Pagan ancestors in the early historical writing of England and Rus

Abstract

The author compares the perception of the pagan past in early historical writing of Anglo-Saxon England and old Rus. The earliest extant Rus historiographic work, the Kievan Primary Chronicle ( Povest’ vremennykh let ) of the 1110s depicts the deeds of 9^th- and 10^th-century pagan princes in rather neutral terms. Although the annalist clearly condemns paganism, he perceives and narrates the pagan period as a legitimate part of his own state’s history. A similar attitude can be seen in some smaller early Rus texts, as well as, it may be assumed, in 11^th-century textual predecessors of the Primary Chroni cle . In Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed in 731), at first glance, the attitude towards the pagan past of the Anglo-Saxons is different: Bede does not narrate the history of this period, he only mentions it a few times. Nevertheless, it can be shown that Bede’s own perception of the pagan past was quite similar to that of the early Rus historical writers. The same attitude can be followed in some smaller or later texts such as royal genealogies, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , etc. However, in both countries one can find examples of lists of rulers which include only Christian ones.