Слово о полку Игореве

"The word about Igor’s regiment" is a masterpiece of ancient Russian literature created at the turn of the XII -XIII centuries by an unknown author. Gravyur V.A. Favorsky. In the "Word of Igor's Regiment" describes the campaign of two brothers, princes of Seversky, Igor and Vsevolod, to Polovtsy in 1185. Igor and Vsevolod come out with their squads against the Polovtsy, who occupy the steppes of South-Western Rus' and constantly attack Russian lands. On their way through the steppes, the princes see a solar eclipse, which in Rus' is considered a bad sign. But Igor does not pay attention to it and continues to go. On Friday morning, there is a battle between Russians and Polovtsy. Russians break the Polovtsy. But the next day, the Polovtsy gathering an army and attacking Igor’s army. Between opponents there is a long battle on the Kayala River. As a result, Russian wars suffer a crushing defeat. The Polovtsy take princes, including Prince Igor. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, the Grand Duke Svyatoslav sees a prophetic dream foreshadowing trouble. The boyars explain to Svyatoslav that this dream means the defeat of Igor and Vsevolod by the Polovtsy.  Svyatoslav understands that his brothers Igor and Vsevolod "woke the beast" in the person of the Polovtsy. To fight the enemy, the Russian princes need to unite, but this is not easy to do. The trouble is that at that time internecine wars are waged in Rus': the princes are fighting among themselves, which makes Rus' a weak and vulnerable to the enemy.  The author of the "Word" calls on the princes to stop the internodists and rally against the common enemy (this is the main idea of ​​the work). At this time, Igor’s wife, Yaroslavna, crying about him, waiting for him at home. She turns to the wind and the sun, begging to return her husband (see "Crying Yaroslavna"). In the end, Igor runs out of captivity and returns to Russian land. The people rejoice at his return.