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Primary Chronicle
St Nestor the Chronicler, tr. Cross, 1930
Laurentian Text: From the Beginning to 6360 (852)
Note. The pages of the latest diplomatic text of the Povest (ed. E. F. Karski, in П.С.Р.Л., I [2d ed., Leningrad, 1926] and referred to in the Introduction as L²) are indicated in brackets in the translation below.
These are the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus, who first began to rule in Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus had its beginning.
Let us accordingly begin this narrative. After the flood, the sons of Noah (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) divided the earth among them. To the lot of Shem fell the orient, and his share extended lengthwise as far as India and breadthwise (i. e., from east to south) as far as Rhinocolura, including Persia and Bactria, as well as Syria, Media (which lies beside the Euphrates River), Babylon, Cordyna, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Arabia the Ancient, Elymais, India, Arabia the Mighty, Coelesyria, Commagene, and all Phoenicia.
To the lot of Ham fell the southern region, comprising Egypt, Ethiopia facing toward India, the other [2] Ethiopia out of which the red Ethiopian river flows to the eastward, the Thebaid, Libya as far as Cyrene, Marmaris, Syrtis, Numidia, Massyris, and Mauretania over against Cadiz. Among the regions of the orient, Ham also received Cilicia, Pamphylia, Mysia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Camalia, Lycia, Caria, Lydia, the rest of Moesia, Troas, Aeolia, Bithynia, and ancient Phrygia. He likewise acquired the islands of Sardinia, Crete, and Cyprus, and the river Gihon, called the Nile.
[3] To the lot of Japheth fell the northern and the western sections, including Media, Albania, Armenia (both little and great), Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Galatia, Colchis, Bospore, Maeotis, Dervis, Sarmatia, Tauria, Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia, Dalmatia, Molossia, Thessaly, Locris, Pellene (which is also called the Peloponnese), Arcadia, Epirus, Illyria, the Slavs, Lychnitis, Adriaca, and the Adriatic Sea. He received also the islands of Britain, Sicily, Euboea, Rhodes, Chios, Lesbos, Cythera, Zacynthus, Cephallenia, Ithaca, and Corcyra, as well as a portion of the land of Asia called Ionia, the river Tigris flowing between the Medes and Babylon, and the territory to the north extending as far as the Pontus and including the Danube, the Dniester, and the Caucasian Mountains, which are called Hungarian, and thence even to the Dnieper. [4] He likewise acquired dominion over other rivers, among them the Desna, the Pripet, the Dvina, the Volkhov, and the Volga, which flows eastward into the portion of Shem.
In the share of Japheth lie Rus, Chud, and all the gentiles: Merya, Muroma, Ves, Mordva, Chud beyond the hills, Perm, Pechera, Yam, Ugra, Litva, Zimegola, Kors, Setgola, and Lyub. The Lyakhs, the Prussians, and Chud border on the Varangian Sea. The Varangians dwell on the shores of that same sea, and extend to the eastward as far as the portion of Shem. They likewise live to the west beside this sea as far as the land of the Angles and the Italians. For the following nations also are a part of the race of Japheth: the Varangians, the Swedes, the Normans, the Russes, the Angles, the Gauls, the Italians, the Romans, the Germans, the Carlings, the Venetians, the Genoese, and so on. Their homes are situated in the northwest, and adjoin the Hamitic tribes.
[5] Thus Shem, Ham, and Japheth divided the earth among them, and after casting lots, so that none might encroach upon his brother’s share, they lived each in his appointed portion. There was but one language, and as men multiplied throughout the earth, they planned, in the days of Yoktan and Peleg, to build a tower as high as heaven itself. Thus they gathered together in the plain of Shinar to build the tower and the city of Babylon round about it. But they wrought upon the tower for forty years, and it was unfinished. Then the Lord God descended to look upon the city and the tower, and said, “This race is one, and their tongue is one.” So the Lord confused the tongues, and after dividing the people into seventy-two races, he scattered them over the whole world. After the confusion of the tongues, God overthrew the tower with a great wind, and the ruin of it lies between Assur and Babylon. In height and in breadth it is 5433 cubits, and the ruin was preserved for many years.
After the destruction of the tower and the division of the nations, the sons of Shem occupied the eastern regions, the sons of Ham those of the south, and the sons of Japheth the western and the northern lands. Among these seventy-two nations, the Slavic race is derived from the line of Japheth, since they are the Noricians, who are identical with the Slavs.
