The reign of prince oleg. Prince Oleg - a short biography. Legends about Prophetic Oleg

Oleg Novgorodsky usually begins to deduct the formation of the Old Russian state. His figure is truly iconic, since it determined the beginning of a new era, a new era. His life, like death, has many mysteries for historians. But still, Prince Oleg the Prophet, short biography which will be discussed below - a personality quite interesting for researchers and ordinary lovers of antiquity.

Appearance in Russia

Whose biography is known to us only in brief, is considered the founder of the Old Russian state. He was a relative of the legendary Varangian Rurik, that is, he was the brother of Efanda, the commander's wife. It is believed that he was an ordinary commander, whom the Viking trusted immensely. Otherwise, would he have instructed him to take away his young son? It is worth believing that Oleg acted in agreement with Rurik, and maybe he had a certain freedom. One way or another, but rather quickly he took possession of Smolensk and Lyubech, and then Kiev. By the way, the golden-domed city was captured by him by cunning: the Varangian lured from behind the walls (which were also probably Vikings) and killed them, declaring himself a prince.

Achievements and successes

Prince Oleg, whose biography is considered in this article, strengthened the power either by enlisting the support of the Slavic tribes neighboring Kiev, or by subduing them. He established a tribute for them, which did not greatly weigh on the people. But his military successes were truly impressive. Campaigns against the Khazars saved the Russian lands from the need to pay the kaganate a polyudye. The great Constantinople fell, on the gates of which, according to the chronicle, the prince nailed his shield. As a result, Russian merchants could trade with Byzantium without duties and receive all kinds of support from it. Thus, Prince Oleg the Prophet, whose brief biography is discussed above, has more merit to Russia than Rurik. Moreover, practically nothing is known about the ancestor of the princely dynasty.

Hike to Constantinople

Prince Oleg, whose brief biography is covered in the Tale of Bygone Years, is an outstanding personality. He organized the famous campaign against Constantinople, after which he received his nickname - Prophetic. The chronicle says that he sent a huge army to the city on two thousand boats. Each boat housed four dozen vigilantes. The emperor ordered to close the gates of the capital, leaving the suburbs and villages to be torn apart by the enemies. But the Kiev prince ordered to attach wheels to the ships, on which the army reached the gates of Constantinople. The Byzantines were at a loss, so they surrendered, offering Oleg a generous tribute and peace.

Was there a hike?

Prince Oleg, whose short biography can be found in almost every history textbook, is a controversial figure. Researchers have more questions than answers about his life. For example, the fact of a campaign against Byzantium seems unreliable. This is because the authors from Constantinople described in detail all the attacks on their country, but they do not mention Oleg's campaign. In addition, the return of Oleg and Vladimir the Great from Constantinople is very similar. Perhaps this is a description of the same event. At the same time, after Oleg in Southern City Igor also walked, who also won. This is also stated by European authors who chronicled those years.

Was there a snake?

Oleg, whose biography is also known from literature lessons, died as mysteriously as he appeared in Russia. In the same it is described that once the sorcerer predicted his death from his beloved horse. The Varyag was superstitious, so he sat on another animal, and entrusted the pet to the servants, ordering them to take care of him until his death. The ruler remembered him during the feast, but it turned out that the horse had died long ago. Grieving for his favorite and angry that he believed the wise men, the prince went to the bones. But when he stepped on the skull, he saw a snake, which immediately stung him in the leg. Oleg died of poison.

Prince Oleg, whose biography has long been studied, could have died another death. And the legend of the horse and the snake may have been borrowed from the saga of Orvard Odda. Although some scholars believe that the hero of Scandinavian legends and Prophetic Oleg are one and the same person. But there are several facts that allow us to think about whether the plot about the death of the prince could be true. Among them are the following:

Could a snake bite through a leather boot that was worn in Russia? Most likely not, or did Oleg come up the mountain to the bones of a horse barefoot?

But what if the snake jumped and bit the prince above the bootleg? But on the territory of Ukraine there are no such vipers!

As a rule, the snake, before stinging, hisses and tries to crawl away. Could Oleg or his entourage not have noticed this?

As an option, the prince died from poison, but the snake was slipped to him on purpose, or Oleg was poisoned in advance. Unfortunately, it is impossible to establish where the truth is.

Some more interesting facts

Russian Prince Oleg, whose biography is already known to the reader, is mentioned not only in the annals of Kiev and Novgorod. Al-Masudi (Arabic author) speaks of the unsuccessful campaign of the Rus (500 ships!) On the forehead with Olwang and Al-Dir to Persia. They gave part of the booty to the Khazars, but the latter betrayed them and killed everyone. About thirty thousand warriors perished there, and those who retreated across the Caspian were killed by the Volga Bulgars. Thus, the legendary prince died on the campaign, as befits a brave Varangian.

This is how he is, an intelligent and warlike prince Oleg. His biography is full of white spots, due to which an aura of mystery and mystery remains around this figure. Perhaps time will find answers to all questions.

Memory of Prophetic Oleg

In drama

In literature

Panus O. Yu. "Shields on the gates",

To the cinema

Monuments

26.05.0912

Oleg the Prophetic
Oddom Orvar Rurik

Great Russian Prince, General

Grand Duke of Novgorod 879-912

Grand Duke of Kiev 882-912

News and Events

Peace treaty between Russia and Byzantium concluded

Prince Oleg, after a successful military campaign against Constantinople, signed a treaty with Byzantium on September 15, 911. The chronicle tells how “Oleg's ideology to the Greeks”, taking with him allies - “many Varangians, and Slovens, and Chyud, and Krivichi, and Meru, and Derevlyani, and Radimichi, and Polyana, and Severo, and Vyatichi, and Croats, and Duleby, and Tivertsy "- and" come to Tsaryugrad ".

