Kyiv epics. Features of cyclization of epics

Introduction

Chapter 1. History of the study of the East Slavic epic

§1. Pre-scientific period of the study of epics. Discovery of the epic by scientists

§2. Pre-revolutionary schools were innovations

§3. The study of epics in the USSR

§4. General conclusions of the contending schools

Chapter 2. Archaic motifs of the East Slavic epic

§1. Pagan symbols and paraphernalia of epics

§2. Warrior sacrifices and ritual suicides

§3. Funeral rite in the description of epics

§4. The image of the ruler's wife in epics

§5. Sacred image of the ruler in epics

Chapter 3. Ethnic features of the East Slavic epic

§1. The appearance of the ancient Rus in the presentation of epics

§2. Relics of the tribal epic of the Ilmenian Slavs in epics

§3. Ritual semantics of plowing

Chapter 4. Geographical localization of the East Slavic epic

§1. Plot parallels of epics and epics of Central Europe

§2. Geography and toponymy of epics

§3. Epics and epic legends of the Western Slavs

§4. Danubian Rus in historical sources

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

The Russians had an epic long before the formation of the Kievan state. Its heyday falls on the Kievan era. Just as Soviet historians do not begin Russian history with the formation of Kievan Rus, we cannot begin the history of the Russian epic with the formation of the Kievan cycle of epics.

V.Ya. Propp

INTRODUCTION

Any researcher of epics, studying them in relation to the history of Russia, is faced with the problem of their dating. The study of the Russian epic as a whole is a very voluminous topic and is far from complete, like any science. Almost the entire second half of the XX century. scholars have been discussing the relationship of the Russian epic to history. On the one hand, Academician B.A. Rybakov with his followers - M.M. Plisetsky, S.N. Azbelev and others, on the other hand, V.Ya. Propp, a world-famous folklorist, who was also supported by numerous students and followers, incl. and I.Ya. Froyanov.

Rybakov and his followers looked for a reflection of the events and characters of the chronicle in epics, relying on names. At the same time, it was not without exaggeration, and the originality and originality of epics as a historical source were underestimated. Any difference was rejected. Their rivals pointed to the tension of parallels between epic and chronicle events and characters, drawing a categorical conclusion from this: the epic does not reflect any historical events. In general, we can agree that most of the comparisons of epics and chronicles are exaggerations, but the conclusion that epics are completely unhistorical seems hasty. The epics contain information about the features of culture and social structure in epic Rus', and they are so archaic that they should be attributed not to Kievan Rus, but to an older culture. This information was discarded by Rybakov's followers because it did not fit into their concept, and by their opponents - because philologists could not correctly assess this information.

In terms of dating, one of the most important signs is the free carrying of weapons in everyday life by the heroes of epics. In Moscow Rus', such a tradition did not exist, which excludes the folding of epics in the Moscow period. Another important factor in the dating of epics is the indispensable naming of Kyiv as the capital of the state. In connection with this and other factors, the first third of the 12th century will be the upper limit of the folding of epics, as the end of the period of existence of a single Kyiv state.

The Russian heroic epic has absorbed common Slavic, Proto-Slavic and even pre-Slavic images and motifs, so it is very difficult to establish the lower limit of our study. Approximately this border will be the 5th century. This is the Great Migration of Nations, a time of turbulent events that could not but be reflected in the epic. In the 5th century for the first time, the ethnonym “rus” (“rose”) appears on the pages of medieval writers. It is the 5th century. actually became the starting point of the East Slavic ethnogenesis, during which the social and everyday realities of the East Slavic peoples, reflected in epics, irreversibly changed.

The range of sources relating to the topic of our study is necessary and sufficient. In accordance with the specifics of our work, it includes mainly literary sources. These are the epics themselves, in which several main layers can be distinguished:

1. Epics about senior heroes (Svyatogor, Volkh Vseslavievich, Mikhail Potyk, Volga Svyatoslavich).

2. Epics about the main characters of the Russian epic (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich).

3. Epics of the heroic cycle (“Vasily Kazimirovich”, “Surovets Suzdalets”, “Sukhman”, etc.).

4. Epics of the Kyiv cycle (“Danube”, “Nightingale Budimirovich”, “Duke Stepanovich”, “Churila Plenkovich”, “Stavr Godinovich”, etc.).

5. Epics of the Novgorod cycle (about Sadko and Vasily Buslaev).

Such a narrative historical source as The Tale of Bygone Years is of great importance - it is on it that the researchers of the historical school of epic studies are based.

1. Of the epic foreign sources, the most important is the Old Norse epic work “The Saga of Tidrek of Bern”, partially published in Russian, which mentions the main characters of the Russian epic Prince Vladimir (Waldemar) and Ilya the Russian (IliasvonRiuzen). The saga was written down in 1250, but Western scholars attribute its origin to no later than the 10th century, and it is based on ancient Germanic legends of the 5th century. The action of the saga unfolds directly on the Russian land (Ruszialand), Novgorod (Holmgard), Smolensk (Smaliski), Polotsk (Palltaeskiu), etc. are mentioned. - 1230s, but established much earlier.

2. Fully and partially published narrative historical writings of medieval Western European and Byzantine historians, mentioning the Slavs and Rus' (Mauritius the Strategist, Eugippius, Saxo the Grammar, Adam of Bremen, Titmar of Merseburg, Otto of Bamberg, Jordanes, Leo the Deacon and Procopius of Caesarea).

3. Completely and partially published works of Eastern travelers, mentioning the Slavs and Rus (Ibn Rust, Ibn Miskaveyha, etc.). The most important source of this type is Ahmed Ibn Fadlan's Note on a Journey to the Volga.

Russian epics have been the subject of study since the transition from knowledge to science, for a long time they were studied in Russian pre-revolutionary and Soviet historiography in source and literary relations and accumulated an extensive literature.

In particular, from the works of the 19th century one can name such as “Folk Poetry: Historical Essays” by F.I. Buslaev, "South Russian epics" by A.N. Veselovsky, "Russian Bylevoy Epos" by I.N. Zhdanova, “Experience of a comparative study of the Western and Russian epos: Poems of the Lombard cycle” Kirpichnikova A.I., “Russian heroic epic” A.M. Loboda, “On the epics of the Vladimir cycle” by L. Maikov, “The poetry of Veliky Novgorod and its remains in Northern Russia” by A.V. Markov, "Excursions into the area of ​​the Russian folk epos" by V.F. Miller, “Comparative and critical observations on the layer composition of the Russian folk epic: Ilya Muromets and the Kievan heroism” O.F. Miller, "The Origin of Russian Epics" by V.V. Stasov and "Great Russian epics of the Kyiv cycle" by M.G. Khalansky.

In the XX century. epics were also actively studied by historians and philologists, among which are such surnames and works as: A.P. Skaftymov "Poetics and Genesis of Epics", B.A. Rybakov "Ancient Rus': Legends. Epics. Chronicles”, V.Ya. Propp "Russian Heroic Epos", S.N. Azbelev "Historicism of epics and the specifics of folklore", V.P. Anikin "Russian heroic epic", A.M. Astakhov "Russian epic epic in the North" and "Epics: Results and problems of study", S.I. Dmitrieva "Geographical distribution of Russian epics: Based on materials from the late 19th - early 20th century", V. Zhirmunsky "Folk heroic epic", S.G. Lazutin "Poetics of Russian folklore", R.S. Lipets "Epos and Ancient Rus'", E.M. Meletinsky "The Origin of the Heroic Epos: Early Forms and Archaic Monuments", V.G. Mirzoev "Epics and chronicles - monuments of Russian historical thought", M.M. Plisetsky "Historicism of Russian epics", B.N. Putilov "Russian and South Slavic heroic epic", Yu.I. Yudin "Heroic Epics: Poetic Art", etc.

In the course of the research, three main schools were formed: mythological, comparative and historical. Now we can say with confidence that each of the directions, of course, was right in its own way and brought great benefits in studying the problem. The value of their efforts lies in the fact that they developed methods for studying epics. In the late 1990s the followers of V.Ya Propp and B.A. Rybakov, almost simultaneously published studies in which they shifted the time of folding the epic to the middle of the first millennium of the Christian era: I.Ya. Froyanov and Yu.I. Yudin on the one hand, and S.N. Azbelev, on the other.

Throughout the entire period of scientific study of epics, researchers paid attention to features of the worldview or social structure in epics that did not fit into the idea of ​​the identity of Vladimir the Red Sun with Vladimir Svyatoslavich.

The usual support for the historical school was and remains the names of characters, but this support is unreliable due to frequent changes in names not according to the laws derived by linguists, but according to the play of meanings and consonances. Acquaintance with the Western epic refutes the assertion that in the epic only names are historical, built by storytellers into ancient plots. In the "Song of Roland" not only the names are historical, but also the main event, in the "Song of the Nibelungs" and the "Volsunga Saga", both the connections of real persons and the main event are historical.