For many years the Slavs lived beside the Danube, where the Hungarian and Bulgarian lands now lie. From among these Slavs, [6] parties scattered throughout the country and were known by appropriate names, according to the places where they settled. Thus some came and settled by the river Morava, and were named Moravians, while others were called Czechs. Among these same Slavs are included the White Croats, the Serbs, and the Khorutanians. For when the Vlakhs attacked the Danubian Slavs, settled among them, and did them violence, the latter came and made their homes by the Vistula, and were then called Lyakhs. Of these same Lyakhs some were called Polyanians, some Lutichians, some Mazovians, and still others Pomorians. Certain Slavs settled also on the Dnieper, and were likewise called Polyanians. Still others were named Derevlians, because they lived in the forests. Some also lived between the Pripet and the Dvina, and were known as Dregovichians. Other tribes resided along the Dvina and were called Polotians on account of a small stream called the Polota, which flows into the Dvina. It was from this same stream that they were named Polotians. The Slavs also dwelt about Lake Ilmen, and were known there by their appropriate name. They built a city which they called Novgorod. Still others had their homes along the Desna, the Sem, and the Sula, and were called Severians. Thus the Slavic race was divided, and its language was known as Slavic.
[7] When the Polyanians lived by themselves among the hills, a trade-route connected the Varangians with the Greeks. Starting from Greece, this route proceeds along the Dnieper, above which a portage leads to the Lovat. By following the Lovat, the great lake Ilmen is reached. The river Volkhov flows out of this lake and enters the great lake Nevo. The mouth of this lake opens into the Varangian Sea. Over this sea goes the route to Rome, and on from Rome overseas to Tsargrad. The Pontus, into which flows the river Dnieper, may be reached from that point. The Dnieper itself rises in the upland forest, and flows southward. The Dvina has its source in this same forest, but flows northward and empties into the Varangian Sea. The Volga rises in this same forest, but flows to the east, and discharges through seventeen mouths into the Caspian Sea. It is possible by this route to the eastward to reach the Bulgars and the Caspians, and thus attain the region of Shem. Along the Dvina runs the route to the Varangians, whence one may reach Rome, and go on from there to the race of Ham. But the Dnieper flows through various mouths into the Pontus. This sea, beside which taught St Andrew, Peter’s brother, is called the Russian Sea.
When Andrew was teaching in Sinope and came to [8] Kherson (as has been recounted elsewhere), he observed that the mouth of the Dnieper was near by. Conceiving a desire to go to Rome, he thus went to the mouth of the Dnieper. Thence he ascended the river, and by chance he halted beneath the hills upon the shore. Upon arising in the morning, he observed to the disciples who were with him, “See ye these hills? So shall the favor of God shine upon them that on this spot a great city shall arise, and God shall erect many churches therein.” He drew near the hills, and having blessed them, he set up a cross. After offering his prayer to God, he descended from the hill on which Kiev was subsequently built, and continued his journey up the Dnieper.
He then reached the Slavs at the point where Novgorod is now situated. He saw these people existing according to their customs, and on observing how they bathed and drenched themselves, he wondered at them. He went thence among the Varangians and came to Rome, where he recounted what he had learned and observed. “Wondrous to relate,” said he, “I saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bathhouses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, they take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this [9] every day, and actually inflict such voluntary torture upon themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment.” When his hearers learned this fact, they marveled. But Andrew, after his stay in Rome, returned to Sinope.
The Polyanians lived apart and governed their families, for thus far they were brethren, and each one lived with his gens on his own lands, ruling over his kinsfolk. There were three brothers, Kii, Shchek, and Khoriv, and their sister was named Lybed. Kii lived upon the hill where the Borich trail now is, and Shchek dwelt upon the hill now named Shchekovitza, while on the third resided Khoriv, after whom this hill is named Khorevitza. They built a town and named it Kiev after their oldest brother. Around the town lay a wood and a great pine-forest in which they used to catch wild beasts. These men were wise and prudent; they were called Polyanians, and there are Polyanians descended from them living in Kiev to this day.
Some ignorant persons have claimed that Kii was a ferryman, for near Kiev there was [10] at that time a ferry from the other side of the river, in consequence of which people used to say, “To Kii’s ferry.” Now if Kii had been a mere ferryman, he would never have gone to Tsargrad. He was then the chief of his kin, and it is related what great honor he received from the Emperor when he went to visit him. On his homeward journey, he arrived at the Danube. The place pleased him, and he built a small town, wishing to dwell there with his kinsfolk. But those who lived near by would not grant him this privilege. Yet even now the dwellers by the Danube call this town Kievetz. When Kii returned to Kiev, his native city, he ended his life there; and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv, as well as their sister Lybed, died there also.
