Taming the Wild Field

About this book

According to the Primary Chronicle, when the first Eastern Slays established themselves in what become Ukraine and western Russia they settled in woods and along waterways: "So these Slays came and settled on the Dniepr and called themselves People of the Clearings [poliane]; others called themselves People of the Trees [drevliane] because they settled in the forests; and different ones settled on the Dvina and called themselves People of the Polota [polochane], taking the name of the Polota River, which flows into the Dvina.