Igor of Kiev: The Legendary son of Rurik

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I have previously covered the first two rulers of Rus’, Rurik and Oleg, both of whom are shrouded in legend and obscurity. The next ruler, Igor, is thus very interesting, because he is much better documented - being mentioned in several contemporary sources - so we do know for a fact that he existed. However, the popular chronology of his life appears to be entirely messed up. According to the Primary Chronicle, also called the Tale of Bygone Years, sometimes the Nestor Chronicle, he ruled between his infancy in 879, and his violent death in 945 - that’s a total of 66 years, which is exceptionally old, and has caused historians to raise a few eyebrows, and question how much of his story is actually true, and how much of it was invented by the Chronicle, to fill in the gaps.

Sources:
On the Date of the Khazars' Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor - Constantin Zuckerman
The emergence of Rus, 750-1200 - Franklin, Simon
The Primary Chronicle - Anonymous, transl. By Samuel Hazzard Cross & Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor
The Varangians - Sverrir Jakobsson
Viking Rus - Wladyslaw Duczko
Was There a Riurikid Dynasty in Early Rus’? - Donald Ostrowski

Music credits:
Kevin Macleod of Incompetech

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