One of the greatest monuments of Old Russian literature is the "Word about Igor's Regiment". Many secrets are shrouded in this work, starting with fantastic images and ending with the name of the author. By the way, the author of "The Word of Igor's Regiment" is still unknown. No matter how hard the researchers tried, find out his name - nothing succeeded, the manuscript keeps its secret today.
We will not talk about the history of the manuscript, the role of A. Musin-Pushkin, A.S. Pushkin, N. Karamzin and other researchers in the restoration, translation and publication of an ancient monument of literature, and we turn right to the most important question about who wrote "The Word about Igor's Campaign.
Beginning to analyze the work, the researchers paid special attention to the cause - in it appears the image of the Boyan the storyteller, an ancient mythical singer who glorified the heroic campaigns of the princes, “spreading thought through the tree”, eulogizing words “a blue eagle under the clouds”. In contrast to the generally accepted canons for the celebration of heroes, the one who wrote "The Word about Igor's Regiment" departs from traditions and speaks in his own words about the events that took place in Russia after the reign of Vladimir Krasnoy Solnyshk. The narrator allows himself to introduce lyrical digressions in which he talks about his inner feelings and thoughts, harmoniously entering them into the characteristics of the images and the events taking place.
Mythical characters, animals, the battlefield, feasts, the word of Svyatoslav and the lament of Yaroslavna - the poet surprisingly animates and endows these images with characters. They become independent characters, which proves once again - the one who wrote "The Word about Igor's Regiment" passionately loves his homeland and worries about its future. In this regard, special attention should be paid to the image of
Prince Igor, the central character whose campaign the work is dedicated to.
The campaign against the Polovtsians in 1185 ended in failure, and the author-singer mourned the loss of the princely army near the Kayala River, involuntarily comparing this battle with the battles of Prince Oleg, grandfather Igor - constant strife, the death of princes and soldiers, princely quarrels - all this led to a sad the result.
The peculiarity of the narrator’s language takes us into the past, and we see events with his eyes - the question of who wrote the “Word about Igor’s Regiment” is no longer so important. Igor, defending the interests of his homeland and wanting to gain even greater fame, goes almost alone on a campaign against the Polovtsy. He does not pay attention to bad signs (eclipse, the cry of Diva), rushes into battle and gets captured. A brave, brave, desperate warrior - this is Igor’s characteristic.
“The word to Igor's regiment” relies on the Ipatiev and Lavrentiev annals for its plot , but this in no way suggests that its author was a historian. On the contrary, Academician Likhachev claims that the author who wrote The Word about Igor’s Regiment is not a chronicler at all, not a historian, but a competent, well-read person who is not alien to the fate of the entire state.
One way or another, "The Word of Igor's Campaign" is a magnificent monument of historical fiction, the mysteries of which have not yet been solved to the end.