Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv were three

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

ary brothersoften mentioned along with their sister Lybеd who, according to the ''

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

'', founded the city of Kiev (modern

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

), which eventually became the capital of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

, and is the present-day capital of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. There is no precise and historically established information about the existence of the four legendary siblings and the establishment of the city of Kiev. Oleh Yastrubov.
"And gave it its name Kyiv"
'. Newspaper "Den". 14 July 2006. It has been claimed by some scholars that Kyi was also a prince (''

knyaz A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...

'') and founded the so-called Kyi dynasty, from the Slavic tribe of Polans.

Historical background

In the ''

'' ( 1110s), written by a monk of the

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra (), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic lavra or large monastery of Eastern Christianity that gave its name to the Pecherskyi District where it is located in Kyiv. Sin ...

(traditionally attributed to Nestor), a special place is held by the legend of the foundation of Kiev by three brothers. Nestor places those brothers onto various hills of Kyiv. Geographically, the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

is located on a higher right bank of the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

, which is an extension of the Dnieper Upland, where remnants of the Church of the Tithes are located. The ''Chronicle'' further states that there were people ("who did not know what they were saying") who considered Kyi a mere ferryman. But it later claims that Kyi, as a prince of his gens, was visiting Czargrad and received great honors from the Emperor.

Dmitry Likhachov Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev (, also spelled ''Dmitrii Likhachev'' or ''Dmitry Likhachov''; – 30 September 1999) was a Russian medievalist, linguist, and a former inmate of Gulag. During his lifetime, Likhachev was considered the world's fore ...

combined attestations of the

Nikon Chronicle The ''Nikon Chronicle'' () is a compilation of Russian chronicles undertaken at the court of Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century. The compilation was named after Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, who owned a copy. In the 18th century, it was publi ...

, which also recounts that Kyi with a great army marched onto Czargrad and received great honors from the Emperor. During his expedition to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Kyi also founded a city of Kyivets on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Nestor also names the approximate date of the assault on Kyiv by the Khazar Empire as "after the death of Kyi," which supports

Boris Rybakov Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov (; 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian archeologist and historian. He was one of the main proponents of anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. He is the father of Indologis ...

's hypothesis of the 6th–7th centuries. In his chronicle Nestor does not indicate the date of Kyi's death nor the existence or absence of heirs who continued to rule after his death. The chronicle does mention a meeting between local residents with the newly arrived

Askold and Dir Askold and Dir (''Haskuldr'' or ''Hǫskuldr'' and ''Dyr'' or ''Djur'' in Old Norse; died in 882), mentioned in both the ''Primary Chronicle'', the ''Novgorod First Chronicle'', and the ''Nikon Chronicle'', were the earliest known rulers of Kiev. ...

who asked them whose city Kjiv was, and received the answer that the three brothers who built it were long dead and the residents now paid tribute to the

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

. However, the Polish historian

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

points out the Przemysł Chronicle that asserts, "after the death of Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv, their children and grandchildren who descended from them by direct lineage ruled for many years."

Text of the ''Primary Chronicle''

The text of the legendary founding of Kiev (Kyiv) by the three brothers and their sister is found in the ''

'' on page 9, lines 5–21. Each full sentence has been highlighted in the comparison below:

Legendary founding of Kyiv/Kiev

Acts of Kyi

In the subsequent lines 9.22–10.14, the background, life story and legacy of Kyi and his siblings is briefly lined out. Lines 10:5 and 10:6 contain well-known examples of disputed textual variants in the ''Primary Chronicle'': the main textual witnesses including the ''Laurentian'' and ''Hypatian Codices'' have different texts here, and scholars cannot agree which manuscript most closely reflects the original text.

Legacy of the four siblings

The ''Primary Chronicle'' relates three different versions of what happened to political power amongst the Polyanians in the period after the four siblings (the three brothers and their sister) died and before the

vassalised them. Lines 10.15–10.17 suggest that the offspring of Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and Lybid' continued to reign amongst the Polyanians, while the Derevlians and other tribes around them had their own ''

i'' (princes): 16.21–17.3 say that upon the deaths of the four siblings, the Derevlians seized power and "oppressed" the Polyanians, then "other neighbours", and then finally the Khazars made them tributaries: In lines 20.24–21.3, the inhabitants of Kyiv/Kiev tell

a brief history of the city, which does not mention either a reign of the siblings' descendants, nor of an "oppression" by the Derevlians or other neighbouring tribes; instead, the three brothers' deaths are immediately followed by paying tribute to the Khazars:

Historiographical interpretation

Many historians consider Kyi and his rule circa the 6th century to be actual history. Among such historians are

Aleksey Shakhmatov Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov (, – 16 August 1920) was a Russian philology, philologist and historian credited with laying the foundations for the science of Textual criticism, textology. Shakhmatov held the title of Doctor of Russ ...

