One of the three main heroes of the Russian epic, the youngest in age.

Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmeevich Artist N. Kochergin

The archaic features preserved in the images of Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich allowed researchers to conclude that the characters of the epics arose as a result of rethinking the images of unknown deities. In particular, they resemble the fairy-tale triad - Gorynya, Dubynya and Usynya, heroes who help the hero get living water (the fairy tale “Gorynya, Dubynya and Usynya - heroes”).

At the same time, in many ways, the image of Alyosha is similar to other archaic heroes of the Russian epic, for example, the wizard-hero Volga Vseslavevich (Volkh) - a young man who loves to boast of his strength. Some researchers (in particular, B. A. Rybakov) tried to identify Alyosha Popovich with the real Russian warrior Alexander Popovich, who died in the Battle of Kalka in 1223. Perhaps the name of Alexander Popovich appeared in chronicles under the influence of widespread epics about Alyosha Popovich, in other words, we are talking about a secondary influence.

Based on the texts of epics, it is possible to reconstruct the biography of Alyosha Popovich. Like Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich, he comes from northeastern Rus' and is the son of the Rostov priest Leonty (according to some texts of the epics - Fyodor). The birth of Alyosha Popovich is accompanied by traditional miraculous signs - thunder and lightning. Almost immediately the heroic qualities of the hero appear: Alyosha asks his mother “not to swaddle him in swaddling clothes”, because he can already sit on a horse on his own. As soon as he gets back on his feet, Alyosha Popovich wants to go for a walk “throughout the world” - this is what all epic heroes do.

Alyosha Popovich heads to Kyiv, where he meets other heroes. Gradually he enters the heroic triad. According to some researchers, Alyosha is the most “human” of all the heroes of the Russian epic, since his characteristics contain not only traditional heroic qualities, but also elements of psychological assessment.

The description of Alyosha Popovich differs from other characters in his attempts to create a dynamic image endowed with individual properties. Alyosha differs from the older heroes in his cunning, as well as some unbalanced behavior, impetuous and harsh character. As they say in the epic, “he is not strong in strength, he is bold in pretense”: he defeats the enemy not so much by force as by cunning.

Sometimes Alyosha can deceive not only the enemy, but also his ally Dobrynya Nikitich. Therefore, for such actions he is constantly punished (the epic “The Marriage of Dobrynya and the Failed Marriage of Alyosha”). Alyosha Popovich loves to brag and often boasts of his strength. However, his jokes are not always harmless. Alyosha can offend those around him and even insult them. Therefore, his comrades - the heroes - often condemn Alyosha’s actions and behavior.

Alyosha Popovich is the hero of traditional heroic stories. The most archaic of them is the story of the fight with Tugarin (the epics “Alyosha Popovich and the Serpent”, “Alyosha and Tugarin”). The clash of heroes takes place either along the route of Alyosha Popovich to Kyiv, or in Kyiv itself, and Alyosha Popovich always acts as a defender of the honor and dignity of the prince.

Tugarin tries to choke Alyosha with smoke, cover him with sparks, and burn him in a fire-flame, but he invariably fails. Alyosha prays to God, he sends rain, the snake’s wings get wet, and he cannot fly. The main duel between him and Alyosha takes place on the ground. Alyosha deceives the enemy, forcing him to turn around (“What kind of power are you bringing with you?”). The battle ends traditionally - with the victory of the hero. Having scattered Tugarin’s body “across an open field,” Alyosha Popovich lifts the enemy’s head on a spear and takes it to Prince Vladimir.

The epics also tell the story of Alyosha Popovich’s marriage to the Zbrodovich’s sister Elena (Olen, Olenushka). There are also known stories about the unsuccessful matchmaking of Alyosha Dobrynya Nikitich Nastasya Mikulichna. Sometimes two plots are combined, and then Yasena Dobrynya becomes Nastasya Zbrodovichna.

The image of a magical bird with a woman's face. Usually mentioned in Byzantine and Slavic medieval legends. It spread in parallel with a similar image of the Sirin bird.

Baba Yaga, Sirin and Alkonost.Artist I. Bilibin

The legend tells that Alkonost lays eggs on the seashore, then immerses them in the depths of the sea for seven days. The sea remains calm until the chicks hatch. Therefore, the image of Alkonost is associated with a belief about the source of the origin of sea storms.

An image that occupies a special position in the mythologies and fairy tales of different peoples.

In national traditions, the image is multifaceted and contradictory: the Greek nymph Calypso, Naguchitsa in the fairy tales of the peoples of the Caucasus, Zhalmauyz-Kempir in Kazakh fairy tales, grandmother Metelitsa in German ones.

In Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga has a repulsive appearance. She usually appears in the form of an old woman with a bone leg, who has poor vision or is blind. She throws her huge breasts over her back. In particular, the following description is common: Baba Yaga, a bone leg, sits “on

The mortar of the furnace, on the ninth brick,” she has “teeth with a pestle on the shelf, and her nose has grown into the ceiling.”

Baba Yaga. Artist I. Bilibin

Fairy tales talk about how Baba Yaga kidnaps children and roasts them in an oven, throwing them in with a shovel. Researcher V. Ya. Propp connected the origins of the image with the ritual of baking a child to give him invulnerability. This motif is present in many fairy-tale and epic works (Homer’s Iliad, Nart epic). V. Ya. Propp proposed to interpret the tales of Baba Yaga as an initiation rite reproduced in mythological form. The researcher also made another assumption. He noted that Baba Yaga’s main “activity” is due to her close connection with wild animals and the forest. She lives in a remote thicket, animals and birds obey her. Therefore, V. Ya. Propp connected the origin of Baba Yaga with the image of the mistress of animals and the world of the dead, widespread in fairy tales and myths of many peoples. Thus, it is easy to notice the similarity between Baba Yaga and the evil sorceress Louhi, the mistress of the fairy-tale land of Pohjela from Finnish fairy tales: both old women live in the forest and confront the main character.

The fairy tales of Western and Eastern Slavs say that Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest in a “hut on chicken legs.” The hut is surrounded by a fence made of human bones with skulls on posts. Constipation is replaced by hands clasped together; instead of a lock, there are jaws with sharp teeth. Baba Yaga's hut is constantly turning around its axis. The hero can penetrate it only after he casts the spell: “Stand up as before, just as your mother did!” Towards the forest with your back, towards me in front.”

Baba Yaga's meeting with the hero begins with questions and ends with providing him with the necessary help. Often the hero turns to three sisters and receives help only from the eldest Baba Yaga (“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples, Living Water and the Girl Sineglazka”).

Combining the features of many ancient characters, in different stories Baba Yaga acts as the hero’s assistant, giver, and adviser. Then her appearance and home lose their frightening features. Only one constant detail is preserved: the hut must stand on chicken legs. In some fairy tales, Baba Yaga also acts as the mother of snakes, the opponents of the main character. Then the hero enters into a duel with her and wins.

Hero of Russian fairy tales and popular popular stories.

Bova the prince Lubok. XIX century

The image of Bova has been known in Rus' since the beginning of the 17th century, when translations of the Polish “The Tale of Bova the Prince” appeared. The basis was a medieval novel about the adventures of the knight Buovo from the city of Ancona; The novel was converted into a folk book, versions of which were distributed throughout all European countries - from Poland to Macedonia.

Together with other similar monuments - “The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich”, “The Tale of Peter of the Golden Springs” - “The Tale of Bova the Prince”

entered into Russian folklore. Over time, the image of Bova is found along with images of Russian heroes and fairy-tale heroes - Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Tsarevich.

The story tells how Bova achieves the love of the beautiful princess Druzhnevna. Fighting against numerous enemies, Bova accomplishes feats, defeats foreign troops, and defeats the fabulous hero Polkan (half-man, half-dog). The ending of the story is traditional - Bova unites with his beloved, having overcome all the intrigues and obstacles.

The image of Bova entered written culture. Since popular retellings of his adventures continued to be published until the beginning of the 20th century, the image aroused interest among Russian writers, who perceived it through the oral medium (stories of nannies). At the end of the 18th century, A. N. Radishchev wrote the poem “Bova”. In 1814, the image of Bova was used by Pushkin, who created a sketch of the poem “Bova”.

The image of the epic singer in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Goes back to Indo-European images. Analogues are found in the epics of almost all European peoples.

Guslar-storytellersArtist V. Vasnetsov

It is unknown whether Boyan actually existed. In the introduction to “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (12th century)

contains the following characteristic: “The prophetic Boyan, if anyone wants to create a song, his thoughts spread across the tree, like a gray wolf along the ground, like a crazy eagle under the clouds.” Let us suggest that the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” could summarize in the image of Boyan the real features of the court singers of Kievan Rus.

However, the image of Boyan is mentioned not only in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, but also in other monuments of the 12th century, in the 12th century inscription scratched on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, as well as in the Novgorod Chronicler.

Boyan is usually characterized by the constant epithet "Veles's grandson", which indicates his connection with the other world, the god of the underworld, as well as his supernatural nature (various magical skills).

Another constant epithet included in the characterization of the hero - “prophetic” - reflects the idea that the singer had secret knowledge and could predict events or cause them with his songs. Epic singers are endowed with such qualities (Braghi in the Elder Edda, Väinämöinen in the Finnish runes). The specificity of Boyan’s poetic style, the beauty and sophistication of his texts is also indicated by the definition of “nightingale of the old days.”

The interpretation of the image of Boyan in literature was formed under the influence of secondary folklorization and the widespread use of the image by authors of the late 18th century and A. S. Pushkin in the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, after which the image began to be perceived as fairy-tale (A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Snow Maiden” and the author's interpretation of the folk singer in the image of Lel).

The name of a fairy-tale island mentioned in Russian fairy tales and spells (for example, in the saying “on the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan, there lies a baked bull. In the side there is crushed garlic and a sharpened knife”).

In conspiracies, Buyan Island is the place of residence of mythological characters (sometimes Christian saints or evil feverish shakers). There are also some magical items there.

(Alatyr stone). It was believed that the mention of Buyan in the conspiracy gives concreteness to the appeal and, accordingly, makes it more effective.

A character from the Russian epic.

The main character of two epics of the Novgorod cycle. They probably appeared no earlier than the 14th century, since in the image of Vasily Buslaev traditional heroic features are either absent or simply listed. In later versions, the hero even acts under the name Vaska the drunkard.

Vasily BuslaevArtist A. Ryabushkin. Illustration for the epic

The epic provides the following information about the hero: he was born in Veliky Novgorod. When he was seven years old, he:

He began to walk around the city,

To look into the princely courtyard,

He started joking, joking,

Joking jokes he is unkind

With boyar children, with princely children,

Whoever gets pulled by the hand - hand away,

Whose foot - foot off,

If they push two or three together, they lie without a soul.

Gradually, he feels the “great strength” within himself and makes heroic weapons - a club, a bow, a spear and a saber. Then Vasily recruits a “good squad” of thirty young men. However, the difference between his actions and the actions of traditional heroes is that Vasily does not fight with any opponents, but together with his comrades he only revels and fights on the bridge “with the peasants of Novgorod.” Appearing with his squad at the brotherhood - the common holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - he starts a fight. The Novgorod men are trying to pacify the troublemakers. Grabbing the cart axle, Vasily

He started clicking on the men, Vasilyushka waved - the street, waved - intermediate. Is it in the Volkhov river? For a whole mile, water mixed with blood.

Vasily Buslaev enters into a kind of confrontation with all the residents of Novgorod. But under the influence of his mother, an “honest widow,” he is forced to admit that he was wrong. Realizing that the sin committed must be atoneed for, Vasily equips the ship and asks his mother to bless him:

Give me a great blessing -

I, Vasily, should go to Jerusalem city,

I should pray to the Lord,

Venerate the holy shrine,

Take a bath in the Erdan River.

His mother gives him a blessing, but only for good deeds.

On the way to Jerusalem, Vasily climbs “Mount Sorochinskaya” and sees a human skull on the ground. As he kicks it out of the way, a voice suddenly rings out:

Why are you throwing my head away?

Well done, I was no worse than you,

And on that mountain Sorochinsky,

Where the head lies empty

The brave head is empty,

And it will lie on Vasilyeva’s head.

But Vasily does not pay attention to the warning:

But I don’t believe in sleep or choch, But I believe in my scarlet elm.

In Jerusalem, Vasily performs all the required rituals, serves mass, a memorial service, venerates shrines, but in the end he breaks the order - he bathes in the Jordan, where Jesus Christ was baptized. Having cleansed himself of past sins, he immediately commits a new one. On the way back, Vasily stops on the mountain, but now he sees a “white-flammable stone” under which the hero rests. There is an inscription on the stone saying that you cannot jump along the stone. But Vasily again violates the ban:

He took a running start, jumped along the stone and only missed a quarter of the mark, and then he killed himself under a stone. Where the empty head lies, Vasily was buried there.

The stone symbolizes the border of Death's domain. Vasily tried to violate the border of her kingdom, inaccessible to the living, so death takes him.

In the early versions of the epic, Vasily Buslaev appears as a boyar’s son, but then his origin is not mentioned. This technique makes it possible to more clearly show the role of Vasily Buslaev as the leader of the poor attacking rich ships.

A mythical animal mentioned in legends, spiritual poems and spells.

Basilisk

The image first appeared in ancient Greek sources: a basilisk was considered a snake with a diadem on its head (this is what a cobra looks like before an attack). With her gaze she kills all living things. The image of the Basilisk penetrated into medieval bestiaries (collections of descriptions of animals) and legends. In the Middle Engravings of the 16th century. centuries, the Basilisk was depicted with the body of a rooster and the tail of a snake. In the Slavic world, the Basilisk was represented as a huge snake, capable of killing with poison, gaze and breath. The legends of many peoples report the special gaze of the Basilisk, capable of penetrating through walls and turning all living things into stone. If the Basilisk sees its reflection in the mirror, it will die. Slavic sources say that the Basilisk has the head of a turkey, the eyes of a toad, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a snake. Sometimes his appearance resembled a huge lizard with a crest on his head and a long forked tongue.

Information about the birth of the Basilisk is contradictory. One legend tells that the Basilisk is born from a cock's egg hatched by a toad; in another, a rooster hatches an egg in the altar. The Basilisk itself can also lay eggs, from which vipers hatch.

According to legends, the Basilisk lives in caves, where it spends daylight hours. He cannot stand sunlight or the crow of a rooster, so he can only leave his shelter at night. In caves, the Basilisk finds food because it only eats stones.

A character from Slavic mythology, found in fairy tales, traditions and legends.

The image of a giant combines the features of a man and an underground monster. Traces of beliefs have survived to this day in legends, where giants are often depicted as half-mountain, half-human. The giant looks like a man of enormous stature, “higher than a standing forest, lower than a walking cloud.” He has such strength that he can turn over a mountain, pull out a tree, lift a plowman and his team.

Slavic legends say that giants were the first inhabitants of the earth. They developed the desert land: they built mountains, dug river beds, and sowed fields and forests with plants. Echoes of such legends were included in the Estonian “Kalevipoeg” and became the basis of numerous legends.

V. Ya. Propp assumed that the images of giants arose on the basis of the characters of ancient myths, which speak of the struggle of the thunder hero with an enemy who emerged from underground. The Indo-European myth tells that the thunderer

the animal can act in the form of a giant (Ukko in the Finnish epic). To defeat evil spirits, he throws not only lightning, but also huge stones to the ground. Greek myths tell about the struggle of the gods with the Hecatonchires - hundred-armed giants, huge as rocks. In the Scandinavian epic “Elder Edda,” the thunder god Thor is the opponent of the giants Grimthurs.

Christian legends do not mention the divine origin of giants. They were considered pagans, viewed as savages and cannibals with human heads rather than dogs. In some fairy tales, giants also act as kidnappers.

There are several versions of the death of the giants. They believed that God was punishing them for their pride and lack of faith in his power (biblical motive). There is a well-known legend that God destroyed the giants because they harmed people - they destroyed houses, trampled fields and forests. Other stories say that the giants died during the global flood because they could not feed themselves. An apocryphal legend says that the giants were eaten by a huge bird, Kuk. The winner of the giants could be an ordinary person, armed with an appropriate prayer or conspiracy. Sometimes the giants were overcome by a hero endowed with heroic strength.

In later legends, images of giants were often identified with various invaders - Tatars, Turks, Swedes or even Huns. It is curious that at that time the giants were credited with knowledge of the Latin language, which was supposed to emphasize their foreign origin.

Traditional folklore motifs are associated with the images of giants: victory over a snake, throwing a mace into the sky, causing thunder to roll. Pieces of huge bones of fossil animals found during the erosion of river banks were often associated with giants, as were huge stones left by the glacier. Both stones and pieces of bone were used in folk medicine as a remedy for fever. Traces of beliefs were reflected in the texts of conspiracies.

A fairy-tale monster that lives in a deep forest, a destroyer and destroyer of all living things. He is always the enemy of fairy-tale heroes.

