How does the author use hyperbole in the epic, The Song of Igor’s Campaign?

The author uses hyperbole, a figure of speech which employs exaggeration to heighten an effect. When Igor's brother Vsevolod describes his own warriors he emphasizes that they have been well trained for battle. A series of hyperbolic statements follow. His men were "swaddled under war horns, / nursed under helmets, / fed from the point of the lance" (79-81). The point is that his men have been bred for warfare since an early age. Then when the author appeals to Vsevolod, Prince of Suzdal, for assistance, he says Vsevolod's men are so powerful they can scoop the river Don dry using only their helmets (502-03). Similarly, Rurik and David were so effective in battle that their helmets floated on blood; Yaroslav has hurled heavy missiles over the clouds (529), and the iron breastplates of Roman and Mstislav make the earth rumble (553). In each case the exaggeration heightens the dramatic effect: great power is available for Russia if the princes would only use it.