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 Russian scholars suggest that he was in fact 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 Slavic chronicles state that he was invited in by the local tribes who wanted order, but many scholars consider this unlikely and conjecture 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 the Rurik Dynasty, after Rurik.
