Epics are epic songs in which heroic events or individual episodes of ancient Russian history. In their original form, epics took shape and developed during the period of early Russian statehood (in Kievan Rus), expressing the national consciousness of the Eastern Slavs.
The epics artistically summarized the historical reality of the 11th-16th centuries, but they grew out of the archaic epic tradition, inheriting many features from it. Monumental images of heroes, their extraordinary exploits poetically combined the real basis of life with fantastic fiction. As in fairy tales, epics feature mythological images of enemies, characters are reincarnated, and animals help the heroes. Nevertheless, fantasy in the epic turned out to be subordinated to the historicism of vision and reflection of reality.
“When a person doubts that a hero can carry a club of forty pounds or put down an entire army in one place,” wrote A.F. Hilferding, “the epic poetry in him is killed. And many signs convinced me that the Northern Russian peasant singing epics and the vast majority of those who listen to him undoubtedly believe in the truth of the miracles depicted in the epic." From the point of view of the people, the significance of epics was to preserve historical memory, so their authenticity was not questioned.
Epics were recorded mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries. in the Russian North - their main guardian: in the former Arkhangelsk province, in Karelia (former Olonets province), on the Mezen, Pechora, Pinega rivers, on the coast White Sea, in the Vologda region. In addition, starting from the 18th century. epics were recorded among the old-timers of Siberia, the Urals, the Volga (Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Simbirsk, Samara provinces) and in the central Russian provinces (Novgorod, Vladimir, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Kaluga, Tula, Oryol, Voronezh). Echoes of epics were preserved by Cossack songs on the Don, Terek, Lower Volga, and Urals.
The content of epics is varied. About 100 stories are known to science (in total, more than 3,000 texts have been recorded with variants and versions, a significant part of which have been published). Usually epics are heroic or novelistic in nature. The idea of heroic epics is the glorification of the unity and independence of the Russian land; in novelistic epics, marital fidelity and true friendship were glorified, and personal vices (bragging, arrogance) were condemned. Bylinas condemned social injustice and the arbitrariness of princely power. The purpose of the epics was to exalt the national, social and moral and ethical ideals of the people.
People called epics “oldies”, “oldies”, “oldies” - that is, songs about actual events of the distant past. The term "epic" is purely scientific; it was proposed in the first half of the 19th century. I. P. Sakharov. The word “epic” was taken by him from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (“This song began according to the epics of this time...”) and artificially used to designate the folklore genre in order to emphasize its historicism.
The tunes of epics are solemn and majestic. It is assumed that in ancient times epics were sung to the accompaniment of the gusli - a stringed musical instrument. Later they were performed without musical accompaniment.
The rhythm of the epic verse is associated with the melody. There are four main stresses in the epic line, the fourth falls on last syllable, third - on the third from the end. For example: Prince Vladimir says, yes, these are the words. The number of syllables in a verse and the place of the first two stresses are unstable. The fixedness of the third and fourth stresses led to the fact that in the last word a shift of stress could occur (Ilya went into a clear field). If the last word had three syllables or more, then when chanted, the last stress of the line was its third main stress - usually on the third syllable from the end (The standing horse led the good horse out of the stable). During singing, the final syllables could be extended, and those missing in the verse could be filled in with additional prepositions or particles (And along all the wide streets, Yes, along all the princely alleys).
A.F. Hilferding wrote: “...Correct tonic plantation is a fundamental, normal property of the Russian folk epic<...>The predominant meter, which I will call ordinary epic meter, is a pure trochee with a dactylic ending.<...>The number of stops is indefinite, so the verse is extensible. The extensibility at the correct tonic size is distinctive property Russian epic verse. But it should be borne in mind that good singers have very moderate elongation of verse. The decisive predominance belongs to the verse of 5 and 6 feet, which can then expand to 7 and narrow to 4 feet; verses longer or shorter than that are allowed only as the rarest anomaly.”
The epics reflected many historical realities. As D. F. Hilferding noted, the northern singers conveyed the unfamiliar geography and landscape of Kievan Rus (the open field of free land) and depicted the real struggle ancient Russian state against the steppe nomads. WITH amazing accuracy Some details of everyday life were preserved.
In 1928 in Pudozhsky district Karelian ASSR A version of the epic "Duke Stepanovich" was recorded from F.A. Konashkov. The untold wealth of this Galician boyar was spoken of with the help of hyperbole: “We should sell Kiev and Tsernigov, And buy papers with tsernils, But even then you can’t describe Dyukov’s little estate, But strip off the birch birch in Risi. " [Sokolov-Chicherov. - P. 395].
Novgorodskie birch bark letters, which the epic mentions, were discovered by archaeologists only two and a half decades later, in the early 1950s.
When chanting certain events in epics, storytellers were never like chroniclers. They did not seek to convey the chronicle sequence of history, but depicted only it central points, which were embodied in the central episodes of epics. The singers were attracted not by an accurate recording of history, but by the expression of its popular assessments, the reflection of popular ideals.
The epics conveyed the names of real-life persons: Vladimir Svyatoslavovich and Vladimir Monomakh, Dobrynya, Sadko, Alexander Popovich, Ilya Muromets, Polovtsian and Tatar khans (Tugorkan, Batu). However, artistic fiction allowed the singers to attribute them to an earlier or later historical time and allowed the combination of names. IN people's memory There was a distortion of geographical distances, names of ancient countries and cities. The historically established idea of the Tatars as the main enemy of Rus' supplanted the mention of the Polovtsians and Pechenegs; even the Lithuanian princes, from whom Rus' defended itself, were mixed in epics with the Horde khans, and Lithuania with the Horde.