The image of Verlioka is found in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian folklore. The description of Verlioka is traditional: “tall, about one eye, half an arshin in the shoulders, stubble on his head, he leans on a stick, he grins terribly.” The description matches the images of some characters from children's horror stories. Apparently, this feature determines the character’s prevalence only in fairy tales intended for children.

In the image of Verlioka, the features of a giant wizard are clearly visible. He destroys everything around him, kills everyone he meets. After Verlioka's death, the magic stops, and everyone he killed is resurrected. To fight the villain, people (grandfather), animals (drake), and inanimate objects (acorn, string) unite.

In the 20th century, the image received a kind of creative rethinking. Verlioka became the hero of the fairy tale story of the same name by V. A. Kaverin. Since the image of Verlioka retains only one traditional feature - the connection with the forest, some researchers define the genre of the story as fantasy.

A character from East Slavic mythology, who combines the features of a fairy-tale giant and traditional signs of evil spirits. In fact, the image was invented by N.V. Gogol.

The name Viy comes from the Old Slavonic word “veyka” (Ukrainian - viyka), eyelash. Viy is a giant who can hardly move due to the excessive weight of his body. Viy's gaze has deadly power - it kills or turns to stone. His eyes are constantly hidden under huge eyelids; they are raised with pitchforks by the demons accompanying the monster. Viy acts as the ruler of the underworld or the leader of the devils. It not only causes harm to humans. With his deadly gaze, Viy destroys cities where infidels live. In this motif, traces of ancient beliefs in the “evil eye” were combined with ideas about creatures endowed with a deadly gaze (basilisk).

The image is interestingly interpreted in the story of the same name by N. V. Gogol, based on Ukrainian folk legends. It combines the features of various characters: the basilisk, the ruler of the underworld, Saint Kasyan, who is considered the embodiment of leap year and the personification of all kinds of misfortunes. Apocryphal legends about this saint say that he lives in a cave where daylight does not penetrate. His gaze also brings misfortune to a person.

It is curious that this motif was included in the apocryphal legend about Judas Iscariot: as punishment for the betrayal of Jesus Christ, Judas lost his sight due to overgrown eyelids.

One of the main animals in Slavic mythology.

According to legends, the wolf was created by the devil, who molded him from clay. But the devil could not revive him. Then the devil turned to God, who breathed a soul into the wolf. The dual origin of the wolf determined its borderline position between this and that world, man and evil spirits.

The wolf is always opposed to man as the personification of brute destructive force. The wolf is hostile to humans, destroys livestock and can attack people. The main feature of a wolf in conspiracies and, above all, in fairy tales, is considered to be its foreignness, its belonging to another, non-human world. Therefore, the wolf is often endowed with supernatural features - iron teeth, fiery skin, copper head. It is curious that in wedding songs, those accompanying the groom, as well as all the bride’s relatives, are called wolves, since during the wedding they are strangers in the groom’s house. In folk songs, the groom's relatives accordingly call the bride a she-wolf.

However, there is a belief that, by destroying devils, the wolf acts according to God's will. Almost throughout Europe, there is a widespread idea that a meeting with a wolf portends good luck, happiness or some kind of well-being. Apparently, this is why in fairy tales the wolf invariably acts as an ally or magical assistant to the hero. He helps Ivan Tsarevich obtain magical objects, and then resurrects him with the help of living water.

The image of a wolf is associated with the oldest idea of ​​werewolves. It is wolves that sorcerers and people bewitched by them turn into. Numerous tales are known that wolves obey the goblin, who gathers them in the clearing and feeds them like dogs.

According to Christian beliefs, the wolf is considered the guardian of herds. The patron saint of wolves is Saint George. The tales tell how Saint Yuri (George) in the spring distributes their future prey among the wolves.

Rituals protecting against wolves are associated with the holidays of St. George. In particular, on these days you cannot eat meat, drive livestock into the field, or perform work related to livestock and livestock breeding. It was dangerous to mention the name of the wolf in everyday speech. This is how numerous euphemisms appeared that replace the name of an animal in fairy tales - “gray”, “gray sides”, “God’s dog”, “forest dog”.

To protect against the wolf, they use spells addressed to the devil or Saint George with a request to calm down “their dogs.” When you met a wolf, you had to kneel down and greet him.

The eyes, heart, teeth and claws of the wolf served as amulets, and healing properties were attributed to them. A wolf tooth was hung around the neck of a teething child. Wolf tail or wool made from it is worn to protect against diseases.

In Slavic mythology, a wolf-clad is a person who has the supernatural ability to turn into a wolf. The idea of ​​the wolf-dog combines features of a folklore image and a character from Christian demonology.

A sign of a wolf dog is the wolf hair (dlaka) growing on the head, noticeable already at birth. The Slavic name of the character comes from it.

The motif of a person turning into a wolf is common in the folklore of all European countries, as well as the Caucasus, which indicates the origin of the image in ancient times. Some epic heroes (Volkh Vseslavyevich, Beowulf, Sigurd) and literary characters, in particular Vseslav Polotsky (“The Lay of Igor’s Campaign”), had the ability to turn into a wolf.

Researchers associate the image of the wolfdog with the oldest form of marriage - kidnapping (kidnapping the bride). In some Russian dialects, the groom's friend was called a wolf. Numerous stories have been preserved about people turning into wolves during a wedding.

A person could become a wolfdog thanks to witchcraft. The motive of turning into a wolf after putting on a wolf skin is also known; when removing it, the reverse transformation occurs. In Lithuanian and Latvian folklore, such characters were called vilktaks (vilkacis). Usually the transformation was carried out by putting on an enchanted belt (prievit) or stepping over (somersaulting) over a stump. At the same time, the corresponding conspiracy was pronounced: “In the name of the devil, let me become a wolf, gray, fast as fire.”

Like a real wolf, the wolfhound attacked people and animals. There are stories about how a bewitched person strives to overcome the power of witchcraft, does not harm anyone and refuses raw meat.

Sometimes the wolfhound turns into a bear. Such a transformation is described, in particular, in the ancient Russian handwritten book “The Enchanter”. But beliefs about transformations into bears are less common, since the bear personifies a different circle of beliefs.

The myth about the origin of a solar eclipse is also associated with the image of the wolfdog. Many Slavic peoples have stories that during an eclipse, wolfhounds eat the moon (sun). It was believed that after death the wolfhound could become a ghoul, so before burial he should have been gagged or a coin placed in it.

In Russian literature, the image of the wolfdog became widespread after the publication of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Ghoul.”

Hero of Russian epics.

The image of the Volkh combines ancient ideas about animals and the traditional qualities of an epic character (hero), who also has the characteristics of a werewolf. Volkh appeared from the union of the young princess Martha Vseslavyevna and the snake:

A young princess walked and walked, In the garden, a green garden, She jumped on a fierce snake, The fierce snake is entwined, Around her boot is green morocco, Around her silk stocking, With her trunk she hits the white stitch, And the princess suffered diarrhea in her boots.

The birth of the Volkh resembles the appearance of a deity and is accompanied by traditional signs: thunder roars, the earth trembles, birds, fish and animals scatter. Immediately after birth, Volkh begins to speak, and his voice is like thunder. The baby is swaddled in damask armor, he plays “golden helmet” and

“a club weighing three hundred pounds.” When Volkh turns seven years old, his mother sends him to learn “cunning and wisdom.” He masters not only the sciences, but also acquires the ability to transform into a falcon, wolf, aurochs - golden horns. When Volkh turns twelve years old, he gathers a squad and goes with it to the field, and at the age of 15 he is already ready to perform military feats.

The plot of Volkh’s campaign against the “Rich Indian” belongs to the most archaic layers of Russian epic. Having learned that the Indian king is going to attack Kyiv, Volkh gets ahead of him and goes on a campaign against the Indian kingdom. Along the way, he turns into different animals - in the guise of a falcon he kills a bird, turning into a wolf, he runs through the forests and hunts animals to feed and clothe his squad.

Unlike his warriors, Volkh is always awake. Leaving his squad on the border of the Indian kingdom, he turns into a tour - golden horns. Having reached the palace, Volkh became a falcon, made his way into the chambers of Tsar Saltyk Stavrulievich and overheard his conversation with his wife, Tsarina Azvyakovna. Having learned about the intentions of the king, who planned to harm Rus', Volkh turns into an ermine and goes down to the cellar. There he bites through the strings of the bows, gnaws through spears and horse harnesses, after which he returns to the squad.

To get inside the city, Volkh turns his warriors into ants. Having captured the capital of the Indian kingdom, he kills the king, takes Queen Azvya-kovna as his wife, gives his warriors seven thousand maidens as wives and becomes the king of the captured kingdom.

Epic motifs are found in many literary and folklore works. In particular, we find a similar description of the birth of a hero in the Mahabharata; the motif of warriors turning into ants is found in Greek myths,

The hero of the Russian fairy tale “Crystal Mountain”, Ivan Tsarevich, is also endowed with the art of transformation. Having turned into an ant, he penetrates inside the crystal mountain, defeats the snake and marries the princess. The hero of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” Vseslav Polotsky, also has the ability to become a werewolf. In the form of a gray wolf, he runs around the fields to find the enemy army.

Some motifs of the epic about Volkh are found in legends included in Russian chronicles. Thus, the Novgorod Chronicle tells a story about a wolf-sorcerer who could turn into a fierce beast. rya - crocodile. He allegedly lived in the Volkhov River and interfered with ships sailing along it. The monster's name was Volkh. Further, the chronicle says that this Volkh worshiped the god of thunder and even placed an idol of Perun on the bank of the river. The Volkh was defeated by demons sent to him by God. The Volkh dies and falls straight from the grave into hell.

Another epic story is connected with the image of Volkh: Volkh is the brother of Mikula Selyaninovich. Having gathered a squad, Volkh helps Mikula defeat three cities: Gurchevets, Orekhovets and Krestyanovets.

Other heroes - Ilya Muromets, Sadko, Vasily Buslaev - turn out to be weaker than Mikula the Plowman and cannot pull his plow out of the ground. Even such an omnipotent sorcerer like Volkh cannot lift Mikula Selyaninovich’s plow. This emphasizes that the highest value is not strength and witchcraft, but creative work.

A character in Russian folk tales, a figurative embodiment of an evil fate; an anthropomorphic image endowed with the ability to transform into various objects.

In most stories, the appearance of Grief is associated with misfortunes befalling the hero. Any endeavor ends in failure. To get out of the vicious circle, the hero finds Grief and tries to free himself from it. He invites Gor to play hide and seek with him and by cunning lures him into a trap (coffin, snuffbox, cart wheel). Having caught Grief, the hero hides it - burying it in the ground or throwing it into a hard-to-reach place, and having freed himself from Grief, he returns to his normal life. In satirical and everyday tales, the enemy of Grief is a soldier who, by cunning, defeats Grief and saves people from it.

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, the ancient Russian “Tale of Woe-Misfortune” was compiled on the basis of folk tales. The main character of the story suffers from the persecution of Grief, forcing him to constantly drink, drinking away all his property. To get rid of Grief, the hero of the story goes to a monastery.

The folklore image of Grief was used by N. A. Nekrasov in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” The image of Grief became one of the characters in the fairy tale play by S. Ya. Marshak “To be afraid of Grief is not to see happiness.”

Demonic character of East Slavic mythology. Mentioned in medieval teachings directed against paganism, in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (“Div calls out to the top of the tree”). The Russian diva was perceived as a humanoid or bird-like creature.

Researchers have not reached a consensus on the origin of the word "Div". On the one hand, it is associated with the word “divo” - the Slavic designation of a miracle, on the other - with the adjective “diviy” - wild.

The Indo-European designation for God is also associated with the root “div”. In the episode “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the expression “the Divas fell to the ground” is perceived as a harbinger of misfortune. Perhaps the name reflected the coincidence of the features of Div with the Iranian Devo - a negative character found in folklore and mythology.

NikitichArtist V. Vasnetsov Fragment of the painting “Bogatyrs”

The second most important Russian hero, occupies a middle position between Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich.

A number of epics mention the merchant origin of Dobrynya. They say that Dobrynya was born in North-Eastern Rus' in the family of a Ryazan merchant, a “rich guest” of Nikita Romanovich. Dobrynya's father dies soon after his birth or even before it. Unlike the “old Cossack” Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya is always called “young”.

Dobrynya is raised by her mother, Amelfa Timofeevna. She teaches Dobrynya “cunning literacy”:

And when Dobrynya is seven years old, his mother made him learn to read and write, and Dobrynya’s literacy went to science.

In epics, Dobrynya’s education, knowledge of manners, and “knowledge” (the ability to behave) are constantly noted. Dobrynya is not only a brave warrior and a sharp shooter. He is a skilled chess player and can sing and play the harp. In one of the stories, he even beats the Tatar Khan at chess.

Dobrynya has extraordinary diplomatic skills, often settling quarrels between heroes and conflicts with Prince Vladimir.

It is thanks to the efforts of Dobrynya that the heroic trinity unites again after a disagreement between Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich.

In some texts, Dobrynya also acts as the leader of the squad, so at the beginning of the plot his princely origin is indicated. His rich, “princely” house also corresponds to Dobrynya’s position.

There are many epic stories associated with the name of Dobrynya. The most common plot is “Dobrynya and the Snake,” where the motif of snake fighting is associated with the idea of ​​protecting the Motherland from invaders. The hero not only defeats the snake, but frees the “full Russian.” Unlike other heroes, Dobrynya fights not only with the snake, but with the entire “snake tribe”. The epic says that while still a young man he began to “ride a good horse in an open field and trample little snakes.”

Dobrynya accomplishes her main feat on the Puchai River. Contrary to her mother’s warning, Dobrynya enters the water of the magical river (“fire shoots from one stream, sparks fall from the second, smoke pours from the third”). A snake immediately appears and attacks the defenseless hero. The fight begins in the water. With her bare hands, Dobrynya grabs the snake and begins to strangle it, then drags it ashore and knocks off the heads with a “cap of Greek soil” (a cap filled with earth).

The serpent begs Dobrynya for mercy in exchange for an oath not to harm people and flies away, but, flying over Kiev, kidnaps Zabava Putyatichna, the niece of Prince Vladimir. On behalf of the prince, Dobrynya goes to the snake kingdom; kills the snake and frees not only Zabava, but also all the “full Russians” - those who languished in captivity of the snake.

The plot is included in the world epic fund (Perseus, Sigurd, Siegfried). It is also widespread in Christian hagiographic literature (the lives of St. George and Theodore Tiron). Researchers believe that the epic symbolically reflected the history of the baptism of Rus': The serpent is seen as the personification of paganism, killing the serpent with the “cap of the Greek land.” Dobrynya acts as a bearer of Orthodoxy, which came to Rus' through Byzantium from Greece.

The clear archaic basis of the plot and Dobrynya Nikitich’s connection with the water element, diving, and descent into caves allow us to consider him as an epic character who defeats a monster that came from the underworld. V.V. Ivanov points to the origin of the name Dobrynya from the ancient root “dobr” (“wild”), meaning bottom, bottom, abyss in Indo-European languages.

Sometimes Dobrynya is brought closer to the Danube. Indeed, the same plot about the fight with the snake is associated with the images of these heroes. In other stories where Dobrynya participates, the motive of the duel is also widely represented. The hero’s opponents are both traditional antagonists - hostile creatures, and other heroes (for example, the Danube, with whom Dobrynya is reconciled by Ilya Muromets).

In the epic “Dobrynya and Marinka,” the hero’s opponent is the “poisoner,” the “drinker,” the witch Marinka, who is trying to bewitch the hero. Marinka wants to seduce Dobrynya and invites him to marry her. But Dobrynya does not give in, then Marinka turns him into a tour, pronouncing a spell over the footprints of his feet carved out of the ground:

As I cut these traces of Dobrynyushkina, So would Dobrynyushka’s zealous heart cut, Come, Dobrynyupka, to the Turkish sea, Where nine rounds walk, walk, Come, Dobrynyushka, in the tenth round.

Dobrynya's mother comes to the aid of her son and breaks his spell. Dobrynya defeats the witch and punishes her, together with her mother turning Marinka into a “water-carrying mare” (a dog or a magpie).

No less popular is the plot in which Dobrynya acts as a matchmaker, procuring a bride for Prince Vladimir. Together with the hero Danube, Dobrynya goes to a foreign kingdom, undergoes trials and brings a bride to the prince. The plot can be correlated with the chronicle story about how Prince Vladimir sent Dobrynya to the Polotsk prince Rog-vold to woo him. daughter.

Dobrynya is the protagonist of the plot “a husband at his wife’s wedding,” which is included in the circle of so-called world plots and is presented, for example, in “The Odyssey” and “The Song of the Nibelungs.” Dobrynya leaves for a long time in the “open field” and asks his wife to wait for him for twelve years. Only after this period has expired does he allow his wife to marry anyone except Alyosha Popovich.

Nastasya Mikulichna remains faithful to her husband, but after the end of her term, Prince Vladimir orders her to marry Alyosha Popovich. In some stories, Alyosha Popovich resorts to cunning - he informs her about the death of Dobrynya. Dobrynya's wife submits to the will of the prince. But during the wedding feast, Dobrynya appears, disguised as a passer-by. He throws the ring into the cup that is presented to the bride.

