Talk:Rogneda of Polotsk

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To Rydel: Stop vandalizing, or I will bring an arbitration case against you and you will follow the fate of your friend vandal Emax. Can't you do anything constructive? Or are you good only for revert wars and flooding the articles with you nationalistic POVs? --Ghirlandajo 12:21, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hm it seems so that you're vandal here, not Rydel in any way. Why do you revert his reasonable edits and moves? Can you explain your point? --Monkbel 10:04, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Russian imperial POV-pushing

It's April 2006. I can only applaud to User:Ghirlandajo's intelligence who gradually, over the course of two years, has finally [1] (!) deleted all traces of important Belarusian content from this article. Bravo, Ghirla. The evil Russian empire has a very good representative in Wikipedia. --rydel 12:39, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Rogneda of Polotsk not mother of Vsevolod I

I have removed reference to Rogneda being mother of Vsevolod I. Vsevolod was the son of Yaroslav I and Ingegarde of Sweden. ScottyFLL 20:34, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Slavic name for Ragnhild

То be more precise Scandinavian origin for this name is Ragnheid (Ragnheiðr in Old-Icelandic spelling). Dropping of L in RagnhiLd is very unlikely according to Old Russian phonetic laws. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SawK (talk • contribs) 19:36, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Which primary source says Rogneda was raped in front of her parents?

Been reading Primary chronicle and it says Vladimir killed her brothers and father and then took her "for wife" by force. No mention of doing it in front of her parents or at instigation by Dobrinya. All wikipedias and many articles quote that gruesome detail yet only name fairly dubious literature not primary sources. It's as if someone had an erotic fetish of making already horrible situation much worse. Actually found it while typing this. It's in Laurentian Chronicle written in 1377 and it is quite possible the monk who wrote it further embelished already quite messed up situation. In any case it would be nice if this bit about Laurentian text is reffered in the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.149.16.125 (talk) 19:25, 11 July 2022 (UTC)

Add it to the article if you want. PatGallacher (talk) 20:34, 11 July 2022 (UTC)

It's a good point. I ran into the same question. The Laurentian text of the Primary Chronicle (PVL) sub anno 980 just says:

• At this time, the intention was that Rogned should marry Yaropolk. But Vladimir attacked Polotsk, killed Rogvolod and his two sons, and after marrying the prince's daughter, he proceeded against Yaropolk. (1953 Cross & SW English translation).

There are several embellished versions.

One version is recorded in the Hypatian Codex text of the PVL sub anno 980 edit: a modern Russian retelling of the Suzdalian Chronicle sub anno 1128, which on Spanish Wikipedia es:Rogneda de Pólatsk is cited as:

• Рогъволодъ же вбеже в городъ; и приступивъше к городу, и взяшa город и сaмого яшa и жену его, и дщерь его; и Добрынa поноси ему и дщери его, нaрекъ ей робичицa, и повеле Володимеру быти с нею пред отцемь ея и мaтерью; потом отцa ея оуби, a сaму поя жене, и нaрекошa ей имя Горислaвa. This autotranslates to:
• And Rog'vold ran into the city; and having come to the city, they took the city, and him [Rogvolod] himself, and his wife, and his daughter; and Dobrynya [governor of Novgorod] presented him and his daughter, and called her Robichitsa [daughter of a worker], and commanded Volodimer to be with her before her father and mother; then they killed her father, and took her to wife, and gave her the name of Gorislava.

So what we've got here is an embellished retelling which adds Dobrynya as a major character in the narrative, who arranges Vladimir to "be with" Rogneda in front of her parents. We may presume this does mean rape. Nothing is said of the two sons of Rogvolod; Rogneda's mother is briefly mentioned, but apparently left unharmed.