The epic prince Vladimir the Red Sun combined two great princes: Vladimir I - Svyatoslavovich (reign: 980-1015) and Vladimir II - Monomakh (reign: 1113-1125). V. F. Miller, examining the epic "Stavr Godinovich", was inclined to assume that it was composed in Novgorod land. Stavr was a Novgorod boyar and Sotsky, lived in the first quarter of the 12th century. and was once imprisoned by Vladimir Monomakh, who was angry with him. The plot of the epic is also based on the fact that Prince Vladimir imprisoned Stavr in deep cellars. V. F. Miller wrote: “... this Novgorod work with the name of Vladimir Monomakh subsequently entered the epic cycle of the “affectionate” prince of Stolnokiev Vladimir Seslavich. In general, the epic about Stavr represents among our other epics the most shining example assimilation of Vladimir Monomakh with Vladimir the Saint."
Zueva T.V., Kirdan B.P. Russian folklore - M., 2002
The epics were created in tonic (also called epic, folk) verse. In works created in tonic verse, in poetic lines May be different quantities syllables, but there should be a relatively equal number of stresses. In epic verse, the first stress, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the beginning, and the last stress on the third syllable from the end.
Epics are characterized by a combination of real images that have a clear historical meaning and conditioned by reality (the image of Kyiv, the capital Prince Vladimir), with fantastic images (Serpent Gorynych, Nightingale the Robber). But the leading images in epics are those generated by historical reality.
Often the epic begins with lead singer. It is not related to the content of the epic, but represents an independent picture that precedes the main epic story. Exodus- this is the ending of the epic, a short conclusion, summing up, or a joke (“then the old days, then the deeds”, “that’s where the old times ended”).
The epic usually begins with the beginning, which determines the place and time of action. Following it is given exposition, in which the hero of the work stands out, most often using the technique of contrast.
The image of the hero is at the center of the entire narrative. Epic grandeur of the image epic hero created by revealing it noble feelings and experiences, the qualities of the hero are revealed in his actions.
Triplicity or trinity in epics is one of the main depiction techniques (in heroic outpost there are three heroes, the hero makes three trips - “Three trips of Ilya”, Sadko is not invited to the feast three times by the Novgorod merchants, he casts lots three times, etc.). All these elements (threefold persons, threefold action, verbal repetitions) are present in all epics. Hyperboles used to describe the hero and his feat also play a large role in them. The description of the enemies (Tugarin, Nightingale the Robber), as well as the description of the strength of the warrior-hero, are hyperbolic. There are fantastic elements in this.
In the main narrative part of the epic, the techniques of parallelism, stepwise narrowing of images, and antithesis are widely used.
The text of the epic is divided into permanent And transitional places. Transitional places are parts of the text created or improvised by narrators during performance; permanent places - stable, slightly changed, repeated in various epics (heroic battle, hero’s rides, saddling a horse, etc.). Storytellers usually assimilate and repeat them with greater or less accuracy as the action progresses. The narrator speaks transitional passages freely, changing the text and partially improvising it. The combination of permanent and transitional places in the singing of epics is one of the genre features of the Old Russian epic.
The work of the Saratov scientist A.P. Skaftymov, “Poetics and Genesis of Epics,” is devoted to elucidating the artistic originality of Russian epics and their poetics. The researcher believed that “the epic knows how to create interest, knows how to excite the listener with anxiety of expectation, infect the listener with the delight of surprise and capture the winner with ambitious triumph.” 1
D. S. Likhachev in the book “Poetics ancient Russian literature” writes that the time of action in epics refers to the conventional era of the Russian past. For some epics it is the idealized era of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv, for others it is the era of Novgorod freedom. The action of the epics takes place in the era of Russian independence, glory and power of Rus'. In this era, Prince Vladimir reigns “forever”, the heroes live “forever”. In epics, the entire time of action is assigned to the conventional era of Russian antiquity. 2
3. The epic "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber"
Ilya Muromets - the main character Kyiv cycle epic The most important of them: “The Healing of Ilya of Muromets”, “Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber”, “Ilya and Sokolnik”, “Ilya in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir”, “Ilya and Kalin the Tsar”, “Ilya and the Foul Idol”. The most ancient epics are considered to be about the battle of Ilya Muromets with the Nightingale the Robber and about the battle with Sokolnik (his son).
Back in the 19th century, scientists wondered who was behind the epic image of the enemy of the Russian hero - Nightingale the Robber. Some saw him as a mythical creature - the personification of the forces of nature, the tree-climber, while others expressed the opinion that this image was borrowed from the folklore of other peoples. Still others held the view that Nightingale is a common person engaged in robbery. For his ability to whistle loudly, he was nicknamed Nightingale. In the epic narrative, the Nightingale the Robber is depicted as a creature living in the forests with all his brood.
The epic tells about the military exploits of Ilya. He leaves home, from the village of Karacharovo, near Murom, to the capital city of Kyiv to serve Prince Vladimir. Along the way, Ilya accomplishes his first feat. At Chernigov he defeats the enemy army that besieged the city.
Is it near the city of Chernigov?
The forces are caught up in black and black,
And he is black and black, like a black crow.
So no one walks here like infantry,
No one rides here on a good horse,
The black raven bird does not fly,
Let the gray beast not prowl.
And Ilya, “a burly, good fellow,” became this force great horse trample and spear. And he defeated this great force. For this, the Chernigov men invited him to Chernigov as a governor, but the hero did not agree, since he was going to serve the entire Russian land.
He is warned that the road to Kyiv is turbulent and dangerous:
The path has been blocked up, walled up,
Like that one of Gryazi or Black,
Yes, whether it’s near the birch tree or the gag...
