The only similarly named figure described in Western chronicles was Rorik of Dorestad (also spelled Rørik, Rörik, Roerik, Hrörek, etc.), a Germanic king from the royal Scylding house of Haithabu in the Jutland Peninsula (then in Denmark, today within Germany).
The idea of identifying Rurik, a legendary figure, with the historical Rorik of Dorestad was revived by the anti-Normanists Boris Rybakov and Anatoly H. Kirpichnikov in the mid-20th century,[REF] while modern scholars like Alexander Nazarenko object to it [REF].