Edit: Although Spanish Wikipedia indicates this as Іпац. 63-64 (Ipats., Hypatian), this text is not found in http://litopys.org.ua/ipatlet/ipat04.htm sub anno 6488 (980), or in any of the PVL textual witnesses at http://pvl.obdurodon.org/pvl.html sub anno 6488 (76, 10–12). eswiki seems to have uncritically copied this from Belarusian Wikipedia be:Рагнеда Рагвалодаўна, and I have uncritically assumed it to be correct (my mistake). In all likelihood, this is just a modern Russian version of the Suzdalian Chronicle sub anno 1128. No version of the Primary Chronicle (PVL) sub anno 980 says Vladimir "was with" Rogned' "in front of her parents"; her mother is never mentioned at all. All of them report the same sequence of events:

1. Vladimir kills Rogvolod;

2. Vladimir kills his two sons;

3. Vladimir captures his daughter Rogned' and makes her his wife;

4. Vladimir goes on towards Yaropolk.

We could stretch interpretation of no. #3 a lot if we try, but if Rogvolod is already killed in no. #1, he is not there anymore to witness whatever happens in no. #3. NLeeuw (talk) 01:12, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

A later retelling in the Laurentian text of the Suzdalian Chronicle sub anno 1128. litopys.org.ua provides a full transcript; expositions.nlr.ru l. 99 ob. provides one without clutter and a modern Russian translation, which autotranslated -and manually corrected by me - to English says:

• When Vladimir heard it, he was angry because of that speech that she [Rogneda] said "I don't want to marry the son of a slave girl", he complained to Dobrynya, and was filled with rage and took soldiers and went to Polotsk, and defeated Rogvolod. And Rogvolod ran into the city, and having come to the city, they took the city, and he himself was taken, and his wife, and his daughter. And Dobrynya reviled him and his daughter, called her the daughter of a slave, and commanded Vladimir to be with her before her father and mother. Then her father was killed, and he [Vladimir] took her as a wife. And they called her the name Gorislava. And she gave birth to Izyaslav. He also took other wives of many, and began to resent her. Once, when he came to her and fell asleep, she wanted to cut him with a knife, but he happened to wake up, and he took her by the hand. And she said: "I am sorry, because thou didst kill my father, and didst ravage his land because of me, and, behold, now thou lovest me not even with this child."

This version adds that Vladimir took many more wives, didn't even like Rogneda anymore despite her "giving him" a son, so that she tries to assassinate him in his sleep (apparently after he again had sex with her / raped her: came to her and fell asleep). None of this is mentioned in the original Laurentian PVL text sub anno 980. This reads like a dramatised later development of the narrative. What is notable is that Rogneda is apparently not bothered by Vladimir raping her, but only by Vladimir killing her father (not her two brothers) and ravaging her father's land, and not loving her despite her giving birth. This is a very dynastic, patriarchal perspective that does not care about her own individual perspective as a woman and alleged rape survivor. The same could be said about her initial rejection of Vladimir (also recorded in the Laurentian PVL): it's not that she doesn't want to be married off to a man not of her choosing; she just wants to be married off to Yaropolk because he's not "the son of a slave" like Vladimir. (This insult is later parried against her by Dobrynya calling Rogneda "a daughter of a slave" herself, although we're not told anything about her mother except that she's present when Vladimir allegedly raped her. This parrying of an insult seems like very childish rhetoric.)

Why the later versions decided to embellish this story by making it much worse with the whole rape-in-front-of-her-parents episode is a question some scholars have dealt with. We would need to examine them if we are to write anything about it in this Wikipedia biography of Rogneda of Polotsk. Some things I found in a preliminary search:

• Koptev, Aleksandr. "Ritual and History: Pagan Rites in the Story of the Princess’ Revenge (the Russian Primary Chronicle, under 945–946)". MIRATOR 11:1 (2010).
• Muravyeva, Marianna. "Abduction of Women in Early Modern Russia: Modernizing the Empire", Russian History 43, 3-4 (2016): 338-371, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/18763316-04304006

Koptev suggests that there is a pattern of favouring the Yaropolk house of Kiev, and Polotsk being in Kiev control, and stressing the illegitimacy of Vladimir's house of Novgorod. They just used Rogneda's marriage abduction (and later-added rape) as a device to emphasise just how evil and illegitimate Vladimir was. That seems a plausible explanation to begin with. One may wonder why the compiler of the Primary Chronicle, evidently a monk in Kiev in the 1110s, wouldn't have erased this scandal from the chronicle which so damages the reputation of Vladimir, who is otherwise praised as having "enlightened the Rus' land with Christianity". That may have to do with the monk agreeing with the condemnation of some of Vladimir's "pagan" atrocities before he converted to Christianity around 988. But I'll stop here.