Dobrynya punishes Alyosha for deception. Ilya Muromets reconciles the heroes, reminding that Dobrynya and Alyosha are “cross brothers” who kissed the cross as a sign of friendship. The quarrel stops. Apparently, in the image of Dobrynya, over time, the features of both the most ancient and later epic heroes were combined.

A mythologized image of a hero found in Russian epics. Probably, in the image of the Danube, the image of an epic hero was combined with the image of a god personifying the corresponding river.

The Danube appears as a character in only one epic. It tells that together with Dobrynya, Danube goes to the Lithuanian king to marry his daughter Apraksin to Prince Vladimir. The Danube goes to the king, and Dobrynya remains to guard the horses “in the open field.” However, the king refuses and imprisons the Danube in “deep cellars.” Having learned about what happened, Dobrynya enters the battle and defeats the Lithuanian squad that opposed him. After the defeat of the army, the Lithuanian king agrees to the proposal of the heroes and gives them his daughter. The heroes bring Apraksin) to Kyiv, where the marriage ceremony takes place.

Some versions of the plot say that, once in the palace of the Lithuanian king, Danube falls in love with Apraksin’s sister Nastasya. She frees the hero and runs away with him to Kyiv. During the wedding feast, Danube and Nastasya have an archery competition. Danube loses it: the first time he undershoots, the second time he overshoots, and the third time he hits Nastasya. She dies and before her death she tells Danube that she is pregnant with a radiant baby. Having learned about this, Danube throws himself on his spear and dies next to his wife. The Lord turns the Danube into the Danube River, and Nastasya into the river called by her name. In this plot, the heroic epic was combined with the toponymic legend about the origin of the Danube River. The motif of separated lovers turning into rivers is often found in world folklore (for example, the Kazakh legend about the origin of the Ili and Karatal rivers).

Let us note that the Danube River in Russian epics, at the will of the storytellers, can flow near Kiev, Moscow or Novgorod.

Hero of ancient Russian fairy tales and folklore.

Bruslan Lazarevich.Splint. XIX century

“The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich” has been known in Rus' since the beginning of the 18th century. It probably arose from

recording and subsequent presentation in the form of a story of one of the oral retellings of an unknown Turkic dastan, which tells about the exploits of the hero Rustam. Indeed, many features of the story indicate this connection. The name of the main character is associated with the Turkic nickname of Rustam Arslan (lion), and the name of his father - Zalazar - with the name of the father of Rustam Zal-Zer (gray-haired Zal).

The hero's childhood is described in accordance with the epic tradition. Already at an early age, Eruslan’s heroic qualities manifested themselves: he wins all games. Having learned that Eruslan is causing injuries to his peers, his father sends him “to the hundred field.” There Eruslan meets the groom Ivanka, with his help he gets a heroic horse and weapons and goes on a “Cossack walk.”

During his wanderings, Eruslan learns that his father was captured by the enemy and blinded. Eruslan immediately goes to the rescue. Along the way, he defeats rival heroes, fights fairy-tale monsters, meets mysterious maidens-birds (laughing birds), they transport him to a magical land. There he meets the wonderful Head of a giant hero and from it learns about a magic sword with which he can kill the Fire King.

Following the advice of the Head, Eruslan cunningly obtains a sword and, having deceived the Fire King, cuts off his head. Having freed and healed his father and uncle with the help of medicine made from the enemy’s liver, Eruslan marries the princess he saved from the snake. But immediately after the wedding, he leaves his wife and goes to the Sunny City to meet the queen, who is “more beautiful than anyone on earth.”

The beauty of the princess captivates Eruslan, and he remains in the maiden kingdom for many years. Meanwhile, in the Indian kingdom, his son, Eruslan Eruslanovich, is growing up, who one day goes in search of his father. During the duel, Eruslan recognizes his son by the ring given to his mother. He stops the fight and returns to his wife with his son.

Thanks to the dynamic plot, the intricate adventures of the main character, the abundance of vivid and colorful descriptions, and elements of psychological characterization, “The Tale of Yeruslan” was distributed in a large number of handwritten copies and oral retellings. From the beginning of the 18th century, the story was included in numerous popular prints, becoming one of the first popular books.

The advent of printed publications led to interest in the story among new readers and listeners. At the end

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous fairy tales and even epics were written down about Eruslan, where he acts on a par with native Russian folklore characters. The image of Eruslan was used by I. A. Krylov and A. S. Pushkin.

A mythological creature mentioned in East Slavic tales. Similar images can be found in fairy tales and mythology of all Indo-European peoples (in the Indian epic the bird Ga-ruda is found, in the Iranian - Simurgh, in the Slovak - Ognevik). Therefore, most researchers consider the firebird as the oldest relict image preserved from the times of Indo-European folklore.

The firebird has fiery feathers and a long sparkling tail. The unusual - fiery - color reflects her belonging to another, non-human world. Usually the plot begins with a story about how the firebird flies into the royal garden from the thirtieth kingdom for golden apples. The hero tries to catch it, but the bird manages to escape. While flying away, she drops one of the feathers, which Ivan Tsarevich finds and goes in search of the firebird. In another plot, the firebird acts as the kidnapper of the main character's mother. Having found his mother, Ivan Tsarevich also gets the firebird.

The image of the firebird was included in the fairy-tale plot “The Enchanted Wife.” In it, the fiery bird turns out to be an enchanted girl. After the hero hides the magic plumage, she cannot turn into a bird again and becomes the bride of Ivan Tsarevich.

The plot of the firebird is used in the fairy tale “The Little Humpbacked Horse” by P. P. Ershov and the ballet “The Firebird” by I. F. Stravinsky.

Character of Slavic mythology and folk demonology. The image of the serpent combines the most ancient pagan features and Christian ideas about the devil (evil spirit).

The image of a serpent was associated with the idea of ​​elemental destructive power. According to popular beliefs, the snake has demonic properties and heroic power. He guards healing herbs and living water, and stores untold riches. The snake can become a werewolf. This image combines the features of different epic characters - a horseman warrior and a monster.

In most descriptions, the serpent is a huge dragon with large wings, long claws and several heads. A flame bursts out of the snake's mouth; its flight and appearance itself are accompanied by roar, thunder or a storm. Sometimes the snake takes the form of lightning, a meteorite with a fiery tail, and also turns into a person. However, regardless of the appearance of the snake, it always remains the enemy of people, and fighting it is a difficult test for the hero.

The plot of the hero-snake fighter is common in the epics of all peoples of the world. In Russian epics, the winner of the snake is the hero Dobrynya Nikitich. He goes to the snake kingdom, defeats the snake, frees the captives and the prince's niece Zabava Pu-tyatichna.

The plot of snake fighting is also presented in numerous toponymic legends. One of them tells about Nikita Kozhemyak, who defeated the snake that attacked Kyiv.

Stories about the snake are also common in the Christian tradition. Under the influence of the Old Testament, where the serpent acts as an antagonist to God, the serpent acquired the characteristics of the devil. That is why he acts as a traditional opponent of warrior saints. Saint George, Kozma and Demyan, and Theodore Tyrone fight with him. There is a widely known story about how, having defeated the serpent, Saints Kuzma and Demyan plowed a rampart on it from Kyiv to the Black Sea - this is how the Dnieper and the system of settlements - the serpent shafts - were formed. Like the folk heroes, the warrior saints defeat the serpent in a difficult fight and free the people it has captured.

In folk tales, the snake primarily acts as a seducer of women. Therefore, the fight against him is based on protective magic. You can get rid of the snake by fumigating yourself with your own hair. Another way is to use a talisman. The serpent is afraid of the cross and loud noise. He cannot enter the house if there is a black dog in the yard or valerian herb is hung above the door.

A type of snake image found in Russian epics and fairy tales.

The name is correlated with the word “mountain” as the habitat of the serpent. The image goes back to the Indo-European idea of ​​a snake - the master of the underworld. There are numerous analogues among both Slavic and other peoples: Iranian Lie Daha (literally - a serpent living on a mountain); Tatar Zi-lan; Zaliag-snake, found in fairy tales of the peoples of the Caucasus.

Serpent Gorynych is a giant monster with three, six or twelve heads. He lives in his kingdom (sometimes in a cave), where he hides looted wealth, kidnapped people and the princess(es). His many children, the little snakes, also live there.

The images of Tugarin, Zmiulan or the Fire Serpent combine the features of a monster and a warrior. In epics, the Serpent often appears as an enemy of the Russian land. The snake can fly across the sky or engage in battle with a hero on the ground.

The plot of “Dobrynya and the Serpent” clearly shows the features of an ancient myth, which tells about the battle of heroes. The serpent tries to defeat the unarmed hero. The fight is built on two climax points. The first meeting with the Serpent occurs when Dobrynya violates her mother’s ban and bathes in the Puchai River. The appearance of the Serpent is preceded by signs - the earth shakes, the water in the river turns into fire.

However, Dobrynya manages to grab the Serpent, pulls him ashore and delivers a crushing blow with the “cap of the Greek land.” The snake falls to the ground and begs the hero for mercy. He invites Dobrynya to make peace, secured by an oath. The snake promises that it will not attack people and appear in an “open field.”

Dobrynya believes the promise and releases the Serpent Gorynych to freedom. But he immediately breaks his oath: flying over Kiev, he kidnaps Prince Vladimir’s niece Zabava Putyatichna. Prince Vladimir sends Dobrynya to the second battle with the Serpent. The hero gets to the snake kingdom, destroying numerous baby snakes along the way.

Having reached the Snake's nest, Dobrynya starts a life-and-death battle. The mother of cheese, the earth, helps to defeat the Serpent; she gives the hero irresistible strength and absorbs the poisonous blood of the Serpent. Having defeated the enemy, Dobrynya frees the “full of Russians”, leads people out of their holes and frees Zabava Putyatichna.

The image of the Serpent is found in several fairy tales. The central place among them is occupied by the “Battle on Kalinov Bridge”, where the hero also defeats the Serpent Gorynych and averts the threat of enslavement from his land. The snake also confronts the hero in the “Three Kingdoms” plot, where the hero defeats three monsters with different numbers of heads.

In later fairy tales, the image of the Serpent takes on the features of a traditional villain. He is a rival of Ivan Tsarevich, seduces his wife Elena the Beautiful, but ultimately dies at the hand of the hero.

A mythologized character of a Russian fairy tale, transferred from the heroic epic.

Unlike Ivan the Tsarevich and Ivan the Fool, Ivan the Hero always receives a nickname indicating his origin (Ivan Suchich - Ivan the Bear's Ear, Ivan Zorkin, Ivan Bykovich - “The Fight on the Kalinov Bridge”, “The Little Man with the Marigold”, Ivan Cow's son - "Three Kingdoms"). That is why folklorists talk about varieties of the same type of hero. A similar image of a hero is found in Ukrainian, Belarusian, Latvian and other fairy tales (Pokatigoroshek, Fyodor Tugarin, Kurbad).

The plot of the fairy tale about Ivan the Bogatyr is built according to a traditional scheme: the action develops from the birth to the wedding of the hero. In almost all versions, the birth of Ivan is the result of magical power and is accompanied by miraculous signs: a shaking of the earth, a strong storm, the appearance of stars in the sky on a clear day.

The hero's extraordinary abilities manifest themselves even before birth: he speaks while in the womb. Having been born, Ivan immediately gets to his feet and grows by leaps and bounds. In games with peers, his heroic strength is revealed: he always wins.

Having learned about the kidnapping of his mother (other stories talk about brothers or sister), Ivan asks that a weapon be made for him that matches his strength:

mace, club or heroic sword. Having received weapons and a heroic horse, Ivan sets off on a journey with his brothers. They arrive at the hut, where the brothers take turns preparing dinner. The first two brothers are attacked by Little Man and are defeated.

When Ivan's turn comes, he defeats his opponent by pinching his beard in an oak log or tree trunk. However, the peasant manages to escape. The brothers follow in his footsteps and reach a hole - a deep cave or well. Descending into the well, Ivan penetrates the underground kingdom, defeats two snakes, reaches the old man's house, learns the secret of his death, defeats him and frees his captured relatives and three princesses. The latter become the brothers' brides.

In some stories, the hero does not descend into a well, but climbs a high mountain, where princesses live in three magical kingdoms. The hero's opponents are three snakes (three-headed, six-headed and twelve-headed).

In all fairy tales, the hero returns home. On the way back, the brothers, possessed by anger and envy, deceive Ivan and kill him (throw him in a deserted place). With the help of a magical assistant (a wolf or his own horse), Ivan is resurrected (freed from his bonds). Returning home, he exposes the brothers' treachery and marries his bride.

The hero shows heroic qualities only when he performs his first feat. In the future, he achieves his goal thanks to his personal qualities and magical objects. In the fairy tale “Until the Third Rooster,” V. M. Shukshin used both qualities of the hero: his supernatural nature and personal courage.

Mythologized character of Russian fairy tales. The most common plots are “Sivka-Burka” and “Pig - the golden bristle”.

Researchers have not come to a clear opinion about the origin of the image. E. M. Meletinsky believes that the image of a persecuted hero was borrowed from legends, since individual motifs that make up the plots of fairy tales about Ivan are common in the mythology of different nations.

Ivan is the third and youngest of the brothers. He is a peasant, but does not engage in any useful work. The two older brothers act as prudent, thrifty owners. However, they never achieve their goal.

At the beginning of the tale it is said that Ivan lies on the stove all day long or spends time in taverns. He is transformed only after the death of his father, willingly replaces his brothers, for which he receives a magic horse as a reward. Ivan hides the horse from his brothers and sets off to conquer the princess. Sometimes he has to not only fight, but also take part in guessing and asking riddles. He guesses everything, but no one can solve his riddles.

Having married the princess, Ivan performs several feats and obtains magical objects: rejuvenating apples, living water, pig - golden bristles. Ivan then becomes king and the plot ends.

In the second version of the plot, Ivan the Fool guards the garden (field), into which a mysterious thief gets into at night. At night, Ivan discovers that the thief is a wonderful mare. She flies into the garden and tramples down the grass (crops). Sometimes, instead of a mare, a firebird appears in the plot.

Ivan releases the captive magical creature and receives a magical horse as a reward. The Firebird also leaves him her feather. Seeing the feather, the king forces Ivan to go in search of the firebird. During his journey, Ivan finds not only the firebird, but also a toy cat, a ring, rejuvenating apples and, finally, a beautiful bride. The tale ends with the traditional wedding of the protagonist and the Tsar Maiden.

In the 18th century, based on the plot of Ivan the Fool, a fairy-tale popular story appeared. It became the basis for numerous oral retellings recorded by folklorists, as well as P. P. Ershov’s fairy tale “The Little Humpbacked Horse.”

The mythologized image of the hero of fairy tales, their main character, for example: “The Frog Princess”, “Ivan the Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf”, “Rejuvenating Apples”, “Finist the Clear Falcon”, “The Dead Princess”, “One-Eyed, Two-Eyed and Three-Eyed” "

Ivan Tsarevich.Artist I.Bilibin

The composition of fairy tales is traditional - events develop from the birth to the wedding of the hero. Ivan Tsarevich is the youngest of three brothers. Together with his brothers, and sometimes instead of them, he guards the royal garden in order to catch the thief who takes away the golden apples. The apple thief turns out to be the Firebird. Ivan tries to catch it, but misses the bird and only gets a golden feather.

By order of the Tsar, Ivan and his brothers go in search of the magic bird. On the way they part and continue their journey separately. Ivan Tsarevich meets a magical assistant - the Gray Wolf. He helps Ivan find not only the firebird, but also a magic horse, as well as a beautiful bride.

On the way back, Ivan Tsarevich meets his brothers, who kill him and take everything he got. The gray wolf revives Ivan with the help of living water, he returns home and exposes the deceivers. The tale ends with a wedding feast.

Many researchers consider Ivan Tsarevich an ideal fairy-tale hero. Indeed, in fairy tales he is always portrayed as a young, handsome, active and brave hero. However, the plot is structured in such a way that the character can achieve success only thanks to his personal qualities.

N.V. Novikov believes that the image of Ivan Tsarevich was formed under the influence of the heroic epic. Traces of such influence are manifested in such motives as the acquisition of heroic strength, fights with monsters, and the return to life of a deceased hero.

V. Ya. Propp correlated the image of Ivan Tsarevich with the most ancient mythological characters who die and are resurrected annually, starting a new life (Asiris, Yarilo - characters of Egyptian and Slavic mythology).

A mythologized opponent of Russian heroes. In epics, Idolishche appears in the form of an anthropomorphic monster. It is going to capture Kyiv or attack Constantinople. When Idolishche captures the city, he takes Tsar Konstantin Ataulievich and Princess Apraxia captive.

Having learned about what happened from a passer-by, Ilya Muromets exchanges clothes with him and goes to Constantinople. There he comes to the palace disguised as a beggar and begs for alms. The idol orders the beggar to be driven out and boasts that “he has no opponent,” since Ilya Muromets is still in Kyiv.

