#The Tale of Igor's Campaign

[vintage-ukraine]

Lamenting Yaroslvana by Volodymyr Favorsky, 1950

[ruscatontheroof]

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" illustrations by Corinadre (2023)

"Слово о полку Игореве" иллюстрации Коринадра (2023)

[ukrainian-aesthetic]

[russianfolklore]

Tamara Shevaryova's illustration for russian tale "Marya Morevna".

Koshchei the Deathless is an archetypal male antagonist in Russian folklore.

The most common feature of tales involving Koschei is a spell which prevents him from being killed. He hides "his death" inside nested objects to protect it. For example, his death may be hidden in a needle that is hidden inside an egg, the egg is in a duck, the duck is in a hare, the hare is in a chest, the chest is buried or chained up on a far island. Usually he takes the role of a malevolent rival figure, who competes for (or entraps) a male hero's love interest.

The origin of the tales is unknown. The archetype may contain elements derived from the 12th-century pagan Cuman-Kipchak (Polovtsian) leader Khan Konchak, who is recorded in The Tale of Igor's Campaign; over time a balanced view of the non-Christian Cuman Khan may have been distorted or caricatured by Christian Slavic writers.

[robby-bobby-tommy]

While everyone is talking about cinematic and the plot, I'll talk about music.

After listening a little harder, I recognised it. It's a cover of "Polovitsan Dances" From an opera called Prince Igor. This opera is based on an old book, "the tale of Igor's campaign". This story is about Russian Prince (knyaz) Igor, who decided to go on a campaign against Polovitsans. Despite winning the first battle, he ultimately loses and gets captured by the enemies. He spends some time in a foreign land, before escaping with some help. In the meantime his wife, Yaroslavna, cries, worrying for her husband.

Though, enough of the synopsis, let's get to the song. Polovitsan Dances is an unbelievably beautiful song, but I'd like to talk about lyrics. Ofc they are in Russian, but there are translations in English. Anyway, the song starts with Polovitsan maidens singing about their homeland. About beautiful mountains, bright sun, endless sky, freedom etc. The latter part of this song is sung by men and sings praises to Khan. Though, women's part is the most popular.

Idk why I just told you that. It's just a nice detail. I know Fit loves using his music as metaphors and hints, but I don't think it's the case here. A lot of people know this song as just a beautiful melody and don't know of it's origins (I too discovered it pretty recently), I don't think it leads anywhere. If I squint I can imagine it's maaay refer to Madagio missing his island (the way it used to be). His freedom, friends and beautiful paysages. But it's a reach.

Anyway, thank you for listening to my tedtalk

[mariacallous]

Two years ago, if I had been able to peer into the not-too-distant future, I wouldn’t have understood half of what Ukrainians are talking about. The events we describe—Russia’s full-scale invasion, horrific war crimes—would have seemed surreal, as well as the words we use. Expletives are suddenly more acceptable for use by news anchors and even government officials. Abstract terms have specific connotations, such as tryvoha (“anxiety” or “a sense of foreboding”), now shorthand for povitryana tryvoha, or “air raid alert.” “Tired of tryvoha? Why not go for a run?” a billboard ad for a gym reads, seemingly referring to both meanings.

As the Ukrainian language reflects the transformation of a society amid war, the old-fashioned adjective svidomy has changed too, becoming a marker of reinvigorated national identity. Svidomy, which means “aware” or “conscious of something,” traditionally conveys political self-awareness and an acceptance of responsibilities to the homeland. In the recent past it described more fervent patriots, implying an obsession with Ukraine’s past and its struggle against Russian imperialism. When Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, the model citizens fundraising for supplies for Ukraine’s army were called svidomy. Other Ukrainians treated the war as a misunderstanding with Russia. “I’m probably not svidomy enough,” they might admit. “But I’m just tired of politics.”

