The Kiev Chronicle

The Kiev Chronicle. (XII. century.)

The Kiev Chronicle is a continuation of Nestor's Chronicle, from 1111-1201, and describes mainly the acts of the principality of Kiev. The best manuscript of this chronicle is from the monastery of St. Ipati, near Kostroma, and dates from the end of the fourteenth, or the beginning of the fifteenth, century. The passage given below is selected to illustrate the historical account of the same incident contained in the Word of Igor's Armament.

THE EXPEDITION OF IGOR SVYATOSLAVICH

AGAINST THE POLOVTSES

In the year 6693 (1185). At that time Igor the son of Svyatoslav, the grandson of Oleg, rode out of Novgorod on the 23rd of April, which was on a Tuesday, having taken with him his brother Vsevolod from Trubetsk and Svyatoslav Olgovich his nephew, from Rylsk and Vladimir, his son, from Putivl, and Yaroslav had sent him, at his request, Olstin Oleksich the grandson of Prokhor with Kovuans[1] from Chernigov. They proceeded slowly, collecting their druzhina, for their horses were very fat. As they were going towards the river Donets, Igor looked one evening at the sky, and he saw the sun standing there like a moon, and he said to his boyars and druzhina: "Do you see this omen?"

They looked up, and having noticed it, hung their heads, and said: "Prince, this is not a good omen!"

But Igor said: "Brothers and druzhina! Nobody knows God's mystery, and God is the creator of mystery, as well as of all His world; but we shall find out in time whether God means our good or our evil."

Having said this, he forded the Donets and came to the river Oskol, where he waited for two days for his brother Vsevolod who was marching by another road from Kursk; thence they proceeded to Salnitsa. There came to them the guards whom they had sent out to reconnoitre; they said: "We have seen the army of the enemy; they were riding rapidly: either you ride fast, or we had better return home, for the time is not propitious."

But Igor consulted his brothers and said: "If we return without fighting, our shame will be greater than death. Let us proceed with God's aid!"

Having said this, they travelled through the night, and the next day, which was a Friday, they met the army of the Polovtses at noontime. When they saw them, they were without their tents, for they had left them behind them, but the old and young were all standing on the other side of the river Syuurli. The Russians arranged their six troops as follows: Igor's troop was in the middle, to his right was the troop of his brother Vsevolod, and to the left that of his nephew Svyatoslav; in front of him was placed his son Vladimir, and Yaroslav's Kovuans, and a third troop of archers was in front of them, and they were selected from the troops of all the princes; that was the position of their troops.

And Igor spoke to his brothers: "Brothers! We have found what we have been looking for, so let us move on them!" And they advanced, placing their faith in God. When they came to the river Syuurli, the archers galloped out from the troops of the Polovtses, sent each an arrow against the Russians, and galloped back again, before the Russians had crossed the river Syuurli; equally the Polovtses who stood farther away from the river galloped away. Svyatoslav Olgovich, and Vladimir Igorevich, and Olstin with his Kovuans, and the archers ran after them, while Igor and Vsevolod went slowly ahead, and did not send forward their troops; but the Russians ahead of them struck down the Polovtses. The Polovtses ran beyond their tents, and the Russians, having come as far as the tents, plundered them, and some returned in the night with their booty to the army.

When the Polovtses had come together, Igor said to his brothers and men: "God has given us the power to vanquish our enemy, and honour and glory to us! We have seen the army of the Polovtses that it is large, and I wonder whether they have all been collected. If we now shall ride through the night, what surety is there that all will follow us next morning? And our best horsemen will be in the meantime cut down, and we will have to shift as best we can."

And Svyatoslav Olgovich spoke to his uncles: "I have driven the Polovtses a long distance, and my horses are played out; if I am to travel on today, I shall have to fall behind on the road," and Vsevolod agreed with him that it was best to rest.

Igor spoke: "Knowing this, it is not proper to expose ourselves to death," and they rested there.

When the day broke on the Saturday, the troops of the Polovtses began to appear like a forest. The Russian princes were perplexed, and did not know whom to attack first, for there was a numberless host of them. And Igor said: "See, I have collected against me the whole land: Konchak, Koza Burnovich, Toksobich, Kolobich, Etebich, and Tertrobich." And seeing them, they dismounted from their horses, for they wished to reach the river Donets by fighting, and they said: "If we remain on horseback, and run away, and leave our soldiers behind, we will have sinned before God; but let us die or live together!" And having said this, they all dismounted and fought on foot.

