The book tells about the period of wide expansion in the X-XI centuries. Scandinavian sea kings - Vikings, as they called themselves, or Varangians - under this name they were known in Russia, or Normans - as they were called in Western Europe. Recreating the events of those distant times, re-reading literary and historical monuments that have survived to this day, few, scattered, often contradictory, the author tries to see living people through the thickness of centuries, to understand their characters, the motives of their actions. For a wide range of readers.