Chronicle of Igor's campaign against the Polovtsians. Ilya Pershin (in a jazz arrangement) a word about the shelf or was there a boy? In what dark glasses did Prince Igor watch the eclipse?
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ANNALIC STORIES ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN OF IGOR SVYATOSLAVICH AGAINST THE POCUTS. Older versions of L.P. about the prince’s campaign Igor Svyatoslavich in 1185 the Cumans were kept in Ipat. and Laurel. years. Corresponding the narratives of other chronicles depend in one way or another on these two. To Ipat. years. ascend abbreviated stories from the Gustin Chronicle and “Kroiniki” by Feodosius Sofonovich. To Laurel. - messages about the campaign in most other Russian languages. chronicles, in general Russian. vaults (Sophia 1 and Novgorod 4 chronicles), as well as in the Degree Book.
A story about Igor's campaign to Ipat. years. is not self-sufficient. the work, representing a part of Article 1185, is entirely dedicated to.
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military clashes between Russians and Polovtsians. The article begins with a story about the successful military actions of the princes Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich And Rurik Rostislavich, in which they did not take part Yaroslav Chernigovsky and Igor Novgorod-Seversky. Actually, the story about the campaign, sung in S., begins with the words: “At the same time, Svyatoslavich Igor, the grandson of the Olgov, left Novgorod on the 23rd day of April, on Tuesday, taking with him his brother Vsevolod and Trubechka, and Svyatoslav, his son, from Rylsk, and Volodimer, his son, from Putivl, and from Yaroslav, ask for help, Olstin Oleksich, Prokhorov’s grandson, with the Chernigov koui...” This poem is lengthy, written with a good knowledge of the circumstances, details of events, reproduces the speeches of the characters, as if its author was one of the participants in the campaign or wrote from the words of the participants, including Prince Igor himself. In P. it is said that, having begun the campaign, the princes walked, “gathering their squad,” slowly, because their horses were “fat and fat”; that, approaching the Donets, in the evening Igor saw a solar eclipse and discussed this phenomenon with his squad; their further path is indicated, the waiting time for those traveling a different route from Kursk Vsevolod; it is reported about the report and advice from intelligence (either to speed up the movement, or to return), about Igor’s decision not to return without fighting in order to avoid “trash,” about the disposition of the regiments in the first battle, about the course of the battle, about the return of those who set out to pursue the fleeing Polovtsians . After this, you can feel some kind of jump in the story or an omission after the phrase “the friends arrived at night to the regiment with a full force,” because immediately after it says: “and as if the Polovtsi had all gathered. And Igor’s speech...”, and from his speech it is clear that the Russians have already seen (“by sight”) how many Polovtsian regiments are against them, “the essence of the coupling,” although there was no talk about this before. Next, it is reported about the advice of the princes and their decision, despite the obvious danger of delay, to stay there overnight - out of reluctance to abandon during a hasty retreat those who participated in the pursuit of the Polovtsians and whose horses were therefore tired. Then there is a story about the course of the battle, which began with the onset of the next Saturday day and ended on Sunday with the complete defeat of the Russians. troops and the captivity of Prince Igor and other Russians. princes, and it is precisely said to whom and from what kind of Polovtsy which of them was captured. The captive Prince Igor pronounces a long monologue, repenting ch. image in his military cruelty “in the land of the peasants” when taking the city of Glebov “on the shield” from Pereyaslavl.
After the news of the capture of the princes, the action moves to Rus', where he was leading at that very time. Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich gathered troops “from the upper lands”, “though to go to Polovtsi to Donovi for the whole summer.” At Novgorod-Seversky led. The prince learns about independence. the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich, and in Chernigov - about his defeat. At this point, Prince Svyatoslav pronounces a short monologue. Next, the story is told about his attempts to organize the defense of the Russian land from the Polovtsians and about the siege of Pereyaslavl by the Polovtsians and the capture of Rimov. The final part of the story is dedicated to Prince Igor’s stay in Polovtsian captivity and his escape to Rus'. Like S., L.P. ends with the arrival of Prince Igor, joyfully greeted, in Kyiv.
P. about Igor’s campaign to Laurus. years. much shorter than in Ipat., independent of it and written as if from the outside. It is contained in article 6694 (1186). The solar eclipse on May 1 is discussed here without
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connection with the campaign and defeat of Igor at the beginning of the article. The story about the campaign begins with the words: “That same summer, Olgovi’s father and son went to the Polovtsians, for many years they had not gone with all the princes, but they talked about themselves, saying: we are not princes, are we?...” According to this story, two sons go on a campaign with Igor, and the princes converge at Pereyaslavl. Those who noticed the approach of the princes. The Polovtsy troops, it is further said, sent “throughout all their lands” for help, came out to meet the Russians, were forced to take the battle before the main forces arrived, were defeated and, abandoning their towers with women and children, fled. Diverging in the chronology of the campaign from Ipat., Laurel. years. reports that after the capture of the Polovtsian vezhas, the victors stood there for three days, having fun and proud that they had defeated the Polovtsians in their land, while the princes who went against the Polovtsians with led. Prince Svyatoslav, fought with them, “in vain to Pereyaslavl,” in their own land, “but they did not dare to go to their land against them.” The Russians allegedly made plans to continue the campaign against the Polovtsians beyond the Don in order to beat them “to the end”, and if successful - further, to “the bow of the sea, where not our grandfathers walked” - “and not leading God’s buildings” , - notes the chronicler... Having arrived first, the Polovtsian warriors fought a shooting battle with the Russians for three days, not using spears and not letting the Russians near the water. When the main Polovtsian forces arrived, the Russians were “horrified” by their numbers; Exhausted by this time with thirst, they managed to move a little towards the water, and then the Polovtsy “pressed” them to the river and in a fierce battle crushed them. defeat. Unlike Ipat. and S., calling the river Kayalu, Laurel. years. does not indicate the place where the last battle took place. According to Ipat., Svyatoslav came running to inform Svyatoslav about Igor’s defeat. Belovolod Prosovich; according to Laurel. However, the news of what happened and the Polovtsian offer to take care of the ransom of the prisoners was brought to Rus' by a certain “guest”, a merchant. Prince Svyatoslav gathered squads in Rus' and marched against the Polovtsians to Kanev, they fled across the Don, and then the Russians dispersed “to their own countries,” and the Polovtsians, returning, took all the cities along the Sula and fought for three days near Pereyaslavl. At this point in the story - about the defense of Pereyaslavl by the local prince Vladimir Glebovich (“I left the city to them in a small squad, and then to them, and fought with them tightly, and attacked the prince with evil, and saw the townspeople exhausted from their own, and rushed out of the city and bisha, one of the princes gored with three spears") - there are hitherto missing literal matches with Ipat. Next to Laurus. The escape of Prince Igor from captivity “in a few short days” is spoken of relatively briefly, while the chronicler expresses his joy by quoting Scripture, comparing Igor’s salvation “from the hand of the wicked” with the salvation of the biblical David from Saul, who was pursuing him. About the position of the Russians in Polovtsian captivity it is said here: “And they all hold the byahu firmly and strictly and are crushed by many irons and executions,” the words that Mosk. chronicle book XV century interpreted this way: after Igor’s escape, the other captives “began to hold them firmly and weigh them down with many glands” (PSRL. M.; L., 1949. T. 25. P. 92). Laurel's story ends. reflection on the executions of God, borrowed from the article of the previous year (there also secondary - drawn from article 1093 of the PVL).
It has long been noted that the story is, to some extent, language. S. and stories about the campaign of Prince Igor Ipat. years. similar ( Shevyrev
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S.A. Complete collection of Russian chronicles. T. 2. Ipatiev Chronicle (Rec.) // Moscow. 1843. No. 12. Dept. Criticism. P. 425). The opinion has long been expressed that P. Ipat. years. written “undoubtedly by a contemporary and an eyewitness: the detail and harmony of the story, everywhere accompanied by numerical evidence, clearly speaks in favor of such an assumption”; and this story, “so close in subject matter to “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” is the most distant from it in presentation”: here is “the difference in the presentation of the same subject by the scribe and the poet”; and it seems that “neither the legend served as the source of the Word, nor vice versa” ( Bestuzhev-Ryumin. About the composition... P. 111, 114-115).
Ipat evaluates the narrative in a similar way. years. and negative story Laurus. I. P. Khrushchov: “The southern chronicle has preserved a living, detailed and very skillful legend, written hot on the heels of the event, in all likelihood in Kyiv - by a person devoted to the family of Monomakh” (while S. was created among the Olgovichs), and this legend reminds him - with sensitivity to military matter and truthfulness - the chronicle story about the blinding of Vasilko; the story is Laurus. “differs... in the usual properties of Suzdal verbal works: dryness, brevity and ecclesiastical character”, it is colored by “the monotonous coloring of biased thought and formality” and from S. “is more different than the southern one” (On ancient Russian historical stories... S. 196, 207, 208). Also - from the point of view of history. reliability - evaluates the relationship between two chronicle narratives about Igor’s campaign A. V. Pozdneev: “The study of the stories about Igor’s campaign in the Ipatiev and Laurentian Chronicles leads to the conclusion that it is impossible to use the story from the Laurentian Chronicle as a historical source and, on the contrary, testifies to the great value of the story from the Ipatiev Chronicle, based, apparently, on the stories of participants or people who heard from the latter reports about the events of April - May 1185.” (The Tale of Igor's Campaign and the Chronicle. P. 31). Opinion about a very relative history. the authenticity of the story about Igor Lavr’s campaign. years. You said M. N. Tikhomirov: “If there had not been another story about Igor’s campaign in the Ipatiev Chronicle, we would have been deprived of the opportunity to even conjecturely talk about the place of the battle and the route of Igor Svyatoslavich’s campaign. These features of the story about Igor’s campaign in the Laurentian Chronicle can be explained in two ways: either the chronicler used oral stories and made a record in the north, where the topography of the Polovtsian steppe was poorly understood, and Pereyaslavl seemed to be a permanent place from which trips to the steppe were made; or the story about Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsians was so shortened that only excerpts remained from it” (Historical and Geographical Outlook... P. 79).