The most rational proposal of L.N. Maikova - to explore everyday life and relationships in the epic, but it was the realities of everyday life, private and public life that were often rethought by storytellers and supplemented with anachronisms. The developed V.V. Cherdyntsev and R.S. Lipets method: when early and late terms meet, precedence should be given to the earlier. Using this technique, in this work we examined in a sequentially retrospective order those features of culture and society reflected in the epics that do not allow us to talk about the folding of epics after the baptism of 988 and show the existence of epics in the middle of the 10th century. and the reflection in them of customs and social relations that were already archaic for that era.

Written sources mention how the leader of the Tatars Mengukhan, after the capture of Pereyaslavl and Chernigov in 1239, approached Kiev near the Dnieper and, “seeing the city, marveled at its beauty and majesty” (Ryb. 3, p. 88).61.
You can learn about the complex basis of the culture of Kievan Rus, its deep pagan roots and richest ancient traditions, about oral poetry, legends and chronicles from the widely known, fascinatingly written book by Acad. B. A. Rybakova, “Ancient Rus'. Legends, epics, chronicles” (Moscow, 1963), where the historical basis of many epics is revealed in a new way. The struggle of pagan traditions in urban and rural life, the opposition of pagan priests and sorcerers introduced from the 10th century. Christianity is shown with great completeness and content in another of his books. Kievan Rus arose as a state in the 9th century. at the confluence of the Kyiv and Novgorod principalities. The main occupations of the population were agriculture, hunting, crafts and trade. On their basis, a wonderful Kiev culture arose and flourished.
Acad. B. A. Rybakov defined the boundaries of the emergence of the Kiev cycle of epics as follows: “If Russian history from the 9th to the first third of the 12th century is included in the concept of Kievan Rus, then it turns out that all epic stories fit into this approximate chronological framework” (p. 4) . A close point of view was expressed by V. P. Anikin: “... in the era of the existence of the Kyiv state, the archaic layer of myths and legends was reworked.” The general meaning of the changes that took place in the epic was "historicization of the old traditions, the glorification of military prowess against the backdrop of the life and way of life of Kievan Rus"62. A similar opinion was expressed by R. S. Lipets: “Indeed, the concentration of heroic squads at the court of the Kiev prince, tributary relations of neighboring lands, arbitrariness in retribution in the family and domestic sphere, which still responds to the tribal system, the absence of references to later feudal strife, everyday life - everything suggests that the epics reflected the initial stage of the formation of the early class Old Russian state ... The Russian heroic epic as a genre could only form by the end of the first millennium AD. e.".63 . D.S. Likhachev’s thought was interesting and new: “Epic social relations ... do not quite coincide with the features of life in the Kiev time, but are drawn in features typical of an earlier time, for the period of military democracy” (Likhachev. RNPT. S. 184-190).
Contacts of Kievan Rus with Byzantium, which arose in the 9th and 10th centuries, led to the appearance of buffoons in Rus'. They found here people who were close to them by profession: blasphemer sorcerers, connoisseurs of legends, blasphemers, bayuns who owned a storytelling manner, guslars and healers (according to Rybakov), probably, cult singers also existed under the priests. It is probably the poetic reworking of the archaic epic, the saturation of it with specific, contemporary features of history and life, the polishing of epic formulas, their modernization and the creation of new ones, probably belongs to the epic singers and poets from the buffoon environment. Of particular importance in the poetics of the epic were, in the right opinion of R. S. Lipets, “common places”. They, like permanent epithets, “traditionally retained the most archaic and reliable features, since the new creation concerned them incomparably less than the changing plot canvas of the epic. Like headpieces, endings and plot miniatures in the annals, which were transferred unchanged by draftsmen-copyists from older lists (and there is also little individuality in these images), the “common places” of epics are often older than the text itself (italics mine. - Z.V. ). The special significance of the "common places" in the epic lies in the fact that, as auxiliary episodes, the attention of the composer and, accordingly, the performers of the epics was not focused on them, and this contributed to the persistent, albeit mechanical, conservation of their content (pp. 12-13). This explains that the content of "common places" consists mainly of "moments from the life of a warrior-cavalryman" (the cavalry was the leading, chosen branch of the army, especially necessary in the fight against nomads).64 "Common places", of course, are firmly held in the mobile text precisely because of the typicality of the patterns and positions in them for the environment depicted in the epic” (p. 13).
In the Kievan period, peculiar living conditions were the breeding ground for the epic. Behind the strange reproaches of Hellenism in church denunciations, one can see not only opposition to paganism, but, possibly, to buffoons. V. O. Mikhnevich wrote: “The young, fresh, patriarchally uncorrupted people suddenly began to be convicted of the hitherto unheard of inveterate vices and sins of the “cursed Hellenism”. What hurt the depraved, pampered, decrepit Byzantine society ... began to be persecuted by the teachers of the church and in the innocent, of course, Russian environment in all this ... ”“ Hellenism ”, having a very specific meaning and its history in Byzantium, in Russia was fiction, under which concepts and phenomena were attracted, which in essence did not have anything similar to “Hellenism” (Mikhnevich, pp. 35-37).
Pagan rituals, magic, sacrifices lived in full force. Church historian N.K. Nikolsky wrote: “As shown by the complaints and exhortations of church preachers, pre-Christian ritualism continued to live in its entirety throughout the entire Kievan period, and not only in the countryside, but also in the city.<...>The author of the Primary Chronicle is forced to admit that the people of his era are only professed Christians, but in reality - "living in a rotten way." At the end of the XI century. Metropolitan John of Kiev complained that many "guzzle (i.e., make sacrifices. - Z. V.) a demon and a well of a swamp", they do not go to communion, they do not go to confession, they are not accepted, and the church wedding ceremony is observed only by boyars and princes and the common people ignore them. They enter into marriages according to the old custom: "They will catch their wives dancing and humming and splashing" and some "without shame" have two wives" (Nikolsky. IRTs. S. 28-29). Paying attention to the ancient Russian state of religion, Nikolsky, in his report on this issue, pointed out the inevitable manifestations of a general pagan psychology in everyday life: “In the recesses of the people's collective psyche, religious ideas are deeply strengthened. It constitutes the regulator of people's social life, the change of which does not pass without upheavals.
Religion, already replaced by a new one, lives for a long time in a series of subconscious processes. Thus, for centuries, Christianity could not free itself from the remnants of pagan myths” (Nikolsky, On Old Russian Christianity… p. 5). This feature of folk psychology also left a seal on the state of the Kyiv epic, only gradually individual elements of the new Christian morality, slowly perceived even in the most progressive environment of ancient Russian society, penetrated into its works.
In epic stories, to varying degrees and degrees, the influence of the everyday environment was reflected, in which, from the 11th century. (according to the monuments of ancient writing, but in reality, apparently, much earlier), buffoons begin to play an increasingly prominent role. They had to perceive many everyday institutions of the pre-Christian period, as evidenced by some works of folklore and ancient monuments. The denunciations and attacks on the part of church leaders, increasingly intensifying in the process of combating paganism, made it necessary for them to include elements of Christian ideology in their works, as will be seen from a specific analysis of the texts of epics. Later, they included religious works in their repertoire. The fact of singing in a tavern by the “merry” Pifanka a spiritual verse about going on a pilgrimage to Tsarina Nastasya Romanovna, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, is known. On the way, at the road pillar in the form of a cross, she had a vision of the Life-Giving Trinity. This plot is not known in folklore and in spiritual poetry, in particular. The singing of the buffoon is indicative both in the choice of text and in place (Panchenko, pp. 61-62).
A. A. Belkin, who carefully studied the data on ancient Russian games based on the monuments of ancient writing and evidence of folklore, came to the conclusion that games existed among the Slavs before the unification of the Slavic tribes into a separate state. Hence the similarity of folklore motifs in different genres among all Eastern Slavs. Initially, games were part of a ritual. They were nationwide - hence the long-observed tradition to be present for everyone, young and old. All members of the clan participated in the ceremony. In the solemn part of the holiday, which was a pagan worship with sacrifice, the main role was played by the Magi and priests. The solemn part also included preparations for the meal and the meal itself. V. V. Stasov, studying the initials of the Academic Gospel, found in them dispersed in a certain sequential order parts of a single composition depicting a religious pagan scene: overshadowed by trees). The victim is a stabbed hare, another is carried. Blowing the horn leads the procession with gifts (five figures). The other five figures make up the priestly and clergy element (long beards, red boots). The chief priest is barefoot, with his hand raised up. Hats are decorated with feathers or tree branches. One on his knees hugs the trunk of a tree, the other looks through the branches, the third kills a hare. Stasov believed that the composition reflects the typological fact of equal participation in the ritual of priests and buffoons.65 .
The universality of games, their mass character is observed later in rural games and round dances.
In the organization of games, the leading role belonged to buffoons. Belkin's observation about the difference in the repertoire of marching (non-descriptive) and sedentary (descriptive) buffoons is significant. Marching people acted with "shame" regardless of the games: "The need to earn daily bread ruled out the possibility of playing only at the games" (p. 115). She also forced her to create her own repertoire: dramatized and song-recitative dialogues, bear fun, dances on a tightrope, puppet scenes.
Settled buffoons "played, sang, laughed, entertained, using ready-made, what the people created and what preserved their art." The beginning of the games was recognized by the signal of the buffoons: “If the player calls for a game or for some idol’s gathering, then everyone will flow, rejoicing” (p. 114). With the Rusalians, “someone is galloping with snot, and with him a lot of people go, listening to him, and they dance and sing” (Belkin, p. 122). In folklore and written documents, various synonyms for the word "buffoon" and the names of varieties of this concept have been preserved: bakhari (bayuns), merry (oarmen), bagpipers (pipers), fools, gudtsy (gudoshniki), dudari (pipes), guselniki (guslyars), domerniks (domrachei), sorcerers, blasphemers, organists, pipers, merrymakers, leashers, bears (medvedniks).
There is a “bear-dancer” and a woman “dancer”, generalizing - dancers. In the annals, according to the observations of A. A. Belkin, descriptive turns of speech predominate: beating in tambourines, in snuffles with Pushcha, emitting goose voices, singing organ voices. Belkin rightly assumed that the word “buffoon” was in common use much earlier than it was recorded in written translations from Greek and Russian monuments: in the “Initial Chronicle Code” (“Instruction on the Executions of God”) and in “Instruction of the Za-Rubsky Chernorizets George” XIII V. (Sreznevsky. 2. p. 227; Belkin. p. 40-42). There is no word “buffoon” in the references to merrymaking. In the denunciations and reproaches of the leaders of the Church Fathers, there are concepts: songwriters, mockers, laughers, “shame is some kind of demonic action”, that is, actors, etc.
The folk names of the varieties of the buffoon profession reveal partly the content of the repertoire of games, about which there is no specific information. It is only known that wives were chosen during the games. In scanty references we find songs, dances, psaltery, pipes, tambourines and the mass character of the participants. It is possible that many motifs of game songs, “frequent”, round dances and Christmas evening songs, prevailing in the repertoire of rural youth in any of the provinces and focused on the ups and downs of choosing a bride and groom, go back to ancient Russian games. Note that there was no place for “bayan fables” and singing “glories” on them. There must have been a certain ethics, and the ethical norms that had developed since ancient times were strictly observed.
It is more difficult to define the role of blasphemers, this term is not entirely clear. It was explained by B. A. Rybakov, based on the word usage in written monuments. “Beasts and fables,” he writes, “are close concepts, but not identical” (Ryb. 6, p. 315). Blasphemers are myths, mainly about fate, fate, but connected with magic: “Neither heed the charms, nor the blasphemous magic ... Yes, start the relics of the blasphemer to forbid - you see many gathering to the blasphemer” (Srezn. 5. Stb. 1308-1309). The researcher drew attention to their connection with the funeral rite: those who see off the deceased "... cry, but when they leave, they blaspheme and get drunk." Blasphemers as a kind of mythical "fables" were performed mainly by elders - "starchi koshchyuns". Their performance could be accompanied by kobeniya (gestures and body movements). Blasphemy in the sense of desecration of a shrine is a later rethinking of this pagan concept. The performance of blasphemes and fables was accompanied by the playing of bowed instruments: “Inii to hum, inii to bawl him and blaspheme” (Ryb. 6, p. 314-317). Koshchei (Koschuy) of fairy tales is genetically connected with blasphemy (in fairy tales, often Kashchei).
With the replacement of pagan prayers with church-Christian ones, the first part of the rite disappeared, and the game was not replaced by anything, and for some time, by inertia, it continued to function. The musical signal usually announced the beginning of the game: “If it’s a gooseman or a dancer, or someone else from those who exist at the game, calls for hail, with diligence, everyone flows and with grace they give him titles and the days are completely half (participation? - Z. V.) exhausting, only attentive to one.”66 . “The people flowed to the buffoons like winged ones,” A. S. Famintsyn quotes another document, “he gathered in abundance where they called him harp, and dance, and songs, and flutes” (Famintsyn, p. 91).
Just as there is no information about the buffoon repertoire of games, the details of buffoon clothing are also unknown. She is mentioned succinctly: "buffoon dress." Masks were also put on. However, it is unlikely that the buffoons were the first mummers in Rus'. The tradition of dressing up existed in all ancient religions and probably passed on to neighboring peoples. Ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome knew and used the art of disguise. Until now, it has not been established exactly who owned the masks found during excavations of cities: priests or buffoons, or both.67. It is indicative that in the description of the merrymaking “masks” are not mentioned, with the exception of Christmas time and Maslenitsa, where the merrymaking was accompanied by disguise. The description of the celebration of Kupala in Pskov characterizes the scope of the game: “Knocking tambourines and the voice of snot, strings are buzzing, splashing and dancing for wives and maidens, and nodding for their heads, crying and wailing are hostile to their lips, all-defiled songs, demonic lands are over, and their backbone is wobbling , and their feet skipping and trampling; the same is a man and a lad, a great deceit and a fall<...>also unlawful desecration for husbands, and corruption for virgins” (Additions to AI. I. No. 18).
“Gradually, the impulses that determined the game weakened,” A. A. Belkin believes. - Substantive connections between actions and phenomena of play - drama also weakened. Separate phenomena fell out, it became possible to swap the preserved ones, and then simply take some of them out of the game. The holiday was accompanied by actions, the complex of which was a former game and continued to be called a game (Belkin, pp. 120-121). The decomposition of the games proceeded gradually and differently in different parts of the country: far from large cities it was slower and later, and in the cities the migration of the population with differences in the way of life influenced the faster decay of the games. They left traces in the form of various games (ibid., pp. 125-126).
There is no specific data regarding the Kyiv buffoons. At the feasts of Vladimir they represent a group of musicians. As in other cities, a certain number of buffoons apparently lived in Kyiv. “Under certain conditions, they could unite. The unification of buffoons into groups and gangs is a fact beyond doubt,” says A. A. Belkin (p. 138). Probably, even then "joking, buffooning", that is, anyone could sing, dance, play skits. But “only the one whose art stood out above the level of the art of the masses with its artistry became and was called a buffoon-handyman,” V. N. Vsevolodsky-Gern gross considered (2. p. 16). The art of buffoons adorned the life of both the boyar-princely and the common people, therefore buffoons are present as characters in many epics, and the best and most skillful in singing and music heroes of Vladimir are compared with them and often surpass them in the quality of the game and even improvisation.
Next, some plots of the epics of the Kiev cycle will be considered, in which traces of the influence of buffoons can presumably be identified, some epics of later origin, for example, the cycle about Ilya Muromets, are not considered here, as well as the texts of epics, which represent significant distortions due to their late recording in early 20th century The plots of the epics are considered in a conditional sequence in order to see the growing influence of the buffoon environment: from inclusions of religious and Christian elements to new interpretations of the main characters, the introduction of comic formulas and assessments.