The word svidomy is of Old East Slavic origin. One of its first recorded usages is in the medieval epic The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, which gives an account of the raid Prince Igor Svyatoslavych attempted against neighboring nomads—and of his defeat and demise. The text describes Igor’s soldiers as “svidomy warriors,” which many modern translations interpret as meaning they were either very loyal to their leader’s cause or generally very motivated to win. For much of its history, svidomy carried a certain drama that made it sound more natural in eulogies or history books than everyday speech.

Since Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainians across the political spectrum have embraced svidomy, imbuing it with meaning that is both sacred and colloquial. Calling someone a svidomy hromadianyn (“aware citizen”) is high praise, describing volunteers and activists tragically killed on the front lines. People use the term to self-identify on social media; it graces T-shirts worn as a show of defiance in the face of war. In today’s Ukraine, being svidomy still signals caring about the past, but history’s lessons are now self-evident: Ukrainians have long fought for survival and succeeded, despite the odds. Being svidomy is no longer just a character trait—it’s a requisite of the times.

Svidomy’s meaning has evolved over the decades. During the Soviet era, it referred to political dissidents or to those who identified as Ukrainian rather than Soviet. (Curiously, a bastardized version of the word exists in Russian: The derogatory term svidomity describes Ukrainians deemed aggressively patriotic.) In the early years of Ukrainian independence, the activists fighting the systemic corruption left in the wake of the turbulent 1990s were called svidomy. At that time, the descriptor was usually a compliment, if one that suggested someone was overly idealistic or radical. It might also be used sarcastically—say, if someone stubbornly insisted on speaking Ukrainian when surrounded by people who preferred Russian.

The word became more commonplace during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. What started as a peaceful protest against then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych ditching a trade deal with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia turned into a nationwide movement, culminating in Yanukovych’s ouster. The words svidomy and svidomist (the state of being svidomy) appeared on protest placards and in slogans in Maidan Square and throughout Ukraine. The Revolution of Dignity started to blur the distinctions between activists across the political spectrum. It showed that in Ukraine, anarchists and radical leftists could find common ground with their right-wing counterparts if the situation called for it.

Yet in 2019, when down-to-earth, Russian-speaking comedian Volodymyr Zelensky defeated conservative Petro Poroshenko to take the Ukrainian presidency in a landslide, Poroshenko’s supporters began describing themselves as svidomy—in contrast to Zelensky voters, who they characterized as apolitical and not invested enough in Ukraine’s future. Poroshenko’s supporters questioned whether Zelensky and his team could stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin if Putin escalated the conflict in eastern Ukraine. When asked about the issue at the time, Zelensky said he and Putin would “find a common ground” to reach peace.

To Zelensky’s critics, such compromise not only would have been unpatriotic, but also would have proven that the new president hadn’t learned necessary lessons from Ukrainian history: that Russia’s attacks reflected its imperialist ambitions, and that it would see attempts at making peace as a sign of weakness.

Of course, last year, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that was supposed to last three days and end with Russian tanks leading a victory parade through Kyiv. Zelensky—along with Ukrainians from all backgrounds—turned out to be svidomy enough to stand up Putin’s army, even when much of the world thought they didn’t stand a fighting chance.

If the meaning of svidomy was up for discussion before, those arguments ceased on Feb. 24, 2022. Anyone who considered themselves Ukrainian enough to help their country amid peril—no matter whom they voted for—was svidomy. Even those with little emotional attachment to their homeland became defiantly Ukrainian when foreign soldiers were willing to shoot them in the back. It didn’t matter if someone called themself ethnically Russian, was the world’s biggest Dostoyevsky fan, or didn’t agree with the concept of nation-states.

People from across the political spectrum suddenly shared a higher goal and a set of values they were willing to work together to protect. Anarchists signed up for territorial defense units and volunteered for the Ukrainian army. Ardent Poroshenko supporters declared their support for Zelensky’s government. Political figures who had argued for decades seemed to put that behind them. Not all disagreements were resolved overnight, but full-scale war certainly fostered a feeling of mutual trust, of shared awareness.