Ilya Muromets cannot stand it and gets into a fight. During the struggle, Ilya kills the servants of the Idol and then enters into battle with the monster itself. In a duel, he kills Idolishche and frees the king and his wife.

In the plot, where the main action takes place in Kyiv, events develop according to a more complex pattern. The idol is besieging the city and demanding a worthy “super opponent.” Prince Vladimir sends Ilya to battle. The hero begins the fight, but his saber suddenly breaks. Then Ilya Muromets kills Idolishche with a “cap of Greek land.”

In some versions, instead of a weapon, Ilya Muromets uses an oak tree torn out of the ground or one of the warriors of the Idol. He grabs him by the legs and starts waving them: “Wherever he waves, there will be a street, he will wave away a side street.”

Probably, in the duel between Idolishcha and Ilya Muromets, the heroism of the Russian people defending their land from enemies is glorified in poetic form. In epics dedicated to the fight against the Tatars, instead of Idolishch there appears a character called Kudrevan-ko, Badan, Kovshey or Skurla. However, the plot remains unchanged.

The main character of the Russian epic epic. As the eldest in age, in most stories he leads a squad of Russian heroes. Together with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich, he is part of the so-called heroic triad.

Ilya Muromets accomplishes many feats; stories associated with him often form an epic cycle. Ilya's main qualities are strength, courage, wisdom, sobriety, life experience, prudence. The indestructible power of Ilya Muromets and his military skill should warn those who are planning to go to war against Kyiv. He usually defeats enemies alone.

The names mentioned in the epics - Kyiv, Chernigov, Bryansk forests, Moroveysk, the Smorodina River (not far from Karachev), the village of Devyatidubye located in the same places (which gave the name to the nine oak trees on which the Nightingale the Robber sat) and the village of Solovyov Perevoz - allow us to say that Ilya Muromets was born in northeastern Rus'. As an epic character, he is mentioned in stories related to the Chernigov-Bryansk lands.

From the epics you can trace Ilya’s entire life path. He was born in the village of Karacharovo, located near the city of Murom, into a peasant family. After birth, he could not walk and sat for thirty and three years. Only after his miraculous healing by the passing Kalikas does Ilya gain “great strength” and get off the stove. Kaliki perform three miracles: they heal Ilya, endow him with unprecedented heroic strength and help him receive a heroic horse and a treasure sword. The Kaliki predict that Ilya must perform heroic feats and that “death is not written in his family.”

When the Kaliki leave, Ilya goes to his father’s field and clears it of “stumps and roots.” Having received the blessing of his parents, Ilya goes to Kyiv. From this day his heroic life begins.

On the way, Ilya meets Svyatogor, they compete in strength, and Svyatogor wins. The heroes fraternize. Then Svyatogor dies, but manages to transfer his power to Ilya. Only after this does Ilya become a real hero. He continues his journey to Kyiv and on the way defeats the Nightingale the Robber. Then Ilya accomplishes other feats: he protects Chernigov from enemies, builds a bridge across the Smorodina River.

Arriving in Kyiv, Ilya comes to the princely palace. Having shown the Nightingale to the prince, he makes him whistle like a nightingale and kills him. The hero remains in Kyiv, receives an honorable place at the princely table, but refuses, because he believes that his place is with the warriors.

Further stories describe how Ilya reconciles Dobrynya and Danube, who had quarreled, and helps Alyosha Popovich and Duke Stepanovich. In Kyiv - according to other stories in Constantinople - Ilya performs other feats. He defeats Idolishche and defends the city from the warriors of King Kalin. Sometimes Batyga (Batu Batyevich) appears in the plot instead of Kalin.

A separate cycle of epics is associated with the trips of Ilya Muromets. He goes to “Rich India” or “Cursed Karela”. Having met the robbers, Ilya kills them and distributes the treasury to the poor. There are known stories about Ilya’s fight with other heroes, for example with Dobrynya Nikitich. But the duel between them always ends in reconciliation and the exchange of crosses, after which both heroes go to Kyiv to serve Prince Vladimir.

A special group of plots is associated with the duel between Ilya Muromets and his son Sokolnik (Podsokolnik). The son of a hero (sometimes the daughter of a hero acts instead of him) always acts as an enemy of Rus'. This plot often includes a description of the heroic outpost located on the border of Rus'.

Without fear of consequences, Ilya warns Prince Vladimir against wrong actions (the epic about Sukhman). Ilya's independent position leads to a quarrel with the prince. The hero is put in “deep cellars”, where he must die of hunger and thirst. No one dares to violate the prince's order. Only Princess Apraksevna orders to secretly feed Ilya with dishes from the prince’s table. Therefore, Ilya does not lose strength and in difficult times comes to the defense of Kyiv.

In this plot, Ilya loses his archaic features and does not perform traditional feats. He appears as a folk hero, going to battle in the name of “widows, orphans and little children”, and not in the name of “Prince Vladimir’s dog”:

Before the fight he

Here I asked God to help me, Give the Most Pure Most Holy Theotokos, I let the heroic horse ride on this great army-power,

And he began to trample like a force from the edge, As soon as he goes somewhere, there will be a street, When he turns, he will turn into a side street.

Now the entire heroic squad comes to his aid:

They trampled the silushka, poked it out, And that one was Tsar Kalin’s dog, And they took him to the fullest.

Having defeated Tsar Kalin, Ilya delivers him to Prince Vladimir, and he swears to “pay tribute forever and ever and to you, Prince Vladimir.”

In most epics, the traditional interpretation of the image of Elijah prevails, according to which he appears as a wise man. In the image of a gray-bearded old man riding across a field on a white horse, he is depicted in the famous painting “Three Heroes” by V. M. Vasnetsov.

The image of Ilya Muromets is associated with the biblical Elijah the Prophet. After death, Ilya Muromets becomes Saint Ilya. The opposite is also known, when Elijah the Prophet is compared to a hero-snake fighter. V. Ya. Propp believed that the connection with the earth clearly visible in the image of Elijah also brings him closer to Saint Elijah as the patron saint of fertility.

A mythologized image of a horse-like unicorn, mentioned in Russian legends, spiritual poems and fairy tales. The word "shndrik" is a distorted spelling of the Old Russian "foreigner" - unicorn.

The unicorn was first mentioned by the Greek historian Ctesias. He described a fantastic animal that was supposedly found in India: “Larger than a horse. His body is white, his head is dark red, and his eyes are blue. There is a horn on the forehead. The base of the horn is snow-white, the tip is bright red, and the middle is black. The powder scraped from this horn can save you from deadly poison.”

Scientists believe that the image of the unicorn arose under the influence of the medieval book tradition. Legends about Indrik are included in bestiaries, where his appearance acquired traditional fantastic features. The unicorn now has three legs, nine mouths and a golden horn.

In Russian legends, Indrik acts as “the father of all animals.” It can have one or two horns. A similar description is found in the Dove Book.

Indrik is a beast - the father of all animals.

Why is Indrik the father of all beasts?

Because Indrik is the father of all beasts,

And he walks underground,

But the stone mountains do not hold him,

And even those rivers are fast.

When he emerges from the damp earth,

And he is looking for an opponent.

In Russian fairy tales, Indrik is depicted as an underground beast that walks through the dungeon, “like the sun in the sky.” Indrik is the master of all underground waters. In many stories, he acts as an opponent of the serpent, who prevents him from taking water from the well. In fairy tales, Indrik is a fantastic animal that is hunted by the main character. Sometimes he appears in the royal garden instead of the firebird and steals golden apples.

The hero goes to the underworld in his footsteps, finds the unicorn, enters into battle with him and wins. The conquered unicorn becomes the hero's magical assistant and helps him get what he wants.

In East Slavic fairy tales - an evil sorcerer who always opposes the main character. The word “koschey” is borrowed from Turkic languages ​​and means a slave, a captive. Starting from the middle of the 18th century, it became the name of a fairy-tale character and penetrated from folklore into popular literature and fiction. Negative human qualities are also associated with the image of Koshchei, primarily exorbitant stinginess, greed, deceit and hypocrisy.

Koschei the Deathless.Splint. XIX century

According to most stories, Koschey lives in a kingdom located at the edge of the world. Sometimes he lives with his daughter(s). To get to Koshchei, the hero must go through a difficult path. On the way, he meets magical assistants, from whom he learns the secret of Koshchei’s power and invulnerability. Often the hero's assistant becomes a beauty captured by Koshchei. She finds out from Koshchei the secret of his death and tells the hero about it, who is going to free her.

Koshchei’s death is hidden: “On the sea, on the ocean, there is an island, on that island there is an oak tree, on the oak tree there is a chest hanging, in the chest there is a hare, in the hare there is a duck, in the duck there is an egg. There is a needle in the egg, and at the end of the needle is Koshcheev’s death.”

Koschey is endowed with the traits of a werewolf and a sorcerer. He has supernatural powers, so the hero fights him long and hard. The duel always ends with victory over Koshchei and the destruction of his kingdom.

The image of a fairy-tale monster, identified with the Greek centaur (half-man, half-horse).

Kitovras has been mentioned in handwritten texts since the 14th century. He is a character in The Tale of Solomon and Kitovras. Apparently, the image of a centaur replaced the demon Asmodeus, alien to Russian readers. Kitovras answers King Solomon's questions and even competes with him in wisdom, but is defeated.

After the legends about Solomon spread in Rus', Kitovras became a character in many stories. He is endowed with the traditional features of a werewolf, who rules people during the day in the form of a man, and at night in the form of the “beast Kitovras” he is the king of beasts.

Probably, in the image of Kitovras, ideas about divy people appeared - fantastic peoples who allegedly inhabited the outskirts of the world. The image also influenced the depiction of Polkan the hero in the translated story about Bova the Prince.

In the original version, Polkan's name is a Russified form of the Italian word "polica-no" - half-dog. On numerous popular prints, Polkan is represented as a traditional centaur. But what he has in common with the half-man, half-dog is that he always acts as an opponent of the main character and dies at his hand.

The mythologized image of the prince in Russian epics.

Vladimir. Engraving from an old printed book. XVII e.

Most researchers believe that the historical prototype of the epic image was Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (? -1115). He rules in Kyiv, unites all the heroes around him to protect the Russian land from enemies. These are the Tatars or fairy-tale monsters (Idolishche, Serpent Tugarin, Nightingale the Robber, Serpent Gorynych).

Bogatyrs gather in Kyiv from different directions: Ilya from Murom, Dobrynya from Ryazan, Alyosha from Rostov. Along the way, each of them performs a feat in order to gain the right to serve the future master. In Kyiv, heroes occupy places corresponding to their position, skill and age at the court of Prince Vladimir. All the most important problems are solved in the palace. The prince gives the heroes instructions: to help out his niece, liberate Constantinople from Idolishch, defeat the Serpent Tugarin, defeat the Tatar army.

In most epics, Vladimir is called the Red Sun to emphasize the ideal image of the prince. In addition, the comparison with the Sun strengthens the contrast between Vladimir and the monsters attacking Kyiv. Snakes are traditionally considered creatures of the dark underworld.

In epics, the court of Prince Vladimir is contrasted with an open field, Sorochinsky mountains, dark forests, and magical rivers. Fairy-tale monsters live in them. From there, from the open field, come the enemies, who are always called Tatars.

Probably, several epic images were combined in the image of Prince Vladimir: the supreme ruler of the upper world, the leader of the squad and the head of a large family. At Vladimir’s court, his niece Zabava Putyatichna, the heroine of the plot “Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent,” lives.

The epics say that Prince Vladimir is married to Apraksin Korolevichna. Once upon a time she was wooed for Prince Dobrynya Nikitich (the plot of “The Matchmaking of Prince Vladimir”). Princess Apraxia, unlike Prince Vladimir, has a calm and balanced character. She supports

Ilya Muromets, who undeservedly fell into princely disgrace.

However, in some stories the image of Apraksin is interpreted differently. When Tugarin Zmeevich appears at the prince's court, Apraxia becomes interested in him. Alyosha Popovich and other heroes deservedly reproach Apraxia for violating marital fidelity. In the epic dedicated to Churila Plenkovich, Apraxia falls in love with the handsome steward and even begs her husband to appoint Churila as the prince's bed servant. Probably, the image of Apraksin combines the features of the heroines of several epic stories that arose at different times.

In later epics, the image of Prince Vladimir changes significantly. He becomes petty, envious, jealous. Vladimir often undeservedly offends the heroes, and only his wife ensures that the heroes return when the enemy approaches the city (the plot “How Ilya Muromets quarreled with Prince Vladimir”).

Character from Russian fairy tales.

The image of Bayun combines the features of a fairy-tale monster and a bird with a magical voice. Fairy tales say that Bayun sits on a high iron pillar. With the help of songs and spells, he removes the power of anyone who tries to approach him. To capture the magic cat, Ivan Tsarevich puts on an iron cap and iron gloves. Having caught the animal, Ivan takes it to the palace to his father. There, the defeated cat begins to tell fairy tales, and the king is healed.

The image of a magic cat is widespread in Russian popular print stories. Probably, it was borrowed from there by A.S. Pushkin (prologue of the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”).

See Leshy

In East Slavic folklore it appears as a personified image of evil fate and grief. The name “dashing” goes back to the adjective “superfluous” - this is how someone who should be avoided as a bearer of misfortune was designated.

In fairy tales, Likho acts in the form of a thin woman of enormous height with one eye, sometimes acquiring the features of a giantess. She lives in a deep forest thicket, where the hero accidentally ends up.

At first, Likho warmly welcomes the hero, but then tries to eat him. Fleeing, the hero cunningly gets out of the hut. Noticing that he is running away, Likho shouts after him that he is due a gift. But in fact, she comes up with another trap - her hand grows to a magic axe. The hero is saved only after he cuts off his own hand.

In some versions, the hero's salvation occurs, as in the ancient myth of Odysseus and Polyphemus. Wrapped in sheep's clothing, the hero gets out of the hut (in the myth, from a cave). Probably, popular motifs of world folklore are reflected in the Russian fairy tale. The connection between the image of Likh and the most ancient mythological characters can also be traced in the description of Likh as a one-eyed creature. In folk tales, the image of Likha is often associated with the image of Grief.

The general name for a female hero, the heroine of Russian fairy tales.

The image of the heroic heroine is presented in many stories - “Rejuvenating Apples”, “The Tale of the Three Kingdoms”, “Marya Morevna”.

The heroic heroine lives in her own maiden kingdom. To get there, the hero has to overcome many obstacles. In most stories, the hero gets to the maiden kingdom on a magic horse, which is provided to him by old women assistants. Often this role is played by three sisters - Baba Yagas. The assistants give the hero magic horses, warn him of the dangers that lie in wait, and help him return.

Having reached the maiden kingdom, the hero obtains the magic item he needs (rejuvenating apples, living water, a magic bird). He also deprives the Tsar Maiden of her chastity. As a rule, this happens during her magical (heroic) sleep. After the hero's departure, the Tsar Maiden wakes up, gathers an army of girls and sets off in pursuit. However, the hero manages to cross the border of the magical world and disappears.

Without catching the hero, the Tsar Maiden returns to her kingdom, and after some time her twin sons are born. When they grow up, the Tsar Maiden again gathers an army and comes to the hero’s kingdom. There the children recognize their father. The fairy tale ends with a wedding.

The plot about Marya Morevna is constructed differently. It tells how the heroine takes Koshchei the Immortal prisoner. Having put him in prison, the hero stands guard at the border of her kingdom, where she meets Ivan Tsarevich. The heroes enter into a duel, Ivan Tsarevich wins.

After the wedding, the heroes go to the kingdom of Marya Morevna. Soon, leaving her husband in the palace, Marya Morevna leaves for the war. Ivan Tsarevich enters the forbidden room (basement, dungeon). Yielding to persuasion, he gives water to Koshchei, who gains his strength, frees himself, kidnaps Marya Morevna and takes her to his kingdom.

Ivan Tsarevich goes in search of his wife. On the way, he meets three old women who show him the way to the kingdom of Koshchei. Having reached there, the hero tries to take Marya Morevna away, but fails. Only after learning the secret of Koshchei's death. Ivan Tsarevich emerges victorious during a mortal fight. The heroes return to the kingdom of Marya Morevna.

Compared to the images of male heroes, the image of a female hero is more schematic. In particular, there are no descriptions of her heroic strength or scenes of fights. The storyteller only reports the results of the battles. Probably the cult of power seemed inappropriate to him when describing a woman. The heroic heroine uses magic more often than strength.

The image of a heroic plowman, found in Russian epics. Mikula Selyaninovich is an archaic hero of the Russian epic.

The image of Mikula showed the features of a giant plowman. The ancient epics say that it is he who drives the giants out of the earth. The creative activity of the plowman is opposed to both the military power of the werewolf prince and the supernatural, but not used, power of Svyatogor. Mikula Selyaninovich acts as the personification of the invincible power of the earth itself - the mother of all living things.

