Крепкий орешек (a hard nut to crack) — this is how we call people who are slow to understand or difficult to persuade, and also people who have trouble making any kind of decision. But where does this idiom come from? Its story goes back to the time of Peter the Great and the liberation of the ancient Russian fortress Орешек (Nutlet).
The Oreshek fortress on the Neva
The fortress was founded at the mouth of the Neva River in 1323 to protect the city of Veliky Novgorod and the important trade route from Novgorod to Europe across Lake Ladoga. Throughout its history, the fortress and the city inside it were attacked many times by Sweden, and for that reason крепость неоднократно перестраивали (it was rebuilt several times) in order to strengthen it. Thus the fortress became practically impregnable.
The Swedish siege and Noteburg
However, in 1612, during Смутное время (the Time of Troubles), when Novgorod alone had to resist attacks from Sweden and Livonia, the Swedes managed to capture the fortress. Осада крепости продолжалась 90 дней (the siege lasted 90 days), thousands of defenders starved, and only a hundred or so survived. The city and its fortress were renamed Noteburg and remained a possession of the King of Sweden for 90 years.
Peter the Great takes the fortress
At the beginning of the 18th century возобновилась борьба за торговые пути (the struggle for the trade routes) and free access to the Baltic Sea resumed between Sweden and Russia. In 1703 Peter the Great founded a new city on the banks of the Neva — St. Petersburg — and moved the capital there. Because of its location, the fortress of Noteburg was, in Peter’s words, «ключ от города» (the key to the city): by holding it, the King of Sweden practically held the keys to St. Petersburg itself. You can read more about this tsar in our article Who Was Peter the Great? and about army training under Peter the Great.
The period of struggle between Peter the Great and the King of Sweden is called the Great Northern War. It lasted 21 years, from 1700 to 1721. In 1702 the Russians won the fortress back. It was a very difficult victory: the battle went on for 13 hours, and one Swedish historian estimated that 6,000 bombs and 10,000 shells were dropped on the fortress. The losses on both sides were enormous. When the remnants of the Swedish garrison surrendered, Peter the Great, в знак уважения к достойному противнику (in deference to a worthy opponent), did not take them captive but allowed them to leave the fortress with their banners unfolded.
«Крепкий орешек!» — the tsar’s words
Assessing this difficult victory and remembering the old name of the fortress, Peter the Great said: «Крепкий орешек!» — what a hard nut to crack! However, the fortress received a new name — Шлиссельбург (Shlisselburg), which translated from German means «город-ключ» (the key city).
Words to remember: крепкий орешек — a hard nut to crack, a tough person; крепость — fortress; осада — siege. Other idioms are explained in Russian Idioms: Дело в Шляпе and Russian Idioms: Морочить Голову. To learn Russian with us, check the five levels of Russian, join our Russian language courses in Moscow or book private Russian lessons online — and read more in our blog.