Regarding the sources of the Ipatiev story and its relationship with S. E. V. Petukhov thinks that Ipat’s story. years. “folk stories about the unfortunate campaign had a strong influence, perhaps special songs or epics about it; however, traces of the direct influence of our monument (S. - G.P.) it is impossible to establish the chronicle story, just as it is impossible to establish the reverse influence of the chronicle on the Tale of Igor’s Campaign”; the author S., he thinks, “was guided by some version of the story about Igor’s campaign, which did not find a place in the chronicle, or, perhaps, neglected the details of the chronicle version, considering it unimportant or unnecessary for his purposes” (Russian literature. S. 53).
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A. A. Zimin lays out the narrative 1185 Ipat. years. by thematic principle and believes that it is composed of materials from three different chroniclers - Chernigov, Kyiv and Pereyaslavl: the story about the campaign, the beginning of the narrative, is taken from the Chronicler Igor Svyatoslavich; what concerns the bike. Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodich, - from the Kyiv source (to the words “Having united the warriors stand”), about the attack of the Polovtsians on Pereyaslavl and Rimov - from Pereyaslavl, about the escape of Igor from captivity - again from Chernigov (Ipatiev Chronicle and “The Word ...". P. 49). A. G. Kuzmin objected to this, believing that with the exception of a small insert from the Pereyaslav chronicler and some additions that elevate Rurik Rostislavich, the entire story is Ipat. years. “comprises a more or less modern record made by one author” who is “close to Igor and Svyatoslav and the Olgovichs in general” (Ipatiev Chronicle and “The Lay...”, p. 77).
B. I. Yatsenko believes that the basis of all stories about the events of 1185 is the Pereyaslav narrative, polemically revised. in Chernigov and then reflected in Lavra., Ipat., Gustin Chronicle, in “Kroinik about Rus'” by Theodosius Sofonovich, Kyiv Chronicle of the 18th century, 1st and 2nd ed. "Russian History" V. N. Tatishcheva and in S. Yatsenko draws attention to the fact that the campaign of Prince Igor, according to the Ipatiev list, Ipat. years., began on April 23, whereas in all other sources - April 13. On the day of defeat of the Russians. troops, according to Yatsenko, were on April 28, and it turns out that they were defeated even before the solar eclipse. In his opinion, only two or three years after the campaign and the creation of the original. in the Pereyaslavl version of the story, no later than 1188, the Chernigov resident, reworking the Pereyaslavl story, decided to use the eclipse to rehabilitate Prince Igor; in 1190 the Chernigov work was reflected in the Grand Dukes. Kievan Chronicle, which he later used for the 1st ed. his “History” Tatishchev; 13 years after the campaign, in 1198, it was reflected in the new Kyiv Chronicle, which was based on both the version of the Kyiv Chronicle of 1190 and the Chernigov story as edited. Igor Svyatoslavich. Sunny
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the eclipse was used here, Yatsenko believes, already to accuse the Seversk princes (Chernigov Tale... P. 38-57). As for P. in Laurus. years., then, in Yatsenko’s opinion, it “is an integral part of a vast array of southern Russian information, which sharply contrasts the story of 1185 (in the Ipatiev Chronicle - 1184) about the military valor of Vladimir Pereyaslavsky in the united summer campaign of the Russian princes and the story of 1186 (in Ipatiev Chronicle - 1185) about the separate campaign of Igor Seversky, about his defeat and captivity. Messages about the eclipse and the birth of Konstantin Vsevolodich seem to tear this array into two parts.” The tendentiousness of the Pereyaslavl author, who wrote shortly after the tragic event. campaign, is explained, Yatsenko believes, by the quarrel between Vladimir Glebovich and Igor Svyatoslavich during the spring campaign of 1184. “Thus, both stories of the massif are subordinated to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe rehabilitation of Vladimir Glebovich,” but when, after the death of Vladimir Glebovich, the story was used by the Vladimir-Suzdal chronicler, “ it was no longer perceived as a sharply polemical, politically oriented work. Therefore, the compilers of the local chronicle divided it into different weather categories and interspersed it with some Suzdal news” (Lavrentievskaya Tale... pp. 35-36). Yatsenko shares the idea N. S. Demkova that the Ipatiev (Kiev) story about Igor’s campaign seems to consistently answer all the reproaches of this story ( Demkova. On the question of the time of writing... P. 75): “Many facts of the story of the Laurentian Chronicle become clear only in comparison with the story of the Ipatiev Chronicle” (Lavrentievskaya Tale... P. 37). Defending the authenticity of the news, Laurus. years. about Igor’s campaign, Yatsenko (following Khrushchov) draws attention to cases of similarity between this story and S. (mention of “lack of water,” “heat,” and “tough”) and adds: “Only in this story and in the Lay is the purpose of the campaign mentioned northerners - Don, reports about the gathering of the Polovtsians against Igor, about arrows during the second battle, about the death of the Russian army from lack of water, about the sadness of the Russian princes and boyars after the defeat of the northerners, about Svyatoslav’s appeal to all princes, about the difficult situation of Russian prisoners, about the pursuit for Igor” (Ibid. p. 40). S., glorifying Igor, polemicizes, as Yatsenko believes, with Pereyaslavl P.
B. A. Rybakov came to the conclusion that P. was talking about Igor’s campaign in Ipat. years. “placed on the verge of two sections: in the first (1179-1186) the hand of the chronicler Svyatoslav Vsevolodich predominates, and in the second (1187-1196) - the chronicler of his co-ruler, Rurik Rostislavich, who used Galician records.” The first part of the story, “devoted to the military side of Igor’s campaign, was written with all the characteristic features of the chronicler Rurik” (which, according to Rybakov, was Petr Borislavich), the second part, where we talk about the actions of Svyatoslav of Kyiv, and the third, about the escape of the chronicler Svyatoslav. The chronicler of Rurik treats Igor more favorably than the chronicler of Svyatoslav. The compiler P. from these two chroniclers not only edited his source material, but also made some additional ones. to him in favor of Igor. “The most important of them is Igor’s ‘speech’ on the battlefield, cutting up the original text.” This P. comes into contact with S. only in editorial additions. (Glorification of Igor by his grandfather as “grandson of Olgov”; similarity of the words of Svyatoslav spoken after the news of the defeat of the Russian army; mention of Kayala). P. was created
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Rybakov believes, “in circles close to Rurik Rostislavich, between 1188-1192.” “a clergyman,” a Galician by origin, familiar with S., perhaps mentioned in the chronicle by the “wise scribe Timothy,” originally from Kyiv, who was Mstislav’s confessor in Galich, and a supporter of Igor’s sons. “The story was included in the chronicle code of Rurik Rostislavich in the process of its preparation (before 1192) even before the code (in 1197) passed into the hands of Abbot Moses” (Kiev chronicle story... P. 58-63) . In the book “The Word and Its Contemporaries,” Rybakov clarifies: “The most likely date for the composition of the Tale seems to be the years 1189-1190...” (p. 193). To the story Laurus. years. Rybakov is very critical, believing that much of it is “dubious in its authenticity,” namely: 1) the participation of Igor’s two sons in the campaign, while in 1185 Svyatoslav Igorevich was only 9 years old, 2) three days of fun in Russia. squads, 3) fighting for three days only with arrows, without using spears, 4) the absence of survivors of the battle who could bring the news of Igor’s defeat to Rus'. The creator of this P., Rybakov believes, “did not know either the chronicle of Rurik or the “Tale of 1185” compiled by Galician, but could receive information from circles close to Svyatoslav Vsevolodich” (p. 197); the appeal in Vladimir to the chronicler Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, which the “Galichanin” also used, explains the textual similarity of Ipat’s stories. and Laurel. years. about the defense of Pereyaslavl-Russian from the Polovtsians by Prince Vladimir Glebovich.
Tatishchev, Rybakov believes, may have used “The Tale of a Galician” in a more detailed version than the one known to us (p. 198). L. I. Sazonova does not rule out that Tatishchev created some scenes of his “History” on the basis of ancient texts unknown to us, but comes to the conclusion that he did not have any special chronicle source unknown to us and believes that his literature played a large role in the appearance of a number of scenes and details . approach to history data.
V. Yu. Franchuk, comparing the vocabulary and phraseology of the narrative about Igor’s campaign to Laurus. years. with the stories and narration of Ipat surrounding it. years., came to the conclusion that they “are distinguished by features characteristic of the chronicler Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich,” thereby agreeing with Rybakov’s opinion that “the Vladimir chronicler, who compiled the story about Igor’s campaign, did not have at his disposal the chronicle of Rurik Rostislavich and was not familiar with a story compiled by Galician. The information that this chronicler could have received is limited to information from circles close to Svyatoslav Vsevolodich.” The conclusion that Franchuk comes to is that “the basis of the story about the campaign of Prince Igor in the Laurentian Chronicle, as well as the basis of the story about the campaign against Kobyak, are written materials extracted from the chronicle of Svyatoslav Vsevolodich,” and “the chronicler who processed them , was an obvious supporter of the children and grandchildren of Yuri Dolgoruky"; “in terms of his views, sympathies, and peculiarities of language, he is a typical representative of Northern Rus', most likely from Vladimir” (About the creator of the version. P. 166; see also: Franchuk. Chronicles of evidence... P. 7-56).
IN Radzivilov Chronicle and in Facial vault the story about Prince Igor's campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185 is illustrated. In Radzivilovskaya (Vladimir version) six miniatures are dedicated to him, three of them - the battle of Igor, two - the battles of Vladimir Glebovich and one -
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meeting of Igor and Svyatoslav. Rybakov believes that Radzivilovskaya’s protograph contained a more complete Southern Russian than hers. in origin, the story is about a campaign, for Radzivilovskaya’s text speaks of only one battle of Vladimir Glebovich.
The text of the story in the Litsevoy Vault, which is based on the story of the Resurrection Chronicle, supplemented with details from the Nikon Chronicle, is illustrated with 23 miniatures that quite fully reflect its content.
