epic forms verbal art developed long before the advent of writing. IN oral stories important historical events, famous heroes, natural upheavals, not only real facts were transmitted from century to century, but also folk fiction, poetic additions, semantic symbols that turned the narrative into real creativity. This is how old traditions and legends were born.
Tradition- a kind of epic genre, which has the form of a narrative about the events of a distant historical plan or a story about the emergence of some kind of tribal tradition.
Legend- an epic folklore genre that represents historical facts or fictional events in the form of a poetic tale about the distant past.
In the legend, the factual basis was preserved as much as possible. Both the narrator and the listener saw the events described as authentic. This also applies to traditions created on a biblical basis, and those that arose as family stories educational content.
Traditions related to historical events and fate prominent personalities, included an element of the miraculous: signs, predictions, fatal predestination. This strengthened the causal relationship of the story.
From the legends, repeatedly retold and supplemented with poetic images, legends were formed in which fiction prevailed over the actual content. Their heroes performed feats with the help of the gods or mystical powers, and the events acquired a generalized, symbolic meaning.
In the legend, there is a desire to explain the incomprehensible, to find the cause of natural disasters, to highlight the features of an undeniable leader in the hero.
The action of the legend, unlike the legend, takes place outside of time. It is so old that it can only be taken on faith, without actual confirmation.
- Tradition is an oral retelling of a long-standing real story or a moralizing parable. A legend is a work of fiction based on events that took place in the distant past.
- In the tradition, the relative reliability of the facts is preserved. The legend is dominated by fiction.
- Tradition may be closely connected with the history of a clan or family. The legend describes events from the life of an unusual, fictional character.
- There are no broad generalizations and complex symbolism in the legend. The legend is characterized by metaphor and symbolic imagery.
- Tradition can have a moralizing conclusion. There is no evaluative motive in the legend.
1. BETRAYING see Betray. 2. LEDITION; TRADITION, I; cf. 1. Oral story; history passed down from generation to generation. P. says. Keep p. Biblical p. Family, folk p. Ancient p. Living p. (a tradition that is alive in the mouths of the people, not ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
TRADITION, legends, cf. (book). 1. only units Action under ch. betray betray. Judgment. Tradition to the earth. 2. A story, a belief that passes from one generation to another in oral transmission. ancient legend. "Traditions of antiquity deep." ... ... Dictionary Ushakov
- (Ukrainian explanation, German Sage, French and English tradition, Greek paradosis, according to folk terminology "pre-syulshchina", "reality", "bylshchina") " folk tale”, or rather, those stories and memoirs that are not included in the circle of genres that are clearly isolated: epics ... Literary Encyclopedia
See fairy tale... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M .: Russian dictionaries, 1999. legend, history, fairy tale; myth, belief, parable, kabbalah, belief, legend, shazhere, story, legend, sunnah ... Synonym dictionary
Genre of folklore; an oral story that contains information about historical persons, events, localities, passed down from generation to generation. Arising often from the story of an eyewitness, the tradition during transmission is subjected to free poetic ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
TRADITION, betray, etc., see betray. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
The sacred (sacra traditio) is the second of the two primary sources of the Christian faith. Holy Tradition, like Holy Scripture, is the teaching of himself. Christ and the Apostles, delivered orally by them to the Church, and later in writing. Such writing organs of St. P. are now ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Tradition- TRADITION is a story that has developed among the people and passes by oral transmission from generation to generation. The legend about a historical person is called historical or legend. Depending on their content, legends are heroic (about ... ... Dictionary of literary terms
TRADITION, folk poetry a kind of legend containing information about historical persons, places, events of the past. Fiction in legends is different from fairy tale fiction And legendary miracles … Modern Encyclopedia
See the Gospel of Matthew (I, 2) see the Masoretic text see Holy Bible(II,C) see the Bible (II,4; III,4) ... Brockhaus Bible Encyclopedia
Books
- Tradition, Peter Shmakov. Poet, writer Petr Shmakov was born in 1950 in Kharkov. Graduated from Kharkov medical institute. Worked as a doctor. In 1995 he emigrated to the USA. Lives in suburban Chicago. Written in 2003…
- Tradition, Shmakov Petr. Poet, writer Petr Shmakov was born in 1950 in Kharkov. Graduated from Kharkov Medical Institute. Worked as a doctor. In 1995 he emigrated to the USA. Lives in suburban Chicago. Written in 2003…
Epic forms of verbal art developed long before the emergence of writing. In oral stories about important historical events, famous heroes, natural upheavals, not only real facts were transmitted from century to century, but also folk fiction, poetic additions, semantic symbols that turned the narrative into real creativity. This is how old traditions and legends were born.
