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The Medieval Church · c. 1238–1246
The Tale of the Ruin of the Russian Land
Anonymous
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What it is
A short fragment recalling the beauty and strength of the land before the Mongol invasion, breaking off before it reaches the disaster itself.
Why it lasted
The most affecting fragment in early Rus literature, mourning a world by describing only what it was.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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