Almost from the very beginning of writing in Rus', chronicles appeared, i.e. historical codes, chronicles. In the monasteries, the monks kept Easter tables, tables on which they calculated what date Easter would be, all the holidays and fasts that moved along with Easter day. In the free cells of these tables, or in the wide margins, the monks often wrote down some brief historical information that marked this year - or a remark about the weather of this year, or some unusual phenomenon. For example: “Prince Vasily of Kostroma died”, or “melted winter”, “dead (rainy) summer”; sometimes, if nothing special happened this year, it was written: “there was silence,” that is, there was no war, no fire, or other disasters, or: “nothing happened.”
The Tale of Bygone Years
Sometimes, instead of such brief notes, entire stories were inserted, especially interesting because they were written by contemporaries or even eyewitnesses of the event. So, little by little, historical chronicles were compiled - chronicles - first in the form of notes on Easter tables, later in the form of independent chronicle collections.
At the beginning of the 12th century, a wonderful historical and literary work called “The Tale of Bygone Years” was written in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Here is its full title: “This is the story of bygone (past) years, where the Russian land came from, who began to reign first in Kyiv, and where the Russian land came from.”
It is not known exactly who wrote “The Tale of Bygone Years”. At first they thought that its author was the same reverend. Nestor, who wrote life of the Rev. Feodosia. Rev. Nestor undoubtedly kept a chronicle; in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery there are the relics of two Nestors: the “chronicler” and the other, Nestor the “non-book,” so named in contrast to the first. Undoubtedly, some of the works of Rev. Nestor was included in the Tale, so, for example, his entire life of St. Feodosia. But at the end of the Tale there is a postscript: “Hegumen Sylvester of St. Michael (a monastery near Kyiv) wrote books and is a chronicler.”
Some scholars suggest that Abbot Sylvester was only a copyist of the Tale, and not the author; perhaps he added to it. In those days, scribes often put their name at the end of the manuscript they were copying.
So, the name of the author has not been precisely established. In any case, he was a spiritual man, deeply religious and very well-read and educated. It is clear that to compile the Tale he used many chronicles (Novgorod and early Kyiv), lives, legends, teachings and Greek chronicles, from which, for example, the trade agreements of our first princes with Byzantium were taken.
The story of the “Tale” begins with the global flood. It speaks of the pandemonium of Babylon, the division of languages. One of these “languages”, from the “tribe of Afetov”, was the “Slovenian language”, i.e. the Slavic people.
The author then talks about the settlement of the Slavs on the Danube, about their resettlement from there in different directions. The Slavs who went up the Dnieper and to the north were our ancestors. Everything we know about the ancient Slavic tribes, about Drevlyans, glades, northerners, - about their customs, morals, about the beginning of the Russian state and about our first princes - we know all this from the Tale of Bygone Years and should be especially grateful to its author, who laid the foundation for Russian history.
The Tale includes many ancient tales, traditions and legends. For example, a legend is told about the preaching of the Apostle Andrew on the shores of the Black Sea (which the author calls the “Russian” sea), that the Apostle Andrew climbed the Dnieper to the place where Kiev was later founded, erected a cross on the Kyiv mountains and predicted that in this place “the grace of God will shine forth.” The story about the founding of Kyiv talks about the legendary princes Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid - but the author does not present their existence as a historical fact, but tells it as a legend.
A fateful event for Rus', the development of its culture and literature, was the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Cyril and Methodius in 863. The chronicle tells about it this way: the Russian princes turned to the Byzantine Tsar Michael with a request to send them teachers who “could talk about book words and their meaning.” The king sent them “skilled philosophers” Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius. “When these brothers came, they began to compile the Slavic alphabet and translated the Apostle and the Gospel. And the Slavs were glad that they heard about the greatness of God in their language.”
Further events are conveyed with greater reliability. Bright, colorful characteristics of ancient princes are given: for example, Prince Oleg. The story is told about his campaign against Constantinople with episodes of a folklore nature (Oleg approaches the walls of the city in boats moving under sails on land, hangs his shield over the gates of Constantinople).
