Pre-Mongol Russia in the ballads of A.K. Tolstoy

V. Favorsky, illustration for "The Lay of Igor's Host"

Today we will finish the story about historical ballads of A.K. Tolstoy. And let's start it with the romantic story of the marriage of Harald the Severe and Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise.

"Song of Harald and Yaroslavna"

AK Tolstoy wrote about this ballad that he was “brought” to it by his work on the play “Tsar Boris”, namely, the image of the Danish prince, the groom of Princess Xenia. The ballad begins in 1036, when the brother of Yaroslav the Wise, already familiar to us Mstislav, the winner of the Battle of Listven, died. Yaroslav was then finally able to enter Kiev. With him was the brother of the Norwegian king Olav Saint Harald, who fled to Russia after the Battle of Stiklastadir (1030), in which the future patron saint of Norway died. Harald was in love with the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise Elizabeth, but at that time he was unenviable as a son-in-law for the ruler of a huge country. Therefore, at the head of the Varangian squad, he went to serve in Constantinople.

Warriors of the Varangian Guard (Varangi). Miniature from the chronicle of John Skilitsa

At the same time, Harald continued to maintain contact with Kiev: he sent the spoils and most of the salary to Yaroslav, who then honestly returned these funds to him.

It's time to turn to the ballad of A.K.Tolstoy:

"Harald sits in a battle saddle,
He left Kiev sovereign,
He sighs heavily on the road:
"You are my star, Yaroslavna!"
And Russia leaves Harald behind,
He floats to open the grief
There, where the Arabs with the Normans fight
They lead on land and at sea. "

Harald was a talented skald and dedicated a cycle of poems to his love "The Hangings of Joy". In the XNUMXth century, some of them were translated into French. And then several Russian poets translated them from French into Russian.

Here is one example of such a translation made by I. Bogdanovich:

"On the blue across the seas on glorious ships
I traveled around Sicily in small days,
Fearlessly everywhere I went where I went;
I beat and won, who met against me ...
In a miserable swim, at the most miserable hour,
When there were sixteen of us on the ship,
When thunder smashed us, the sea was pouring into the ship,
We poured out the water, forgetting both sadness and grief ...
I am skilled in everything, I can greed with oarsmen,
On skis, I earned my honor;
I can ride a horse and rule
I throw the spear at the target, I am not shy in battles ...
I know military craft on earth;
But the water of love and love of the paddle,
For glory, I fly in wet ways;
Norwegian brave men are afraid of me.
Am I not a young man, am I not dashing?
And the Russian girl tells me to bust home. "

A. K. Tolstoy did not translate this most famous poem by Harald, but used its plot in his ballad.

"It's fun for the squad, it's time,
Harald's glory has no equal -
But in thought, the calm waters of the Dnieper,
But Princess Yaroslavna is in her mind.
No, apparently, he can't forget about her,
Do not torture the happiness of another - and he turned the ships abruptly
And he drives them to the north again. "

According to the sagas, in the service of the empire, Harald fought 18 successful battles in Bulgaria, Asia Minor and Sicily. The Byzantine source "Instructions to the Emperor" (1070-1080) says:

“Aralt was the son of the king of the Verings ... Aralt, while he was young, decided to set off on a journey ... taking with him 500 valiant warriors. The emperor received him as befits and ordered him and his soldiers to go to Sicily, for there was a war being started. Aralt fulfilled the command and fought very successfully. When Sicily submitted, he returned with his detachment to the emperor, and he bestowed upon him the title of manglavites. Then it happened that Delius raised a mutiny in Bulgaria. Aralt set out on a campaign ... and fought very successfully ... The Emperor, as a reward for his service, assigned Aralt spathrokandates (leader of the army). After the death of Emperor Michael and his nephew, who inherited the throne, during the reign of Monomakh, Aralt asked permission to return to his homeland, but they did not give him permission, but, on the contrary, began to put up all sorts of obstacles. But he still left and became king in the country where his brother Yulav used to rule ”.

During Harald's service in Byzantium, three emperors were replaced.

The Wering Harald seem to have taken an active part in the dramatic events that cost the life of the last of them. In 1041, after the death of Emperor Michael IV, his nephew, Michael V Kalafat ("Caulker", from a family whose men had previously caulked ships), ascended the throne. The widow of the former emperor Zoya, who had previously adopted a nephew, was sent by him to a monastery. However, soon (in 1042) an uprising began in the capital. Zoe was released, Mikhail Kalafat was first blinded and then executed. The imperial palaces were then plundered.

Michael V Kalafates

In The Saga of Harald the Severe, it is stated that Harald personally gouged out the eyes of the deposed Emperor Michael. The author of the saga, the famous Snorri Sturlson, understood that this message could cause distrust among readers, but was forced to include it in the text. The point is that it was confirmed by skald vises. And the Skalds could not lie when talking about a real person: a lie is an encroachment on the well-being of the whole family, it is a criminal offense. The punishment for lying verses was often exile, but sometimes death. And skald vises are built in such a way that even one letter cannot be replaced in a line. Talking about those events, Sturlson seems to be making excuses to the readers:

“In these two drapes about Harald and many other songs, it is said that Harald blinded the king of the Greeks himself. Harald himself told this, and other people who were there with him. "

And it seems that the skalds did not let Sturlson down. Byzantine historian Michael Psellus writes:

"The people of Theodora ... sent the daring and courageous people with the order to immediately burn out the eyes of both, as soon as they met them outside the temple."

