Folk Epics and the Role of Gender in Medieval Kievan Rus'

This thesis explores how crime narratives found in the medieval folk epics of Kievan Rus' reflected the construction of gender in that society. The period of interest is from the tenth- to the thirteenth-century. The thesis specifically examines narratives of murder in these folk epics which are between a husband and wife. The conclusion of this thesis is that these crime narratives reflect both the construction of gender according to the Orthodox Church as well as the perception of gender according to the contemporary secular laws.