Epics of the Kiev cycle include epic tales, the plot of which unfolds in the "capital city" of Kiev or not far from it, and the central images are Prince Vladimir and Russian heroes: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. The main theme of these works is the heroic struggle of the Russian people against external enemies, nomadic tribes.

In the epics of the Kyiv cycle, folk narrators glorify military prowess, invincible power, the courage of the entire Russian people, their love for their native land and the unbridled desire to protect it. The heroic content of the Kyiv epics is explained by the fact that Kyiv in the 11th - 13th centuries was a border town subjected to frequent raids by nomads.

The image of Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets is the most beloved epic hero. He is endowed with extraordinary strength and great courage. Ilya is not afraid to go into battle alone with an enemy thousands of times greater than his number. Always ready to stand up for mother earth, for the Russian faith.

In the epic "Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar" tells about the battle of the hero with the Tatars. Prince Vladimir put Ilya in a deep cellar, and when “the dog Kalin-Tsar” approached “the capital city of Kyiv”, there was no one to resist him, there was no one to defend the Russian land. And then the Grand Duke turns to Ilya Muromets for help. And he, not holding a grudge against the prince, without hesitation goes to fight the enemy. In this epic, Ilya Muromets is endowed with exceptional strength and prowess: he alone opposes the numerous Tatar army. Having been captured by Kalin the Tsar, Ilya is not tempted by either the golden treasury or expensive clothes. He remains faithful to his Fatherland, the Russian faith and Prince Vladimir.