Theodora is Zoya's younger sister, her rival, co-ruler since 1042, the autocratic empress in 1055–1056.

Zoe and Theodora, histamenon 1042

The deposed emperor and his uncle, who took refuge in the Studia monastery, were ordered to burn out their eyes. And Harald and his warriors fit the definition of "daring and courageous people."

But, as we remember, in the same 1042 Harald suddenly left Byzantium without permission (in fact, he fled from it). There are different versions of these events. One of them claims that Harald fled after the 60-year-old empress Zoya, who was in love with him, invited him to share the throne with her.

The Saga of Harald the Severe says:

"As here in the North, the Verings who served in Miklagard told me that Zoë, the king's wife, herself wanted to marry Harald."

The scriptwriters of the Soviet film "Vasily Buslaev" seem to have heard something about this story. In it, the Tsargrad empress Irina also offers the main character her hand and the throne of the empire - in exchange for the murder of her husband.

Empress Irina. Still from the film "Vasily Buslaev"

But back to Harald.

The chronicler William of Malmösbury, who lived in the first half of the XNUMXth century, claims that this leader of the Verings dishonored a noble woman and was thrown to be devoured by a lion, but strangled him with his bare hands.

Finally, supporters of the third version believe that Harald fled after he was accused of appropriating the emperor's property during one of the campaigns. Snorri Sturlson apparently knew about these versions defaming Harald.

Let's continue his quote about Zoya's desire to marry a gallant Norwegian and Harald's refusal:

"And this was the main and true reason for her quarrel with Harald, when he wanted to leave Miklagard, although she put forward another reason before the people."

After that, Zoya married the notorious Konstantin Monomakh (it was his illegitimate daughter who later came to Kiev, married Vsevolod Yaroslavich and became the mother of the last Grand Duke of pre-Mongol Rus). And our hero returned to the court of Yaroslav as a warrior known throughout Europe under the name of Harald Hardrada (Severe).

Here he again wooed Elizabeth, which is described in A. Tolstoy's ballad:

“I have ravaged the city of Messina,
Looted the seaside of Constantinople,
Rook pearls on the edge loaded,
A tissue and measure is not necessary!
To ancient Athens, like a raven, rumor
Swept before my boats,
On the marble paw of the Pyrean lion
I cut my name with the sword! "

Let's pause and talk about the famous lion from Piraeus.

Now this antique sculpture is in Venice. It was brought here by Admiral Francesco Morosini - as a trophy of the Venetian-Ottoman war of 1687.

Piraeus lion

E. A. Melnikova also mentions the Piraeus lion in her monograph "Scandinavian Runic Inscriptions":

“Two graffiti from St. Sofia in Istanbul (Constantinople) and three lengthy inscriptions made on a marble sculpture of a seated lion, taken from the Piraeus harbor to Venice. "

The picture below shows that this mysterious inscription is not on the paw, but on the ridge of the lion:

Many tried to decipher these runes, but at the moment it is safe to say that only a few words can be read. Trikir, drængiar - "young people", "fighters". Bair is the pronoun "they". The damaged fn þisi runes could mean "this port". Everything else defies interpretation. Various versions of "translations" that are sometimes found in the literature are of a fantasy nature.

Let's go back to the ballad of A.K. Tolstoy:

“Like a whirlwind I swept the edges of the seas,
Nowhere is my glory equal!
Would you now be called my
Are you my star, Yaroslavna? "

This time the matchmaking of the hero was successful, and Harald and his wife went home.

Harald Hardrada Stained Glass Window at Kerkuol Cathedral Orkney Islands

Elizabeth, daughter of Yaroslav, wife of Harald

“In Norway, the holiday is merry:
In the spring, with the splash of the people,
At that time, as the scarlet rose hips bloom,
Harald returned from the campaign.
And he himself is by the sea, with a cheerful face,
In chlamys and in a light crown,
Norwegian king's chosen one of all,
Sits on an exalted throne. "

This passage does not require special comments, but it should be noted that at first Harald was co-ruler of his brother Magnus. And, looking ahead, I will inform you that in 1067, a year after the death of Harald in England, Elizabeth remarried - this is how real life differs from our beloved near-historical ballads and novels.

"Three massacres"

The plot of this ballad is as follows: two women in Kiev have terrible dreams about the upcoming battles in which people close to them will die.

The first to tell about her dream is the wife of the Kiev prince Izyaslav, the son of Yaroslav the Wise:

“I dreamed: from the coast of the Norsk land,
where the Varangian waves splash,
Ships are preparing to sail for the Saxons,
They are full of Varangian grits.
Then our matchmaker Harald is going to sail -
God save him from misfortune!
I saw: ravens are a black thread
She sat down with a cry on the tackle.
And the woman seems to be sitting on a stone,
He counts the courts and laughs:
Swim, swim! - she says, -
None will return home!
Harald-Varangian in Britain awaits
Saxon Harald, his namesake;
He will bring you red honey
And he will put you to sleep hard! "

Time of action - 1066: about 10 thousand Normans under the leadership of the "last Viking" familiar to us, Harald the Severe, sail to England, where they will meet with the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold II Godwinson.

