Literature and library science

The main ideas of the initial chronicle. Already in the very name Se of the story of time years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kyiv began first before the princes and where did the Russian land come from, there is an indication of the ideological and thematic content of the chronicle. are at the center of the chronicle. The theme of the motherland is the defining leading one in the annals.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" as a literary monument: content, artistic features, connection with folklore.

The main ideas of the initial chronicle.Already in the title“Behold the tales of time years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kyiv began first before the princes, and where did the Russian land come from”contains an indication of the ideological and thematic content of the chronicle. Russian land, its historical destinies, from the moment of its origin and ending with the first decade XII c., stand in the center of attention of the annals. The lofty patriotic idea of ​​the power of the Russian land, its political independence, religious independence from Byzantium constantly guides the chronicler when he brings into his work "traditions of antiquity" and truly historical events of the recent past.

The chronicle legends are unusually topical, publicistic, full of sharp condemnation of princely strife and strife, weakening the power of the Russian land, a call to observe the Russian land, not to shame the Russian land in the fight against external enemies, first of all with the steppe nomads - the Pechenegs, and then the Polovtsy.

The theme of the homeland is defining, leading in the annals. The interests of the homeland dictate to the chronicler one or another assessment of the actions of the prince, they are the measure of his glory and greatness. The living feeling of the Russian land, homeland and people tells the Russian chronicler that unprecedented breadth of the political horizon, which is unusual for Western European historical chronicles.

From written sources, the chroniclers borrow the historical Christian-scholastic concept, linking the history of the Russian land with the general course of development of "world" history. The Tale of Bygone Years opens with a biblical legend about the division of the earth after the flood between Noah's sons Shem, Ham and Japhet. The Slavs are the descendants of Japhet, that is, they, like the Greeks, belong to a single family of European peoples.

Finally, it is possible to "establish" the first date 6360 (852) mentions in"Chronicles of Greek" "Russian Land".This date makes it possible to put"numbers in a row" i.e. proceed to a consistent chronological presentation, more precisely, the arrangement of the material"by years" on years. And when they cannot attach any event to a particular date, they limit themselves to simply fixing the date itself (for example:"in the summer of 6368", "in the summer of 6369").The chronological principle gave ample opportunities for free handling of the material, made it possible to introduce new legends and stories into the annals, exclude old ones if they did not correspond to the political interests of the time and the author, supplement the annals with records of the events of recent years, the contemporary of which was its compiler.

As a result of the application of the weather chronological principle of presenting the material, the idea of ​​history gradually developed as a continuous sequential chain of events. The chronological connection was reinforced by a genealogical, ancestral connection, the succession of the rulers of the Russian land, starting from Rurik and ending (in The Tale of Bygone Years) with Vladimir Monomakh.

At the same time, this principle made the chronicle fragmentary, which I. P. Eremin drew attention to.

Genres included in the chronicle.The chronological principle of presentation allowed the chroniclers to include in the chronicle material that was heterogeneous in character and genre features. The simplest narrative unit of the chronicle is a laconic weather record, limited only to a statement of fact. However, the very inclusion of this or that information in the annals testifies to its significance from the point of view of a medieval writer.

The chronicle also presents a type of detailed record, which records not only the "acts" of the prince, but also their results. For example:"IN Summer 6391 and so on.

And a short weather record, and a more detailed documentary. They do not contain any embellishing tropes. The recording is simple, clear and concise, which gives it special significance, expressiveness and even majesty.

Chronicler's focus on event"what is here in the summer of forces."They are followed by news of the death of the princes. The birth of children, their marriage is less often recorded. Then information about the construction activities of the princes. Finally, messages about church affairs, occupying a very modest place. True, the chronicler describes the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb, places legends about the beginning of the Pechersk Monastery, the death of Theodosius of the Caves, and stories about the memorable Chernorites of the Caves. This is quite explainable by the political significance of the cult of the first Russian saints Boris and Gleb and the role of the Kiev Caves Monastery in the formation of the initial chronicle.

An important group of chronicle news is information about heavenly signs - eclipses of the sun, moon, earthquakes, epidemics, etc. The chronicler sees a connection between unusual natural phenomena and people's lives, historical events. The historical experience associated with the evidence of the chronicle of George Amartol leads the chronicler to the conclusion:“For signs in heaven, or stars, or suns, or birds, or chimney, are not for good; but there are signs of evil, whether the manifestation of rati, or famine, or death is manifested.

Diverse in their subject matter, news can be combined within one chronicle article. The material included in The Tale of Bygone Years makes it possible to single out a historical legend, a toponymic tradition, a historical tradition (associated with a retinue heroic epic), a hagiographic legend, as well as a historical legend and a historical story.

The connection of the chronicle with folklore. The chronicler draws material on the events of the distant past from the treasury of the people's memory.

The appeal to the toponymic legend is dictated by the chronicler's desire to find out the origin of the names of the Slavic tribes, individual cities and the very word "Rus". Thus, the origin of the Slavic tribes of the Radimichi and Vyatichi is associated with the legendary natives of the Poles - the brothers Radim and Vyatko. This legend arose among the Slavs, obviously, during the period of the decomposition of the tribal system, when an isolated tribal foreman, in order to justify his right to political domination over the rest of the clan, creates a legend about his supposedly foreign origin. This chronicle legend is close to the legend of the calling of princes, placed in the annals under 6370 (862). At the invitation of Novgorodians from across the sea"rule and reign" Three Varangian brothers come to Russian land with their families: Rurik, Sineus, Truvor.

The folklore nature of the legend confirms the presence of the epic number three three brothers.

The legend about the calling of the princes served as an important argument for proving the sovereignty of the Kievan state, and by no means testified to the inability of the Slavs to independently arrange their own state, without the help of Europeans, as some scientists tried to prove.

A typical toponymic legend is also the legend about the founding of Kyiv by three brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid. The chronicler himself points to the oral source of the material included in the chronicle:“Ini, not knowing, rekosha, what kind of Kiy was the carrier.”The chronicler indignantly rejects the version of the folk legend about the Kiy-carrier. He categorically states that Kyi was a prince, made successful campaigns against Constantinople, where he received a great honor from the Greek king and founded the city of Kievets on the Danube.

Echoes of ritual poetry from the times of the tribal system are filled with annalistic news about the Slavic tribes, their customs, wedding and funeral rites.

The annalistic news about the marriage of Vladimir to the Polotsk princess Rogneda, about his plentiful and generous feasts arranged in Kyiv, The Korsun legend goes back to folk tales. On the one hand, we see a pagan prince with his unbridled passions, on the other hand, an ideal Christian ruler endowed with all the virtues: meekness, humility, love for the poor, for the monastic and monastic rank, etc. Contrasting comparison of the pagan prince with the Christian prince, the chronicler sought to prove the superiority of the new Christian morality over the pagan one.

The reign of Vladimir was fanned by the heroism of folk tales already at the end X beginning of the XI century.

The legend of the victory of the Russian youth Kozhemyaki over the Pecheneg giant is imbued with the spirit of the folk heroic epic. As in the folk epic, the legend emphasizes the superiority of a man of peaceful labor, a simple artisan over a professional warrior - a Pecheneg hero. The images of the legend are built on the principle of contrasting comparison and broad generalization. At first glance, a Russian youth is an ordinary, unremarkable person, but he embodies that huge, gigantic power that the Russian people possess, decorating the earth with their labor and protecting it on the battlefield from external enemies. The Pecheneg warrior, with his gigantic size, terrifies those around him. A boastful and arrogant enemy is opposed by a modest Russian youth, the youngest son of a tanner. He performs a feat without arrogance and bragging. At the same time, the legend is timed to coincide with the toponymic legend about the origin of the city of Pereyaslavl"Zone of the glory of the youth"but this is a clear anachronism, since Pereyaslavl had already been mentioned more than once in the annals before this event.

The legend of the Belgorod jelly is connected with the folk fairy tale epic. In this legend, the mind, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Russian people are glorified.

The folklore basis is clearly felt in the church legend about the visit of the Russian land by the Apostle Andrew. By placing this legend, the chronicler sought to "historically" substantiate the religious independence of Rus' from Byzantium. The legend claimed that the Russian land received Christianity not from the Greeks, but allegedly by the disciple of Christ himself, the Apostle Andrew, who once passed the path"from the Varangians to the Greeks"along the Dnieper and Volkhov, Christianity was predicted on the Russian land. The church legend about how Andrei blessed the Kyiv mountains is combined with a folk tale about Andrei's visit to the Novgorod land. This legend is of a domestic nature and is associated with the custom of the inhabitants of the Slavic north to bathe in hot wooden baths.

Most of the annalistic tales dedicated to the events IX end of X centuries, is associated with oral folk art, its epic genres.

So, chronicles are codes, but at the same time not only codes of previous works, but also codes of ideas. They reflect different ideologies.