Ed.: Laurentian Chronicle // PSRL. L., 1927. Issue. 2; 2nd ed. T. 1, issue. 2. Stb. 397-400; Ipatiev Chronicle // PSRL. St. Petersburg, 1908. T. 2. Stb. 637-651 (both editions phototypically republished: M., 1962).
Main departments ed.: Orlov. Word. pp. 165-175; Kudryashov K.V. About Igor Seversky, about the Russian land. M., 1959. S. 82-88; Stelletsky - 1965. pp. 247-261; PLDR: XII century. M., 1980. S. 344-371; Getmanets M. F. The Secret of the Kayala River: A Tale of Igor's Campaign. Kharkov, 1982. P. 135-140; Tales of Ancient Rus' of the XI-XII centuries. L., 1983. S. 353-375; Slovo - 1985. P. 415-422; Chronicles about the campaign of Prince Igor / Arrangement, textual research and translation by V. Yu. Franchuk. Kiev, 1988. pp. 70-172.
Lit.: Bestuzhev-Ryumin K.N. On the composition of Russian chronicles until the end of the 14th century. // LZAK for 1865-1866. St. Petersburg, 1868. Issue. 4. pp. 111-115; Khrushchov I. P. About ancient Russian historical stories and legends of the XI-XII centuries. Kyiv, 1878. P. 196-212; Petukhov E. V. Russian literature. Yuryev, 1912; Orlov A. S. Lectures on the history of ancient Russian literature. M., 1916. S. 85-86; Kudryashov K. Historical and geographical information about the Polovtsian land based on chronicles about Igor Svyatoslavich’s campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185 // Izv. Geogr. about-va. M.; L., 1937. P. 59; Shakhmatov A. A. Review of Russian chronicles of the XIV-XVI centuries. M.; L., 1938. S. 72, 364; Priselkov M. D.“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” as a historical source // Marxist historian. M., 1938. Book. 6 (70). pp. 112-133; Likhachev D. S. 1) Russian chronicles and their cultural and historical significance. M.; L., 1947. S. 184-189; 2) Chronicle collection of Igor Svyatoslavich and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” // Likhachev. "Word" and culture. pp. 145-175; Rzhiga V.F. From essays on “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” // Dokl. and message Philol. Faculty of Moscow State University. M., 1947. Issue. 3. P. 71; Pozdneev A.V. A Word about Igor’s Campaign and the Chronicle // Problems of the history of literature. M., 1961. S. 7-32; Limonov Yu. A. Chronicle of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'. L., 1967. P. 72; Tikhomirov M. N. Historical and geographical horizons of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” as a work of the 12th century. // Tikhomirov M. N. Russian culture X-XVI centuries. M., 1968; Zimin A. A. Ipatiev Chronicle and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” // History of the USSR. 1968. No. 6. P. 43-64; Kuzmin A. G. The Ipatiev Chronicle and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”: (regarding the article by A. A. Zimin) // Ibid. pp. 64-87; Rybakov B. A. 1) Kiev chronicle story about Igor’s campaign in 1185 // TODRL. 1969. T. 24. P. 58-63; 2) “The Word” and his contemporaries. pp. 170-201; Sazonova L. I. Chronicle story about Igor Svyatoslavich’s campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185, processed by V.N. Tatishchev // TODRL. 1970. T. 25. P. 29-46; Demkova N. S. On the question of the time of writing “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” // Vest. LSU. No. 14. L., 1973. History, language, literature. Vol. 3; Pautkin A. A. Chronicle story about the 1185 campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians: (On the problem of artistry) // FN. 1985. No. 2. P. 26-31; Franchuk V. Yu. 1) About the creator of the version of Prince Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185 in the Laurentian Chronicle // Slovo. Sat. - 1985. P. 154-168; 2) Chronicles about the campaign of Prince Igor. Kiev, 1988. P. 7-56; Yatsenko B. I. 1) Laurentian story about the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich in 1185 // RL. 1985. No. 3. P. 31-42; 2) Chernigov story about the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich in 1185 // Studies of the Word. pp. 38-57; Nikitin A. L. Igor’s Campaign: Poetry and Reality // Old Russian Hermeneutics. liters. Sat. 1. XI-XVI centuries. M., 1989. pp. 123-134.
A WORD ABOUT THE SHELF
or
WAS THERE A BOY?Fatal Law
One day, my friends and I went on a hiking trip near the day of an eclipse. As soon as we “got on the water”, i.e. We lowered our kayaks onto the river, and another group of tourists in kayaks caught up with us. It was in North Karelia, the river was not the easiest. While passing an obstacle (the ruins of an old bridge), one dashing kayaker rushed across the drain (a passage between rocks) and interfered with my crew. We had to go into a nearby drain, and as a result we crashed into a fallen tree and overturned. Fortunately, no one was hurt. This happened during a solar eclipse in August 1999
This incident confirmed the rule of traditional astrology: starting anything before an eclipse is strictly prohibited.
Excellent history students
When I was at school, there was a joke in our history classes: “How is it for you to answer? Like in the textbook or like it really was?”
When I was little, I believed that these “filthy commies” distorted the entire national history, rewrote it to suit their ideological ideas, as they had to, or, more precisely, as, in their opinion, it could and should have been, what, they say , all history has been leading to the victory of the proletariat over the exploiters. Years passed, and I realized that they had worked there before them. There have been “distinguished people from history” in all centuries and in all countries. Including in Russia.
I am not a supporter of Fomenko and Nosovsky. I couldn’t even read their nonsense (which turned into a brand). There will be my own “nonsense” here, since I have been sick with this for a long time and without them I can fantasize about the story.
main topic
There is an axiom in astrology: there is an aspect in the sky - there is an event on earth. I didn’t immediately think of checking history with astrology. At first, I tried to verify the known historical facts from the point of view of psychological and rational-logical reliability. And then I combined this with an astrological check.
Let us consider from these positions one very famous event from the history of Rus', which even served as the basis for literary and musical works.
The Laurentian Chronicle reads: “The Lord granted a great victory to our princes and their warriors over our enemies; the foreigners Cumans, or Polovtsians, were defeated. And Vladimir said: “On this day, given to us by the Lord, we will rejoice and be glad, for the Lord delivered us from our enemies and cast our enemies under our feet, and crushed the heads of the serpent.” And there was great joy: the squad was enriched with captives, and the convicts were led away, weapons and horses were obtained, and they returned home, glorifying God and the Holy Mother of God, who was quick to help the Christian family.
Per year 6 6 9 4 [i.e. in 1186 A.D. ]. On the first day of the month of May, on the day of remembrance of the holy prophet Jeremiah, on Wednesday, in the evening there was a sign in the sun, and it got so dark that people could see the stars, and everything turned green in their eyes, and the sun turned into a month, and his horns are like burning coals. It was scary for people to see God’s sign.”
Consequently, the chronicle states that on May 1, 1186 (or 1185) a total eclipse occurred! The sun was completely blocked. This happens very rarely; most eclipses are invisible without telescopes and smoked glass.
This eclipse was seen by troops in the Don steppes in the area of the Kayala River (according to one chronicle) or the Seversky Donets (according to another). The history with geography is amazing! Kayala and Donets flow into the Don from different sides and at a considerable distance from each other. Perhaps the mention of Kayal is a late insertion of a political nature (with the aim of expanding the ancient borders of Rus').
If we summarize the Laurentian and Hypatian Chronicles, the Degree Book*, and the information reported by M. Karamzin, we get the following impression: some time before the eclipse (at the end of April), the Russians won a victory over the Polovtsians. Probably, spring “cleansing” was a common practice of that time. After the eclipse occurred, the campaign continued and ended with a crushing defeat of the Russian troops.
Unexpected modulation
The question arises: did they really not know at that time that an eclipse was a bad omen? Maybe all astrologers have been “purged”? I do not believe!
The Ipatiev Chronicle says that Prince Igor was warned about the danger of an eclipse, but he stated that God creates an eclipse, and this has nothing to do with human affairs.
Could this be so? I think no.
All astrologers and ancient sages knew that before an eclipse (and even before a simple new moon) it is good to complete, and not begin, processes or affairs. Especially such serious matters as going on a campaign or starting a war. No, no one would have done that, but would have waited for the new moon (and maybe ordered the astrologers to make an election for the campaign!).
I don't believe the chronicler. And I solemnly cleanse my ears.
* For the text of the chronicles, see http://old-ru.ru/03-18.html And http://feb-web.ru/feb/slovenc/es/es3/es3-1511.htm?cmd=2&istext=1 . I studied all available sources (including the multi-volume Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles). The stories of Bygone Years about the campaign of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians in 1185 are contained in the Ipatiev and Laurentian Chronicles. Similar narratives from other chronicles, one way or another, depend on these two. The abbreviated stories of the Gustin Chronicle and “Kroiniki” by Feodosius Sofonovich go back to the Ipatiev Chronicle. The reports about Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsians in most other Russian chronicles, as well as in the all-Russian chronicle codes (Sofia 1st and Novgorod 4th chronicles), as well as in the Degree Book, go back to the Laurentian Chronicle.
The longest noodle: Laurentian Chronicle about the campaign of Prince Igor
Let's look at the story about Prince Igor's campaign in the Laurentian Chronicle. This is the most detailed source - and therefore considered the most trustworthy. Let's see if this is true.
The story about Igor’s campaign in the Laurentian Chronicle is not an independent work, representing part of an article about 1185 as a whole. The article begins with a story about the successful military actions of princes Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Rostislavich, in which Yaroslav Chernigovsky and Igor Novgorod-Seversky did not take part. Actually, the story about Igor’s campaign begins with the words: “ At the same time, Svyatoslavich Igor, the grandson of the Olgov, left Novgorod on the 23rd day of April, Tuesday, taking with him his brother Vsevolod from Trubechka, and Svyatoslav, his son, from Rylsk, and Volodimer, his son, from Putivl, and Ask Yaroslav to help, Olstin Oleksich, Prokhorov’s grandson, with the Chernigov koui...” This story is lengthy, lists a lot of circumstances, details of events, reproduces the speeches of the characters, as if its author was one of the participants in the campaign or wrote from the words of the participants, including Prince Igor himself. It is this feature of the text that creates the feeling of a fake, since the text of this chronicle contains details that are usually not remembered unless they were specifically written down. This is evidenced by my own (and considerable) experience of long hikes.
