Information about Igor comes mostly from thePrimary Chronicle, which states that Igor was the son ofRurik:
6378–6387 (870–879). On his deathbed,Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor', for he was very young.
6388–6390 (880–882). Oleg set forth, taking with him many warriors from among the Varangians, theChuds, the Slavs, theMerians and all theKrivichians. He thus arrived with his Krivichians beforeSmolensk, captured the city, and set up a garrison there. Thence he went on and capturedLyubech, where he also set up a garrison. He then came to the hills of Kiev, and saw howAskold and Dir reigned there. He hid his warriors in the boats, left some others behind, and went forward himself bearing the child Igor'. He thus came to the foot of the Hungarian hill, and after concealing his troops, he sent messengers to Askold and Dir, representing himself as a stranger on his way to Greece on an errand for Oleg and for Igor', the prince's son, and requesting that they should come forth to greet them as members of their race. Askold and Dir straightway came forth. Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands.[9]
Little is known about him between the years 912 and 941 due to a gap in the chronicle record.[7]
Igor was killed while collectingtribute from theDrevlians in 945. The Byzantine historian and chroniclerLeo the Deacon (bornc. 950) describeshow Igor met his death: "They had bent down twobirch trees to the prince's feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince's body apart."[10] Igor's widowOlga avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians. ThePrimary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.
Drastically revising the chronology of thePrimary Chronicle,Constantin Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. Zuckerman argues that the 33-year reign attributed to Igor in theChronicle is the result of its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources.[11] Indeed, none of Igor's activities recorded in theChronicle is dated before 941.
Referring to theIoachim Chronicle,Vasily Tatishchev argues that the Swedish princess Efanda, whose existence has been questioned by many historians, was Igor's mother. According to Tatishchev, the name "Ingor" comes from theFinnish (Izhora) nameInger.[12] Tatishchev also gives Igor's birth dates from various manuscripts: 875 in the Schismatic manuscript, 861 in the Nizhny Novgorod manuscript, 865 in the Orenburg manuscript.
According toOlof von Dalin, another Igor had land in Sweden and was a frequent guest in Russia. He was coregent withEric Anundsson and had land inVästergötland which he had inherited from his father. After his reign, Eric Anundsson became the sole ruler of the Swedish mainland. Igor also aided Eric when Norwegians underHarald Fairhair raided the Baltic coast. Harald Fairhair lost his son Halfdan the White in a siege of a Swedish fortification in the Baltic. Thanks to Igor Olofsson's help the attack on the Baltic fortifications was thwarted. Igor also took part in a Viking raid on Brittany in 931 described in Frankish chronicles as Incon. This Igor was the son ofOlof (Swedish king 852). Igor Olofsson led a Swedish expedition helping Igor Ruriksson in his war against the Byzantines. Igor and Igor were related.[13]
^The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text(PDF). Translated by Cross, S. H.; Sherbowitz-Wetzor, O. P. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Crimson Printing Company. 1953. pp. 60–61. Retrieved16 February 2014.
