There has not been a great deal of detailed critical work in English on The Song of Igor's Campaign. It is often discussed fairly briefly in surveys of early Russian literature, and critics usually note the historical background, the poetic language and symbolism, and the political theme of Russian unity. Occasionally, a few parallels have been noted between Song and other medieval epics, such as the Western European The Song of Roland and the Germanic epic, the Nibelunglied.

However, The Song of Igor's Campaign differs from the typical medieval epic. The Song of Roland has its origins in events four centuries before the work was written; similarly, the historical events underlying the twelfth century Nibelunglied go back to the fifth and sixth centuries. Both of these epics contain...