After the deaths of these three brothers, their gens assumed the supremacy among the Polyanians. The Derevlians possessed a principality of their own, as did also the Dregovichians, while the Slavs had their own authority in Novgorod, and another principality existed on the Polota, where the Polotians dwell. Beyond them reside the Krivichians, who live at the head waters of the Volga, the Dvina, and the Dnieper, and whose city is Smolensk. It is there that the Krivichians dwell; and beyond them are the Severians. At Byelo–Ozero are situated the Ves, and on the lake of Rostov, the Merya, [11] and on Lake Kleshchino the Merya also. Along the river Oka (which flows into the Volga), Muroma, the Cheremisians, and Mordva preserve their native languages. For the Slavic race in Rus includes only the Polyanians, the Derevlians, the people of Novgorod, the Polotians, the Dregovichians, the Severians, and the Buzhians, who live along the river Bug and were later called Volhynians. The following are other tribes which pay tribute to Rus: Chud, Merya, Ves, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordva, Perm, Pechera, Yam, Litva, Zimegola, Kors, Narva, and Liv. These tribes have their own languages and belong to the race of Japheth, which inhabits the lands of the north.
Now while the Slavs dwelt along the Danube, as we have said, there came from among the Scythians, that is, from the Khazars, a people called Bulgars, who settled on the Danube and oppressed the Slavs. Afterward came the White Huns, who inherited the Slavic country. For these Huns first appeared in the reign of the Emperor Heraclius, who campaigned against Chosroes, the Emperor of Persia. The Avars, who attacked Heraclius the Emperor and nearly captured him, also lived at this period. They made war upon the Slavs, [12] and harassed the Dulebians, who were themselves Slavs. They even did violence to the Dulebian women. When an Avar made a journey, he did not cause either a horse or a steer to be harnessed, but gave command instead that three or four or five women should be yoked to his cart and be made to draw him. Even thus they harassed the Dulebians. The Avars were large of stature and proud of spirit, and God destroyed them. They all perished, and not one Avar survived. There is to this day a proverb in Rus which runs, “They perished like the Avars.” Neither race nor heir of them remains. The Pechenegs came after them; and the Black Huns passed by Kiev later during the time of Olga.
Thus the Polyanians, who belonged to the Slavic race, lived apart, as we have said, and called themselves Polyanians. The Derevlians, who are likewise Slavs, lived by themselves and adopted this tribal name. But the Radimichians and the Vyatichians sprang from the Lyakhs. There were in fact among the Lyakhs two brothers, one named Radim and the other Vyatko. Radim settled on the Sozh, where the people are known as Radimichians, and Vyatko with his family settled on the Oka. The people there were named Vyatichians after him. Thus the Polyanians, the Derevlians, the Severians, the Radimichians, the Vyatichians, and the Croats lived at peace. [13] The Dulebians dwelt along the Bug, where the Volhynians now are found, but the Ulichians and the Tivercians lived by the Dniester, and extended as far as the Danube. There was a multitude of them, for they inhabited the banks of the Dniester almost down to the sea, and to this day there are cities in that locality which still belong to them. Hence they are called Great Scythia by the Greeks.
These Slavic tribes preserved their own customs, the law of their forefathers, and their traditions, each observing their individual usages. For the Polyanians retained the mild and peaceful customs of their ancestors, and showed respect for their daughters-in-law and their sisters, as well as for their mothers and fathers. For their mothers-in-law and their brothers-in-law they also entertained great reverence. They observed a fixed marriage custom, under which the groom’s brother did not fetch the bride, but she was brought to the bridegroom in the evening, and on the next morning his gifts were presented.
The Derevlians, on the other hand, existed in bestial fashion, and lived like cattle. They killed one another, ate every impure thing, and there was no marriage among them, but instead they seized upon maidens by capture. The Radimichians, the Vyatichians, and the Severians had the same customs. They lived in the forest like any wild beast, and ate every unclean thing. They spoke obscenely [14] before their fathers and their daughters-in-law. There were no marriages among them, but simply festivals among the villages. When the people gathered together for games, for dancing, and for all other devilish amusements, the men on these occasions carried off wives for themselves, and each took any woman with whom he had arrived at an understanding. Whenever a death occurred, a feast was held over the corpse, and then a great pyre was constructed, on which the deceased was laid and burned. After the bones were collected, they were placed in a small urn and set upon a post by the roadside, even as the Vyatichians do to this day. Such customs were observed by the Krivichians and the other pagans, since they did not know the law of God, but made a law unto themselves.
Georgius says in his Chronicle: “Among all the nations, there are some that possess a written law, while others simply observe certain fixed customs; for, among those devoid of law, their ancestral usage is accepted in its stead. To this class belong the Seres, who live at the end of the world, and apply as law the customs of their ancestors, which forbid them to commit adultery or incest, to steal, to bear false witness, to kill, or to do any wrong whatsoever.