, Alexander Presnyakov, Petro Tolochko, and Nataliia Polonska-Vasylenko. The names of Kyi and his brothers have equivalents in an Armenian chronicle from the 7th century, ''History of Taron'', by Zenob Glak. Sakač, S. K. (1940).
Krapina-Kijev-Ararat, Priča o troje braće i jednoj sestri
'. Obnovljeni Život 21/3-4: 129–149, Zagreb In it, Kyi and Khoryv have counterparts in brothers Kouar and Horian, while Polyans is paralleled in the Balounik district. An explanation for this can be found both in the common source (probably

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

) of Ukrainian and Armenian legends, and in the common mythological plot used to explain the founding of the many cows that inhabit the city. The legend also has parallels in the Croatian ''origo gentis'' of five brothers and two sisters (Kloukas, Lobelos, Kosentzis, Mouchlo, Chrobatos, Touga and Bouga) from the 30th chapter of ''

De Administrando Imperio (; ) is a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. It is a domestic and foreign policy manual for the use of Constantine's son and successor, the Emperor Romanos II. It is a prominent example of Byz ...

'' by

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

(10th century), and the ''Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle'' (12th century) about the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians. All three speak about people who migrated to a foreign land, whose leader was of the same name (Kyi in Kyiv, Chrobatos in Croats, and Slav in Bulgarians), while Kyivan and Croatian mention a sister. The female personality and number three can be found also in three daughters (youngest

Libuše , Libussa, Libushe or, historically ''Lubossa'', is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czechs, Czech people as a whole. According to legend, she was the youngest but wisest of three sisters, who became queen after their father ...

) of Duke Krok from '' Chronica Boemorum'' (12 century), two sons and daughter ( Krakus II, Lech II, and Princess Wanda) of

Krakus Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, ruler of the Vistulans (a Lechitic tribe), and the presumed founder of Kraków. Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle and slaying the Wawel Dragon by feeding it a dead sheep f ...

legendary founder of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

from '' Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae'' (12–13th century), and three brothers Lech, Czech, and Rus from '' Wielkopolska Chronicle'' (13th century). Khoryv or Horiv, and his oronym Khorevytsia, some scholars related to the Croatian ethnonym of

White Croats The White Croats (; ; ; ), also known simply as Croats, were a group of Early Slavs, Early Slavic tribes that lived between East Slavs, East Slavic and West Slavs, West Slavic tribes in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia n ...

. Paščenko related his name, beside to the Croatian ethnonym, also to the solar deity Khors. Near Kyiv there is a stream where previously existed a large village named Horvatka or Hrovatka (it was destroyed in the time of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

), which flows into Stuhna River. Lybid () is the name of another tributary of the Dnipro, just south of Kyiv. As a river, ''Lybed'' () is mentioned twice in the ''Primary Chronicle'', first on page 69.8 during the Pecheneg Siege of Kiev (968), and second on page 79.28–80.1 as the place where

Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych (; Christian name: ''Basil''; 15 July 1015), given the epithet "the Great", was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 978 until his death in 1015. The Eastern Orthodox ...

settled his wife Rogned' ''sub anno'' 980. In both cases, it takes the form of на Лыбеди (''na Lybedi'', "at/on the Lybed'"). It is unknown whether the sister was named after the river or vice versa.

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

sources report that the prince Kyi (originally Kuver) was brought up at the court of Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

in his youth, converted to Christianity in

, and was educated there. According to other Byzantine testimonies, Kyi was a contemporary of Emperor

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

(575–641). As his contemporary John of Nicaea writes in detail, "by the power of the Holy and Life-Giving Baptism he received, he defeated all barbarians and pagans." The friendly ties of the ancient prince with the Byzantine imperial court is evidenced by the "Primary Chronicle".

Archaeological excavations

Archaeological excavations have shown that there was indeed an ancient settlement starting with the 6th century. Some speculate that Kyi was a real person, a ''

'' (prince) from the tribe of the Polans. According to legend, Kyi, the eldest brother, was a Polianian Prince, and the city was named after him. In the sixth to seventh centuries, the borders of three cultural groups of monuments converged on the Polans land —

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

—

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Penkiv and Kolochyn cultures, and in the eighth to tenth centuries — Luka-Raikovetska and Volyntsevo culture. From the very beginning, Kyiv was the center of not one, but several tribal groups.