We saw above that the Tale of Bygone Years reflects the old warriors - Vyshata Ostromirich and Yan Vyshatich. Together with them, elements of the squad ideology penetrated into the "temporary years". This retinue ideology is reflected not only in the stories of Vyshata and Yan. So, for example, under the year 1075, in the story about the arrival of the German embassy in Kyiv, the idea is carried out that the squad is more expensive than any wealth. “It costs nothing, because it lies dead,” the ambassadors say about the wealth of Svyatoslav. ( This material will help to write competently on the topic of the Tale of Bygone Years of the Chronicle. The summary does not make it possible to understand the whole meaning of the work, therefore this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems.) This is better than warriors. After all, brave men will get even more than that. Vladimir Svyatoslavich says in similar terms in the annals, when the murmur of his squad reached him: years" under the year 996). The opposition of the squad to wealth is especially vividly felt in the story of the Tale of Bygone Years, which we have already cited, about the gifts of the Greeks to Svyatoslav. But the same opposition is noticeable in the story under the year 1073 about the flight of Prince Izyaslav to Poland "with much wealth", about which Izyaslav, deceived, thought: "This will recruit soldiers." Finally, the same opposition of gold to the squad sounds in other chronicles.

The question naturally arises: how could the retinue point of view on the political events of its time penetrate into the monastery chronicle? The answer to this question again lies in the summary nature of The Tale of Bygone Years. A chronicle is not only a collection of previous historical materials, but sometimes a collection of various ideologies. At the same time, it should be noted that the acuteness and purposefulness of the political point of view of the chronicler does not contradict his desire to preserve in his chronicle more or less similar points of view, similar in their direction, although sometimes different in their initial positions. The ideology of the "old squad" at the end of the 11th century was directed against the new policy of the princes, and it makes itself felt in the annals of the Kiev Caves Monastery, which was in a quarrel with Svyatopolk. For the chronicler, it is often not important from what positions the princely power is criticized, the very criticism of it is important to him.

The same should be said not only about the political ideology of the chronicler, but also about his worldview in general.

Religion and the church played a very important role in medieval society. It is often said about divine intervention, about divine help in ancient Russian literature. The author sometimes addresses with a prayer to God, the Mother of God and the saints. This is basically a form of medieval consciousness, and behind prayer and turning to God there is often a very specific thought: sometimes the consciousness of one’s patriotic duty, sometimes joy over release from captivity or on the occasion of victory, sometimes hope for future well-being or grief. Medieval man used to pour out his feelings and thoughts in the church's traditional form, to dress them in ceremonial clothes. But he acted, acted, calculated his actions always, based on real circumstances and taking into account his real possibilities. This cannot be called a contradiction - it is a custom to live, a custom deeply rooted in the traditions of the Middle Ages. It is customary to talk about the religious worldview of the Chronicler. It should be noted, however, that the chronicler is by no means consistent in his religious point of view on events. The course of the chronicler's narration, his specific historical ideas very often go beyond the bounds of religious thinking and are purely practical in nature. The chronicler receives his religious point of view to a large extent in finished form, and for him it is not a consequence of the peculiarities of his thinking. Since the chronicler receives his religious ideas in all their details from the outside, he is obliged to adhere to them officially, they can largely differ from his personal experience, from his practical activities as a historian. Russian political thought found expression in close connection with the real events of its time. It specifically relied on the facts of modern history. It is not characterized by independent abstract constructions of Christian thought, which led the chronicler away from the earthly world to abstract questions of the break with earthly existence that is coming with the death of each person. That is why, fortunately for the historical knowledge of Ancient Rus', the chronicler was not so often guided by his religious philosophy of history, did not completely subordinate his narrative to it, but only superficially attached his religious interpretations of certain events to his businesslike and, in general, quite realistic story about events. It is important to note here that in the choice of moments about which the chronicler found it necessary to indulge in religious reflections, the same medieval "etiquette" of the writing craft, which we spoke about above, was reflected. The religious and didactic comments of the chronicler always evoked the same phenomena of the life he describes: crop failures, plagues, fires, devastation from enemies, sudden death or heavenly signs.

Here is an example of such a solemn expression of hope and historical optimism. Under the year 1093, the chronicler tells about one of the most terrible defeats of the Russians from the Polovtsy and about the suffering of Russian captives in Polovtsian captivity. Having finished this story, the chronicler exclaims: “Yes, no one dares to say that God hates us! Yes, this will not happen! Whom does God love as much as we do? Whom did he honor so much, how did he glorify and exalt us? Nobody!

So, the religious moment did not permeate the entire chronicle presentation.

This inconsistency of the chronicler lies in the value of the chronicle, because it is only thanks to this inconsistency that experience, direct observation, elements of realism in description and story, political topicality intrude imperiously into the chronicle presentation - all that is so rich and due to which the Russian chronicle is so valuable.

Again we return to the topic that "" is a set of previous historical material. Indeed, in The Tale of Bygone Years we are by no means dealing with a single author's text belonging to one author. It is clear, for example, that the texts of the treaties between the Russians and the Greeks under 907, 912, 945 and 971 were not invented by the chronicler, that these are documents only included by the chronicler in his chronicle.

Translated sources stand out quite distinctly in The Tale of Bygone Years. The chroniclers used various translated works as historical sources, made selections from them, painstakingly, on the basis of documents, recreating the historical past of Rus'. These translations have come down to us in full; therefore, it is not difficult to establish from where, from what place of this or that composition some text was taken by the chronicler and how it was reworked for inclusion in the chronicle. From the translated sources of historical information of the chronicler, we will first of all point out the Greek Chronicle of George Amartol (that is, "sinful") and his Greek successor, unknown to us by name. The chronicler himself also refers to this Chronicle: “George speaks in the annals ...” The chronicler also refers to the Chronograph (under the year 1114), from which he also cites excerpts in different places of the Tale of Bygone Years. The chronicler uses the chronicler as a historical source and the "Chronicler soon" of the Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople, from where he borrows a chronological calculation under the year 852. From the translated Greek Life of Basil the New, the chronicler gives, under the year 941, a description of Igor's military operations near Constantinople. The chronicler also refers to the authority of the “Revelation” of Methodius Bishop of Patara under the year 1096 (“Methodius testifies of them ...” - about the Polovtsians). The chronicler gives long excerpts from Methodius of Patara. There is no doubt that the great Legend about the beginning of the Slavic letter under the year 898 was also not invented by the chronicler, but was given by him from some West Slavic sources. It is more difficult to identify individual Russian legends that were included in the Tale of Bygone Years: about the baptism and death of Olga, about the first Varangian martyrs, about the baptism of Rus' with the “Speech of the Philosopher”, about Boris and Gleb and others. It is even more difficult to determine those chronicles that preceded The Tale of Bygone Years and were used by its compiler and his predecessors. What was the composition of these annals preceding The Tale of Bygone Years? Which of the non-annalistic historical sources did each of the chroniclers use when these chronicles were compiled? It is not easy to answer all these questions; for the most part, only assumptions are possible here - some more convincing, others less.

A close observation of the text of the "Tale" immediately reveals separate parts that could not have been written by the author of the beginning of the 12th century. The chronicler of the 12th century could not know that the defeat of Vsevolod by the Polovtsians in 1061 took place exactly on February 2, that Rostislav Tmutorokansky died on February 3, 1066, that in 1065 fishermen caught a freak in Setoml with a net, that on March 3, 1067 there was a battle on Nemiga, and much more.

In addition, the Tale of Bygone Years contains obvious insertions that destroy the logical development of the story. So, for example, having told about Olga's triple revenge on the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband, Igor, the chronicler concludes: "And they defeated the Drevlyans." It would seem that after these words one should expect information about the tribute that Olga laid on the vanquished. But it turns out that not everything is over with the Drevlyans: the Drevlyans shut themselves up in their cities, after which the chronicler talks about Olga's second victory - about her fourth revenge; and only after that the words already follow: “She laid a heavy tribute on them.” It is clear that the story of Olga's fourth revenge on the Drevlyans is artificially inserted into the chronicle text.

Or another example of an insertion: in 971, seeing a decline in his squad, Svyatoslav decides to return from the Byzantine borders for a new army. “I’ll go to,” he says, “I’ll bring more squads.” And he really fulfills his decision: "he went in the boats to the rapids." But between the story of the decision and the story of the execution of this decision, there is a story about the conclusion of peace by Svyatoslav with the Greeks and an extensive text of the agreement. It is clear that here we are dealing with an insertion.

Inserts in the text of The Tale of Bygone Years were discovered by various researchers. The presence of these inserts indicates that the Tale of Bygone Years is based on an even more ancient chronicle. Obviously, the compiler of The Tale of Bygone Years used the works of his predecessor chroniclers, expanding them with these very inserts and continuing the presentation of events up to his own time.