The ballad follows the story of the Battle of Stamford Bridge (near York), which took place on September 25, 1066:

“I was whole above the Varangian head,
Blackened like a cloud of chain mail
The battle ax whistled in the Saxons,
Like autumn blizzard in the leaves;
He threw bodies with bodies in bodies,
Blood flowed from the field to the sea -
Until the arrow squealed, the arrow rushed
And it didn’t get stuck in his throat. ”

You probably guessed that this passage is about the death of the Norwegian Harald.

Arbo. Battle of Stamford Bridge

The second dream is seen by the Guide - the daughter of Harold II Godwinson, who won the battle at Stamford Bridge, the wife of Vladimir Monomakh (let's just say that the Guide arrived in Russia after the events about which the ballad tells):

“I dreamed: from the coast of the Frankish land,
Where the Norman waves splash
Ships are preparing to sail for the Saxons,
The Normandies are full of knights.
Then their prince, Wilhelm, is going to sail -
I seem to heed his words, -
He wants to destroy my father,
Own his land! "
And the wicked woman invigorates his army,
And he says: “I flock of ravens
I call the Saxons to peck in the morning,
And I will wave to the wind! "

M. Ivanov. Illustration for the ballad "Three Massacres"

In September of the same 1066, the Norman Duke Wilhelm, the great-grandson of Norman Hrolf the Pedestrian, who conquered this province of France, gathered an army of adventurers from Normandy, France, the Netherlands and landed with him in England.

He offered Harold a peace treaty in exchange for recognition as king of England. Despite heavy losses in the battle with the Norwegians, Harold refused the shameful offer, and the fate of the English crown was decided in the bloody battle at Hastings.

“The Saka army marched victoriously from York,
Now they are quiet and quiet
And their corpse Harald can not be found
Among the corpses there are wandering mnikhs. "

The Battle of Hastings lasted 9 hours. King Harold, blinded by an arrow, received so many wounds during the last battle that only his wife, Edith Swan Neck, could identify his body - by some signs only known to her.

You can read a detailed story about the battles at Stamford Bridge and at Hastings in the article 1066 year. Battle for england.

The herald of the third battle is Izyaslav's warrior:

“On the tower I was there, beyond the river,
I stood on guard,
I counted many thousands of them:
Then the Polovtsians are approaching, prince! "

This passage is interesting in that it is about the famous battle of Nezhatina Niva, which took place 12 years after the events in England (in 1078).

A.K. Tolstoy deliberately transferred its action to 1066, explaining this in a letter to Stasyulevich:

"My goal is ... to declare our communion with the rest of Europe at that time."

The Polovtsi, of course, participated in this battle, but only as mercenaries. Its main characters were the famous Oleg Gorislavich and his cousin Boris Vyacheslavich.

Battle on Nezhatina Niva, drawing from the Radziwill Chronicle, late XNUMXth century

The background of those events is as follows: the second son of Yaroslav the Wise, Svyatoslav, captured Kiev, expelling his older brother Izyaslav from there. After the death of Svyatoslav, his children were deprived of their reign by their uncles in all cities, including those that belonged to them by right.

The eldest of them, Gleb, who ruled in Novgorod, was apparently especially feared by his relatives, because he was treacherously killed on his way to Smolensk. Vladimir Monomakh's friend and godfather of his eldest son, Oleg Svyatoslavich, fled after these events to the Polovtsy. His cousin Boris Vyacheslavich also sided with the Svyatoslavichi. Before the battle of Nezhatina Niva near the Ostr river ("Kayala" "Words about Igor's regiment") - not far from the city of Nizhyn - Oleg wanted to make peace with his opponents, but Boris said that in this case he and his squad would enter the battle alone.

The results of this battle:

A.K. Tolstoy:

"With dawn on the Polovtsy, Prince Izyaslav
He rode out there, formidable and spiteful,
Raising his two-handed sword high,
Saint George is like;
But by nightfall, holding on to the mane with my hands,
A horse carried away in battle,
Already the wounded prince was racing across the field,
With the head thrown back. "

"A word about Igor's regiment":

“Boris Vyacheslavich was brought to trial by fame, and he was put on a horse blanket for insulting Oleg, a brave young prince. From the same Kayala, Svyatopolk, after the battle, took his father (Izyaslav) between the Ugric cavalry to St. Sophia to Kiev. "

So, the battle ended with the complete defeat of the brothers and the death of two princes of the opposing sides. Boris died in battle, and the Kiev prince Izyaslav, who did not take direct part in the battle, was killed by an unknown rider with a spear in the back. This was the beginning of the famous "formidable Oleg's campaigns", and Vladimir Monomakh still had to "lay his ears in Chernigov every morning" when Oleg would enter "the golden stirrup in the city of Tmutorokan" ("The Lay of Igor's Regiment").

