Abstract:
The article investigates the ways in which the celebration of the name day (imeniny)
of Russian princes or their entourages was presented in the Russian chronicles.
The custom of celebrating the name day was firmly rooted in the Russian princely
environment. For a chronicle narrative, the very rootedness of this custom and the
number of its associated actions plays an important role—it is this rootedness that
makes stories told in the chronicles quite opaque to the modern reader. A prince’s
Christian name and the day of his patron saint were considered to be important
background knowledge for the audience of the medieval compiler. There were,
apparently, clear ideas about appropriate behavior for prince or a person from his
environment on his name day or on the eve of this day but, on the other hand, such
assumptions explain why this kind of “normal” behavior rarely forms the subject
of special reflection in the chronicles. It is not only a description of the celebration
itself that might be very informative, whether it be a church service, a ceremonial
feast with various relatives, or an exchange of gifts, but also the description of acts
and deeds that were undertaken specifically on a prince’s name day. Therefore,
particular attention is given here to stories about undue or inappropriate behavior
on this special day. The paper deals with the function and nature of such episodes
in the broader context of historiographical narrative.