The restoration of the annalistic codes that preceded The Tale of Bygone Years belongs to the most fascinating pages of philological science. Here are just a few of the considerations that make it possible to restore the work of the predecessors of the compiler of The Tale of Bygone Years.

This compiler of the "Tale of Bygone Years" was, apparently, the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor, who worked around 1113. Nestor's work has not been preserved in direct form. It survived only in alterations and modifications of subsequent editors. These editors, who belonged to a different political orientation and to another monastery hostile to the Pecherians, removed the name of Nestor from the title of the chronicle. But in one of the lists, the name of Nestor was still preserved: “Nestor, Chernorizet of the Fedosiev Monastery of the Caves.” One might think that this is not a later insert, since back in the 13th century the name of Nestor was associated with the creation of The Tale of Bygone Years: in his letter to Bishop Simon in 1232, Polycarp, among other tonsurers of the Pechersk Monastery, also mentions Nestor, “who wrote the Chronicler” .

True, the recognition of Nestor as the compiler of The Tale of Bygone Years met with repeated objections in science. Researchers referred to the contradictions between individual information read in The Tale of Bygone Years about the Kiev Caves Monastery, and those given about the same monastery in works authentically belonging to Nestor, in particular in the Life of one of the founders of the monastery - Theodosius. However, these contradictions by no means testify against the authorship of Nestor: "The Tale of Bygone Years", as A. A. Shakhmatov proves, was compiled by Nestor 25 years later than the Life of Theodosius, and the places in it that contradict the Life of Theodosius do not belong to Nestor: they are in it as part of the part that was entirely borrowed by Nestor from the previous chronicle.

In favor of Nestor's authorship, the following consideration should also be given: already two early hagiographic works of Nestor - "Reading" about princes Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of the Caves - characterize him as a writer prone to great historical generalizations and to a thorough verification of historical material. He names the persons from whose words he recorded the events or from whom it would be possible to verify the information reported by him. In the Life of Theodosius, he refers not only to the testimony of the monks of his Pechersk monastery - contemporaries of Theodosius, but also to outsiders: the Chernigov hegumen Pavel, the Vydubitsky hegumen Sophrony, the boyar Geguevich Zdeslav and others.

The erudition shown by Nestor when creating The Tale of Bygone Years is exceptional. However, Nestor does not follow the literary manner of his sources, or if he does, then only in some cases. He uses Byzantine works not as literary examples, but as historical sources. He uses their historical information, but not ideas and does not imitate them.

It is remarkable that, using the information of his historical sources, Nestor freely restructures their text: shortens and simplifies stylistically.

Sometimes a patriotic hand is felt in the stylistic processing of sources. Nestor not only changes the style, but partly, very carefully, reworks the very coverage of events. So, for example, in the Life of Basil the New, it is said about the battle of Igor's army with the Greeks: "And there was a battle between them, Rus' was defeated, and the fleeing Greeks beat them." Nestor describes this event as follows: “And there was a fierce battle between them, the Greeks barely defeated” (“The Tale of Bygone Years”, 941).

Nestor's high literary education, his exceptional erudition in sources, his ability to select everything significant in them, to compare contradictions, etc. transient tasks of Russian reality, but a whole, literary history of Rus'.

The patriotic loftiness of the story, the breadth of the political horizon, the lively feeling of the people and the unity of Rus' constitute an exceptional feature of Nestor's creation.

The historical consciousness of Nestor is higher than his predecessors. He is interested in the root causes, the origin of the people, the state, the princely family, the names of cities and tribes. He is more than his predecessors - a researcher. His researches in the field of chronology are amazing. He inquisitively seeks to understand the contradictions of the sources and builds his complex historical hypotheses. Before us is a historian-thinker.

The chronicler compared the books to rivers: “For they are rivers that make the Universe watered” (“The Tale of Bygone Years” under 1037). This comparison of the chronicler fits perfectly with the chronicle itself. The majestic presentation of Russian history by the annals can indeed be likened to the solemn and powerful course of a large Russian river. In this course of the chronicle narrative, numerous tributaries joined - works of various genres, merged here into a single and majestic whole. Here are the previous chronicles, and legends, and oral stories, and historical songs created in various environments: retinue, monastic, princely, and sometimes craft and peasant. From all these sources - "springs of wisdom" - the "Tale of Bygone Years" was born - the creation of many authors, a work that reflected both the ideology of the tops of feudal society, and popular views on Russian history, people's thoughts about it and people's aspirations, an epic work and lyrical at the same time - a kind of courageous reflection on the historical paths of our country.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is a native work for every Russian person. It tells about the beginning of the Russian land, about the beginning of the Russian people in the voice of distant and at the same time close to us Russian people of the 11th - early 12th centuries. We often return to its calm presentation and always find in it new and new depths of content that we have not noticed before.

The Tale of Bygone Years, in its entirety, with additions or abbreviations, began all Russian chronicles for half a millennium. This was very important, since she constantly reminded her readers of the unity of Rus', of the former independence of Rus' at the time of the foreign Horde yoke, taught patriotism and appealed to preserve peace between the princes. She opened the annals of Vladimir, Tver, Rostov, Moscow, Kyiv, Galicia, and later Belarusian and Ukrainian. In one form or another, it was reflected in all the stories of Ancient Rus'.

And now, when we are facing the significant 1500th anniversary of the “mother of Russian cities” Kiev, she is one of the greatest shrines for the three fraternal peoples - Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian, testifying to their unity, to the glory and greatness of our common past.

The Tale of Bygone Years is far from completely included in the publication that lies before our readers. We have selected from it only those stories that have become an indispensable element of the knowledge of any educated person, which have entered Russian literature, serving as the basis for poems, historical stories, dramatic works, operas and paintings. We wish the reader a happy meeting with this most remarkable work of our antiquity.

D. S. Likhachev

If the homework is on the topic: » Tale of Bygone Years Chronicle - artistic analysis. Literature of the 11th-12th centuries turned out to be useful to you, we will be grateful if you place a link to this message on your page in your social network.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" contains 2 main ideas: the idea of ​​the independence of Rus' and its equality with other countries (in the description of hostilities) and the idea of ​​the unity of Rus', the Russian princely family, the need for a union of princes and the condemnation of strife ("Legend of calling the Varangians"). Several main themes stand out in the work: the theme of the unification of cities, the theme of the military history of Rus', the theme of the peaceful activities of princes, the theme of the history of the adoption of Christianity, the theme of cities. By composition, this is a very interesting work. It breaks up into 2 parts: up to 850 - conditional chronology, and then - weather. There were also such articles where the year stood, but there was no record. This meant that nothing significant happened that year, and the chronicler did not consider it necessary to write it down. Under one year there could be several major narratives. The chronicle includes symbols: visions, miracles, signs, as well as messages, teachings. The first, dated 852, was associated with the beginning of the Russian land. Under 862 there was a legend about the calling of the Varangians, the establishment of a single ancestor of the Russian princes Rurik. The next turning point in the annals is connected with the baptism of Rus' in 988. The final articles tell about the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. Also, the compositional originality of The Tale of Bygone Years is manifested in the combination of many genres in this work. Partly because of this, messages of different content were sometimes placed under one year. The chronicle was a collection of primary genre formations. Here we find both a weather record, the simplest and most ancient form of narration, and an annalistic story, annalistic tales. The proximity of the chronicle to hagiographic literature is found in the stories about 2 Varangian martyrs, about the foundation of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery and its ascetics, about the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb, about the death of Theodosius of the Caves. Obituary articles were associated with the genre of grave words of praise in the annals, which often contained verbal portraits of deceased historical figures, for example, a description of the Tmutarakan prince Rostislav, who was poisoned during a feast by a Byzantine warrior. Symbolic landscape sketches. Unusual cue uprisings.

Principles of depicting a person in the Tale of Bygone Years. The main forms of chronicle narration. An image of a chronicler. Features of the artistic time of the chronicle: In the literary process of creating a person, he turned out to be, first of all, the bearer and spokesman of the dominant class - corporate interests and ideals. A person manifested himself for the most part in those actions that were limited by the traditional - ritual norms of the surrounding class - corporate environment. These norms were created by social life back in pagan times, were especially carefully developed in feudal society and entered literature from it, which, for its part, actively contributed to their strengthening in reality. Thoughts and experiences of a person became the subject of a literary image only when they were necessary for ideological and symbolic interpretation of the actual historical or political situation. The creation of such a typical "character" of the hero was clothed in the form of a certain ethical and aesthetic scheme. For these purposes, for example, heartfelt internal monologues of Boris and Gleb were created (as a kind of “crying” for themselves) before descriptions and their murder. the ideological position of the writer and his attitude to the depicted person: positive images received ever-increasing signs of abstract idealization, and negative images - real concretization. The hero is supposed to behave in this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only with appropriate expressions. Man, as a literary type, was of interest to ancient Russian writers mainly in relation to the instructive - symbolic personification of those of his qualities, real-historical and at the same time idealized, which were supposed to characterize a certain class environment.