Definition
Tradition- a kind of epic genre, which has the form of a narrative about the events of a distant historical plan or a story about the emergence of some kind of tribal tradition.
Legend- an epic folklore genre that represents historical facts or fictional events in the form of a poetic tale about the distant past.
Comparison
In the legend, the factual basis was preserved as much as possible. Both the narrator and the listener saw the events described as authentic. This also applies to traditions created on a biblical basis, and those that arose as family stories of moralistic content.
Traditions associated with historical events and the fate of prominent personalities included an element of the miraculous: signs, predictions, fatal predestination. This strengthened the causal relationship of the story.
From the legends, repeatedly retold and supplemented with poetic images, legends were formed in which fiction prevailed over the actual content. Their heroes performed feats with the help of gods or mystical forces, and events acquired a generalized, symbolic meaning.
In the legend, there is a desire to explain the incomprehensible, to find the cause of natural disasters, to highlight the features of an undeniable leader in the hero.
The action of the legend, unlike the legend, takes place outside of time. It is so old that it can only be taken on faith, without actual confirmation.
Findings site
- Tradition is an oral retelling of a long-standing real story or a moralizing parable. A legend is a work of fiction based on events that took place in the distant past.
- In the tradition, the relative reliability of the facts is preserved. The legend is dominated by fiction.
- Tradition may be closely connected with the history of a clan or family. The legend describes events from the life of an unusual, fictional character.
- There are no broad generalizations and complex symbolism in the legend. The legend is characterized by metaphor and symbolic imagery.
- Tradition can have a moralizing conclusion. There is no evaluative motive in the legend.
Often in scientific literature two concepts are confused: "tradition" and "legend". This is due to their proximity and the presence of transitional forms.
The legends were popularly called "byli" or "byvalschiny", as they are characterized by historical themes. They preserve the memory of events and figures of national history. This type of folklore works has a great cognitive value, because we are talking about the distant past, about a time from which, as a rule, no other evidence has been preserved.
Literacy and books were available to few. And almost everyone wanted to know their place in history, to understand the events. And up to 19th century legends replaced common people historical literature talking about the past in their own way. Traditions do not reflect the whole course of events. They pay attention to individual bright moments stories. Traditions often illuminate the origin of a particular people. Usually we are talking about some ancestor, ancestor, with whom the name of a tribe or people (ethnonym) is associated.
There are many things in legends that cannot be read in books. The past in legends is usually embellished. For example, it is said that in former times there were no ordinary people, and the giants; therefore, the human bones found at the site of the former battles of the Russians with the Lithuanians or the Chud (one of the Finnish tribes) seem to amaze with their size. Robber or Cossack chieftains in bygone years also possessed some magical properties: for example, Ermak, according to legend, is invulnerable to bullets, Razin is a sorcerer.
Of course, real circumstances were also reflected in the legends. A number of features give the legends a realistic character: historical material that has an exact indication of the place and time of what is happening, as well as everyday details.
In almost all legends, one bright personality always stands at the center of any event: a prince, a robber. chieftain, general, etc. This person determines everything that happens.
Many legends are devoted to how this or that city was founded and new territories were mastered, how certain geographical names arose. These plots are also associated with the activities of any one outstanding person.
The names of cities, villages, rivers, lakes are sometimes associated with some event of local significance.
The legends are close to historical songs, but have prose form and not poetry.
Unlike fairy tales, this genre does not have stable beginnings and endings, although they are present in the plot. fantasy elements. Here the narrative does not unfold into a complex chain of events, as in a fairy tale, but is built in one episode, bright and unusual.
Tradition, although it has a "free form", is not without internal structure: the bonding of the entire material of the narrative is one episode, one main character, the creation of the image of which is subject to both the plot and expressive means.
