Askold (Haskuldr in Old East Norse and Höskuldr in Old West Norse) and Dir
(Dyri in both dialects of Old Norse) were according to the Primary Chronicle
,two of Rurik's men who ruled Kiev in the 870s. The chronicle impliesthat they
were neither his relatives nor of noble blood.

The Primary Chronicle relates that Askold and Dir were sanctioned by Rurik to
go to Constantinople (Norse Miklagard, Slavic Czargrad). When travelling on
the Dnieper, they saw a settlement on a mountain and asked to whom it
belonged. They were told that it was Kiev and had been built by three brothers
named Kyi, Schek and Khoriv, who were the ancestors of the inhabitants, who
were now paying tribute to the Khazars. Askold and Dir settled in the town and
gathered a large number of fellow Varangians and began to rule the town and
the land of the Polyane.

The only foreign source to mention one of the co-rulers is the Arab historian
Al-Masudi. According to him, "king al-Dir [Dayr] was the first among the kings
of the Saqaliba (Slavs)." Although some scholars have tried to prove that "al
Dir" refers to a Slavic ruler and Dir's contemporary, this speculation is
questionable and it is at least equally probable that "al-Dir" and Dir were
the same person.[1] It seams, that old Russian it was originally "askold Dir"
and not "Askold i Dir" as it is known from the Primary Chronicle. The word
askold or oskold is derived from Old Norse óskyldr meaning strange - so
probably there was a ruler Kiev called Dir by the Slavs and the Varangians
called him something like "óskyldr Dyri" - stranger Dir, later the Russian
Varangians forgot the meaning of óskyldr so Nestor wrote about two rulers of
Kiev - about Askold and Dir.

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