Prince Oleg nails his shield to the gates of Constantinople. Engraving by F. Bruni, 1839
Here is the legend about the death of Oleg. The sorcerer (pagan priest) predicted the prince's death from his beloved horse. Oleg doubted this prophecy and wanted to see the bones of the dead horse, but a snake crawling out of the skull bit him. This chronicle episode formed the basis of the ballad A. S. Pushkina « Song about the prophetic Oleg».
Next, the story is told about Princess Olga, who was “the wisest of all people,” about her son, Prince Svyatoslav. Despite the fact that he was a pagan and did not want to follow the example of his mother to convert to Christianity, the author speaks quite sympathetically about his straightforwardness, well-known nobility, and the famous words “I’m coming to you,” with which he warned his enemies about the attack.
But the author considers the baptism of Rus' to be the most important event in Russian life and dwells on it in particular detail. Talking about Saint Prince Vladimir, he talks about the enormous change that occurred in his character with the adoption of Christianity.
The Tale also included the life of St. princes Boris and Gleb, written by Jacob Mnich (chapter 10). The author speaks with great sympathy and respect about Prince Yaroslav the Wise. The story of the “Tale” was brought up to the year 1110.
There are continuations of this chronicle, which were kept in different monasteries and therefore bore the names of different cities: Kiev, Volyn, Suzdal chronicles. One of the Novgorod Chronicles, the Joachim Chronicle, which has not reached us, is considered even older than the Tale of Bygone Years.
But in “The Tale” there is one quality that belongs only to her: it was written before the division of Rus' into appanages, the author looks at the Slavs as one whole people, and does not attach any local imprint to his story. That is why “The Tale of Bygone Years” can rightly be called an all-Russian, all-Russian chronicle.
“The Tale of Bygone Years” is an ancient Russian chronicle created by the monk Nestor at the beginning of the 12th century.
The story is a large work that describes the events taking place in Rus' from the arrival of the first Slavs to the 12th century. The chronicle itself is not a complete narrative; it includes:
- historical notes;
- yearly articles (starting from 852); one article talks about events that happened in one year;
- historical documents;
- the teachings of princes;
- lives of saints;
- folk tales.
The history of the creation of “The Tale of Bygone Years”
Before the appearance of The Tale of Bygone Years, there were other collections of essays and historical notes in Rus', which were compiled mainly by monks. However, all these records were local in nature and could not represent the complete history of life in Rus'. The idea of creating a single chronicle belongs to the monk Nestor, who lived and worked in the Kiev Pechersk Monastery at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries.
There are some disagreements among scholars about the history of the story. According to the generally accepted theory, the chronicle was written by Nestor in Kyiv. The original edition was based on early historical records, legends, folklore stories, teachings and records of monks. After writing, Nestor and other monks revised the chronicle several times, and later the author himself added Christian ideology to it, and this edition was considered final. As for the date of creation of the chronicle, scientists name two dates - 1037 and 1110.
The chronicle compiled by Nestor is considered the first Russian chronicle, and its author is considered the first chronicler. Unfortunately, no ancient editions have survived to this day; the earliest version that exists today dates back to the 14th century.
Genre and idea of “The Tale of Bygone Years”
The main goal and idea of creating the story was the desire to consistently present the entire history of Rus' since biblical times, and then gradually supplement the chronicle, painstakingly describing all the events that took place.
As for the genre, modern scientists believe that the chronicle cannot be called a purely historical or purely artistic genre, since it contains elements of both. Since “The Tale of Bygone Years” was rewritten and expanded several times, its genre is open, as evidenced by the parts that sometimes do not agree with each other in style.
“The Tale of Bygone Years” was distinguished by the fact that the events told in it were not interpreted, but were simply retold as dispassionately as possible. The chronicler's task is to convey everything that happened, but not to draw conclusions. However, it is worth understanding that the chronicle was created from the point of view of Christian ideology, and therefore has a corresponding character.
In addition to its historical significance, the chronicle was also a legal document, as it contained some codes of laws and instructions of the great princes (for example, “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”).
The story can be roughly divided into three parts:
- at the very beginning it tells about biblical times (the Russians were considered the descendants of Japheth), about the origin of the Slavs, about the reign, about the formation, about the Baptism of Rus' and the formation of the state;
- the main part consists of descriptions of the lives of princes (Princess Olga, Yaroslav the Wise, etc.), descriptions of the lives of saints, as well as stories of conquests and great Russian heroes (Nikita Kozhemyaka, etc.);
- the final part is devoted to a description of numerous wars and battles. In addition, it contains princely obituaries.
