Russian chroniclers were extremely attentive to all the unusual phenomena that took place around them.
In addition to the main events in the life of their city or the entire Russian land - the accession to the throne of a new prince, the construction of cities and churches, the invasion of foreigners, internecine wars - they invariably celebrated all kinds of heavenly signs, devastating fires, floods, storms, droughts, earthquakes, epidemics and epizootics, weather anomalies, etc.
As a matter of fact, it was part of their, if I may say so, the range of responsibilities. Phenomena of this kind were perceived in the Middle Ages as visible signs of the coming "end of the world": the appearance of the Antichrist, the Second Coming of Christ, the general resurrection from the dead and the Last Judgment. This was directly evidenced by both the texts of Holy Scripture and various canonical and apocryphal prophecies, which existed in great numbers in ancient Russian book literature and painted in detail the picture of the end of the world.
For this main event in its history, mankind had to prepare in advance. The Holy Scriptures directly required a Christian to discern the "signs of the times", that is, to carefully monitor all unusual and mysterious events and, if possible, to correctly interpret them.
According to the system of chronology from the Creation of the world adopted in Byzantium and in Russia, the world was then in the seventh millennium of its history, which was supposed to end at the very end of the 15th century, or rather, in 1492 from the Nativity of Christ (7000 from the Creation of the world). The world, as it seemed to the educated Russian scribes of that time, was "sedimentary", that is, limited to seven centuries, or millennia, and, therefore, at any moment of the last, seventh, thousand one could expect the end of the world. (This idea was based on the existing view of the creation of the world as a kind of prototype of the entire subsequent history of mankind: the seven days of creation corresponded to seven "centuries", or millennia, of human history.)
Russian chroniclers never forgot this. Heavenly and other signs were interpreted by them mainly in an eschatological vein - as signs of the "end times", evidence of the already taken place or the imminent coming of the Antichrist. But for us today, their recordings are of a completely different kind - as evidence of contemporaries about unusual phenomena, the nature of which we either cannot, or can only guess.
In addition to simple curiosity, this news awakens our imagination, because in order to more or less satisfactorily explain it, we have to turn to the sphere of the unknown, and perhaps even the supernatural. In this case, one must take into account the specificity of the chronicles as a historical source.
911. A great star appeared in the west in the form of a spear (in the original: "spear-like").
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As it is believed, the speech in the annals, undoubtedly, is about Halley's comet, which, however, appeared in the sky not in 911, but in 912, as the Byzantine chronicles also report about this (passage through perihelion on July 19) (Svyatsky. Book. 2. S. 201-203). A chronological error, in principle, is quite probable, since the entire annalistic weather grid for the early period is rather arbitrary. The news was obviously borrowed from the Byzantine chronicles, in particular, from the Chronicle of George Amartol.
912 (?). This winter the sky was burnt, and pillars of fire went from Rus to Greece, fighting.
Tatishchev. Russian history
There is no such news in the surviving chronicles. According to Tatishchev, we are talking about the northern lights. According to the historian of the 18th century, in one of the chronicles at his disposal, the phenomenon was dated to 918, which seems to be consistent with Western sources reporting the northern lights under 919. Svyatsky agrees with this: “Western chroniclers very often mistook the northern lights for the battles of the heavenly armies. Such an idea was formed under the impression of the movement of the pillars of the northern lights from one part of the sky to another”(Svyatsky. Book. 2. S. 267-268).
Let us add to this that Muslim medieval authors (Arab and Persian) also saw in the northern lights, rare for them, something like a battle of good and evil spirits ("jinn"). For example, this is how the Arab traveler and diplomat Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, who visited the Volga Bulgaria, neighboring Russia, in 921/922, wrote about this:
“… I heard high in the air loud sounds and a strong hubbub… I raised my head, and not far from me was a cloud, red, like fire, and this hubbub and these sounds emanated from it. And here in it are the similitudes of people and horses, and in the hands of distant figures in it, similar to people, bows, arrows, spears and drawn swords. And they seemed to me either completely clear or only apparent. And here is another, similar to them, black detachment, in which I also saw husbands, horses and weapons. And this detachment began to attack that detachment … "The Bulgarian king Almush told the Arab that" these horsemen belong to the faithful and unfaithful genies. They fight every evening, and, truly, since they have existed, they have not been absent from this battle for a single night "(The last statement - about the nightly lights - is undoubtedly an exaggeration.)