Prophetic Oleg was born in 850 in Western Norway. The boy grew up in a wealthy bond family, and was named Odd, then received the nickname Orvar: "Arrow". His sister Efanda later married the ruler of the Varangians Rurik. Thanks to this, Oleg became his main commander. Arrived with Rurik in Ladoga and Priilmenye between 858 and 862.

After the death of Rurik in 879, Oleg became the sole prince of Novgorod Rus. Rurik was not mistaken in his choice when, on his deathbed, he bequeathed his son and the Novgorod table to Oleg. Oleg became a real father for the prince, raising Igor as a courageous, tempered, educated person at that time. Oleg reacted with all responsibility to the title of prince, granted to him by a friend. The main goal of the rulers of those times was to increase the wealth of the prince and expand the boundaries of the territory under their control by annexing new lands, subordinating other tribes and collecting tribute.

Having risen at the head of the Novgorod principality, Oleg boldly proceeded to seize all the Dnieper lands. Its main goal was to establish complete control over the water trade route to Eastern Byzantium and the conquest of the Kiev principality. Many princes then wished to rule this great principality, which by the end of the 9th century became the center of Russian trade and the main stronghold of Russia in restraining the raids of the Pechenezh hordes. It became abundantly clear that whoever ruled Kiev was in control of all Russian trade.

Prince Oleg gathered a large army of Varangians and in 882 captured the cities of Smolensk and Lyubech. Further along the Dnieper in boats he went down to Kiev, where two boyars reigned, not the Rurik tribe, but the Vikings Askold and Dir. On the campaign he took with him the young prince Igor. Oleg seized power in Kiev by cunning. The prince asked for a meeting with the then rulers of Kiev, Askold and Dir, stopping at the walls of the city supposedly on the way to the south. When the princes, suspecting nothing, approached the Novgorod boats, Oleg, as the legend says, pointed to Igor and exclaimed: “You are not princes, not a princely family. Here is Rurik's son! " After these words, he killed Askold and Dir. None of the Kievites dared to oppose Oleg and his troops. Moreover, many tribes living along the banks of the Dnieper voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Kiev prince. The raids of the Pechenegs devastated the Slavs, and they sought protection from the rulers, agreeing to pay them tribute for this.

Very soon the Kiev land closed all the southern borders of the country. But Oleg did not calm down, continuing to subjugate other tribes more distant from the main river route. They had to act by force, since the Slavs, who did not participate in the trade turnover, did not see the point in joining the Kiev principality and, moreover, did not want to pay tribute. Many difficult campaigns had to be made by Prince Oleg with his retinue before he managed to complete the political unification of the Eastern Slavs. The location of Kiev seemed to Oleg very convenient, and soon he moved there with his squad.

When two unions, Northern and Southern, with the large principalities in the center, Novgorod and Kiev, were united in Russia, a new political form, the Grand Duchy of Kiev, appeared, which in fact became the first Russian state.

For the next twenty-five years, Oleg was engaged in the expansion of his power. Subordinated to Kiev Drevlyans, northerners, Radimichs. If Rurik had already taken a step forward south along the eastern route, crossing from Ladoga to Novgorod, then his successor Oleg moved much further and reached the end of the path. In the annals of that time, the names of tribes are already rare; they were replaced by the names of cities and regions. Prince Oleg gave the subordinate city regions to the administration of the posadniks, who had their own armed squads and were also called princes.

In 907, Prince Oleg made a military campaign against Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium. His army sailed on 2,000 boats, 40 soldiers in each, and cavalry was also walking along the coast. The Byzantine emperor ordered to close the gates of the city and block the harbor with chains, giving the Varangians the opportunity to plunder and ravage the suburbs of Constantinople.

But not content with petty robbery, Oleg went on an unusual assault on the city: “And Oleg ordered his soldiers to make wheels and put ships on wheels. And when a fair wind blew, we raised the sails in the field and went to the city. " The Greeks locked themselves in the city, behind high walls, begged for mercy and at the negotiations offered the prince to make peace and agreed to pay tribute at 12 hryvnias of silver per person. As a sign of victory, Oleg on September 2, 907 nailed his shield to the gates of Constantinople.

As a result, the first peace treaty between Russians and Greeks on duty-free trade of Russia in Byzantium appeared, drawn up legally and soundly, even judging by today's norms of international law. Under Oleg's agreement with the Greeks, Russian merchants did not pay any duty. During the exchange trade, furs, wax, servants were exchanged for wines, vegetables, silk fabrics, and gold. After the expiration of the trading period indicated by the agreement, Russia received food for the road at the expense of the Greek side, as well as ship's gear. In addition to trade, the Greeks hired Russian soldiers for their service. Christian priests and preachers came to Russia every time with merchants from Constantinople. More and more Slavs converted to the Orthodox faith, but the prince himself did not accept Christianity.

The last years of his life passed without military campaigns and battles. Oleg died at an advanced age in 912. There is a legend according to which the prince was predicted death by his beloved horse. Oleg was superstitious and no longer sat on his pet. After many years, remembering him, the prince came to the place where the bones of his faithful friend lay. The bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull was fatal. The plot of this legend formed the basis for the ballads of Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Yazykov. Information about the place of his burial is contradictory. There is indirect evidence that the prince's grave is located near Kiev in one of the mounds.

Undoubtedly, the main historical merit of this ruler can rightfully be considered the unification of all Slavic tribes under a single rule, the foundation and strengthening of the first Russian state: the Grand Duchy of Kiev. It was from the reign of Prince Oleg that the history of Kievan Rus began, and with it the history of the Russian state.