“The law of the Bactrians, called [15] Brahmans or Islanders, which is derived from forefatherly prescription, prohibits them for reasons of piety from eating meat, drinking wine, committing adultery, or doing any sort of wrong, solely in consequence of religious scruple. But among the Indians, who dwell beside them, are found murderers, criminals, and doers of violence beyond all nature. In the most remote portion of their country, they practise cannibalism and kill travelers, and, what is worse still, they devour them like dogs.
“The Chaldaeans and the Babylonians have a different code, which allows them to marry their mothers, to commit carnal sin with their nieces, and to commit murder. They regard every shameless deed as a virtue when they commit it, even when they are far from their own country.
“The Gelaeans maintain other customs: among them, the women plough, build houses, and perform men’s work. But they indulge in vice to the extent of their desire, for they are by no means restrained by their husbands, nor do the latter at all concern themselves about the matter. There are among them bold women who are capable of capturing wild beasts by virtue of their strength. The women have control over their husbands and rule them.
“In Britain, many men sleep with one woman, [16] and likewise many women have intercourse with one man. The people carry on without jealousy or restraint the vicious customs of their ancestors.
“The Amazons have no husbands, but like brute beasts they are filled with desire once each year in the springtime, and come together with the neighboring men. This season seems to them, as it were, a time of celebration and great festival. When they are with child by these men, the women all depart thence. When they give birth to children and a male is born, they kill it; but if the child is of the female sex, then they nurse it and bring it up carefully.”
Just so, even in our own day, the Polovcians maintain the customs of their ancestors in the shedding of blood and in glorifying themselves for such deeds, as well as in eating every dead or unclean thing, even hamsters and marmots. They have intercourse with their mothers-in-law and their sisters-in-law, and observe other usages of their ancestors. But in all countries we Christians who believe in the Holy Trinity, in one baptism, and in one faith, have but one law inasmuch as we have been baptized in the Lord and have put on Christ.
After this time, and subsequent to the death of the three brothers in Kiev, the Polyanians were oppressed by the Derevlians, other neighbors [17] of theirs. Then the Khazars came upon them as they lived in the hills and forests, and demanded tribute from them. After consulting among themselves, the Polyanians paid tribute of a sword from each hearth. The Khazars bore the tribute to their prince and their elders, and said to them, “Behold, we have found new tribute.” When asked whence it was derived, they replied, “From the forest on the hills by the river Dnieper.” The elders inquired what tribute had been paid, whereupon the swords were exhibited. The Khazar elders then protested, “Evil is this tribute, prince. We have won it with a one-edged weapon called a sabre, but the weapon of these men is sharp on both edges and is called a sword. These men shall impose tribute upon us and upon other lands.” All this has come to pass, for they spoke thus, not of their own will, but by God’s commandment. The outcome was the same in the time of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, when Moses was led before him, and the elders of Pharaoh foretold that he should subjugate Egypt. For the Egyptians perished at the hand of Moses, though the Jews were previously their slaves. Just as the Egyptians ruled supreme, but were themselves subsequently ruled over, so it has also come to pass that the Russes rule over the Khazars even to this day.
In the year 6360 (852), the fifteenth of the indiction, at the accession of the Emperor Michael, the land of Rus was first named. We have determined this date from the fact that in the reign of this Emperor Russes attacked Tsargrad, as is written in the Greek Chronicle. Hence we shall begin at this point [18] and record the dates. Thus from Adam to the Flood, 2242 years elapsed; from the Flood to Abraham, 1082 years; from Abraham to the Mosaic Exodus, 430 years; from the Mosaic Exodus to David, 601 years; from David and the beginning of the reign of Solomon to the captivity of Jerusalem, 448 years; from the captivity to Alexander, 318 years; from Alexander to the birth of Christ, 313 years; from the birth of Christ to Constantine, 318 years; and from Constantine to Michael, 542 years. Twenty-nine years passed between the first year of Michael’s reign and the accession of Oleg, Prince of Rus. From the accession of Oleg, when he took up his residence in Kiev, to the first year of Igor’s principate, thirty-one years elapsed. Thirty-three years passed between Igor’s accession and that of Svyatoslav. From the accession of Svyatoslav to that of Yaropolk, twenty-eight years passed. Yaropolk ruled eight years, Vladimir thirty-seven years, and Yaroslav forty years. Thus from the death of Svyatoslav to the death of Yaroslav eighty-five years elapsed, while sixty years separate the death of Yaroslav from that of Svyatopolk. But we shall now return to the subject, recounting what occurred during this period (for we set our beginning at the first year of Michael’s reign), and we shall record the dates in order.