Early traditions captured many important testimonies about the past of the people. First of all, these are stories about the ancient Slavic tribes, about their ancestors, about the first Russian princes, about Oleg's campaigns against Tsargrad, etc. Among the legends of the 16-17th century. popular stories about Ivan the Terrible. Here are some of them.
The reign of Ivan the Terrible
Before, in Rus', tsars were elected: the tsar dies - now all the people go to the river, and hold candles in their hands. They put these candles into the water, then take them out, whoever lights up - that is the king!
One master had a serf - Ivan. The time is coming to choose the king, the master and says to him:
- Ivan, let's go to the river. When I become king, I will give you freedom, wherever you want, go there!
And Ivan told him:
- If I, sir, will please the king, then I will certainly cut off your head.
We went to the river, lowered the candles - Ivan has a candle and light up. Ivan became king, he remembered his promise: he cut off his master's head. From that time on, for this he was called Terrible.
(« Russian antiquity”, 1876, v. 15)
Execution of the bell
The Terrible Tsar, in his reign in Moscow, heard that there was a riot in Veliky Novgorod. And he went from the great stone Moscow and rode more and more on horseback along the road. It is spoken quickly, it is done quietly. He entered the Volkhov bridge; they struck the bell at St. Sophia - and his horse fell to his knees from bell ringing. And then the Terrible Tsar spoke to his horse:
- Oh, you, my horse; you cannot keep the tsar - the Terrible Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich.
He reached the Sophia temple and in anger he ordered to cut off the tackle from that bell, and to fall to the ground, and execute his ears.
“They can’t,” he says, “the brutes hear his ringing.
AND executed this bell in Novgorod is now this bell cast.
("Ancient and new Russia”, 1879, v. 2, No. 9)
Tsar the Terrible arrived in Novgorod
Tsar the Terrible arrived in Novgorod, went to Sophia for Mass. Tsar Ivan is standing, praying to God; only looks: the paper is seen behind the icon. He took that paper and got angry! And that paper was put on hearty(on purpose) confessors, but what kind of paper it was, no one knows. How the Terrible Tsar flared up - and ordered the people dig in Volkhov. Tsar Ivan stood on the tower, which is on the bank to the left, as you go from the garden to the other side; Grozny stood on the tower, the people began to Volkhov dig: they will take two, lay them back to back, tie their hands, and so they will throw them into the water; both in the water and at the bottom. dug up people for twelve miles; there the people stopped, they will not go further, the people of Grozny can no longer dig! He sent horsemen (riders) to look twelve miles away, why the dead people would not go down. The horsemen galloped back, they said to the king: "The dead people stood up like a wall." “How can that be? the king shouted. "Give me a horse!" They gave the king a horse; the tsar mounted his horse and galloped twelve versts. He looks: the dead people stand as a wall, they will not go further. At that very time, the king began to burn with fire: fire began to emerge from the earth around Grozny. Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich galloped away, the fire behind him; he gallops on, fire is all around! ..
Since then, the Volkhov never freezes in the place where Grozny is the king of the people. snout: from the bottom of the Volkhov, that people swells ...
(P. Yakushkin)
The term "legend" is of book origin. In medieval writing, this type of writing was very popular. Translated from Latin means "what should be read".
It's prosaic epic genre, a story about events and persons, a story about the past.
According to its structure, it is a "small story" with an unstable text (this is due to improvisation during retelling) and in free form. The plot consists mainly of one episode. Reliability is attributed to events, but what is happening and the actions of the characters are clearly fictional, since a lot of fantastic, even wonderful, magical things happen. Initially, this was the name given to the lives of the saints, which contained examples of Christian virtue and pious behavior. Later, legends began to be understood in general as instructive and pious stories. And then just stories in which something unusual happens, but it is perceived as having actually happened.
In legends, along with people and animals, God and saints, angels and demons act. If the legend is turned to the past, then the time of action is not specified in the legend. This is either a sacred time when God created the world, or we are talking about events that could happen at any time.
Everything that happens in the legends is described and evaluated from the point of view of compliance with Christian standards of life - as understood by folk tradition. There are many incredible things in the events depicted in the legends. But the concepts of "plausible" or "implausible" do not apply to them.