A.K. Tolstoy:

"Monks of the Caves, lining up in a row,
Singing long: Hallelujah!
And the princes' brothers reproach each other,
And greedy crows look from the roofs,
Feeling close to strife. "

"A word about Igor's regiment":

“Then, under Oleg Gorislavich, it was sown and grew by civil strife. The life of Dazh-God's grandchildren was dying, in the sedition of the princely human age was shortened. "

Ballad "Prince Rostislav"

"Prince Rostislav in a foreign land
Lies at the bottom of the river,
Lies in combat chain mail
With a broken sword. "

We are talking about the fate of the Pereyaslavl prince Rostislav Vsevolodovich, brother of Vladimir Monomakh.

In 1093, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod, who was pursuing a tough anti-Polovtsian policy, died. His nephew Svyatopolk became the Grand Duke of Kiev according to ladder law. The Polovtsi, who were going on a campaign against Vsevolod, having learned about his death, decided to make peace with the new prince. But Svyatopolk considered the ambassadors' behavior insolent and ordered to put them in a cellar. Polovtsi responded by besieging the city of Torchesk.

In the spring of 1093, the combined troops of Svyatopolk of Kiev, Vladimir Monomakh (at that time the Prince of Chernigov) and Rostislav Pereyaslavsky moved to the mouth of the Stugna and crossed it. A battle took place here, which ended in the defeat of the Russian squads. During the retreat, while crossing the flooded Stugna, Rostislav drowned. This battle is mentioned in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign":

“Not so, he says, the Stugna River, having a meager stream, having absorbed other people's streams and streams, expanded to the mouth, concluded the young man of Prince Rostislav”.

M. Ivanov. "Ancient Russia"

The main theme of this ballad is the sadness of the deceased young prince. And again there is a roll call with "The Lay of Igor's Campaign."

A.K. Tolstoy:

"Its in vain night and day
The princess is waiting at home ...
The rook sped him away
Will not bring back! "

"A word about Igor's regiment":

"On the dark bank of the Dnieper, Rostislav's mother is crying
according to the young prince Rostislav.
The flowers are sad with pity
and the tree bowed to the ground with longing. "

Thus, the historical ballads of A. K. Tolstoy, written in a good style, can serve as excellent illustrations for some pages of Russian history.

Comments

[Lech from Android.]

Theodora, that little thing, a complete set of the devil's tools had ... deceit, rancor, cunning, hatred, a black dodgy mind ... turned men as she wanted.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Quote: Lech from Android.

Theodora, that little thing, a complete set of the devil's tools had ... deceit, rancor, cunning, hatred, a black dodgy mind ... turned men as she wanted.

They are women!

[VLR]

Byzantine sources claim that this Theodora was less ambitious and did not reach such heights in intrigue as her older sister Zoya. During the rebellion, most of the inhabitants of Constantinople and the patriarch were in favor of Theodora, but it was not possible to push the experienced "apparatchitsa" Zoya out of power - they became co-rulers. In general, an interesting fork in history could be, if Scandinavian sources tell the truth: "the last Viking" Harald at the head of the Roman Empire. But, apparently, Harald Zoya knew well: he probably decided that he would not heal for a long time with such a wife. By the way, the saga claims that Harald wanted to marry a certain Mary - Zoe's niece, but she did not give her consent and became angry. The Norwegians claim because she herself had plans for Harald. But, perhaps, she was afraid that during the next mess he would seize power in the empire without her help - like the husband of a princess of blood.

[Korsar4]

Long experience of observing the world, wife and daughter?

However, most of the classics will confirm.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Quote from Korsar4

Long experience of observing the world, wife and daughter?

However, most of the classics will confirm.

And a cat!

[knn54]

Tolstoy believed that "... We and the Germans were the first to separate from the ancient Aryan trunk, and there is no doubt that we had common interests and mythology."
In particular, Sophibok (the Saxon god mentioned in "Ivanhoe") he associates with the ancient Slavic Chernobog.
Tolstoy is absolutely sure that Slavism is a purely Western element, and not Eastern / Asian. Hence the attachment of the writer to the period of Russia, when her ties with Europe were strong. Which inspired the author to romantic ballads: "Song of Harald and Yaroslavna", "Borivoi", "Roman Galitsky", "Kanut" _....

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Valery thank you!
I cannot resist making jokes about the "authenticity" of the Scandinavian sagas in the presentation of the skalds.
The history is written by the winners, so that "TASS" has been informed, will inform and will inform as it should, and not as it is !!!
Regards, Kote!

[Catfish]

Vlad, hello I join in thanks!
Everything is great, but some of the things I liked the most:

And skald vises are built in such a way that even one letter cannot be replaced in a line.

I wish we had it like that with the laws, especially with the main one. Dreams Dreams...

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Uncle Kostya good morning!
I can only say one thing: "the severity of the laws of our fatherland is leveled by their non-fulfillment"!
So, the iambic criminal code would still be that little thing, but the judge's solo or the jury's chorus, alas, is far from being the voice of the "people"! By the way, the people's court of the 70s of the USSR is two heads higher than the present !!!
Yours!