The central characters of the chronicle are the princes. Chroniclers of the 11th-12th centuries. portrayed them from the point of view of the prevailing princely ideal: a good warrior, the head of his people, generous, merciful. The prince is also a good Christian, a fair judge, merciful to those in need, a person incapable of any crime. But in The Tale of Bygone Years there are few ideal princes. First of all, these are Boris and Gleb. All other princes are represented more or less diversified. In the annals, the squad supports the prince. The people are most often depicted as a suffering force. The hero appears from the people and saves the people and the state: Nikita Kozhemyaka; a lad who decides to make his way through the enemy camp. Most of them do not have a name (they are called by age), nothing is known about their past and future, each has an exaggerated quality that reflects a connection with the people - strength or wisdom. The hero appears in a certain place at a critical moment. The influence of folklore greatly affects the image of the heroes of the initial chronicle. The chronicle gives the first Russian princes (Oleg, Olga, Igor, Svyatoslav, Vladimir) laconic, but vivid characteristics, highlighting the dominant feature in the image of the hero, moreover, of an individual order. In the image of Olga, the wisdom of a statesman is poeticized, which is expressed in the search for a single faith and in revenge on the Drevlyans. The characterization of Svyatoslav is epicly laconic. This is a straightforward and courageous person, easy to communicate with the soldiers, he preferred victory in an open battle to military cunning. He always warned his enemies that he was preparing a campaign against them. The characteristic of Svyatoslav is given through his actions, accomplished feats. In the later fragments of the chronicle, the image of the good Christian prince comes to the fore. The characteristics of these princes are official, devoid of individual signs. The murderous prince could turn into a righteous man; Yaroslav the Wise turns from a disobedient son into an instrument of divine punishment for Svyatopolk the Accursed. In the annals there is a mixture of the style of monumental historicism, epic style and church style. In the stories made in the style of monumental historicism, everything is known in advance, the fate of the hero is predetermined. And in epic parts, the effect of surprise is often used. Also, a feature of the style is the mixing of various genres in one chronicle, the frequent contraction of different events to one year (especially if this event lasted several years).

The first Russian princes, Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, are characterized in the annals by means of oral folk epos.

Oleg is first of all a courageous and wise warrior. Thanks to his military ingenuity, he defeats the Greeks by putting his ships on wheels and sailing them on land. He deftly unravels all the intricacies of his Greek enemies and concludes a peace treaty beneficial for Rus' with Byzantium. As a sign of victory, Oleg nails his shield on the gates of Constantinople to the greatest shame of the enemies and the glory of his homeland.

The successful prince-warrior is nicknamed by the people "prophetic", i.e., a magician (although the Christian chronicler did not fail to emphasize that Oleg was given the nickname by the pagans, "people of trash and slovenly voices"), but he does not manage to get away from his fate. Under 912 the chronicle places a poetic tradition connected, obviously, "with the grave of Olga", which "is ... to this day." This legend has a complete plot, which is revealed in a laconic dramatic narrative. It clearly expresses the idea of ​​the power of fate, which none of the mortals, and even the "prophetic" prince, can avoid.

Igor is depicted in a slightly different way. He is also courageous and courageous, defeats the Greeks in the campaign of 944. He is caring and attentive to the needs of his squad, but, in addition, he is greedy. The desire to collect as much tribute as possible from the Drevlyans becomes the cause of his death. Igor's greed is condemned by the chronicler with a folk proverb, which he puts into the mouth of the Drevlyans: "If you put a wolf in a sheep, then endure the whole herd, if not kill him ..."

Igor's wife Olga is a wise woman, faithful to the memory of her husband, rejecting the matchmaking not only of the Drevlyan prince Mal, but also of the Greek emperor. She takes cruel revenge on the murderers of her husband, but her cruelty is not condemned by the chronicler. The description of the four places of Olga emphasizes the wisdom, firmness and inflexibility of the character of a Russian woman. D.S. Likhachev notes that the legend is based on riddles that the unlucky Drevlyane matchmakers cannot solve. Olga's riddles are based on associations of wedding and funeral rites: they carried in boats not only guests of honor, but also the dead; Olga's offer to the ambassadors to take a bath is not only a sign of the highest hospitality, but also a symbol of the funeral rite; On her way to the Drevlyans, Olga goes to perform a feast not only for her husband, but also for the Drevlyan ambassadors she killed. The slow-witted Drevlyans understand Olga's words in their direct meaning, unaware of the other, hidden meaning of the wise woman's riddles, and thereby doom themselves to death. The whole description of Olga's revenge is based on a bright, laconic and scenic dialogue between the princess and the messengers of the "Derevskoy zemli".

The image of the stern, simple and strong, courageous and straightforward warrior Svyatoslav is fanned by the heroism of the retinue epic. He is alien to deceit, flattery, cunning - the qualities inherent in his enemies, the Greeks, who, as the chronicler notes, "are flattering to this day." With a small retinue, he defeats the superior forces of the enemy: with a short, courageous speech, he inspires his soldiers to fight: "... let us not shame the Russian land, but lie down with bones, the dead are not ashamed of the imam."

Svyatoslav despises wealth, he appreciates only the squad, weapons with which you can get any wealth. The description of this prince in the annals is accurate and expressive: “... walking easily, like a pardus, you create many wars. he baked an uncle, not a tent named, but sent a lining and a saddle in his head; so is his other howl ecu byahu.

Svyatoslav lives by the interests of his squad. He even goes against the exhortations of his mother, Olga, and refuses to accept Christianity, fearing the ridicule of the squad. But the constant desire

The chronicler acts as a preacher-teacher: history is an object lesson for "current princes", an instructive example for contemporaries. From ancient authors, through Byzantium, he inherited the principle of historians formulated by Cicero: "Historia est magistra vitae" - "History is the teacher of life."

History in the "Tale of Bygone Years" appears as a lesson given not in the form of general maxims, but in the form of specific bright artistic tales, stories, fragmentary articles laid down "in a series" of "time years".

The chronicler is deeply convinced of the ultimate triumph of goodness and justice, identifying goodness and beauty. He acts as a passionate publicist, expressing the interests of the entire Russian land

Svyatoslav to aggressive wars, disregard for the interests of Kyiv, his attempt to transfer the capital of Rus' to the Danube causes condemnation of the chronicler. He expresses this condemnation through the mouth of the "kiyan": "... you, prince, are looking for and watching someone else's land, but having swindled (left) your own, small (hardly) because the cookies were not taken from us ..."

The straightforward prince-warrior perishes in an unequal battle with the Pechenegs at the Dnieper rapids. The prince of the Pechenegs, Kurya, who killed Svyatoslav, "took his head, and in his forehead (skull) he made a cup, enclosing his forehead, and pyahu from it." The chronicler does not moralize about this death, but the general trend still affects: the death of Svyatoslav is natural, it is a consequence of his disobedience to his mother, a consequence of his refusal to accept baptism.

The annalistic news about the marriage of Vladimir to the Polotsk princess Rogneda, about his plentiful and generous feasts arranged in Kyiv, goes back to folk tales - the Korsun legend. On the one hand, we see a pagan prince with his unbridled passions, on the other, an ideal Christian ruler, endowed with all the virtues: meekness, humility, love for the poor, for the monastic and monastic rank, etc. Contrasting comparison of the pagan prince with the Christian prince, the chronicler sought to prove the superiority of the new Christian morality over the pagan one.

The reign of Vladimir was fanned by the heroism of folk tales already at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century.

The legend of the victory of the Russian youth Kozhemyaki over the Pecheneg giant is imbued with the spirit of the folk heroic epic. As in the folk epic, the legend emphasizes the superiority of a man of peaceful labor, a simple artisan over a professional warrior - the Pecheneg hero. The images of the legend are built on the principle of contrasting comparison and broad generalization. At first glance, a Russian youth is an ordinary, unremarkable person, but he embodies that huge, gigantic power that the Russian people possess, decorating the earth with their labor and protecting it on the battlefield from external enemies. The Pecheneg warrior, with his gigantic size, terrifies those around him. A boastful and arrogant enemy is opposed by a modest Russian youth, the youngest son of a tanner. He performs a feat without arrogance and bragging. At the same time, the legend is timed to coincide with the toponymic legend about the origin of the city of Pereyaslavl - "the zone of transferring the glory of the youth", but this is an obvious anachronism, since Pereyaslavl had already been mentioned more than once in the annals before this event.