The Nightingale the Robber sits with oak cheese,
The Nightingale the Robber sits Odikhmantyev 1 son. 2
Ilya’s opponent is depicted in the epic in a hyperbolic way, his formidable power is exaggerated. This is a robber villain. He “whistles like a nightingale”, “shouts like an animal”. Because of this, “the ant grasses are entangled, all the azure flowers are crumbling, the dark forests are all bowing to the ground, and what people there are are all lying dead.”
However, Ilya was not frightened by the warning of the Chernigov men. He chooses the "straight road". Ilya’s good heroic horse, hearing the Nightingale’s whistle, “rests and stumbles on the baskets.” But the hero is fearless. He is ready to accomplish his second feat. The duel is described laconically, in the epic tradition. Ilya takes a tight “explosive” bow, pulls a “silk bowstring”, puts on a “hardened arrow” and shoots. He fastens the defeated Nightingale to a “damask stirrup” and takes him to Kyiv. This is the hero’s first visit to Kyiv; no one here knows him yet. The prince himself turns to Ilya with questions:
"Tell me, you're crazy,
Portly good fellow,
Well done to you somehow, yes name is called,
Call him, the daring one, after his fatherland?
The prince does not believe Ilya’s story, he doubts that it is possible to travel along that road where many forces have been gathered and the Nightingale the Robber rules. Then Ilya leads the prince to Nightingale. But the robber recognizes only the power of Ilya over himself, seeing in him a worthy opponent and winner, he honors him above the prince. To Vladimir’s order to demonstrate his art, Nightingale replies:
“It’s not with you today, Prince, that I’m having lunch,
It’s not you that I want to listen to.
I dined with the old Cossack Ilya Muromets,
Yes, I want to listen to him." 3
Then Ilya Muromets orders him to whistle “half the whistle of a nightingale” and “half the cry of an animal.” But the Nightingale disobeyed and whistled with all his might. “The poppies on the towers were crooked, and the knees in the towers scattered from him, Nightingale’s whistle, that there are little people, they are all lying dead.” And Vladimir the Prince “covers himself with a marten fur coat.” Only Ilya remained on his feet. With the words: “You are full of whistling and like a nightingale, you are full of crying and fathers and mothers, you are full of making widows and young wives, you are full of letting little children become orphans!” he chops off the Nightingale's head.
Ilya’s feat was filled with special meaning for his contemporaries, who advocated the unification of Russian lands and the integrity of the ancient Russian state. The epic affirms the idea of serving Rus', of performing a national feat in its name.
The epic "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" has features characteristic of the artistic originality of epics. This is a story genre. Events are depicted in development, characters in action. The epic has its own distinctive expressiveness. visual arts: triple repetitions (in the description of the strongman near Chernigov, the heroic whistle), hyperboles (image of the Nightingale the Robber, the heroic horse Ilya), comparisons, metaphors, epithets (dark forest, grass-ants, azure flowers), diminutive suffixes, etc. n. The epic intertwines fantastic and real images(Nightingale - Ilya).
4. Epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent"
Dobrynya Nikitich - the second most important hero of epics Kyiv cycle. He replaced the ancient Danube, but he is not only a hero-snake fighter, but also a hero-diplomat. In a number of epics, Dobrynya carries out various diplomatic assignments for Prince Vladimir.
In the epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent" he performs a feat of arms - he defeats the Serpent, who brought a lot of grief to the Russian land. The plot of the epic comes from ancient fairy-tale folklore. The epic begins with a story about how her mother does not tell Dobrynya to go to the Puchai River to swim:
Mother told Dobrynyushka,
Yes, Nikitich’s mother punished him:
"Don't go too far into the open field,
To that mountain and Sorochinskaya,
Don't trample on the young snakes,
Don't help out the full Russians,
Do not swim, Dobrynya, in the Puchai River -
The Puchai River is very fierce,
The middle stream cuts like fire." 2
Fairy tales usually begin with this fabulous prohibition. Just like in the fairy tale, Dobrynya does not listen to her mother’s advice and swims far away. At this moment the Serpent swoops down on him:
There is no wind, but a cloud has blown over,
There are no clouds, but it’s like rain,
But there is no rain, but only thunder roars,
Thunder rumbles and lightning whistles.
How the Serpent Gorynishche flies
And you twelve about trunks. 3
The battle of the hero with the Snake is depicted briefly: Dobrynya hit the Snake, knocked off all his “trunks” and made him promise not to fly to Rus' anymore. Returning to Kyiv, Dobrynya learns that the Serpent again flew through Kyiv and carried away Prince Vladimir’s niece, Zabava Putyatichna.
Dobrynya sets off on a long journey to the caves of the Serpent. But, unlike fairy tale hero, who fights the monster for his own personal interests (the liberation of the bride), he introduces a new hero who stands for public interest in the struggle for the integrity of Rus' and its borders. The fairytale motive of the struggle for a woman becomes the motive of the struggle for the Russian Polonyanka. In the epic, Dobrynya is presented as the liberator of the Russian land. The epic sings the glory of the hero, who freed not only Vladimir’s niece, but also many other prisoners languishing in the Snake’s dungeon:
Then Dobrynya went into the hole,
In those holes and deep ones.
There sit forty kings, forty princes,
Forty kings and princes,
But simple power is of no use.
Then Dobrynyushka Nikitinich
He spoke to the kings and he to the princes
And to those kings and princes:
“You go there now, the church has been brought.
And you, young Zabava daughter Putyatichna,
For you, I have now wandered like this,
Let's go to the city of Kyiv,
And this is to the affectionate prince, to Vladimir." 4
Dobrynya in all epics expresses his heroic qualities, jealously guards the dignity of the Russian warrior, he is reasonable in his speeches, restrained, tactful, a caring son and faithful husband. All epics reveal these features of his appearance.
