New Discovery: Slovo o polku Igoreve, Skazanie o Mamaevom poboishche...

[Robert Mann]

THE IGOR TALES, The Birchbark Press of Karacharovo, 433 pp., ISBN 0-938618-05-9 

I recently found a large number of new parallels to the Igor Tale in folk sources, chronicles and overlooked texts of the Skazanie o Mamaevom poboishche. They show that the Igor Tale circulated in numerous oral variants before it was written down. Historical details and the opening lines of the tale indicate that it was not written down until sometime in the 13th century, probably between 1205 and 1220. The new parallels cast light on the relation between the Igor tales and the works of the Kulikovo Cycle, and they provide new evidence for an 11th-century allegorical epic about the conversion of Rus'. It has just been published by The Birchbark Press of Karacharovo under the title The Igor Tales. Old Russian quotations are accompanied by English translations so that the book can be used by non-specialists and in university classes. It is the most complete compendium of related folkloric and literary material to appear in any language. I included translations of two texts of the Zadonshchina instead of a "reconstruction" of a prototype. ("Reconstructions" are predicated on the fallacy that the Zadonshchina was first created by a writer who worked with pen in hand.) I also included translations of overlooked chronicle passages and oral tales that can be considered "fragments" of the 11th-century oral tale about the conversion of Rus'.  

            After The Igor Tales had gone to press, I came across a lost version of a tale about the Kulikovo Battle that casts much light on the Igor tales, the Zadonshchina and other works of the Kulikovo Cycle. It is the key link between the Slovo and the Zadonshchina on the one hand and the familiar redactions of the Skazanie o Mamaevom poboishche on the other. Essentially it is the prototype for all known redactions of the Skazanie. It contains a number of significant new parallels to passages in the Slovo, and it helps to demonstrate the oral origins of both the Igor Tale and numerous versions of the Zadonshchina.  The text of this invaluable tale is now being prepared for publication. 

            The Igor Tales can be ordered from The Birchbark Press (wolandusa at yahoo.com), Thornton's and Russian Press Service (rps at russianpress.com):

     --Robert Mann 

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