Old East Slavic language is one name for a language spoken between the 10th and 14th centuries in Kievan Rus and its successor states, the ancestor of the modern East Slavic languages. Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange) and other former communist regimes (light orange). ... An extinct language (also called a dead language) is a language which no longer has any native speakers. ... This is a list of languages ordered by number of first-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... Medieval walls of Novgorod City The Novgorod Feudal Republic (Новгородская феодальная республика in Russian, or Novgorodskaya feodalnaya respublika) was a powerful medieval state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th century. ... Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, Vladimir-Suzdal Rus (Владимирско-Суздальская Русь), or Vladimir-Suzdal Grand Duchy (Влади́миро-Су́здальское кня́жество) was one of major principalities within the Kievan Rus and after its collapse. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ... Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ...

As the language is part of the (pre-)national history of all Eastern Slavs, it is in their languages usually known by the respective national names, viz. as Old Belarusian (Belarusian старабеларуская or старажытнабеларуская мова), Old Russian (Russian древнерусский), or Old Ukrainian (Ukrainian староукраїнська or давньоукраїнська мова). However, there are also supranational names for that language in East Slavic: Belarusian старажытнаруская мова 'Old Rusian (= East Slavic)', Ukrainian давньоруська мова (idem) and давньокиївська мова 'Old Kievan'.

General considerations

The language was a descendant of the Proto-Slavic language and faithfully retained many of its features. A striking innovation in the evolution of this language was the development of so-called full vocalism, which came to differentiate the newly evolving East Slavic from other Slavic languages. For instance, Proto-Slavic *gordъ ‘town’ became OES gorodъ, Proto-Slavic *melko ‘milk’ - OES moloko, and Proto-Slavic *korva ‘cow’ - OES korova. Other Slavic languages would develop such forms as gradъ, mlěko, krava (South Slavic, Czech and Slovak) or grodъ, mleko, krova (e.g. Polish) etc. This article or section should include material from Common Slavonic Proto-Slavic is a reconstructed language which is a common ancestor of all Slavic languages. ... South Slavic languages is one of the three groups of Slavic languages (besides West and East Slavic). ...

Its dialects were spoken, though not exclusively, roughly in the area today occupied by European part of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and parts of Poland and Lithuania. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ...

It is difficult to assess this language as standardised in the modern sense. The spoken language in Rus' consisted of a variety of dialects, and today we may speak definitely only of the languages of surviving manuscripts, which show regional divergences from the beginning of the historical records. The word Rus or Rus (Русь in Cyrillic Alphabet) may refer to: the Rus (people) of disputed origin who were at the roots of the statehood of Eastern Slavic peoples; the territories they ruled, also known by the Latinized name, Ruthenia; Kievan Rus, the most powerful of early Ruthenian (Eastern...

With time it evolved into several more diversified forms, which were the predecessors of the modern Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn and Ukrainian languages. Each of these languages preserves much of the Old East Slavic grammar and vocabulary. Rusyn, though by most outsiders considered one language and even having only one SIL code rue, is in fact the name of two independent languages spoken by Rusyns: Carpatho-Rusyn (also called Ruthenian) Pannonian-Rusyn (also called Rusnak) Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenian) The Rusyn language of the Carpathian Mountains is an...

When after the end of the 'Tatar yoke' the territory of former Kievan Rus was divided between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, two separate literary languages emerged in these states, Ruthenian in the west and Early Russian in the east. The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called Пагоня in Belarusian, Vytis in Lithuanian and Pogoń in Polish Another version of the Lithuanian banner The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė, Belarusian: Вялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае (ВКЛ), Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське (ВКЛ), Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie) was an... Muscovy (Moscow principality (княжество Московское) to Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое Княжество Московское) to Russian Tsardom (Царство Русское) is a traditional Western name for the Russian state that existed from the 14th century to the late 17th century. ... Ruthenian was a historic East Slavic language, spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and after 1569 in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... The history proper of the Russian language dates from just before the turn of the second millennium. ...

Literary language of Kievan Rus

A page from Svyatoslav's Miscellanies (1073).

