Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature 1607-6192 2713-2226 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-382-393 Research Article Articles BATU’S SPEECHES AS A REFLECTION OF THE ETHNOCONFESSIONAL CONFRONTATION IN THE TALE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF RYAZAN BY BATU Andreeva Ekaterina A. old-rus@imli.ru 2025 24 382 393 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article analyzes the direct speeches of the main negative character of the Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu from the point of view of the purpose and motive of their utterance in the context of the problem of ethno-confessional confrontation. Khan’s special emotionality, his ability to show different feelings and emotions, including contradictory ones, is reflected not only in the actions, but also in the speeches of the hero. All three speeches of the main negative character are a literary text created by the author of the Tale ... many years after the complete overthrow of the yoke. The way the Old Russian writer formulated Batu’s speeches is an opportunity to demonstrate not the vivid image of the enemy but the images of Russian princes and warriors, to give a comprehensive assessment of the deceased Yevpaty Kolovrat, supplementing his positive and already heroic image with an emotional assessment of the enemy. The main purpose of the old Russian writer was not to create a psychological portrait of Batu, but a positive assessment of the images of defenders of Russia, which is based on an ethno-confessional characteristic. 1. Аndreeva, A. “Poedinok Mstislava i Rededi: transformatsiia obraza vraga” [“Mstislav and Rededya’s Duel: Transformation of the Enemy’s Image”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 23. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2024, pp. 342–368. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2024-23-342-368 (In Russian) 2. Laushkin, V. Rus’ i sosedi: istoriia etnokonfessional’nykh predstavlenii v drevne- russkoi knizhnosti XI–XIII vv. [Rus and Its Neighbors: History of Ethno-Confessional Ideas in Old Russian Literature of the 11th–13thCenturies]. Moscow, Dmitry Pozharsky University Publ., 2019. 304 p. (In Russian) 3. Likhachev, S. “Povesti o Nikole Zarazskom” [“The Stories of Nikolai Zarazsky”]. Trudy otdela drevnerusskoi literatury [Proceedings of the Department of the Old Russian Literature], vol. 7. Moscow, Leningrad, AS USSR Publ., 1949, pp. 257–406. (In Russian) 4. Pervushin, V. “Ideino-khudozhestvennyi zamysel ʽPovesti o razorenii Riazani Batyem’.” [“Ideological and Artistic Concept of ʽThe Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan’.”]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, vol. 27, no. 3, 2021, pp. 77–85.  https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2021-27-3-77-85 (In Russian) 5. Pochekaev, Iu. “Batyi ʽzabytyi’, ili pochemu istochniki molchat o Batye?” [“Batu ʽForgotten’, or Why Are the Sources Silent About Batu?”]. Pochekaev, R.Iu. Batyi. Khan, kotoryi ne byl khanom [Batu. The Khan Who Was not a Khan]. St. Petersburg, Evraziia Publ., 2018, pp. 225–250. (In Russian) 6. Trofimova, V. Poetika drevnerusskogo voinskogo povestvovaniia [The Poetics of the Old Russian Military Narrative]. Moscow, MSPU Publ., 2017. 276 p. (In Russian) 7. Chekin, S. “Bezbozhnye syny Izmailovy: Polovtsy i drugie narody stepi v drevnerusskoi knizhnoi kul’ture” [“The Godless Sons of Izmail: The Polovtsians and Other Peoples of the Steppe in Old Russian Book Culture”]. Iz istorii russkoi kul’tury [From the History of Russian Culture], vol. 1: Drevniaia Rus’ [Old Rus’]. Moscow, Iazyki russkoi kul’tury Publ., 2000, pp. 691–716. Available at: https://historicus.media/bezbojnie_sini_Izmailovi/ (Accessed 07 October 2023). (In Russian)