Late 950s - 960s, Pskov. … Blessed Olga came to the river called Velikaya, to the mouth of the Pskova River, and then there was a great forest with many oak forests. And in that place Saint Olga saw a wonderful and glorious vision: that place was illuminated by bright rays, as if [emanating] from a trisly light. Blessed Olga rejoiced in her soul, marveling at the glittering of the ineffable light, giving grace to God … [According to the following story, the Church of the Holy Trinity, the main temple of the future great city of Pskov, was erected on this place.]
Degree book of royal genealogy
Russian princess Olga, the first Christian ruler in Russia (t 969). She was baptized in Constantinople in 957. Reckoned among the saints by the Church.
979. In the same summer there were signs in the moon, and in the sun, and in the stars, and there were great and terrible thunders, and strong winds with a whirlwind; and there was a lot of dirty trick on people and cattle and beasts of the forest and field.
Nikon Chronicle
1002 … In the same year there was a flow of stars.
Nikon Chronicle
Obviously, we are talking about the Leonids - a stream of so-called shooting stars, which has the correct periodicity.
1028. The serpent sign appeared in heaven, so that it was visible throughout the whole earth.
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In some lists of the chronicle the word "serpent" is absent. About comets under this year from the western or eastern sources nothing is known.
1063, Novgorod. This summer in Novgorod, Volkhov went backwards for five days. This sign was not good …
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
The reverse flow of the Volkhov is a frequent phenomenon. Usually it is associated with strong winds from the Gulf of Finland and a decrease in the level of Lake Ilmen. In the future, the evidence of chroniclers about this phenomenon is not included in the collection.
1065. At the same time, there was a sign in the west: a huge star, emitting rays like bloody; rose in the evening after sunset and stayed that way for seven days. It was not for good, because then many strife began and the invasion of the rotten on the Russian land. This star, as if bloody, foreshadowed the shedding of blood.
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Probably, here we are talking about Halley's comet But its appearance should be dated not 1065, but 1066 (passing through the perihelion on March 27) (Svyatsky. Book. 2. S. 203-205). It is the year 1066 that stands in some later chronicles, for example, in Nikonovskaya.
1065; Kiev. At the same time, the brainchild was thrown into Set l3; the fishermen dragged him out in the net. We looked at him until evening and then threw him into the water again. He was like this: on his face he had shameful ouds, and nothing else could be said, for the sake of shame.
Before that time, the sun also changed, and it was not bright, but like a month: about it, the ignorant say that it can be eaten. There are such signs that are not good.
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Setoml is a river near Kiev, probably one of the Pochayna tributaries, the right tributary of the Dnieper (either Glubochitsa, or its tributary Kiyanka).
In the second message of the chronicle, we are obviously talking about a solar eclipse, which happened, according to astronomers' calculations, on April 19, 1064 (Svyatsky. Book. 1. S. 102-104). (In this article "The Tale of Bygone Years" there is a chronological glitch.) In the future, numerous and very accurate chronicle evidence of solar and lunar eclipses is not given - as not related to the number of mysterious and inexplicable.
1073-1076 (?), Yaroslavl, Poshekhonye. Once, during a famine, two wise men appeared in the Rostov land, saying that we, they say, know who holds the supplies. And they went along the Volga; and where they come to the churchyard, they immediately call the best wives, saying that the one keeps the rye, and that one keeps honey, and that one - fish, and that one - furs. And they brought their sisters, their mothers and their wives to them. In obsession, they cut up behind [their] shoulders, and took out either rye or fish, and killed many wives, and took their property for themselves. And they came to Beloozero … and beat many wives along the Volga and Sheksna …
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… And they brought their mothers and sisters and their wives to them, they, in obsession, like buffoons, cut up behind their shoulders and took out from under their skin in front of people, and from others - honey, and furs, and fish, and protein. And they killed many wives, and took their property for themselves …
Chronicler of Pereyaslavl Suzdal
Magi - pagan priests, sorcerers (the root is the same as in the word "magic"). In this case, in all likelihood, we are talking about the resumption of some archaic pagan ritual by the Magi, which boiled down to the killing of women during famine in order to ensure the return of the harvest and fertility of the land. It is noteworthy that a very similar rite (but already, of course, in a modified, "humane" form) remained among the Mordovians until the 60s of the XIX century.
