Prologue II: The Eastern Slavs, the Avars, and the Khazar Tribute

After these brothers their line began to hold the princedom among the Polianians, while the Derevlianians had their own, and the Dregovichians their own, and the Slavs their own in Novgorod, and another line on the Polota—these are the Polotskians. From these, too, are the Krivichians, who sit at the head of the Volga, and at the head of the Dvina, and at the head of the Dnieper; their city is Smolensk, and there the Krivichians sit. From them, too, came the Severianians. On Lake Beloe sit the Ves; on Lake Rostov the Merians; and on Lake Kleshchin the Merians sit as well. And along the river Oka, where it flows into the Volga, the Muroma have their own tongue, and the Cheremis their own tongue, and the Mordvians their own tongue. These alone are of the Slavic tongue in Rus': the Polianians, the Derevlianians, the men of Novgorod, the Polotskians, the Dregovichians, the Severianians, the Buzhanians—for they sit along the Bug—who were afterward called Volhynians.

And these are the other peoples who pay tribute to Rus': the Chud, the Ves, the Merians, the Muroma, the Cheremis, the Mordvians, the Permians, the Pechera, the Yam, the Lithuanians, the Semigallians, the Kurs, the Neroma, the Livonians—these have tongues of their own and are of Japheth's stock, living in the northern lands.

While the Slavic tongue, as we have said, dwelt along the Danube, there came from the Scythians, that is, from the Khazars, those called Bulgars, and they settled along the Danube and were settlers among the Slavs. And after them came the White Magyars and inherited the Slavic land, driving out the Vlachs, who had taken the Slavic land for themselves. These Magyars began to be in the days of the emperor Heraclius, who marched against Chosroes, emperor of Persia. In those same times there were the Avars also, who made war on the emperor Heraclius and all but seized him. These Avars made war on the Slavs and tormented the Dulebians, who were Slavs, and did violence to the Dulebian women: when an Avar had to ride anywhere, he would not let them harness a horse or an ox, but ordered 3, or 4, or 5 women harnessed to his cart and himself drawn in it; and so they tormented the Dulebians. The Avars were great of body and proud of mind, and God destroyed them, and they all died, and not one Avar remained. And there is a proverb in Rus' to this day: they perished like the Avars—of them there is left neither tribe nor heir. After them came the Pechenegs, and then the Black Magyars passed by Kyiv, later, in Olga's time.

While the Polianians lived apart, as we have said—being of the Slavic stock, they were called Polianians—the Derevlianians too were from the Slavs, and were called Derevlianians; the Radimichians and the Viatichians, however, were from the Poles. For there were two brothers among the Poles: Radim, and the other Viatko; and they came and settled—Radim on the Sozh, and his descendants were called Radimichians, while Viatko settled with his kin along the Oka, and from him the Viatichians were named. And the Polianians, and the Derevlianians, and the Severianians, and the Radimichians, and the Viatichians, and the Croats lived in peace. The Dulebians lived along the Bug, where the Volhynians now are; and the Ulichians and the Tivertsians sat along the Bug and along the Dnieper and reached to the Danube. And they were a great multitude, for they sat along the Bug and along the Dnieper even to the sea, and their cities stand to this day; and the Greeks called them Great Scythia.

For they had their own customs, and the laws of their fathers, and their traditions, each his own disposition. The Polianians kept the custom of their fathers, mild and quiet, with modesty toward their daughters-in-law and their sisters, and toward their mothers; and the daughters-in-law had great modesty toward their mothers-in-law and their brothers-in-law. And they had a marriage custom: the bridegroom did not go after the bride, but they brought her in the evening, and in the morning they brought whatever was given for her. The Derevlianians, however, lived after the manner of beasts, living like cattle: they killed one another, ate everything unclean, and had no marriages among them, but carried off maidens by the waterside. The Radimichians, the Viatichians, and the Severianians had one custom: they lived in the forest like every wild beast, ate everything unclean, and there was shameless talk among them before fathers and before daughters-in-law; and marriages were not held among them, but games between the villages: they gathered at the games, at dancing and at all devilish songs, and there each carried off a wife for himself—her with whom he had agreed—and they kept two wives, and three, apiece. And when one of them died, they held a funeral feast over him, then raised a great mound and laid the dead man upon the mound and burned him; and afterward, gathering the bones, they set them in a […] small vessel and placed it on a post at the crossroads—as the Viatichians do to this day. The Krivichians and the other pagans kept these same customs, not knowing the law of God, but making a law for themselves.

George says in the chronicle: “For to each people either a written law is given, or customs—for so it seems to lawless fatherlands. Of these, first are the Syrians, who dwell at the ends of the earth: they have the law of their fathers and their customs—not to fornicate, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness, nor kill, nor do evil to anyone at all. There is a law also among the Bactrians, those called Brahmans and the islanders, who by the teaching and piety of their forefathers eat no meat and drink no wine, and do no lechery and no wickedness whatever, out of great fear. For plainly the Indians next adjoining them are man-slayers and workers of abomination, wrathful beyond nature; and in the innermost part of their land they eat men and kill the stranger, eating rather like dogs. Another law have the Chaldeans and the Babylonians: to take their own mothers, and to commit lechery with their brothers' children, and to kill; every shameless deed they account a virtue, though they be far from their own country.