Used in the past to mock those considered too radical, or to differentiate oneself from those deemed too careless, the word svidomy now signifies a specific Ukrainian unity. It shows what Ukrainians mean when we say that our homeland is a political state: If one considers themself part of the Ukrainian community, they cannot be insufficiently Ukrainian. Since the war began, any irony about being svidomy has vanished. After all, why would we joke about being aware of our identity when it puts us in the line of fire?

[oddityroadshow]

Episode 27: The Tale of the Lonely Igor

Check out the IGG for our fundraising campaign for our newest show, S.S. Bad Ship https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/s-s-bad-ship-podcast-launch/x/29423176#/

The Road Trippers go to B.E.A.M. Con.

Cast - Paul Byron, Allison Maier, Joel Ruiz, and Shannon Strucci. Featuring Alex Sanchez as Igor.

Associate Producers - Birras & Luke Holt

Executive Producer - Andrew Harper & Blu Ryder

Join the Do You Validate Patreon https://www.patreon.com/DoYouValidate

Join the Do You Validate Discord https://discord.gg/uh7xJv9gFe

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Check out this episode!

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Special counsel John Durham’s investigation proved to be a rather embarrassing failure. As The Washington Post reported, it also proved to be quite expensive.

"The special counsel appointed to review the FBI’s investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign has so far cost taxpayers more than $6.5 million, according to a Justice Department report released Friday. ... The special counsel’s work appears to be winding down, but the Justice Department has not yet announced when it will end."

In other words, the $6.5 million figure — in taxpayer money — is where things stand now. It’s difficult to say with confidence how much higher the final price tag will eventually end up.

For those who might benefit from a refresher — you’d be forgiven for thinking, “John Durham’s name sounds familiar, but I can’t remember why I’m supposed to care about him” — let’s revisit our earlier coverage and explain how we arrived at this point.

The original investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, led by then-special counsel Robert Mueller, led to a series of striking findings: The former president’s political operation in 2016 sought, embraced, capitalized on, and lied about Russian assistance — and then took steps to obstruct the investigation into the foreign interference.

The Trump White House wasn’t pleased with the conclusions, but the Justice Department’s inspector general conducted a lengthy probe of the Mueller investigation, and not surprisingly, the IG’s office found nothing improper.

This, of course, only outraged Trump further, so then-Attorney General Bill Barr tapped a federal prosecutor — U.S. Attorney John Durham — to conduct his own investigation into the investigation. That was more than three years ago.

At this point, Durham’s investigation into the Russia scandal investigation has lasted longer than Mueller’s original probe of the Russia scandal.

After an extended period of apparent inactivity, the prosecutor last year indicted cybersecurity attorney Michael Sussmann for allegedly having lied to the FBI. The case proved to be baseless; Sussmann was acquitted; and one of the jurors publicly mocked Durham’s team for having taken the case to trial.

Five months later, Durham and his team also tried to prosecute Russian analyst Igor Danchenko. That failed too, bringing the probe to an apparent, ignominious end.

The tale of the tape is brutal:

• Two trials

• Zero convictions

• One provocative resignation

• A largely meaningless guilty plea from an obscure figure

• A $6.5 million price tag

By any fair measure, this is the most misguided and inconsequential special counsel investigation in the modern history of American law enforcement.

But the humiliation is not limited to the prosecutor. Every once in a while, Trump still blurts out Durham’s name, hoping the prosecutor might yet bolster some of the former president’s conspiracy theories. As regular readers may recall, the Republican — who predicted that Durham would uncover “the crime of the century” — has even suggested at times that Durham’s probe could serve as a possible vehicle for retaliating against his perceived enemies.

So much for that idea.

Over the summer, The New York Times’ Charlie Savage wrote a report questioning why the Durham investigation existed. He added, “Mr. Barr’s mandate to Mr. Durham appears to have been to investigate a series of conspiracy theories.”