The meaning of "The Tale of Bygone Years"
“The Tale of Bygone Years” became the first written document in which the history of Rus' and its formation as a state were systematically outlined. It was this chronicle that later formed the basis of all historical documents and legends; it is from it that modern historians drew and continue to draw their knowledge. In addition, the chronicle has become a literary and cultural monument of Russian writing.
The Tale of Bygone Years is an ancient Russian chronicle created at the beginning of the 12th century. The story is an essay that tells about the events that happened and are happening in Rus' during that period.
The Tale of Bygone Years was compiled in Kyiv, later rewritten several times, but was not greatly changed. The chronicle covers the period from biblical times until 1137, with dated entries beginning in 852.
All dated articles are compositions beginning with the words “In the summer of such and such...”, which means that entries were added to the chronicle every year and told about the events that occurred. One article for one year. This distinguishes the Tale of Bygone Years from all the chronicles that were conducted before. The text of the chronicle also contains legends, folklore stories, copies of documents (for example, the teachings of Vladimir Monomakh) and extracts from other chronicles.
The story got its name thanks to its first phrase that opens the story - “The Tale of Bygone Years...”
The history of the creation of the Tale of Bygone Years
The author of the idea of the Tale of Bygone Years is considered to be the monk Nestor, who lived and worked at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Despite the fact that the author's name appears only in later copies of the chronicle, it was the monk Nestor who is considered the first chronicler in Rus', and The Tale of Bygone Years is considered the first Russian chronicle.
The oldest version of the chronicle that has reached the present day dates back to the 14th century and is a copy made by the monk Laurentius (Laurentian Chronicle). The original edition of the creator of the Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor, has been lost; today only modified versions exist from various scribes and later compilers.
Today there are several theories regarding the history of the creation of The Tale of Bygone Years. According to one of them, the chronicle was written by Nestor in Kyiv in 1037. The basis for it was ancient legends, folk songs, documents, oral stories and documents preserved in monasteries. After writing, this first edition was rewritten and revised several times by various monks, including Nestor himself, who added elements of Christian ideology to it. According to other sources, the chronicle was written much later, in 1110.
Genre and features of The Tale of Bygone Years
The genre of the Tale of Bygone Years is defined by experts as historical, but scientists argue that the chronicle is neither a work of art nor historical in the full sense of the word.
A distinctive feature of the chronicle is that it does not interpret events, but only talks about them. The attitude of the author or scribe to everything described in the chronicle was determined only by the presence of God's Will, which determines everything. Causal relationships and interpretation from the point of view of other positions were uninteresting and were not included in the chronicle.
The Tale of Bygone Years had an open genre, that is, it could consist of completely different parts - from folk tales to notes about the weather.
In ancient times, the chronicle also had legal significance, as a set of documents and laws.
The original purpose of writing the Tale of Bygone Years was to study and explain the origins of the Russian people, the origin of princely power and a description of the spread of Christianity in Rus'.
The beginning of the Tale of Bygone Years is a story about the appearance of the Slavs. The Russians are presented by the chronicler as descendants of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah. At the very beginning of the story there are stories telling about the life of the East Slavic tribes: about the princes, about the calling of Rurik, Truvor and Sineus to reign as princes and about the formation of the Rurik dynasty in Rus'.
The main part of the content of the chronicle consists of descriptions of wars, legends about the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, the exploits of Nikita Kozhemyaka and other heroes.
The final part consists of descriptions of battles and princely obituaries.
Thus, the basis of the Tale of Bygone Years is:
- Legends about the settlement of the Slavs, the calling of the Varangians and the formation of Rus';
- Description of the baptism of Rus';
- Description of the life of the great princes: Oleg, Vladimir, Olga and others;
- Lives of Saints;
- Description of wars and military campaigns.
The significance of the Tale of Bygone Years can hardly be overestimated - it was it that became the first document in which the history of Kievan Rus was recorded from its very inception. The chronicle later served as the main source of knowledge for subsequent historical descriptions and research. In addition, thanks to its open genre, The Tale of Bygone Years is of high importance as a cultural and literary monument.