Sometimes legends overlap with fairy tales. In legends, as in fairy tales, evil is always punished. But the difference is that fairy tales are told for fun and entertainment. And legends, despite the similarity of plots, are taken quite seriously, as a real case from which conclusions should be drawn, morality should be drawn.
Legends can tell about the creation of the world, the lives of saints, about animals, about a distant happy country, etc.
We bring to your attention a well-known legend about the city of Kitezh.
Legend ofcity of Kitezh.
This saint was faithful and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich is the son of the holy noble and great prince Vsevolod, the miracle worker of Pskov, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism. This holy noble and great prince Vsevolod was the son of the great prince Mstislav, the grandson of the holy and Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of Kyiv, autocrat of the Russian land. The Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich is the great-grandson of the Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Vladimir.
And the holy noble prince Vsevolod first reigned in Veliky Novgorod. But at one time, the Novgorodians grumbled at him and decided among themselves: our prince, unbaptized, owns us, the baptized. And they made a council, and they came to him, and cast him out. He came to Kyiv to his uncle Yaropolk and told him everything for which he was expelled by the Novgorodians. And he, having learned about this, gave him possession of Vyshgorod. And here the Pskovites already begged him to reign with them, and he came to them in the city of Pskov. And after some time he received the grace of holy baptism, and was named Gabriel in holy baptism. And he remained in great polishing and abstinence, and after one year he went into eternal rest, 6671 (1163) years, the month of February on the eleventh day. And he was buried by his faithful son and Grand Duke George. And there were many miracles from his holy relics to the glory and praise of Christ, our God, and all the saints. Amen.
This holy noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, after the death of his father, his noble prince Vsevolod, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism, remained in his place at the request of the people of Pskov. It was in 6671 (1163) year. The holy noble and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich deigned to go to the noble prince Mikhail of Chernigov. And when the noble and great prince George came to the noble prince Michael, he bowed to the noble prince Michael and said to him: “Hello, O noble and great prince Michael, for many years, shining with piety and faith in Christ, in everything like our great-grandfathers and great-grandmother our faithful Grand Duchess, Christ-loving Olga, who found the most precious and great treasure - Christ and the faith of his holy prophets and apostles and holy fathers, and the faithful Christ-loving Tsar and Equal-to-the-Apostles great-grandfather of our Tsar Constantine. And the right-believing prince Michael said to him: “May you be healthy, O right-believing and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, come to me with good advice and an unenvious eye. After all, what did Svyatopolk gain because of envy of our grandfathers, who desired power and killed his brothers, faithful and great princes! He ordered Boris to be pierced with a spear, and Gleb to be slaughtered with a knife, during the years of their reign. After all, he deceived them flatteringly at the instigation of Satan, as if their mother was dying. They, like gentle lambs, became like their good shepherd Christ, did not stand against their brother, their enemy. The Lord glorified his holy saints, the noble princes and great miracle workers Boris and Gleb.
And Prince George and Prince Michael kissed each other, and celebrated spiritually, and rejoiced; and the faithful and great prince George said to the faithful prince Michael: “Give me a letter, in our Rus', in the fortified places of the church of God, build cities.” And the faithful and great prince Michael said to him: “As you wish, build the churches of God to the glory and praise of the most holy name of God. For such a good intention of yours, you will receive a reward on the day of the coming of Christ.
And they feasted for many days. And when the right-believing prince George decided to return to his inheritance, then the right-believing prince Michael ordered the letter to be written and put his hand to the letter. And when the right-believing prince George went to his fatherland and city, then the right-believing prince Michael with great honor released him and saw him off. And when both princes were already on their way and bowed to each other in farewell, the right-believing Prince Mikhail gave a letter. Blessed Prince George took the letter from Blessed Prince Michael and bowed to him, and then he answered him.