The question arises: how does the chronicler know such details? The chronicle says that, having begun the campaign, the princes walked "gathering my squad" slowly, because their horses were “fat”, fat; that, approaching the Donets, in the evening Igor saw a solar eclipse and discussed this phenomenon with his squad; their further path is indicated, the waiting time for Vsevolod, who was going a different route from Kursk; it is reported about the report and advice from reconnaissance (either to speed up the movement, or to return), also about Igor’s decision not to return without fighting in order to avoid “trash”, about the disposition of the regiments in the first battle, about the course of the battle, about the return of those who set out to pursue those who fled Polovtsians
Along the way, the question arises: how could the Russians pursue the Polovtsians, if the war horses of that time moved either at a walk or a gallop, and there were no trotters - they had not yet been brought in? As is known, Arabian trotting horse breeds appeared later (after the Crusades), both in Europe and in Rus'. In those days, the main striking force of the Russian troops (and other European armies) was armored cavalry. It moves either at a walk or at a gallop. But such cavalry can gallop a mile (about 1.5 km), so it attacked from a distance of about 500-700 meters. And there was no question of persecution.
After this, there is some jump or omission after the phrase “the friends arrived at night to the regiment with a full force,” because then it says: “and as if the Polovtsi had all gathered. And Igor’s speech...", and from his speech it is clear that the Russians have already seen (“with a breath"), i.e. from a distance of no further than 5-6 km or 4 versts, how many Polovtsian regiments stand against them, or, as the chronicler wrote, “ the essence of copulation", although this was not mentioned in the text before. Further it is reported about the advice of the princes and their decision, despite the obvious danger of delay, to stay there overnight - out of reluctance to abandon during a hasty retreat those who participated in the pursuit of the Polovtsians, and whose horses were therefore tired. This again raises great doubts, since it would hardly have been possible to go back on foot, leading the horses and thereby avoid battle.
Then there is a story about the battle, which began with the onset of the next Saturday day and ended on Sunday with the complete defeat of the Russian army and the capture of Prince Igor and other Russian princes, and it is precisely said to whom and from what kind of Polovtsy which of them was captured (amazing memory and awareness of chroniclers!). The captive Prince Igor pronounces a long monologue, repenting mainly of his military cruelty “in the land of the peasants” [this is the spelling in the chronicle – I.P.] during the capture of the city of Glebov near Pereyaslavl. Why would he tell him this? As they say: “a la guerre - com a la guerre”... All this somehow does not fit with reality, there remains a vague feeling that “this does not happen.”
But the Ipatiev Chronicle is still just flowers. In other chronicles we come across such a “clip consciousness”, in comparison with which Eurovision is simply a masterpiece of logic.
Noodles are shorter but more confusing
The Ipatiev Chronicle speaks much more briefly about Igor’s campaign than the Laurentian Chronicle, and in article 6694 (i.e. for 1186 AD). The solar eclipse of May 1 is spoken of here without connection with Igor’s campaign and defeat. The story of the trip begins with the words: “That same summer, I thought Olgovi was in the Polovtsy, before they had gone for many years with all the princes, but talking about themselves, they said: we are not princes, are we?...” According to this story, two sons go on a campaign with Igor, and the princes converge at Pereyaslavl. The Polovtsy, who noticed the approach of the princely armies, it is further said, sent “throughout all their lands” for help, came out to meet the Russians, were forced to take the battle before the arrival of their main forces, were defeated and, abandoning their towers with women and children, fled. Diverging in the chronology of the campaign, the Ipatiev and Laurentian chronicles report that after the capture of the Polovtsian vezhas, the victors stood there for three days, having fun and proud that they had defeated the Polovtsians in their land. While the princes who went against the Polovtsians with Grand Duke Svyatoslav fought with them, “ in vain to Pereyaslavl", in his own land, " but they did not dare to go into their land" “The Russians will beat them to the end,” and if successful, “go to the bow of the sea, where not our grandfathers walked,” “and not leading God’s buildings,” notes the chronicler...
The following is a description of the eclipse that took place after the defeat of the first Polovtsian troops. " Per year 6 6 9 4 (1186). On the first day of the month of May, on the day of remembrance of the holy prophet Jeremiah, on Wednesday, in the evening there was a sign in the sun, and it got so dark that people could see the stars, and everything turned green in their eyes, and the sun turned into a month, and his horns are like burning coals. It was scary for people to see God’s sign.”
Whether it was possible to see this eclipse is a separate discussion.
In general, the chronicles report on a variety of events, here are campaigns, eclipses, and births: “in the same year, of the same month, on the eighteenth day, on the day of remembrance of the holy martyr Potapius, on Saturday, a son was born to the Grand Duke Vsevolod, and he was named His name in holy baptism is Constantine.”
The Ipatiev Chronicle reports: “That same year, Olgov’s grandchildren decided to go against the Polovtsians, since they didn’t go last year with all the princes, but they went on their own, saying: “What, aren’t we princes? We will achieve the same glory for ourselves!” And Igor met at Pereyaslavl with two sons from Novgorod-Seversky, his brother Vsevolod from Trubchevsk, Svyatoslav Olgovich from Rylsk and those who came to their aid from Chernigov. And they entered the land of the Polovtsians. Having heard it, they went to meet them halfway, saying: “Our brothers and our fathers have been killed, and others are in captivity, and now they are coming at us.” They sent the news throughout their entire land, and they themselves went to meet them and waited for their troops, and ours were coming to them, to their headquarters. The Polovtsians met them without letting them approach the towers, and, without waiting for the rest of the troops, they fought in battle. And the Polovtsy were defeated, and they drove them to the vezh, and the Russians took their full wives and children, and stood for three days in their vezh, having fun and saying: “Our brothers went with Svyatoslav, the Grand Duke, and fought with the Polovtsy in sight of Pereyaslavl , they themselves came to them, but they did not dare to go to the Polovtsian land after them. And we are in their land, and we ourselves have killed, and their wives have been captured, and their children are with us. Now let’s follow them across the Don and kill them all without a trace. If we win here too, then we will follow them to the Lukomorye, where our grandfathers did not go, and we will take all our glory and honor to the end.” But they did not know about God’s destiny.
And the remnants of the defeated Polovtsians fled to their army, where the news had previously been sent, and told them about their defeat. When they heard it, they came to their aid and sent for others. And the archers came together with the Russians, and the archers fought for three days, but did not meet in a spear battle, waiting for their squad, but they were not allowed to approach the water.”
Why did I quote these two lengthy passages?
Firstly, one gets the impression that the Polovtsy are a sedentary people. "Vezhi" apparently means "towers, fortifications." Secondly, the mention of certain “streltsy” generally allows us to ask – what times is the chronicler writing about? Or (oh horror!): when were these “streltsy” added to the chronicle?
How did the Polovtsian archers hold off the Russian cavalry for three days?
Let us remember Lermontov: “We were in a firefight for two days - what’s the point in such a trifle?”
For some days you can only shoot from rifles (and cannons)! Moreover, being in shelter, or being in redoubts (flashes). It is impossible to shoot from bows for three days: there are not enough arrows. In addition, since the Polovtsians are steppe dwellers, they have problems with wood for high-quality arrows. But an ordinary infantryman from the time of Suvorov (and Borodino) carried 1000 rounds of ammunition with him on the march (a standard backpack weighs a pound, plus a gun and a roll - in total the miracle heroes carried about 20 kilograms). It is quite possible to hold a bridgehead for two or three days with so much ammunition. Bows and arrows are a different matter. Since the number of arrows cannot be more than one hundred or two hundred per archer, the arithmetic is simple - there will be shooting for a maximum of several hours, and not for three days. This means that it is possible to hold back the enemy’s cavalry only for a short time, and not for three days, given that this is heavy cavalry, clad in iron.
What could an archer do then? From a distance of 100-200 m, no further, fire 10-20 shots at the attacking cavalry and move behind the ranks of the infantry, or fire at the maneuvering infantry. That's all. For horse archers, the shooting distance is halved. Provided that the Polovtsians have few “heavy” horsemen, no armored infantry, and no professional foot archers, i.e. army in its present form, but there is light cavalry with weak bows. In this case, they will have to maneuver, and this will not last long: the arrows will run out sooner, and the enemy’s foot archers will shoot down the attacks of unarmored horsemen at long distances.
Nomads (and historians are sure that the Polovtsians are nomads) must in every possible way avoid a head-on collision. It was possible to hold back the Russian army for three days, keeping them away from the river, only under two conditions:
presence of firearms;
- presence of fortifications (at least earthen ones).
This means that this piece of text is a later addition. And this text does not refer to the events of this chronicle. This whole episode may actually turn out to be a later fake - counterfeit .
Is long-distance hiking possible in spring?
The next objection to Igor’s campaign is the time of year. In April-May there is still no grass in the steppes!
In later chronicles describing the punitive operations of the Moscow kings against the Don Cossacks in the era of Ivan IV, we read that these campaigns always took place in the fall. In summer it’s hot, in spring and winter the horses have nothing to eat, only autumn remains! In April-May there could only be a short raid along the border, but a raid all the way to the Sea of Azov (then the Sea of Surozh) would only be possible in autumn-winter.
Karamzin as a mirror of Russian historicism
And now let us turn to that place in the “History of the Russian State”, where the famous and authoritative historian unfolds before the reader’s eyes a picture of Prince Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185:
“Igor’s disaster. April 13, 1185 May 1>. A few months later, the triumph of the Russians turned to sorrow. The Seversky princes, Igor Novgorodsky, his brother Vsevolod Trubchevsky, and their nephew, not having taken part in Svyatoslav’s victories, envied them and wanted even more important ones. The eclipse of the sun that happened then seemed to their Boyars an unfortunate omen.”
