Glory’s title, both in Russian [Podvig] and in English, indicates its relationship to chivalric ideals of the knightly quest. Written in Russian in 1930, while Nabokov was living in Berlin, and first published serially in 1931-32, the novel was given at least three tentative titles before Nabokov (then writing as “Sirin”) arrived at Podvig (“Deed” or “Exploit”). Two of these, Zolotoi vek (“Golden Age”) and Romanticheskii vek (“Romantic Times”) indicate the centrality of chivalric romance to the novel. But Nabokov’s first working title invokes rather the idea of completion, of triumphant consummation, of becoming real: this was Voploshchenie, which means “Embodiment”. Podvig combines the romantic overtones and the emphasis on the climactic end of the quest. When he translated the novel into English, only in 1971, Nabokov decided against...
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Citation: Collins, Emily. "Podvig". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2755, accessed 07 December 2025.]