Memory of Prophetic Oleg

In drama

Lvova A. D. Dramatic panorama in 5 acts and 14 scenes "Prince Oleg the Prophet" (premiered on September 16, 1904 on stage People's House Nicholas II), music by N.I.Privalov with the participation of the guslyar choir O.U. Smolensky.

In literature

Pushkin A.S. "The Song of the Prophetic Oleg" (1822)
Ryleev K. F. Dumas. Chapter I. Oleg the Prophet. (1825)
Vysotsky V.S. "The Song of Oleg the Thing" (1967)
Vasiliev B. L. "Prophetic Oleg" (1996)
Panus O. Yu. "Shields on the gates",

To the cinema

The Legend of Princess Olga (1983; USSR) directed by Yuri Ilyenko, as Oleg Nikolai Olyalin.

Conquest (1996; Hungary), directed by Gabor Koltai, as Oleg Laszlo Helia.

The Viking Saga (2008; Denmark, USA) directed by Mikael Mouyal, as Oleg Simon Braeger (as a child), Ken Vedsegor (as a young man).

Prophetic Oleg. Recovered Reality (2015; Russia) - a documentary film by Mikhail Zadornov about the Prophetic Oleg.

In the TV series "Vikings" (2013-2020), the role of Oleg is the Russian actor Danila Kozlovsky.

Monuments

In 2007, a monument to Oleg was unveiled in Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, since the city was first mentioned in 907 in Oleg's treaty with Byzantium.

In September 2015, a monument to Rurik and Oleg was unveiled in Staraya Ladoga (Russia).

Prince Oleg is the first ruler of the Old Russian state. After the death of Rurik from 879 he ruled in the territory of Northern Russia, seized Kiev in 882 and united the lands of Northern and Southern Russia into a single state - Kievan Rus.

Oleg - biography (biography)

Oleg's political activities turned out to be successful: he expanded the territory of the Kiev principality, subjugating many peoples of Eastern Europe, and also made a successful campaign against Constantinople in 907, after which he concluded a profitable trade agreement with the Greeks.

The image of Prince Oleg, nicknamed the Prophet by the Russian chronicler, has become extremely popular in Russian culture - poetry, literature and the visual arts, but at the same time this historical figure is one of the most controversial and difficult for scientific research. Even the earliest Russian chronicles, which are considered the most reliable, compiled at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, some of the basic facts of Oleg's biography are reported inconsistently. Many chronicle plots associated with this prince reflect historical legends of an oral, folklore and even mythoepic nature, which have parallels in the culture of other peoples.

Prince or governor?

As V. Ya. Petrukhin noted, Oleg's life is most fully covered in the chronicle of the Tale of Bygone Years (early XII century). In 879, in connection with his death, this chronicle first reported this prince. The reign passed to him as a "relative" of Rurik and a guardian over - the young son of the North Russian ruler. The Joachim Chronicle (17th century), on the basis of information from which he believed that Oleg was Rurik's brother-in-law, the “Urman prince” from Sweden, makes it possible to judge the degree of their relationship to a greater extent.

In the Novgorod first chronicle, which is closest to the Primary Code of the 1090s, which is the basis of the most ancient Russian chronicles, Oleg is not a prince, but a voivode under the already quite adult Prince Igor. Accordingly, the seizure of Kiev is a joint undertaking by Igor and Oleg.

The chronology of events in which Oleg participates in the Novgorod chronicle "lags behind" in relation to the one that reflects the Tale of Bygone Years. So, the famous campaign of Oleg to Constantinople in 907 here dates back to 922. However, researchers have long recognized the conventionality of early chronicle dating and their "dependence" on the dates of Greek chronographs, with which ancient Russian authors "checked".

Oleg's first "capital"?

This question is directly related to Oleg's status and age. So, the largest researcher of Russian annals A.A. Shakhmatov believed that Oleg and Igor ruled independently of each other: one in Kiev, the other - V. The legends about both were combined by the author of the Primary Code, who “made” Oleg a voivode under Igor. The compiler of the Tale of Bygone Years "returned" to him the princely title. In order to explain the simultaneity of the two princes, the chronicler showed Igor as a baby in Oleg's arms.

But where was Oleg before the capture of Kiev? The chronicles do not speak directly about this. It is understood that after the death of Rurik in the same place where the latter was, that is, in Novgorod. But there are sources, for example, the Ipatiev Chronicle, which point to, as the first residence. Yes, and "one of the graves" of Oleg is timed to the Ladoga by the chronicle story.

The famous Polish scientist H. Lovmianski suggested that Oleg's first residence was Ladoga, and then he made his place of residence, given its role as an important trade center. True, the historian himself pointed out a weak point in his hypothesis: Smolensk was not mentioned in the chronicle in the list of the most important cities subject to Kiev (907). Yes, and Oleg subdued Smolensk shortly before the Kiev events.

How Kiev became "the mother of Russian cities"

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Oleg in 882, having gathered soldiers from many peoples living in the north of Russia, set out on a campaign to the south. "Taking power" in and "putting his husband in him", seized further Lyubech. Now Oleg's path lay on Kiev. Dir, former warriors of Rurik, who were released by him in 866 on a campaign against Byzantium and settled here after returning from the campaign, also ruled in Kiev. Oleg hid his soldiers in boats and on the shore, and he sent for the Vikings, telling them to tell them that they were merchants, they say, they were going to the Greeks from Oleg and Prince Igor, “come to us, to your relatives.” In the Nikon (Patriarchal) Chronicle (XVI century), for persuasiveness, it is added that Oleg said he was sick and, apparently, therefore, invites the rulers of Kiev.

When Dir came to the meeting place, Oleg accused them of not having the right to reign in Kiev, unlike him and Igor, the son of Rurik. At his sign, the soldiers who ran out of the ambush killed Askold and Dir. Further, apparently, already bloodlessly Oleg asserted his power over Kiev.

