There is no complete agreement on the origin of the word "Rus," though many theories have been proposed:
According to the Normanist theory, which has the broader traditional acceptance in the West, the word "Rus'" was adopted by the Slavs from the Norse root roðr, in compounds roþs- (roths-), either directly or via the Finnish Ruotsi. This root is the same as the English row and may have referred to the fact that the Varangians mainly rowed down the East European waterways; cf. the Swedish region, Roslagen, which means "naval districts."