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Якоже пишеть премудрый Епифаний: «Къ коей же твари ангелъ приставленъ: ангелъ облакомъ и мъгламъ, и снѣгу, и граду, и мразу, ангелъ гласомъ и громомъ, to clouds, and fogs, and snow, and hail, and frost. There are angels for sounds and for thunders, ангелъ зимы, и зноеви, и осени, и весны, и лѣта, всему духу angels of winter, of heat, of autumn, spring, and summer. [And angels are appointed] to all the spirits твари его на земли, и тайныя бездны, и суть скровены подъ землею, of His creation on the earth, and to secret abysses, and to what is hidden under the earth, и преисподьнии тьмы, и сущи връху безны, and to the darkness beneath the earth, and to the darkness in the abyss бывшия древле верху земля, от неяже тмы, вечеръ, и нощь, и свѣтъ, и день». Ко всимъ тваремъ ангели приставлени. Tако же ангелъ приставленъ къ которой убо земли, Angels are appointed to all creation. In the same way, an angel is appointed to each land, да соблюдають куюжьто землю, аще суть и погани. Аще Божий гнѣвъ будеть на кую убо землю, to guard all lands, even if they are pagan. In the case of God’s anger at a certain land, повелѣвая ангелу тому на кую убо землю бранью ити, God commands one of those angels to wage a war against that land, то оной землѣ ангелъ не вопротивится повелѣнью Божью. and the angel of the land [commanded to wage a war] does not disobey God’s command. Яко и се бяше, и на ны навелъ Богъ, грѣхъ ради нашихъ, иноплеменникы поганыя, и побѣжахуть ны повелѣньемъ Божьимъ, они бо бяху водими аньеломъ по повелѣнью Божью. and they won by God’s command, for they were led by an angel by God’s command. Аще ли кто речеть, яко аньела нѣсть у поганыхъ, да слышить, яко Олександру Макидоньскому, ополчившю на Дарья и пошедшю ему, и побидившю землю всю от въстокъ и до западъ, while preparing to fight against Darius, after he defeated the whole earth from East to West, 15. и поби землю Егупетьскую, и поби Арама, и приде в островы морьскыя; 15. crushed Egypt and Aram, arrived to the sea islands и врати лице свое взыти въ Ерусалимъ, побидити жиды, занеже бяху мирни со Дарьемь. and turned toward Jerusalem, to crush the Jews because they were on friendly terms with Darius. И поиде со вси вои его, и ста на товарищи, и почи. And when he was on the march with all his soldiers, he pitched a camp and went to sleep. И приспѣ ночь, и лежа на ложи своемь посредѣ шатра, отверзъ очи свои, види мужа, The night came, and, when he was lying in his bed inside the tent, he opened his eyes and saw a man стояща над нимь и мѣчь нагъ в руцѣ его, и обличие меча его яко молонии. standing above him, a naked sword in his hand, and the appearance of the sword was like lightning. И запряже мечемь своимъ на главу цареву. И ужасеся цесарь велми и рече: And this man made to strike the emperor’s head, and the emperor was terrified greatly and said, «Не бий мене». И рече ему ангелъ: «Посла мя Богь уимати цесарѣ великии предъ тобою “Do not strike me!” And the angel said, “God sent me to subdue great emperors и люди многи, азъ же хожю предъ тобою, помагая ти. А нынѣ вѣдай, and many people before you. Indeed, I walk before you, assisting you. However, now learn that you яко умьреши, понеже помыслилъ еси взити въ Ерусалимъ, зло створити ерѣемъ Божьимъ и к людемъ его». will die because you want to take Jerusalem and to harm God’s priests and His people.” И рече царь: «Молю тя, о Господи, отпусти нынѣ грѣхъ раба твоего, аче не любо ти, а ворочюся дому моему». And the emperor said, “I pray you, oh Lord, forgive your servant’s sin now. If this does not please you, I will return home.” И рече ангелъ: «Не бойся, иди путемъ твоимъ къ Иерусалиму, 25. And the angel said, “Do not fear, proceed on your way to Jerusalem, and you и узриши ту въ Ерусалими мужа въ обличении моем, и борзо пади на лици своемь, will see there, in Jerusalem, a man with the same appearance as me. Fall down on your face at once и поклонися мужу тому, и все, еже речеть к