Oleg's military cunning, namely the trap set up by the "false merchants", finds analogies in the epics of other peoples (Egyptian, Iranian, ancient, Western European parallels), which allowed some researchers to see not the historical reliability, but the folklore character of the corresponding legend about the capture of Kiev by Oleg.

Evaluating the favorable strategic position of Kiev both on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks" and in the center of the new united state, Oleg made this city the capital. There were many capital cities in Russia, but it was Kiev, with the light hand of the prince, that became "the mother of the Russian cities." As the well-known researcher A.V. Nazarenko showed, this chronicle expression was a tracing of the Greek epithet of Constantinople and its use "indicated the significance of the Constantinople paradigm for the capital status of Kiev."

The following years (883-885) Oleg devoted to the conquest of the Slavic peoples neighboring Kiev on the right and left banks of the Dnieper - glades, Drevlyans, northerners, Radimichs, taking them from the tribute of the "unreasonable Khazars" and including them into the Old Russian state. But for the ambitious Russian ruler, Constantinople was, of course, the main rival and the most coveted prey.

Shield on the gates of Constantinople

In 907, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, Oleg, having collected a huge, 80-thousandth, army of the Varangians and warriors of the Slavic and non-Slavic peoples subject to Russia, on ships, the number of which reached 2000, moved to Constantinople.

The Greeks blocked the access of enemy ships to the harbor of Constantinople with a chain. Then the inventive Oleg ordered to put the ships on wheels. A fair wind drove an innumerable armada to the walls of the Byzantine capital overland. The Greeks were frightened and asked for peace. The insidious Romans brought food to Oleg - wine and food, but the Russian prince refused them, suspecting that they were poisoned. He demanded a large tribute - 12 hryvnia for each soldier and, as a sign of victory, hung his shield on the gates of Constantinople. After this campaign, they called Oleg the Prophet.

But did Oleg's campaign take place?

In historiography, radically opposite opinions have long been established as to whether Oleg's campaign against Constantinople actually took place. The adherents of the idea that the campaign took place, as evidence refer to the reliability of the Russian-Byzantine agreement of 911 concluded after it.But there are serious arguments in favor of the opinion about the legendary campaign:

• Only Russian sources speak about the 907 campaign, but the Greek ones are silent. But Byzantine authors often and colorfully described the numerous enemy sieges and attacks that Constantinople underwent over the centuries, including the attacks of Russia in 860 and 941.
• But Russian sources describing Oleg's campaign contain contradictions. These are different dates of the event, and a different composition of the participants in Oleg's army.
• The description of the campaign of 907 in many details and style resembles the description of the Russian chronicle of the campaign of Prince Igor against the Greeks in 941, and both of them reveal "dependence" on the text of the Greek chronicle of Amartol, which tells about the Russian attack on Byzantium in 941.
• The Russian chronicler's account of Oleg's campaign in 907 contains elements that are recognized by a number of researchers as folklore and epic. For example, the victor's shield on the gates of the Byzantine capital is an episode contained in the ancient epic of other peoples, but no longer found in Russian sources. Great "suspicions" of scientists in the artificiality of the description of the campaign is caused by the plot of ships on wheels, and this must be said separately.

Ships on Wheels: Metaphor or Vehicle?

Already on the most ancient monuments of art - Egyptian, Babylonian, antique, Far Eastern, you can find images of ships on chariots. They are also present in the epics of many peoples. The closest analogy to the story of Oleg's ships on wheels is found in the work of Saxon Grammar "Gesta Danorum" (XII century), which tells about the legendary Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok. Many researchers bring these two legends closer together.

But Saxon mentions copper horses on wheels instead of ships. The researchers say that the author metaphorically meant ships. In Saxon's presentation, the entire episode looks vague and vague, in contrast to the clear and understandable story of the Russian chronicler.

Undoubtedly, E.A. Rydzevskaya is right that the legend about Oleg's campaign was formed in Russia, and not in the Scandinavian world, it was used by the chronicler for a spectacular story about Oleg's attack on Constantinople. Another thing is that the legend could have been brought by the Vikings to Scandinavia and reflected in the corresponding episode with Ragnar by Saxon Grammar. But the same researcher owns the idea that the appearance of ships on wheels in the chronicle plot is not a tribute to an epic cult tradition, but a reflection of a very real practice in the described era. Both Vikings and Slavs could see ships on wheels as an improved way of transporting ships by dragging.

Prophetic because Oleg?

Among the mysteries set by the Russian chronicles in relation to Oleg, one of the main ones is his nickname. Prophetic - foreseeing future events! But if the Tale of Bygone Years gives some reason to believe that Oleg was so named because he foresaw a mortal threat in treating the Greeks, then the Novgorod Chronicle does not even indicate this motive. The reader of the chronicle cannot but ask the question: How did it happen that Oleg, being the Prophet, did not prevent his death from his horse, which was also predicted by the Magi? What is behind the word Prophetic? Capabilities? So he, it turns out, did not show them. Maybe a name?

The ancient Scandinavian etymology of the name Oleg - Helgi, is beyond doubt among the majority of modern researchers. It goes back to the word total value which - "sacred, sacred" and which reflected in the pagan era the sacredness of the supreme power. In the ancient Germanic name book, it is rarely found, because it was given only to representatives of noble families. The semantic core of the root * hail was the concepts of bodily integrity and personal luck. That is, the qualities that the king, the ruler should have possessed.

Once in the Slavic language environment, the Scandinavian name was inevitably rethought. In the conditions of the Slavic pagan worldview, for which notions of personal luck and fate are not characteristic, the magical abilities of the ruler, the ability to foresee, and predict came to the fore. Thus, according to EA Melnikova, the Scandinavian name of Prince Helgi in the East Slavic world acquired a double reflection: both as a phonetic name - in the form of the name Olga / Oleg, and as a semantic name - in the form of the nickname "Prophetic".

