Varangian Guard
team
3 mentions
3 recordings
first heard Mar 2025
last heard 8 Jun
↑1 vs the 6 months before
Elite guard of the Byzantine emperor, composed of Norse mercenaries
Trend
Peak in the week of 6 Jun — 1 mentions across 1 series.
Moments
newest first · ▶ plays the momentDr. Wayne BartlettDan Snow's History Hit · Harald Hardrada · 15:36 · 8 Jun
…one particular group called the Varangian Guard, they become very heavily linked with the Byzantine emperors as his personal bodyguard.…
Dominic SandbrookThe Rest Is History · 553. The Last Viking: Warrior of the New Rome (Part 2) · 1:58 · Apr 2025
…And now he has come to the golden city of Caesar, Constantinople, and he is a recruit in the Varangian Guard. And we will be finding out how giant serpents feature in the story later on. But for now, we are in 1035. And what is going on?…
Dominic SandbrookThe Rest Is History · 552. The Last Viking: The Saga of Harald Hardrada (Part 1) · 4:03 · Mar 2025
…Exactly. So to give people just a little preview... He fights that first battle when he's a teenager. He flees Norway into exile. He ends up as a mercenary for the Grand Prince of Kievan Rus'. He crosses the Black Sea to Constantinople. He joins the Varangian Guard. He fights everywhere from Sicily to Armenia. He becomes engulfed, quite literally, in the sn…
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