Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature 1607-6192 2713-2226 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2024-23-342-368 Research Article Articles MSTISLAV AND REDEDYA’S DUEL: TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENEMY’S IMAGE Andreeva Ekaterina A. old-rus@imli.ru 2024 23 342 368 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article examines the reception of amous chronicle plot on the single combat of the Old Russian Prince Mstislav and the Kasozhsky Prince Rededya in the late literary tradition. It is interesting to trace the authors’ attitude to the image of enemy (alien) and characteristics of the heroes of confrontation. The old plot became attractive as it made it possible to comprehend and rethink the concepts of friend and alien, hero and enemy. The imagological perception of Rededya reflected the attitude towards the enemy in different epochs. The most negative image of enemy appears in the text of the Power Book of the Royal Genealogy, compiled in the era of victory over the Horde and the centralization of power in the hands of Moscow branch of princes. The image of Rededya is created in accordance with the biblical (the combat between David and Goliath) and Old Russian (the era of the Horde yoke) traditions, in the text he is not just a man, an enemy, but the embodiment of mortal sin, pride. Later texts refuse to dehumanize the enemy, turning him into a symbol of evil, but present him as a warrior, an opponent, a defeated one, at the same time religious motives and the perception of Mstislav’s victory as a miracle gradually disappear from the texts. Interest is shifting from the image of enemy to the image of prince Mstislav, who is now deprived of idealization, although he remains a generally positive character.