What is origin of Eastern Slavs & who were Neuri ?

[agni]

 What is the origin of Eastern Slavs ? Are Eastern Slavs related to Norse people ? Who were Neuri that lived on territory now known as Belarus & Poland ?

According to Herodotus Neuri were driven from their land "one generation before the attack of Darius (512 BC)" by an invasion of serpents.

Why did the leave, where from & why to this particular territory. Where else did they settle ?

Herodotus said of the  Neuri: "There is a custom among the Neuri whereby once a year everyone changes into a wolf for several days, then returns to his original shape."  

So did one of the rulers according to a myth - Vseslav the Seer 1039–1101.

What is it with "turning into wolf" ? What is the symbology ? Is wolf (Belarussian.:volkh) green language reference to "Volkhv - wise men, so called magi, wisdom & strength of which were in knowledge of secrets, not accessible to regular humans" ?


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Litle bit of background. History of Slavs seems to be a big mess. I can speak for an account of Belarus where history pretty much was changed or erased through Imperialistic Russia & Soviet influence. There is not much material anywhere about Neuri other than what Herodotus mentions.

[Radagast]

History of Slavs seems to be a big mess.

This could be an understatement of the year.
Indeed the origins of Slavs in general are very obscure and there is so much conflicting data and different theories.  My question about South Slavs was motivated by this, and since it ended up in Questions about Malta thread I thought maybe to rephrase this question within this thread which seems to be connected.
If I may suggest Agni - many different theories and research about origin of Slavs have one thing in common - Protoslavic Homeland and I feel there might be something to it. Maybe your question could be rephrased: Do Eastern Slavs come from Proto- Slavic Homeland?  if so where was this homeland? (see below)

In my amateur research of the origin of South Slavs I have come to conclusion that people which are now known as South Slavs or Yugoslavs (Croats, Serbs, Bosnians) have very little to do with original slavic genome. They seem to be remains of  ancient Balkan's people mostly Ilyrians , Dachians and  Trachians  ( all Arians of Dinaroid type) which were slavenized through the large influx of Slavic  tribes to Balkan peninsula as of 600 A.D. Apart form these two major components there  seems to be a lot of romanic, germanic, hunnish, and turkish influence depending  on the region.

The "slavenizaton" of ancient Balkan people  consisted mainly in cultural and linguistic influence while dinaroid genome, being very resilient (according to some authors) still prevails.
The recent research of genetic haplotypes in some Yugoslav populations  seems to support this.

Alas, there is still a lot of conflicting data. One that puzzles me the most is the fact that Dinaroid Arians are thought to have predominant brachicephalic type of skull. Contemporary Balkan  people also seem to have this type of skull predominant. But guess what - the research of medieval skulls from various region of Balkan peninsula shows predominant dolichocepahilc skull type which is very common for Nordics. No scientist was yet able to explain this?

This is what i would like to  ask  Cassiopeia in relation to the Slavic Question:

Is this theory about origins of South Slavs  described above close to what really happened?

How reliable are the data about the difference in skull type of medieval and contemporary Balkan inhabitants? if true what is the explanation of this mystery?

And finally:
What is the proto-homeland of all Slavs, is it Poland as some suggest? What caused the mass migration of Slavs on such a large scale?

[agni]

Hi Corto Maltese,

Sorry it took me a while to respond.

Indeed the origins of Slavs in general are very obscure and there is so much conflicting data and different theories.  My question about South Slavs was motivated by this, and since it ended up in Questions about Malta thread I thought maybe to rephrase this question within this thread which seems to be connected.
If I may suggest Agni - many different theories and research about origin of Slavs have one thing in common - Protoslavic Homeland and I feel there might be something to it. Maybe your question could be rephrased: Do Eastern Slavs come from Proto- Slavic Homeland?  if so where was this homeland? (see below)

You are right, it makes more sense to ask about proto-slavs.

And I think C's have answered that

Q: (L) So where did the South Slavs really come from?
A: Caucasus area.

I take it goes for all of the slavs.

Alas, there is still a lot of conflicting data. One that puzzles me the most is the fact that Dinaroid Arians are thought to have predominant brachicephalic type of skull. Contemporary Balkan  people also seem to have this type of skull predominant. But guess what - the research of medieval skulls from various region of Balkan peninsula shows predominant dolichocepahilc skull type which is very common for Nordics. No scientist was yet able to explain this?

First thought that came to mind about dolicephalic skulls and Nordics is possibly due to settlers from Norse because of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks ?

Q: (L) To what kind of humanoid creatures do the dolicephalic skulls found in various sites in Malta belong to?
A: "Drones."

I wonder what they mean by Drones ?

Definition:
# stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen
# monotone: an unchanging intonation
# dawdler: someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
# make a monotonous low dull sound; "The harmonium was droning on"
# an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control
# talk in a monotonous voice
# a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone

What do you think ? Could it be "Nordics" left behind ?  I might be relating/picking definition of "drone" to what I want to see.

Relation of Slavs to Norse is seen in many places. For example, in country now known as Belarus, first ruler was Rogvolod (literally Horn Owner) he was a man of the Norse. Why would local population would take "outsider" as a ruler is puzzling.

[Approaching Infinity]

Q: (L) To what kind of humanoid creatures do the dolicephalic skulls found in various sites in Malta belong to?
A: "Drones."

I wonder what they mean by Drones ?

From the sessions:

Q: If the Gypsies were gene spliced, who were they gene
   spliced with?

A: Alien race, humanoid, and Atlantean drone workers.

Q: What were Atlantean drone workers?

A: Slave people controlled by crystal.

Edgar Cayce talks about these people in his sessions, I believe.

[Bezeus]

Q: (L) To what kind of humanoid creatures do the dolicephalic skulls found in various sites in Malta belong to?
A: "Drones."

I wonder what they mean by Drones ?

From the sessions:

Q: If the Gypsies were gene spliced, who were they gene
   spliced with?

A: Alien race, humanoid, and Atlantean drone workers.

Q: What were Atlantean drone workers?

A: Slave people controlled by crystal.

Edgar Cayce talks about these people in his sessions, I believe.

Note that Drones was quoted in the upper remark, whilst in the lower it was not.

[Amarock]

I always thought, that ancestors of Slavs were Scythians

[Laura]

Read: "The Horse, The Wheel and Language" by Anthony

"The History of the Goths" by Herwig Wolfram

and "The Fall of Rome and The End of Civilization" by Bryan Ward-Perkins

and "Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths" by Arne Christiansen

There are plenty of references in there that lead to understanding who the Slavs actually were even though none of these books is exactly about the Slavs.