In the annals, the ideal of a prince-ruler is developed. This ideal is inseparable from the general patriotic ideas of the chronicle. The ideal ruler acts as a living embodiment of love for the native land, its honor and glory, the personification of its power and dignity. All his actions, all his activities are determined by the good of the motherland and the people. Therefore, the prince in the view of the chronicler cannot belong to himself. First of all, he is a historical figure who always appears in an official setting, endowed with all the attributes of princely power. D.S. Likhachev notes that the prince in the annals is always official, he is, as it were, turned to the viewer and is represented in his most significant actions. The virtues of a prince are a kind of ceremonial attire; at the same time, some virtues are purely mechanically attached to others, thanks to which it became possible to combine the ideals of the secular and church. Fearlessness, courage, military prowess are combined with humility, meekness and other Christian virtues.

7. Genre and stylistic originality of The Tale of Bygone Years. Chronicle language. The Significance of the Monument for the History of Literature.

From Christian literature, the chronicler drew moralistic maxims, figurative comparisons. He supported his reasoning with quotations from the text of the "holy scripture". So, for example, when narrating about the betrayal of the governor Blud, the chronicler raises the question of the loyalty of the vassal to his overlord. Condemning the traitor, the chronicler reinforces his thoughts with references to King David, i.e., to the Psalter: "O evil human flattery! Like David says: Eating my bread, he magnified flattery on me ..."

Quite often, the chronicler resorts to comparing events and historical figures with biblical events and characters.

The function of biblical comparisons and reminiscences in the annals is different. These comparisons emphasize the significance and greatness of the Russian land, its princes, they allow chroniclers to translate the narrative from the "temporary" historical plan into the "eternal", i.e. they perform the artistic function of symbolic generalization. In addition, these comparisons are a means of moral evaluation of events and actions of historical figures.

General characteristics of the chronicle style. Thus, all of the above allows us to speak about the presence in The Tale of Bygone Years of an epic narrative style associated with oral poetry, a historical documentary style that prevails in the description of historical events, and a hagiographic style that serves as an important means of affirming the moral ideals of the prince-ruler. , defender of the interests of the Russian land and condemnation of the seditious princes

The language of The Tale of Bygone Years broadly reflects the spoken language of its time. Almost every news, before it was written down by the chronicler, was deposited in oral speech. The direct speech of historical figures occupies a significant place in the style of the annals. The prince addresses his retinue with speeches, ambassadors conduct diplomatic negotiations, speeches are delivered at the veche, feasts. They testify to high oratory skills: they are laconic, concise and unusually expressive. At the same time, the chronicler almost never resorts to fictitious speeches - he is always accurate and strictly factual in the transfer of the "speeches" of his heroes.

Special terminology is widely represented in the annals: military, hunting, legal, ecclesiastical. Clear, expressive, figurative phraseological combinations are developed, such as: "take hail with a spear" - seize the city by attack, "mount a horse" - go on a campaign, "wipe sweat" - return with victory, "eat deden bread" - reign on the table of the ancestors, "kiss the cross" - take an oath, "throw the knife" - start strife.

Often the chronicler uses folk proverbs, sayings: "Die, like a find", "Trouble, like in Rodna", "Rus is fun, drink, we can't be a demon."

The language of The Tale of Bygone Years testifies to the unusually high level of development of the culture of oral and written speech in the 11th-12th centuries.

Meaning of "The Tale of Bygone Years". "The Tale of Bygone Years" played an important role in the development of regional chronicles and in the creation of all-Russian chronicle codes of the 15th-16th centuries: it was invariably included in these chronicles, revealing the history of Novgorod, Tver, Pskov, and then the history of Moscow and the Muscovite state.

In the literature of the XVIII-XIX centuries. "The Tale of Bygone Years" served as a source of poetic plots and images. So, A.P. Sumarokov, creating his classic tragedies, turned not to ancient plots, but to the events of Russian national history (see his tragedies "Sinav and Truvor", "Khorev"), Ya. B. Knyaznin his tyrannical tragedy " Vadim Novgorodsky" builds on the material of the chronicle.

A large place is occupied by the images of Vladimir, Svyatoslav, Oleg in the romantic "Thoughts" by K. F. Ryleev, imbued with the pathos of freedom-loving ideas.

The poetry of the chronicle legends was perfectly felt, understood and conveyed by A. S. Pushkin in "The Song of the Prophetic Oleg". In the annals he tried to "guess the way of thinking and the language of those times" in the tragedy "Boris Godunov". The image of the chronicler Pimen created by the poet, majestic in its spiritual beauty, was, according to F. M. Dostoevsky, evidence of "that powerful spirit of folk life, which can single out images of such undeniable truth."

11. Medieval Russian literature of the XIII-XIV centuries.

During this period, many books and masters perished. The emergence of the genre of polonyanochny songs. Previously, researchers believed that nothing was created during this period, the former book centers were being destroyed. However, it is not. The center of cultural life is shifting to different areas. The emergence of new literary centers speaks of literary continuity. Kyiv is a standard.

The symbol of this time is an icon and an axe.

Vladimir actively develops eloquence, a military story, collections of monographic. And mixed type. All his words are emotional, an abundance of rhetorical figures, solemn eloquence, but in content they are didactic. "Instruction of Serapion of Vladimir"

Murom-Ryazan Principality

"The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka"

"A word about the destruction of the Russian land"

"The Tale of the Capture of Ryazan Land by Batu"

These works well convey the mood of Russian society, dissatisfaction with the strife of the princes. Religious and moralistic interpretation of the Mongol-Tatar invasion: The arrival of the "language of the unknown" is a consequence of God's connivance "sin for our sakes", an omen of the end of the world. The people's consciousness connected the legend of the death of Russian heroes with the battle on Kalka. The cause of the defeat is associated with feudal fragmentation. Confusion before an unknown force.

Tver Principality

"Punishment to Prince Konstantin of Polotsk" by Bishop Simeon, which raises important ethical issues., Life of M. Tverskoy

The emergence of chronicles. In 1305 the Tver Chronicle incl. Into the PVL

Galicia-Volyn principality

In the 13th century, the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle was included in the Ipatiev Chronicle.

The strife became the reason for the invasion of external enemies. The theme of the unification of Rus', the fight against foreign invaders. Focus on current events.

Likhachev calls the literature of this period - the literature of moral monumentalism.

In the genre system, the narrowing of lit. Genres. Patriotic, moral (chronicles, military stories, stories, lives of princes-martyrs, clerics who were martyred) are in demand. Liters of this period become smaller in volume, a close relationship with CNT. The motive of punishment for sins can be traced in almost all the works of this period. If in the "Word of the Regiment ..." there is a premonition of trouble, then in the literature of this period - the consequences. The protagonist of the works is invariably the Russian land. The main idea is the idea of ​​sacrifice for the good of the Russian land.

The Tale of Bygone Years, like most chronicles, is a collection, a work based on previous chronicle writings, which included fragments from various sources, literary, journalistic, folklore, etc. The Tale of Bygone Years, as a monument historiography, is permeated with a single patriotic idea: the chroniclers strive to present their people as equal among other Christian peoples, proudly recall the glorious past of their country, the valor of the pagan princes, the piety and wisdom of the Christian princes. The chroniclers speak on behalf of all of Rus', rising above petty feudal disputes, resolutely condemning the strife and "which", describing with pain and anxiety the disasters brought by the raids of the nomads. In a word, The Tale of Bygone Years is not just a description of the first centuries of the existence of Rus', it is a story about great beginnings: the beginning of Russian statehood, the beginning of Russian culture, about the beginnings, which, according to the chroniclers, promise in the future the power and glory of their homeland.

But "The Tale of Bygone Years" is not only a monument of historiography, it is also an outstanding monument of literature. The compositional originality of The Tale of Bygone Years is manifested in the combination of many genres in this work. In the annalistic text, one can distinguish, as it were, two types of narration, which are essentially different from each other. One type is weather records, that is, summaries of information about events that have occurred. So, article 1020 is one message: "Born a son to Yaroslav, and named his name Volodimer." This is a record of historical fact, nothing more. Sometimes a chronicle article includes a number of such fixations, a list of various facts, sometimes it even reports in sufficient detail about an event that is complex in its structure: for example, it is reported who took part in a military action, where the troops gathered, where they moved, how that event ended. or another battle, what messages were exchanged between princes-enemies or princes-allies. There are especially many such detailed (sometimes multi-page) weather records in the Kyiv Chronicle of the 12th century. But the point is not in the brevity or detail of the narrative, but in its very principle: whether the chronicler informs about the events that have taken place or talks about them, creating a plot narrative. The Tale of Bygone Years is characterized by the presence of just such plot stories.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is complex in its composition and the diversity of its components, both in origin and genre. The Tale, in addition to short weather records, includes the texts of documents, and retellings of folklore legends, and plot stories, and excerpts from monuments of translated literature. We will meet in it a theological treatise - "the philosopher's speech", and a hagiographical story about Boris and Gleb, and paterinic legends about the Kiev-Pechersk monks, and a church eulogy of Theodosius of the Caves, and a laid-back story about a Novgorodian who went to tell fortunes to a magician .