The political unification of the region into the state called Kievan Rus, from which modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine trace their origins, occurred approximately a century before the adoption of Christianity in 988 and the establishment of the South Slavic Old Church Slavonic as the liturgical and literary language. Documentation of the language of this period is scanty, making it difficult at best fully to determine the relationship between the literary language and its spoken dialects. Image File history File links A page from Svyatoslav IIs Izbornik (1073) in the State Historical Museum, Moscow. ... Image File history File links A page from Svyatoslav IIs Izbornik (1073) in the State Historical Museum, Moscow. ... The word Rus or Rus (Русь in Cyrillic Alphabet) may refer to: the Rus (people) of disputed origin who were at the roots of the statehood of Eastern Slavic peoples; the territories they ruled, also known by the Latinized name, Ruthenia; Kievan Rus, the most powerful of early Ruthenian (Eastern... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Events Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev marries Anna, sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II and converts to Christianity. ... Old Church Slavonic (also called Old Church Slavic or Old Bulgarian, incorrectly Old Slavic) is the first literary Slavic language, developed from the Slavic dialect of Solun (Thessaloniki) by 9th century Byzantine missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius. ...

There are references in Arab and Byzantine sources to pre-Christian Slavs in European Russia using some form of writing. Despite some suggestive archaelogical finds and a corroboration by the 10th-century monk Khrabr that ancient Slavs wrote in "strokes and incisions" (черты и резы /ʧertɪ i rʲezɪ/), the exact nature of this system is not known. Recent amateur investigations in Russia have proposed that this was a syllabic system that may have survived, possibly into the 20th century, in cryptography (тайнопись /tajnopʲisʲ/), but scholars have reached no consensus beyond undecidability. Khrabr (Old Church Slavonic Храбръ) was a 10th century Bulgarian monk who was a near-contemporary of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, the Byzantine saints who created the Cyrillic alphabet and did much to promote Christianity among the Slavs. ...

Although the Glagolitic alphabet was briefly introduced, as witnessed by church inscriptions in Novgorod, it was soon entirely superseded by the Cyrillic. The samples of birch-bark writing excavated in Novgorod have provided crucial information about the pure tenth-century vernacular in North-West Russia, almost entirely free of church influence. It is also known that borrowings and calques from Byzantine Greek began to enter the vernacular at this time, and that simultaneously the literary language in its turn began to be modified towards Eastern Slavic. Tablet inscribed with the Glagolitic alphabet The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavonic alphabet. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... A Birch bark document is a document written on pieces of birch bark. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... Old Novgorod dialect (Russian древненовгородский диалект, also translated as Old Novgorodian or Ancient Novgorod dialect) is a term introduced by Andrey Zaliznyak (Андрей Анатольевич Зализняк) to account for the astonishingly distinct linguistic features of the East Slavic birch-bark writings from the 11th to 15th centuries excavated in Novgorod and... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ...

The following excerpts illustrate two of the most famous literary monuments.

NOTE. The spelling has been partly modernized. The translations attempt to be as literal as possible; they are not literary.

Primary Chronicle The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from around 850 to 1110. ...

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c. 1110, from the Laurentian Codex, 1377 Image File history File links The opening of the Old Russian (Ruthenian, Ukrainian, East Slavic) Primary Chronicle from the Laurentian codex of 1377. ... Image File history File links The opening of the Old Russian (Ruthenian, Ukrainian, East Slavic) Primary Chronicle from the Laurentian codex of 1377. ...

Се повѣсти времѧньных лѣт ‧ ѿкуду єсть пошла руская земѧ ‧ кто въ києвѣ нача первѣє кнѧжит ‧ и ѿкуду руская землѧ стала єсть.

These [are] the tales of the bygone years, whence is come the land of Rus’, who first began to rule at Kiev, and whence the land of Rus’ has come about.

