: I just checked with a pretty reliable source on this and
: I can't get a confirmation that Rurik was ever called
: "the" anything. And Vikings were called
: Variagi in Russian, Varangians in English
: transliteration. The one thing the Rurik was called
: was knyaz Rurik, prince/sovereign Rurik.
Correct, he wasn't called "the" anything. I was making a joke on the four "Ruriks" found on M2 level 2, "Salvation". Their names are "Rurik the Daft", "Rurik the Dumb", "Rurik the Slow", and "Rurik the Elder". On the next level, one of them - just called "Rurik" now - is with you on your way to Tallow. Bungie did this because some of the other Ruriks could die and you would still win, but if at least one Rurik survived and you won, on the next level they could reliably say "Rurik, one of the villagers we rescued, said..." without worrying about the only villager called "Rurik" having died.
