Information on paganism in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”

The aim of the research is to establish the degree of reliability of the data regarding Old Russian paganism in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”. The article examines various manifestations of the pagan worldview as reflected in the poem’s content and stylistics. The study determines the place and significance of natural motifs (solar eclipse, the howling of wolves, the barking of foxes, etc.), notes the connection between the accounts of Vseslav of Polotsk and Igor’s escape from captivity with East Slavic folklore, analyzes the relationship between Yaroslavna’s Lament and pagan charms, and evaluates the correspondence between the poem creator’s perceptions of the functions of Old Russian gods (Veles, Stribog, Dazhbog, Khors) and data from other Old Russian compositions. An attempt is made to identify the sources of information about these deities that the author of “The Tale” might have utilized. The scientific novelty of the work lies in its examination of pagan elements in “The Tale” through the prism of scientific source criticism, thereby determining the reliability of the poem’s information on Old Russian paganism. As a result, the author finds grounds to assert that the pagan elements in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” are ambiguous in nature and subject to varied interpretations. Information concerning the deities is not corroborated by other sources, which casts doubt on its authenticity. Consequently, the data on paganism provided by “The Tale” does not constitute a reliable source base for studying the beliefs of the East Slavs in the pre-Christian period or the era of “dvoeverie” (double belief).