The Tale of Igor's Campaign
Also known as: The Lay of Igor's Campaign, The Igor Tale, Slovo o polku Igoreve, The Song of Igor's Campaign
A Old East Slavic epic recounting Prince Igor’s 1185 expedition against the Polovtsians, his defeat and captivity, and his escape and return. It laments princely disunity and urges solidarity across Rus’ while invoking legendary singers and mythic imagery.
Description
Composed in Old East Slavic, the poem narrates Prince Igor Svyatoslavich’s ill-fated march into the steppe, framed by ominous portents including a solar eclipse. After initial skirmishes, Igor’s force is overwhelmed by the Polovtsians; he is captured while his brother Vsevolod fights fiercely. In Kiev, Grand Prince Svyatoslav delivers the “Golden Word,” a political and moral exhortation decrying internecine rivalries. Yaroslavna’s celebrated lament at Putyvl invokes wind, sun, and the Dnieper as personified powers. Aided by the Polovtsian Ovlur, Igor escapes and returns home, and the poem closes with a call for unity and praise for the land of Rus’. Its blend of historical chronicle, bardic invocation, and mythopoetic symbolism has made it a touchstone of East Slavic literature.
Historiography
Known from a single manuscript reportedly discovered in 1795 by A. I. Musin-Pushkin and first printed in 1800; the unique codex was destroyed in the 1812 Moscow fire. Authenticity was debated in the 19th–20th centuries, but linguistic and textual analyses have largely supported a 12th-century composition. The poem’s diction preserves archaisms and formulae consistent with Old East Slavic heroic style. Its reception shaped Russian and Ukrainian national literatures and inspired later works, notably Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor.”
Date Notes
Composed soon after Prince Igor Svyatoslavich’s failed 1185 campaign against the Polovtsians (Cumans); preserved only in a late medieval copy lost in 1812.
Major Characters
- Igor Svyatoslavich
- Yaroslavna
- Sviatoslav
- Vsevolod
Myths
- Igor’s Raid against the Polovtsians
- The Defeat and Captivity of Igor
- Yaroslavna’s Lament
- Igor’s Escape and Return
Facts
- Centers on Prince Igor Svyatoslavich’s failed 1185 campaign against the Polovtsians (Cumans).
- Opens with an invocation contrasting Boyan’s bardic style with the poet’s own historical telling.
- A total solar eclipse—historically dated to 1 May 1185—foretells disaster for Igor’s force.
- Known from a single manuscript discovered in the late 18th century and printed in 1800.
- The unique manuscript was destroyed in the Moscow fire of 1812.
- Features Yaroslavna’s lyrical lament from the walls of Putyvl, addressing wind, sun, and river.
- Grand Prince Svyatoslav’s “Golden Word” is a political exhortation against princely strife.
- Includes a digressive portrait of Vseslav of Polotsk with shape-shifting motifs.
- Language is Old East Slavic with archaic formulae and parallelism.
- Influenced later literature and Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor,” including the Polovtsian Dances.