The nature of the chronicle genre is very complex; the chronicle is one of the "unifying genres" subordinating the genres of its components - a historical story, life, teaching, a laudable word, etc. And yet the chronicle remains an integral work that can be studied as a monument of one genre, as a monument literature.

From the text of The Tale of Bygone Years, we see how difficult it was for the chroniclers to create a coherent historiographic concept that would combine information about the ancient history of the East Slavic tribes and legends about the first Kiev princes with the fate of the Rurik dynasty. Far-fetched is the version according to which Igor is the ancestor of the entrenched from the tenth century. dynasty of Kievan princes - declared the son of Rurik. With difficulty, the chronicler explains the origin and meaning of the ethnonym "Rus", stubbornly trying to connect it all with the same Varangian concept. And, nevertheless, the story created by Nestor of calling the Varangians and strengthening their dynasty in Kyiv looks so convincing that all the "Normanists" drew their arguments from it up to the present day.

The Tale of Bygone Years - a literary monument of Ancient Rus'

Department of Literature

COURSE WORK

in the discipline "History of Russian literature"

"The Tale of Bygone Years" - a literary monument of Ancient Rus'

Completed by a student

____________________________

Saint Petersburg

ABOUT CHAPTER:

Introduction

1. The history of the emergence of the Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years"

2. "The Tale of Bygone Years" as a historical source and literary monument

3. Stylistic originality of The Tale of Bygone Years

4. Significance of "The Tale of Bygone Years" in the literary aspect

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The relevance of the work. The main source of our knowledge about ancient Rus' is medieval chronicles. Currently, more than two hundred lists of chronicles are known. Most of them are published (in full or in the form of discrepancies to other lists) in the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. One of the most ancient and famous - "The Tale of Bygone Years" - a chronicle that got its name from the first words "this is the story of bygone years ..." and tells about the events of Russian history in the middle of the 9th - beginning of the 12th centuries. According to the outstanding Russian scientist D.S. Likhachev, The Tale of Bygone Years, with its world-historical introduction, with its broad desire to justify the place of the Russian people among other peoples of the world, with its special attention to the heroic, to military exploits, to the glory of the Russian weapons introduces us into the atmosphere of an epic folk-song attitude to Russian history. Before us in The Tale of Bygone Years is a largely epic, poetic attitude to native history. That is why The Tale of Bygone Years is not only a work of Russian historical thought, but also of Russian historical poetry. Poetry and history are inextricably united in it. Before us is a work of literature and a monument of historical thought.

Tradition names Nestor, a monk of the Caves Monastery in Kyiv, as the author of the Tale. For a long time it was believed that Nestor was the founder of Russian chronicle writing, but later it was found that even before him there were chronicle codes. "Ancient", "Nikon's Vault", "Initial Vault".

The study of the "Tale" is still ongoing, however, despite a significant amount of literature devoted to this literary monument, researchers disagree on many aspects of the appearance and interpretation of the chronicle. V.N. Tatishchev was the first in Russia to study the chronicles. Having decided to create his own grandiose "History of Russia", he turned to all the chronicles known in his time, found many new monuments. After V.N. Tatishchev, A. Shletser studied The Tale of Bygone Years. If V.N. Tatishchev worked, as it were, in breadth, combining additional information from many lists in one text, and followed in the footsteps of an ancient chronicler - archer, then Schlozer worked in depth, revealing a lot of slips, errors, and inaccuracies in the text itself. Both research approaches, with all their external differences, had similarities in one thing: the idea of ​​a non-original form, in which the Tale of Bygone Years has come down to us, was fixed in science. This is the great merit of both remarkable historians. The next major step was taken by the famous archeographer P.M. Stroev. Both V.N. Tatishchev and A. Shletser imagined The Tale of Bygone Years as the creation of one chronicler, in this case Nestor. P.M. Stroev expressed a completely new view of the chronicle as a set of several earlier chronicles and began to consider all the chronicles that have come down to us as such sets. Thus, he opened the way not only to a more methodologically correct study of the annals and codes that have come down to us, which have not come down to us in their original form.

An unusually important step was taken by A.A. Shakhmatov, who showed that each of the annalistic collections, from the 11th century to the 16th century, is not a random conglomeration of heterogeneous chronicle sources, but a historical work with its own political position, dictated by the place and time of creation. According to A.A. Shakhmatova, the chronicle, which is usually called the Tale of Bygone Years, was created in 1112 by Nestor - presumably the author of two well-known hagiographic works - Readings about Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of the Caves. Shakhmatov connected the history of chronicle writing with the history of the country. It became possible to mutually check the history of the state with the history of the source. The data of source study became not an end in itself, but the most important help in recreating the picture of the historical development of the entire people. And now, starting to study this or that period, they first of all seek to analyze the question of how the chronicle and its information are connected with reality. The disadvantage of the approach developed by L.A. Shakhmatov, however, lies in the fact that the critical analysis of the source was actually reduced to the study of the history of its text. A large complex of problems related to the history of meanings and meanings that existed during the creation of one or another annalistic code remained outside the researcher's interests. This gap was largely filled by the studies of such remarkable scientists as: I.N. Danilevsky, V.M. Istrin, A.N. Nasonov, A.A. Likhachev, M.P. Pogodin and many others.

Target work - to show the historical and artistic originality of the "Tale of Bygone Years", to assess the significance of the "Tale" as a literary monument of Ancient Rus'.

1. The history of the emergence of the Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years"

An analysis of the literature on the history of the appearance of The Tale of Bygone Years shows its debatability in science. At the same time, in all publications about the Tale, the historical significance of the chronicle for the history and culture of Russia is emphasized. The very title of The Tale of Bygone Years contains the answer to the question about the purpose of the chronicle: to tell “where did the Russian land come from, who in Kiev began first to reign, and where did the Russian land come from”2. In other words, to tell about Russian history from its very beginning to the formation of an Orthodox state under the collective name of the Russian Land.

Revealing the issues of chronicle terminology, I.N. Danilevsky wrote that historical works are traditionally called chronicles in a broad sense, the presentation of which is strictly by year and is accompanied by chronographic (annual), often calendar, and sometimes chronometric (hourly) dates. By species characteristics, they are close to Western European annals (from Latin annales libri - annual reports) and chronicles (from Greek chranihos - related to time). In the narrow sense of the word, it is customary to call chronicle texts that have actually come down to us, preserved in one or several lists similar to each other.3 But scientific terminology in chronicle materials is largely arbitrary. This is due, in particular, to the “lack of clear boundaries and the complexity of the history of chronicle texts”, with the “fluidity” of chronicle texts, allowing for “gradual transitions from text to text without visible gradations of monuments and editions”4. Until now, "in the study of chronicles, the use of terms is extremely vague." At the same time, “any elimination of the ambiguity of terminology should be based on the establishment of this ambiguity itself. It is impossible to agree on the use of terms without, first of all, finding out all the shades of their use in the past and present,” D.S. Likhachev believes5.

According to M.I. Sukhomlinov, “all Russian chronicles by the very name of “chronicles”, “chroniclers”, “timers”, “tales of temporary years”, etc. reveal their original form: none of these names would be appropriate for them if they did not designate the time of each event, if summers, years did not occupy the same important place in them as the events themselves. In this respect, as in many others, our chronicles are similar not so much to the Byzantine writers, but to those temporaries (annales) that have been kept for a long time, from the 8th century, in the monasteries of Roman and German Europe - regardless of the historical examples of classical antiquity. The original basis of these annals was the Easter tables.”6

Most authors believe that the idea for the title of The Tale of Bygone Years belongs to Nestor, a scribe with a broad historical outlook and a great literary talent: even before working on The Tale of Bygone Years, he wrote The Life of Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of the Caves. In The Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor set himself a grandiose task: to decisively rework the story about the most ancient period in the history of Rus' - "where the Russian land came from."

However, as A. A. Shakhmatov showed, The Tale of Bygone Years was preceded by other chronicles. The scientist cites, in particular, the following fact: "The Tale of Bygone Years", preserved in the Lavrentiev, Ipatiev and other chronicles, differed significantly in the interpretation of many events from another chronicle that told about the same initial period of Russian history - the Novgorod First Chronicle of the younger version. In the Novgorod Chronicle there were no texts of treaties with the Greeks, Prince Oleg was called the governor under the young Prince Igor, otherwise it was told about the campaigns of Rus' against Constantinople, etc.

A. A. Shakhmatov came to the conclusion that the Novgorod First Chronicle in its initial part reflected a different chronicle code that preceded The Tale of Bygone Years7.

A prominent researcher of Russian chronicles, V. M. Istrin8, made unsuccessful attempts to find a different explanation for the differences between The Tale of Bygone Years and the story of the Novgorod First Chronicle (that the Novgorod Chronicle allegedly shortened The Tale of Bygone Years). As a result, the conclusions of A. A. Shakhmatov were confirmed by many facts obtained both by himself and by other scientists9.