It was described by P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky: when the time for public sacrifices came, the collectors walked around the courtyards and collected all kinds of food that women had in advance stored in special bags. “Women topless, throwing these bags over their shoulders, stood with their backs to the door, waiting for the collectors. The latter, entering the room and praying to the gods, cut off the bags, stabbing the woman five times in the shoulder and back with a sacred knife (quoted from: I. Ya. Froyanov, Ancient Rus: Experience in the Study of the History of Social and Political Struggle. Moscow; St. Petersburg., 1995. S. 146).
1091, Vyshgorod near Kiev. In the same year, when Vsevolod was hunting for the beast outside Vyshgorod and the nets were already spread and the beaters clicked, a great serpent fell from heaven, and all people were horrified. Then the earth hit, so that many heard.
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According to Svyatsky, we are talking about the fall of a meteorite (“The name of meteors as fiery serpents has been preserved among the people to this day”). "Knocking" in the ground, according to the researcher, is also the sound heard when a meteorite falls to the ground (Svyatsky. Book. 2. S. 248-249). However, the chronicler seems to separate two phenomena - the fall of the "great serpent" and the "knock" in the ground "at the same time." Note that the last expression is most often used in the annals in relation to earthquakes.
1091, August. Kiev. … And when they hit the beater, they saw three pillars, as if bright arcs, and, after standing, crossed [those pillars] to the top of the church, where Feodosia was laid … At the same time, Stephen saw … in his monastery beyond the field a great dawn over cave … mounted a horse and quickly rode [to the Pechersk Monastery] … And when they rode, they saw the great dawn …
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In this chronicle story, we are talking about the acquisition by the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery of the relics of St. Theodosius, Abbot of the Caves (? - 1074), one of the founders of the monastery, and transferring them from the caves to the "Great" Caves Church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy. Virgin. Stephen-Bishop of Vladimir-Volynsky. He was the successor of St. Theodosius as hegumen of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. At that time he was in the Klovsky monastery, not far from the Kiev-Pechersky monastery.
1092, Polotsk and Polotsk region. It was a wonderful miracle in Polotsk. In obsession, it seemed as if the groan was standing in the street at night, and the demons, like people, prowled, so that if someone left their houses to look, he was immediately wounded invisibly by the demons early and therefore died. And people did not dare to leave their homes. Then [demons] began to appear on horses during the day, but they themselves were not visible, but the hooves of their horses were visible; and so they hurt the people of Polotsk and in the region. That is why people said that it was the dead who beat Polotsk residents. This sign began from Drutsk. At the same time, a sign appeared in heaven - as if a huge circle were in the middle of the sky. In the same summer, there was a drought, so that the earth burned out, and many forests and swamps by themselves caught fire. And many signs were in places,and a great host was from the Polovtsians and from everywhere … At the same time, many people were dying of various ailments, so the selling coffins said that “they sold the coffins from Philip's Day to 7 thousand meat-emptying” 7. It was for our sins …
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Philip's Day - November 14. "Before the meat-and-mouth" - here, apparently, until the end of Filippov (Christmas) fast, that is, until December 25.
1096, North (Polar Urals?). [About the miracle seen by a youth sent by a Novgorodian Gyuryat Rogovich to Ugra (“Ugra … lives next door to samoyad, in midnight countries.”] Yugra told my youth: “We found a wonderful miracle, which we had not heard of before; this is already the third summer: there are mountains that go into the bow of the sea, their height is up to the heavens; and in those mountains there is a great clamor and talk, and they whip the mountain, although they cut out of it; and in that mountain a small window was carved, and from there [people] speak, and do not understand their language, but point to iron and wave their hand, asking for iron, and if someone gives them a knife or an ax, they give furs in return.
The path to those mountains is impassable because of abysses, snow and forests, therefore we do not always reach them; he goes further north. " I told Poryata: "These are people imprisoned by Alexander, the king of Macedon … In the last days … these nasty tongues imprisoned in the mountains of the midnight by the command of God will come out."
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
As L. P. Lashuk showed, this description is quite suitable only for one region of the North, namely for the northern spurs of the Polar Urals - the Pai-Khoi ridge on the Yugorsky Peninsula (L. P. Lashuk. "Sirtya" - ancient inhabitants of the Subarctic // Problems anthropology and historical ethnography of Asia. M., 1968).