There is also a call for the unification of the Russian lands - one of the main ideas of the Russian heroic epic. 12 holy Russian heroes help Ilya overcome the enemy force

Dobrynya Nikitich - Holy Russian hero

Dobrynya Nikitich is no less favorite hero of the Kievan epic cycle. He is as strong and powerful as Ilya, he also enters into an unequal battle with the enemy and defeats him. But, in addition, it has a number of other advantages: an excellent swimmer, a skillful harpman, plays chess. Of all the heroes, Dobrynya Nikitich is closest to the prince. He comes from a noble family, smart and educated, a skilled diplomat. But, above all, Dobrynya Nikitich is a warrior and defender of the Russian land.

In the epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent" the hero enters into single combat with the twelve-headed Serpent and defeats him in a fair duel. The insidious Serpent, violating the contract, kidnaps the niece of the prince, Zabava Putyatichna. It is Dobrynya who goes to rescue the captive. He acts as a diplomat: he frees the Russian people from captivity, concludes a peace treaty with the Serpent, rescues Zabava Putyatichna from the snake's hole.

Epics of the Kyiv cycle in the images of Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich show the mighty, indestructible strength and power of the entire Russian people, their ability to resist foreigners, to protect the Russian land from nomadic raids. It is no coincidence that Ilya and Dobrynya are so loved by the people. After all, for them, serving the Fatherland, the Russian people is the highest value in life.

But they are told on a completely different occasion, they are more devoted to the way of life of a large trading city, but we will tell you about this next time.

Epic Kyiv is a symbol of the unity and state independence of the Russian land. Here, at the court of Prince Vladimir, the events of many epics take place.

The military power of Ancient Rus' was personified by the heroes. Among the heroic epics, those in which Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich act are put forward in the first place. These main defenders of Rus' come from three estates: peasant, princely and priestly. Epics sought to present Russia as a united in the fight against enemies.

Despite the fact that different heroes appeared in the Russian epic at different times, in the plots of epics they often act together. And always the main one among them is Ilya Muromets: the oldest, strongest, wisest and fairest. This is poetically emphasized in epics, for example:

Yes, one sun in heaven,

There is only one hero in Holy Rus',

One Ilya and Ilya Muromets!

[Gilf. - T. 3. - S. 242].

Ilya is a peasant son, he comes from the village of Karacharova near the city of Murom. Until the age of thirty, he was sick - he could not control his arms or legs. The poor wanderers (kaliks) gave Ilya a cup of honey drink, from which he not only recovered, but also gained heroic strength. First of all, Ilya helped his parents to clear the fall from the dubya-kolodya (that is, he prepared a place in a scorched forest for arable land). However, the power was not given to him for peasant affairs. Ilya brought up a horse for himself, received a parental blessing and went to the expanse of open fields. [Fish. - T. 1. - S. 318-319].

The enormous strength of Ilya Muromets should benefit all of Rus', so the hero rushed to Kyiv. Along the way, he accomplished his first feats: he defeated the enemy troops near Chernigov, and then freed the straight road from the fantastic Nightingale the Robber ("Ilya and the Nightingale"). With the captive Nightingale, Ilya appeared in Kyiv and introduced himself to Prince Vladimir. [Gilf. - T. 2. ~ S. 10-17].

An international "wandering" story about a duel between a father and an unrecognized son was attached to the image of Ilya Muromets. In the epic "Ilya Muromets and Sokolnik" (according to other versions: Pod-falconer), the son of Ilya is depicted as an enemy of Russia, a Tatar. Defeated by Ilya in a fair duel, Sokolnik tried to kill his father while he was sleeping in a white tent. Ilya was protected from a mortal blow by a chest golden cross. The bylina ends with Ilya killing his son. [Gilf. - T. 2. - S. 280-283].

Epics about Ilya Muromets most fully developed the heroic theme in the Russian epic. They also influenced epics about other heroes. One of the most significant works about the tragic era of the invasion of nomads is the epic "Ilya Muromets and Kalin the Tsar." Mortal danger hung over Rus': enemy troops led by Tsar Kalin approached Kiev. The Tatar force has been overtaken by many, many:

As from a cry from a human,

As from the neighing of a horse

The human heart desponds.

The situation is tragically complicated by the internal hostility tearing apart Russia. Russian forces are divided. The bylina with condemnation depicts Prince Vladimir, who waters and favors only the boyars close to him, but does not think about the heroic warriors. Twelve Holy Russian heroes are offended by the prince, they left Kiev. The only one who could stand up for the faith, for the fatherland is Ilya Muromets. However, even before the invasion of enemies, Vladimir became angry with him for something and planted the hero in a cold deep cellar to certain death. Kalin-Tsar sent Vladimir a messenger letter, where he offered Kyiv to surrender in an ultimatum form. Then Prince Vladimir understood: this is not a small thing, And not a small thing, a great one. In response, he writes a letter of confession: he asks Kalin for a delay of three years, three months and three days - ostensibly in order to give the Tatars a magnificent reception, to prepare for it. A deferment has been received, but it does not save. Kalin-tsar again approached Kyiv with his troops and great ones. Vladimir's position is hopeless. He walks along the mountain, sheds burning tears and laments that Ilya Muromets is no longer among the living. However, the hero is alive - he was saved by the daughter of Prince Vladimir, who sent food, drink, and warm clothes to the cellar. Upon learning of this, Vladimir quickly descends to Ilya in the cellar, takes him by the white hands, brings the white-stone woman into his chamber, sits him down, feeds, waters, and then asks:

"And wait, you are for the faith for the fatherland,

And wait, you are for the glorious city of Kyiv,

Yes, stand for mothers of God's churches,

Yes, wait, you are for the prince for Vladimir,

Yes, wait for the Queen's Opraksa!"

Without saying a word, Ilya left the prince's chambers, went to his wide courtyard, went into the stable to the standing one and began to saddle his horse. Then the hero left Kyiv and examined the enemy army: he could not see the end of the edge of power. On the eastern side, Ilya noticed the white tents of the Russian heroes and went to them to persuade the heroes to oppose Kalina Tsar. But their resentment against Prince Vladimir was deep: despite the fact that Ilya repeated his call three times, the heroes refused him.

Ilya Muromets rode alone to the Tatar troops and began to beat the enemy force, like a clear falcon of swan geese. Enemies dug deep digs in the field - Ilya was warned about this by his horse. The horse carried Ilya out of the first and second digs, but the hero could not get out of the third and was taken prisoner. Kalin Tsar began to persuade Ilya of Muromets to go to his service. He seduced the hero with a luxurious and well-fed life - but to no avail. Forgetting his personal offense, Ilya Muromets stood up for Rus' and the Russian prince with his chest. He entered the fight again. Crushing the enemies, Ilya passed through their army. Then, in an open field, an arrow spoke and launched it into the camp of the heroes. The eldest of them, Samson Samoilovich, woke up from a deep sleep and finally brought his fellows to the aid of Ilya Muromets. Together they defeated the enemy force, delivered the captured Kalin to Prince Vladimir. [Gilf. - T. 2. - S. 18-35; see also Reader].

The main idea of ​​this epic is that in the face of the threat of the destruction of the Russian land, all personal grievances lose their meaning. Bylina teaches another truth: strength is in unity.

Other epics are also composed about Ilya Muromets, for example: "Ilya Muromets and Idolishche", "Three trips of Ilya Muromets", "Ilya on the Falcon e-ship".

After Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich is most loved by the people. This hero of princely origin, he lives in Kyiv. Dobrynya Nikitich has many advantages: he is educated, tactful, courteous, knows how to walk as ambassadors, skillfully plays the harp. The main business of his life is the military service of Rus'.

The heroic feat of Dobrynya Nikitich depicts the epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent". Dobrynya went to the blue sea to hunt, but he did not find either a goose or a swan, and not even a small gray duckling. Frustrated, he decided to go to a dangerous place: to the Beam River. Mother began to dissuade him:

"Young Dobrynya son Nikitinich!

AI will not give you forgiveness blessing

Ride from Dobrynya to Puchay-river.

Who traveled to the Puchai River on this light,

And I’m happy that I didn’t come from there.”

Dobrynya replied:

"Oh, you are my mother's parent!

And give me forgiveness - I'll go,

If you don't forgive me, I'll go."

There is nothing to do: the mother blessed Dobrynya, but ordered him not to swim in the Puchay River.