As is known, Karamzin always gave preference to more ancient chronicles, but this time he preferred the later Ipatievskaya, ignoring the Nikonovskaya, in which there is no mention of the eclipse. Karamzin claims that there WAS a solar eclipse during the hike! - and is not considering any other options.
What dark glasses did Prince Igor use to watch the eclipse?
The biggest objection to the chilling eclipse story is this:
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THE ECLIPSE. Except through smoked glass. Or through dark glasses. I can just imagine Prince Igor with a green bottle shard (from Zhigulevsky) or in Hollywood dark glasses.
THERE WAS NO TOTAL ECLIPSE AT THAT TIME. Neither in 1185 nor in 1186. Moreover, it did NOT exist on the territory of Rus' in the 12th century AT ALL.
An analysis of solar eclipse maps for the previous 19 and 19 subsequent years shows that during these years it was not possible to observe a total solar eclipse in Kyiv, or in the Rostov-on-Don region, or Astrakhan in the month of May. In May of one year there can only be one solar eclipse, and not two; two are extremely rare, occurring once every few hundred years. Other suitable dates are May 14, 1230 (partial eclipse) and May 6, 1464 (almost total).
Of course, there was an eclipse, but when - you need to look, most likely, in the minds of the chroniclers or Karamzin!
Astrological improvisations: Deasy Gillespie's puffy cheeks
And how many factors there are in this story that are understandable only to astrologers! There are more than a dozen of them.
I built a model in a virtual planetarium, and this is what the maximum phase of the eclipse looked like on May 1, 1185.
As you can see, it's very similar. With such an eclipse, it seems that a small cloud has rolled in, but you can’t see the stars, and especially not as dark as at night. The illumination remains virtually unchanged. I specifically inform you that this is a diagram, not a photograph. This is what an eclipse looks like through smoked glass or through special filters. That is, this is how Igor, a lover of Zhigulevsky and Men in Black, could see the eclipse. The chronicler's aria about a total eclipse is from another opera. N and in 1999, nor in 1185, the eclipse described by the chronicler could not have happened.
Main caliber: the eclipse card of May 1, 1185 is not a card of military defeat!
We do not know when Igor went on a campaign against the Polovtsians (if he did...). But the eclipse map, built on the coordinates of the capital of the state (Kyiv), should reflect the most important events of this period - the spring of 1185.
And we can say with complete confidence that it does not describe defeat in the war.
The first thing that catches your eye is that the eclipse occurs on Uranus, i.e. Uranus is located in the degree of the eclipse. This is always accompanied by catastrophes of an impersonal and mass nature. The building could collapse, there could be popular unrest, there could be some changes in the state. But this does not look like the death of an army, since the higher planets are indicators of impersonal natural or man-made disasters, natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, climate anomalies, etc.).
The action of Uranus is like lightning: everything is sudden and irreversible. Probably, this eclipse could concern finances, since the point of the eclipse itself is in the VIII house of the eclipse chart. I would assume that during such an eclipse, gold money or, conversely, copper money was withdrawn from circulation. This is also indicated by Lilith in Scorpio in the 2nd house.
The closest example of an eclipse on Uranus was January 5, 1992. This eclipse led to the beginning of “shock therapy” in the Russian economy and tough economic reforms.
If the chroniclers had noted that a wall or tower in Kyiv had collapsed, or that Rus' had financial difficulties, I would have believed it.
(However, everything is clear! The Russians took credit from the Polovtsians with horse tails or hay from the vast steppes, and then, in order not to give it back, they went to war against the Polovtsians...)
The eclipse of 1185 is in the VIII house of the card, which describes a catastrophe, cataclysm, default, ruin, which negatively affected the entire Russian people. And the chronicle speaks of a defeat in a local conflict, which not even everyone noticed. Moreover, if you believe the same chronicles, Igor escaped from captivity, gathered troops and defeated the Polovtsians. In fact, this event did not change the state of the Russian state, unlike the 1992 eclipse, which turned millions of people in the post-Soviet space into beggars.
In the chart of 1185, the conjunction of the star Pollux with Selene is significant. Pollux is the Immortal Twin who sacrificed his immortality for his brother. This is the star of warriors, fighters for justice and the happiness of other people. It requires unconditional self-sacrifice. Perhaps this really is a description of Igor’s heroism - in which case I’m talking nonsense. But, in my opinion, there is still enough evidence to support my version.
Pluto, the significator of the enemy, is in conjunction with Selena in the sign of Cancer, and Mars, the junior ruler of the 7th house of enemies, is in Pisces. Having examined many charts associated with the outbreak of hostilities, I have not found a single example of the outbreak of war with Mars in Pisces and with the conjunction of Pluto and Selene.
Mars in Pisces is a timid creature and fears ghosts more than reality. Pluto is softened by Selene, since Selene is higher in status in the celestial hierarchy. Consequently, such a constellation could not support war. All these positions took place before the eclipse, which means that, in principle, a serious war should not have started in May.
The Lot of Victory is conjunct Jupiter in the X house. This is a super strong position, but for finishing. The opposition to Neptune, of course, hits the Victory Lot, but most likely no one went anywhere. The two rulers of the third and first houses are in opposition, and without the normal III and I houses, no campaigns, let alone military ones, will work.
The peculiarity of this eclipse chart is that it imperatively begins to operate 6 days before the eclipse, this is indicated by the distance in degrees between the Sun and Rahu. Therefore, we can assume that this eclipse really caused some kind of shock in society, but not the kind that the chronicle writes about.
Most likely, there was no war that year at all.
Heretical conclusions or solo cadence
Analyzing all the chronicles at my disposal, I realized with horror that there are no normal chronicles written sequentially, but there is a wild “cutting”, a kind of vinaigrette of scraps, in which today it is difficult to find logic and separate pieces that differ in the time of writing. There could also be a certain piece about an eclipse in the chronicle. It can be assumed that there was a chronicle that talked about a complete, total eclipse (before darkness), but it spoke about events that were not in the 12th century, or that did not occur in Russia, or both. Such eclipses before complete darkness are generally extremely rare and do not happen every century. And they are not observed throughout the entire Earth. Once upon a time, Cook went to another hemisphere to find such an eclipse, and in the 20th century, “solar people” specifically chased such eclipses around the globe.
So, the final and triumphant squeak of my astrological saxophone: conclusions.
First: The chronicle has been compiled. It contains places that tell about different times and different countries. Perhaps the story of the eclipse is a rehash of some more ancient one, and not local legends. There is such a feeling from the “fateful”, “fatal” style of the chronicles in this passage, from the thickened atmosphere of the narrative. Perhaps this legend was specially inserted by the clergy (since Igor was punished for denying the influence of the eclipse, that is, higher powers on human affairs).
Second: Neither this year, nor earlier or later this year, such an eclipse was visible, which means the chronicle is a falsification. Either the date coincided by chance, and I don’t believe in coincidences, since coincidence is the highest degree of regularity. In this case, the date of the eclipse is taken from other sources describing certain events in another country where the eclipse was visible and actually observed.
Third: Therefore, we can assume that there was no campaign, at least in the indicated year.
Fourth: Those who composed the “chronicles” did not engage in historical reconstruction, which means they could not notice many mistakes in the text and did not correct them. The blunders are outright and do not fit into the tactics and strategy of that era. Since I have been doing this for 20 years, I have some ideas about the likelihood of one or another course of events.
My own pasta
I did not set out to model historical reality using astrological methods. That is, to answer the question, what really happened in that distant year with Prince Igor, Khan Konchak and other heroes of this blockbuster. This is a topic for another article or even a whole book.
Reconstruction of history (and especially its mysterious, “dark” places) using astrological methods is a new matter and so far practically unknown. For example, the myth about the calling of the Varangians. Can it be confirmed or refuted astrologically?
But this is a topic for a future article.
Used materials
Kudryashov K.V. About Igor Seversky, about the Russian land. M., 1959. S. 82-88;
PLDR edited by Stelletsky - 1965. P. 247-261;
PLDR: XII century. M., 1980. S. 344-371;
Getmanets M. F. The Secret of the Kayala River: A Tale of Igor’s Campaign. Kharkov, 1982. P. 135-140;
Tales of Ancient Rus' of the XI-XII centuries. L., 1983. S. 353-375;
Almanac "Word" - 1985. P. 415-422;
Chronicles about the campaign of Prince Igor/Ordering, textologically updated and translated by V.Yu.Franchuk. Kiev, 1988. pp. 70-172.
The Tale of Bygone Years (PVL). Part 1. M.-L. 1950, p. 18.
Ilovaisky D.I. Research about the beginning of Rus'. M. 1876, p. 238-239.
Parkhomenko V.A. Rus' in the 9th century. - News of the Department of Russian Language and Literature, 1917, vol. 22, book. 2, p. 128-129.Parkhomenko V.A. At the origins of Russian statehood (VIII-XI centuries). L. 1924, p. 5, 7.
Pokrovsky M.N. Selected works. Book 1. M. 1966, p. 98.
Grekov B.D. Feudal relations in the Kiev state. M.-L. 1936, p. 170-171, 9;. Grekov B.D. Kievan Rus. M.-L. 1939, p. 227-228.PSRL. M.; L., 1949. T. 25. P. 92). The story of the Laurentian Chronicle ends with a reflection on the executions of God, borrowed from the article of the previous year (also secondary there - drawn from article 1093 of the PVL).
Complete collection of Russian chronicles. T. 2. Ipatiev Chronicle (Rec.) // Moscow. 1843. No. 12. Dept. Criticism. P. 425).
Laurentian Chronicle // PSRL. L., 1927. Issue. 2; 2nd ed. T. 1, issue. 2. Stb. 397-400; Ipatiev Chronicle // PSRL. St. Petersburg, 1908. T. 2. Stb. 637-651 (both editions phototypically republished: M., 1962).
The story of Prince Igor's campaign against the Polovtsians.
Compare two stories about the campaign of Prince Igor. How do these stories differ in fact, in terms of attitude towards the characters in the story, stylistically and ideologically?
What do chroniclers say about the reasons for Igor’s defeat?
Pay attention to the nominative (factual and descriptive) and communicative (commentary) elements of the texts.