[Catfish]

By the way, the people's court of the 70s of the USSR is two heads higher than the present !!!

I completely agree, I was not on trial myself, but I happened to be present at the meetings.

[Korsar4]

"Three hundred kunas
He would pay the virus "(c).

[Korsar4]

This requires the Music of Words.
And with us - the bureaucracy of the language.

[Catfish]

"You want songs - I have them" (c)

[Richard]

Harald was a talented skald and dedicated a cycle of poems to his love "The Hangs of Joy"

My ships have gone round Sicily,
And then we were glorious, we were loud.
Loaded my black ship with a squad
Swam fast across the blue sea as I wanted.
So, loving war, I always dreamed of swimming;
And the Russian virgin does not care for me.
I was in my youth with the Drontheimes in the battle,
The army was superior in number.
ABOUT! how terrible our bloody battle was!
Here with my strong, valiant hand
Their young king was laid on the battlefield;
And the Russian virgin does not care for me
I can bravely fight and throw a spear,
I know how to use an oar and a good horse,
I have a skill to swim in deep waters for a long time;
Skiing in the snow, am I not a master?
And the Russian girl doesn't care about me ..... (C)
Thank you, Valery. As always, it is healthy and very interesting!

[Catfish]

Hello Dima!

I have a skill to swim in deep waters for a long time;

I look at their boxes and am amazed, they were brave guys and got where they wanted to get.

[Richard]

Hi
You can't refuse Harald's courage, but for the sake of truth, the path to Constantinople and before it was well trodden by the Vikings, and on the territory controlled by Yaroslav it was pretty safe

[Catfish]

I not only this and not only it meant.

[Richard]

Kostya, great picture
Now it is clear why the Vikings in America did not stay for a long time - it was considered an extreme shame for the Scandinavians to get a piece of a Christmas tree with a dangling Christmas ball on a turnip

[Catfish]

I noticed from a heap of pictures I chose this one and that is why. The rest are too realistic.
On this occasion, I remembered a n / f story when a thin film was shot using a time machine. the film about the discovery of America by the Vikings, the Vikings are real, the Indians too, and then during the excavations archaeologists found a bottle of scotch tape with a branded label. A very funny story.

[3x3zsave]

"Fantastic Saga", G. Garrison, 1967.

[Catfish]

Yes. Do you remember the ending that they decided to shoot in the next film? Suggestive, you know.

[3x3zsave]

Unfortunately, I don't remember. The last time I reread it more than 30 years ago. Since then, the amount of fiction read has long exceeded a thousand works.

[Catfish]

They decided to make a film about Jesus.

[Richard]

This is a novel by the American science fiction writer Harry Harrison "Fantastic Saga"

[VLR]

A small quote on the courage of the "people on the boxes":
"The large Lerian ship at the very line of the horizon seemed like a toy, and it became scary for the people, separated from the abyss only by the thin planks of the deck.
“Life is two or three inches away from death, for this is the thickness of the ship's board,” Ethan recalled an aphorism invented by sailors in ancient times, when people were just beginning to sail on ships. And one more, from the book, in which the sea was called "a huge creature carrying on its back insignificant worms swarming on pieces of wood."
The first aphorism is an English proverb, the second is from Arabic sources.

[Korsar4]

Even the ancient Greeks said that people are alive, there are dead. And there are those who have stepped on board the ship.

[Richard]

IMHO, Harald's unearthly love for Yaroslavna is all just a wonderful legend.
His poetry is certainly good ... but. but:
1. at the time of the first meeting, when he got married, she was still quite a child.
2. Harald was married twice. For the second time in love, already being in power in his native Norway. on the Torah Torbergsdottir (a woman who went hiking with him). and his heirs are exclusively from his second wife, and not from Elizabeth Yaroslavna.
3. All the booty from the campaigns described here, he sent to Kiev. to save Yaroslav.
From which the conclusion suggests itself that he needed not so much the princess as the support of her pope to obtain the throne of Norway. and all these wonderful poems are nothing more than reports on the work done on business trips on an internship as a son-in-law. well, or such a Viking resume for a potential father-in-law.

[Richard]

Why did Harald run to Jaroslav?

Why? And to whom else? After all, relatives, although a cousin
Harald, the son of the king of Eastern Norway, Sigurd Pig and Asta, was by his mother the younger half-brother of King Olaf II of Norway. His father took an active part in Olaf's accession to the throne. Already in childhood, Harald was distinguished by a warlike disposition. In 1030, when he was 15 years old, King Olaf died defending the throne from Knud the Great. Harald took part in the Battle of Stiklastadir and was wounded, after which he left Norway. He formed a military detachment from those who, like him, were forced to leave the country as a result of the death of Olaf II. In 1031 Harald with a detachment reached Rus, where he entered the service of Yaroslav the Wise.
Yaroslav the Wise was married to the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Shötkonung - Ingigerde. Ingigerda in Russia was baptized with a consonant name - Irina. As a "wedding gift" from her husband Ingigerda received the city of Aldeygaborg (Ladoga) with the adjacent lands, which have since received the name of Ingermanlandia (Ingigerdy lands). Yaroslav maintained close ties with the European rulers, relatives from the Scandinavian lands and the British Isles found refuge at his court. And not only Harald, but also a higher rank. - In 1028, the Norse king Olaf (later called the Saint), was forced to flee to Novgorod. He arrived there with his five-year-old son Magnus, leaving his mother Astrid in Sweden. In Novgorod, Ingigerda, the half-sister of Magnus's mother, Yaroslav's wife and Olaf's former fiance, insisted that Magnus stay with Yaroslav after the king's return to Norway in 1030, where he died in the battle for the Norwegian throne.