NLeeuw (talk) 13:05, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

I notice that the Kievan Chronicle in the Hypatian Codex sub anno 1128 does not contain the same "Rogneda's attempted revenge" narrative as the Suzdalian Chronicle in the Laurentian Codex does.

Irrelevant sidenote

Sub anno 1128 there is a brief mention of a certain Rogvolod of Polotsk, but I can't really understand what it says because of all the clutter. Here's my attempt: и Иванко Вѧчьславъ въсласта отрокъı своӕ в городъ и свитающю. оувидивше вси вои тако взѧша и в ночи и одва Мьстиславнъı товаръ оублюдоша и то с нужею бьючесѧ и тако оузворотишасѧ съ мно гъıмъ полономъ потомъ. же и Новгородчи придоша съ Мьстиславичемъ съ Всеволодомъ къ Нѣклочю и тако Полочанѣ сътъснувшеси. въıгнаша Дв҃да и съ сн҃ъми поемъше Рогъволода идоша и ко (Полотьску). Томъ же лѣтѣ престависѧ Изѧславъ. Ст҃ополчиць мс̑ца декабрѧ . въ г҃ı а погребенъ бъıс̑ к҃д дн҃ь. And Ivanko Vyachislav brought his sons into the city and his retinue. And when all the soldiers saw it, they took it up, and in the night, and one of them, and they laid hold of the goods og Mstislav, and they did so with a great slaughter, and so they departed with many men. Novgorod also came with Mstislavich and Vsevolod to the town of Neloch, and so Polotchan was destroyed. They drove in the Two and with the snows took Rogvolod and came to (Polotsk). The same year in December Iziaslav was restored to the throne of Polotsk. He was buried in the city the same day. This is probably wildly wrong, but I don't know what it really says. The point is: this is a story of some battle over the throne of Polotsk in 1128, it mentions a Rogvolod, but not a Rogneda or a Vladimir. But if the last sentence is a reference to Iziaslav of Polotsk, well, that is the son of Vladimir and Rogneda. More likely, the names mentioned here are Rogvolod Vseslavich, Prince of Polotsk 1101–1129, and Iziaslav II of Kiev, Prince of Polotsk 1129–1132 (the former was succeeded by the latter in 1129, just after this entry in 1128). So there is something going on here, with Iziaslav II having the same name as the son of Vladimir and Rogneda, the daughter of Rogvolod, who has the same name as Rogvolod Vseslavich.

It seems that the scribe of the Suzdalian Chronicle made a connection here by retelling and embellishing the Rogneda story with an extra vengeance episode, whereas the scribe of the Kievan Chronicle did not. NLeeuw (talk) 13:55, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

Unfortunately, Lisa Lynn Heinrich's 1977 English translation of the Kievan Chronicle ends in the middle of the entry sub anno 1128. He went to his brother-in-law (Izjaslav) gave him self into his care... corresponds to и иде шюрину своему в руцѣ (literally "into hands"). But safe to say the revenge narrative is not to be found in the Kievan Chronicle.

I did manage to find a quite detailed analysis of the entire text sub anno 1128 in the Laurentian, Radziwill and Academic Chronicle by Francis Butler, The “Legend of Gorislava” (not “Rogned’” or “Rogneda”): An Edition, Commentary, and Translation. In: Dubitando: Studies in History and Culture in Honor of Donald Ostrowski. Brian J. Boeck, Russell E. Martin, and Daniel Rowland, eds. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2012, 335–52. Page 351 provides a complete translation of the constructed original text, which is very similar to the expositions.nlr.ru l. 99 ob autotranslation I provided above, but much more accurate. Butler notes that Rogvolod's daughter is never called "Rogned'" or "Rogneda" sub anno 1128, but only once "Gorislava". Butler argues that these were originally separate stories that only later got connected or mixed up; it's not until 1479 that it is suggested that Rogned' was renamed Gorislava instead of a separate person. NLeeuw (talk) 16:54, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

As I noted above in my correction, no version of the Primary Chronicle (PVL) sub anno 980 says Vladimir "was with" Rogned' "in front of her parents"; her mother is never mentioned at all. The Hypatian Codex (http://litopys.org.ua/ipatlet/ipat04.htm sub anno 6488 (980)) is in almost complete agreement with the Laurentian Codex here. All PVL textual witnesses at http://pvl.obdurodon.org/pvl.html sub anno 6488 (76, 10–12) are in strong agreement with each other that Rogvolod and his two sons are killed (and no mother is mentioned) before Vladimir takes his daughter Rogned' to be his wife, and continues on towards Yaropolk.

