The background reading was once again helpful in understanding the text. The reading focused on the domination of Russia by the Mongols and the toll it took on the people of the country, which prepared me for the melancholic ending of the Lay.

The importance of the ruler to the Russians is clear throughout the text, as at the end: ‘”It is difficult for a head to be without shoulders. But it is also difficult for the body to be without the head.” And so it is difficult for the Russian land to be without Prince Igor.’ This could be connected to the authoritarian history of Russia, often less democratic than the west.

Another interesting theme in the Lay was coexistence of Christianity and paganism. Throughout most of the text, Russia’s pagan gods and the forces of nature are frequently invoked and revered, until Christianity is mentioned at the very end: “Igor rides along the Borichev to the Church of the Holy Virgin…Hail to the princes and the armies who fight for Christendom and against the infidel hosts.” The reference to the Kumans and other enemies as “infidels” is the one constant, whether the Lay appears devoted to Christianity or the pre-Christian religion. This goes along with the themes we already discussed in class, of previous authors being devoted to the church but still wishing to glorify Russia’s pagan past.

The opera seemed very fitting for the text, with its beauty and grandeur and melodrama.