[Richard]

Harald fled to Jaroslav

This is how Bölwerk Arnorsson, a companion and companion of Harald, an Icelandic skald of the XNUMXth century, the author of a drape about Harald Sigurdarson "Around the Earth", describes it. the flight of Olaf's supporters defeated by the Knut to Yaroslav:

.... And in the spring we took our ships and sailed east in the summer to Gardariki to the king Yaritsleiv, and stayed there for the winter. So said Harald Sigurdarson to Yaritsleiv, “Konung, you wiped the blood from the sword before you put it into the sheath. You fed the ravens with raw meat. Wolves howled on the ridges [of the mountains]. And you spent, stern king, the next year in the east in Garda; I have never heard that any warrior was superior to you. We are of the same tree, of the same blood. And from this blood I ask.
My brother - the king was killed by Knut. And with me are Olaf's husbands. Give us shelter, king. Cover Garda [riki] behind the shield, and our swords will become your swords. ”(C)
reference: Bölwerk Arnorsson (From the "drape (saga) about Harald Sigurdarson" according to the "Circle of the earth". (XI century), 1st stanza of article 185
Translation by T.N. Jackson by IF. XXVIII. 69)

[3x3zsave]

Why? And to whom else? After all, relatives, although a cousin
"Well, how not to please a dear little man?" (FROM)

[Richard]

Waking up! Shit! I am the master of the house. My word to you. Agafya: Petka is the son of the deceased brother, the kingdom of heaven is to him, and for the time being he will live here, and then we'll see. We will not become poorer. You will put him in the closet (c)

[astra wild2]

Dmitry, is this a quote from Astafiev? Katka says she reminds

[Richard]

"Brothers and Sisters" S. Abramov "

[Korsar4]

And the Scandinavians believed that Ingigerd ruled for King Yaritsleiv.

[Richard]

Judging by the "Sagas of Olaf the Saint" by Snorri Sturluson and the PNL texts, according to the marriage contract, Princess Ingigerda received the city of Aldeygaborg (until 1703 Ladoga, now the village of Staraya Ladoga) with the adjacent lands as a dowry.
So PNL indicates that Aldeygaborg was considered the oprishna (oprichina) of Ingigerda, and she herself appointed a mayor (jarl) there. In the "Saga of Olaf the Saint" even his name has been preserved - a certain Rognwald Ulvsson, Ingigerda's maternal relative.
Ingigerda probably played a significant role in her husband's politics and public affairs. The Saga of Eimund tells us that Yaroslav sent her to lead the army he sent against Bryachislav.

[Richard]

By the way, Ingigerda was the second wife of Yaroslav, since his first wife was captured by the Polish king Boleslav in 1018 and, together with Yaroslav's sisters, was forever taken to Poland.

[Konnick]

Harald, son of the king of Eastern Norway, Sigurd Pig and Asta,

Already in childhood, Harald was distinguished by a warlike disposition.

There is a legend that Olaf II, when he came to visit his mother Asta and stepfather Sigurd, met his half-uterine younger brothers Guthorm, Halfdan and Harald and asked them about their desires. Guthorm wished to own land and grow crops in order to become rich. Halfdan told about the fat herds of cows that he wants to own, and Harald, the youngest, said that he only needed an army, with the help of which he would take the cows and lands from the brothers.
Yes, some researchers also talk about the height of an adult Harald at 2 meters.

[3x3zsave]

"- And your Ulyanka, we don’t get it for nothing! And so — don’t get it, and with a dowry — don’t get it!” (FROM)

[Richard]

Anton
"The Magic Ring" is a wonderful cartoon.

[3x3zsave]

Uh-huh. And pomor tales, voiced by Leonov.
Dmitry!

[Konnick]

IMHO, Harald's unearthly love for Yaroslavna is all just a wonderful legend.

I read one book about the Vikings, translated from Swedish, the love of a Norwegian youth for Yaroslav's daughter is beautifully painted there, and when I found out that Harald was 15 at the time of the meeting and Elizabeth was 4 years old, he doubted. Although at the time of their departure to Byzantium they were already 18 and 7, respectively, but it is difficult to name the exact date of birth of Elizabeth.
And the legend is beautiful. And even if you imagine that Elizabeth Yaroslavna blessed Harald for the capture of England, and Anna Yaroslavna for Wilhelm, then you begin to doubt the role of women in history.

[astra wild2]

"Harold was married twice," but where did he do with Elizabeth?