Those theories, however, lacked merit, which is why the Durham probe is ending with an expensive whimper.

There is a degree of irony to the circumstances: For years, Team Trump insisted that the Russia scandal was pointless but the Durham investigation was real. It now appears these Republicans had it exactly backward: The Russia scandal was real, and the Durham investigation was pointless.

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 1/25

Happy Lunar New Year, Fantom Fam! 

Saga #61 -  Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Y’all know what this is. 

This picks up right after Volume 10, so a perfect time to pick up the series on a monthly basis!

Polar Bear Café Collector’s Edition GN Vol 1 -  Aloha Higa

Polar Bear has a penchant for puns and runs a serene café frequented by humans and animals alike. Regulars include a panda who has a part-time job being a panda at the local zoo, his keeper (who has a crush on the café's waitress), and a pretentious penguin. Join the colorful clientele through the seasons in this comforting and humorous manga about daily specials, romantic complications, and quirky workplaces, a tale that inspired a 50-episode anime adaptation. This 4-volume edition of the complete manga series, in English for the first time, will include bonus color content!

Night Walkers #1 (of 5) -  Cullen Bunn, Joe Bocardo, & Colin Johnson 

Seren is an addict in recovery at a rehabilitation center secluded in the mountains, COMPLETELY ISOLATED from the outside world. When Seren and the other patients wake to find themselves locked inside and abandoned by the center's staff, they must decide whether to wait or break out. The decision is made for them when a blood thirsty monster enters the center, and begins to tear through them to satiate its lust for blood. In a collaboration with Hustle & Heart Films and Vertigo Entertainment (IT, DOCTOR SLEEP), Source Point Press is proud to bring you Cullen Bunn's Night Walkers, a new comic book series with a terrifying, fresh take on a timeless horror sub-genre.

Grim TP Vol 1 -  Stephanie Phillips & Flaviano

Jessica Harrow's untimely death is a mystery... but her journey as one of many Reapers in the afterlife has only begun! Join Jessica as she discovers the secrets of the beyond, and finds out what happened to the Grim Reaper himself! Acclaimed writer Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn) and fan-favorite artist Flaviano (New Mutants) present the first collection of this widely sold-out smash hit that fans haven't been able to get enough of-a bold new vision of what comes after, and the nature of death itself!

Archie Vs The World One-Shot -  Aubrey Sitterson & Jed Dougherty

In a post-apocalyptic future, our hero Archie Andrews is cursed to walk the world alone-well, alone with his souped-up jalopy. But Archie can defend himself-in fact, he's the master of a brutal, deadly form of martial arts and must use his skills when he comes face-to-face with his rival and evil mirror image, Reggie. This action-packed one-shot is equal parts Mad Max: Fury Road and The Fist of the North Star, and reunites the Jughead the Burgarian team from 2022's smash-hit comic THE BEST ARCHIE COMIC EVER!

The Music Box: Welcome To Pandorient GN Vol 1 -  Carbone & Gije

When Nola turns eight, her father gives her a wonderful present-a music box that belonged to her late mother. As the young girl studies her new gift, she is shocked to find someone living inside it! That's when Nola shrinks down and enters the music box too. There she discovers the magical world of Pandorient and a pair of siblings named Andrea and Igor. But time is short: Andrea and Igor's mother, Mathilda, has fallen seriously ill. What's wrong with her? Could she have been poisoned? Find out in the first volume of this enchanting graphic novel series that will leave fantasy fans spellbound.

Green Hornet: One Night In Bangkok One-Shot -  Shannon Denton, Jethro Morales & Dan Panosian

The Green Hornet returns in the all-new epic "One Night in Bangkok"! The son of a criminal the Green Hornet once sent to prison has grown up vowing vengeance on the costumed crime-fighter - and with the training of the world's foremost assassin, the man now known only as Snake will at last have his revenge! Descending on Century City, Snake sets out on a bloody campaign to decimate the criminal population - all in the name of the Green Hornet. It's up to the Green Hornet to leap into action, salvage his reputation, and confront Snake before more lives are lost. 