Early language; Russian and Ukrainian not yet fully differentiated. Fall of the yers in progress or arguably complete (several words end with a consonant; кнѧжит "to rule" < кънѧжити, modern Uk княжити, R княжить). South-western (incipient Ukrainian) features include времѧньнъıх "bygone"; modern R временных). Correct use of perfect and aorist: єсть пошла "is/has come" (modern R пошла), нача "began" (modern R начал as a development of the old perfect tense.) Note the style of punctuation. The letter (Ъ, ъ) of the Cyrillic alphabet is known as the hard sign (твёрдый знак ) in the modern Russian alphabet and as er golyam (ер голям, big yer) in the Bulgarian alphabet. ... The term perfect has different meanings: Look up Perfect in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For the mathematical concept, see perfect number. ... The aorist aspect was one of the three original aspects that defined the Indo_European verbal paradigm. ...

Tale of Igor's Campaign The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku Igorevě; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ...

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Слово о пълку Игоревѣ. c. 1200, from the Pskov manuscript, 15th cent. Image File history File links Opening of the Tale of Igors Campaign (OR ) as preserved in the Catherine manuscript made for the Russian Empress Catherine II in approximately 1790 from, it is supposed, a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Pskov manuscript that burned in 1812. ... Image File history File links Opening of the Tale of Igors Campaign (OR ) as preserved in the Catherine manuscript made for the Russian Empress Catherine II in approximately 1790 from, it is supposed, a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Pskov manuscript that burned in 1812. ...

Не лѣпо ли ны бяшетъ братіе, начати старыми словесы трудныхъ повѣстій о полку Игоревѣ, Игоря Святъ славича? Начатижеся тъ пѣсни по былинамъ сего времени, а не по замышленію Бояню. Боянъ бо вѣщій, аще кому хотяше пѣснѣ творити, то растекашется мысію по древу, сѣрымъ волкомъ по земли, шизымъ орломъ подъ облакы.

Would it not be meet, o brothers, for us to begin with the old words the difficult telling of the host of Igor, Igor Sviatoslavich? And to begin in the way of the true tales of this time, and not in the way of Boyan's inventions. For the wise Boyan, if he wished to devote to someone [his] song, would wander like a squirrel over a tree, like a grey wolf over land, like a bluish eagle beneath the clouds.

Illustrates the sung epics. Typical use of metaphor and simile. The apparent (Russian) misreading растекаться мыслью по древу (to effuse/pour out one's thought upon/over wood) has become proverbial in modern Russian with the meaning "to speak ornately, at length, excessively". (The misreading is of мысію, "squirrel-like", taken to be мыслію, "thought-like". It is present in both the manuscript copy of 1790 and the first edition of 1800, and appears to have been aided by a then misunderstood change in the meaning of the word R течь "to flow".) EPIC might be an acronym or abbreviation for: Electronic Privacy Information Center Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing Enhanced Programmable ircII Client El Paso Intelligence Center End Poverty In California European Privatisation and Investment Corporation Sometimes it is also used to refer to Epic Games game development company. ...

Old East Slavic Literature

The Old East Slavic language was the only ancient Slavic tongue (apart from the Old Church Slavonic) that developed a great literature of its own. Surviving literary monuments include the legal code Justice of the Rus (Русская правда /russkaja pravda/), a corpus of hagiography and homily, the disputed epic Song of Igor (Слово о полку игореве /slovo o polku igorʲevʲe/) and the earliest surviving manuscript of the Primary Chronicle (Повесть временных лет /povʲestʲ vremʲennɪx lʲet/) - the Laurentian codex (Лаврентьевский список /lavrʲentʲjevskij spʲisok/) of 1377. Russkaya Pravda (Russian Русская Правда) or Ruska Pravda (Ukrainian Руська Правда) was the legal code of later Kievan Rus and the subsequent East Slavic principalities during the times of feudal division. ... Hagiography is the study of saints. ... A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. ... The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku IgorevÄ›; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ... The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from around 850 to 1110. ...