And Prince George went to the cities, and when he arrived in Novgorod, he ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). From Novgorod he went to Pskov, his city, where his father, the blessed Prince Vsevolod, died, and in holy baptism Gabriel, the miracle worker of Novgorod and Pskov. And he went from Pskov-grad to Moscow, and ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady. and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). And he went from Moscow to Pereslavl-Zalessky, and from Pereslavl-grad to Rostov-grad. At that very time, Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky was in the city of Rostov. And the right-believing prince George in the city of Rostov ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164), the month of May on the twenty-third day. In the days of Grand Duke George, they began to dig ditches under the foundation of the church and found the buried relics of St. Leonty of Christ, Bishop of Rostov, a miracle worker, who converted people in Rostov-grad to the faith of Christ and baptized them from young to old. And the noble prince George rejoiced with great joy, and glorified God, who gave him such a valuable treasure, and sang a prayer service. And he ordered Andrei, the prince of Bogolyubsky, to go to the city of Murom and build a church in the city of Murom in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary.
The faithful and great prince himself left the city of Rostov and arrived in the city of Yaroslavl, which stands on the banks of the Volga River. And he got into a plow, and went down the Volga, and landed on the shore at Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and rebuilt it, and all the people of the city of that blessed Prince George began to pray that the image miraculous icons Holy Mother of God Fedorovskaya transferred to the city to them. He fulfilled the request. They began to sing a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos. And when they finished and wanted to carry that image to the city, the image did not leave the place, it did not move at all. Blessed Prince George, seeing the will of the Most Holy Theotokos, who had chosen a place for herself here, ordered to build a monastery in that place in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos Fedorovskaya.
The faithful prince George himself went from that place by land, and not by water. And he crossed the river Uzola, and the second river, named Sandu, and the third river crossed, named Sanogtu, and the fourth crossed, named Kerzhenets, and came to the lake, named Svetloyar. And I saw that place, extraordinarily beautiful and crowded; and at the begging of its inhabitants, the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich ordered to build a city on the shore of the lake of that Svetloyar, named Big Kitezh, because the place was unusually beautiful, and on the other side of the lake there was an oak grove.
And with the advice and command of the right-believing and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, they began to dig ditches to strengthen this place. And they began to build a church in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord, and a second church in the name of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and a third church in the name of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. In the same churches, Prince George commanded to make aisles in honor of other holidays of the Lord and the Mother of God. Likewise, he commanded to write the images of all the saints.
And that city, Big Kitezh, was a hundred fathoms long and wide, and this first measure was small. And the noble prince George ordered to add another hundred sazhens in length, and the hail became the measure of that in length - two hundred sazhens, and in width - one hundred sazhens. And they began to build that stone city in the year 6673 (1165), the month of May on the first day, in memory of the holy prophet Jeremiah and others like him. And that city was built for three years, and they built it in the year 6676 (1167), the month of September on the thirtieth day, in memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Great Armenia.
And he went to Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, the right-believing Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. And after the construction of those cities, Small and Large, he ordered to measure in the fields how much distance they have between themselves. And at the behest of the right-believing Prince George, they set out a hundred fields. And the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having learned this, gave glory to God and the Most Holy Theotokos and also ordered the chronicler to write a book. And the faithful and Grand Duke George himself ordered to serve the entire service. And having sung a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos of Fedorovskaya, after completing that service, he sailed in his plow on his way to his previously mentioned city of Pskov. The people saw him off with great honor; and, having said goodbye to him, they let him go.
The noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having arrived in his city, formerly called Pskov, spent many days in prayer, and in fasting, and in vigil, and distributed much alms to the poor, and widows, and orphans. And after the building of those cities, he lived seventy-five years.
It was in the year 6747 (1239). By the grace of God, for our sins, the ungodly and godless Tsar Batu came to Rus' in a war. And he destroyed the cities, and burned them with fire, and also destroyed the churches of God, and burned them with fire. He betrayed people to the sword, and stabbed small children with a knife, defiled young virgins with fornication. And there was a great cry.
Blessed Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, hearing about all this, wept bitterly. And, having prayed to the Lord and the holy mother of God, gathered his army, and went against the wicked king Batu with his soldiers. And when both armies entered the battle, there was a great slaughter and bloodshed. At that time, the noble prince George had few soldiers, and the noble prince George fled from the impious king Batu down the Volga to Small Kitezh. And for a long time the faithful prince George fought with the wicked king Batu, not letting him into his city.
