It is often from history that literature takes its greatest inspiration, and it is in these folk-tale accounts of historical events that readers are able to catch a glimpse into the popular attitudes and beliefs of the time it was written. In Russia’s early history this can be seen with the literary epics, The Lay of Igor’s Raid written in 1185 during the period of Kievan Rus and the Zadonshchina written in 1380 during the age of Appenage Russia. The Lay of Igor’s Raid follows Prince Igor of Novgorod- Seversky and his unsuccessful military campaign against the Polovtsians, and Zadonshchina is written about the battle at Kulikovo, which was the first successful defeat of the Mongolians who were occupying Russian territory. The similarities found between Lay and Zadonshchina indicate that Zadonshchina was likely acting as both an imitation and response to Lay, and the differences seen between the texts highlights the…show more content… Lay is poetic, awash with descriptions of the land and animals that inhabit it; birds and wolves in particular are frequently mentioned. There is a spiritual, symbolic overtone draped over the actions of the animals, their presence is important to the story line. Nature plays as much of a role in the epic as the main (human) characters do; one could say that nature itself is a character, as nature is not simply nature within this narrative. The imagery from the natural world shows omens and speaks of bad things to come, for example: “Then Igor looked up at the bright sun and saw all his warriors darkened from it by a shadow… In his fervor, the Prince's foresight ebbed from him, and his zeal to taste the great Don veiled the omen from him” (6). This quote exemplifies the foreboding warnings from nature; Igor’s pride damages his ability to read the signs around him, the campaign was ill fated from the start and Igor’s dismissiveness will lead to a disastrous
