The Battle on the Ice

Ford and I greatly enjoyed our time in Kiev admiring the unique architecture, so much so that we decided to go to Novgorod and admire the Hagia Sophia there. The journey took us further than we anticipated as we found ourselves in a later year. I also found myself out of funds and am always loathe to ask my brother for money, but as I am never afraid of a challenge, we decided to sell the carriage on arrival in Novgorod. If our travels continue to be hindered, I do not doubt I could try my hand at sandwich making. The Rus people would probably be delighted to have such a wonderful food introduced to them.

I have been learning the language lately with Ford’s help and decided to try engaging some passing soldiers in some conversation while at a pub. They were celebrating a decided victory over an army to the west and told me all about it (or as much as they could while being intoxicated).

Igor Vladimirovich, Pytor Petrovich, and Ivan Stepanovich informed me that they are archers and had just recently fought in the army led by Prince Alexander Nevsky. Astonishingly, they informed me that much of the battle had taken place next to and on a frozen lake just west of Novgorod called Lake Peipus.

Prince Alexander had just recently won a victory over invading Swedes from the north not two years ago and had yet again proven his prowess as a tactician and ruthless fighter (O’Reilly 4). I have gathered in my journey and stay here that this great land has fallen under control by a fierce horde of warriors. Many of the ruling Princes in the area must pay an exorbitant tribute to them or have their territories cruelly destroyed (O'Reilly 3). My archer friends kept calling this prince Alexander Nevsky and explained that he had won the name of Nevsky because his most recent fight had taken place next to the Neva River (Hellie 284). The Novgorodian people knew of Prince Alexander’s military prowess from the Battle at the Neva and had only just requested his help in the battle at the lake; he actually hailed from Periaslavl (Hellie 284). After his grand victory, all three archers further concluded that Prince Alexander would eventually be declared a Saint by the church.

I was greatly enjoying myself by this time and was curious still, so I bought the archers a round of drinks and kept asking questions.

“Who was defeated in this great battle?” I asked.

“Many men. Knights from the west,” replied Pyotr (Hellie 284).

“Да, I heard they are German and Lavonians, eager to bring us new religion" added Ivan (284).

I learned further that some Lithuanians and Estonians had joined the battle as well as the Lavonians, German, and Danish knights (Hellie 284). When I asked how many had taken part of the battle, I had a hard time getting a straight answer from my three friends. The drink had begun to make them stretch their stories. The numbers seemed to keep growing as war stories were want to change. Igor claimed the enemy had numbered in the thousands while the Novgorodians had barely outnumbered them. Pyotr placed the number higher at almost 20,000 on both sides while Ivan estimated far more conservatively (Ostrowski 300). I had to surmise that the most important detail about the numbers was that the Novgorodians outnumbered their enemy and thus had an advantage.

I have studied some war tactics in books, so I further pressed these three archers for details about their battle on the icy lake. Alexander had gone to the aid of Pskov who had been under attack by the army from the west (Ostrowski 301). Somehow, he pushed the army west and met them at the lake near a place called Raven's Rock (Ostrowski 295). Ivan noted that all three of these friends had been placed in the middle of the army and that most of the army had been placed on the flanks of the center force. This was opposite of the usual formation, but it turned out to be exactly the strategy needed (Hellie 285). The opposing army formed itself in a wedge shape to pierce Prince Alexander's force, but the Germans found themselves flanked on both sides by two-thirds of Alexander's army (O'Reilly 5). So effective was Alexander's strategy that his army eventually gave chase to the enemy across the frozen lake (Ostrowski 294).

Of course, by this time, I had gained great respect and awe for Prince Alexander's army, but I still needed to know one more thing, "Did not the ice break if you really did fight on top of it as you said?"

"I thought perhaps I heard the ice break, but I am not sure. The sound of battle distracted me" Igor answered (Ostrowski 299). 

Pyotr chimed in, "Many of us did not fight on the ice and many of us did. If someone did fall, we did not see them" (300). 

"But we do not think of that! Let the priest worry about the story. We have many prisoners, and the Germans fled before us. What a great victory we have won!" 

With this exclamation, Ivan drained his cup, slamming it down on the table to cheers from the rest of us in the bar. 

If Ford and I stay in Novgorod much longer (and we probably will seeing as I am almost reduced to becoming a sandwich-maker), I hope to see what else Prince Alexander will do and whether his luck will hold on much longer with the Mongols. In the meantime, I think I might try to find out more about the available texts to read here in this fascinating city.

Works Cited:

Hellie, Richard. “Alexander Nevskii’s April 5, 1242 Battle on the Ice.” Russian History, vol. 33, no. 2/4, 2006, pp. 283–287. www.jstor.org/stable/24664445.

O'Reilly, Donald. "Aleksandr Nevsky Russia's Savior." Military History 21.1 (2004): 58-80. History Reference Center. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.

Ostrowski, Donald. “Alexander Nevskii’s ‘Battle on the Ice’: The Creation of a Legend.” Russian History, vol. 33, no. 2/4, 2006, pp. 289–312. www.jstor.org/stable/24664446.