Interpretations of the nickname Prophetic inevitably led scientists to study the circumstances of the death of Prince Oleg.

Accident?

Perhaps the story of the death of Prophetic Oleg is the most intriguing part of the chronicle biography of the Russian prince and, in comparison with the rest of the information, is most mythoepical in nature.

The Tale of Bygone Years under 912 contains a lengthy story that even before the Byzantine campaign, the Magi predicted the death of the prince from his own beloved horse. Oleg believed the Magi, ordered to feed the horse, but did not let him near him. Returning from the campaign, the prince learns that his horse has died and ordered himself to be brought to the place of his burial. Oleg pushed the horse's skull with his foot, a snake crawled out of it and mortally stung the prince.

According to the Novgorod first chronicle, Oleg also dies from a snakebite (without mentioning a horse), but this happens in 922 and not in Kiev, but in. The same chronicle, based on the reconstruction of A. A. Shakhmatov, reports that Oleg "went overseas" and died there. The chroniclers confirm this news by mentioning Oleg's burials - respectively, in Kiev and Ladoga. A similar plot (death by a snake hiding among the remains of a beloved horse) exists in the Scandinavian saga about the Norwegian Orvar-Odda. EA Rydzevskaya argued that the Russian chronicle narrative about Oleg's death is primary in relation to the story of the saga.

An interesting story, devoid of epic "stratifications", is the story of the death of the Russian prince Oleg in the Bulgar chronicle of Gazi-Baraj (1229-1246), placed in the "Jagfar tarikhi" collection of Bakhshi Iman (17th century). Salakhbi (as the eastern source reports the name of Oleg) bought a fighting "Turkmen horse named Djilan." When buying, he dropped a coin under the horse's feet and thoughtlessly bent down for it. Akhal-Teke, trained to trample footmen in battle, immediately hit him with a hoof and killed him on the spot.

In studies of the chronicle story of Oleg's death in recent years, there has been a promising tendency to consider his mythoepic origins through the prism of the distribution of power functions of the first Russian princes.

Revenge of Veles and the Magi

The appearance of the Varangians in Eastern Europe made serious changes in the religious life of the local East Slavic population. Scandinavian society during this period professed the cult of military strength and strong secular power. The priesthood was weak, and the functions of priests, sorcerers and even healers were often taken over by military leaders, who did not want to share their power with anyone. It is known that the greater the success of a military leader, the more he seeks to usurp the functions of the "spiritual" estate. The sagas often contain motifs of witchcraft and witchcraft of the kings.

The Varangian princes in Russia also began to take on the functions of the "witchcraft" class. Judging by the nickname, Oleg was the first to claim the role of the prince-priest. It is possible that he, like Prince Vladimir seven decades later, directed sacrifices to pagan idols. After all, about Vladimir, "The Tale of Bygone Years" tells about 983 that he "went to Kiev, making sacrifices to idols with his people."

Coming to the Slavs, where the influence of the Magi was strong, the Varangian "princes-sorcerers" had to inevitably come into conflict with the latter. But, needing to attract local Slovenes, Krivichi and Chudi as a military force for solving foreign policy tasks of collecting new lands, Oleg, as D.A. Perun and Veles ". And the oaths of Russia in the Russian-Byzantine treaties and other numerous sources indicate that the elite of the ancient Russian society - the prince and his entourage, the squad, the boyars, preferred the "thunderer" Perun, the patron saint of secular military power.

At the same time, the "rest of Russia", the Slavs were largely under the influence of the "cattle god" Veles (Volos). The cult of Veles, the god of the underworld, the patron saint of sacred power, who had a snake-like appearance, was carried out in Russia by the Magi.

The answer to the question why in the epic legend about the death of Oleg, the latter dies from a snakebite, and death itself is foretold to the Russian prince of the Magi, is contained in the illustrated Radziwil Chronicle. The miniatures of the latter are copied from the miniatures of the Vladimir vault in 1212. The presence of a snake on a miniature, when it crawls out of the horse's skull and stings the prince, can, if desired, be understood only literally. But the presence of a snake on the miniature, on which the oath of Oleg's husbands is reproduced, suggests that the snake on both miniatures symbolizes the snake-like Veles (Volos).

“Undoubtedly, the chronicler and artist of the early 13th century. were confident in the anthropomorphism of the idol of Perun and the serpentine nature of Volos, writes D.A. Machinsky, “Probably the miniaturist also believed that Volos the serpent, the patron saint of cattle and especially horses, and the snake that lived in the skull of a horse and bit Oleg, are identical or related creatures.” Apparently the genius was right

Prophetic Oleg - Prince of Novgorod since 879 and Grand Duke Kiev since 882. Having gained power over the Novgorod lands after the death of Rurik, as regent of his young son Igor, Oleg captured Kiev and moved the capital there, thereby uniting the two main centers of the Eastern Slavs. Therefore, it is often he, and not Rurik, who is regarded as the founder of the Old Russian state. In the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" is given his nickname Prophetic (knowing the future, foreseeing the future). It was named so immediately after returning from the 907 campaign against Byzantium.

Name

The Russian pronunciation of the name Oleg probably originated from the Scandinavian name Helge, which originally meant (in Proto-Swedish - Hailaga) "saint", "possessing the gift of healing." From the sagas, several carriers of the name Helgi are known, the lifetime of which dates back to the 6th-9th centuries. The sagas also contain names similar in sound to Ole, Oleif, Ofeig. Saxon Grammaticus names the names Ole, Oleif, Ofeig, but their ethnicity remains unclear.