Similar images are found among other Slavic peoples, for example, in the medieval Czech chronicle it is said that the plowman Przemysl becomes the first prince. The Hungarian chronicle Gall Anonyma says that the Polish prince is the son of the plowman Piast.

Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich.Artist N. Kochergin

Peasant origin also becomes an attribute of the main hero of the Russian epic - Ilya Muromets. But, unlike other heroes, Mikula Selyaninovich’s strength is aimed exclusively at peaceful affairs: he plows the land and grows grain. It is on the arable land that his meeting with Volga takes place. He hears:

As Oratai yells and whistles in the field, Oratai’s bipod creaks, and pebbles chirp against pebbles.

Only on the third day does Volga get to the plowman and see how he

Peña-roots twists out,

And big stones fall into the furrow.

Mikula Selyaninovich is the protagonist of two epic stories. In each of them he appears as the strongest hero. In the epic about Mikula and Volga (Volkha), Volga and her squad cannot pull Mikula Selyaninovich’s plow out of the ground.

Oratay-oratayushko

I took the bipod with one hand,

He pulled the bipod out of the ground,

I shook out the land from the omeshas.

He threw the bipod behind the willow bush.

Amazed Volga asks him:

Somehow they call you by your name,

Do they call you after your fatherland?

Volga invites the hero to his squad. But Mikula Selyaninovich refuses, he must continue to work on the field:

I’ll fold it like rye and drag it home, I’ll drag it home and thresh it at home, And I’ll brew beer and get the men drunk, And then the men will begin to praise me: Well done, Mikula Selyaninovich!

In the plot “Mikula Selyaninovich and Svyatogor-bo-gatyr” Mikula appears in the form of a wandering beggar with a bag on his shoulder. At first, Svyatogor talks to him disrespectfully, but he asks him to help him lift the bag from the ground. Svyatogor tries to do this, but cannot, because “all earthly cravings” are hidden in the bag. Mikula Selyaninovich's victory over Svyatogor symbolizes the superiority of peasant labor over traditional military manifestations of force. A similar plot is presented in the Scandinavian myth about Thor and the giant Ymir.

Character of fairy-tale and ritual folklore.

In Russian fairy tales, Morozko is an old man who lives in a forest hut. He can send unbearable frost or act as a magical giver. In the most common fairy tale plot, Morozko generously rewards the hardworking stepdaughter and cruelly punishes the lazy and careless daughter of the mistress.

In the tales, Morozko is presented as a little old man with a long gray beard. He runs through fields and forests with a mallet and brings bitter frosts. Morozko often appears in the form of a hero or giant who walks through the forest and fetters trees and water.

Among the forest peoples, the image of Morozka is associated with the ritual of feeding on the eve of Christmas. The eldest member of the family comes out to the door and offers Morozka a cup of jelly or porridge, politely inviting her to try the food: “Moroz, Moroz! Come eat some jelly and don’t hurt our oats.”

After the spread of Christianity, the image of Morozka was associated with tales and beliefs about the New Year's grandfather, widespread among the peoples of Western Europe. They tell that Santa Claus lives in the far North. Every year he goes on a trip around the world on a reindeer or horse-drawn team. Frost carries bags of gifts in a sleigh and gives them to small children. The arrival of Santa Claus means the coming of the New Year.

A mythological character found in Russian epics and fairy tales. Probably, the image of the Sea Tsar was borrowed from Russian folklore and presented in the epic about Sadko and in fairy tales where the Sea Tsar is the father of Vasilisa the Wise.

In the epic, the Sea King is the ruler of the underwater kingdom. As he dances, a destructive storm breaks out on the sea. Having learned about this, Sadko breaks the strings on the harp and refuses to continue playing. Trying to leave the hero forever in the underwater world, the Sea King invites him to marry one of his daughters. Sadko chooses Princess Chernava, who helps him outwit the Sea King. She turns into a river and helps Sadko get into the human world. In the story about the appearance of the Chernava River, the features of the Novgorod legend about the origin of local rivers are clearly visible.

In the fairy tale “Elena the Wise and the Sea King,” the Sea King is endowed with the traditional traits of a monster. He penetrates the well. When the king wants to drink water, the Sea King grabs him by the beard and makes a promise to send the newborn prince to him.

Having reached a certain age, the prince goes to the Sea King. On the way, he meets his daughter, who turns out to be Elena the Wise. She helps the prince fulfill his father's demands, then the heroes escape from the sea kingdom. The fairy tale ends with the wedding of the heroes.

A mythological character common in Russian folk tales.

Some versions of the tales about Tsarevich Ivan tell how the hero gets the firebird or the mink beast. At the beginning of the fairy tale, it is said how a mink animal comes running to the kingdom of Tsarevich Ivan’s father to eat golden apples. Ivan Tsarevich wants to catch him and sets off in the footsteps of the mink animal. Having reached the magical kingdom, Ivan Tsarevich catches the mink beast and marries its owner, Elena the Beautiful.

Mink beastWood carving. XIX century

In another plot, the mink animal acts as an assistant to the hero. Ivan Tsarevich gets to a hut located in a deep forest, where a mink animal appears at night. He becomes the hero's assistant and helps him get a bride.

A figurative personification of the destructive power of fire and lightning.

Russian and Belarusian fairy tales tell how the Fiery Tsar, together with Queen Molonitsa (Lightning), pursues the Serpent and burns his army and herds because he is attacking Russian lands. Probably, the plot reproduces the ancient Slavic myth about the duel with the Serpent of the god Perun.

The image of the Fire Tsar is mentioned in Russian conspiracies for high fever and gangrene (Antonov fire, ognik). The conspiracy ends with the appeal: “Fire, fire! Take your light!” Obviously, the image of the Fire King is also credited with the traits of a demon who sends illness.

The image of the Fire King is also presented in heroic tales, where he is the opponent of the main character. A peculiar transformation of the folklore image is found in the popular print story about Eruslan Lazarevich, where the image of the Fire King was combined with the image of the Serpent.

A plant with which a complex of folk beliefs is associated.

It is believed that once a year a flower with magical properties blooms on the fern. The fern blooms on the night of Ivan Kupala or on the eve of Ilyin's Day, when severe thunderstorms often occur.

If someone manages to get a fern flower, then the finder can see treasures hidden in the ground, become invisible, and learn the beneficial properties of plants.

It is also believed that a fern flower can bewitch a beloved girl, protect a field from natural disasters, and give power over evil spirits. That is why witches and devils strive to take possession of the flower and in every possible way prevent a person from getting to it.

The stories tell about several ways to obtain a magic flower. To take possession of it, you need to go into the forest at night, where you can’t hear the roosters crowing. There you need to draw a circle on the ground, sit in its center, light a candle blessed for Easter and take a sprig of wormwood in your hands. Then you should read the Psalter or Gospel.

At exactly midnight, when the flower blooms, evil spirits will gather. They will throw themselves at the magic circle and try to crawl through it in the form of snakes. Huge toads often appear near the circle, frightening with a loud scream or squeal. They also say that the devil can take the form of a beauty or an attractive young man.

Having picked a flower, you need to hold it tightly in your hand, read the “Our Father” three times and run home as fast as you can. Devils and witches usually rush to chase a running person, calling him by name. Often visions appear along the way, the dead appear, stretching out their hands and clanking their teeth. Under no circumstances should the flower bearer look back. If you violate the ban, the flower turns into a firebrand, a piece of rotten mushroom or a dry mushroom. To get a flower, the devils try to slip a person treasures, which at home turn into bones, dry shards or dry leaves.

The image of a magic flower was used by N.V. Gogol in the story “Night on Ivan Kupala”, N.S. Leskov in the novel “The Cathedral People”.

A character in folk tales, riddles and conspiracies.

The semantics of the image is unambiguous: the rooster can act as the personification of the Sun, fire, light. It is the rooster that announces the rising of the sun every day. Because of its connection with the sun, the rooster was perceived as a messenger of the will of higher powers. The connection between the rooster and the sun can be traced in all cultures where this bird is known. Hence the belief that if a rooster crows and hits the window, a fire will soon occur in the house. The connection with fire is also visible in the expression “let the red rooster fly,” where the bird acts as a metaphorical symbol of flame. A rooster crowing outside of school hours is considered an unkind omen, signaling death, misfortune or illness.

The connection with the sun is indirectly manifested in the image of a rooster - the enemy of evil spirits. According to popular belief, the time from midnight to the first rooster crow was considered the most dangerous period of the day. The crow of a rooster marks the beginning of dawn, when all representatives of evil spirits must go home.

The rooster was also widely used as a talisman. After harvesting the grain, to appease the barn farmer, they strangled a black rooster on the threshing floor and buried it in the barn, sacrificing it to the barn farmer. Every year the black rooster was strangled and buried under the threshold of the bathhouse so that the bannik would be favorable to people. The same rooster was thrown into the mill whirlpool as a gift to the “water grandfather.” When dividing a family, the separating half necessarily got their own rooster. During housewarming, the rooster was the first to be allowed into the new house. Sometimes a cat was used instead of a rooster.

In the wedding ceremony, the rooster acts as a symbol of the well-being of the family and the fertility of the bride. Therefore, it is given to newlyweds who move to a separate house. When the bride arrives at the groom's house, first of all she must feed the rooster.

In Russian fairy tales, the rooster appears as an anthropomorphic character. He defeats a fox, helps a hare in trouble, or deceives forest animals. In the plot of “The Cat and the Rooster,” the rooster, on the contrary, turns out to be the victim, and the cat defeats the fox, freeing the rooster from the fox’s hole.

The image of a rooster is common not only in everyday tales, but also in fairy tales, where it can act as an assistant to the main character - the plot of “The Rooster and the Bean Seed.” In another plot - “The Magic Mill” - the rooster is the main character. He defeats the evil king and helps his master marry a beautiful princess.

Under the influence of Christian demonology, stories appeared that, upon reaching nine years of age, a rooster lays an egg from which the Fire Serpent, or Basilisk, hatches. At first he serves the owner of the rooster, and after three years he takes his soul to hell.

According to popular beliefs, the dead included those who died a violent or premature death: those killed, those who died as a result of an accident, suicides - those who “did not live out their life”; deceased at a young age, who came into contact with evil spirits, cursed by their parents. Such dead people were equated with creatures of a demonic nature.

Sometimes the dead were called ghouls, undead or evil spirits. Like other representatives of evil spirits, the dead have always been hostile to humans. It was believed that at night they come out of their graves, scare and pursue people, torment their relatives, and send diseases.

To reduce the influence of the dead, they were buried far from housing and outside regular cemeteries. The grave of a dead person was considered a dangerous and unclean place and should be avoided. When passing by such a grave, you had to throw a stick, a stone or a handful of earth on it. Otherwise, the deceased could chase the offender who did not show him due respect.

In Semik, the Eastern Slavs traditionally commemorated all untimely deceased relatives: unbaptized children, girls who died before marriage. Relatives gathered at their graves and special memorial services were served. In Semik they also took special measures against the dead who could cause particular harm to a person. Aspen stakes or sharp metal objects were driven into their graves. The hands and feet of the deceased, not by his own death, were tied or the tendons under the knees were cut. On the same day, those who, for one reason or another, remained unburied were buried. A common grave was dug for them and a collective funeral service was held. At the cemetery, the priest served a special memorial service. It was believed that, deprived of veneration, the dead would send various disasters: drought, storm, thunderstorm or crop failure.

In Slavic demonology, the spirits of those who died an unnatural death, suicides and sinners. They can take the form of a person, a child, a girl or a woman, as well as an animal, a goose, a swan or a humanoid figure with goat legs.

Ghosts appear at night, usually around midnight. They are most active on Christmas Eve, the night of Ivan Kupala. It is believed that they can be found near the border with the “other world”: in ruins, in abandoned houses, in cemeteries, at crossroads, in swamps. Ghosts often appear near water - on bridges and near water mills.

Basically, ghosts are hostile towards humans. They can scare, lure you somewhere, deprive you of your memory, or send you sick. There are numerous stories about how ghosts make people wander through the forest or roads for hours. But at the same time, a ghost can help a person: indicate the location of a treasure or find a lost item.

They believe that not everyone can see a ghost. Therefore, meeting him is always a bad omen not only for the person who sees it, but also for his entire family. According to popular beliefs, you should not talk to a ghost and turn your back to it. When meeting a ghost, you should continue moving, as if not noticing it. In this case, you need to turn your clothes inside out or put on your hat backwards.

Amulets against ghosts are a cross, holy water, branches of mistletoe or blessed willow. To get rid of ghosts, you need to say a prayer or hit the ghost with your right hand.

Images of ghosts are widely represented in both world and Russian literature, in particular in N. V. Gogol’s story “May Night, or the Drowned Woman”, M. I. Tsvetaeva’s poem “Well done”, M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master” and Margarita”, “A Poem without a Hero” by A. A. Akhmatova.

The hero of the Russian epic epic, who retained the most ancient mythological features in his characteristics.

The Novgorod merchant and the guslar SadkoArtist N. Kochergin

Researchers suggest that the image of Sadko goes back to a real historical figure - the Novgorod merchant Sotko Sytinich. His name is mentioned in the Novgorod chronicles. However, it is possible that the name Sotko appeared in the chronicles under the influence of the popular epic hero.

The epic story dedicated to Sadko tells that he was a poor Novgorod guslar. One day Sadko was playing on the seashore and charmed the sea queen with his play. She promised Sadko to help catch a fish in the river - a golden feather. The next day, Sadko made a bet with Novgorod merchants and caught a magic fish. Having become a “rich guest,” Sadko equipped merchant ships, recruited a squad and set off for overseas countries.

Suddenly the ships stop on the open sea. The sailors cannot budge them, and then Sadko understands that the Sea King is demanding a human sacrifice. The sailors cast lots, and Sadko faces a sad fate: he must go to the bottom of the sea. Having stood “on an oak plank”, he finds himself

In the blue sea, at the very bottom, I saw Sadko - in the blue sea there was a white-stone chamber, I went into the white-stone chamber, the King of the Sea was sitting in the chamber.

Once in the palace of the Sea King, Sadko begins to play the harp. The king dances, and a storm rises on the sea. On the advice of Nikolai Ugodnik, who appeared in the image of Nikola Mozhaisky (Nikola Mokroy), the patron saint of Novgorod and the people's defender from storms and sea disasters, Sadko breaks the strings of the gusli and stops playing.

Then the Sea King invites Sadko to become a court guslar, and in return promises the hand of one of his daughters. Again using the advice of Nikolai Ugodnik, Sadko chooses Princess Chernava, who promises to help him return to the world.

During the wedding feast, Sadko falls asleep and wakes up near Novgorod on the banks of the Chernava River. At the same time, his ships return to the city with rich profits. To thank the saint for his advice, Sadko builds a church in Novgorod in honor of St. Nicholas the Pleasant.

The plot of Sadko’s marriage to the daughter of the Sea King is one of the world’s motifs and is known among all European peoples. However, in the image of Sadko one can trace the features of the hero of the Indo-European epic, who becomes the husband of the daughter of the Ocean - a mythological creature who personified the world's underwater kingdom. Obviously, the epic combines pagan and Christian motifs from different times.

The difference between Sadko’s image and other epic characters is that he is not a bearer of traditional heroic qualities. He is cunning and has musical abilities. The absence of any military or warrior motives in the epic indicates that it arose in a merchant environment, where the main qualities of the hero are cunning and the ability to find a way out in any situation.

The deheroization of the image limited its distribution; it is known only within the epic plot and did not penetrate into the fairy tale. In the 19th century, the epic about Sadko was used by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov as the basis for creating an opera of the same name.

Russian epic hero.

The image of Svyatogor is built on a combination of mythological and epic features. In one of the epics, Svyatogor is even called Gorynych, which indicates his connection with characters related to the underworld. Most researchers believe that in Russian epics the image of Svyatogor is the embodiment of spontaneous primitive force. He arose in a myth that has not reached us, probably dedicated to his duel with a snake-like opponent. The stories associated with him were gradually forgotten, and Svyatogor entered the ranks of epic characters. Stories have survived to this day where he is mentioned along with later heroes: Ilya Muromets and Mikula Selyaninovich.

Going in search of adventure, Ilya Muromets meets Svyatogor. He puts Ilya and the horse in his pocket. Then together they try on a coffin that happens to be on their way, which suits Svyatogor. All his attempts to leave the coffin end in failure. Then Svyatogor realizes that his life’s journey is over. Before his death, he manages to transfer part of his heroic strength to Ilya.

The plot of the transfer of power is widespread in the world epic and is usually associated with the image of a giant. In the Russian version, a clear contrast between Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor is indicative. The giant hero has excessive and useless strength, and is therefore doomed to death. Ilya receives the right to be called his successor, because his strength brings benefits.

The meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich also ends with the death of Svyatogor. He cannot lift Mikula's bag. Before his death, Svyatogor learns that the bag contains “earthly cravings.”