5. Epic "Volga and Mikula"
The epic "Volga and Mikula" refers to Novgorod cycle epic Already the first researchers drew attention to the acute social resonance of the epic, where the image of the peasant plowman Mikula Selyaninovich is clearly contrasted with the image of Prince Volga Svyatoslavich, nephew Prince of Kyiv Vladimir. At the same time, other assumptions were made according to which the epic recreated the images of not just a peasant and a prince, but two pagan gods: the god of agriculture - Mikula and the god of hunting - Volga. This is the interpretation of the famous 19th-century mythologist Orest Miller, who saw Mikul Selyaninovich as the “patron of agriculture in Rus'.” At the same time, Vsevolod Miller drew attention to everyday features in the epic, reflecting the characteristics of agricultural labor in the north:
Ratai yells in the field, urges,
The bipod of the ratai creaks,
The idiots are scribbling on the pebbles,
It turns out roots and stones,
Yes, he keeps throwing great stones into the furrow.
“This is an accurate picture of northern plowing,” wrote V.F. Miller. 2
The plot of the epic is based on the meeting of Prince Volga and his squad with the plowman-peasant Mikula. The epic opens with a story about Volga’s birth and his maturation:
How Volga began to grow and mature here,
Volga wanted a lot of wisdom:
He walks like a pike fish in the deep seas,
Like a falcon bird he can fly under the covers,
Like a gray wolf, prowl through the open fields.
Volga gathered himself a brave squad. The nephew of the Kyiv prince received three cities as a gift from Vladimir: Gurchevets, Orekhovets, Krestyanovets. He goes to collect tribute and in an open field he sees the plowman Mikula, who, working in the field, shows remarkable strength: “he twists out stumps and roots, knocks large stones into the furrow.” The plowman asks the prince how far he is going, and having learned where he and his retinue are going, he tells him what kind of robber people live in these cities. Volga, seeing his strength, invites the plowman to go with him “as comrades.” The plowman agrees, his participation in the trip is necessary - one princely squad the fight against robbery is beyond our power.
Mikula asks the prince’s warriors to pull his plow out of the ground and throw it under a broom bush. However, it turns out that neither the squad nor Volga can do this work. And only Mikula’s heroic strength allows him to effortlessly, with one hand, pull the bipod out of the ground.
This is where some variants of the epic end. According to others, Volga and Mikula come to the cities in which the prince appoints Mikula as governor, the townspeople ambush Volga, and Mikula saves his life.
Mikula is a folk hero. He, like a heroic hero, expresses best qualities common man. The epic affirms respect for the hard work of the tiller, in which one must also show strength and heroism. Mikula’s strength is in connection with the land, the common people.
This epic is characterized by its artistic features. The element of the folk language is amazing. It is characterized by repetitions and epithets. With the help of epithets, a special poetic world is created. For example, the unusual plow that Mikula plows with:
Orata's bipod is maple,
The damask boots on the bipod,
The bipod's snout is silver,
And the horn of the bipod is red and gold. 3
Using epithets, a portrait of the hero is created:
And Oratai’s curls are swaying,
What if the pearls are scattered;
The screaming eyes and clear eyes of a falcon,
And his eyebrows are black sable. 4
Storytellers describe the hero's clothes: boots made of green morocco, a feather hat, a caftan made of black velvet.
Mikula allegorically reveals his folk roots. To Volga’s question: “What is your name, do they call you after your fatherland?” Oratay-Oratayushko said:
Oh, Volga Svyatoslavovich!
I’ll plow up like rye and put it in stacks,
I’ll put them in stacks and drag them home,
I’ll drag you home and thrash you at home,
And I’ll make beer and give the peasants a drink,
And then the men will begin to praise me:
Young Mikula Selyaninovich!" 5
Artistic media in epics are aimed at most vividly capturing the characters and their actions, the setting, and expressing the attitude towards them.
6. Epic "Sadko"
The events in the epic unfold in the city of Novgorod. It splits into two parts (Sadko receives wealth and Sadko from the Sea King). Main character- Guslar Sadko. At the beginning of the epic, the Novgorod boyars neglected him and stopped inviting him to feasts. Offended, Sadko goes to Lake Ilmen, sits on the “white-flammable stone” and begins to play “Yarovchaty Guselki”. The Sea King liked his game:
How the water in the lake began to stir,
The king of the sea appeared,
I left the lake from Ilmen,
He himself said these words:
“Oh, you, Sadke Novgorodsky!
I don’t know how to greet you
For your joys for the great,
For your tender game." 1
The Sea King decided to help Sadko and give him untold wealth. He told him to make a bet with the Novgorod merchants that he would catch a fish in the lake - a golden feather. The king will send this fish to Sadko in the net.
Guslyar did just that and won three shops of red goods in a dispute with merchants, became rich, erected magnificent chambers, decorating them with marvelous paintings:
Sadka arranged everything like heaven:
There is sun in the sky and sun in the chambers,
There is a month in the sky and a month in the chambers,
There are stars in the sky and stars in the chambers. 2
Sadko “invited noble guests to his honorable feast,” who at the feast ate, got drunk and all boasted with boasts." Sadko boasted of buying up all the goods in Novgorod, argued with him about the wealth. But the bet lost: no matter how much he bought goods in Novgorod shops, in the morning more and more people brought from all over Rus' appeared in them. And Sadko realized that he was not the rich merchant of Novgorod - his glorious Novgorod was richer. And if at the beginning of the epic the people's consciousness was on the side of the poor guslar, then Sadko the merchant, who imagined , that he is richer and stronger than the entire trading city, deprived of the sympathy of the people. The epic forces him to recognize the victory of Novgorod. It clearly expresses the idea of \u200b\u200bthe trading power of the great city of northern Rus'.
