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Primary Chronicle

Primary Chronicle
Tale of Bygone Years
Povest' vremennykh let[a]
Sheet from Radziwiłł Chronicle
Author(s)Traditionally thought to have been be Nestor, now considered unknown
LanguageChurch Slavonic
Datec. 1113
Manuscript(s)5 main surviving codices:[1]
Period coveredFrom biblical times to 1117 CE

The Primary Chronicle, shortened from the common Russian Primary Chronicle[b] (Church Slavonic: Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, romanized: Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ,[c] commonly transcribed Povest' vremennykh let (PVL),[a] lit. 'Tale of Bygone Years'),[6][2] is a chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been originally compiled in or near Kiev in the 1110s. Tradition ascribed its compilation to the monk Nestor beginning in the 12th century,[11] but this is no longer believed to have been the case.

The title of the work, Povest' vremennykh let ("Tale of Bygone Years") comes from the opening sentence of the Laurentian text:[12] "These are the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus', the first princes of Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus' had its beginning".[13] The work is considered a fundamental source for the earliest history of the East Slavs.[14]

The content of the chronicle is known today from the several surviving versions and codices, revised over the years, slightly varying from one another. Because of several identified chronological issues and numerous logical incongruities pointed out by historians over the years, its reliability as a historical source has been strictly scrutinized by experts in the field. (See § Assessment and critique.)


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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lunt 1994, p. 10.
  2. ^ a b Martin 2007, p. 97.
  3. ^ a b c Isoaho 2018, p. 637.
  4. ^ a b Lunt 1988, p. 251.
  5. ^ Lunt 1995, p. 335.
  6. ^ a b c Dimnik 2004, p. 255.
  7. ^ a b Ostrowski 1981, p. 11.
  8. ^ a b Ostrowski 2018, p. 32.
  9. ^ Gippius 2014, p. 341.
  10. ^ Gippius 2014, p. 342.
  11. ^ Zhukovsky, A. (2001). "Povist' vremennykh lit – The Tale of Bygone Years". Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  12. ^ Cross & Sherbowitz-Wetzor 1953, pp. 3–4.
  13. ^ Cross & Sherbowitz-Wetzor 1953, p. 51.
  14. ^ Horace G. Lunt (Summer 1988). "On Interpreting the Russian Primary Chronicle: The Year 1037". The Slavic and East European Journal. 32 (2): 251. doi:10.2307/308891. JSTOR 308891. The major source of information about early East Slavic history is Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ (=PVL) Americans usually know it as the Russian Primary Chronicle, for that is the title Samuel Hazzard Cross gave to his 1930 translation into English."

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