Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature

1607-6192 2713-2226

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-360-371

Research Article

Articles

Chronicle Message on the Murder of Vaišvilkas of Lithuania and Old Russian Tales about Princely Crimes

Pautkin

Alexey A.

old-rus@imli.ru

2026

25 360 371

2026

The article examines the chronicle account of the murder of the Lithuanian prince Vaišvilkas by Lev Danilovich of Halych. Vaišvilkas became the first Lithuanian ruler to convert to Orthodoxy. After becoming a monk, he left his possessions to his brother-in-law, Shvarn Danilovich, Lev’s younger brother. As a result, the Russian prince briefly held control of the Lithuanian lands. This event sparked jealousy among Lev Danilovich and led to the treacherous murder of Vaišvilkas — the prince — monk and the godfather, who baptized Yuri Lvovich, the murderer’s son. The thirteenth century Volyn Chronicle contains a brief description of the episode in Russian-Lithuanian relations. D.S. Likhachev introduced the concept of Old Russian “chronicle stories about princely crimes.” Despite its brevity, the chronicle fragment under consideration shares common motifs and stylistic features that bring it closer to similar accusatory stories from the 11th and 12th centuries. The features of the internal political life of southwestern Russia during the establishment of Mongol dominion and the new stage of fragmentation of the region’s lands after the death of Daniel Romanovich of Galicia are reflected here. Comparison with later sources suggests that the hypothetical original text of the story about Vaišvilkas may have been shortened, which is reflected in the Volyn Chronicle.

Andreeva, A. “‘Izmeni rizy svoi chernecheskya’: Obraz Voishelka Litovskogo v ‘Stepennoi knige’.” [“‘Change Your Black Robes’: The Image of Vaišvilkas o f Lithuania in the Book of Degrees”]. Makarievskie chteniia, iss. XXIX: Peter the Great Era and Russian Orthodoxy. Mozhaisk, [s. n.], 2023, pp. 435–441. (In Russian)

Eremin, I.P. Lektsii i stat’i po istorii drevnei russkoi literatury [Lectures and Articles on the History of Old Russian Literature]. Leningrad, Leningrad State Univercity , 1987. 328 p. (In Russian)

Kibin’, A.S. “Litovskii kniaz’ i indiiskii tsarevich: v poiskakh skhodstva (istoriia o Voishelke)” [“Lithuanian Prince and the Indian Prince: In Search of Similarities (The Story of Vaišvilkas)”]. Peterburgskie slavianskie i balkanskie issledovaniia, 2 (10), July-December, 2011, pp. 11–28. (In Russian)

Likhachev, S. Russkie letopisi i ikh kul’turno-istoricheskoe znachenie [Russian Chronicles and Their Cultural and Historical Significance]. Moscow, Leningrad, Academy of Sciences of the USSR Publ., 1947. 499 p. (In Russian)

Ogitskii, P. “Velikii kniaz’ Voishelk (stranitsa iz istorii Pravoslaviia v Litve)” [“Grand Duke Vaišvilkas (a Page from the History of Orthodoxy in Lithuania)”]. Bogoslovskie Trudy, coll. 24. Мoscow, Moscow Patriarchate Publ., 1983. pp. 171–196. (In Russian)

Priselkov, D. Istoriia russkogo letopisaniia XI–XV vv. [History of Russian Chro- nicles from the 11th to the 15th Centuries]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 1996. 325 p. (In Russian)

Sochneva, A. Zhanrovaia priroda povestei o kniazheskikh prestupleniiakh v sostave drevnerusskogo letopisaniia domongol’skogo perioda [Genre Nature of the Stories about Princely Crimes in the Old Russian Chronicles of the pre-Mongol Period]. Tiumen’, Editorial and Publishing Center of Kurgan State University Publ., 2014. 24 p. (In Russian)

Tolochko, “Odna zaimstvovannaia formula v Galitsko-Volynskoi letopisi” [“One Borrowed Formula in the Galicia-Volhynia Chronicle”]. Ruthenica, vol. V, 2006, pp. 256–257. (In Russian)

Tolochko, P. “Litovskii kniaz’ Voishelk v russkikh letopisiakh” [“Lithuanian Prince Vaišvilkas in Russian Chronicles”]. Ruthenica, vol. V, 2006, pp. 117–127. (In Russian)

10.

Trofimova, V. “Motiv pira v bylinakh i letopisnykh tekstakh” [“Motif of the Feast in Epic Poems and Chronicle Texts”]. Semantika narodnoi kultury v literature. Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii, g. Moskva. 18–19 aprelia 2024 g. MPGU [Semantics of Folk Culture in Literature. Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference, Moscow, April 18–19, 2024. Moscow State Pedagogical University]. Moscow, [s. n.], 2024, pp. 207–208. (In Russian)