Case file · Folklore / legend
Vseslav of Polotsk, born of sorcery
Under 1044 the Primary Chronicle says Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was born by enchantment with a caul on his head, which the sorcerers told his mother to bind on him; he wore it all his life, and so, the chronicle says, was merciless in shedding blood.
1044 CE · 55.49, 28.77 · status: legend
The account
The Tale of Igor's Campaign later describes Vseslav racing as a wolf from Kyiv to Tmutarakan before cockcrow, and he became the model for the werewolf-prince Volkh Vseslavyevich of the byliny. He was a real ruler of Polotsk (died 1101), briefly prince of Kyiv in 1068.
The sceptical view
The caul (a piece of birth membrane) was widely thought to bring luck or magical power; the wolf imagery is poetic.