Among historians who do not support the Norman theory, attempts have been made to challenge the Scandinavian etymology of the name of Oleg and connect it with the primordially Slavic, Turkic or Iranian forms. Some researchers also note that, given the fact that the "Tale of Bygone Years" was written by Christian monks in the 11th century, the nickname "Prophetic" cannot be considered authentic. Modern historians see in him Christian motives or even Christian propaganda. So, in particular, the Russian historian and archaeologist V. Ya. Petrukhin believes that the nickname "Prophetic" and the legend about the death of Prince Oleg were included in the chronicles by the monks in order to show the impossibility of pagan foresight of the future.

Oleg's origin

The annals set out two versions of Oleg's biography: the traditional (in the "Tale of Bygone Years") and according to the Novgorod First Chronicle. The Novgorod Chronicle has preserved fragments of an earlier collection of chronicles (on which the Tale of Bygone Years is also based), but it contains inaccuracies in the chronology of the events of the 10th century. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Oleg was a relative (tribesman) of Rurik. V.N. Tatishchev, referring to the Joachim Chronicle, considers him his brother-in-law - the brother of Rurik's wife, whom he calls Efanda. The exact origin of Oleg is not indicated in The Tale of Bygone Years. Legends related to his personality were also preserved in the semi-mythical Scandinavian saga about Odda Orvar (Arrow), which testifies to the wide popularity of the prince in Scandinavia. After the death of the founder of the princely dynasty of Rurik in 879, Oleg began to reign in Novgorod as the guardian of Rurik's young son Igor.

Proknyazhenie in Kiev

In 882, Prince Oleg the Prophetic captured Kiev, by cunning killing its princes Askold and Dir. Immediately after entering Kiev, he uttered his famous words that henceforth Kiev was destined to be the mother of Russian cities. Prince Oleg said these words for a reason. He was very pleased with how well the site had been chosen for the construction of the city. The gentle banks of the Dnieper were practically inaccessible, which made it possible to hope that the city would be a reliable protection for its inhabitants.

The presence of an obstacle on the side of the water border of the city was very relevant, since it was along this part of the Dnieper that the famous trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed. This path also represented a journey through the large Russian rivers. It originated in the Gulf of Finland of the Baikal Sea, which at that time was called the Varangian Sea. Further, the path went through the Neva River to Lake Ladanezh. The way of the izvaryag to the Greeks continued through the mouth of the Volkhov River to Lake Ilni. From there he traveled by small rivers to the sources of the Dnieper, and from there he already passed to the Black Sea itself. In this way, starting in the Varangian Sea and ending in the Black Sea, the trade route known to this day passed.

Oleg's foreign policy

Prince Oleg the Prophet, after the seizure of Kiev, decided to continue expanding the territory of the state by including new territories in it that were inhabited by peoples who have paid tribute to the Khazars since ancient times. As a result, the following tribes became part of Kievan Rus:

• radimichi
• glade
• Slovenia
• northerners
• Krivichi
• Drevlyans.

In addition, Prince Oleg imposed his influence on other neighboring tribes: Dregovichs, Ulits and Tivertsy. At the same time, the Ugric tribes, ousted from the territory of the Urals by the Polovtsy, approached Kiev. The annals did not preserve data on whether these tribes passed in peace across Kievan Rus, or were knocked out of it. But it can be said for certain that in Russia for a long time they put up with their stay near Kiev. This place near Kiev is called Ugorsky to this day. These tribes later crossed the Dnieper River, seized the nearby lands (Moldavia and Bessarabia) and went deep into Europe, where they established the Hungarian state.

Hike to Byzantium

Oleg's famous campaign against Constantinople deserves special mention, after which he received his historical nickname - "Prophetic". According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the prince equipped an army of 2,000 boats, 40 soldiers each. The Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Philosopher, in fear of a numerous enemy, ordered to close the gates of the city, leaving the suburbs of Constantinople to be ruined. However, Oleg took a trick: “he ordered his soldiers to make wheels and put ships on wheels. And when a fair wind blew, they raised sails in the field and went to the city. " After that, the Greeks, who were supposedly scared to death, offered peace and tribute to the conquerors. According to the peace treaty of 907, Russian merchants received the right to duty-free trade and other privileges. Despite the fact that a mention of this campaign can be found in any textbook on the history of medieval Russia, many historians consider it a legend. There is not a single mention of him by Byzantine authors, who described in detail similar raids in the 860s and 941s. Doubts are raised by the treaty of 907 itself, which, according to researchers, is a compilation of similar agreements from 911, when Oleg sent an embassy to confirm peace. Moreover, the description of the return of the Russians with rich booty: even the sails on their boats were made of golden silk, compared with the return of the governor Vladimir from Constantinople, and after the Norwegian king - Olaf Tryggvason, described in the Norwegian saga of the XII century: “They say, after one great victory he turned home to Gardy (Rus); then they sailed with such great pomp and splendor that they had sails on their ships of precious fabrics, and so were their tents.

Meeting a sage and death

The circumstances of the death of Prophetic Oleg are contradictory. "The Tale of Bygone Years" reports that the death of Oleg was preceded by a heavenly sign - the appearance of "a great star in the west in a spear fashion." According to the Kiev version, reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years, his grave is located in Kiev on Mount Schekovice. The first Novgorod chronicle places his grave in Ladoga, but at the same time says that he went “overseas”.

In both versions, there is a legend about death from a snakebite. According to legend, the wise men predicted to the prince that he would die from his beloved horse. Oleg ordered the horse to be taken away and remembered the prediction only four years later, when the horse had long since died. Oleg laughed at the Magi and wanted to look at the horse's bones, put his foot on the skull and said: "Should I be afraid of him?" However, a poisonous snake lived in the horse's skull, which fatally stung the prince.