The text of the Tale that interests us covers a long period - from ancient times to the beginning of the second decade of the 12th century. It is quite reasonably considered that this is one of the oldest chronicle codes, the text of which was preserved by the chronicle tradition. No separate lists are known. On this occasion, V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote: “In libraries, do not ask for the Primary Chronicle - they will probably not understand you and will ask again:“ What list of the chronicle do you need? Then you, in turn, will be perplexed. Until now, not a single manuscript has been found in which the Primary Chronicle would be placed separately in the form in which it came out from the pen of the ancient compiler. In all known lists, it merges with the story of its successors, which in later collections usually reaches the end of the 16th century. In different chronicles, the text of the Tale reaches different years: before 1110 (Lavrentiev and related lists) or until 1118 (Ipatiev and related lists).

At the initial stage of studying the chronicles, the researchers proceeded from the fact that the discrepancies found in the lists are the result of a distortion of the original text during repeated rewriting. Based on this, for example, A.L. Schlozer set the task of recreating the "purified Nestor". An attempt to correct the accumulated mechanical errors and rethink the chronicle text, however, was not successful. As a result of the work done, A.L. Schlozer became convinced that over time the text was not only distorted, but also corrected by scribes and editors. Nevertheless, the non-original form in which The Tale of Bygone Years has come down to us has been proven. This actually raised the question of the need to reconstruct the original form of the chronicle text.

Comparing all the lists of annals available to him, A.A. Shakhmatov revealed discrepancies and so-called common places inherent in the annals. Analysis of discrepancies found, their classification made it possible to identify lists that have coinciding discrepancies. The researcher grouped the lists by editions and put forward a number of complementary hypotheses that explain the occurrence of discrepancies. A comparison of hypothetical codes made it possible to identify a number of common features inherent in some of them. So the supposed source texts were recreated. At the same time, it turned out that many fragments of the annalistic presentation were borrowed from very early collections, which, in turn, made it possible to proceed to the reconstruction of the oldest Russian annals. Conclusions A.A. Shakhmatova received full confirmation when the Moscow Code of 1408 was found, the existence of which was predicted by the great scientist. In full, the path that A.A. Shakhmatov, became clear only after the publication by his student M.D. Priselkov of his teacher's workbooks11. Since then, the entire history of the study of chronicle writing has been divided into two periods: pre-chess and modern.

When editing, the original text (the first edition of the Tale of Bygone Years) was changed so much that A.A. Shakhmatov came to the conclusion that it was impossible to reconstruct it. As for the texts of the Lavrentiev and Ipatiev editions of the Tale (they are usually called the second and third editions, respectively), then, despite later alterations in subsequent collections, Shakhmatov managed to determine their composition and presumably reconstruct them. It should be noted that Shakhmatov hesitated in assessing the stages of work on the text of the Tale of Bygone Years. Sometimes, for example, he believed that in 1116 Sylvester only rewrote Nestor's text of 1113 (the latter was sometimes dated 1111), without editing it.

If the question of the authorship of Nestor remains controversial (the Tale contains a number of indications that are fundamentally at odds with the data of the Readings and Life of Theodosius), then in general the assumption of A.A. Shakhmatov about the existence of three editions of the Tale of Bygone Years is shared by most modern researchers.

Based on the idea of ​​the political nature of ancient Russian chronicle writing, A.A. Shakhmatov, followed by M.D. Priselkov and other researchers believe that the origin of the chronicle tradition in Rus' is associated with the establishment of the Kyiv Metropolis. “The custom of the Byzantine church administration required, at the opening of a new see, episcopal or metropolitan, to draw up on this occasion a note of a historical nature about the causes, place and persons of this event for the clerical work of the patriarchal synod in Constantinople”12. This allegedly became the reason for the creation of the Most Ancient Code of 1037. The researchers present the later codes, compiled on the basis of the Tale of Bygone Years, either as purely journalistic works written, as they say, on the topic of the day, or as some kind of medieval fiction, or simply texts that systematically amazing perseverance and perseverance "finish" - almost by inertia.

At the same time, the entire history of the study of the Tale shows that the goal of creating chronicles should be significant enough so that for a number of centuries many generations of chroniclers continued the work begun in Kiev in the 11th century. Moreover, "authors and editors adhered to the same literary techniques and expressed the same views both on social life and on moral requirements"13.

It is believed that the first edition of The Tale of Bygone Years has not reached us. Its second edition, compiled in 1117 by the abbot of the Vydubitsky monastery (near Kiev) Sylvester, and the third edition, compiled in 1118 by order of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, have been preserved. In the second edition, only the final part of The Tale of Bygone Years was revised; this edition has come down to us as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377, as well as other later chronicles. The third edition, according to a number of researchers, is presented in the Ipatiev Chronicle, the oldest list of which - Ipatiev - dates from the first quarter of the 15th century.

From our point of view, the final point in the study of the question of the origin of the "Tale" has not yet been set, this is shown by the entire history of the study of the chronicle. It is possible that scientists, based on newly discovered facts, will put forward new hypotheses regarding the history of the creation of the greatest monument of ancient Russian literature - The Tale of Bygone Years.

2. "The Tale of Bygone Years" as a historical source and literary monument

Scientists have established that chronicle writing was carried out in Rus' from the 11th to the 17th centuries. Back in the 19th century it became known that almost all surviving chronicle texts are compilations, sets of previous chronicles. According to D.S. Likhachev, “in relation to the annals, the set is a more or less hypothetical monument, i.e., a supposed monument, underlying its lists or other supposed sets”14. Nestor "The Tale of Bygone Years" owes its broad historical outlook, the introduction to the annals of the facts of world history, against which the history of the Slavs unfolds, and then the history of Rus'. Thanks to the state view, breadth of outlook and literary talent of Nestor, The Tale of Bygone Years was "not just a collection of facts of Russian history, and not just a historical and journalistic work related to the urgent, but transient tasks of Russian reality, but an integral, literary exposition of the history of Rus'" , notes D.S. Likhachev15.

In the introductory part of the Tale, the biblical legend about the division of the earth between the sons of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japhet - and the legend of the Babylonian pandemonium, which led to the division of the "single clan" into 72 peoples, each of which has its own language, are described: "After the flood, three The sons of Noah divided the land - Shem, Ham, Japheth ... "16

Having determined that the “language (people) of Slovenian” is from the tribe of Japheth, the chronicle further tells about the Slavs, the lands they inhabit, about the history and customs of the Slavic tribes. Gradually narrowing the subject of its narrative, the chronicle focuses on the history of the meadows, tells about the emergence of Kyiv. Speaking about the ancient times, when the Kyiv glades were tributaries of the Khazars, The Tale of Bygone Years proudly notes that now, as it was destined for a long time, the Khazars themselves are tributaries of the Kyiv princes.

Precise indications of the years begin in The Tale of Bygone Years from 852, since from that time, according to the chronicler, Rus' is mentioned in the “Greek chronicle”: this year, the Kiev princes Askold and Dir attacked Constantinople. A chronological calculation is also given here - a countdown of the years that have passed from one significant event to another. The calculation of the years from “the death of Yaroslavl to the death of Svyatopolchi” (i.e., from 1054 to 1113) completes the calculation, from which it follows that the Tale of Bygone Years could not have been compiled earlier than the beginning of the second decade of the 12th century.

Further in the annals, the most important events of the 9th century are narrated. - "calling of the Varangians", the campaign against Byzantium Askold and Dir, the conquest of Kyiv by Oleg. The legend about the origin of the Slavic literacy, included in the chronicle, ends with the statement, important for the general concept of The Tale of Bygone Years, about the identity of the “Slovene” and Russian languages ​​- another reminder of the place of the meadows among the Slavic peoples and the Slavs among the peoples of the world.

In subsequent annalistic articles, Oleg's reign is described. The chronicler cites the texts of his treaties with Byzantium and folk legends about the prince: a story about his campaign against Constantinople, with spectacular episodes, undoubtedly of a folklore nature (Oleg approaches the walls of the city in boats moving under sail on land, hangs his shield over the gates of Constantinople, "showing victory").

The chronicler considered Igor the son of Rurik. Two campaigns of Igor against Byzantium are reported and the text of the agreement concluded by the Russian prince with the Byzantine co-emperors: Roman, Constantine and Stefan is given. Igor's death was unexpected and inglorious: on the advice of his squad, he went to the land of the Drevlyans to collect tribute (usually tribute was collected by his voivode Sveneld). On the way back, the prince suddenly turned to his soldiers: “Go with tribute to the house, and I will return, I will look like it again.” The Drevlyans, having heard that Igor intends to collect tribute a second time, were indignant: “If you drive a wolf (if a wolf gets into the habit) in a sheep, then endure the whole herd, if not kill him, so and so: if we don’t kill him, then we will all be destroyed” . But Igor did not heed the warning of the Drevlyans and was killed by them.

