science

Igor of Kiev

Igor of Kiev is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Igor of Kiev rather than just read about it. In short: Igor (Church Slavonic: Игорь; Old Norse: Ingvarr; c. 877 – 945) was Prince of Kiev from 912 to 945. Traditionally, he is considered to be the son of Rurik, who established himself at Novgorod and died in 879 while Igor was an infant.

Key takeaways

Igor of Kiev belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Igor of Kiev to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Igor of Kiev from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Igor (Church Slavonic: Игорь; Old Norse: Ingvarr; c. 877 – 945) was Prince of Kiev from 912 to 945. Traditionally, he is considered to be the son of Rurik, who established himself at Novgorod and died in 879 while Igor was an infant. According to the Primary Chronicle, Rurik was succeeded by Oleg, who ruled as regent and was described by the chronicler as being "of his kin".

Life Information about Igor comes mostly from the Primary Chronicle, which states that Igor was the son of Rurik:

6378–6387 (870–879). On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor', for he was very young. 6388–6390 (880–882). Oleg set forth, taking with him many warriors from among the Varangians, the Chuds, the Slavs, the Merians and all the Krivichians. He thus arrived with his Krivichians before Smolensk, captured the city, and set up a garrison there. Thence he went on and captured Lyubech, where he also set up a garrison. He then came to the hills of Kiev, and saw how Askold and Dir reigned there. He hid his warriors in the boats, left some others behind, and went forward himself bearing the child Igor'. He thus came to the foot of the Hungarian hill, and after concealing his troops, he sent messengers to Askold and Dir, representing himself as a stranger on his way to Greece on an errand for Oleg and for Igor', the prince's son, and requesting that they should come forth to greet them as members of their race. Askold and Dir straightway came forth. Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands.

Little is known about him between the years 912 and 941 due to a gap in the chronicle record. Igor twice besieged Constantinople, in 941 and 944, and although Greek fire destroyed part of his fleet, he concluded a favourable treaty with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII (945), the text of which the chronicle has preserved. In 913 and 944, the Rus' plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea during the Caspian expeditions of the Rus', but it remains unclear whether Igor had anything to do with these campaigns.

Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945. The Byzantine historian and chronicler Leo the Deacon (born c. 950) describes how Igor met his death: "They had bent down two birch trees to the prince's feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince's body apart." Igor's widow Olga avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians. The Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.

Historiography Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantin Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. Zuckerman argues that the 33-year reign attributed to Igor in the Chronicle is the result of its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources. Indeed, none of Igor's activities recorded in the Chronicle is dated before 941. Referring to the Ioachim Chronicle, Vasily Tatishchev argues that the Swedish princess Efanda, whose existence has been questioned by many historians, was Igor's mother. According to Tatishchev, the name "Ingor" comes from the Finnish (Izhora) name Inger. Tatishchev also gives Igor's birth dates from various manuscripts: 875 in the Schismatic manuscript, 861 in the Nizhny Novgorod manuscript, 865 in the Orenburg manuscript. According to Olof von Dalin, another Igor had land in Sweden and was a frequent guest in Rus'. He was coregent with Eric Anundsson and had land in Västergötland which he had inherited from his father. After his reign, Eric Anundsson became the sole ruler of the Swedish mainland. Igor also aided Eric when Norwegians under Harald Fairhair raided the Baltic coast. Harald Fairhair lost his son Halfdan the White in a siege of a Swedish fortification in the Baltic. Thanks to Igor Olofsson's help the attack on the Baltic fortifications was thwarted. Igor also took part in a Viking raid on Brittany in 931 described in Frankish chronicles as Incon. This Igor was the son of Olof (Swedish king 852). Igor Olofsson led a Swedish expedition helping Igor Ruriksson in his war against the Byzantines. Igor and Igor were related.

Notes

References

Sources Katchanovski, Ivan; Kohut, Zenon E.; Nesebio, Bohdan Y.; Yurkevich, Myroslav (2013). Historical Dictionary of Ukraine. Lanham, Maryland; Toronto; Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. p. 992. ISBN 9780810878471. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Igor of Kiev

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Igor of Kiev claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Igor of Kiev before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Igor of Kiev ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Igor of Kiev

In research: Igor of Kiev appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Igor of Kiev in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Igor of Kiev is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 10th-century princes from Kievan Rus', 945 deaths, 9th-century births, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Igor of Kiev outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Igor of Kiev in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Igor of Kiev means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Igor of Kiev out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Igor of Kiev in simple terms?

Why does Igor of Kiev matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Igor of Kiev?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Igor of Kiev.