The Book of Veles, said to have been found during the Russian civil war and to have disappeared in WWII, would, if genuine, provide about the only surviving pre-Christian East Slavic literary monument. Since the account of its find and eventual fate (several photographs are claimed to survive) has not been confirmed, and its language deviates from the accepted reconstruction, most professional linguists have so far dismissed the book's authenticity. The Book of Veles (Veles Book, Vles book, Vlesbook, Isenbecks Planks, Велесова книга, Влес книга, Влескнига, Книга Велеса, Дощечки Изенбека, Дощьки Изенбека) is claimed to be a text of ancient Slavic religion and history. ...

The earliest dated specimen of Old East Slavic (or, rather, of Church Slavonic with pronounced East Slavic interference) must be considered the written Ostromir Codex, written by the diak Gregory at the order of Ostromir, the posadnik or governor of Novgorod. This is an East Slavic recension of the Slavonic Gospels, of the year 1056/57. Of the year 1073 we have the Izbornik or Miscellany of Sviatoslav. It was written by John the diak or deacon for that prince, and is a kind of Slavonic encyclopaedia, drawn from Greek sources. The date is 1076. Church Slavonic may refer to: Old Church Slavonic language Church Slavonic language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Ostromir Codex, written in the Church Slavonic with many vernacular words, is famous for its brilliant miniatures. ... Podyachy or podyachiy (Russian: ; from Greek hypodiakonos, assistant servant) is an office (bureaucratic) occupation in prikazes (local and upper governmental offices) and lesser local offices of Russia in 15th-18th centuries. ... Posadnik (Посадник in Russian) was a deputy of Kniaz in some East Slavic places assigned to rule a city or a land. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ...

The next monument of the language is the famous Slovo o zakone i blagodati, by Hilarion, metropolitan of Kiev. In this work there is a panegyric on Prince Vladimir of Kiev, the hero of so much of East Slavic popular poetry. This subtle and graceful oration admirably conforms to the precepts of the Byzantine eloquence. It is rivalled by another panegyric on Vladimir, written a decade later by Yakov the Monk. In hierarchical Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan, pertains to the bishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of an old Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital. ... A monument to Archangel Michael, the protector of Kiev, with todays city center in the background. ... Detail of the Millenium of Russia monument in Novgorod (1862) representing St Vladimir and his family. ...

Ostromir Codex from Novgorod (mid-11th century)

Other 11th-century writers are Theodosius, a monk of the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, who wrote on the Latin faith and some Pouchenia or Instructions, and Luka Zhidiata, bishop of Novgorod, who has left us a curious Discourse to the Brethren. From the writings of Theodosius we see that many pagan habits were still in vogue among the people. He finds fault with them for allowing these to continue, and also for their drunkenness; nor do the monks escape his censures. Zhidiata writes in a more vernacular style than many of his contemporaries; he eschews the declamatory tone of the Byzantine authors. And here may be mentioned the many lives of the saints and the Fathers to be found in early East Slavic literature, starting with the two Lives of Sts Boris and Gleb, written in the late 11th century and attributed to Jacob the Monk and to Nestor the Chronicler. Image File history File links Ostromirs Gospel (mid 11th century) from the Russian National Library File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Ostromirs Gospel (mid 11th century) from the Russian National Library File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Ostromir Codex, written in the Church Slavonic with many vernacular words, is famous for its brilliant miniatures. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... Categories: Ukraine-related stubs | Eastern Orthodoxy | Places in Ukraine | Kyiv city | UN World Heritage Sites ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... A medieval Russian icon of Boris and Gleb Boris and Gleb, Christian names Roman and David, were the first Russian saints. ... Nestor (c. ...