When Dobrynya arrived at the river, he was overwhelmed by the heat and exorbitant heat, he undressed and began to bathe. Suddenly the sky darkened - a fierce snake flew in. The young servant of Dobrynya, frightened, stole his horse, took away all his clothes and equipment - he left only a hat of the Greek land. With this hat, Dobrynya fought off the snake, knocking off her three trunks. The snake prayed, offered to make peace and promised:

"And I will not fly but in holy Rus',

And I will not captivate more heroes,

And I will not crush yes young zhon,

And I will not be orphans and little children ... "

Dobrynya on you lyasy ... he took a liking, let go of the snake. However, later he saw how the snake flies through the air and carries the royal daughter, the royal daughter of the prince, the young Marfida Vseslavievna 1. At the behest of Prince Vladimir, Dobrynya went to the Tugy-mountains, a fierce snake - to rescue the princess. His mother gave him a silk handkerchief to wipe his face during a fight, and a silk whip to whip a snake.

This time, Dobrynya's fight with the snake was long: it lasted one, then another day until evening.

Ah, the damned snake began to beat.

Ay, he reminded me of parental punishment,

He took out a whip from his pocket,

He beats the snake with his whip, -

Tamed the snake like a beast,

And like cattle and peasants.

Chopped off the snakes yes heecutrunks,

Chopped the snake and into small parts,

Rospinal the snake and across the open field ...

Then Dobrynya in the caves killed ... all the serpents, freed the prince's daughter and brought her to Vladimir. [Gilf. - T. 1. - S. 538-548; see also Reader].

In contrast to the fairy-tale interpretation of the "main plot", Dobrynya fought not for his bride, but for the Russian polonyanka. He killed the enemy, who terrified all of Rus'.

Alyosha Popovich, like Dobrynya Nikitich, is a snake fighter, but his individual qualities caused a peculiar interpretation of the serpent theme. This hero comes from the city of Rostov, the son of an old cathedral priest. Epics usually emphasize that Alyosha is young. He is prone to irony, jokes, ridicule. Not possessing such powerful strength as Ilya or Dobrynya, Alyosha uses cunning and resourcefulness. He is characterized by daring and courage. “Alyosha is not strong in strength, but he dared to attack,” says Ilya Muromets about him.

The heroic feat of Alyosha Popovich is that he defeated the foreign enemy Tugarin Zmeevich. The plot about this is presented in two versions (their consolidated contaminated text is given in the collection of Kirsha Danilov).

According to one version, Alyosha left Slavnov Rostov, the red city, and, like Ilya Muromets, chose the road to Kyiv, the gentle prince Vladimir. A friend, Ekim Ivanovich, is traveling with him. Not far from Kyiv, they met a richly dressed wanderer, colic:

Bastards on it are seven silks,

Tucked in pure silver.

The face is studded with red gold,

Fur coat sable long-brimmed.

Hat Sorochinskaya Greek land in thirty pounds,

Shelepuga roadside fifty pounds.

Poured with lead Cheburatskov ...

Kalika said that he saw a terrible monster - a huge Tugarin Zmeevich. Alyosha had a plan of action. He changed clothes with Kalika and went across the Safat River.

Tugarin decided that a Kalika was coming; he began to ask if he had seen Alyosha Popovich ("And I would have stabbed Alyosha with a spear, stabbed him with a spear and burned him with fire"). Alyosha pretended not to hear, called Tugarin closer, and then smashed his violent head and finished the job already on the ground: not succumbing to the persuasion of the enemy, cut off his head away.

Entering into enthusiasm, Alyosha decided to play a trick on Ekim Ivanovich and Kalika. He changed into Tugarin's dress, mounted his horse, and in this form appeared to his white tents. Frightened comrades rushed away, Alyosha followed them. Then Ekim Ivanovich threw back a thirty-pound battle club, and it hit the white Alyosha Popovich in the chest. Alyosha was barely revived.

According to another version, Tugarin is a foreigner who brazenly manages in Kiev. At the feast of Prince Vladimir, he sits in a place of honor - next to Princess Apraksevna, greedily devours sugar and copper drinks.<медвяные >, the princess puts her hands in her bosom. The princess likes it, she cannot take her eyes off Tugarin, she even cut off her hand. Prince Vladimir silently suffers disgrace. Alyosha Popovich stands up for his honor. Alyosha makes caustic jokes about Tugarin. He tells how the old dog died from gluttony, then the old cow:

"... Took her by the tail, waved downhill;

The same will be from me to Tugarin!

Enraged Tugarin threw damask steel at Alyosha<кинжал>, but he dodged.

Then they gathered for a duel - at the Safat River. Before the battle, Alyosha did not sleep all night, praying to God with tears. He asked to send a cloud with rain and hail so that Tugarin's paper wings would get wet. God sent a cloud. Tugarin fell to the ground like a dog. Alyosha rode out into the field, taking one sharp saber. Seeing him, Tugarin roared:

"Toyecuyou, Alyosha Popovich, are young!

Do you want me to burn you with fire?

Do you want, Alyosha, I’ll stop with a horse

Ali you, Alyosha, I will stab with a spear?

Alyosha Popovich answered him:

"You are the oneecu, Tugarin Zmeevich young!

You fought with me about the great pledge -

Bto fight one on one,

Athere is no power behind you

At me, Alyosha Popovich."

Amazed, Tugarin looked back at himself - Alyosha needed only that. He jumped up and cut off Tugarin's head. And the head fell on the damp ground, like a beer cauldron.

Alyosha jumped off the good horse,

He took the rope from the goodness of the horse,

And pierced the ears at the head of Tugarin Zmeevich,

And brought a horse to good,

And brought to Kyiv to the princely court,

He threw the middle of the princely court.

Alyosha Popovich left behind to live in Kyiv, began to serve Prince Vladimir faithfully. [TO. D. - S. 98-106; see also Reader].

In the epic about Alyosha and Tugarin, Princess Apraksevna is negatively represented. She remains unpunished, although Alyosha expressed his contempt for her ("... I almost called you a bitch, I drag that Bitch!"). In other epics, the betrayal of a wife was punished in the most cruel, even barbaric way. For example, in the epic "Three years Dobrynushka stolnichel":

And Dobrynya began to teach his wife,

He is young Marina Ignatievna,

Atheist heretic:

He is the first teaching - cut off her hand,

He himself says:

"I don't need this hand.

She shook her hand. Snake Gorynchishsha!"

And the second teaching - cut off her legs:

"But I don't need this leg either,

Intertwined with the Serpent Gorynchishsh!"

And the third teaching - cut off her lips

And with your nose off:

And these lips are not necessary to me,

They kissed the Serpent Gorynchishsh!"

Fourth teaching - cut off her head

And with tongue out:

"And this head is not necessary to me,

And this language is not needed,

He knew the deeds of heresy!" [K. D. - p. 47].

Ivan Godinovich executed his wife in the same way [K. D. - S. 82-83].

In the Russian epic, images of other, less prominent heroes are also known. Among them are Mikhail Danilyevich, who defeated the Tatars, who approached Kyiv; Vasily the drunkard who liberated Kiev from Batyga; the hero Surovets from the city of Suzdal, who defeated the army of Kurban Tsar; Mikhailo Kazarin - a native of the Galicia-Volyn land.

In the historical development of the epic, the image of Alyosha Popovich has undergone a complex evolution. Having moved from heroic epics to later short stories, Alyosha began to be portrayed as a woman's mockingbird, a treacherous and deceitful person ("Dobrynya and Alyosha", "Alyosha Popovich and the Zbrodovichi's sister"). The negative characterization of this hero began to be associated with his origin, the image began to correspond to the proverb "The priest has envious eyes, raking hands". At the same time, Alyosha is not completely devoid of popular sympathy here either: his mischief was perceived as an unbridled young force that is looking for a way out.

The international short story "A husband at his wife's wedding" was included in the Russian epic and attached to the images of Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich (the epic "Dobrynya and Alyosha").

Dobrynya Nikitich is forced to leave home to serve in the army at the outpost. Leaving his young wife Katerina Mikulichna, Dobrynya punishes him to wait exactly nine years, after which she can again marry someone who is in her mind, but not Alyosha Popovich - after all, Alyosha Dobrynya is a cross brother. Katerina Mikulichna is faithfully waiting for Dobrynya. Six years have passed. Alyosha Popovich appeared with false news that Dobrynya had been killed:

"I saw Dobrynya bit wounded,

His head lies in a part of a willow bush,

With his feet lies in the grass,

Yes, bow guns are broken,

On the sides of the bow are worn,

And the horse walks in the wide steppes.

And the crows fly - you are black,

And they trynkayut the body of Dobrynina,

Wearing joints all Dobrynins.

Alyosha asks Prince Vladimir to bless his marriage to Katerina Mikulichnaya. She refuses. Then Vladimir allowed Alyosha to take her by force and heroic, Prince Yazhenetsky's thunderstorm.

Dobrynya learns about what is happening in Kyiv, and is unrecognized at her wife's wedding, in a buffoon dress. He modestly sits down on the pole and begins to play the harp. For a good game, Vladimir invited the buffoon to choose any place of honor at the table, Dobrynya sat opposite Katerina Mikulichna. In a spell of green wine, he gave her his wedding ring, saying:

"Drink to the bottom - so you will see goodness.