This legend finds parallels in the Icelandic saga of the Viking Orvar Odda, who was also mortally stung on the grave of his beloved horse. It is not known whether the saga was the reason for the creation of the Old Russian legend about Oleg or, on the contrary, the circumstances of Oleg's death served as material for the saga. However, if Oleg is a historical person, then Orvar Odd is the hero of an adventure saga, created on the basis of oral legends not earlier than the 13th century. The witch predicted the death of 12-year-old Odda from his horse. To prevent the prediction from coming true, Odd and a friend killed the horse, threw it into the pit, and the corpse was covered with stones.

The date of Oleg's death, like all chronicle dates of Russian history until the end of the 10th century, is conditional. Historian A. A. Shakhmatov noted that 912 is also the year of death of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI - the antagonist of Oleg. Perhaps the chronicler, who knew that Oleg and Leo were contemporaries, timed the end of their reigns to the same date. A similar suspicious coincidence - 945 - and between the dates of Igor's death and the dethroning of his contemporary, the Byzantine emperor Roman I. Considering, moreover, that the Novgorod tradition dates Oleg's death to 922, the date 912 becomes even more dubious. The duration of the reign of Oleg and Igor is 33 years each, which raises suspicion of the epic source of this information.

The Polish historian of the 18th century H.F. Frize put forward a version that Prophetic Oleg had a son, Oleg Moravsky, who, after the death of his father, was forced to leave Russia as a result of a struggle with Prince Igor. A relative of the Rurikovichs, Oleg Moravsky, became the last prince of Moravia in 940, according to the works of Polish and Czech writers of the 16th-17th centuries, but his kinship with Prophetic Oleg is only an assumption of Frize.

The image of the Prophetic Oleg

To the above quick reference about Oleg, which has become a generally accepted tradition, we will add a few scientific comments.

1. First, according to archaeological data in the 9th century. Novgorod as such did not yet exist. On the site of Novgorod, there were three isolated villages. They were tied into a single city by Detinets, a fortress built at the end of the 10th century. It was the fortress that was called the "city" in those days. So both Rurik and Oleg were not in Novgorod, but in a certain "Stargorod". It could have been either Ladoga or the Rurik settlement near Novgorod. Ladoga, a fortified city on the Volkhov, located near the confluence of the Volkhov into Lake Ladoga, was in the 7th - first half of the 9th century. the largest shopping center in the northeastern Baltic. According to archaeological data, the city was founded by immigrants from Scandinavia, but later there was a mixed population - the Normans coexisted with the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples. By the middle of the IX century. the terrible pogrom and fire that destroyed Ladoga belongs. This may well be consistent with the chronicle news about the great war of 862, when the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, all, measure and chud "drove the Varangians across the sea", collecting tribute from them in 859-862, and then began to fight among themselves ( "And a family arose ..."). After the destruction of the middle of the IX century. Ladoga was rebuilt, but never regained its former importance. Under Nestor, the memory of the former greatness of Ladoga or the significance of the Rurik settlement was no longer there, he wrote two centuries after the call of the Varangians. But the glory of Novgorod as a major political center reached its peak, which made the chronicler believe in its antiquity and it was in Novgorod to place the first rulers of Russia.
2. The second disclaimer will concern the origin, activity and death of Prophetic Oleg. The first Novgorod Chronicle, which, according to some researchers, is even older than the PVL, calls Oleg not a prince, but a voivode under Igor, the son of Rurik. Oleg accompanies Igor on his campaigns. It was Prince Igor who cracked down on Askold, and then went on a campaign against the Romei (Byzantine) Empire and besieged Constantinople. Oleg, according to the First Novgorod Chronicle, finds his end when he leaves Kiev north to Ladoga, where the legendary snake awaits him. Bitten by it, he dies, but not in 912, but in 922. The Novgorod Chronicle and another version of Oleg's death reports: some say that Oleg went “across the sea” and died there.
3. The third comment will be related to the possible participation of Oleg in the eastern campaigns of the Rus. Russian chronicles say that he successfully fought with the Khazars, and eastern sources also tell about the Caspian campaigns of the Rus, directed against Persia, which fell on Oleg's time. Some historians believe that the vague and fragmentary reports of eastern documents on this score can be hypothetically connected not only with time, but also with various historical figures.

By the will of the chronicler who created the "Tale of Bygone Years", his successors of the XIII-XVII centuries, the first Russian historians and, of course, A.S. Pushkin, who poetically retold the PVL legend about the Prophetic Oleg, the legendary Oleg became a part of all subsequent Russian history. His image of the prince-warrior, the defender of the Russian land and the creator of the Russian state became part of the self-identification of the Russian people throughout its history that followed the 9th century.