Another law is that of the Gelae: their wives plow, and build the houses, and do the men's work, and take lovers as freely as they please, in no way held back by their husbands, nor blamed for it. Among them are women bold to hunt the strongest beasts. The wives rule their husbands and keep them under their hand. In Britain many men sleep with one wife, and in like manner many wives share one man in their lust, doing the lawless works of their fathers without malice and without restraint.

The Amazons keep no husband, but live like dumb beasts: once in the year, toward the days of spring, they go forth into the land and take their pleasure with the men of the country round about […], and they hold that time as a kind of fair and a great festival. And when they have conceived in the womb, they all scatter thence again. And when the time of birth comes upon them, if a male child is born, they destroy it; but if it is a girl, they fondle it and carefully bring it up.”

So it is even now among us: the Cumans keep the law of their fathers—to shed blood, and to boast of it; to eat carrion and all unclean things, hamsters and ground squirrels; to take their stepmothers and their brothers' widows; and the other customs of their fathers. But we Christians, in whatever lands believe in the holy Trinity and in one baptism and in one faith, have one law: that we were baptized into Christ and put on Christ.

After these years, when these brothers had died, they began to suffer wrong from the Derevlianians and from other neighbors. And the Khazars came upon them, as they sat in the forest on the hills, and the Khazars said: “Pay us tribute.” And the Polianians took counsel and gave a sword from each hearth. And the Khazars carried them to their prince and to their elders and said: “Behold, we have found a new tribute.” They said: “Where from?” They said: “In the forest on the hills, above the river Dnieper.” They said: “What have they given?” And they showed the sword. And the Khazar elders said: “Not a good tribute this, prince! We sought it with a weapon sharp on one side only—sabers; but the weapon of these is sharp on both edges—swords. These are the ones who will take tribute from us and from other lands.” And all this came to pass: they spoke not of their own will, but by God's ordinance. So it was in the days of Pharaoh, emperor of Egypt: when they brought Moses before Pharaoh, the elders said to Pharaoh: “This man means to bring low the realm of Egypt”; and so it came to pass—the Egyptians perished at the hand of Moses, though at first the Israelites had been their slaves. So it was with these: at the first they held sway, and in the end the very ones they had ruled held sway over them—and so it proved, for the princes of Rus' hold the Khazars in subjection to this day.

After these brothers their clan began to hold the princedom among the Polianians; the Derevlianians held their own, the Dregovichians their own, and the Slovenes their own in Novgorod, and another branch on the Polota, from whom come the Polotskians. From these come the Krivichians too, who sit on the upper Volga and on the upper Dvina and on the upper Dnieper; their city is Smolensk, and that is where the Krivichians sit. Then the Severianians come from them. On Lake Beloe sit the Ves; on Lake Rostov the Merians; and on Lake Kleshchin Merians sit as well. Along the river Oka, where it flows into the Volga, the Muroma speak their own language, the Cheremis their own language, and the Mordvians their own language. This alone is the Slavic tongue in Rus': the Polianians, the Derevlianians, the people of Novgorod, the Polotskians, the Dregovichians, the Severianians, and the Buzhanians — so called because they sit along the Bug; later they were named the Volhynians.

These are the other peoples who pay tribute to Rus': the Chud, the Ves, the Merians, the Muroma, the Cheremis, the Mordvians, the Permians, the Pechera, the Yam, the Lithuanians, the Semigallians, the Kurs, the Neroma, and the Livonians. Each of them has its own language; they are of the stock of Japheth and live in the northern lands.

When the Slavic tongue, as we said, was living on the Danube, there came from the Scythians, that is, from the Khazars, the people called Bulgars; they settled along the Danube and were neighbors to the Slavs. After them came the White Magyars and seized the Slavic land, driving out the Vlachs, who had taken that Slavic land. These Magyars first appeared under Emperor Heraclius, the one who marched against Chosroes, emperor of Persia. In those same times there were also the Avars, who made war on Emperor Heraclius and all but took him. These Avars made war on the Slavs and tormented the Dulebians, who were Slavs, and did violence to the Dulebian women: when an Avar had to ride out, he would not let a horse or an ox be harnessed, but ordered 3, or 4, or 5 women harnessed to a cart to pull the Avar. So they tormented the Dulebians. The Avars were great in body but proud in mind, and God destroyed them; they all died, and not one Avar remained. There is a saying in Rus' to this day: “They perished like the Avars” — people who left neither tribe nor heir. After them came the Pechenegs, and later the Black Magyars passed by Kyiv, in Olga's time.

