'''Rurik''', '''Riurik''' or '''Rörek''' was a [[Varangian]] ([[Viking]]) who gained control of [[Novgorod]] in [[862]]. The nationality of Rurik is disputed in Russia: he is often considered Swedish, but some assimilate him with his contemporary Danish namesake Rörek of Jutland; due to the common intermarriages between Varangians and Slav women, some want to make him '''both''' Slav and Scandinavian (his ethnicity is apparently a sensitive issue among some scholars in Russia). There is also a debate over how Rurik came to control Novgorod. The later [[Slav]]ic chronicles state that he was invited in by the local tribes who wanted order, but many scholars consider this unlikely and cojecture that he invited himself. Rurik remained in power until his death in [[879]]. His successors (the [[Rurik Dynasty]]), however, moved the capital to [[Kiev]] and founded the state of [[Kievan Rus]], which persisted until [[1240]]. The ruling dynasty of this state is named [[Riurikovich]], after Rurik.