тобѣ, створи, не прѣступи рѣчи ему. and bow down before that man. Do everything that he tells you and do not disobey his words. В онь же день приступиши рѣчь его, и умреши». On the day you disobey his words, you will die.” И въставъ, цесарь иде въ Ерусалимъ и, пришедъ, въспроси ерѣевъ: «Иду ли на Дарья?» The emperor got up and went to Jerusalem, and after he came there, he asked the priests, “Should I go against Darius?” И показаша ему книги Данила пророка и рекоша ему: «Ты еси козелъ, а онъ овенъ, And they showed him the books of the prophet Daniel and told him, “You are the goat, and he is the ram, и потолчеши и возмеши царство его». Се убо не ангелъ ли вожаше Олексаньдра, не поганъ ли побѣжаше Therefore, was not this an angel who led Alexander? Did not he win his victories while being a pagan, и вси елини кумирослужебници? Тако и си погании попущени грѣхъ ради нашихъ. Се же вѣдомо буди, яко въ хрестьянехъ не единъ ангелъ, Let it be known that there is not just one angel among the Christians, но елико крестишася, паче же къ благовѣрнымъ княземъ нашимъ. but there are as many of them as there are baptized persons; in particular, [guardian angels are appointed] to our pious princes. Но противу Божью повеленью не могуть противитися, но молять Бога прилѣжно за хрестьяньскыя люди. But these angels cannot act contrary to God’s command; but they ardently pray to God on behalf of the Christian people. Якоже и бысть: молитвами святыя Богородица и святыхъ ангелъ умилосердися Богъ и посла This occurred when God showed his mercy because of the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and the holy angels, ангелы в помощь русьскимъ княземъ на поганыя. Якоже рече и Моисѣеви: «Се ангелъ мой прѣдыпоидеть предъ лицемъ твоимъ». Якоже рекохомъ прѣже, зьнаменье се бысть мѣсяца февраля въ 11 день, исходяще сему лѣту 18. И въпросиша колодникъ, глаголюще: [After the battle with the Cumans, the Rus princes] asked the prisoners and said, «Како васъ толка сила и многое множество не могосте ся противити, но воскорѣ побѣгостѣ?» “How come there were such a great force and such a great multitude of you, and you could not resist us and fled so soon?” Си же отвѣщеваху, глаголюще: «Како можемъ битися с вами, 44. а друзии ѣздяху верху васъ въ оружьи свѣтлѣ и страшни, иже помагаху вамъ?» And they answered, “How could we fight against you when some others rode above you, terrifying, with shining weapons, and helped you?” Токмо се суть ангели, от Бога послани помогатъ хрестьяномъ. These could only be angels sent by God to help the Christians. Се бо ангелъ вложи въ сердце Володимеру Манамаху поустити братью свою на иноплеменникы, русьскии князи. Се бо, якоже рекохомъ, видинье видиша в Печерьскомъ манастыри, еже стояше столпъ огненъ на тряпезници, As we mentioned above, we had a vision in the Caves monastery, when a fiery pillar stood on the refectory таже преступѣ на церковь и оттуда к Городцю; ту бо бяше Володимеръ в Радосыни. И тогда се ангелъ вложи Володимеру въ сердце, нача понужати, якоже рекохомъ. И се пакы, якоже Иполитъ глаголеть, толкуеть Данила: Also, as HippolytusHippolytus of Rome (c. 170 – c. 235 CE), a theologian, whose works include the Commentary on the Prophet Daniel. says, interpreting the Book of Daniel, «В лѣто третьее Кура цесаря, азъ Данилъ плакахъся три недѣли. “'In the third year of the reign of Emperor Cyrus, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. Перваго же мѣсяца смирихся, моля Бога дьний 20 и 1, прося от него откровенья тайны. And in the first month I humbled myself, praying to God for twenty-one days, asking him to reveal the secret. И, услышавъ, Отець пусти слово свое, кажа хотящее быти имъ. And the Father heard me and sent hisIn the original, the word is tvoe, “your,” apparently written accidentally instead of svoe, “his.” word to me, showing by it what shall happen. И бысть на велицѣ рѣцѣ, лѣпо бяшеть ту ся явити, идѣже хотяше и грѣхи отпущати. This occurred by the side of the great river.Dan. 10: 1-4. The word “river” is omitted in the original. It was fitting for God to reveal himself there, where he would in the future forgive sins.According to Hippolytus, the Tigris, the “great river,” on the bank of which Daniel had his vision, prefigures the River Jordan. Philip Schaff, Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1885), p. 182. 