Only one plot is known in which Svyatogor acts alone. He wanders aimlessly through the mountains, finding no use for his strength. Finally Svyatogor lies down in a stone coffin and goes into the ground. In this epic, Svyatogor, before his death, turns to his father and says about him that he is a “dark” (“blind”) hero.

Such a hero does not belong to the human world. The Karelian epic “Kalevala” presents the image of the blind, motionless hero Vipunen, who gives magical power to Väinämöinen. Obviously, Svyatogor is a more ancient hero than other Russian heroes.

Developing the image of Svyatogor in Russian culture, storytellers gave him a name that goes back to the epithet “saint”. It is characteristic that the Holy Mountains are clearly contrasted with Holy Rus' as a world where other heroes live. Probably, initially the name of Svyatogor correlated with the name of the hero Vostrogor; he is described in the spiritual verse about the Dove Book.

The Indo-European origin of Svyatogor is confirmed by the image of the hero Snavitok in Belarusian fairy tales. The Iranian myth presents the same motives as in the epic about Svyatogor: the death of a hero by going into the ground, transferring power to another hero, death from boasting. Consequently, the image of Svyatogor belongs to the oldest layer of folklore characters.

A magical horse found in Russian folk tales.

Sivka-Burka appears when the hero of the fairy tale, Ivan, is at his father’s grave and holds a funeral feast for him. As a reward, the father transfers to his son the right to own a magic horse.

Finding himself in a difficult situation, Ivan casts a spell:

“Sivka-Burka, prophetic kaurka! Stand before me like a leaf before the grass.”

Hearing the owner’s words, the horse immediately appears in front of him. His run is accompanied by special signs: “The horse is running, the earth is trembling, flames are burning from the nostrils, smoke is coming out of the ears.”

Entering the horse's right ear and exiting the left, the hero is transformed and becomes a hero. Then he mounts a horse, performs heroic feats or goes to war. After the victory, the hero returns home again and takes on his usual appearance.

Sivka-Burka is also represented in fairy tales, where the traditional motive of getting a horse is associated with him. Taking out the magic horse, the hero is transformed, takes on the appearance of a hero and sets off on his exploits. In heroic tales, the horse is the hero's assistant, since in them the hero always comes first. In fairy tales about a persecuted hero, Sivka-Burka appears as an independent character, faithfully serving the hero even when he receives it as a reward for some feat.

The image of a mythological bird-maiden, more often found in Russian spiritual poetry.

According to researchers, the image of Sirin goes back to the ancient Greek sirens. Spiritual verses say that the Sirins live in paradise, from where they descend to earth. They can charm people with their singing. Sirin is often mentioned together with another mythical bird - Alkonost, but never acts as a prophet of the future.

Western European legends say that Sirin is the bearer of the soul of a person not accepted into heaven. This is probably why Sirin always sings sad songs.

Sirin and Alkonost are often depicted in popular prints as the personification of sadness and joy. A similar idea is reflected in the painting “Songs of Joy and Sorrow” by A. M. Vasnetsov, where both birds are depicted.

A mythological image active in fairy tales, legends, spiritual poems and tales.

In Slavic folklore, Death appears in the form of a bony and ugly old woman with a scythe. According to ancient ideas, Death comes to a person at the moment of transition from the world of people to the “other world”, to the other world.

The appearance of Death is accompanied by signs: the howling of a dog, the crowing of a rooster, the cuckooing of a cuckoo, the croaking of a crow, the cracking of walls, the howling of a chimney. At the moment of a person’s death and the separation of the soul from the body, Death takes the soul and delivers it to God for judgment. It determines the future fate of the soul. To make the path of the soul easier, the dying person must be confessed, a cross placed on his chest, and a pre-blessed candle placed in his hand. For the same purpose, windows, doors and a chimney were opened in the house. It was also necessary to shift the dying person to the floor and cover him with a white or black scarf.

Death is the protagonist of many folk stories and tales. Her main opponent in everyday fairy tales is a soldier. A smart hero most often deceives Death and extends his life. Sometimes an old woman or a blacksmith acts instead of a soldier. In the plot of "The Soldier and Death", the soldier deceives Death and puts him in a snuffbox; in another tale, a blacksmith posts a sign on his house: “Come tomorrow.” In some stories, Death is associated with the image of Grief (the hero drives it into a “cart axle” or into a coffin, and then throws it into the river or into the “abyss of the sea”).

Under the influence of Christianity, the image of Death changed, and it began to act as the embodiment of the will of the Lord. In the spiritual verse about Anika, the hero dies because he set out to defeat Death. In the apocryphal tradition, this image was gradually relegated to the background; an angel and a devil fight for the soul of a dying person. The winner must take the soul with him. There are also numerous stories about angels carrying the soul of a deceased person across the sky to the Sun. Sometimes the image of Death is replaced by the image of the Archangel Michael, who comes for the soul of the dying person. Unlike Death, he is invisible.

Mythological character from a Russian fairy tale. The image of the Snow Maiden preserves the most ancient features of a dying and resurrecting god. Probably, once upon a time the name of the Snow Maiden was associated with a story about how she dies in the spring and is resurrected in the winter.

Over time, only the first part was preserved, becoming an independent fairy-tale plot. Passed into oral form, it is found in numerous retellings and children's folklore - along with stories about the adventures of Father Christmas (Morozko).

The image of the Snow Maiden lacks the traditional features of a fairy-tale heroine. She is more like an ordinary girl who is only forbidden to go out into the sunlight. Violation of the ban leads to the death of the heroine. The plot was used in the drama by A. N. Ostrovsky “The Snow Maiden”. The writer combined it with the traditional myth about the confrontation between heat and cold.

The ancient Slavs deified the Sun and revered it as the source of life, light and warmth. As a character, the Sun acts in fairy tales and legends.

SunEngraving from an old printed book. XVII century

In the pagan pantheon, the gods of the Sun were Hore, Dazhdbog and Svarog. Svarog was especially closely associated with the Sun, and the Slavs even called fire Svarozhich.

After the adoption of Christianity, the cult of the Sun was not forgotten, although in teachings against paganism there are often calls not to consider the Sun as a god. The Slavs could not immediately and completely abandon their faith. Traces of the solar cult are preserved in numerous apocryphal stories, which say that the Sun is the face of the Lord God. According to other stories, the Sun is a window through which God looks at the earth, and through it the heavenly light reaches people. Finally, the Sun, which travels every day across the entire sky, monitors what is happening on earth, and then tells the Lord God about what it sees.

Beliefs are associated with the most important Christian events and holidays. According to legend, on the day of Christ’s crucifixion, the Sun stopped in the sky out of grief and did not set for three days. At sunrise on Easter Day, the Sun “plays” - shines in different colors, rejoicing at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On Ivan Kupala, legends are told everywhere that the Sun on this day rests from hard work and bathes in water.

The veneration of the Sun is recorded in folk customs and prohibitions. In order not to offend the Sun, it was impossible to turn your back to it, point a finger, or spit in its direction. When relieving yourself, you should also turn away from the sun. Finding yourself in a field during a church service, you had to pray, turning your face to the Sun. After entering, they were afraid to lend money, did not throw garbage into the street, and did not start eating a new loaf of bread.

In Russian fairy tales, the Sun behaves like a humanoid creature, and it was represented in both female and male form. The Tsar Maiden says: “The month is my mother, the Sun is my brother.” It lives where the earth connects with the sky. He has a father, mother and sister. There are fairy tales about how the Sun kidnaps his future wife from people. In the Russian fairy tale “The Sun, the Moon and the Raven Voronovich”, an old man marries his daughters as the Sun, the Moon and the Raven. The sun warmly welcomes the old man and feeds him pancakes, which he bakes on his head.

The sun often acts as a magical assistant, telling the hero of fairy tales the name of the kidnapper or the way to the kidnapped lover. The image of the Sun is widespread in children's folklore. Numerous chants are known in which children turn to the Sun, begging him to stop the rain:

Bucket sun,

Look out the window

Your children are crying

They are jumping on the bench.

In Russian songs and riddles, the Sun is depicted in the image of a beautiful girl: “The red maiden looks in the mirror,” “The red girl looks through the window.”

Emphasizing the exclusivity of the hero, he is usually compared to the Sun. In epics, Prince Vladimir is compared to the Sun, giving him the nickname Vladimir the Red Sun. In carols, the owner and his wife are compared to the Sun. In wedding poetry, the bride and sometimes the groom are likened to the Sun:

My mother is a red sun,

And father, it’s a bright month,

My brothers are often stars,

And the sisters are white dawns.

According to popular beliefs, at night the Sun sinks underground, therefore in lamentations it is considered the luminary of the dead. The soul of the deceased is sent

For the hills, for the tall ones,

For the clouds, for the walking ones,

To the red sun to the gazebo.

There is a belief that the human soul is a piece of the Sun. If a sinner dies, his soul goes to hell. After the death of the righteous, the soul returns to the Sun. The perception of it as the center of the world has been preserved in a riddle: “There is an old oak tree, on that old oak tree sits a spindle bird, no one will catch it: neither the king, nor the queen, nor the fair maiden.”

Many beliefs and folk stories are associated with solar eclipses. It is believed that various animals are trying to swallow the Sun - snakes, lizards, wolves. Traces of such ideas are preserved in numerous conspiracies against snake bites, high fever, and love magic:

I'll stand on the damp ground,

I'll look at the eastern side,

How the red sun shone,

The moss-swamps, black muds bake,

The servant of God (name) would be so hot and dry to me.

Sun signs - a circle, a wheel, a cross in a circle, a rosette - were used as amulets. They were included in clothing patterns and applied to houses, tools, fabrics, and dishes. During the wedding in the church, the newlyweds walked around the salting lectern - in the direction of the movement of the Sun, in order to protect themselves from future misfortunes.

An epic character who acts as a monstrous opponent of the heroes.

Probably, the plot of the Nightingale the Robber goes back to the ancient Slavic myth about the fight of the thunderer Perun with a serpentine enemy. Sometimes researchers bring the Nightingale closer to the god Beles (Hair), who also acts as an opponent of Perun. The duel between a hero and a monster is a traditional plot of the world heroic epic. Probably, the storytellers of Russian epics used a widespread plot, connecting it with pre-existing images of Slavic mythology.

The image of the Nightingale combines anthropomorphic features and signs of a supernatural character. On the one hand, he acts as a hero, equal in strength to Ilya Muromets. The nightingale sits in its nest, located on twelve oak trees, and waits for passers-by, blocking the direct road to Kyiv. On the other hand, in epics the Nightingale is depicted as a monster akin to the Serpent. His whistle makes the earth shake and leaves fall from the trees.

Ilya Muromets withstands a monstrous whistle, hits the Nightingale with an arrow in the right eye, ties him up and takes him to Kyiv to Prince Vladimir. Some versions of the epic say that in Kyiv the Nightingale demonstrates his terrible whistle. After Nightingale shows what he is capable of, Ilya Muromets executes Nightingale on the orders of Prince Vladimir.

The image of the Nightingale is present only in Russian epics, which indirectly confirms its ancient origin. Even in oral retellings of epic stories associated with the Nightingale, he is often replaced by the more traditional image of the Serpent. In Belarusian fairy tales, the Serpent is called Falcon, which indicates its possible further transformation.

Over time, the image of the Nightingale has undergone certain changes. In later versions of the epics, it is said that Ilya not only defeats the Nightingale himself, but also conquers his kingdom. In most epics, the plot ends with the marriage of the victorious hero to the widow of his opponent. But such an ending clearly contradicts the interpretation of the image of Elijah as a Christian hero. Therefore, the motif of Ilya’s duel with the Nightingale’s daughters appeared in the epic. The hero defeats his opponents, but rejects the request for marriage.

Mythological character of Russian demonology.

The image of a ghoul merges the original Russian ideas about evil spirits with the traditions of European demonology, where stories and beliefs associated with vampires are widely represented. The idea of ​​ghouls goes back to ancient times. In ancient Russian monuments, ghouls have been mentioned since the 14th century.

According to popular beliefs, the dead (unclean) became ghouls. These included suicides and those who died a violent or premature death. It was believed that they were not accepted by mother earth, so they were forced to wander the world and cause harm to the living.

To prevent the deceased from turning into a ghoul, the tendons under his knees were cut or he was placed in a coffin made of aspen boards. Sometimes coals were sprinkled on the ghoul's grave or a pot of burning coals was placed.

The tales tell how a ghoul appears at gatherings in the form of a handsome young man. He begins to court one of the girls and seduces her. Surprised that he disappears at night, the girl ties a charmed thread to his clothes. She uses it to find the ghoul's hideout. Looking out the window, the girl sees a ghoul eating a dead body. Noticing the girl, the ghoul begins to chase her. She is saved only after she manages to spray the ghoul with holy water.

It was believed that ghouls could send plague, smallpox or cholera. Therefore, during epidemics, people who were considered ghouls were burned at the stake. The last such case was recorded in Ukraine in 1873.

Character from a Russian fairy tale.

The image of a wonderful husband, disguised as a falcon, visiting his beloved, came into Russian fairy tales from literature. Researchers believe that it is a variation of the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche.

The name "Finist" is a corruption of the Greek "phoenix". Part of the name - falcon - arose under the influence of the metaphorical image of a falcon-groom, common in Russian wedding songs. “Falcon” in this context is synonymous with the word “well done.”

The plot begins with a scene in which the youngest of three daughters asks her father to give her a Finista feather or a Scarlet Flower. Having received the gift, the girl hosts the handsome prince at night. The envious sisters find out about this and set up knives on the window through which Finist flies in. He wounds his chest and leaves his beloved, ordering her to look for him.

The girl wakes up and sees traces of blood. She then goes in search of Finist. To get to the distant kingdom, a girl must wear down three pairs of iron boots and eat three iron bread. On the way to the distant kingdom, she meets three old women who alternately give her magical objects: a golden apple, a pig - a golden bristle and a self-sewing needle. Having reached the distant kingdom, the girl learns that Finist is preparing for a wedding with a foreign princess who has bewitched him. In exchange for three magical objects, the girl receives the right to be with her lover for three nights. During the third night, Finist recognizes his former lover, the witchcraft disappears, and the fairy tale ends with a wedding.

The image of an evil spirit in Slavic mythology and folklore. It appeared in pre-Christian mythology. Presented in most folk tales and epic stories, the image was mainly influenced by Christian ideas about the devil.

In fairy tales, epic stories and popular prints, devils invariably appear as anthropomorphic creatures covered with black fur, with horns, a tail and hooves. Sometimes black wings can be seen behind the devil’s back. On ancient Russian icons the devil is present in the form of a small, pointed-headed humanoid creature.

The devil differs from all other representatives of evil spirits in his manner of behavior. He can turn into a black cat or a black dog, a pig, a snake, and sometimes into a person. Usually the devil appears at night - from midnight to the first rooster. The tales tell that the devil can pester a person at night and make him lose his way or lead him into a difficult place.

Fairy tales and epic tales do not describe a specific location of the devil. It can appear everywhere, so a person is afraid that the devil will unexpectedly

Thousands of Slavic gods

will stand in his way. They even try to replace the word “devil” with some conventional name: undead, evil spirits, evil spirit, prince of darkness, evil one, enemy power, horned one, “the one with the tail,” black master, anchutka, evil spirit.

In fairy tales, the devil always acts as an opponent of the hero, trying to set a trap for the hero or involve him in some kind of trouble. In fairy tales, the devil appears in the form of a multi-headed monster. All encounters between the hero and the devil end in victory over him.

There are widespread stories about how devils kidnap small children and put their own little devils in their place. Such children are called small children. To get your child back, you need to sprinkle the little devil with holy water or read the Lord's Prayer over him. At the third reading of the prayer, the imp will disappear and a real baby will appear. The plot of a devil possessing a child is often used by filmmakers. For example, the version of American directors “The Omen” is known.

Demon Artist I. Bilibin

In Slavic mythology, the devil acts as a traditional evil spirit, for protection against which there are numerous amulets. The most potent of them are the pectoral cross and holy water. The image of a cross painted on windows, doors and objects also protects against the devil. It is believed that if you place straws folded crosswise on a vessel of water, the devil will never get into it.

Smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol were considered bad habits, since it was the devil who gave man these potions. Smokers and alcoholics were considered potential helpers of the devil.

The mythologized opponent of the hero, found in Russian heroic tales.

Usually Miracle Yudo looks like a many-headed serpent or a horseman warrior. Unlike the Serpent, Miracle Yudo always acts not as an invader of foreign territory, but as an enemy of the entire human world. That is why it comes from behind the Kalinov Bridge - the border between the human world and the “other world”. His appearance before the hero is always accompanied by changes in nature: frightening rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightning, earthquakes, rough seas. In some stories, Miracle Yudo appears in the form of a monster, trying to hit the hero with his roar. Then it appears from the depths of the water element with the same signs, in particular it is said that from the weight of its body “the earth shook.” It is also described that foul breath emanates from it.

Often Baba Yaga turns out to be the hero's ally in the struggle. She supplies the hero with a magical weapon or suggests how to defeat Chudr-yudo.