When night fell, then the noble prince George went secretly from this city to the Great City of Kitezh. In the morning, when that wicked king woke up, he attacked the city with his soldiers and captured it. And he beat and chopped all the people in this city. And, not finding the right-believing prince in that city, he began to torment one of the inhabitants, and he, unable to endure the torment, opened the way for him. The same wicked one chased after the prince. And when he came to the city, he attacked it with many of his soldiers and took that city of Great Kitezh, which is on the shores of Lake Svetloyar, and killed the faithful Prince George, on the fourth day of February. And the wicked king Batu left the city. And after him they took the relics of the right-believing Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. And after that ruin, those cities were deserted, Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and Big, which is on the banks of Lake Svetloyar.
And Great Kitezh will be invisible until the coming of Christ, which happened in former times, as the lives of the holy fathers testify, the Monasian patericon, and the Skete patericon, and the ABC patericon, and the Jerusalem patericon, and the paterikon of the Holy Mountain, and these holy books, in which the lives of the holy fathers are written, they agree that the innermost abode is not one, but there are many monasteries, and in those monasteries there is a great multitude of holy fathers, like the stars of heaven, shining with their life. As the sand of the sea cannot be exhausted, so it is impossible to describe everything. It is about them, foreseeing with the holy spirit, that the blessed prophet David the king, marveling, cries out with the holy spirit, in the inspired book of his Psalter he says: planted in the house of the Lord, they bloom in the courts of our God.” And also the same prophet King David: “Exalted are your thoughts to me, O God, how great is their number; If I begin to number them, they are more numerous than sand.” About them, foreseeing with the holy spirit, the blessed apostle Paul in his epistle speaks, foreseeing; such a word refers to us: “They wandered in sheepskin and goat skins, enduring hardships, sorrows, bitterness, those that the whole world was not worthy of.” St. John Chrysostom spoke the same word, in his teaching he speaks on the third week of Lent. The same word is addressed to us, foreseeing, by St. Anastasius from Mount Sinai. The same apostolic word addresses us, foreseeing, and our reverend father Hilarion the Great, about the saints, he writes: “And so in end times there will be: cities and monasteries will be hidden, because the Antichrist will begin to reign in the world, Then they will run into the mountains, and into dens, and into the abyss of the earth. And the philanthropic God will not leave then those who want to be saved. By zeal, and tenderness, and tears, a person receives everything from God. The divine lips proclaimed the Savior himself in the most holy Gospel that “everything that has and wants to be saved will be given.”
And after the murder of the holy and faithful and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, and after the burial of his honest relics, in the sixth year, that Tsar Batu came to fight in Russian kingdom. The noble Prince Mikhail of Chernigov went against Batu the Tsar with his boyar Theodore. And when both armies fought, there was great bloodshed. And that wicked Tsar Batu killed the faithful and Grand Duke Mikhail of Chernigov with the boyar Theodore in the year 6750 (1241), the month of September on the twentieth day. And after the murder of the right-believing Prince Mikhail of Chernigov, two years later, that impious Tsar Batu killed the right-believing Prince Mercury of Smolensk in the year 6755 (1246), the month of November on the twenty-fourth day. And there was a desolation of the Muscovite kingdom, and other monasteries, and that city of Greater Kitezh in the year 6756 (1248).
Literature
1. Kravtsov N. I. Russian oral folk art. Moscow. " graduate School", 1983
2. Morokhin V. N. Prose genres Russian folklore. Moscow
"High School", 1977
3. Afanasiev A. N. Folk Russian legends. Kazan "Young Forces", 1914
"The legend of antiquity deep, things have long past days..." These lines have been heard, seen, read by every Russian-speaking person since childhood. This is how Alexander Pushkin began his work "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Are his fairy tales really legends? To know for sure, you need to understand the concepts.
Poetry is poetry, but what does the word "tradition" mean? Definition and special features we will consider this phenomenon in our article.
Tradition as a genre
We will begin our acquaintance with the world of folk legends with the definition of the concept itself. So, various sources give us the following.
Tradition is a prosaic plot in which historical facts are interpreted in a folk interpretation. The legends of the people are not connected with the fairy tale genre, although sometimes the events resemble mythical or fairy tale ones.
Traditions in literary theory are usually divided into two large groups by type of plot: historical and toponymic.