In the second part of the epic, Sadko, a rich merchant, equips ships and sets off with his comrades to trade overseas:
The weather was strong on the blue sea,
The blackened ships stagnated on the blue sea:
And the wave hits, the sails are torn,
Breaks blackened boats;
But the ships do not move from their place on the blue sea. 3
This is how landscape is introduced into the epic. The ships are at sea - the Sea King does not let Sadko in and demands a ransom from him. First, the shipbuilders try to pay off with a barrel of pure silver, red gold, but the wave hits everything, tears the sails, and “the ships still do not move from their place on the blue sea.” Sadko guesses that the Tsar of the Sea demands “a living head in the blue sea.” They cast lots three times as to who should go to the Sea King. And no matter how hard Sadko tried, the lot fell on him. Taking only the harp, Sadko rushes into the depths of the sea.
The image of the underwater kingdom in the epic is real, the landscape is realistic:
In the blue sea at the very bottom.
I saw something baking through the water red sun,
Evening dawn, morning dawn.
Saw Sadko: in the blue sea
There is a white stone chamber...
What we see here is not fantasy, but rather a certain amount of convention. The King of the Sea himself is also depicted. The epic gives only one detail of his portrait: “the king’s head is like a heap of hay.” The singers use the technique of hyperbolization: the king’s head is compared to a heap of hay, which indicates its significant size and introduces an element of comedy.
How Sadko began to play guselki yarovchaty,
How the king of the sea began to dance in the blue sea,
How the king of the sea danced.
Sadka played for a day, and others played too,
Yes, Sadke and others also played,
And still the king dances in the blue sea. 5
Grateful for the fun, the Sea King began to persuade Sadko to marry one of his thirty daughters. Meanwhile, in the blue sea, the waters shake, ships break, and righteous people drown.
Orthodox man in reality in search of deliverance from misfortunes, he always turns to Christian saints, which is reflected in the epic: “the people began to pray to Mikola of Mozhaisk.” It is no coincidence that the image of the Christian intercessor Mykola, the patron saint of all navigators and sailors, is introduced into the epic. This reveals the general Christian idea of Russian folklore:
The saint appeared before Sadko on seabed:
He turned around and looked at Sadke Novgorodsky:
There's a gray-haired old man standing there.
Sadka Novgorodsky said:
"My will is not my own in the blue sea,
It was ordered to play guselki yarovchaty."
The old man says these words:
"And you rip out the strings,
And you break off the pins.
Say: “I didn’t have any strings,
And the pins weren’t useful,
Nothing else to play:
The spring gooseneck broke." 6
Saint Mikola teaches the unlucky guslar how to return to Novgorod. He must choose as his bride the last daughter of the Sea King, the girl Chernavushka. Having obeyed wise advice, the next morning Sadko found himself on land, and the girl he chose turned out to be a Novgorod river. In gratitude, Sadko built the cathedral church of Mykola Mozhaisky.
In the Novgorod Chronicle, under 1167, the name of a certain Sadko Sytinets is mentioned, who founded the church. The epic Sadko coincides with a real historical figure.
V. G. Belinsky wrote about Novgorod epics that all the rest of Russian fairy-tale poetry is visible in front of them. A new and special world is visible, which served as the source of the forms and very spirit of Russian life, and consequently of Russian poetry. About “Sadko” he writes: “The whole poem is imbued with extraordinary animation and is full of poetry. This is one of the pearls of Russian folk poetry.”
Control questions for self-training of students
- History of Russian epics (a practical overview of opinions and the time of the composition of the epic).
- Scientific schools in Russian folkloristics about the origins of epics (mythological school, borrowing theory, historical school).
- The problem of historicism of Russian epics (to use the plots of the epics “Volkh Vseslavyevich”, “Ilya and Svyatogor”, “Dobrynya and Marinka”, “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”, “Ilya’s Quarrel with Vladimir”).
- Socio-political structure, economy, culture and way of life of Rus' in the depiction of epics (work on texts).
a) main:
1. Anikin, V.P. Russian oral folk art [Text]: Textbook. / V. P. Anikin. – M.: Higher. school, 2009. – 735 p. (30 copies).
2. Karpukhin, I. E. Russian oral folk art [Text]: Educational- Toolkit. / I. E. Karpukhin. – M., Higher. school, 2005. – 280 p. (75 copies).
3. Shafranskaya, E.F. Oral folk art [Text]: tutorial for students of higher education Ped. educational institutions / E.F. Shafranskaya. – M.: Publishing center “Akadenmiya”, 2008. – 352 p. (1 copy)
b) additional:
1. Anikin, V. P. Theory of folklore. Course of lectures [Text] / V. P. Anikin. – M.: KDU, 2004. – 432 p. (1 copy).
2. Buslaev, F. I. Folk epic and mythology [Text] / F. I. Buslaev. – M.: Higher. school, 2003 – 400 p. (6 copies).
3. Zhirmunsky, V. M. Folklore of the West and East [Text] / I. M. Zhirmunsky. – M.: OGI, 2004. – 464 p. (1 copy).
4. Meletinsky, E. M. Hero fairy tale[Text] / E. M. Meletinsky. – M. – St. Petersburg. : Academy of Culture and Tradition Studies, 2005. – 240 p. (1 copy).
5. Morokhin, V. N. Methodology for collecting folklore [Text] / V. N. Morokhin. – M.: Higher School, 1990. – 86 p. (5 copies).
6. Pomerantseva, E.V. Russian oral prose [Text] / E.V. Pomerantseva. - M.: Education, 1975.- 271 p. (10 copies).
7. Propp, V. Ya. Russian fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. – M.: Labyrinth, 2005. – 384 p. (3 copies).
