82 No7^zvay and the Norzvegians 



travelled as far as Constantinople and the islands of the 

 Greek Archipelago. The emperors of the East (of the 

 Byzantine Empire), who reigned at Constantinople, i 



became familiar with these Eussian Swedes, whose ^ 



valour they esteemed so highly that the Byzantine 

 Emperors came to form from their number a special 

 bodyguard, which was known as the Varingian Guard. 



This foundation of Prussian Sweden, as we may call 

 it, went on at the same time that the Norse and Danish 

 Vikings were making their conquests and founding 

 their kingdoms in the west. And if any detailed 

 history of the doings of the eastern adventurers had 

 been preserved, it would, perhaps, form almost as in- 

 teresting a chapter in the history of the Scandinavian 

 peoples as do the achievements of their western brothers. 



