THE NAMES TROYAN AND BOYAN IN OLD RUSSIAN. 

 By J. DYNELEY PRINCE. 



{Read April 14, 19 17.) 



The famous old Russian epic " The Tale of the Armament of Igor " 

 (1185 A. D.), relating in striking form the exploits of the hosts of the 

 ancient Russian Prince Igor Svyatoslavic, has been ably edited and 

 translated by Leonard A. Magnus, LL.B. (Oxford University Press, 

 1915). The majority of the allusions in this poem are more or less 

 clear historically, but the obscure references to Troyan and Boyan 

 have been a matter of scientific discussion for over a century. The 

 following brief exposition of this question may perhaps throw 

 some additional light on the problem. 



There are four references in the Igor-text to Troyan (cited by 

 Magnus, p. xlix) : 



1. In the invocation to Boyan (lines 59 ff.), stating how Boyan 

 might have sung on the subject treated by the author of the 

 Igor epic : 



O Boyanc soloviju starogo vrcmcni'^ O Boyan, nightingale of ancient times, 



ahy fy sia polki uscekotal had'st thou but warbled these host's, 



skaca slaviyu po viyslenu drcvii leaping, O nightingale, through the 

 letaya umoni pod ohlaki tree of thought, 



svivaya slavy oba flj'ing in mind beneath the clouds, 



poly sego vremeni interweaving the glories of both 



risca v tropii Troyattyu halves of this time, 



crcs pola nd gory rushing on the path of Troyan 



through the plains to the hills! 



2. A reference to past events in connection with Troyan, lines 

 209 ff . : 



Byli veci (or scci) Trdyani There have been the ages (or bat- 



minula letd Yaroslavlya ties) of Troyan; 



byli polci 01' govy past are the years of Yaroslav ; 



there have been the armies of Oleg. 



1 The system of transliteration herein adopted is based on the Croatian 

 method, save that the Old Russian hard sign is indicated by ', and the soft 

 sign by '. 



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