it all, as well as a wild array of transcendental evangelism including consciousness studies, breath work and cosmology.

From Washington Post

Hollway devotes half his book to Harald’s adventures and machinations during the decade he spent with the Varangian Guard.

From Washington Post

Yet Harald passed much of his young manhood in the wild, wild East, where this “almost legendary Norse hero”— as John Julius Norwich calls him in “Byzantium: The Apogee”— served as a mercenary in the Byzantine Empire’s elite Varangian Guard, eventually becoming its de facto commander.

From Washington Post

Many became “Varangian” mercenaries in the employ of the Byzantine emperor, including young Harald Hardrada, the future king of Norway.

From Washington Post

As Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls, the latter hasn’t prepared me for all the new challenges on tap here: the hollow soldiers with estoc and shield who assault in teams with brutally efficient and overlapping tactics, the Varangian sailors with devastating four-hit combos, the cyclopean all-reaching ogres whose immensity belies their ability to pancake me lighting-quick.

From Time