With the so-called Russian Primary Chronicle, also attributed to Nestor, begins the long series of the Russian annalists. There is a regular catena of these chronicles, extending with only two breaks to the 17th century. Besides the work attributed to Nestor, we have chronicles of Novgorod, Kiev, Volhynia and many others. Every town of any importance could boast of its annalists, Pskov and Suzdal among others. In some respects these compilations, the productions of monks in their cloisters, remind us of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, dry details alternating with here and there a picturesque incident; and many of these annals abound with the quaintest stories. The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from around 850 to 1110. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The word may have one of the following meanings. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... A monument to Archangel Michael, the protector of Kiev, with todays city center in the background. ... Volhynia (Wołyń in Polish; Волинь, Volyn’ in Ukrainian; also called Volynia, Volyň in Czech) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Bug. ... 10-ruble Russian coin of 2003 in the Ancient cities of Russia series - commemorating Pskov Pskov (Псков, ancient spelling Пльсковъ, also Pihkva (Estonian), Pleskau (German) and Psków (Polish)) is an ancient Russian city, located in the north-west of Russia near the present-day border with Estonia, on the river... St. ... The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of (mainly) secondary source documents narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons and their settlement in Britain. ...

In the 12th century we have the sermons of bishop Cyril of Turov, which are attempts to imitate in Old East Slavic the florid Byzantine style. In his sermon on Holy Week, Christianity is represented under the form of spring, Paganism and Judaism under that of winter, and evil thoughts are spoken of as boisterous winds. Cyril of Turaw (1130 - 1182) (Kiryla Turawski; Belarusian: Кіры́ла Ту́раўскі) was an Orthodox Christian bishop and saint in the Orthodox Church. ... Holy Week is the Christian week from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Within a Christian context, Paganism (from Latin paganus) and Heathenry are a catch-all terms which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion (as opposed to a revealed religion based on a revealed text). ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ...

The 12th-century Novgorodian children were literate enough to send each other letters written on birch bark

There are also admirable works of early travellers, as the igumen Daniel, who visited the Holy Land at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. A later traveller was Afanasiy Nikitin, a merchant of Tver, who visited India in 1470. He has left a record of his adventures, which has been translated into English and published for the Hakluyt Society. Young Novgorodians send to each other letters written on pieces of birch bark. ... Young Novgorodians send to each other letters written on pieces of birch bark. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... Daniel (דָּנִיֵּאל, Standard Hebrew Daniyyel, Tiberian Hebrew Dāniyyêl) is the name of two people from the Bible. ... The phrase The Holy Land (Arabic الأرض المقدسة al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah; Hebrew ארץ הקודש;, Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeÅ¡, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreá¹£ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta) generally refers to Palestine. ... Afanasiy Nikitin (Никитин, Афанасий in Russian) (? _ 1472) was a Russian traveller, writer and the first European to visit India. ... Tvers coat of arms depicts grand ducal crown placed on a throne. ... Events May 15 - Charles VIII of Sweden who had served three terms as King of Sweden dies. ... A Journey Beyond the Three Seas (Хождение за три моря in Russian, or Khozhdeniye za tri morya) is a Russian literary monument in the form of travel notes, made by a merchant from Tver India in 1466-1472. ... Richard Hakluyt (c. ...

A curious monument of old Slavonic times is the Pouchenie (Instruction), written by the great Vladimir Monomakh for the benefit of his sons. This composition is generally found inserted in the Chronicle of Nestor; it gives a fine picture of the daily life of a Slavonic prince. The Paterik of the Kievan Caves Monastery is a typical medieval collection of stories from the life of monks, featuring devils, angels, ghosts, and miraculous resurrections. Vladimir Monomakh (Russian: Владимир Мономах; Christian name Vasiliy, or Basil) (1053 -- May 19, 1125) was undoubtedly the best loved Velikiy Kniaz of Kievan Rus. ...