[Richard]

Lived with two.
In the winter of 1043/1044, Harald became Yaroslav's son-in-law, taking as his wife Elizaveta Yaroslavna (Ellisif in the sagas), from whom he had two daughters - Maria (“she died suddenly on the very day and at the very hour when her father fell”) and Ingigerd (the first husband is the king of Denmark, the second is the king of Sweden.).
Although Harald was a Christian, in 1048 he took another wife, Torah, the daughter of Jarl Thorberg Arnason, who bore him the future kings Magnus II and Olav III the Pacific.
link: Snorri Sturluson. The saga of Harald the Severe

[astra wild2]

I don't know how Elizabeth put up with this? I couldn't
Although, there was a case, once I read and watched a film, in the Ryazan region: a man lived with his wife and her younger sister and they lived together.

[SERGE ANT]

Thanks to A.K. Tolstoy. per

well-written historical ballads

Thanks to V.A. Ryzhov. for the article and illustrations.

[Fat]

I join. A wonderful article turned out. Reads with pleasure.

[parusnik]

The deposed emperor and his uncle, who took refuge in the Studia monastery, were ordered to burn out their eyes.

I need his eyes ...
"Do you want to rip out his eyes?"
- I want to look at them ... (c)

[astra wild2]

Good morning, everyone. We are absolutely delighted. Now there is no time. Home passed

[Korsar4]

Burning eyes for me is an example of the deepest Byzantine craftiness.
Formally, the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is not violated.

[astra wild2]

Hello, this is Zulfiya. Please tell me: how old was Harold when Zoe fell in love with him? And how many years did Elizaveta Yaroslavovna wait for him?

[VLR]

Harald was 27 years old at the time of his departure from Constantinople. He was on the territory of Byzantium for 8 years. Elizabeth was about 15 years old at the time of his return. She gave birth to two daughters from Harald. One of them became Queen of Denmark. And in 1048 the Christian Harald took another concubine - Torah (not an ordinary girl, to the Jarl's daughter), who gave birth to two sons, who were in turn the kings of Norway.

[astra wild2]

Valery, you guessed the girls' question: did Harold have children?

[Trilobite Master]

Article plus author respect.
I would like to make a few corrections.
The first is about Vladimir Monomakh.

married Vsevolod Yaroslavich and became the mother of the last Grand Duke of pre-Mongol Rus

Grandmother. If anyone can be called "the last great prince of pre-Mongol Rus", then not Vladimir Monomakh, but his son Mstislav the Great from the Guides of Wessex, the daughter of Harald Godwinson, mentioned in the article. Mstislav not only managed to strengthen his father's power over the other princes, but also to expand its limits, subjugating the Polotsk principality, which under his father had full sovereignty over Kiev. successful and energetic job seeker.
The second concerns Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich and, in general, Monomakh's relations with the Chernigov princes. The fact is that the monomakh was, as they say, a "legalist". Whatever they say about him now, but he was a truly unique person who could act to the detriment of his own property interests, if the law, right, were not on his side.
Author's passage

After the death of Svyatoslav, his children were deprived by their uncles of reign in all cities, including those that belonged to them by right.

has no basis from a historical point of view. In the minds of the Russian princes of that time, Russia was their single common possession, each of them did not yet hold "his own patrimony" (the Lyubech Congress, which legalized this formula still ahead), and in accordance with the seniority in the family, which was strictly defined, kept the corresponding city ​​status.
The children of Svyatoslav, after the death of their father, by legal law, turned out to be rather low in the inheritance system - in front of them were their uncles Izyaslav and Vsevolod, as well as cousins ​​- the sons of Izyaslav. That is, they could not claim Chernigov - the second city in the state, by right it was the city of Vsevolod Yaroslavich. So the eldest of Svyatoslavich, Gleb, got only Novgorod. Oleg Svyatoslavich was generally the fourth son of Svyatoslav and he was entitled to some kind of extraordinary inheritance, therefore, after the death of his father, he reigned in Volhynia. But he quickly realized what was what and preferred to live in Chernigov at the court of Vsevolod.
Oleg stirred up strife because he understood that his status in the tribal hierarchy plus his actual age did not allow him to hope for any serious destiny, and if you want to get something, you must do it now. Moreover, the example of Prince Rostislav Vladimirovich Tmutorokansky, an older cousin, deprived of his inheritance by his uncles, stood before his eyes. Oleg simply did not wait for his turn.
Further Valery writes:

The eldest of them, Gleb, who ruled in Novgorod, was apparently especially feared by his relatives, because he was treacherously killed on his way to Smolensk.

Well, this is not at all the same and not so. Gleb is generally a very interesting person, no less interesting than his famous younger brother Oleg.
He began independent rule from the Tmutorokan principality, but lost the fight for him to Rostislav Vladimirovich. Then he reigned in Novgorod, Pereyaslavl and again in Novgorod. It was this prince who hacked the Novgorod sorcerer to death with an ax, who was going to "work miracles", after which he was expelled by the Novgorodians (not princes, but in the vechem), went on a predatory campaign to the east, to Zavolochye - the Kama or Vyatka region, where he died at the hands of the local population. No murder, let alone treacherous by relatives.
And so the article is wonderful, interesting and useful.