Bulls Of Beacon Hill #1 -  Steve Orlando & Andy MacDonald

Doctor Christopher Boldt has everything he ever wanted: A successful career as a surgeon, a supportive and loving boyfriend, and an overload of hype on his rumored run for Boston City Council. But there's one problem - it's all held up by a lie. For years, Chris has been hiding in plain sight, desperate not to be connected to his father, Orin Paige, one of Boston's most notorious gangsters. Until now, Chris has been able to live with the secret. And Chris's father has been just as happy to deny any connection to his queer son, who he sees as a liability in the mob world. Now, Chris's political aspirations have put father and son on a collision course. A collision course bathed in blood.

From Eisner and GLAAD Award-Nominated writer Steve Orlando (Extreme Carnage, Midnighter, Darkhold, KILL A MAN) and artist Andy MacDonald (Rogue Planet, Loki, MY DATE WITH MONSTERS, I BREATHED A BODY), comes BULLS OF BEACON HILL, a story of family secrets and violent retribution.

Darkwing Duck #1 -  Amanda Deibert, Carlo Lauro & David Nakayama

He is the terror that flaps in the night...He is the ferocious fowl who plucks the evil eye from the face of foul play...He is Darkwing Duck! Alongside his trusty sidekick Lauchpad McQuack, Darkwing hyper-vigilantly defends St. Canard from the dastardly, devilish demons who would wage wanton war! By night, our caped defender lurks in the shadows, striking fear (and maybe confusion?) in the heart of the criminal underworld...but by day, no one suspects that Darkwing is also mild-mannered Drake Mallard, a well-meaning father to his adorable adopted daughter, Gosalyn! Can Darkwing successfully navigate his two separate lives, all while looking incredibly cool and impossibly handsome? (Hint: Probably not, but...) You'll have to read to find out!

Dragon Age: The Missing #1 (of 4) -  George Mann, Kieron McKeown & Matthew Taylor

A new story leading directly into BioWare's upcoming game Dragon Age: Dreadwolf! Varric Tethras and Lace Harding descend into the abandoned Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell in pursuit of a former friend. But the corruption of the blight has infected the walls, and the threat of darkspawn looms heavy in the air . . .

Season Of The Bruja GN Vol 1 -  Aaron Duran & Sara Soler

Season of the Bruja follows a young woman as she comes into her magical abilities and faces reemergent threats from the past.

From a young age, Althalia knew she would someday be the last of her kind-a bruja, tasked with keeping the power and stories of the ancient ways from fading fully into history. Never alone, Althalia works in a paranormal museum with her friends, a real-life Chupacabra and a were-coyote, while living with and caring for her beloved abuela. Through these powerful connections, her skills and knowledge grow.

But the prejudice her people have always faced continues, and after a seemingly random encounter with a priest, Althalia feels the weight of hundreds of years of religious oppression coming down upon her and her abuela. She must realize her destiny and grow into it quickly if she is to prevent the church from achieving its ultimate goal-destroying the last bruja.

Whatcha scooping up this week, Fantom Fam?

[vintage-ukraine]

Lament by Heorhiy Poplavsky, 1984

Illustration to The Tale of Igor's Campaign

[slavic-world]

Slavic Paganism Reading List:

Mythology:

The Mythology of All Races Volume 3

Perun: God of Thunder

Slavic Pagan World

Slavic Traditions & Mythology by Stefan Cvetković

Of Gods and Holidays: The Baltic Heritage

Folk Epics:

The Tale of Igor's Campaign

An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics

Russian Heroic Poetry by Nora Chadwick

Ukrainian Dumy

Fairy Tales and Folklore:

Russian Folk-tales by Aleksandr Afanasʹev

Slavonic Fairy Tales by John T. Naaké

Ethnographic Chronicles:

The Primary Russian Chronicle

Helmond's Chronica Slovarium

The Novgorod Chronicle

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of in Darkness

Songs of the Russian People by Raleton

[uwmspeccoll]

Decorative Sunday

This Sunday we have some fabulous decorative elements from a 1985 edition of Slovo o polku Igoreve, or, The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, published by Aurora Art Publishers of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). The text of the tale is presented three times, first in imitation of the Old Russian unicial manuscript hand, then in Old Russian with a modern Cyrillic typeface, and finally an English translation by scholar of Russian and Slavonic studies and philologist, Dennis Ward. The Old Russian unicials are the work of the illustrator, Ivan Golikov, one of the founders of the Russian icon-painting style known as Palekh. Golikov spent an entire year between 1932 and 1933 working on the illustrations, the text, and ornamental tailpieces, and the decorated initials, originally for inclusion in a 1934 publication of the tale for the Soviet Academia publishing house.

The Tale of Igor’s Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ) is an epic poem attributed to the late twelfth century recounting the defeat of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich the Brave of the Rurik Dynasty at the River Kayala at the hands of the Cumans. While there is some scholarly debate over the legitimacy of it’s medieval origins, the current consensus supports its authenticity, and it is considered the most celebrated epic of the Kievan Rus’ period. Only one manuscript of the tale, purportedly dated to the fifteenth century, has ever been located. It was found in a cathedral library in 1795 and sold to statesman, historian, and noted collector Aleksei Musin-Pushkin. It is assumed to have been lost with the rest of Musin-Pushkin’s extensive library during the Great Moscow Fire of 1812. Luckily, Aleksei had prepared a transcription from the Old East Slavic into modern Russian for Catherine the Great shortly after acquiring the manuscript, and the paleographers who helped him prepare the work had kept their own copies of passages from the original manuscript. These surviving texts form the basis for contemporary scholarship on the epic.

Our copy of Slovo o polku Igoreve is a gift of Michael J. Mikoś, professor of foreign languages and literature at UW-Milwaukee, specializing in Polish language, literature, and culture. 

Check out more Decorative Sunday posts here!

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[vyvilha]

when there is an epic poetry poll and it features odyssey illiad beowulf divine comedy and all that guys but no tale about igor's campaign and no david of sassoun and no koblandy batir and also no lāčplēsis or kalevipoeg

[russianfolklore]

“Boyan” by Vyacheslav Nazaruk.

Boyan is the name of a bard who was mentioned in the Rus' epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign as being active at the court of Yaroslav the Wise.

He is apostrophized as Veles's grandson in the opening lines of The Tale (probably a reference to Veles as the patron of musicians). Historians have been unable to determine whether Boyan was his proper name or all skalds of Rus were called boyans.

Although The Tale is the only authentic source mentioning Boyan, his name became exceedingly popular with later generations. He is mentioned in the Zadonshchina and Pushkin's Ruslan and Ludmila. The folklorist Alexander Afanasyev considered Boyan a precursor of Ukrainian kobzars. Soviet scholars tended to associate him with the House of Chernihiv, assuming that he started his career at the court of Mstislav of Tmutarakan. Boris Rybakov supported this theory and linked his name to a graffito on the wall of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev which mentions a purchase of "Boyan's land" by "Vsevolod's wife".

The Russian version of the button accordion is known as the bayan and was named after legendary Boyan upon its invention in 1907.

[sindefara]

a friend asked for a laughing fox

This went out of control of course and turned into an epic fresco based on  The Tale of Igor's Campaign  just because, you know, it says:

the eagles with their clatter summon the brute-beasts [to feed on] the bones; the foxes yelp at the crimson shields (орли клектомъ на кости звѣри зовутъ; лисици брешутъ на чрленыя щиты).

The word used by the poet originally indeed meant “to bark” but in modern Russian it’s most often used for “tell lies, yank around, fast-talk” etc.)