8. Propp, V. Ya. Poetics of folklore [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. – M.: Labyrinth, 1998. – 352 p. (8 copies).
9. Propp, V. Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. – Leningrad: Academia, 1928. – 152 p. Or any other edition (2 copies), or: [ Electronic resource] – 1 electron. optical disk (CD-POM).
10. Propp, V. Ya. Historical roots fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. – M.: Labyrinth, 2002. – 336 p. (5 copies).
11. Propp, V. Ya. Russian heroic epic [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. – M.: Labyrinth, 1999. – 640 p. Or any other publication (3 copies).
12. Putilov, B. I. Excursions into the theory and history of the Slavic epic [Text] / B. I. Putilov. – St. Petersburg. : Nauka, 1999. – 288 p. (1 copy).
13. Savushkina, N.I. Russian folk drama / N. I. Savushkina. - M.: Publishing house Mosk. state University, 1988. - 232 p. (2 copies)
V) Information Support FEB disciplines: Fundamental electronic library “Russian literature and folklore: http:///feb-web.ru/ Open Russian Electronic Library: http://orel/rsl/ru/ Student Electronic Library: yttp://studlib/ru/ Folklore and post-folklore: structure, typology, semiotics: www/ruthenia/ru/folrlore/avantext/html/ Russian folklore in modern records: http://www.folk.ru/
Topic 3. HISTORICAL SONGS
The purpose of the lecture is to familiarize future culturologists with oral folk art as one of the foundations of Russian national culture.
Course objectives:
1. To help the student understand the basic patterns of the functioning of folklore as part of the national spiritual culture in the process of its emergence and development.
2. Develop skills in working with scientific literature, teach students active use scientific apparatus in the process of theoretical understanding of the patterns of development of folklore.
3. Reveal the significance of folk poetry as one of the foundations of Russian national culture, its artistic and ethical value.
4. To promote awareness of the possibilities of using the moral potential of folk poetry in the subsequent cultural and educational activities of future specialists.
Plan
1. Song "Avdotya Ryazanochka".
2. Historical songs about Ermak and Ivan the Terrible. "Pravezh".
3. Songs about Stenka Razin. "Esaul reports on the execution of Razin."
1. Song "Avdotya Ryazanochka".
Historical songs depict events related to Russian history. In the 13th–15th centuries they were thematically connected with the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the people’s struggle against foreign yoke. These include songs about Avdotya Ryazanochka, Shchelkan, and Tatar captivity. They are patriotic in nature.
The song "Avdotya Ryazanochka" reflects the episode Tatar-Mongol invasion, capture of Ryazan. Ryazan was destroyed, its inhabitants were killed and driven into slavery:
Yes, he ruined Kazan 1, a city under the forest,
Ruined Kazan city to nothing
He knocked out all the boyar princes in Kazan,
And the princesses and boyars -
I took all those alive.
He captivated many thousands of people,
He led the Turkish to his land... 2
The song tells how King Bakhmet of Turkey took all the surviving inhabitants away from the city. Avdotya was the only one left in Ryazan, and she went to Bakhmet to help her loved ones out of trouble. Her path was difficult and difficult. The conquerors left three great outposts on the roads:
The first great outpost -
He let flow rivers and deep lakes;
Another great outpost -
The open field is wide,
He became robber thieves;
And the third outpost is dark forests,
He unleashed fierce beasts.
And Avdotya went into the Turkish land.
She was not walking along the path, not the road,
Yes, the rivers are deep, the lakes are wide
She swam pilaf
And small rivers and wide lakes
She swam pilaf
And small rivers, wide lakes,
Yes, she wandered through the ford. 4
Finally Avdotya came to the king. He was amazed by the woman’s unheard-of courage, her love for her loved ones, her patriotic feeling of love for her native land. In Avdotya’s conversation with the king, elements of allegory, a kind of riddle, appear. Bakhmet says:
"Yes, I could with the king speech speak,
Yes, know how to ask the king for a full head,
Yes, which little head will not be acquired for more than a century."
This sounds like a riddle, and Avdotya Ryazanochka answers him that she will have a husband, and a father-in-law, and a son, and a daughter-in-law, and a mother-in-law, but there will be no beloved brother. The king, amazed by her wisdom, not only presented her with a golden treasury, but also returned all the captured Ryazan residents. And everyone returned home and built the city of Ryazan in a new place. And this is a valid fact.
The plot of the song, and possibly the image of Avdotya, is fictional. Fiction based on epic and fairy tale traditions. Associated with them are visual means, a hyperbolic depiction of the enemy (description of Avdotya’s path), and solving a riddle. In the song, the life story of Avdotya and her family appears as an expression of a folk national tragedy.
2. Historical songs about Ermak and Ivan the Terrible. "Pravezh"
Other songs tell about events in the personal life of Ivan the Terrible, his struggle with treason. One of these songs is the song about Grozny’s murder of his son.
These songs present the contradictory image of the king in different ways, which is also revealed in everyday life. So, in the song “Pravezh” (in Ancient Rus' this was the name of the trial, accompanied by physical punishment), the tsar witnesses the reprisal in the square of a good fellow, who is beaten on his right, standing on a “white flammable stone naked, barefoot and shoeless.” The description of the poor fellow is repeated three times, which intensifies the tragic moment of the massacre:
Well done, he won’t shake himself,
His russian curls won’t tangle,
There are only burning tears from the eyes.
This picture is seen by the king passing by. He stops and asks the question: “Why are you torturing the good fellow?” And, having received an answer, he does not agree with the court’s decision to punish the young man for the theft of a gold treasury and a “colored” dress, which he did not steal himself, but recaptured from robber thieves. The king believed the young man. He was also satisfied with the answer that he carried all this wealth to the drinking houses and gave water to all the tavern’s naked people: “And I gave all the tavern’s naked people to drink, and dressed all our barefoot people in colored clothes.” The king made a fair decision:
“Oh, you goy, kissing burghers!
