The Lay of the warfare waged by Igor” is a masterpiece of Russian literature, created by an unknown author of genius in the 12th century rather in the manner of a glance from outer space, the scenes from ancient Russ, with its thousands of kilometers, its endless woodlands and fields, the wealth of rivers and seas… A tremendous bodement of impending doom: Russ would be engulfed by three centuries of Tatar-Mongol terror. Ancient Russ… The 12th century… A deplorable loss of one-time awesome might... A vast state, dissolved into dozens of small Princedoms. Endless strife, constant plundering raids of the enemies, particularly frightening and devastating when coming from the steppe-lands, from the East and the South…

Let’s imagine an endless expanse of wild steppe-land, overgrown with rust-colored grasses. It belongs to those, who roam it tirelessly… They are called the ‘polovtsy’. They are close-knit and all-powerful, indeed. Their mounts are fleet-footed, and their army is equipped with catapults for waging siege. They even have a ‘Greek fire’. They make their way to the North, with the aim of seizing affluent Russian towns, taking women and children captive. The Russians call them their most dreaded enemy. The bane of all Russia…

…Slowly making its way towards the steppe-lands, this ‘unknown land’, is the small army led by Novgorod Prince Igor Svyatoslavovitch and his few allies. Igor had received warning from his Father, the wise Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev: his march would be doomed to failure unless all the Russian Princes joined forces! There had been yet another ominous omen – one that struck terror into the Russian people’s hearts: the eclipse of the sun that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd 1185. However, it was on that day that Igor set off on his campaign against the Polovtsy – a campaign that ended in the bloody battle on the river Kayala that signaled a total debacle for the Russians…

This is a remarkable fact of Russian culture and Russian history: one of the most patriotic works of Russian literature, a veritable gem – “The Lay of the Warfare waged by Igor” speaks not of a victory, but of a defeat, one of the most deplorable pages in its history…