The military story is a story about the struggle of a Russian warrior with a foreign invader. Her volume is more of a story, but less of a novel, and the plot shows events close to reality. Therefore, a military story can be a historical source.
Opinions differ on this genre: some historians are sure that the military novel is an independent literary work, while others believe that it is only part of the chronicle. Indeed, stories about wars with the Pechenegs, Tatars or Polovtsians are included in the Chronicle of Bygone Years, and The Word on Igor's Regiment is part of the 12th century Kiev annals.
There is no consensus among historians, but the reference book of literary terms does not hesitate: a military novel is a type of narrative Old Russian literature that describes military events.
The structure of the military story
The military story has a purpose, features and composition. The goal is to show descendants the image of a fighter and liberator of their native land. This is the main, but there are secondary goals that the military story also achieves. It shows the place of Russia among other powers, and also proves that the Russian people have a history that they have the right to be proud of.
The military story has three features:
- The complex image of the hero. He was valiant, courageous, proved his strength by feats, despised wounds and death. But with the advent of Christianity, the image became more complicated: to the features of the epic hero were added the holiness and sacrifice of Christian martyrs. Then the hero began to fight for faith, and not to prove strength. He rushed to holiness, and chroniclers put pious thoughts and prayers into his mouth. And the hero was also helped by heavenly forces.
- Sacrifice. This also came with Christianity and a new image of the hero, gave the military feat a new understanding: it became a holy deed. In the same period, a pantheon of Russian saints arose, which included both ascetic monks and martyr soldiers. The image of the latter gave an idea of worldly and princely holiness.
- Stylistic formulas are characteristic revolutions peculiar to just such a genre: “… and arrows for no fly, like rain”, for example.
The composition of the military novel consists of three parts:
- Preparation, which included the collection of troops and the speech of the prince before the campaign. The prince was a strategist and orator, and he also prayed with his team before leaving.
- Event. There was a battle in this part, but not immediately. At first there was a battle between the hero and his opponent, which determined the outcome of the battle. This tradition was called martial arts, and it was believed that the battle would be won by the side whose warrior would win. Warriors noticed signs of victory or defeat: signs, natural phenomena, divine signs. Then there was a battle: God could intervene in it, and then the soldiers of Russia won, or turned away - then they were defeated. The battle was most often compared to a feast or to sowing.
- The consequences - they won, lost, died, survived. And even if they lost and died, the ending was with an optimistic message.
The Story of Svyatoslav
The story is divided into fragments with dates, tells of Prince Svyatoslav, who was very close to his squad. So close that he considered himself one of her warriors. And there was nothing derogatory, on the contrary: to be in the squad - this was considered the basis of the knighthood code.
Such proximity with soldiers is a key feature of Svyatoslav. The story contains a lot of his speeches, speeches in front of the army, but it is presented difficult for the modern reader. The text is replete with facts and details of life of that time, which were mentioned intentionally - the author wanted to show the era when Svyatoslav lived, and not just himself.
Svyatoslav is a strong, brave and agile warrior. For activity and playfulness in battle, he was compared to a cheetah. As it should be for a military story, its hero, even as a ruler, knows how to bear the hardships of military life, fight and lead an army. Neither in this story, nor in others are there hero princes who would be pampered or pompous.
The Tale of Prince Izyaslav
The structure of this story is uneven: sometimes the plot is interrupted by excerpts from the story of Prince Igor, at the beginning of the story there are no vivid ideological or stylistic signs, and the end is as inconspicuous as the beginning. It seems to be lost against the backdrop of central events.
The tale of Prince Izyaslav is a cult of a heroic personality, individual and national honor, and virtues of the prince, typical of this genre. Throughout history, Izyaslav is ready to risk his life, he surrenders to the will of God, he is generous in relation to the church and its ministers. The author of the story, by the way, was a supporter of this prince and belonged to the higher circles of that society.
The story begins with how Izyaslav ascends the throne, after which the people of Kiev deal with Prince Igor, describes the attack on Kiev and the accession to the Kiev throne. The story lacks detailed stories about diplomatic missions and military campaigns; the victorious entry of the wounded after the battle of Izyaslav to Kiev is described.
In the Kiev annals, this story occupies an important place: it covers a time period of almost 10 years. Different princes ordered the story at different times, and therefore its structure is so diverse - the collection of individual annals, among which it is not easy to find the main storyline. The beginning, for example, is inconspicuous, because the story of Izyaslav is intertwined with the story of the martyrdom of Igor so closely that it is almost lost in him.
The author uses many imaginative means of language to dramatize events. He emphasizes that Izyaslav ascended the throne legally, because the people of Kiev themselves called him from Pereyaslav. And during the reign of Izyaslav tried to reduce the role of Byzantium in the life of Russian people, to reduce the Byzantine cultural and spiritual influence. The prince created the Kiev Cathedral, where his father was elected metropolitan, he remained in history as Klim Smolyatich.
The author of the story portrays the prince as a wise politician and a skilled commander who cares about the fates of soldiers and ordinary Russian people, and also strives to achieve political freedom for Russia. Izyaslav’s character and motives can be seen both in his deeds and in his monologues: there are many of them in the story, and their language is very rich in images.
