  the primary chronicle (, latin transliteration povÄstÄ­ vremÄnÄ­nyhÅ­ lÄtÅ­, often translated into english as tale of bygone years) is a history of kievan rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in kiev about 1113. the work is considered to be a fundamental source in the interpretation of the history of the eastern slavs. == three editions == ===primary edition=== tradition long regarded the original compilation as the work of a monk named nestor (c. 1056 â c. 1114); hence scholars formerly spoke of nestor's chronicle or of nestor's manuscript. his compilation has not survived. nestor's many sources included earlier (now-lost) slavonic chronicles, the  byzantine annals of john malalas and of george hamartolus,  native legends and norse sagas, several greek religious texts, rus'-byzantine treaties, and oral accounts of yan vyshatich and of other military leaders. nestor worked at the court of sviatopolk ii of kiev (ruled 1093â1113) and probably shared sviatopolk's pro-scandinavian policies. the early part of the chronicle features many anecdotal stories, among them those of the arrival of the three varangian  brothers, the founding of kiev, the murder of askold and dir (ca. 882), the death (912) of oleg (fatally bitten by a serpent concealed in the skeleton of his horse), and the vengeance taken by olga, the wife of igor, on the drevlians, who had murdered her husband. the account of the labors of saints cyril and methodius among the slavic peoples also makes a very interesting tale, and to nestor we owe the story of the summary way in which vladimir the great (rules 980 to 1015) suppressed the worship of perun and other traditional gods at kiev. ===2nd edition=== in the year 1116, nestor's text was extensively edited by hegumen sylvester who appended his name at the end of the chronicle. as vladimir monomakh was the patron of the village of vydubychi where his monastery is situated, the new edition glorified that prince and made him the central figure of later narrative. this second version of nestor's work is preserved in the laurentian codex (see below). ===3rd edition=== a third edition followed two years later and centered on the person of vladimir's son and heir, mstislav the great. the author of this revision could have been greek, for he corrected and updated much data on byzantine affairs. this latest revision of nestor's work is preserved in the hypatian codex (see below). == two manuscripts == because the original of the chronicle as well as the earliest 
12th-century_history_books Chronicles_regarding_Lithuania East_Slavic_chronicles Kievan_Rus\' Old_Church_Slavonic_literature