Dec 30, 2009

The Song of Igor's Campaign | Summary

Lines 1-70: Invocation
The epic begins with a tribute to Boyan, an eleventh century Russian bard who paid tribute in song to the military exploits of Russian princes. Nothing is known of Boyan other than the allusions to him in the Song. The author praises Boyan's poetic inspiration and names three princes who were subjects of Boyan's songs: the great ruler Yaroslav, prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054; Mstilav, who was known as Mstilav the Brave, and Roman, who was killed by the Kumans in 1079. The author then says he will tell of events that happened in his own time, not in...