Oleg the Prophetic

First Grand Duke of Kiev. Years of reign approximately: 869-912. The chronicle tradition connects the appearance of Oleg in Russia with the vocation of the Varangians, calls him the prince of Urmansky (that is, the Norman), the brother-in-law of Prince Igor, and sometimes the nephew of Rurik. The chronicle explains Oleg's "regency" (869) by his kinship with Rurik, who, dying, entrusted his principality to his son Igor Oleg when he was young. However, there are cases where Oleg is called Igor's governor. Oleg began his reign in Novgorod and soon became famous for his "land organization", for his conquest and diplomatic activity: he built cities and established taxes, conquered neighboring peoples and taxed them with tribute, tried to establish diplomatic relations with Byzantium, fully realizing their importance for the people who lived in the great way "from the Varangians to the Greeks". The Novgorod chronicler calls this period of his reign "those times and years of Olga." Oleg reigned in Novgorod for three years (until 872), and then began his movement to the south, seeking to expand and consolidate his princely power there. First of all, he took possession of the city of the Dnieper Krivichi - Smolensk, then Lyubech in the land of the northerners. He secured both cities for himself, planting governors in them with a sufficient garrison. Moving south down the Dnieper, Oleg reached Kiev, where, according to the chronicle legend, his husbands, Askold and Dir, who had separated from Rurik's squad, reigned. Oleg lured them out of the city by cunning and, having killed, took possession of Kiev. The latter he made his capital city and called "the mother of Russian cities." With the accession of lands subject to Kiev princes Oleg took possession of all the great waterway, and in order to protect it from the raids of nomads, he decided to assert his power in the steppes. For this purpose, he built a number of small towns and forts. Having strengthened his southeastern borders with them, Oleg spread his conquest movement to the east and west of the Dnieper. So, in 883, he put the Drevlyans to pay him tribute for a black marten from the smoke. In 885, Oleg went to the northerners who paid tribute to the khozars and, having subdued them, imposed a light tribute on them, meaning to show the advantages of the Russian power over the khozar yoke. Apparently, thanks to this way of Oleg's actions, the Radimichi in 885 agreed to give him a tribute, which they had previously paid to the khozars. After many years of struggle (20 years according to the chronicle), Oleg conquered the Dulebs, Croats and Tivertsy. He did not succeed at all in subjugating the streets to his power. Their stubborn resistance is explained by the fact that these tribes with a small and weak trading class did not see the point in uniting with Russia. In 907, Oleg, having gathered a large army of the Varangians, Novgorod Slavs, Glades, Chudi, Krivichi, Meri, Northerners, Drevlyans, Radimichi, Croats, Dulebs and Tivertsy, set off on a campaign against Constantinople by land and sea. Enterprises of this kind enjoyed the sympathy of the neighboring tribes, connected by trade interests with Russia and Byzantium. This campaign of Oleg, who had essential for the further development of the Kiev principality, engraved in the people's memory. Legends adorn him with fabulous details, indicating that the people considered him a major military enterprise, distinct from the occasional predatory raids. The chronicle story about the siege and seizure of Constantinople is colored with fiction that elevates the courage, and most importantly, the cunning of the prince, who surpassed the Greeks by it. Frightened by Oleg, the Greek emperors, preventing the Russian prince from storming their capital, invited him to come to a peace agreement through negotiations. Oleg accepted this offer and his ambassadors concluded conditions with the Greeks, according to which the Greeks had to give 12 hryvnias each for a ship and orders for those Russian cities where Oleg's men were sitting. On the basis of these conditions, peace was concluded, confirmed by the oath of both sides. The Russians persuaded themselves the right to take food supplies from the Greeks (a month) for six months and wash in the baths as much as they wanted. They were allowed to trade duty-free everywhere. When sending the Russians on their way back, the Greeks pledged to supply them with provisions and ship gear. The Byzantine emperors introduced into the treaty articles according to which the Russians could enter the city only accompanied by Greek officials, through a predetermined gate, without weapons, and no more than 50 people at once, and settle in a place indicated by the government. This first treaty of Oleg was preserved not in its entirety, but only in the chronicle retelling.

Oleg returned to his homeland with a rich booty and the fame of his successful campaign spread everywhere. The people called the prince who defeated the cunning Greeks - Prophetic. In 911, Oleg, on behalf of his own and "those of his ilk at hand," sent ambassadors "from the Russian clan" to Constantinople, who signed the famous treaty between the Russians and the Greeks in 911. It was concluded in September 911 at emperors Leo, Alexandra and Constantine. It can be seen from the text that in Russia at that time there were many princes, some of the native, Slavic origin, some of the foreign aliens who ruled the whole "volost".

The content of the agreement determines the grounds for accusing a Russian or a Greek of a crime. Then, in the treaty, the Russians and the Greeks pledged to help the mutual merchant ships of both those and others who were in misfortune. The treaty also obliged the ransom of Russian and Greek slaves and prisoners of war of those countries where the merchants of the contracting parties would travel. According to the treaty, the Russians were allowed, among other things, to serve with the Greek emperors. Upon the conclusion of the treaty, the emperors richly endowed the ambassadors and gave orders to lead them to churches and to acquaint them with the Christian faith. In 912 the ambassadors returned to Kiev. There is a legend that in the fall of the same year Oleg went north to Novgorod and Ladoga, where he died. There is a poetic legend about his death, known in the poetic processing of Pushkin. The personality and activities of Oleg, in general, have repeatedly served as subjects of literary processing.

"Complete collection of Russian chronicles" (under 6367, 6387, 6390―92, 6411, 6412, 6420 Volumes I, II, IV, V, VII); Works: Soloviev, Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Ilovaisky. "Is Oleg's campaign under Constantinople a fairy tale" (Question to D. Ilovaisky N. Lambin "Journal of MN Education", 1873, No. 7) D. Meichik: "The system of crimes and punishments under the agreements of Oleg, Igor and Pravda Yaroslavova". ("Legal Bulletin", 1875, No. 1-3). Sergeevich: "Agreements between Russians and Greeks" (Journal of M. N. Enlightenment, 1882, January). M. Vladimirsky Budanov; "Reader on the history of Russian law", vol. I, edition 3, Kiev 1893; (Here is the critical text of the 981 treaty, in the footnotes the 907 treaty). Comparative table of the articles of the agreement between Oleg and Igor and the literature concerning Oleg's agreements. - A review of the legends about Oleg is made in the article: "On the history of poetic legends about Oleg the Mesh". ("Zhurn. M.N. Pr.", 1902, August; 1903 - November).

V. Fursenko.

(Polovtsov)

Oleg the Prophetic

prince-ruler of Kiev since 882, guardian of V. K. Igor, relatives. Rurik; † 912.

(Polovtsov)

Big biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .

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