95. И возведъ очи свои, видѣхъ: и се мужь одѣнъ в багоръ. Первый рече видѣньемь, 95. ‘And I raised my eyes and saw a man clad in purple.’ At first sight,The Khlebnikov manuscript has “at first sight”; the Hypatian has “the first one,” probably referring to Daniel’s previous vision of the Archangel Gabriel (Dan. 8: 16). Both versions convey the idea that this vision looked similar to the appearance of Gabriel, but was, in fact, a vision of God. he said, he had the appearance аки Гаврилъ ангелъ летя, сдѣ же не тако, но видъ самого Господа, of the flying Angel Gabriel, but this was not so in this case, [as] it was the appearance of the Lord himself, видъ же не свершена человѣка, но образомъ человѣкомъ являющася, якоже глаголеть: not the appearance of the perfect Man, but appearing in the image of a man, as he [Daniel] says, “И се мужь одѣнъ въ пъстро, и лядвия его припоясани златомъ чистомъ, и тѣло его, аки фарсисъ, 'And behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold, his body like the beryl, и лице ему, аки молнья, и очи ему, яко свѣщи огненѣи, и мышци ему плещи and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet подобни мѣди чистѣ, и глас его, аки народа многа.” are similar to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.Dan.10: 5-6. И падохъ на земли, и се я мя аки рука, речи, человѣку, And I fell to the ground, and behold, it was as if a hand, similar to a human hand, touched me и еще въстави мя на колѣну и рече ко мнѣ: “Не бойся, Даниле, вѣси, что ради приидохъ к тобѣ? and set me upon my knees.Dan. 10:10. And he said unto me, ‘Fear not, Daniel. Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? Брань хочю створити съ княземъ перьскымь. Но повѣдаю ти писаное в писаньи истинномь, I will fight with the Persian prince. But I will tell you that which is written in the Scripture of Truth: и нѣсть никогоже прящася о сѣмь со мною, развѣ Михаила князя вашего, and there is none that holds with me in these things, but Michael your prince,Dan. 10: 20-21. того бо оставихъ ту. От него же бо дьне устремися молити предъ Богомъ твоимъ, for I left him there. From the first day that thou began to pray before thy God, услыша молитву твою, и пущенъ есмь азъ брань створити со княземь пръскым, thy words were heard,Dan. 10:12. and I was sent to make war against the Persian prince. Cъвѣт нѣкоторый бысть не отпустити люди. Да скоро убо будеть молитва твоя свершена, There was a certain counsel not to let the people go. So that thy prayer may be granted soon, противихся ему и оставихъ ту Михаила князя вашего». I resisted it, and I left Michael there, your prince’.” Кто есть Михаилъ, развѣ аньгела, прѣданаго людем? Яко и к Моисиеви глаголеть: Who is Michael if not an angel appointed to the people? As [God] says to Moses, «Не имамъ с вами ити на путь, занеже суть людье жестокою выею», но «ангелъ мой идеть с вами». “I will not go with thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people, but my angel will go with thee.”Ex. 33, 2-3. Якоже и се с Божьею помощью, молитвами святыя Богородица и святыхъ ангелъ, And likewise, with God’s help and through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and the holy angels, възъвратишася русьстии князи въсвояси съ славою великою къ своимъ людемъ; the Rus princes returned home, to their people, with great glory, и ко всимъ странамъ далнимъ, рекуще къ Грекомъ и Угромъ, и Ляхомъ, и Чехомъ, дондеже и до Рима проиде, [which] reached all the distant lands, that is, Greeks, and Hungarians, and Poles, and Bohemians, and even up to Rome, на славу Богу всегда и ныня, и присно во вѣки, аминь. for God’s glory now, forever and ever, amen.