What do we learn from the chronicle stories about the personality of Prince Igor and the worldview of the chronicler?
Compare the chronicle narrative and the plot of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” What differences and similarities do you notice?
FROM THE Kyiv CHRONICLE (Ipatiev Chronicle)
Chronicle story about Igor Svyatoslavich's campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185
And at this time, Igor Svyatoslavich, the grandson of the Olegs, set out from Novgorod in the month of April on the twenty-third day, Tuesday, calling with him his brother Vsevolod from Trubchevsk, and Svyatoslav Olgovich, his nephew, from Rylsk, and Vladimir, his son, from Putivl. And he asked Yaroslav for help from Olstin Oleksich, Prokhorov’s grandson, with the Chernigov forks. And so they moved slowly, on fat horses, gathering their army. When they approached the Donets River in the evening, Igor, looking at the sky, saw that the sun stood like a moon. And he said to his boyars and his squad: “Do you see? What does this sign mean? They all looked and saw, and hung their heads, and the men said: “Our prince! This sign does not bode well for us!” Igor answered: “Brothers and squad! No one knows the divine secret, but God creates a sign, like his whole world. And what God gives us - whether it is for our good or for our sorrow - we will see.”
And, having said this, he crossed the Donets, and approached Oskol, and waited there for two days for his brother Vsevolod: he was coming by a different road from Kursk. And from there we moved to Salnitsa. Here the scouts who were sent to catch the “tongue” came to them, and those who arrived said: “We saw enemies, your enemies are riding in full armor, so either go without delay, or we will return home: now is not the right time for us.” Igor turned to his brethren: “If we have to return without accepting the battle, then our shame will be worse than death; let it be as God gives us.” And having decided so, they rode all night,
The next morning, on Friday, at lunchtime, we met with the Polovtsian regiments; The Polovtsians managed to prepare: they sent their vezhi back, and they themselves, having gathered from young to old, stood on the opposite bank of the Syurliy River. And ours lined up in six regiments: Igor’s regiment in the middle, and on the right hand - the regiment of his brother Vsevolod, on the left - Svyatoslav, his nephew, in front of these regiments was the regiment of his son Vladimir and another regiment, Yaroslavov, - Kovui with Olstin, and the third regiment in front are arrows collected from all the princes. And so they built their shelves. And Igor turned to his brethren: “Brothers! This is what we were looking for, so let’s dare!” And they moved towards the Polovtsians, placing their hopes on God. And when they approached the Syurlia River, arrows from the Polovtsian regiments rode out and, shooting an arrow towards the Russians, rode away. Before the Russians had time to cross the Syurliy River, those Polovtsian regiments that stood at a distance across the river also fled.
Svyatoslav Olgovich, and Vladimir Igorevich, and Olstin with the riflemen rushed to pursue them, and Igor and Vsevolod moved slowly, keeping the formation of their regiments. The advanced detachments of the Russians beat the Polovtsians and captured prisoners. The Polovtsians ran through their vezhi, and the Russians, having galloped to the vezh, captured a large full there. Some with captured prisoners only returned to their regiments at night. And when all the regiments had gathered, Igor turned to his brethren and to his husbands: “Behold, God, by his power, doomed our enemies to defeat, and gave us honor and glory. But we see countless Polovtsian regiments - almost all the Polovtsians have gathered here. So let’s go now, at night, and whoever sets out to pursue the herd in the morning, will anyone be able to: only the best of the Polovtsian cavalry will cross, and for us ourselves - as God willing.” But Svyatoslav Olgovich said to his uncles: “I chased the Polovtsians far, and my horses were exhausted; If I go now, I’ll fall behind on the way.” Vsevolod agreed with him and offered to spend the night here. And Igor said: “It will not be surprising, my wise brothers, to die here.” And they lay down here.
When the dawn of Saturday dawned, the Polovtsian regiments began to approach, like a forest. And the Russian princes did not know which of them should go against whom - there were so many Polovtsians. And Igor said: “I think that we have gathered the whole Polovtsian land for ourselves - Konchak, and Kozu Burnovich, and Toksobich, Kolobich, and Etebich, and Tertrobich.” And then, after consulting, everyone got off their horses, deciding, fighting, to reach the Donets River, for they said: “If we gallop, we will save ourselves, and leave the ordinary people, and this will be a sin for us before God: having betrayed them, we will leave. But we will either die, or we will all remain alive.” And having said this, they left the mines and moved in battle. Then, by God's will, Igor was wounded in the hand, and his left hand became dead. And everyone in his regiment was saddened: they had a commander and they wounded him before others. And so they fought fiercely all day until the evening, and many were wounded and killed in the Russian regiments.
When the Sabbath night came, they were still walking, fighting. At dawn on Sunday, the Kovui disobeyed and fled. Igor at that time was on horseback, as he was wounded, and hurried to them, trying to return them to the rest of the regiments. But, noticing that he was too far away from his own people, he took off his helmet and galloped back to his regiment, for they had already recognized the prince and had to return. But no one returned, only Mikhalko Yuryevich, recognizing the prince, returned. And none of the boyars fled with the Kovuys. only a few simple soldiers and some of the boyars’ warriors, and all the boyars fought on foot, and among them Vsevolod, who showed a lot of courage. When Igor was already approaching his regiments, the Polovtsians, rushing to cross him, captured him at a distance of one shootout from his soldiers. And, already captured, Igor saw his brother. Vsevolod, fighting fiercely, and he prayed to God for death, so as not to see the death of his brother. Vsevolod fought so furiously that he didn’t even have enough weapons. And they fought, going around the lake.
And so, on the day of Holy Sunday, the Lord brought down His wrath on us, instead of joy he doomed us to crying and instead of joy - on a mountain on the Kayaly River. Then, they say, Igor exclaimed: “I remembered my sins before my Lord God, that I committed a lot of murders and bloodshed on Christian land: how I did not spare Christians, but plundered the city of Glebov near Pereyaslavl. Then innocent Christians experienced a lot of suffering: fathers were separated from their children, brother from brother, from each other, wives from their husbands, daughters from their mothers, girlfriends from their girlfriends. And everyone was in confusion: then there was fullness and sorrow, the living envied the dead, and the dead rejoiced. that they, like holy martyrs, were cleansed in fire from the filth of this life. The elders were kicked, the young suffered from cruel and merciless beatings, husbands were killed and dismembered, women were desecrated. And I did all this,” Igor exclaimed, “and I am not worthy to stay alive!”
And now I see vengeance from the Lord my God: where is my beloved brother now? Where is my brother's son now? Where is the child I gave birth to? Where are the boyars, my advisers? Where are the warrior men? Where are the regiments lined up? Where are the horses and priceless weapons? Haven’t I now lost all this, and, bound, God delivered me into the hands of the wicked? The Lord rewarded me all this for my iniquities and for my cruelty, and the sins I committed fell on my own head. The Lord is incorruptible, and his judgment is always fair. And I must not share the fate of the living. But now I see that others are gaining the crown of martyrdom, so why did I - the only one to blame - not suffer for all this? But, my lord God, do not reject me forever, but whatever is your will, Lord, such is mercy for us, your servants.”
And then the battle ended, and the captives were separated, and the Polovtsians each went to their vezhs. Igor was taken prisoner by a man named Chilbuk from Targolovtsy, and Vsevolod, his brother, was captured by Roman Kzich, and Svyatoslav Olgovich by Eldechuk from Voburtsevich, and Vladimir by Kopti from Ulashevich. Then, on the battlefield, Konchak vouched for his matchmaker Igor, for he was wounded. And out of so many people, few were able to escape by a lucky chance; it was impossible for the fugitives to hide - as if they were surrounded by strong walls by Polovtsian regiments. But about fifteen of our Russian husbands ran away, and even fewer of the Kovuys, and the rest drowned in the sea.
At this time, Grand Duke Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich went to Karachev and gathered soldiers in the upper lands, intending to go against the Polovtsians to the Don all summer. When Svyatoslav was already on his way back to Novgorod-Seversky, he heard about his brothers that they had gone against the Polovtsy in secret from him, and he was very annoyed by this. Svyatoslav was sailing in boats at that time; when he arrived in Chernigov, Belovod Prosovich ran there and told Svyatoslav about what had happened in the Polovtsian land. Svyatoslav, having learned about everything, sighed heavily and said, wiping away tears: “Oh, my dear brothers, and sons, and men of the Russian land! God granted me victory over the filthy ones, and you, unable to contain the ardor of your youth, opened the gates to the Russian land. And just as I was just annoyed with Igor, now I mourn him, my brother.”
After this, Svyatoslav sent his son Oleg and Vladimir to Posemye. Having learned about what had happened, the towns of Posemsky came into dismay, and they were overcome by great grief and sadness, which had never happened in the entire Posemye, and in Novgorod-Seversky, and in the entire land of Chernigov: the princes were captured and the squad was captured or killed. And people rushed about in confusion, unrest began in the cities, and then no one was nice to them, even their loved ones, but many forgot about their souls, grieving for their princes. Then Svyatoslav sent to Davyd in Smolensk, with the words: “We agreed to go against the Polovtsy and spend the summer on the banks of the Don, and now the Polovtsy defeated Igor, and his brother, and son; so come, brother, to protect the Russian land.” Davyd sailed along the Dnieper, others came to help and stood at Trepol, and Yaroslav with his regiments stood in Chernigov.