By the will of God, Igor was wounded, and his left arm was disabled, and there was a great sorrow in his troop; and they captured his general, having wounded him in front. And they fought that day until evening, and many were the wounded and killed in the Russian army. They fought till late into the night, and when the Sunday began to break, the Kovuans became confused and ran away. Igor was at that time on horseback, for he was wounded, and he followed them up, trying to bring them back to the army. Seeing that he had gone far away from his people, he took off his helmet so that they might recognise him and might return to the army, and he rode back to his troop. But no one returned, except Mikhalko Gyurgevich who had recognised the Prince. The trouble was, no one, except a few of the rank and file and boyars' youths, had thoroughly mingled with the Kovuans, for they were all busy fighting on foot; among these, Vsevolod excelled in bravery. As Igor was approaching his troop, the Polovtses crossed his path and made him prisoner within an arrow's shot from his troop. While Igor was held captive, he saw his brother fighting mightily, and in his heart he implored for his own death that he might not see his brother fall dead; but Vsevolod was fighting until he had no weapons left in his hands, and they were fighting around a lake.

It was on the day of the holy Sunday that the Lord brought down His anger upon them, and changed joy into weeping, and instead of pleasure gave them sorrow, on the river Kayala. And Igor spoke: "I now recall my sins before the Lord my God, for I have caused much slaughter and bloodshed in the Christian land, and did not spare the Christians, but took by storm the town of Glyebov near Pereyaslavl. Then innocent Christians suffered no small measure of evil, for fathers were separated from their children, brother from brother, friend from friend, wives from husbands, and daughters from their mothers, and all was confused in captivity and sorrow. The living envied the dead, and the dying rejoiced because they had like holy martyrs received their trial by fire in this life; old men were killed, young men received fierce and inhuman wounds, men were cut to pieces. All this I have done, and I am not worthy to live; today the revenge of the Lord has reached me. Where is now my beloved brother? Where is now the son of my brother? Where is the child of my loins? Where are the counselling boyars, where are the brave men, the ranks of the soldiers? Where are the horses and costly weapons? Am I not separated from all that, and has not the Lord given me fettered into the hands of the pagans? The Lord has repaid me for my lawlessness and my meanness, and my sins have this day come down upon my head. The Lord is just, and His judgments are right, and I have nothing in common with the living. I see today others receiving the crown of martyrdom, but why can I not, guilty one, suffer for all of them? But Lord my God! Do not reject me to the end, but as Thy will, O Lord, is done, so also in Thy mercy to us, Thy slaves!"

The battle being over, the Polovtses scattered, and went to their tents. Igor was captured by the Targolans, by a man named Chilbuk; his brother Vsevolod was taken by Roman Kzich, Svyatoslav Olgovich by Eldechyuk of the Boburcheviches, and Vladimir by Kopti of the Ulasheviches. Then Konchak took care of Igor on the battlefield, for he was wounded. Of the many prisoners taken but few could run away, God being willing, for it was not possible for anyone to escape, being surrounded on all sides by the Polovts army as with mighty walls; and yet there escaped about fifteen of us Russians, and fewer Kovuans, but the rest were drowned in the sea.

At that time Grand Prince Vsevolod's son Svyatoslav had gone to Korachev[2] to collect warriors in the upper lands, wishing in the summer to go to the Don against the Polovtses. When Svyatoslav returned and was at Novgorod Syeverski, he heard that his brothers had gone against the Polovtses, without his knowledge, and he was displeased. Svyatoslav was travelling in boats, and when he arrived in Chernigov, Byelovolod Prosovich came to him and told him what had happened with the Polovtses. When Svyatoslav heard that, he sighed much and, wiping off his tears, he said: "O beloved brothers and sons and men of the Russian land! Oh, that God would grant me to crush the pagans! But they, impulsive in their youth, have opened the gates into the Russian land. The will of the Lord be on everything! However sorry I was for Igor, I am more sorry for Igor, my brother!"

After that Svyatoslav sent his son Oleg and Vladimir into the Posemie,[3] for when the cities of the Posemie heard of the disaster, they were disturbed, and there was a sorrow and heavy anguish upon them, such as had never before been in the whole Posemie, in Novgorod Syeverski and in the whole district of Chernigov. They had heard that their princes had been taken prisoners, and the druzhina had been captured, and killed; and they became restless, as if in turbid water, and the cities revolted, and many had no care for their relatives, but they renounced their souls, weeping for their princes. After that Svyatoslav sent to David of Smolensk, saying: "We had intended to go against the Polovtses, and pass the summer on the Don; but now the Polovtses have vanquished Igor, and his brother with his son; now come, brother, to protect the Russian land!" And David came to the Dnieper, and there arrived also other help, and they stopped at Trepol, but Yaroslav collected his troops at Chernigov.

The pagan Polovtses, having conquered Igor and his brothers, were filled with great conceit, and they gathered all their tribes against the Russian land. And there was a strife among them, for Konchak said: "Let us march against Kiev, where our brothers and our Grand Prince Bonyak were cut down!" But Kza said: "Let us go against the Sem, where their wives and children are left, an easy booty for us; we shall sack their cities without danger!" And thus they divided into two parts. Konchak went against Pereyaslavl. He besieged the city, and they fought the whole day. At that time Vladimir Glyebovich was the Prince of Pereyaslavl. He being bold and a mighty warrior, rode out of the city and rushed against the enemy, and then a few men of his druzhina were emboldened, and they fought valiantly. Many Polovtses surrounded them. Then the others, seeing their Prince hard pressed, rushed out of the city, and saved their Prince, who was wounded with three spear thrusts. This good Vladimir rode back into the city heavily wounded, and he wiped the sweat from his brave face, having fought doughtily for his country.

