No satisfactory solution has yet been proposed for the problems presented by the following passage near the beginning of the Slovo o polku Igoreve:

Let us, brothers, begin
this tale
from old Vladimir
to the present-day Igor,
who pulled out his mind with his fortitude
and sharpened it with the valor of his heart,
filled with the battle spirit,
led his valiant regiments
against the Polovtsian land
for the Russian land.

Why does the narrator propose to begin "from Vladimir" when Vladimir plays no role at the beginning of the tale? And what is meant by "beginning from Vladimir to Igor"?

Likhachev's argument that this line defines the chronological limits of the events dealt with in the tale is weak in at least two respects. First, Vladimir is mentioned...