If you don’t drink to the bottom, you won’t see good.”

She drank to the bottom and saw her husband's ring. Turning to Vladimir, Katerina Mikulichna publicly announced who her true husband was. After that, Dobrynya Nikitich beat Alyosha Popovich hard - but only Olesha was married. [Gilf. - T. 3. - S. 217-226].

The theme of the inviolability of the family clearly runs through most of the epics of the novelistic type. In the epic "Danila Lovchanin" she received a tragic refraction.

Prince Vladimir knows that the Chernigov boyar Danila Lovchanin has a young wife, Vasilisa Nikulichna:

ANDher face is red, and her mind is the same,

And the Russian knows how to painfully read and write,

And a couple of songs much to the church.

Yielding to the persuasion of one of his close associates, Vladimir set out to take his wife away from her living husband. The old Cossack Ilya Muromets tried to stop him:

"You're a father, Prince Volodymyr!

You will clearly bring out the falcon:

Don't puff that white swan!"

Vladimir did not heed the voice of reason, planted Ilya Muromets in the cellar. But the hero was right. In a hopeless situation, Danila Lovchanin committed suicide. On the way to Kyiv, at the body of her husband, Vasilisa Nikulichna flung herself breastily on a damask knife. [Kireevsky. - Issue. 3. - S. 32-38].

The plot developed by the epic "Danila Lovchanin" is also known in fairy tales about a beautiful wife (SUS 465 A, "Go there, I don't know where"; SUS 465 V, "Gusli-samogudy"; SUS 465 C, "Assignment to that light"). The tale, in accordance with its genre canon, gave a fair resolution to the conflict.

It can be assumed that the steady interest of folklore in this plot was justified. The Tale of Bygone Years tells about the love of women of Vladimir I (Svyatoslavovich): “Vladimir was defeated by lust, and these were his wives: Rogneda, whom he settled on Lybid, where the village of Predslavino is now located, he had four sons from her: Izyaslav , Mstislav, Yaroslav, Vsevolod, and two daughters; from a Greek woman he had Svyatopolk, from a Czech - Vysheslav, and from another wife - Svyatoslav and Mstislav, and from a Bulgarian - Boris and Gleb, and he had three hundred concubines in Vyshgorod, three hundred in Belgorod and two hundred on Berestovo, in a village now called Berestovoye. And he was insatiable in fornication, bringing married women to him and corrupting girls 1 ".

Another fabulous story (SUS 880, "The wife helps her husband") was developed by the epic "Stavr Godinovich".

In the epic "Duke" the opposition to the court of the capital prince of Kyiv and the whole city of Kyiv of the wealth and independence of another principality is clearly expressed.

The young boyar Dyuk Stepanovich came to Kyiv from Galicia-ko-Volyn land. He does not like everything in Kyiv, everything is better in Galich: the pavement, horse food, beer, rolls ... Duke speaks of Galich with admiration and pejoratively - about Kiev. For example:

"Like in our city in Galich,

At my empress's mother's.

Yes, the stoves were all ants,

And the bottoms, you were all silver,

Yes, they were all silk,

Kalachiki and all krupischaty.

Eat a bell, you want another.

On the third, because the soul burns.

And in your city in Kiev

And then the stoves were all brick,

Pods, you were all rotten<глиняны>,

Mashed were all pine.

Kalachiki yes after all krupischaty,

And the bells smell on the foy<т. е. хвоей>,

I can’t take a kalachik in my mouth, from taking it.

Duke comes to the point that he boasts of selling the whole city of Kyiv-grad and redeeming it again. For his words, he falls into a deep cellar, and Dobrynya Nikitich is sent to Galich to check the veracity of Duke's statements. The epic depicts in detail the luxury that struck Dobrynya in Galich. Duke released from the cellar.

The epic "About Salovy Budimerovich" can be called the most poetic [K. D. - S. 9-15]. It sings of the matchmaking of the overseas guest Nightingale Budimirovich to the niece of Prince Vladimir Zabava Putyatichna. Marriage is concluded for mutual love, therefore the epic is permeated with a solemn major intonation (it was not overshadowed even by the unsuccessful claim to the Fun of the naked schap Davyd Popov).

In the spirit of wedding poetry, the epic fantastically idealizes the groom's wealth and the environment in which he won the girl's love. Nightingale sailed to Kyiv on thirty ships:

The ships are well decorated.

One ship is better than all:

That one had a falcon by the ship

Instead of eyes it was inserted

On the way, I stone on a yacht;

Instead of eyebrows it was nailed

According to the black sable Yakut,

And the Yakut, after all, the Siberian;

Instead of a mustache it was stuck

Two sharp damask knives;

Instead of ears it was stuck

Two spears of Murzametsky,

And two ermine hanged,

And two ermine, two winter.

Tovo had a falcon at the ship

Nailed instead of a mane

Two foxes are stormy;

Hung instead of a tail

On that was a falcon ship

Two polar bears overseas.

Nose, stern - in Turin,

The sides are cocked like an animal.

An attic was made on the ship, in the attic there was a conversation-expensive fish tooth, covered with dug velvet, and there Nightingale Budimirovich himself sat.

He presented precious gifts to the Kievan prince and his wife: furs, gold, silver, white-cut damask with Constantinople patterns. Then, in the green garden of Zabava Putyatichna, in a cherry, in a hazel, Nightingale's servants erected three golden-topped towers overnight. The towers were adorned with heavenly bodies and all the beauty of the heavenly. Fun goes around the tower and sees: in the first there is a treasury of gold; in the second, Mother Nightingale prays with honest, wise widows; in the third, music sounds - the Nightingale himself sits there and plays the sonorous harp.

Here they got engaged,

They kissed, they had mercy.

They exchanged gold rings.

The basis for this epic was the marriages of Russian princesses, who were passed off as noble foreigners. This increased the prestige and strengthened the international ties of the ancient Russian state.

Thus, the novelistic epics of the Kyiv cycle, like the heroic ones, reflected the historical reality of Ancient Rus'.

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Kyiv CYCLE BYLIN

The epics of this cycle have common features: the action takes place in Kyiv or near it, in the center of the epics is the image of Prince Vladimir, the main theme is the defense of the Russian land from enemies. The main content of the traditional Russian epic epic is folk patriotism, which combines the awareness of the great power of the people, the idea of ​​selfless service to the fatherland and irreconcilable hatred of foreign invaders. These ideas are most clearly reflected in the gigantic images of heroes, in their courage, stamina, indestructible strength and fabulously heroic images. The abundance of heroic images is one of the features of the Russian national epic.

“It is impossible not to recognize,” V.G. Belinsky wrote about the epics, “the extraordinary, gigantic power of life contained in them ... Russian folk poetry is seething with heroes ... This courage, this daring and youth are in such wide proportions, in such indestructible strength that you involuntarily bow before them ... ”Undoubtedly exaggerated, the images of heroes are nevertheless realistic in their very essence. In them, folk singers embodied the ideal idea of ​​the indestructible power of the people.

The real blood enemies of the heroes are the enemies of the motherland, foreign invaders. The historical features of numerous enemies who attacked the Russian land, as a result of a long artistic generalization, were united in epics in several images that bear names memorable from the raids of ancient nomads, these are the names: Tugarina (Tugorkan), Shark the Giant (Sharukan), Konshik (Konchak) and others. The mortal danger that threatened Russia from its enemies, the robberies and atrocities committed by them, led to an extremely negative depiction of these images. The power of the Tatars in epics is called “black”, and the Tatars themselves are called “nasty”. The most common generalizing images of enemies are the image of the most disgusting creature - the Snake, or the image of the "Idol of the filthy", which has "heads that are tubs; and look at the beer bowls.” All these images are depicted as fantastic monsters: for some reason, Tugarin has paper wings, the Nightingale the Robber sits on a tree, but the epic does not indicate what he looks like. But it can be unequivocally noted that the enemies are never portrayed as people, they are monstrous creatures.

The epic portrays the enemies as impudent, presumptuous "praises", but the narrator does not allow their "black power" to be underestimated. In the epic image, the enemy is strong, cunning, cunning and numerous. Tugarin and Idolishche rampage with impunity in Rus' until they encounter Russian heroes. Victory over the enemy in epics is obtained by the titanic struggle of the heroes, often the victory is preceded by the defeat of individual heroes, continuing until the main hero, Ilya Muromets, enters the battle. The epics show the insidious treachery of a defeated but unfinished enemy (“Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”).