The chronicle quite accurately depicts the so-called "dumb trade" - an ancient type of trade exchange in which merchants did not communicate with each other directly: the merchant left his goods in a certain place, and finding things of interest next to him, took them and left. Such trade with the northern peoples - "samoyadyu" (Nenets) and others - Russian merchants carried on even later.
A similar description of the "dumb" trade with "samoyad" was left by the Russian author of "The Tale of the Unknown Men in the Eastern Country" (the end of the 15th century), but here it was overgrown with fantastic details: "… yes take it, and move away. And who will take what without price, and how away he will drive away, and the goods will be taken away from him, and packs will be found in their place”.
The chronicler identified the northern people, imprisoned in the mountain, with the legendary peoples Gog and Magog, who, according to legend, were locked behind the inaccessible mountains by the greatest warrior of antiquity, Alexander the Great: fearing that these peoples, multiplying, would not cause harm to the whole world, Alexander brought them to the "northern limits", where he locked himself in high mountains, having erected an impregnable gate, which there is no way to open. And only “in the last days,” “at the end of the world,” according to the prophecy, Gog and Magog will break out from behind the wall, bringing death and destruction to everyone with them. It is curious that the identification of the real northern peoples with the ominous Gog and Magog (or, in the Muslim tradition, Yajuj and Majuj) is found not only in the Russian chronicle, but also in eastern sources, for example, in the above-mentioned Ibn Fadlan.
Another plot that is present in the chronicler's story - about the habitation of northern tribes inside high mountains, under the ground, reveals similarities with numerous legends about the mysterious inhabitants of the underworld, widespread among the indigenous peoples of the North, for example, with the Nenets legends about “gone into the earth "To the mysterious people" Sirta ". A similar legend is given by the author of "The Legend of the Unknown Men in the Eastern Country": people living somewhere in the land of "self-unity", "walk in the dungeon … day at night, and walk from the lights and go out onto the lake … And it stands, dei, the hail is great over it, but there is no posad. And if they go to that city, otherwise, dei, hear a great noise in that city …"
1100 (?). This year there was an earthquake in Kiev and Vladimir, as soon as the churches resisted, and a lot of harm was done, crosses fell from the churches. And in winter we saw in the north a star with a great extended tail, to the west it was extended upward and was black.
Tatishchev. Russian history
There is no such news in the surviving chronicles. No comet is known from Western sources this year.
1102, January-February. In the same summer, the sign was in heaven, the month of January on the 29th day: for three days, like a glow of fire, stood from the east and south and west and north; and there was light all night, shining as if from a full moon.
In the same summer, there was a sign from the moon, the month of February on the 5th day.
The same month on the 7th day there was a sign in the sun: the sun was fenced off in three arcs, and there were other arcs, ridges one to the other.
And, seeing these signs, the faithful people with sighing and tears prayed to God, so that God would turn these signs for good, for there are some signs for evil, and others for good.
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
The first piece of news is believed to be about the northern lights (Svyatskiy. Book. 2. P. 268), although another interpretation is probably possible. The second and third news fit the description of the lunar and solar eclipses, however, neither one nor the other occurred in 1102.
1105, February 4-6. In the same summer there was a sign: the sun stood in a circle, and in the middle of the circle there was a cross, and in the middle of the cross the sun, and outside the circle on both sides there were two suns, and above the sun outside the circle there was an arc with horns to the north; the same sign in the same way in the moon, the month of February on the 4th, and 5th, and 6th days. In the day - three days, and at night in the moon - three nights.
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
1105.… In the same year a star appeared with a tail in the west, and stood for a month.
Ipatiev Chronicle
Obviously a comet? (The comet was observed in February and March 1106 in Constantinople, Jerusalem and China; compare: Svyatsky. Book. 2. S. 215-216).
1109, Kiev. An unknown bird appeared in Kiev at the Church of St. Archangel Michael the Golden-Domed. She was as large as a ram, and shone with all sorts of colors, and songs incessantly flowed from her with much delight. And she sat on that church for 6 days, and flew away, and no one has seen her anywhere since that time.
Nikon Chronicle
The church in the Kiev St. Michael's Golden-Domed monastery was founded in 1108 by the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. It has not survived to our time.
To be continued