[vladcub]

Misha, good afternoon. You are a specialist in ancient Russia and you know the best

[vladcub]

"Kiev has turned into a challenge prize" if the Grand Duke has no authority or "gets involved in a multi-vector approach and begins:" booze ".
Lesha "Sailing ship" recalled Tumasov's book: "The land is not known" and there was such an epigraph: "brother said to his brother: this is mine and that is mine" just to the point.
The prince sits somewhere in Kryzhopla and thinks: "Vaska gave pundels to his brothers and uncle. And why am I worse? I can't beat Romka, and Gleb is weaker and he is:" I'll throw him out of the hut. "

[astra wild2]

"where he died at the hands of the local population." Probably, the locals decided: "if the wolf does not kill, he will drag all the sheep"?
And they were not avenged for the prince, or only Princess Olga was capable of it. Remember how she took revenge on the Drevlyans?

[vladcub]

"the men of which previously caulked ships" is quite a "royal" occupation: to pitch boats. In Byzantium anyone could become an emperor: he was a boatman and became an emperor.
Would I have lived byzantium and could have become an emperor? If the "faithful" does not send some "Harold" to gouge out his eyes. And at the wedding, I suppose she swore: "love until the grave"

[astra wild2]

"Skalds could not lie, talking about a real person" Valery, out of harm: how did the Skalds know all the details of Harold's biography? They may know from the words of Harold himself or someone from his entourage, and if Harold is beneficial to "forget" about something?

[Richard]

How did the Skalds know all the details of Harold's biography?

At least two well-known skalds of the XNUMXth century: Snorri Sturluson - the author of the "Saga of Olaf the Saint", and Bölwerk Arnorsson - the author of the saga "Around the Earth" were Harald's associates and warriors. They took part in all of his campaigns.

[3x3zsave]

With all due respect, Dmitry, but please explain how Snorri Sturlsson, born a century later, could have been Harald's warrior. This is in addition to the fact that skalds are not vigilantes.

[VLR]

Sturlson did a great job collecting testimonies from participants in the events, or at least those who heard about it firsthand. And, most importantly, he collected hanging and drapes written by skalds-contemporaries, which are almost impossible to change: you remove or replace one letter in a word - and the system is broken, there is no verse. Such unique features of versification. Therefore, the laws were written in verses: a vera was assigned to a sheep - you cannot replace it with a horse or a cow. It was by verses that Sturlson checked the eyewitness testimonies: if an event is mentioned in some kind of vise, he considered it to be absolutely reliable.

[3x3zsave]

But he was not Harald's contemporary, was he?
My respect, Valery! Thank you for the article!

[3x3zsave]

By the way, two centuries earlier, his compatriot composed a panegyric to save his life.

[VLR]

I seem to know what Anton is talking about. And in his verses of praise, this skald wrote the truth. That is, he gave a positive assessment to real events, and did not write a story about a fictional battle and did not attribute a victory that did not exist.

[3x3zsave]

Egil Skalagrimsson just wanted to live. Since about this time, the visas have lost their significance as indisputable evidence.

[Richard]

Thanks for the amendment.
With Sturlsson, I "got excited" here, he is more of a "collector and keeper of legends" - nodes, hangs and drapes, but Tjodolf (Bölwerk) Arnorsson was a regular skald of Harald's squad. His unnamed poem about Harald Sigurdarson was written ca. 1055 Its initial stanza was preserved in Rotten Skin (split into two parts), in the Earth's Circle and Hulda, and the first half of this stanza in Beautiful Skin.

[VLR]

On his last campaign in England, Harald took more than a dozen skalds, which were supposed to preserve in their poems the memory of the exploits of his army.

[Richard]

Yes, he then put together not a small army, EMNIP, under 15 thousand - respectively, and "press service". I may be wrong, but he seems to have appointed Elizabeth then in advance as the "Queen of England".
Thanks again for the article!

[VLR]

"Skalds are not vigilantes":
The Raven's Speeches speaks of four "categories" of the king's people: warriors, skalds, berserkers, and "gamers" (musicians and jesters). Berserkers for some reason go separately from the warriors. And about skalds it is said that they, among other things, enjoy the special disposition of the king: "You can see
that they are in friendship with the king ... they have scarlet cloaks, beautifully trimmed, lined with silver swords, chain mail coiled from rings, gilded handles and painted helmets ... golden hoops. "
And the gamers are called "kick people."
But the soldiers were also not forbidden to write poetry. Harald the Severe, in the opinion of his contemporaries, was very good as a skald, and this added to his respect.

[astra wild2]

Valery, on behalf of your friends and yours, THANK YOU again.
Will it still be interesting for us?

[VLR]

Alcoholic traditions of Russia and problems associated with "abuse" - from Vladimir with his "aphorism" ("Merry in Russia"), which, apparently, was attributed to him a century later and until recently.

[astra wild2]

We might like

[Korsar4]

And it’s true.

In one work, a relatively modern hero exclaimed: "I would at least have a male dog!"