The filthy Polovtsians, having defeated Igor and his brethren, became quite proud and gathered all their people to go to the Russian land. And they began to argue. Konchak said: “Let’s go to Kyiv, where our brethren and our Grand Duke Bonyak were killed.” And Gza said: “Let’s go to the Seim, where their wives and children remained: there is a ready-made collection for us, we will capture the cities without fearing anyone.” And so they split in two: Konchak went to Pereyaslavl, surrounded the city, and fought there all day. Vladimir Glebovich, Prince of Pereyaslavl, was brave and strong in battle. He left the city and attacked the enemies, and only a few of the squad decided to follow him. He fought fiercely and was surrounded by many Polovtsians. Then the rest of the Pereyaslavl people, seeing how courageously their prince was fighting, jumped out of the city and rescued their prince, wounded by three spears. And this glorious warrior, Vladimir, seriously wounded, entered his city, wiped his courageous sweat for his fatherland. And Vladimir sent to Svyatoslav and Davyd with a request: “I have the Polovtsy, so help me.” Svyatoslav sent to Davyd, and Davyd stood at Trepol with the Smolensk people. The Smolensk residents began to confer and said this: “We came to Kyiv, if there had been a battle there, we would have fought, but why should we look for another battle, we cannot - we are already tired.” And Svyatoslav with Rurik and others who came to the rescue went along the Dnieper against the Polovtsians; Davyd returned back with his Smolensk residents. The Polovtsians, hearing about this, retreated from Pereyaslavl. And, passing by Rimov, they besieged him. The Rimovichi closed themselves in the city and filled all the fences, and, by the will of God, two city dwellers with people collapsed on the side of the besiegers. The rest of the townspeople were filled with fear. Those who ran out of the city and fought in the swamps near Rimov were saved from captivity, and those who remained in the city were captured. Vladimir sent to Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Rostislavich, calling them to his aid. But Svyatoslav lingered, waiting for Davyd with the Smolensk people. And so the Russian princes were late and did not catch up with the Polovtsians. The Polovtsians, having taken the city of Rimov, went home with the captives, and the princes returned to their homes, grieving over their son Vladimir Glebovich, who received severe mortal wounds, and about the Christians, who were taken into captivity as filthy.
This is how God executes us for our sins, brought the filthy ones against us not in order to please them, but by punishing us and calling us to repentance, so that we would renounce our evil deeds. And he punishes us with the raids of the filthy, so that we, having humbled ourselves, come to our senses and leave our destructive path.
And other Polovtsy moved on the other side<Сулы>to Putivl. Gza with a large army ravaged its surroundings and burned the villages. The Polovtsians burned the fort near Putivl and returned home.
Igor Svyatoslavich was with the Polovtsians at that time, and he constantly said: “Because of my deeds, I deserved defeat, and by your will, my lord, my Lord, and not the valor of the filthy, I broke the strength of your servants. I am not worthy of pity, because for my atrocities I doomed myself to the misfortunes that I experienced.” The Polovtsians, as if ashamed of his valor, did not do him any harm, but assigned fifteen guards from among their fellow tribesmen and five sons of eminent people, and there were twenty of them in total, but did not limit his freedom: wherever he wanted, he went there with a hawk hunted, and five or six of his servants also traveled with him. Those guards obeyed and respected him, and if he sent someone, they unquestioningly fulfilled his wishes. And he brought the priest from Rus' to him with the clergy, not yet knowing divine providence, but hoping that he would remain there for a long time. However, the Lord delivered him through the prayers of Christians, for many were sad for him and shed tears.
When he was with the Polovtsians, a certain man was found there, a Polovtsian by birth, named Laurus. And a good thought came to him, and he said to Igor: “I will go with you to Rus'.” Igor did not believe him at first, moreover, he cherished a daring hope, as is typical of youth, planning to flee to Rus' with his husbands, and said: “Fearing dishonor, I did not abandon my squad then and now I cannot flee the inglorious path " With Igor were the thousand’s son and his groom, and they convinced the prince, saying: “Run, prince, to the Russian land, if it is God’s will, you will be saved.” But there was still no convenient time for which he was waiting. However, as we said before, the Polovtsians returned from near Pereyaslavl, and his advisers told Igor: “God is not pleased with your daring plan: you are looking for an opportunity to escape with your husbands, but why don’t you think about it: the Polovtsians will come from the campaign , and, as we heard, they are going to kill you, prince, and your husbands, and all the Russians. And you will have neither glory nor life itself.” Their advice sank into Prince Igor’s heart; Frightened by the return of the Polovtsians, he decided to flee.
But he could not escape either day or night, because the guards were guarding him, but he considered the most appropriate time at sunset. And Igor sent his groom to the Laurus, telling him to convey: “Move to the other side of the Tor with a lead horse,” for he decided to flee with the Laurus to Rus'. The Polovtsy got drunk on kumiss at that time. When it began to get dark, the groom came and told his prince Igor that Laurus was waiting for him. Igor stood up in fear and confusion, bowed to the image of God and the honest cross, saying: “Lord, who reads in our hearts! Oh, if only you would save me, unworthy lord!” And, taking with him the cross and the icon, he lifted the wall of the tent and crawled out of it, and meanwhile the guards were amused and having fun, thinking that the prince was sleeping. He, approaching the river, crossed to the other bank, sat down on a mine, and so he and Laurus rode through the vezhi.
The Lord brought him deliverance on Friday evening. And Igor walked on foot to the city of Donets for eleven days, and from there to his Novgorod, and everyone rejoiced at him. From Novgorod he went to his brother Yaroslav in Chernigov, asking for help in defending Posemye. Yaroslav was delighted with Igor and promised help. From there Igor went to Kyiv, to the Grand Duke Svyatoslav, and Svyatoslav was glad to Igor, as well as Rurik, his matchmaker.
Translation by O. V. Tvorogov
FROM THE LAURENTIAN CHRONICLE
FROM THE LAURENTIAN CHRONICLE
That summer, God put a thought in the hearts of the Russian princes - all the Russian princes went against the Polovtsians: Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, Rurik Rostislavich, Vladimir Glebovich, Gleb Svyatoslavich, Gleb Yuryevich Turovsky, Mstislav Romanovich, Izyaslav Davidovich, Vsevolod Mstislavich and help from Galich, Vladimir and Luchsk . And they all went together against the Polovtsians; and they crossed the river Angol, and searched for them for five days. Vladimir Glebovich, the grandson of Yuri, rode ahead in the guard regiment with the Pereyaslavl people, and there were two thousand one hundred Berendeys with him.
The Polovtsians, having heard that the Russians had come against them, rejoiced, hoping for their strength, and said: “God has given the Russian princes and their regiments into our hands.” They rushed into battle, not knowing what it says: “Courage and intent are in vain if God resists.” They went against Vladimir, with cliques. as if they wanted to devour him. And Vladimir, with the help of God and the Holy Mother of God and strengthening the prayer of his grandfather and father, went to meet them. He begged Svyatoslav, saying: “My volost has been devastated by the Polovtsians, let me, my father Svyatoslav, go with the advanced guard regiment.” But the Russian princes did not keep up with Vladimir. The Polovtsians, seeing Vladimir’s regiment bravely marching towards them, fled, driven by the wrath of God and the Holy Mother of God.
Ours drove them, and cut them down, and took seven thousand in full, the Polovtsian princes alone were four hundred and seventeen, and they captured Kobyak, Osoluk, Barak, Targ, Danila, Bashkort, Tarsuk, Iza, Gleb Tirievich, Eksna, Alak and Tolgyi, Davydov's father-in-law, with his son, Tetiya with his son, Kobyakov's father-in-law, Turundai. And God and the Holy Mother of God helped Vladimir in the month of July on the thirty-first day, Monday, the day of remembrance of St. Eudokim the New.
The Lord granted a great victory to our princes and their warriors over our enemies; the foreigners Cumans, or Polovtsians, were defeated. And Vladimir said: “On this day, given to us by the Lord, we will rejoice and be glad, for the Lord delivered us from our enemies and cast our enemies under our feet, and crushed the heads of the serpent.” And there was great joy: the squad was enriched with captives, and the convicts were led away, weapons and horses were obtained, and they returned home, glorifying God and the Holy Mother of God, who was quick to help the Christian family.
Per year 6 6 9 4 (1186). On the first day of the month of May, on the day of remembrance of the holy prophet Jeremiah, on Wednesday, in the evening there was a sign in the sun, and it got so dark that people could see the stars, and everything turned green in their eyes, and the sun turned into a month, and his horns are like burning coals. It was scary for people to see God’s sign.
In the same year, of the same month, on the eighteenth day, on the day of remembrance of the holy martyr Potapius, on Saturday, a son was born to the Grand Duke Vsevolod, and they named him in holy baptism Constantine.
That same year, Olgov’s grandchildren decided to go against the Polovtsians, since they didn’t go last year with all the princes, but they went on their own, saying: “What, aren’t we princes? We will achieve the same glory for ourselves!” And Igor met at Pereyaslavl with two sons from Novgorod-Seversky, his brother Vsevolod from Trubchevsk, Svyatoslav Olgovich from Rylsk and those who came to their aid from Chernigov. And they entered the land of the Polovtsians. Having heard it, they went to meet them halfway, saying: “Our brothers and our fathers have been killed, and others are in captivity, and now they are coming at us.” They sent the news throughout their entire land, and they themselves went to meet them and waited for their troops, and ours were coming to them, to their headquarters. The Polovtsians met them without letting them approach the towers, and, without waiting for the rest of the troops, they fought in battle. And the Polovtsy were defeated, and they drove them to the vezh, and the Russians took their full wives and children, and stood for three days in their vezh, having fun and saying: “Our brothers went with Svyatoslav, the Grand Duke, and fought with the Polovtsy in sight of Pereyaslavl , they themselves came to them, but they did not dare to go to the Polovtsian land after them. And we are in their land, and we ourselves have killed, and their wives have been captured, and their children are with us. Now let’s follow them across the Don and kill them all without a trace. If we win here too, then we will follow them to the Lukomorye, where our grandfathers did not go, and we will take all our glory and honor to the end.” But they did not know about God’s destiny.
And the remnants of the defeated Polovtsians fled to their army, where the news had previously been sent, and told them about their defeat. When they heard it, they came to their aid and sent for others. And the archers came together with the Russians, and the archers fought for three days, but did not meet in a spear battle, waiting for their squad, and they were not allowed to approach the water.