Traditions are part of oral folk prose
We learned, the definition gave us general idea. Let's talk about one feature this genre. It is noteworthy that the stories are. This means that the stories heard today were created hundreds of years ago and passed from mouth to mouth. By the time the legend was recorded on an information carrier, dozens or even hundreds of transformations of the plot and images could have taken place.
creations famous poet Homer's Greek "Iliad" and "Odyssey", which have an incredible size, were also transmitted orally. They also described historical events, embellished and somewhat modified. This shows some similarity between these creations and newer traditions.
As a genre of oral prose, legends delight in their long history. Fortunately, or maybe not, it is much easier these days to distribute them in written form. We should appreciate every word, tradition, which gives important spiritual knowledge about our ancestors.
Comparison with other folkloric prose genres
Traditions can sometimes be mistakenly defined as a legend or an epic. To avoid this, let's name the following pattern: the plots of legends are aimed at explaining the origin of any cultural or natural phenomenon. They often give a certain moral assessment of the events described. And a legend is a retelling of history in a folk way with the participation of heroes widely known or famous in the local area.
From epics, the legends of the people differ in content, actors (historical figures: robbers, rulers, simple people, artisans), the participation of real personalities known in a certain area, who became mythological heroes.
Characteristic of this genre of folklore prose is a third-person narrative about events related to the past. The narrator of the legends was not an eyewitness to the events, but conveys a story heard from third parties.
Historical traditions
Collective folk memory has created ancient legends from real facts, about which in a slightly different light we can read in the history books. This is how historical legends were created.
Historical legends include Joan of Arc, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Ataman Mazepa and others.
We also include biblical stories about the creation of the world, the exit of the Israelites from Egypt in search of their land, and many others.
IN this group includes such traditions that absorb people's ideas about the creation of their world. All folklore units create a single historical and mythological world that reflects a broad picture of the people's view of the surrounding reality.
The time frame covered by the traditions is difficult to determine: it is information from the most biblical antiquity to the present.
Toponymic traditions
Toponymic include legends that record the events that became the basis for the origin of a particular name. Their heroes are, respectively, local famous characters and events that matter only there. The study of such local histories is an interesting part of toponymic and ethnographic research.
Toponymic are brief legends about Zmiev Valakh (from the Serpent), the city of Kiev (about Kiy, his brothers and sister), the city of Orsha (prince Orsh and his daughter Orshitsa), the city of Lvov and many other toponymic objects.
Perspectives for Researchers
Every city, every village has short stories about where a local name came from. Collections of such legends can be compiled endlessly. There is still a field for research today. Therefore, everyone who has discovered legends and found them an interesting object of activity has a job to do.
To publish a collection of legends collected in a particular locality is a very real prospect. New titles are popping up today, right at this moment. Also in the remote corners of Russia there are settlements in which folklore is actively developing. This means that new frontiers for ethnographic and folklore work are emerging.
It is noteworthy that at the present time there are more topographical legends. Historical ones are preserved from previous epochs, since from some time all the facts are fixed immediately after their appearance.
Traditions, myths and their historical basis
Tradition, which we have already defined, is sometimes associated with mythology. So, stories of exploits Greek hero Hercules, according to the researchers, could not have arisen without real historical facts. Those mythical events and heroes with which the probable real story adventures of Hercules appeared over time.
Some facts from the Book of Enoch, which mentioned giants, were confirmed. In the same way, architectural monuments were found that could have witnessed the events that became the basis of the legend of the Flood.
conclusions
Thus we learned that tradition is by word of mouth folk story about historical events. In the process of transmission, the bearers tend to embellish the tradition. Definition and features of this folk genre are now known to us. We can easily distinguish it from legends and fairy tales.
Ancient legends are a reflection of the deepest layers of culture and history of a certain people. By studying and comparing them with the facts of the history of certain nationalities, one can draw conclusions about the worldview of the people who lived at that time. The value of retelling for ethnology is also extremely high.
Every person heard folk legends, historical and toponymic, but could not pay attention to this diamond, cut over the years of transmission from mouth to mouth. Now we can appreciate what we know and what we hear about the surrounding cultural world. May our article be useful to you and give you the opportunity to look at the creativity of the people from the other side.