Olga avenged the Drevlyans three times for the death of her husband. Each revenge corresponds to one of the elements of the pagan funeral rite. According to the customs of that time, the dead were buried by placing them in a boat; a bath was prepared for the deceased, and then his corpse was burned; on the day of burial, a trizna was held, accompanied by war games17.

The chronicler of Igor's son, Svyatoslav, enthusiastically depicts his militancy, chivalrous directness (he allegedly warned his enemies in advance: “I want to go to you”), unpretentiousness in everyday life.

After the death of Svyatoslav, an internecine struggle broke out between his sons - Oleg, Yaropolk and Vladimir. The winner of it was Vladimir, who in 980 became the sole ruler of Rus'.

In the section "The Tale of Bygone Years", dedicated to the reign of Vladimir, the theme of the baptism of Rus' occupies a large place. The chronicle reads the so-called "Speech of the Philosopher", with which a Greek missionary allegedly turned to Vladimir, urging the prince to accept Christianity. The "Speech of the Philosopher" was of great cognitive importance for the Old Russian reader - it briefly outlined the entire "sacred history" and reported the basic principles of the Christian faith.

After the death of Vladimir in 1015, internecine struggle broke out again between his sons. Svyatopolk - the son of Yaropolk and a captive nun, whom Vladimir, having killed his brother, made his wife, killed his half-brothers Boris and Gleb. The annals read a brief story about the fate of the martyr princes, about the struggle of Yaroslav Vladimirovich with Svyatopolk, which ended in the latter's military defeat and terrible divine retribution.

The last decade of the 11th century was full of stormy events. After internecine wars, the instigator and indispensable participant of which was Oleg Svyatoslavich (“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” calls him Oleg Gorislavlich), the princes gather in 1097 in Lyubech for a congress, at which they decide from now on to live in peace and friendship, keep the father’s possessions and do not encroach on other people's inheritances. However, immediately after the congress, a new atrocity happened: the Volyn prince Davyd Igorevich convinced the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich that the Terebovl prince Vasilko was plotting against them. Svyatopolk and Davyd lured Vasilko to Kyiv, captured him and gouged out his eyes. This event shocked all the princes: Vladimir Monomakh, according to the chronicler, complained that there was no such evil in Rus' "neither under our grandfathers, nor under our fathers." In the article of 1097 we find a detailed story about the dramatic fate of Vasilko Terebovskiy.

A brief review of the composition of The Tale of Bygone Years shows the complexity of its composition and the diversity of its components, both in terms of origin and genre. The Tale, in addition to brief weather notes, includes the texts of documents, and retellings of folklore legends, and plot stories, and excerpts from monuments of translated literature18. There is also a theological treatise in it - “the speech of a philosopher”, and a hagiographical story about Boris and Gleb, and paterinic legends about the Kiev-Pechersk monks, and a church eulogy of Theodosius of the Caves, and a laid-back story about a Novgorodian who went to tell fortunes to a magician.

If we talk about the historicism of the Tale, then it should be emphasized that artistic generalization in Ancient Rus' was built mainly on the basis of a single concrete historical fact. Almost all events are attached to a specific historical event or a specific historical person. As you know, Ancient Rus' during the IX-X centuries. from a fragile tribal union, it turned into a single early feudal state. The campaigns of the Kyiv princes Oleg, Igor and Svyatoslav brought Rus' into the sphere of European politics. Close diplomatic, trade and cultural relations of Ancient Rus' with its southern neighbors - with the Bulgarian "kingdom and especially with the largest state of South-Eastern Europe - Byzantium paved the way for the adoption of Christianity. Which is reflected in the "Tale". Obviously, the Christianization of Rus' required a radical restructuring of the worldview; the former pagan ideas about the origin and structure of the universe, about the history of the human race, about the ancestors of the Slavs were now rejected, and Russian scribes were in dire need of works that would set out Christian ideas about world history, would give a new, Christian interpretation of the world order and natural phenomena. Describing the literature of Kievan Rus, D.S. Likhachev notes that it was devoted mainly to ideological issues. Its genre system reflected the worldview typical of many Christian states in the early Middle Ages. “Old Russian literature can be regarded as the literature of one theme and one plot. This story is world history, and this theme is the meaning of human life.”19

We also note the high citizenship and patriotism of the considered literary monument. The patriotism of ancient Russian literature is associated not only with the pride of the authors for the Russian land, but also with their grief over the defeats suffered, with the desire to reason with princes and boyars, and sometimes with attempts to condemn them, to arouse the anger of readers against the worst of them.20

Thus, The Tale of Bygone Years is not only a unique historical source and literary monument, but also an example of true patriotism of the Russian people, love for their Motherland.

3. Stylistic originality of The Tale of Bygone Years

The stylistic originality of the Tale deserves special attention, since the chronicle genre is absent in the modern literary tradition. The nature of the chronicle genre is very complex; the chronicle is one of the “unifying genres”, subordinating the genres of its components - a historical story, life, teaching, a laudable word, etc. 21 Nevertheless, the chronicle remains an integral work that can be studied as a monument of literature In The Tale of Bygone Years, as in any other chronicle, two types of narration can be distinguished - weather records proper and chronicle stories. Weather records contain reports of events, while chronicles offer descriptions of them. In the chronicle story, the author seeks to depict the event, to bring certain specific details, to reproduce the dialogues of the characters, in a word, to help the reader imagine what is happening, to arouse his empathy.

So, in the story about the youth who fled from Kiev besieged by the Pechenegs in order to convey the request of Princess Olga to the governor Pretich, not only the very fact of transmitting the message is mentioned, but it is told about how the youth fled through the Pecheneg camp with a bridle in his hand, asking about allegedly the missing horse (at the same time, an important detail was not missed that the youth could speak Pecheneg), about how, having reached the banks of the Dnieper, he “overthrew the ports” and rushed into the water, how Pretich’s warriors sailed out to meet him on a boat; the dialogue between Pretich and the Pecheneg prince is also transmitted. This is precisely a story, and not a brief weather record, such as: “Vyatichi defeat Svyatoslav and pay tribute to them”, or “Queen Volodimeraya Anna died”, or “Mstislav went to Yaroslav from the goats and from the cassocks”, etc.

At the same time, the chronicle stories themselves belong to two types, largely determined by their origin. Some stories tell about events contemporary to the chronicler, others about events that took place long before the compilation of the chronicle; these are oral epic traditions that were only later included in the chronicle.

In the stories, either strength or cunning triumphs. So, the Pecheneg prince, who fought with Russia, suggested that Vladimir put out a warrior from his army who would measure his strength with the Pecheneg hero. Nobody dares to accept the challenge. Vladimir is saddened, but then a certain “old husband” comes to him and offers to send for his youngest son. The young man, according to the old man, is very strong: “From childhood, there is no one who hit him” (i.e., threw him to the ground). Somehow, the father recalls, the son, having become angry with him, “pretorted with his hands” (he tore the skin that he was crushing at that moment with his hands: father and son were tanners). The young man is called to Vladimir, and he shows his strength to the prince - he grabs a bull running past by the side and pulls out "the skin from the meat, if he has a hand." But nevertheless, the young man is “medium in body”, and therefore the Pecheneg hero who went out with him for a duel - “great and terrible” - laughs at his opponent. Here (as in the story of Olga's revenge) surprise awaits the negative hero; the reader knows about the strength of the young man and triumphs when the kozhemyak is “strangled” by the hands of the Pecheneg hero.

Some stories of the chronicle are united by a special, epic style of depicting reality. This concept reflects, first of all, the narrator's approach to the subject of the image, his author's position, and not just the purely linguistic features of the presentation. In each such story in the center there is one event, one episode, and it is this episode that makes up the characterization of the hero, highlights his main, memorable feature; Oleg (in the story about the campaign against Tsargrad) is, first of all, a wise and brave warrior, the hero of the story about Belgorod jelly is a nameless old man, but his wisdom, which at the last moment saved the city besieged by the Pechenegs, is the characteristic feature that won him immortality in people's memory.

Another group of stories was compiled by the chronicler himself or by his contemporaries. It is distinguished by a different manner of narration, it does not have an elegant completeness of the plot, there is no epic brevity and generalization of the characters' images. At the same time, these stories can be more psychological, more realistic, literary processed, since the chronicler seeks not just to tell about the event, but to present it in such a way as to impress the reader, to make him relate to the characters in the story in one way or another. Among these stories

Similar abstracts:

The inner world of a work of verbal art. The world of reality in a creative perspective. The social and moral structure of the world in the work. The artistic world in A. Akhmatova's poem "Muse". Temporal and spatial characteristics.