Pay him fifty rubles for each blow,
And for dishonor, pay him five hundred rubles! ". 1
And this decision was truly fair, since the young man did not spend this wealth on himself, but gave it to the people. The Tsar was not only formidable, but also Orthodox (he judged truthfully). These epithets are repeated several times in the song.
3. Songs about Stenka Razin. "Esaul reports on the execution of Razin"
In the 17th century, songs told about the events of the Time of Troubles ( foreign intervention) and about the peasant uprising led by Stepan Razin. The songs, first of all, reflect the image of Razin himself with the real features of the historical prototype. According to the traditions of oral poetry, he is depicted as a good fellow: light brown curls, beautiful face with falcon eyes and sable eyebrows, a caftan belted with a wide belt, corduroy pants, morocco boots. In songs, people call him a good fellow, a daring Cossack, a daring chieftain. Epithets emphasize the people's love for Razin. The songs of this cycle are characterized by the use of constant epithets: open field, dark forests, clear eyes, white hands. The image of Razin influenced contemporary folklore. These songs are filled with specific content. In the descriptions of individual episodes of the uprising, they are close to the truth of life. The songs tell about campaigns, about the capture of cities, about defeats and failures. The people mourn the death of Razin.
In the song "Esaul reports on the execution of Razin" one feels sympathy and heartache:
It was at dawn, brothers, at morning,
At the rising of the red sun,
At the end of the bright month.
It was not a falcon that flew across the sky
Yasaul was walking around the kindergarten...
We no longer have Ataman,
Nicknamed Stenka Razin.
We caught a good fellow
White hands tied,
Taken to stone Moscow
And on the glorious Red Square
They cut off the riot's head. 1
Special place In Razin folklore, songs about Razin’s “son” occupy a place, i.e. about his scout, the ataman's envoy. They were distributed everywhere, including in the Volga region, and differed artistic expression, capacity and dynamism. It is believed that historical background songs about "son" are real facts. Thus, in the song “Son” by Razin in Astrakhan” it is sung:
Like in the city in Astrakhan
A little unknown man appeared here.
Walks cleanly and carefully around Astrakhan,
Smur kaftan, black jacket wide open, walking,
Plath carries a Persian sash in his right hand...
This kid bows to no one,
He doesn’t hit either the headquarters or the officers,
He won't go to trial with the Astrakhan governor. 2
And even when they catch the “son” and bring him to the governor, he also behaves independently:
"I am not from St. Petersburg, not from Kazan and not from Astrakhan,
Tomorrow my father will visit you."
Historical songs about Peter I and Pugachev. "Peter I will be recognized in the Swedish city", "The trial of Pugachev. Panin"
Historical songs were also dedicated to the reformer of Russian life, Peter I. In the songs, Peter is shown as an outstanding commander. They express the sympathy of the people for his activities. In the songs, he is an ideal king, caring for the welfare of his subjects, a brilliant commander, and organizer of military victories. Thus, the song “Peter I is Recognized in the Swedish City” talks about one episode of the reign of Peter I. The Tsar secretly goes to the Swedish kingdom under the guise of a merchant. The song says that no one knows or knows about this. In order to appear as a rich merchant, he fills his ships with pure silver, decorates them with pure gold, and takes with him “very little money.” Peter orders to call himself not a sovereign, but an overseas merchant.
However, he is recognized in the “glass state” (Stockholm). The Swedish Queen shouts to her subjects:
"Oh, you goy, my Swedish generals!
Lock your gates tighter
You catch the white king quickly!"
Talking about this event, the song emphasizes Peter’s courage and resourcefulness:
He guessed all the Swedish plans,
He quickly rushed into the peasant’s yard:
"Take it, take it, peasant, plenty of money,
Take me to the edge of the blue sea."
On the ships the king escapes from pursuit. Enemies try to capture him, but to no avail. In an effort to catch the Russian Tsar, the Queen sends chases twice. And the pursuers ask Peter to take them with him, since there is no way back for them:
"Take us, take us, white king, with you,
Won't you take us with you, father?
We, the bitter ones, will never be alive in the world."
After the king’s refusal, “the whole pursuit was thrown into the blue sea.” 1
The people call Peter “our father.” This appeal shows the people's love for the autocrat.
There are significantly fewer historical songs about Pugachev, because in the minds of the people he was a legitimate king, and not a free Cossack robber. It was impossible to write robber songs about him. In Pugachev's songs, people idealized the image of Pugachev, saw him as a protector, a hero, portrayed him as rebellious, proud even in difficult times. life situations. This is shown in the song "The Trial of Pugachev. Panin", in which the ataman behaves proudly, independently, answering the question of the royal nobleman Panin:
Count Panin judged the thief Pugachev here:
Tell me, tell me, Pugachenko, Emelyan Ivanovich,
How many princes and boyars have you hung?
Outweighed your brothers seven hundred and seven thousand.
Thank you, Panin, for not getting caught:
I would add some rank,
Epics are built according to a specific plan.
Most epics begin with a beginning. It usually talks about the location of the action or where the hero went and from (see the first six lines of the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”).
Events in epics are presented in strict order, sequentially. The narration is told slowly, without haste. Since the epics lived in oral transmission, the performer told them to focus the attention of the listeners on places that were especially important, in his opinion. For this purpose, repetitions are widely used in epics, usually three times. Thus, in the epic about Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber, the description of the strength of the Nightingale the Robber is repeated three times.
To add melodiousness to the epic, to make its presentation more expressive and musical, individual words are often repeated in epics.
