>Isn't it true that the actual word "Russia" comes from a viking word (for "red"?), as the vikings sailed right into what is now Russia and settled?

I wouldn't know. The only remaining word in Serbian is "rus" - meaning "blonde" (adj), but it's quite archaic, remained in a single folk song that I know of. But then "belorus" would mean "white blonde", and "malorus" - "little blonde" or "weakly blonde". Don't know whether this has any substance to it, just my conjecture.