Vladimir sent word to Svyatoslav, and to Rurik, and to David: "The Polovtses are at my gates, help me!" Svyatoslav sent word to David, who stood at Trepol with his Smolensk troop. The men of Smolensk held a council, and said: "We have marched to Kiev to fight in case there is a war there; but we cannot look for another war, for we are worn out." Svyatoslav hurried to the Dnieper with Rurik and other troops, against the Polovtses, and David went away with his Smolensk men. When the Polovtses heard this, they went away from Pereyaslavl, but on their way they attacked Rimov. The Rimovans shut themselves up in the city; having climbed the rampart, two wicker structures gave way with all their men, God having so willed, and broke in the direction of the enemy. Terror fell upon the city people. Some of them sallied from the city and kept up a running fight into the Rimov swamps, and thus escaped capture; but those who remained in the city were all taken prisoners. Vladimir sent again to Svyatoslav Vsevolodich and Rurik Rostislavich, imploring them to come to his aid. But they were tardy in coming, having waited for David with his Smolensk troop, and thus they did not get there in time to meet the Polovtses. Having taken the city of Rimov, the Polovtses returned to their homes, loaded down with booty. The princes went back to their homes, and they were very sad, and they were sorry for Vladimir Glyebovich, for be was struck down with mortal wounds, and they were sorry for the Christians that had been taken prisoners by the pagans. . . .

The other Polovtses were going by another road to Putivl. Kza had a large host with him; they laid waste the country, burnt the villages, and also burnt the castle near Putivl, and returned home again.

Igor Svyatoslavich was that year with the Polovtses, and he said: "According to my deserts have I received defeat at Thy hands, my Lord, and not the daring of the pagans has broken the might of Thy servants. I do not complain of my suffering, for I have been punished for my misdeeds." The Polovtses, respecting his leadership, did not do him any harm, but placed over him fifteen guards of their sons, and five lords' sons, in all twenty. They gave him permission to go where he wanted, and he went a-hunting with the hawk, and there were with him five or six of his servants. His guards obeyed him and honoured him, and whithersoever he sent them, they did his command without grumbling. He had brought with him a priest from Russia, with all the divine service, for he did not know the divine will, and he thought he would have to stay there for a long time. But the Lord delivered him for the many prayers of the Christians which they sent up to heaven, and the many tears which they shed for him. While he was among the Polovtses, there was a man there, himself a Polovts, by the name of Lavor; he having a blessed thought said: "I will go with you to Russia!" At first Igor had no confidence in him, but had a high opinion of his own manliness, for he did not intend to take the man and run with him into Russia; he said: "For glory's sake I did not then run away from my druzhina, and even now will I not walk upon an inglorious road."

But there were with him the son of the thousand-man and his equerry, and they pressed him and said: "Go, O Prince, back to Russia, if the Lord will deliver you!" But the time was not propitious. As we said before, the Polovtses returned from Pereyaslavl, and Igor's advisers said to him: "You harbour a proud thought and one that is not pleasing to God; you do not intend to take the man and run with him, but why do you not consider that the Polovtses will return from the war, and we have heard that they will slay all the princes and all the Russians, and there will be no glory for you, and you will lose your life." Prince Igor took their advice to heart, being afraid of the return of the Polovtses, and bethought himself of flight. He was not able to run away either in daytime or at night, for the guards watched him, but he found an opportune time at the setting of the sun. And Igor sent his equerry to Lavor, saying: "Cross on the other side of the Tor with a led horse," for he intended to fly to Russia with Lavor. At that time the Polovtses were drunk with kumys; and it was towards evening when his equerry came back and told him that Lavor was waiting for him. Igor arose frightened and trembling, and bowed before the image of the Lord and the honourable cross, and said: "Lord, knower of hearts! If Thou, Master, wilt save me, unworthy one,"--and he took the cross and the image, lifted the tent's side, and crawled out. His guards were gambling and feasting, for they thought that the Prince was asleep. He arrived at the river, waded across, and mounted the horse; thus they both rode by the tents.

This deliverance the Lord granted on a Friday, in the evening. He then walked eleven days to the town of Donets, and thence he went to his Novgorod, and they were much rejoiced. From Novgorod he went to his brother Yaroslav in Chernigov, to ask for help in the Posemie. Yaroslav was glad to see him, and promised him aid. Igor traveled thence to Kiev to Grand Prince Svyatoslav, and Svyatoslav was glad to see him, as was also Rurik.