We now come to the famous Lay of Igor's Campaign, which narrates the expedition of Igor Svyatoslavich, prince of Novgorod-Severskiy against the Cumans. It is neither epic nor a poem but is written in rhythmic prose. Any Christian influence is hard to trace, whereas pagan gods and deities are famously invoked by Igor's grieving wife, Yaroslavna, from the walls of Putivl. Of the whole bulk of the Old East Slavic literature, the Lay is the only work familiar to every educated Russian or Ukrainian. Its brooding flow of images, murky metaphors, and ever changing rhythm haven't been successfully rendered into English yet; the best attempt at translation belongs to Vladimir Nabokov. The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku IgorevÄ›; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ... Novgorod-Seversky is a historic town in the Chernigov region of Ukraine, on the bank of the Desna River, only 45 km south from the Russian border. ... The Cumans, also known as Polovtsy (Slavic for yellowish) were a nomadic West Turkic tribe living on the north of the Black Sea along the Volga. ... EPIC might be an acronym or abbreviation for: Electronic Privacy Information Center Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing Enhanced Programmable ircII Client El Paso Intelligence Center End Poverty In California European Privatisation and Investment Corporation Sometimes it is also used to refer to Epic Games game development company. ... Putivl ( Ukrainian / Russian : Путивль) is an ancient town in north-east Ukraine, in Sumy Oblast. ... In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ... Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Набоков; pronounced: vlah-DEE-meer nah-BAWK-awf) (April 10 O.S. [April 22/23 N.S.], 1899 - July 2, 1977) was a Russian-American author. ...

The Zadonshchina is a sort of prose poem much in the style of the Tale of Igor's Campaign, and the resemblance of the latter to this piece furnishes an additional proof of its genuineness. This account of the battle of Kulikovo, which was gained by Dmitri Donskoi over the Mongols in 1380, has come down in three important versions. Zadonschina («Задонщина» in Russian; could be translated as the region beyond the Don River) is a Russian literary monument of the late 14th century, which tells about the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. ... Single combat of Peresvet and Temir-murza. ... Grand Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Donskoi (Дмитрий Донской, in Russian) (October 12, 1350 – 1389) was a Russian ruler (1359 – 1389). ... Honorary guard of Mongolia. ...

The early laws of Rus’ present many features of interest, such as the Russkaya Pravda of Yaroslav the Wise, which is preserved in the chronicle of Novgorod; the date is between 1018 and 1072. The laws show Rus at that time to have been in civilization quite on a level with the rest of Europe. Russkaya Pravda (Russian Русская Правда) or Ruska Pravda (Ukrainian Руська Правда) was the legal code of later Kievan Rus and the subsequent East Slavic principalities during the times of feudal division. ... Yaroslav I the Wise (978?-1054) (Christian name: Yury, or George) was thrice prince of Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. ... Corruption Jurisprudence Philosophy of law Law (principle) List of legal abbreviations Legal code Intent Letter versus Spirit Natural Justice Natural law Religious law Witness intimidation Legal research Critical legal studies External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary...

Notable texts

• Bylinas
• The Tale of Igor's Campaign - one of the most outstanding literary work in this language
• Russkaya Pravda - 11th century legal code issued by Yaroslav the Wise
• Praying of Daniel the Immured
• A Journey Beyond the Three Seas

Bylina (Russian: были́на, also Byliny and Stariny) is a traditional epic, heroic narrative poetry of early East Slavs of Kievan Rus, the tradition continued in Russia and Ukraine. ... The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku IgorevÄ›; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ... Russkaya Pravda (Russian Русская Правда) or Ruska Pravda (Ukrainian Руська Правда) was the legal code of later Kievan Rus and the subsequent East Slavic principalities during the times of feudal division. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Yaroslav I the Wise (978?-1054) (Christian name: Yury, or George) was thrice prince of Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. ... Praying of Daniel the Immured (Моление Даниила Заточника in Russian, or Moleniye Danila Zatochnika), is a Russian literary monument of the 13th century. ... A Journey Beyond the Three Seas (Хождение за три моря in Russian, or Khozhdeniye za tri morya) is a Russian literary monument in the form of travel notes, made by a merchant from Tver India in 1466-1472. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.

Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents, in many ways, the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

See also:

• History of the East Slavic languages
• Slavic languages
• Russian language
• Ukrainian language
• Belarusian language

This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... Russian (русский язык   listen?) is the most widely spoken language of Europe and the most widespread of the Slavic languages. ... Ukrainian (украї́нська мо́ва, ukrayins’ka mova) is the official language of Ukraine. ... Belarusian (белару́ская мо́ва) is the language of the Belarusian nation. ...

External links

• Ostromir's Gospel Online
• Online library of the Old Russian texts
• 'Izbornyk', library of Old Ukrainian chronicles