And the whole army approached them, an innumerable multitude. Our people, seeing them, were horrified and forgot about their boasting, for they did not know what the prophet said: “Wisdom, and courage, and plan are in vain for a person if God resists.” The horses themselves were exhausted from lack of water, in the heat and in agony, and finally made their way to the water, otherwise they were not allowed near the water for three days. Seeing this, the enemies rushed at them, and pressed them to the water, and fought with them fiercely, and the battle was fierce. The Polovtsy changed their horses, but our horses became exhausted, and ours were defeated by the wrath of God. All the princes were taken prisoner, and of the boyars and nobles and all the squads, those who were killed, others were taken prisoner or wounded. And the Polovtsy returned with the great victory, but no one knows who brought the news about ours, but all for our sins.
Where is our joy - now sighs and crying are everywhere! Isaiah the prophet says: “Lord, in sorrow I remembered you,” and so on.
A merchant was walking on his way, and the Polovtsians ordered him to say: “Follow your brothers, or we will follow our brothers to you.” The princes all, having heard about such a misfortune with their brethren and with the boyars, all groaned, and there was crying and sobbing everywhere: some had brothers killed or taken prisoner, others had fathers or relatives. And Prince Svyatoslav sent for his sons and all the princes. And they gathered to see him in Kyiv, and set out for Kanev. The Polovtsians, having heard that the entire Russian land was coming against them, fled across the Don. Svyatoslav, having learned that they had fled, returned with all the princes to Kyiv, and they all dispersed to their lands.
And the Polovtsians, hearing that they had retreated, suddenly attacked Pereyaslavl, and took all the cities along the Sula, and fought at Pereyaslavl all day. Vladimir Glebovich, seeing that they were about to capture the fort, left the city with a small squad, and attacked them, and boldly fought with them; unfortunately, they surrounded the prince. But the townspeople, seeing that their own were exhausted in battle, jumped out of the city and in the battle barely took away the prince, wounded by three spears. And many of his squad died. And they hastened to the city and shut themselves up in it. And the Polovtsians returned with a large load to the vezhi.
Soon Igor fled from the Polovtsy - for the Lord will not leave the righteous in the hands of sinners: the Lord looks at those who fear him and listens to their prayers! They chased him and did not catch up; just as Saul pursued David, but God delivered him, so God delivered Igor from the hands of the filthy Polovtsians... And the rest were kept strictly and guarded, threatening with chains and torture.
All this happened because of our sins, since our sins and crimes increased. After all, God executes His slaves with various misfortunes, fire, water, war, and other various misfortunes; Christians who have endured much will be destined to enter the kingdom of heaven. We sinned and were executed, as we acted, that’s what we received, but our Lord punishes us justly, and let no one dare to say that God hates us - this will not happen! He loves us as much as he loved us when he accepted us for the sake of torment, in order to deliver us from the devil.
- - - - - -
Encouraged by the successes of the previous campaign, he sets himself an incredibly bold task: with little of his own strength, to “search” for the old Chernigov Tmutorokan, to reach the shores of the Black Sea, which was closed to Rus' by the Polovtsians for more than a hundred years. A high sense of military honor, repentance for his previous policy, devotion to the new - all-Russian, hatred of his former allies - witnesses of his shame, the torment of suffering pride - all this motivated him on the campaign. In this complex background there are features of the special tragedy of Igor Svyatoslavich’s unfortunate campaign, a tragedy that attracted the attention of the author of the Lay and the chroniclers who composed their stories about him in different parts of the Russian land - the most extensive and, perhaps, the most vivid of all. stories about the steppe campaigns of Russian princes.
Two chronicle stories about the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich in 1185 have been preserved: one, more extensive, in the Ipatiev Chronicle, the other, more condensed, in the Laurentian Chronicle. But both of them are not original: both have some common parts that go back to the chronicle of Pereyaslavl in Russia, which bordered the steppe, which has not reached us. Here's how, based on them, you can imagine Igor's campaign.
On Tuesday, April 23, 1185, Igor Svyatoslavich Novgorod-Seversky, his son Vladimir Putivlsky, nephew Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich Rylsky, together with the Kovuy squads sent from Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Chernigov, led by Olstin Oleksich, set out on a long steppe campaign against the Polovtsians without collusion with the Kyiv Prince Svyatoslav. The horses, fattened over the winter, walked quietly. Igor rode, gathering his squad. While hiking off the banks of the Donets on May 1, when the day was approaching evening, they were caught by a solar eclipse, which was considered in Rus' an omen of misfortune, but Igor did not turn his horses. He said to his boyars and squad: “Do you see what this sign is?” They all looked, lowered their heads and said: “Prince!” This is a bad sign.” Igor said to this: “Brothers and squad!” No one knows the secrets of God, but God is the creator of the sign and the whole world. And what God will do for us - either for good or for our evil - and we see the same thing.” Having said this, Igor crossed the Donets. At Oskol, Igor waited for two days for his brother Vsevolod, who was coming from Kursk by a different route. From Oskol we went further to the Salnitsa River.
It was not possible to take the Polovtsians by surprise, as Igor had hoped: unexpectedly, the Russian guards, who were sent to catch the “tongue,” reported that the Polovtsians were armed and ready for battle. The watchmen advised us to either go faster or return, “as it is not our time,” that is, it is not the time for a hike. But Igor said: “If we don’t fight to come back, then we will be rubbish worse than death, but as God willing.” Having agreed on this, the Russians did not stop for the night, but rode all night. The next day at lunchtime the Russians met the Polovtsian regiments. The Polovtsians sent back their vezhi (nomadic dwellings on carts), and they themselves, having gathered “from young to old,” lined up on the other side of the Syurlia River. Igor's troops formed into six regiments. According to the custom of that time, Igor Svyatoslavich said a short encouraging word to the princes: “Brothers, this is what we were looking for, but let’s get it.” Igor’s regiment stood in the middle, on his right hand was Vsevolod’s buoy, on his left was the regiment of Igor’s nephew Svyatoslav Rylsky. The regiment of Igor’s son, Vladimir, and the regiment of the Chernigov Kovuys stood ahead. Selected riflemen drawn from all regiments came forward. The Polovtsians lined up their archers. Having fired a volley from bows (“shooting an arrow”), the Polovtsians fled. Those Polovtsian regiments that were stationed far from the river also fled. The advanced regiments of the Chernigov kovuys and Vladimir Igorevich chased the Polovtsians. Igor and Vsevolod walked slowly, maintaining the battle formation of their regiments. The Polovtsians ran through their hedges. The Russians took possession of their vezhas and captured full (prisoners). Part of the army chased the Polovtsians further and returned at night with a new army.
When everyone had gathered, Igor began to talk about going into the night, but Svyatoslav Rylsky said to his uncles: “Far away I drove the Polovtsians, but my horses cannot.” Even if we are going to go now, then we will only have to stay in good health.” We decided to spend the night there.
The Laurentian Chronicle, unsympathetic to the Olgovichs, says that the Olgovich troops stood on the Polovtsian highs for three days “having fun,” and conveys the boast allegedly uttered by them: “Our brothers went with Svyatoslav the Grand Duke, and fought with them in vain at Pereyaslavl (i.e., not far from Pereyaslavl), but they (the Polovtsians) themselves came to them, but did not dare to follow them into their (Polovtsian) land. But we are in their land, and we beat Samek, and captured their wives, and we have children, but we will not follow them beyond the Don and beat them to the end. Once we have that victory, we will walk along them and the bow of the sea (to the Azov seaside), where neither our grandfathers walked. And let us take our glory and honor to the end.”
The Ipatiev Chronicle tells the events that happened after the first victory differently. The very next day after the first victory over the Polovtsians, at dawn, suddenly the Polovtsian regiments “ak borove” (like a forest) began to attack the Russians. The small Russian army saw that it had gathered “the entire Polovtsian land” against itself. But even in this case, the brave Igor did not turn his regiments. His speech before the battle is reminiscent of the speeches of Monomakh in his concern for the “black people”: “If we run away and run away ourselves, and leave the black people behind, then it will be a sin from God for betraying them.” Let’s go, but either we’ll die or we’ll live in the same place.” In order to make their way to the Donets, without getting ahead or behind each other, Igor ordered the horsemen to dismount and fight all together.
For three days, day and night, Igor slowly made his way to the Donets with his army. In the battle, Igor was wounded in his right hand, and there was great sadness in his regiment. The warriors, cut off from water, were exhausted with thirst. The horses were the first to faint from thirst. There were many wounded and dead in the Russian regiments. They fought hard until the evening, they fought for the second night; At dawn on Sunday morning, the Chernigov settlements trembled. Igor galloped towards the Kovayas to stop them. He took off his helmet to be recognized by them, but could not detain them. On the way back, within an arrow's flight from his regiment, he was captured by the Polovtsians. Captured, he saw how cruelly his brother Vsevolod fought at the head of his army, and asked God for death so as not to see his death. As the chronicler says, Igor later said that he then remembered his sins before God: bloodshed in the Russian land, when he took the city of Glebov by storm, fathers separated from their children, brothers, daughters from mothers, girlfriends, wounded men and desecrated women. “Where is my beloved brother (Vsevolod) now? - said Igor. - Where is my brother’s son now? Where is the child of my birth? Where are the thinking boyars, where are the brave men, where is the line of marchers? Where are the horses and valuable weapons? Is it not because of all this that I have become naked, and the Lord has bound the darkness into the hands of the wicked before me?” The captured princes were dismantled by the Polovtsian khans. His matchmaker Konchak vouched for Igor. Of the entire Russian army, only 15 people were saved, and even fewer Kovuys. The others drowned.
At that time, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Kiev was going to Korachev and gathering soldiers in the upper lands, planning to march against the Polovtsians to the Don for the whole summer. On the way back from Novgorod Seversky, Svyatoslav heard that his cousins had gone against the Polovtsians, hiding from him: and he was not pleased with this. When Svyatoslav was already approaching Chernigov in the boats, Belovolod Prosovich came running and told him about Igor’s defeat. Svyatoslav, hearing this, took a deep breath, wiped away his tears and said: “Oh my love, brothers and sons and men of the Russian land!” God allowed me to grow weary of the filthy, but without refraining from my youth (youth), opening the gates to the Russian land. The Lord’s will be about everything: Yes, what a pity I feel for Igor (as I was annoyed with him before), so now I pity more (so now I regret even more) for my brother Igor.”