Introduction to the Text

The “Discourse on Angels and Pagans” is found in the entries for the years 1110 and 1111[1] in the Hypatian Chronicle, an East Slavonic compilation believed to have been produced in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. The first part of the Hypatian is the text conventionally called the Russian Primary Chronicle in English. “Russian” in this case is a misnomer, because it refers to Rus (Rus'), the medieval realm whose heritage is claimed by Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

The scholarly consensus is that the Primary Chronicle was compiled in Kiev (Kyev) in the 1110s; its earliest surviving copy is from 1377. There are several redactions of the Primary Chronicle. Differences between them are rather minor, with the exception of the entries for 1110 and 1111. In all the redactions, these entries report a military expedition into the steppe launched from Kiev, with the intention to retaliate for past, and prevent future, raids by the Cumans  (also known as Kipchaks, Qipchaqs, and Polovtsians), a pagan nomadic people living to the south of Rus. According to the chronicler, the chief organizer of this expedition was Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1152-1125). He was inspired to fight the Cumans by an angel who appeared in the Kievan Caves monastery in the form of a fiery pillar; during the battle, angels helped the Rus troops. This narrative is present in all the redactions of the Primary Chronicle. However, only the version found in the Hypatian compilation contains the lengthy discourse on angels and pagans presented here.

Its manner of argumentation is typical of medieval treatises: the author interprets quotations from Christian Scripture, patristic literature, and other authoritative texts; however, it is hard to find parallels to the subject matter and main thesis of this discourse. The author begins with a quotation from the fourth-century church father Epiphanius of Salamis, stating that the elements and forces of nature each have their own angel; he then extrapolates from this statement to argue that, therefore, angels are also appointed to countries and peoples, including the Cumans. To refute an objection that pagans cannot have angels, the author uses the medieval legend about an angel guiding Alexander the Great in his conquests. Next, to argue that an angel can be appointed to a collectivity and not only to an individual, he  refers to the “angel of the church in Smyrna” from the New Testament (Rev 2:8), and then uses Biblical quotations to show that the Archangel Michael was appointed as the angel of the Jewish people as a whole, and that another angel was appointed to the Persians.

Apparently, the argument is as follows. If angels were appointed to the Jewish people and to churches, then it is possible for a collectivity to have an angel. If Alexander the Great was led by an angel, then it is possible for a pagan to have an angel. Therefore, it is possible for a pagan collectivity to have its own angel, which is further confirmed by references to the angel of the Persians. Likewise, the Cumans have their own angel, who leads them when they make war on Rus, which they do on God’s command, as punishment for sins of the Rus people.

The unknown medieval Christian author offers an inclusive, integrative view of the world, where God-appointed angels watch over every force of nature and every ethnic group, regardless of its religion. Pagans, including those fighting against the Christians, are not inherently evil; they play a role in God's plan for humanity. The example of Alexander the Great, whose portrayal in the Primary Chronicle is very laudatory, shows that pagans sometimes represent forces of good. A parallel with Alexander casts a positive light on the Cumans, which, taken together with the fighting against them reported in the same chronicle entries, creates a complex, rich picture of relations between Christian Rus and the pagan steppe.