The duel between a hero and a monster begins with mutual threats. The instigator is always Miracle Yudo. It threatens to destroy the hero with one finger, competes with him in the force of the breath or the ritual exchange of blows. It is not known exactly how the fight proceeds, since the actions are not specified and, in particular, what weapons Miracle Yudo uses are not described. The duel ends when the monster returns to its original form. Then the hero defeats him. At the same time, he uses weapons with magical powers: a multi-pound iron club, a magic treasure sword. First, the hero deprives the enemy of magical power (cuts off his fiery finger), and then cuts off all the heads one by one.

V. Ya. Propp believes that the image of Miracle Yud reflected man’s ancient ideas about “the general danger emanating from the world around him.” Therefore, Miracle Yudo is often endowed with the qualities of a werewolf, capable of taking the form of a bear, a tree, a needle, or a broom. The hero is helped to defeat the monster by animal assistants he met during his search for the monster: a bear, a wolf, a raven, a dog. They tear the monster into pieces, preventing it from being reborn again. After the death of Miracle Yud, his kingdom, created with the help of witchcraft, is destroyed.

Notes:

Biologists call the basilisk a lizard with a helmet-shaped crest on its head from the iguana family. It lives in the tropical forests of South America and feeds on insects.

Introduction

The works created by the people several centuries ago convey the wisdom, talent, and insight of the people themselves. Fairy tales, proverbs, sayings - all these means of literary expression that people have created over the centuries are not only interesting works that you can spend more than one hour reading, but they are also the moral source of the people.

In the first part of my work, genres of folklore, as well as its subtypes, will be considered. The second part of the work contains material about the images of evil spirits in the national folklore of different peoples. The third part of my work involves comparing similar images of evil spirits.

This work is devoted to the study of the characteristics of national folklore, and it will also examine some of the most famous images of evil spirits. Using the example of some of the folklore heroes I have chosen, I will try to consider the path of development literature has taken, and I will also focus on what people believed in and what they worshiped. In my work I touch upon the problem of modern society’s interests in folk art, as well as the relevance of folk art in modern literature.

I chose this topic because it is quite interesting and informative; what also seemed very interesting to me in this topic is that I will be working mainly with folk tales, and working with texts, especially fairy tales, is always a fascinating and entertaining process . I also found it very interesting that now people practically do not pay attention to images of evil spirits in literature.

This topic is quite relevant in our time. Indeed, lately interest in the unreal and fictional has been lost; fairy tales are rapidly relegated to the background in our time. They are rarely read, unless only to children, and the deep subtext of the content is rarely thought of.

The hypothesis of my work is that people began to “move away” from fairy tales, and, consequently, from the heroes who are present in them.

In my work I have set the following goal: generalization and comparison of images of evil spirits in national folklore.

In this regard, the objectives of the abstract are:

Review and summarize material about the meaning and characteristics of oral folk art.

Study the images of evil spirits in Slavic, Russian and Latvian folklore

Conduct a survey on the topic: “Which heroes of national folklore do you know?”

What is folklore?

Folklore (English folklore - folk wisdom) is a designation for the artistic activity of the masses, or oral folk art, which arose in the pre-literate period. This term was first introduced into scientific use by the English archaeologist W.J. Toms in 1846. And it was understood broadly as the totality of the spiritual and material culture of the people, their customs, beliefs, rituals, and various forms of art. Over time, the content of the term narrowed. There are several points of view that interpret folklore as folk artistic culture, as oral poetry and as a set of verbal, musical, game types of folk art. With all the diversity of regional and local forms, folklore has common features, such as anonymity, collective creativity, traditionalism, close connection with work, everyday life, and the transmission of works from generation to generation in the oral tradition. Collective life determined the appearance among different peoples of the same type of genres, plots, such means of artistic expression as hyperbole, parallelism, various types of repetitions, constant and complex epithet, and comparisons. The role of folklore was especially strong during the period of predominance of mythopoetic consciousness. With the advent of writing, many types of folklore developed in parallel with fiction, interacting with it, influencing it and other forms of artistic creativity and experiencing the opposite effect. An inexhaustible source of Russian musical originality (the most ancient types of folklore) In the social life of ancient Rus', folklore played a much greater role than in subsequent times. Unlike medieval Europe, Ancient Rus' did not have secular professional art. In its musical culture, only two main areas developed - temple singing and folk art of the oral tradition, including various, including “semi-professional” genres (the art of storytellers, buffoons, etc.). By the time of Russian Orthodox hymnography (1), folklore had a long history, an established system of genres and means of musical expression.

Folklore is folk art that originated in ancient times - the historical basis of the entire world artistic culture, the source of national artistic traditions, and an exponent of national self-awareness. Some researchers also classify all types of non-professional art (amateur art, including folk theaters) as folk art. A precise definition of the term “folklore” is difficult, since this form of folk art is not immutable and ossified. Folklore is constantly in the process of development and evolution: ditties can be performed to the accompaniment of modern musical instruments on modern themes, new fairy tales can be dedicated to modern phenomena, folk music can be influenced by rock music, and modern music itself can include elements of folklore, folk visual and applied art may be influenced by computer graphics, etc.

Folklore is divided into two groups -- ritual And non-ritual. Ritual folklore includes: calendar folklore (carols, Maslenitsa songs, freckles), family folklore (family stories, lullabies, wedding songs, lamentations), occasional folklore (spells, chants, counting rhymes). Non-ritual folklore is divided into four groups: folklore drama, poetry, prose and folklore of speech situations. Folklore drama includes: the Parsley Theater, nativity scene drama, and religious drama.

Folklore poetry includes: epic, historical song, spiritual verse, lyrical song, ballad, cruel romance, ditty, children's poetic songs (poetic parodies), sadistic rhymes. Folklore prose is again divided into two groups: fairy-tale and non-fairytale. Fairy-tale prose includes: a fairy tale (which, in turn, comes in four types: a fairy tale, a fairy tale about animals, an everyday tale, a cumulative fairy tale) and an anecdote. Non-fairy tale prose includes: tradition, legend, tale, mythological story, story about a dream. The folklore of speech situations includes: proverbs, sayings, well wishes, curses, nicknames, teasers, dialogue graffiti, riddles, tongue twisters and some others. There are also written forms of folklore, such as chain letters, graffiti, albums (for example, songbooks).

Alatyr

A magic stone mentioned in Russian conspiracies, legends and fairy tales.

In most conspiracies, Alatyr is identified with amber. Since the place where amber is mined is the Baltic coast, in folklore texts it is often called Alatyr. In spiritual poems, Alatyr is often replaced by an altar (according to consonance).

The conspiracies say that Alatyr is located on the island of Buyan in the middle of the sea-ocean. The stone has healing powers; healing rivers flow from it. Sometimes Alatyr is called the throne on which the maiden sits, healing wounds.

Probably, the source of the plot about Alatyr are medieval European legends, which tell about a fantastic stone that cures all diseases. The stone is located in a hard-to-reach place and is the navel of the earth. Therefore, he is endowed with magical powers and is considered the father (progenitor) of all precious stones.

Russian conspiracies also say that Alatyr is “the father of all stones.” The spell also emphasizes the magical properties of the stone: “On the sea, on the ocean, on the island of Buyan, lies the white-flammable stone Alatyr, the father of all stones. On that Alatyr stone sits a red maiden, a seamstress, holding a damask needle, threading an ore-yellow silk thread,

sews up bloody wounds. I speak to the servant of God (name) from the cut. Bulat, leave me alone, and you, blood, stop flowing.”

Alesha Popovich

One of the three main heroes of the Russian epic, the youngest in age.

Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmeevich Artist N. Kochergin

The archaic features preserved in the images of Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich allowed researchers to conclude that the characters of the epics arose as a result of rethinking the images of unknown deities. In particular, they resemble the fairy-tale triad - Gorynya, Dubynya and Usynya, heroes who help the hero get living water (the fairy tale “Gorynya, Dubynya and Usynya - heroes”).

At the same time, in many ways, the image of Alyosha is similar to other archaic heroes of the Russian epic, for example, the wizard-hero Volga Vseslavevich (Volkh) - a young man who loves to boast of his strength. Some researchers (in particular, B. A. Rybakov) tried to identify Alyosha Popovich with the real Russian warrior Alexander Popovich, who died in the Battle of Kalka in 1223. Perhaps the name of Alexander Popovich appeared in chronicles under the influence of widespread epics about Alyosha Popovich, in other words, we are talking about a secondary influence.

Based on the texts of epics, it is possible to reconstruct the biography of Alyosha Popovich. Like Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich, he comes from northeastern Rus' and is the son of the Rostov priest Leonty (according to some texts of the epics - Fyodor). The birth of Alyosha Popovich is accompanied by traditional miraculous signs - thunder and lightning. Almost immediately the heroic qualities of the hero appear: Alyosha asks his mother “not to swaddle him in swaddling clothes”, because he can already sit on a horse on his own. As soon as he gets back on his feet, Alyosha Popovich wants to go for a walk “throughout the world” - this is what all epic heroes do.

Alyosha Popovich heads to Kyiv, where he meets other heroes. Gradually he enters the heroic triad. According to some researchers, Alyosha is the most “human” of all the heroes of the Russian epic, since his characteristics contain not only traditional heroic qualities, but also elements of psychological assessment.

The description of Alyosha Popovich differs from other characters in his attempts to create a dynamic image endowed with individual properties. Alyosha differs from the older heroes in his cunning, as well as some unbalanced behavior, impetuous and harsh character. As they say in the epic, “he is not strong in strength, he is bold in pretense”: he defeats the enemy not so much by force as by cunning.

Sometimes Alyosha can deceive not only the enemy, but also his ally Dobrynya Nikitich. Therefore, for such actions he is constantly punished (the epic “The Marriage of Dobrynya and the Failed Marriage of Alyosha”). Alyosha Popovich loves to brag and often boasts of his strength. However, his jokes are not always harmless. Alyosha can offend those around him and even insult them. Therefore, his comrades - the heroes - often condemn Alyosha’s actions and behavior.

Alyosha Popovich is the hero of traditional heroic stories. The most archaic of them is the story of the fight with Tugarin (the epics “Alyosha Popovich and the Serpent”, “Alyosha and Tugarin”). The clash of heroes takes place either along the route of Alyosha Popovich to Kyiv, or in Kyiv itself, and Alyosha Popovich always acts as a defender of the honor and dignity of the prince.

Tugarin tries to choke Alyosha with smoke, cover him with sparks, and burn him in a fire-flame, but he invariably fails. Alyosha prays to God, he sends rain, the snake’s wings get wet, and he cannot fly. The main duel between him and Alyosha takes place on the ground. Alyosha deceives the enemy, forcing him to turn around (“What kind of power are you bringing with you?”). The battle ends traditionally - with the victory of the hero. Having scattered Tugarin’s body “across an open field,” Alyosha Popovich lifts the enemy’s head on a spear and takes it to Prince Vladimir.

The epics also tell the story of Alyosha Popovich’s marriage to the Zbrodovich’s sister Elena (Olen, Olenushka). There are also known stories about the unsuccessful matchmaking of Alyosha Dobrynya Nikitich Nastasya Mikulichna. Sometimes two plots are combined, and then Yasena Dobrynya becomes Nastasya Zbrodovichna.

Alkonost

The image of a magical bird with a woman's face. Usually mentioned in Byzantine and Slavic medieval legends. It spread in parallel with a similar image of the Sirin bird.

Baba Yaga, Sirin and Alkonost. Artist I. Bilibin

The legend tells that Alkonost lays eggs on the seashore, then immerses them in the depths of the sea for seven days. The sea remains calm until the chicks hatch. Therefore, the image of Alkonost is associated with a belief about the source of the origin of sea storms.

An image that occupies a special position in the mythologies and fairy tales of different peoples.

Baba Yaga (Yaga Yagishna, Ezhi Baba)

In national traditions, the image is multifaceted and contradictory: the Greek nymph Calypso, Naguchitsa in the fairy tales of the peoples of the Caucasus, Zhalmauyz-Kempir in Kazakh fairy tales, grandmother Metelitsa in German ones.

In Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga has a repulsive appearance. She usually appears in the form of an old woman with a bone leg, who has poor vision or is blind. She throws her huge breasts over her back. In particular, the following description is common: Baba Yaga, a bone leg, sits “on

The mortar of the furnace, on the ninth brick,” she has “teeth with a pestle on the shelf, and her nose has grown into the ceiling.”

Baba Yaga. Artist I. Bilibin

Fairy tales talk about how Baba Yaga kidnaps children and roasts them in an oven, throwing them in with a shovel. Researcher V. Ya. Propp connected the origins of the image with the ritual of baking a child to give him invulnerability. This motif is present in many fairy-tale and epic works (Homer’s Iliad, Nart epic). V. Ya. Propp proposed to interpret the tales of Baba Yaga as an initiation rite reproduced in mythological form. The researcher also made another assumption. He noted that Baba Yaga’s main “activity” is due to her close connection with wild animals and the forest. She lives in a remote thicket, animals and birds obey her. Therefore, V. Ya. Propp connected the origin of Baba Yaga with the image of the mistress of animals and the world of the dead, widespread in fairy tales and myths of many peoples. Thus, it is easy to notice the similarity between Baba Yaga and the evil sorceress Louhi, the mistress of the fairy-tale land of Pohjela from Finnish fairy tales: both old women live in the forest and confront the main character.

The fairy tales of Western and Eastern Slavs say that Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest in a “hut on chicken legs.” The hut is surrounded by a fence made of human bones with skulls on posts. Constipation is replaced by hands clasped together; instead of a lock, there are jaws with sharp teeth. Baba Yaga's hut is constantly turning around its axis. The hero can penetrate it only after he casts the spell: “Stand up as before, just as your mother did!” Towards the forest with your back, towards me in front.”

Baba Yaga's meeting with the hero begins with questions and ends with providing him with the necessary help. Often the hero turns to three sisters and receives help only from the eldest Baba Yaga (“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples, Living Water and the Girl Sineglazka”).

Combining the features of many ancient characters, in different stories Baba Yaga acts as the hero’s assistant, giver, and adviser. Then her appearance and home lose their frightening features. Only one constant detail is preserved: the hut must stand on chicken legs. In some fairy tales, Baba Yaga also acts as the mother of snakes, the opponents of the main character. Then the hero enters into a duel with her and wins.

Bova the prince

Hero of Russian fairy tales and popular popular stories.

Bova the prince Lubok. XIX century

The image of Bova has been known in Rus' since the beginning of the 17th century, when translations of the Polish “The Tale of Bova the Prince” appeared. The basis was a medieval novel about the adventures of the knight Buovo from the city of Ancona; The novel was converted into a folk book, versions of which were distributed throughout all European countries - from Poland to Macedonia.

Together with other similar monuments - “The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich”, “The Tale of Peter of the Golden Springs” - “The Tale of Bova the Prince”

entered into Russian folklore. Over time, the image of Bova is found along with images of Russian heroes and fairy-tale heroes - Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Tsarevich.

The story tells how Bova achieves the love of the beautiful princess Druzhnevna. Fighting against numerous enemies, Bova accomplishes feats, defeats foreign troops, and defeats the fabulous hero Polkan (half-man, half-dog). The ending of the story is traditional - Bova unites with his beloved, having overcome all the intrigues and obstacles.

The image of Bova entered written culture. Since popular retellings of his adventures continued to be published until the beginning of the 20th century, the image aroused interest among Russian writers, who perceived it through the oral medium (stories of nannies). At the end of the 18th century, A. N. Radishchev wrote the poem “Bova”. In 1814, the image of Bova was used by Pushkin, who created a sketch of the poem “Bova”.

Boyan

The image of the epic singer in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Goes back to Indo-European images. Analogues are found in the epics of almost all European peoples.

Guslar-storytellers Artist V. Vasnetsov

It is unknown whether Boyan actually existed. In the introduction to “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (12th century)

contains the following characteristic: “The prophetic Boyan, if anyone wants to create a song, his thoughts spread across the tree, like a gray wolf along the ground, like a crazy eagle under the clouds.” Let us suggest that the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” could summarize in the image of Boyan the real features of the court singers of Kievan Rus.

However, the image of Boyan is mentioned not only in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, but also in other monuments of the 12th century, in the 12th century inscription scratched on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, as well as in the Novgorod Chronicler.

Boyan is usually characterized by the constant epithet "Veles's grandson", which indicates his connection with the other world, the god of the underworld, as well as his supernatural nature (various magical skills).

Another constant epithet included in the characterization of the hero - “prophetic” - reflects the idea that the singer had secret knowledge and could predict events or cause them with his songs. Epic singers are endowed with such qualities (Braghi in the Elder Edda, Väinämöinen in the Finnish runes). The specificity of Boyan’s poetic style, the beauty and sophistication of his texts is also indicated by the definition of “nightingale of the old days.”

The interpretation of the image of Boyan in literature was formed under the influence of secondary folklorization and the widespread use of the image by authors of the late 18th century and A. S. Pushkin in the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, after which the image began to be perceived as fairy-tale (A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Snow Maiden” and the author's interpretation of the folk singer in the image of Lel).