That last bit is important, because it is not mentioned in the Suzdalian Chronicle sub anno 1128.

• Instead of Rogned', this daughter is called Gorislava, and we are told she gave birth to a son called Iziaslav, and so on about a rather unhappy marriage and two assassination attempts, while nothing is ever heard about Yaropolk anymore.
• By contrast, the Primary Chronicle forgets about Rogned' for the time being, and continues narrating the war between Vladimir and Yaropolk in a detailed fashion.

In short, the stories diverge completely. It's as if an editor carelessly mixed two separate stories together, and didn't bother to smooth out the contradictions. I think Butler is right, and Koptev 2010 is arguing amongst similar lines that the sub anno 1128 princess revenge story is a later addition/development that shows signs of recycling Old Norse sagas from Scandinavia, just like with the legendary "Olga's Revenge on the Drevlians" (PVL sub anno 945). Koptev:

Francis Butler [2004] argues similarity of the vengeance commited by Olga to the acts of revenge performed by the epic Germanic women, Guðrún in the Eddic Atlamál in Groenlenzko and the prose Völsunga saga, Skjalf the daughter of a Finnish chieftain in Heimskringla (Ynglinga saga, chapter 19), and Queen Krimshild (Grimhild) in The Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenglied).

(...) the similar story of the revenge of Princess Rogneda of Polotzk, known from the Laurentian Chronicle under the year 1128 (as well as in two manuscripts closely related to it, the Radziwill and Academy Chronicles). The motif of Rogneda's vengeance, her attempt to kill her own husband, seems to me an obvious later addition to the original story of Rogneda, known in the Primary Chronicle under the year 980. One can surmise that this came about through later influence, in which the princess Rogneda and her father Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald) were imagined as Varangian (Scandinavian) rulers of Polotzk. Shakhmatov is almost certainly correct when he suggests that the story derives from the later Novgorodian tradition, which asserted the superiority of the clan of Jaroslav’s descendants in comparison to Rogvolod’s descendants ruling in Polotzk.

I think it's too far of a stretch, at least for us Wikipedians, to suggest the name Rogned' / Ragnhild may be derived from Grimhild, and that Gorislava is somehow connected to Guðrún and / or Skjalf. But the similarities are right there, and both the Primary and Suzdalian chronicle emphasise that Rogvolod and Tur' "came from overseas" (Scandinavia) and established their reigns in the cities of Polotsk and Turov. (There may well be some folk etymology or aiteology going on here: "Turov" is said to derive from "Tur'", so perhaps "Polot'sk" is argued to derive from "(Rog)volod'?). There may also be an implied social/political (ethnic?) class difference here, namely that someone who comes from overseas (Scandinavia) is a "ruler" or "conqueror", but someone who is from this side of the sea (Kievan Rus') is a "slave" or "colonised person". Hence, the proud daughter of a Scandinavian-born prince refuses to marry the son of a mere Rus'-born servant. The latter is a reference not to Vladimir's father (which is the same as Yaropolk's), but to Vladimir's mother Malusha, a concubine of Sviatoslav I, while his half-brother rival Yaropolk was a son of Sviatoslav's official wife Predslava, Grand Princess of Kiev. Hence, it is a double insult to undermine Vladimir's legitimacy, and strengthen that of Yaropolk. In the Legend of Gorislava sub anno 1128, this is further worked out, apparently to serve some local dynastic dispute between the princely clans of Polotsk and Iziaslavl (modern Zaslawye). Gorislava never cares about her own fate; her revenge is motivated by dynastic interests, and although she fails, she does "get her patrimony back". It remains a mystery why that is supposedly Iziaslavl rather than Polotsk itself.

At any rate, I am preparing to add a section to this article that compares the Legend of Rogned' with the Legend of Gorislava. NLeeuw (talk) 02:37, 31 March 2024 (UTC)