For example:
The straight path is blocked,
The path was blocked up and walled up.
In the capital in the city of Kyiv,
From the affectionate prince from Vladimir.
Repetitions occur not only in the text of the same epic. Different epics describe similar actions and phenomena in the same way, for example, saddling a heroic horse, a feast at Prince Vladimir, enemy force, battle between heroes and enemies, etc.
Such similar descriptions found in different epics (and fairy tales) are called commonplaces.
Sometimes epics end with a special ending - a conclusion from the entire content of the epic:
Now the old days, now the deeds,
that is, this is how it was in the old days, this is reality.
The main character of the epics is a Russian hero. To more clearly imagine the strength of the hero, the technique of hyperbole (exaggeration) is used. For example, this is how the battle between a hero and an enemy force is described. If the hero waves his right hand, a street will form among the enemy camp, and an alley will form with his left hand. The hero's club (sword) weighs forty or even ninety pounds.
If the hero falls asleep, then “heroic sleep for twelve days” (days). His horse matches the hero: “the horse’s first leap is many miles away, but the second leap cannot be found.” To emphasize the strength of the Russian hero, his enemy is depicted hyperbolically. The countless forces of the enemy “a gray wolf... cannot outrun a day, a black crow cannot fly around a day.”
In epics, as in works of oral folk poetry in general, every word is precise and expressive. Over the centuries, folk singers and poets have perfected their language poetic works, achieving the most accurate and vivid, expressive disclosure through the word of the most significant qualities of the heroes and their actions. Thus, epithets are very rich and varied in oral poetry - colorful definitions indicating the most essential feature of people, objects, and phenomena of life.
Often the same epithets constantly characterize certain heroes, objects, phenomena of life, nature, etc. Therefore, they are called constant epithets. In epics, for example, there are such constant epithets: stout, good fellow, great strength, glorious capital Kyiv-grad, tight bow, silk string, red-hot arrows.
Comparisons are often used in epics:
The forces are caught up in black and black,
Black, black, like a black crow.
Volga walks like a pike fish in the blue seas,
Volgo flies like a falcon bird under the covers,
Prowl like a wolf in open fields.
Negative comparisons are used:
It is not the damp oak that bends to the ground,
Not paper leaves are spread out,
The son bows to his father...
Wanting to emphasize some shade of the meaning of the word, which, in the opinion of the folk singer, is important for understanding the narrative, epic storytellers widely use synonyms: “Volga began to grow and mature”; “And yell and plow and become peasants,”; “Here it seemed to Ilya that he was in trouble, for great annoyance...”
Nouns with diminutive and affectionate suffixes play an important role in the language of epics. They express popular assessment heroes of epics. Bogatyrs are often called by affectionate names: Ilyushenka, Dobrynyushka Nikitich, Mikulushka Selyaninovich, etc. Suffixes endearing meaning are also used in words denoting objects belonging to the hero. He has “hot arrows”, “saddle”, “bridles”, “felts”, “sweating bands”, etc.
The epic is chanted. Obeying the melody, the narrator puts emphasis on certain words, while other words, without stress, seem to merge into one word (“mother-earth”, “pure field”). In this regard, sometimes a word has different stresses in the same one. epic (“Nightingale-Nightingale”, “young”, “young”, “young”).
In ancient oral folk poetry there are epics that tell about the peaceful, working life of the Russian people. These are everyday epics. The most important of them is the epic about Volga and Mikula. It glorifies people's labor. In Ilya Muromets, the people sang the praises of the peasant warrior, the hero - the defender of the homeland. In the image of Mikula, he glorified the peasant farmer, the hero - the breadwinner of the country.
The epic is a folk-epic song written in tonic verse. Each piece consists of a chorus, a beginning and an ending. The first part of the epic was rarely connected with the main plot; mainly the introduction was written to attract attention. The beginning is the main event to which the epic is dedicated. Ending – the last part epics, in which, as a rule, there is a solemn feast, dedicated to victory over enemies.
There are several types of epic melodies - strict, stately, fast, cheerful, calm and even buffoonish.
Each legend was distinguished by its patriotic character; its plots were always laudatory and told about the invincibility of Rus', the merits of the prince and the brave defenders who immediately came to the rescue if the population was in danger of trouble. The term “epic” itself began to be used only in the 1830s, it was introduced by scientist Ivan Sakharov. The real name of songs about heroes is “old times.”
The main characters were mighty heroes. The characters were endowed superhuman strength, courage and courage. The hero, even alone, could cope with anyone. The main task of these characters is to protect Rus' from the attacks of enemies.
Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich and Vladimir the Red Sun - these can be found in almost every legend. Prince Vladimir was the ruler of the Russian lands, and the heroes were the hope and protection of the Russian people.
Authors of epics
Many facts concerning the authors of epics, the time and territory of their writing remain a mystery to this day. Most researchers have come to the conclusion that the most ancient tales were written no more than three hundred years ago. On Wikipedia, for example, you can study several different theories and facts that scientists have discovered.
The predominant number of epics were recorded by scientific collectors from the words of residents of certain areas. In total, there are about forty plots of legends, but the number of texts already reaches one and a half thousand copies. Each epic is of particular value for Russian culture, folk culture, as well as for folklorists.
People could be storytellers different professions, therefore, in the texts they mentioned comparisons that were more understandable and close to them. According to the tailor narrator, for example, a severed head was compared to a button.
The epics were not written by one author. These are tales that were compiled by the Russian people, and the lyrics were passed down from generation to generation. Songs were performed certain people who were called "storytellers". This one had special qualities. The fact is that the storytellers never learned the epics by heart, so the storyteller had to independently connect the plots, select comparisons, remember important facts and be able to retell them without distorting the meaning.