The most popular and beloved hero of the Russian epic is Ilya Muromets, he is the main character of more than thirty plots: “Healing of Ilya”, “Ilya Muromets and Idolishche”, “Ilya Muromets and the Robber”, “Ilya and Kalin-Tsar”, “Ilya and the Nightingale- robber”, “Ilya in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir”, etc. The epic emphasizes the peasant origin of Ilya (“Healing of Elijah”), who “sat” in the hut for thirty years, but the “kaliki-passers-by” who came to the house rewarded him with heroic strength . Characteristically, Ilya immediately ran into the field where his parents worked, and began to help them - "tear oaks." For Ilya, the defense of the Motherland is the only meaning of his life. He did not choose either “that path where I would be rich” or “that path where I would be married”, but “a good fellow went to that path where he would be killed.” In his heroic service, the hero is disinterested and incorruptible, when enemies want to bribe him, he answers them with dignity and anger:

In the epics associated with the image of Elijah, it is emphasized that all his wealth consists in a good horse and an old saddle. Ilya - the strongest hero at the outpost -

If none of the heroes can cope with the enemy, then Ilya goes to single combat, and the battle ends with his victory. Ilya defeated the Nightingale the Robber, who for thirty years "laid the road to Kyiv" so that "a bird did not fly on it, a daring good fellow did not pass." He then defeated such strong enemies that no one could resist - Idolishche, Sokolnichek, Kalina Tsar. Ilya is always straightforward in battles, he does not know how to be cunning, but goes straight to the enemy. Ilya is often in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir, who does not appreciate him, and once put the hero in "deep cellars." Ilya was saved by the prince's niece, Zabava Putyatichna, she systematically brought food to the hero. Enemies attacked Kiev, and Prince Vladimir was forced to free the hero, but Ilya emphasizes that "I'm not going to serve you, dog-prince, but the whole Russian people." In this epic, a battle scene is depicted, Ilya beats the “Tatar force” several times, the description of the battle is repeated several times:

The reasons for the quarrel between Ilya and Prince Vladimir may be various circumstances, but most often the hero is angry because the prince does not call him to the feast. Ilya's protest reflected, of course, the growth of national consciousness, social protest, Ilya does not forgive insults:

Ilya knocks down "golden domes" and "silver crosses", gives them to the poor and gathers a feast for "bast shoes" and "hoodies".

The image of Ilya has not a local (although he lived in the village of Karacharovo), but an all-Russian meaning, this is also evidenced by the fact that Ilya was declared a saint (by the 16th century), and his relics began to be shown in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. But the canonization of Ilya and the discovery of his relics cannot serve as evidence that this hero really lived. The inclusion of Elijah in the lists of saints was due to the fact that this hero, created by the popular imagination, was recognized as a real warrior already in the Middle Ages, and epic songs about him were perceived as stories about genuine historical events.

When studying the Russian epic, it becomes obvious that Russian heroism is socially heterogeneous. The main heroes do not belong to the social elite: the son of a peasant, Ilya, the son of a priest, Alyosha; and the hero of the Kyiv cycle - Vasily Ignatievich belongs to the very bottom of society (Vaska the drunkard). Perhaps the oldest epics that have come down to us are epics about Dobrynya Nikitich, whose name some researchers (V.F. Miller, A.V. Markov, V.I. Chicherov) associate with the name of a historical person - the uncle of Prince Vladimir - Dobrynya .

There is also a directly opposite opinion in folklore that not a single name of an epic hero can be traced back to a real historical name (B.N.

There are several versions of the epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent", they all have the same content. The hero bathes in the Pugay River, a snake appears, the enemy of the Russian land. Dobrynya fights with him and defeats him, sometimes the snake deceives the hero, and Dobrynya kills him later. This feat of the hero helps the liberation of Russian lands. Dobrynya is also endowed with exaggerated strength, he “glorified himself in battles, he is also skilled in heroic amusements (martial arts, archery), he is an excellent swimmer, he can read and write, play chess. When Dobrynya sings and plays, then "everyone at the feast heard", "everyone at the feast fell silent." Dobrynya knows "how to behave" and "how to take care of yourself." The strength and experience of a warrior, heroic training, and education make one treat Dobrynya as a skillful person, capable of "going in ambassadors." On this, epics were built about Dobrynya - the matchmaker and Dobrynya's trip to the king "Lyakhovets" for exemption from taxes. The attitude of Dobrynya towards Prince Vladimir in epics is similar to the attitude of Ilya Muromets towards him; Dobrynya fulfills all the orders of the prince, but on occasion tells him the truth in the face.

In the cycle of epics about Dobrynya, a special place is occupied by the epic "Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich", in which a plot is developed that is found throughout world folklore - "a husband at his wife's wedding." While Dobrynya traveled on behalf of Prince Vladimir, Alyosha Popovich got married to his wife. Dobrynya arrived during the wedding feast, and only his wife recognized him by playing the "spider goose". Regarding the history of Dobrynya, scientists believe that it “was not formed immediately, but over the centuries,” but in all epics the stability of the image of Dobrynya as a hero, as a defender of the Russian land, is preserved.

The youngest of the three main Russian heroes - Alyosha Popovich - is also dedicated to several epics. This image in epics is contradictory, which, apparently, is due to the length of the process of development and processing of epic tales about Alyosha Popovich. In the epic "Alyosha and Tugarin" we see a warrior who does not get lost even in an unequal battle, here the typical features of a hero are reflected - the defender of the Russian land at any cost. Alyosha "where he does not take by force - he will take by cunning, courage, heroic subterfuge." Alyosha differs from Ilya in his cleverness and cunning, who always goes straight to the enemy and does not use military tricks. The image of Tugarin bears the features of a mythical creature; he is sometimes depicted as a monster, like a kite capable of flying, he usually has paper wings. Alyosha defeats him either with the help of "heavenly power", or because the rain soaked Tugarin's paper wings, or by cunning, deceiving Tugarin that his army was behind, and he turned around and let himself be killed. In the process of the existence of epics, a decrease in the popularity of heroic epics about Alyosha was recorded, which, according to all data, is associated with the approval of the view of him as "Popovich", a native of a clergyman's family. Alyosha began to be called a woman's man, deceit, envy and deceit became his character traits. In the relationship of heroes between themselves and other characters, twinning plays an important role, which implies mutual assistance and support, complete trust in each other. "The named brother is more than the brother of the darling." In epics, the heroes, connected by twinning relations, strictly observe them. Rare violations are condemned and punished, which is especially clearly expressed in the epic "Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich". Alyosha Popovich does not have such high moral qualities as Ilya and Dobrynya, but still Alyosha is an epic character, a hero, and this is the main thing in his image.

The theme of the fight against enemies, with the Tatars is the main one in Kyiv epics. Other heroes - Vasily Ignatievich, Sukhman, Danilo Ignatievich, are similar to the main heroes in their love for Rus', all of them, to the best of their ability and ability, fight the enemy. All of them are in opposition to Prince Vladimir, to the boyars, Vasily Ignatievich especially strongly opposes them:

When the innumerable black forces of Tsar Skurla approach Kyiv itself, neither Prince Vladimir nor his boyars think about a personal action against the enemy. Vladimir, having put on “a marten coat on one shoulder, and a feather cap on one ear”, wanders around the city and asks the people of Kiev to find him some “traveling hero”. Kyiv is saved by Vasily, who "has neither a cross, nor a belt, nor a linen shirt on him - under one he lies and a mat." Despite his poverty, Vasily does not want to take the “cities with suburbs and villages with villages” promised to him by Vladimir. He attacks the Tatars and fights heroically with them:

In the epic "Sukhman" we meet with an honest and truthful hero who liberates Rus' from the Tatars. Prince Vladimir does not believe Sukhman, accuses him of empty boasting, of lying. Dobrynya, having traveled to the field where Sukhman alone destroyed hordes of enemies, confirmed the truth of Sukhman's story about his victory. Vladimir was ready to honor the hero, but Sukhman pulled out the leaves from the wounds he had received in battle and died bleeding, he did not want to serve the prince, who suspected the heroes of lying.

The image of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich is present in many epics. The epic image of Vladimir went through a complex history, at first he was depicted as a prince who united the Russian lands, under him the baptism of Rus' took place. All this was the basis for a positive assessment of the activities of Prince Vladimir and led to his idealization, in the epics he was called the "Red Sun". But later, the features of other Russian princes began to layer on this image, the image began to transform: he began to be portrayed ironically, cowardice, impotence appeared in him, he began to violate customs, became a tributary of Batu. V. G. Belinsky noted that Vladimir is not a hero of epics, he is inactive, and his character is indefinite, he is more a name than a person. In epics, the conflict can be of a state or social nature, which is connected, of course, with the growth of social contradictions in Russian society.