So far, this text has received very little scholarly attention. Back in 1957, André Vaillant made an important contribution when he identified the sources of some of the erudite quotations in the entries for 1110-1111. However, he viewed the discourse as a whole as an inept string of random passages from unrelated texts. The next work on the subject appeared in 2001, when Alan Timberlake interpreted the entries for 1110-1111 as evidence for a “dialectic” worldview of the chronicler, who believed that angels may sometimes be “malevolent,” although the angel of the Cumans is never described as malevolent in the original text. Yulia Mikhailova (the present translator) interprets the discourse on angels as a statement on the inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations in southern Rus, which was a borderland between the Christian sedentary agriculturalists and pagan nomadic pastoralists. Their relations included not only military conflicts, but also alliances, intermarriages, and other peaceful interactions. The discourse on angels and pagans explained how such interactions were possible in spite of intermittent hostilities.

The Hypatian Chronicle compilation containing the redaction of the Primary Chronicle with the discourse on angels and pagans survived in the Hypatian Codex (datable to the 1420s), the Khlebnikov Codex (datable to the 1550s-1660s), and in several copies of the Khlebnikov. It is unknown when the discourse on angels and pagans was composed. Numerous errors of inattention suggest that the Hypatian scribe copied an earlier text rather than composing the discourse himself. The discourse is placed at the end of the text of the early twelfth-century Primary Chronicle, which, in the Hypatian, transitions into the Kievan Chronicle, believed to have been compiled in 1198/9. Both of these twelfth-century chronicles, the Primary and Kievan, devote much attention to relations with the pagan neighbors of Rus, making it probable that the “Discourse on Angels and Pagans,” which conceptualizes these relations, was composed in the twelfth century.

Further Reading

Ostrowski, Donald, ed. and coll., with David Birnbaum and Horace G. Lunt. The Povest' vremennykh let: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis. Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature, Text Series 10. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2003. Available at https://donostrowski2.bitbucket.io/pvl/index.html. Accessed 14 July 2021.

• Introduction, pp. xvii-lxxii, provides a general overview of the Primary Chronicle.

Griffin, Sean. The Liturgical Past in Byzantium and Early Rus. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2019.

• Chapter 2 “The Rus Primary Chronicle,” pp. 35-61, provides a general overview of the Primary Chronicle.

Golden, Peter. “Nomads and Their Sedentary Neighbors in Pre-Činggisid Eurasia.” Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, vol. 7, 1987-1991, pp. 41-81. Available at https://www.academia.edu/37198252/Golden_Nomads_and_Their_Sedentary_Neighbors_in_Pre_%C4%8Cinggisid_Eurasia_Published_in_Archivum_Eurasiae_Medii_Aevi_VII_1987_1991_41_81. Accessed 14 July 2021.

• See pp. 54-68 for an overview of relations between Rus and the steppe nomads.

Mikhailova, Yulia. “‘Christians and Pagans’ in the Chronicles of Pre-Mongolian Rus: Beyond the Dichotomy of ‘Good Us’ and ‘Bad Them’.” Geschichte der Slavia Asiatica: Quellenkundliche Probleme. Eds. Christian Lübke, Ilmira Miftakhova and Wolfram von Scheliha. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2013, pp. 22-51. Available at https://www.academia.edu/9770800/Correct_version_of_Christians_and_Pagans_in_the_Chronicles_of_Pre_Mongolian_Rus_Beyond_the_Dichotomy_of_Good_Us_and_Bad_Them_In_Geschichte_der_Slavia_Asiatica_Quellenkundliche_Probleme_edited_by_Christian_L%C3%BCbke_Ilmira_Miftakhova_and_Wolfram_von_Scheliha_50_79. Accessed 14 July 2021.

• Examines representations of the steppe nomads in the twelfth – early thirteenth-century East Slavonic sources. For the discourse on angels and pagans, see p. 73.

Mikhailova, Yulia. “Angels for Pagans: The Discourse on Angels in the Hypatian Codex as a Conceptualization of Cooperation between Christian Slavs and Pagan Turks in Southern Rus.” 2014 Midwest Slavic Conference. Available at https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/61177. Accessed 14 July 2021.

Timberlake, Alan. “Redactions of the Primary Chronicle,” Russkii iazyk v nauchnom osveshchenii, vol. 1, 2001, pp. 196-218.

• For the discourse on angels and pagans, see pp. 217-18.

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