While the Polianians lived by themselves, as we said, those of Slavic stock were called Polianians, and the Derevlianians too came from the Slavs and took that name; the Radimichians and the Viatichians came from the Poles. For there were two brothers among the Poles: Radim, and the other Viatko. They came and settled: Radim on the Sozh, and his people were called the Radimichians; Viatko settled with his clan along the Oka, and from him come the Viatichians. The Polianians, the Derevlianians, the Severianians, the Radimichians, the Viatichians, and the Croats lived in peace. The Dulebians lived along the Bug, where the Volhynians are now, and the Ulichians and the Tivertsians sat along the Bug and along the Dnieper and reached out to the Danube. They were many: they sat along the Bug and the Dnieper all the way to the sea, and their towns stand to this day; the Greeks called them Great Scythia.

Each had its own customs, the laws of its fathers and its traditions, each its own ways. The Polianians kept the custom of their fathers, mild and gentle, with modesty toward their daughters-in-law and their sisters and their mothers, and daughters-in-law had great modesty toward their mothers-in-law and their husbands' brothers. They had a marriage custom: the groom did not go after the bride; they brought her in the evening, and the next morning they brought whatever was given for her. The Derevlianians lived after the manner of beasts, like cattle: they killed one another, ate everything unclean, and had no marriages; they carried off girls by the water. The Radimichians, the Viatichians, and the Severianians had one custom: they lived in the forest like any wild beast, ate everything unclean, and spoke shamelessly before their fathers and before their daughters-in-law. They had no weddings; there were gatherings between the villages. They came together at the gatherings, for dancing and every devilish song, and there they carried off wives for themselves, each the one he had come to terms with. They had two and three wives each. When someone died, they held a funeral feast over him, then raised a great pyre, laid the dead man on it, and burned him; then they gathered the bones, put them in a small […] vessel, and set it on a post at the crossroads — as the Viatichians still do. The Krivichians and the other pagans kept these same customs, not knowing God's law, but making a law for themselves.

George says in the chronicle: “Every people has some law: for some it is written out, for others it is custom, since that is what seems right in lands without law. Among these first are the Syrians, who live at the edge of the earth; they have the law and custom of their fathers: not to take part in lechery or adultery, not to steal, not to slander, not to kill, and not to do evil to anyone at all. The Bactrians too have a law — those called the Brahmans and the islanders; by the teaching and piety of their forefathers they eat no meat and drink no wine and commit no lechery and do no evil deed at all, out of great fear. For it is plain that the Indians living next to them are murderers, workers of filth, more given to wrath than nature allows; and in their innermost land they eat people and kill travelers — they even eat like dogs. The Chaldeans and the Babylonians have another law: to take their mothers, to commit lechery with their brothers' children, and to kill. They count every shameless deed a virtue, even when they do it far from their own land.”

“The Gelae have another law: their women plow, build houses, and do men's work; they also take lovers as they please, never held back or blamed by their husbands. Among them are bold women who hunt strong beasts. The wives rule their husbands and make use of them. In Britain many men sleep with one wife, and likewise many women lust after one man, and they do the lawless deeds of their fathers without envy and without restraint.”

“The Amazons have no husband; they live like dumb beasts. Once a year, toward the days of spring, they come out on the land and couple with the men of the country around […], and they hold that time to be a kind of fair and a great feast. When they have conceived in the womb, they all run away from there again. When the time comes to give birth, if a boy child is born, they destroy it; but if it is a girl, they nurse it with care and bring it up.”

So even now, among us, the Cumans keep the law of their fathers: to shed blood and to boast of it, to eat carrion and every unclean thing — hamsters and gophers — and to take their stepmothers and their brothers' widows, and the other customs of their fathers. But we Christians, all the lands that believe in the Holy Trinity and in one baptism and in one faith, have one law — all who were baptized in Christ and clothed themselves in Christ.

After these years, when these brothers had died, they were oppressed by the Derevlianians and by other neighbors. The Khazars came upon them as they sat in the forests on the hills, and the Khazars said: “Pay us tribute.” The Polianians took counsel and gave a sword from each hearth. The Khazars carried them to their prince and their elders and said: “Here, we have found a new tribute.” They asked: “From where?” They said: “In the forest on the hills, over the Dnieper river.” They asked: “What have they given?” They showed the sword. And the Khazar elders said: “This tribute is not good, prince! We won our tribute with weapons sharp on one side only, that is, sabers; but these people have weapons sharp on both edges, that is, swords. They will be collecting tribute from us and from other lands.” All this came true: they did not speak by their own will, but by God's design. So too in the time of Pharaoh, emperor of Egypt, when they brought Moses before Pharaoh and the elders said to Pharaoh: “This man wants to humble the realm of Egypt” — and so it was: the Egyptians perished through Moses, though at first they had made the Hebrews work for them. So with these: at first they ruled, and in the end they themselves are ruled; and so it happened, for the princes of Rus' hold power over the Khazars to this day.