Modern tributes

In addition to the respective hills and the river, there are ''Shchekavytska'' and ''Khoryva'' Streets in Kyiv's ancient neighborhood of Podil. In 1982, Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and Lybid were depicted (standing on an ancient riverboat) in a sculpture, called the Monument to the Founders of Kyiv by Vasyl Borodai, at the river-side of Navodnytsky Park. At the time of its unveiling, the Soviet authorities claimed that it was simultaneously on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the formation of the USSR, as well as the alleged " 1500th anniversary" of the foundation of Kyiv in 482. Various scholars and commentators found "482" an odd attribution, as no such date is mentioned in the ''Primary Chronicle''; historian

Taras Kuzio Taras Kuzio is a Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs. Education Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian de ...

said that 'the year 482 had no special significance'. There was speculation that the two anniversaries were merged for the sake of convenience by the Soviet regime, to emphasise the common origins of Ukraine and Russia, and step around their many conflicts. Nevertheless, several politicians would go on to embrace 482 as the date of the legendary foundation, including former Kyivan mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, who utilised it in order to argue the Ukrainian capital was much older than

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The monument soon became iconic for the city and has been used as Kyiv's unofficial emblem. In 2001, another statue was installed at a fountain of the

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

. File:Наводницький парк IMG 3482 (cropped).jpg, Navodnytskyi Park Monument to the Founders of Kyiv (1982) File:UkraineP89-200Karbovantsiv-1992 f-donated.jpg, The sculpture of Kyiv's founders depicted on Ukraine's interim bank note in 1990s File:Щек хорив кий либідь - panoramio.jpg, Maidan Nezalezhnosti Monument to the Founders of Kyiv (2001) File:Kiy_R.jpg, Commemorative coin "Kyi" denomination of 10 hryvnias is dedicated to Knyaz Kyi, 1998 File:Coin_of_Ukraine_900_Povist_mynulyh_lit_A.jpg, Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv and Lybid' on the obverse of the NBU silver coin "900 years of the Primary Chronicle", 2013

In popular culture

* In a 2019 episode of the satirical comedy series ''

Servant of the People Servant of the People (; ''SN'') is a Liberalism, liberal, Centrism, centrist, Pro-Europeanism, pro-European List of political parties in Ukraine, political party in Ukraine. Since both the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election and the 2019 Ukra ...

'', Ukraine is in a political crisis, with several regions threatening to break away. Prime Minister Yuriy Ivanovich Chuiko (played by Stanislav Boklan) recommends President Vasily Petrovych Holoborodko (played by

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

) to hold an empassioned speech, referring to the common origins of all Ukrainians from when the capital was founded by Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv and their sister Lybid', to inspire everyone to reunite the country. Yuriy warns the President to correctly remember and pronounce the legendary founders' names, but then goes on to mix them up himself on live television, causing a huge political scandal.

Notes

References

Bibliography

Primary sources

* (First edition published in 1930. The first 50 pages are a scholarly introduction.) ** * – A 2014 improved digitised version of the 2002/2003 Ostrowski et al. edition. *

Literature

* *

External links

Основатели Кий, Щек и Хорив и их сестра Лыбедь, князья Аскольд и Дир

A HISTORY OF UKRAINE. EPISODE 14. THE FOUNDING OF KYIV
* Dmytro Lavrov.

'. The Mirror Weekly. 28 May 2004 * Mykola Kotlyar.
Kyiv princes Kyi and Askold (КИЇВСЬКІ КНЯЗІ КИЙ І АСКОЛЬД)
'. Magazine "Voyenna istoriya". 2002
Кий
// Українська мала енциклопедія: 16 кн. : у 8 т. / проф. Є. Онацький. — Накладом Адміністратури УАПЦ в Аргентині. — Буенос-Айрес, 1959. — Т. 3
кн. V : Літери К — Ком
— С. 631-632. — 1000 екз.
Кий, Щек, Хорив і Либідь
// Михайлів Т. В., Михайлів Т. А. Видатні постаті українського державотворення. Довідник. — Xарків: Основа, 2014. — 128 с. — (Б-ка журн. „Історія та правознавство“. Вип. 1 (121)). — С. 5.

// Історія України: Хрестоматія / Упоряд. В. М. Литвин. — К. : Наук. думка, 2013. — 1056 с.

// Котляр М. Ф., Кульчицький С. В. Шляхами віків: Довідник з історії України. — К.: Україна, 1993. — 384 с.
Кий — князь русі
/ Культура України
Три брати — засновники Києва // Народні перекази та легенди

* ttp://www.haidamaka.org.ua/0148.html Князь Кий // ''Котляр М. Ф.'' Історія України в особах: Давньоруська держава.— К.: Україна, 1996
Найдавніша легенда про заснування Києва // Сайт „Трипілля“

„И нарекоши имя ему Киев“. Князь Кий — легенди та бувальщина // День, № 114, 14.07.2006

Скільки років місту Києву? // Дзеркало тижня» № 21, 29.05.2004

Городище Кия // Веб-енциклопедія «Київ»

Князь Кий — рицар короля Артура // Народна правда

* ttp://www.mandry.info/?var=2&lang=1&d_id=96&id=634 ''Володимир Ільченко''. Князь Кий був іранцем? // Журнал «Mandry»
Урок від князя Кия // Обозреватель

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyi, Shchek And Khoryv 6th-century Slavs History of Kyiv Slavic mythology Origin myths Mythological city founders Brother trios Textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle Primary Chronicle episodes