Slovo o polku Igoreve

[Katya Hirvasaho]

I want to express my appreciation to Markus Osterrieder for the valuable
information on research casting doubt on the authenticity of _Slovo o polku
Igoreve_.. I have studied the early romantic period, particularly Russian
(and European) Ossianism, and the ideological and stylistic similarities
between _Slovo_ and _Ossian_ can hardly be considered minor (Nabokov points
out some of the minor "co-incidences" in his translation of _Slovo_).  I
doubt that many people have read _The Poems of Ossian_, but it might be
worthwhile for anyone who is arguing about _Slovo o polku Igoreve_, whether
pro or con authenticity, to at least take a peek of the first volume,
"Fingal," and witness for themselves the same figurative language,
animistic world view, personification of nature ("and the trees bent down
in sorrow"), not to mention the concept of nation and of the exulted role
of the bard found in _Ossian_ and which was typical to the latter part of
the 18th C.  You will even find Yaroslavna's (Malvina's) lament in
_Ossian_!

Katya Hirvasaho