One of the themes characteristic of all epics as works of the working people is the theme of labor. Labor is glorified in epics as a heroic feat, labor prowess is the same significant sign of heroism as military prowess. Ilya Muromets shows his strength primarily in work. A particularly striking example of the poetization of labor is in the epic about Volga and Mikul Selyaninovich. Mikula is a plowman hero, it is in this that he opposes Volga and the prince's squad. Volga and his squad only on the third day were able to "reach" Mikulu, who was following the plow. The severity of Mikulina's "maple bipod" symbolizes the severity and wisdom of peasant labor. It turns out to be difficult for the entire Volga squad: “They turn the fry for obzhi, but they cannot take the fry from the ground.” Volga, who took up her "with all the strength of a valiant," could not lift the bipod either. Embarrassed in front of the plowman, he is forced to admit:

With great expressiveness, the epic conveys the complete superiority of the peasant Mikula over the princely son Volga:

The image of Mikula is the embodiment of the mighty forces of the working people. This is confirmed by another epic about Mikula - "Svyatogor and Mikula", in which the mighty giant Svyatogor cannot lift the bag with "earthly thrust", and Mikula easily carries it. Some researchers (B.A. Rybakov) attribute the epic to the 10th century, to the Kyiv cycle. These epics also confirm the main focus of the epics of the Kyiv cycle - the Russian hero always wins both in battle and in work.

NOVGOROD CYCLE BYLIN

The military theme of the Kyiv epics was of all-Russian significance; all-Russian epic traditions were clearly reflected in them. The Novgorod cycle has no heroic plots. This is explained by the fact that Novgorod was much less exposed to nomad raids, and the Tatar invasion of Rus' did not touch these northern lands at all. Novgorod is a large trading center, traded with many countries, special forms of political life were established in it (veche - a meeting of townspeople), the power of the prince was limited. Novgorod freemen formed special social relations in this territory; for several centuries it was a kind of trading republic; successfully competed with Kiev and Moscow. It was annexed to the Moscow principality only at the end of the 15th century. Therefore, it is natural that the epics of the Novgorod cycle developed epics of social and family life, they are distinguished by a special kind of themes, plots and types of heroes. Of the Novgorod epics, the epics about Sadko and Vasily Buslaev are of particular importance.

Epics about Sadko are based on three plots: 1) Sadko receives wealth; 2) Sadko competes with Novgorod; 3) Sadko at the sea king. These three plots existed each separately, and sometimes combined into one epic. The bylina about Sadko develops the theme of a miraculous deliverance from poverty, it reflects the conflict between the poor gusliar and the merchants of Novgorod. The theme of obtaining wealth by the hero in different versions is developed in different ways. In Kirsha Danilov's collection, Sadko was a "Volga Sur" (sur - well done), he walked along the Volga for a long time, and then went to Novgorod, caught fish in Lake Ilmen, which turned into gold coins. But another version of this plot is more common: Sadko is a poor gusler who was no longer invited to feasts, he plays on the shores of Lake Ilmen and the lake rewards him with wealth. The image in the epic about Sadko of merchant feasts, the boasting of shops with goods reflect the acute social and domestic relations concentrated in the second part of the epic. The conflict - Sadko wants to buy all the goods from the merchants - is resolved safely as long as he fights with individual merchants. But gradually his pride did not know the limits, he opposed himself to the whole of Veliky Novgorod, and, of course, lost. The defeat of the one who opposes himself to the collective - the people, is inevitable, such is the idea of ​​the epic. In the third part - a story about how Sadko came to visit the king of the sea, how he deceived the king with the help of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk and was able to return to his city. Sadko built a church on the shore of Lake Ilmen as a sign of his miraculous return.

The bylina about Sadko has a number of episodes similar to episodes of the epic of other peoples, which allows some researchers to compare it with the Kalevala (the musician Vainemeinen from the Karelian-Finnish epic is similar in some aspects to Sadko). The episode of Sadko sinking into the sea is considered as a variation of the theme of throwing a sinner into the sea, developed by the Bible (the story of Jonah in the belly of a whale) and medieval literature (Sadok in French literature). Of course, it is impossible to trace the epic about Sadko to foreign sources, and the coincidence of some plots can be interpreted as the proximity of Russian folklore to world folklore, confirmation of the fact that some “wandering” plots also penetrated into Russian folk poetry.

The bylina about Sadko creates a generalized image of a Russian person - his passion for boasting, for amusement, his desire to cheat, recklessness (when he, having taken the harp, goes to the bottom of the sea), his love for the Motherland, for Novgorod, his desire to return at any cost. Sadko is not a hero, but an ordinary person who is helped by magical powers, but in the epic there is no exaggeration of his strength or wisdom. In his articles on folk art, V. G. Belinsky most highly appreciates the epic about Sadko, interpreting the conflict between Sadko and Novgorod as a social conflict. The critic notes that this epic is distinguished by high artistic perfection, especially highlights the scene of the dance of the sea king, emphasizes the fabulous elements in the epic.

Epics about another hero of the Novgorod cycle - Vasily Buslaev - include two plots: this is his quarrel with Novgorod and the story of his trip to the pilgrimage and his death. Epics about Vasily Buslaev reflect the life and life of a medieval big city, they are important because they reflected the early glimpses of criticism and elements of rationalism in Rus'. Vasily grew up in a wealthy Novgorod family, he is educated, knows how to read, write, he is endowed with great physical strength, but does not know how to use it. In the first epic, Vasily gathers a squad of “free people” and starts a quarrel with the “men of Novgorod”, beats and maims people. Vasily Buslaev is characterized by the absence of superstition, he does not believe "neither in a dream, nor in a choh." The lack of respect for everything that was revered by religion is manifested in many of Vasily's actions. Rich men complain about his violent nature of his mother, Amelfa Timofeevna, and his mother sends Vasily to repentance, to the tomb of the Lord. The second part of the epic shows that, despite the fact that his mother and godfather raised Vasily in a religious spirit, in the spirit of patriarchy and obedience, he violates all moral and religious dogmas. Basil offends and kills the "pilgrim elder" in the clothes of a clergyman, bathes in the Jordan River naked, which could not be done according to religious ideas (since Jesus bathed in the river). During his “walking” to Jerusalem, Vasily does not experience repentance, he kicks a dead head with his foot, jumps over a tombstone, breaks on a stone; and the warriors bury him. Buslaev's protest against the established prohibitions, his violation of the foundations and rules of life, disbelief in omens and beliefs, reflected the progressive phenomena of the life of medieval Rus'. It should be noted that folk art notes the unconsciousness of Vasily's protest, who at first was perceived as a positive hero, but since he performs a number of actions that run counter to the moral norms of a Russian person, he himself becomes a victim of violation of prohibitions and eventually dies. In folklore works, heroes usually emerge victorious from all collisions, but here is the rarest case of the death of a hero at the end of an epic.

The image of Vasily Buslaev is very controversial, he received a different assessment in criticism. M. Gorky called it one of the greatest and most significant artistic generalizations in Russian folklore, believed that it reflected some aspects of the national Russian character, Vasily Buslaev was simply ahead of his time, was born "on the wrong street." V. G. Belinsky noted that the epics about Buslaev reflected a true picture of medieval Novgorod life, folk ideas and assessments. Despite the pronounced Novgorod coloring, epics about Vasily Buslaev acquired an all-Russian meaning due to their important ideological significance and artistic merit.

The bylevoy epic also created wonderful female images - these are the mothers and wives of the main characters. A wise mother, a mentor of her son, surrounding him with care and always waiting - such is the mother of the hero. The mother of Vasily Buslaev is characterized by a combination of a caring attitude towards her son with a free, equal attitude towards the townspeople. This is especially evident in the mother's attempt to reconcile the Novgorodians with Vasily. The image of the mother in heroic epics has a slightly different character, where the hero's mother is less independent in relations with the people of Kiev, her sphere of action is more limited by family relations, she is more dependent on the prince. Such is the mother of Dobrynya Nikitich, who foresees a lot, knows a lot, she warns the hero against unreasonable acts and saves him in dangerous situations of life. But Dobrynya's mother meekly obeys the prince's decisions, even in those cases when he commits violence against the hero and his family ("Dobrynya and Alyosha"). The Russian epic also created the image of a faithful, loving wife. Nastasya Mikulichna - Dobrynya's wife - has been waiting for her beloved husband for a long twelve years, driving Alyosha who is wooing her from herself, and only by force does Prince Vladimir force her to marry. The theme of love and fidelity is also reflected in the epic "Danila Lovchanin", in which the despotic Prince Vladimir fell in love with Vasilisa, Danila's wife, and he orders to kill the hero. But Danila's death does not lead to the fulfillment of the prince's wish, since Vasilisa kills herself over her husband's body. All these images reflect folk ideas about what a hearth keeper should be. The epic depicts the ideal image of a woman - a respected mother, a wife devoted to her husband, capable of maintaining devotion to the family in a time of trials.