Gostomysl is a legendary 9th-century posadnik of Novgorod who was introduced into the historiography by Vasily Tatishchev, an 18th-century historian. Gostomysl's rule is associated with the confederation of Northern tribes, which was formed to counter the Varangian threat in the mid-9th century and embraced the Ilmen Slavs, Krivichs, Merya, and Chud. Sergey Platonov and Aleksey Shakhmatov believed that the capital of the confederation was Russa and Gostomysl could have been one of its leaders. Posadnik (Посадник in Russian) was a deputy of Kniaz in some East Slavic places assigned to rule a city or a land. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Russian: ) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the M10(E95) federal highway connecting Moscow and St. ... Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev (1686-1750) was a prominent Russian statesman, historian and ethnographer. ... The Varangians (Russian: Variags, Варяги) were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Jutland and Sweden. ... The Ilmen Slavs (Ильменские славяне in Russian; also known as словѣне, or Slovene), the northernmost tribe of the Early East Slavs, which inhabited the shores of the Lake Ilmen and the basin of the rivers of Volkhov, Lovat, Msta and the upper stream of the Mologa River in the 6-10 centuries. ... Kriwi  album cover The Krivichs (Кривичи́ in Russian, Крывічы́ in Belarusian or Krivichi), a tribe of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries, which inhabited the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Western Dvina, the southern part of the Lake Peipus and parts of the Neman basin. ... The Meryas were a probably Finno-Ugric tribe which lived in the region of Moscow, Rostov, Kostroma, Jaroslavl and Vladimir. ... Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. ... Sergey Fyodorovich Platonov (Russian: ) (1860–1933) was a Russian historian who led the official St Petersburg school of imperial historiography before and after the Russian Revolution. ... Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov (5 June 1864 - 16 August 1920) was an outstanding Russian philologist credited with laying foundations for the science of textology. ... Staraya Russa (Russian: ) is an old Russian town located 99 km south of Veliky Novgorod. ...

According to Tatischev, who claimed to have derived his information from the now-lost Ioachim Chronicle, Gostomysl was elected by the Ilmen Slavs their supreme ruler and expelled the Varangians from Russia. Once he had a dream of a large tree growing from the womb of his daughter, Umila. This was interpreted by pagan priests as a prophecy of Umila's son becoming a great leader and of his issue coming to rule a large territory. Indeed, after a period of civil disorder, Umila's son Rurik succeeded to his grandfather in Novgorod and his progeny came to rule the largest state in Europe. Ioachim Chronicle (also Joachim, Ioakim Chronicle) is a chronicle discovered by Vasily Tatishchev in 18th century. ... The Ilmen Slavs (Ильменские славяне in Russian; also known as словѣне, or Slovene), the northernmost tribe of the Early East Slavs, which inhabited the shores of the Lake Ilmen and the basin of the rivers of Volkhov, Lovat, Msta and the upper stream of the Mologa River in the 6-10 centuries. ... Rurik or Riurik (Russian: , Old East Norse Rørik, meaning famous ruler) (ca 830 – ca 879) was a Varangian who gained control of Ladoga in 862 and built the Holmgard settlement (Ryurikovo Gorodishche) in Novgorod. ...

The legend of Gostomysl was much aired by the writers and composers working in the nationalist milieu of Catherine II's reign. However, the historians Gerhardt Friedrich Müller and Nikolay Karamzin gave no credit to Tatischev's story, believing that the very name of Gostomysl resulted from a misinterpretation of two Slavic words - gost' ("guest") and mysl' ("thought"). Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from... Gerhardt Friedrich Müller (1705-1783) was a historian and ethnologist who studied Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and China in Leipzig, Germany and Saint Petersburg, Russia. ... Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (December 1, 1766--1826) a Russian author credited with reforming the Russian literary language. ...

Although Gostomysl's existence is doubted by virtually every modern historian, it should be noted that the name is not an artificial derivation as was previously thought. It was indeed recorded in 844, when Louis the German defeated "rex Gostomuizli" of the Obodrites. Besides, the story of Umila's dream bears striking similarities to the account of Harald Fairhair's birth in some of the Norse sagas, which treat the genealogical tree seen in a dream by his mother on the eve of the childbirth as a symbol of the Hairfair dynasty of which Harald was the author. Events Succession of Pope Sergius II (844 - 847). ... Louis the German (also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian or German Ludwig der Deutsche) (804 – August 28, 876), the third son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye, was the king of Bavaria from 817, when his father partitioned the empire... The Obotrites (sometimes Abodrites, Obodrites) were a group of Slavic peoples who had in the 6th century settled in the regions later known as Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein in what is now north-eastern Germany. ... Harald I (b. ... Excerpt Njåls saga in the Möðruvallabók (AM 132 folio 13r) circia 1350. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...