Brawler

The name of a fairy-tale island mentioned in Russian fairy tales and spells (for example, in the saying “on the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan, there lies a baked bull. In the side there is crushed garlic and a sharpened knife”).

In conspiracies, Buyan Island is the place of residence of mythological characters (sometimes Christian saints or evil feverish shakers). There are also some magical items there.

(Alatyr stone). It was believed that the mention of Buyan in the conspiracy gives concreteness to the appeal and, accordingly, makes it more effective.

Vasily Buslaev

A character from the Russian epic.

The main character of two epics of the Novgorod cycle. They probably appeared no earlier than the 14th century, since in the image of Vasily Buslaev traditional heroic features are either absent or simply listed. In later versions, the hero even acts under the name Vaska the drunkard.

Vasily Buslaev Artist A. Ryabushkin. Illustration for the epic

The epic provides the following information about the hero: he was born in Veliky Novgorod. When he was seven years old, he:

He began to walk around the city,

To look into the princely courtyard,

He started joking, joking,

Joking jokes he is unkind

With boyar children, with princely children,

Whoever gets pulled by the hand - hand away,

Whose foot - foot off,

If they push two or three together, they lie without a soul.

Gradually, he feels the “great strength” within himself and makes heroic weapons - a club, a bow, a spear and a saber. Then Vasily recruits a “good squad” of thirty young men. However, the difference between his actions and the actions of traditional heroes is that Vasily does not fight with any opponents, but together with his comrades he only revels and fights on the bridge “with the peasants of Novgorod.” Appearing with his squad at the brotherhood - the common holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - he starts a fight. The Novgorod men are trying to pacify the troublemakers. Grabbing the cart axle, Vasily

He started clicking on the men, Vasilyushka waved - the street, waved - intermediate. Is it in the Volkhov river? For a whole mile, water mixed with blood.

Vasily Buslaev enters into a kind of confrontation with all the residents of Novgorod. But under the influence of his mother, an “honest widow,” he is forced to admit that he was wrong. Realizing that the sin committed must be atoneed for, Vasily equips the ship and asks his mother to bless him:

Give me a great blessing -

I, Vasily, should go to Jerusalem city,

I should pray to the Lord,

Venerate the holy shrine,

Take a bath in the Erdan River.

His mother gives him a blessing, but only for good deeds.

On the way to Jerusalem, Vasily climbs “Mount Sorochinskaya” and sees a human skull on the ground. As he kicks it out of the way, a voice suddenly rings out:

Why are you throwing my head away?

Well done, I was no worse than you,

And on that mountain Sorochinsky,

Where the head lies empty

The brave head is empty,

And it will lie on Vasilyeva’s head.

But Vasily does not pay attention to the warning:

But I don’t believe in sleep or choch, But I believe in my scarlet elm.

In Jerusalem, Vasily performs all the required rituals, serves mass, a memorial service, venerates shrines, but in the end he breaks the order - he bathes in the Jordan, where Jesus Christ was baptized. Having cleansed himself of past sins, he immediately commits a new one. On the way back, Vasily stops on the mountain, but now he sees a “white-flammable stone” under which the hero rests. There is an inscription on the stone saying that you cannot jump along the stone. But Vasily again violates the ban:

He took a running start, jumped along the stone and only missed a quarter of the mark, and then he killed himself under a stone. Where the empty head lies, Vasily was buried there.

The stone symbolizes the border of Death's domain. Vasily tried to violate the border of her kingdom, inaccessible to the living, so death takes him.

In the early versions of the epic, Vasily Buslaev appears as a boyar’s son, but then his origin is not mentioned. This technique makes it possible to more clearly show the role of Vasily Buslaev as the leader of the poor attacking rich ships.

Basilisk

A mythical animal mentioned in legends, spiritual poems and spells.

Basilisk

The image first appeared in ancient Greek sources: Basilisk [2] was considered a snake with a diadem on its head (this is what a cobra looks like before an attack). With her gaze she kills all living things. The image of the Basilisk penetrated into medieval bestiaries (collections of descriptions of animals) and legends. In the Middle Engravings of the 16th century. centuries, the Basilisk was depicted with the body of a rooster and the tail of a snake. In the Slavic world, the Basilisk was represented as a huge snake, capable of killing with poison, gaze and breath. The legends of many peoples report the special gaze of the Basilisk, capable of penetrating through walls and turning all living things into stone. If the Basilisk sees its reflection in the mirror, it will die. Slavic sources say that the Basilisk has the head of a turkey, the eyes of a toad, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a snake. Sometimes his appearance resembled a huge lizard with a crest on his head and a long forked tongue.

Information about the birth of the Basilisk is contradictory. One legend tells that the Basilisk is born from a cock's egg hatched by a toad; in another, a rooster hatches an egg in the altar. The Basilisk itself can also lay eggs, from which vipers hatch.

According to legends, the Basilisk lives in caves, where it spends daylight hours. He cannot stand sunlight or the crow of a rooster, so he can only leave his shelter at night. In caves, the Basilisk finds food because it only eats stones.

Giant

A character from Slavic mythology, found in fairy tales, traditions and legends.

The image of a giant combines the features of a man and an underground monster. Traces of beliefs have survived to this day in legends, where giants are often depicted as half-mountain, half-human. The giant looks like a man of enormous stature, “higher than a standing forest, lower than a walking cloud.” He has such strength that he can turn over a mountain, pull out a tree, lift a plowman and his team.

Slavic legends say that giants were the first inhabitants of the earth. They developed the desert land: they built mountains, dug river beds, and sowed fields and forests with plants. Echoes of such legends were included in the Estonian “Kalevipoeg” and became the basis of numerous legends.

V. Ya. Propp assumed that the images of giants arose on the basis of the characters of ancient myths, which speak of the struggle of the thunder hero with an enemy who emerged from underground. The Indo-European myth tells that the thunderer

the animal can act in the form of a giant (Ukko in the Finnish epic). To defeat evil spirits, he throws not only lightning, but also huge stones to the ground. Greek myths tell about the struggle of the gods with the Hecatonchires - hundred-armed giants, huge as rocks. In the Scandinavian epic “Elder Edda,” the thunder god Thor is the opponent of the giants Grimthurs.

Christian legends do not mention the divine origin of giants. They were considered pagans, viewed as savages and cannibals with human heads rather than dogs. In some fairy tales, giants also act as kidnappers.

There are several versions of the death of the giants. They believed that God was punishing them for their pride and lack of faith in his power (biblical motive). There is a well-known legend that God destroyed the giants because they harmed people - they destroyed houses, trampled fields and forests. Other stories say that the giants died during the global flood because they could not feed themselves. An apocryphal legend says that the giants were eaten by a huge bird, Kuk. The winner of the giants could be an ordinary person, armed with an appropriate prayer or conspiracy. Sometimes the giants were overcome by a hero endowed with heroic strength.

In later legends, images of giants were often identified with various invaders - Tatars, Turks, Swedes or even Huns. It is curious that at that time the giants were credited with knowledge of the Latin language, which was supposed to emphasize their foreign origin.

Traditional folklore motifs are associated with the images of giants: victory over a snake, throwing a mace into the sky, causing thunder to roll. Pieces of huge bones of fossil animals found during the erosion of river banks were often associated with giants, as were huge stones left by the glacier. Both stones and pieces of bone were used in folk medicine as a remedy for fever. Traces of beliefs were reflected in the texts of conspiracies.

Verlioka

A fairy-tale monster that lives in a deep forest, a destroyer and destroyer of all living things. He is always the enemy of fairy-tale heroes.

The image of Verlioka is found in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian folklore. The description of Verlioka is traditional: “tall, about one eye, half an arshin in the shoulders, stubble on his head, he leans on a stick, he grins terribly.” The description matches the images of some characters from children's horror stories. Apparently, this feature determines the character’s prevalence only in fairy tales intended for children.

In the image of Verlioka, the features of a giant wizard are clearly visible. He destroys everything around him, kills everyone he meets. After Verlioka's death, the magic stops, and everyone he killed is resurrected. To fight the villain, people (grandfather), animals (drake), and inanimate objects (acorn, string) unite.

In the 20th century, the image received a kind of creative rethinking. Verlioka became the hero of the fairy tale story of the same name by V. A. Kaverin. Since the image of Verlioka retains only one traditional feature - the connection with the forest, some researchers define the genre of the story as fantasy.

A character from East Slavic mythology, who combines the features of a fairy-tale giant and traditional signs of evil spirits. In fact, the image was invented by N.V. Gogol.

The name Viy comes from the Old Slavonic word “veyka” (Ukrainian - viyka), eyelash. Viy is a giant who can hardly move due to the excessive weight of his body. Viy's gaze has deadly power - it kills or turns to stone. His eyes are constantly hidden under huge eyelids; they are raised with pitchforks by the demons accompanying the monster. Viy acts as the ruler of the underworld or the leader of the devils. It not only causes harm to humans. With his deadly gaze, Viy destroys cities where infidels live. In this motif, traces of ancient beliefs in the “evil eye” were combined with ideas about creatures endowed with a deadly gaze (basilisk).

The image is interestingly interpreted in the story of the same name by N. V. Gogol, based on Ukrainian folk legends. It combines the features of various characters: the basilisk, the ruler of the underworld, Saint Kasyan, who is considered the embodiment of leap year and the personification of all kinds of misfortunes. Apocryphal legends about this saint say that he lives in a cave where daylight does not penetrate. His gaze also brings misfortune to a person.

It is curious that this motif was included in the apocryphal legend about Judas Iscariot: as punishment for the betrayal of Jesus Christ, Judas lost his sight due to overgrown eyelids.

Wolf

One of the main animals in Slavic mythology.

According to legends, the wolf was created by the devil, who molded him from clay. But the devil could not revive him. Then the devil turned to God, who breathed a soul into the wolf. The dual origin of the wolf determined its borderline position between this and that world, man and evil spirits.

The wolf is always opposed to man as the personification of brute destructive force. The wolf is hostile to humans, destroys livestock and can attack people. The main feature of a wolf in conspiracies and, above all, in fairy tales, is considered to be its foreignness, its belonging to another, non-human world. Therefore, the wolf is often endowed with supernatural features - iron teeth, fiery skin, copper head. It is curious that in wedding songs, those accompanying the groom, as well as all the bride’s relatives, are called wolves, since during the wedding they are strangers in the groom’s house. In folk songs, the groom's relatives accordingly call the bride a she-wolf.

However, there is a belief that, by destroying devils, the wolf acts according to God's will. Almost throughout Europe, there is a widespread idea that a meeting with a wolf portends good luck, happiness or some kind of well-being. Apparently, this is why in fairy tales the wolf invariably acts as an ally or magical assistant to the hero. He helps Ivan Tsarevich obtain magical objects, and then resurrects him with the help of living water.

The image of a wolf is associated with the oldest idea of ​​werewolves. It is wolves that sorcerers and people bewitched by them turn into. Numerous tales are known that wolves obey the goblin, who gathers them in the clearing and feeds them like dogs.

According to Christian beliefs, the wolf is considered the guardian of herds. The patron saint of wolves is Saint George. The tales tell how Saint Yuri (George) in the spring distributes their future prey among the wolves.

Rituals protecting against wolves are associated with the holidays of St. George. In particular, on these days you cannot eat meat, drive livestock into the field, or perform work related to livestock and livestock breeding. It was dangerous to mention the name of the wolf in everyday speech. This is how numerous euphemisms appeared that replace the name of an animal in fairy tales - “gray”, “gray sides”, “God’s dog”, “forest dog”.

To protect against the wolf, they use spells addressed to the devil or Saint George with a request to calm down “their dogs.” When you met a wolf, you had to kneel down and greet him.

The eyes, heart, teeth and claws of the wolf served as amulets, and healing properties were attributed to them. A wolf tooth was hung around the neck of a teething child. Wolf tail or wool made from it is worn to protect against diseases.

Volkodlak

In Slavic mythology, a wolf-clad is a person who has the supernatural ability to turn into a wolf. The idea of ​​the wolf-dog combines features of a folklore image and a character from Christian demonology.

A sign of a wolf dog is the wolf hair (dlaka) growing on the head, noticeable already at birth. The Slavic name of the character comes from it.

The motif of a person turning into a wolf is common in the folklore of all European countries, as well as the Caucasus, which indicates the origin of the image in ancient times. Some epic heroes (Volkh Vseslavyevich, Beowulf, Sigurd) and literary characters, in particular Vseslav Polotsky (“The Lay of Igor’s Campaign”), had the ability to turn into a wolf.

Researchers associate the image of the wolfdog with the oldest form of marriage - kidnapping (kidnapping the bride). In some Russian dialects, the groom's friend was called a wolf. Numerous stories have been preserved about people turning into wolves during a wedding.

A person could become a wolfdog thanks to witchcraft. The motive of turning into a wolf after putting on a wolf skin is also known; when removing it, the reverse transformation occurs. In Lithuanian and Latvian folklore, such characters were called vilktaks (vilkacis). Usually the transformation was carried out by putting on an enchanted belt (prievit) or stepping over (somersaulting) over a stump. At the same time, the corresponding conspiracy was pronounced: “In the name of the devil, let me become a wolf, gray, fast as fire.”

Like a real wolf, the wolfhound attacked people and animals. There are stories about how a bewitched person strives to overcome the power of witchcraft, does not harm anyone and refuses raw meat.

Sometimes the wolfhound turns into a bear. Such a transformation is described, in particular, in the ancient Russian handwritten book “The Enchanter”. But beliefs about transformations into bears are less common, since the bear personifies a different circle of beliefs.

The myth about the origin of a solar eclipse is also associated with the image of the wolfdog. Many Slavic peoples have stories that during an eclipse, wolfhounds eat the moon (sun). It was believed that after death the wolfhound could become a ghoul, so before burial he should have been gagged or a coin placed in it.

In Russian literature, the image of the wolfdog became widespread after the publication of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Ghoul.”

Folklore is a type of reflection of popular consciousness. And this distinguishes it from other forms of linguistic art, including literature, in which the lonely personality of the author is expressed. can also reflect a purely personal perception of the environment, while folklore unites a collective, social vision. Modern literary criticism is increasingly turning to the phenomenon of mass literature and the peculiarities of its functioning within Russia. Authors of the 21st century have recently shown a tendency towards an active interpretation of the extraction of traditional culture. The growth in the popularity of mass literature is ensured by writers using the reader’s ability to reproduce on a subconscious level the images and plots already known to him, presented in the work. Very often this “base” is folklore.

Folklore motives

Folklore motifs are used sooner or later by all writers of both mass and elite literature; the difference lies in their function at a given level. In mass literature, folklore is, first of all, a “factor in the formation of national literature,” that is, a guarantor of the correlation of the text with generally accepted standards of literature that the reader is ready to consume. Under such circumstances, literary scholars are trying to determine: what folklore is in literature, how folklore motifs interact with works of mass literature and what are the features of their influence on the author’s text, as well as the transformations that a folklore text experiences as it is included in the plane of a modern literary work and changes it traditional meanings. Researchers establish the limits of the inclusion of a folklore text into a literary text and trace the transformations of universal folklore archetypes. One of the main tasks will be to find out what folklore is in literature, to explore their mutual influence and connections in works of mass literature.

Traditional folklore

Authors of popular literature set the main task when writing a work to interest the reader. To do this, first of all, they strive for a masterful depiction of intrigue. Zofia Mitosek, in her article “The End of Mimesis,” writes that “building suspense is a game of tradition and innovation.” And if by the concept of tradition we mean “the transmission from one generation to another of traditional forms of activity and communication, as well as accompanying customs, rules, ideas, and values,” then for the reader folklore is a worthy representative of tradition in literature. In modern society, it is necessary to instill in the younger generation the need to study traditional folklore.

School curriculum: literature (5th grade) - folklore genres

Fifth grade is an important phase in the development of language education of schoolchildren. The appeal to works using folklore materials is due to the need for self-affirmation, the significant receptivity of fifth grade students to folk art, and the correspondence of folklore as an oral word to the active speech of a child at the stage of constant development. A literature lesson gives a student such education in high school.

Genres of folklore that should be studied in modern schools:

Ritual creativity

• Calendar-ritual poetry.
• Folk drama.
• Heroic epic.
• Duma.

Ballads and lyrical songs

• Ballads.
• Family and everyday songs.
• Social and everyday songs.
• Gunfighter and rebel songs.
• Ditties.
• Songs of literary origin.

Fairytale and non-fairytale historical prose

• Folk tales.
• Legends and traditions.

Folk paremiography

• Proverbs and sayings.
• Puzzles.
• Popular beliefs.
• Fables.

Folklore is a “genetic” element of worldview

The artistic action in the plot of works of literature is most often simple and understandable, designed to correspond to the everyday consciousness of the reader. Folklore is a “genetic” element of the worldview and, as a rule, is embedded in the consciousness with the first songs, fairy tales, and riddles from childhood. So, at school, the literature lesson (5th grade) gives the student the features of folklore works. Folklore makes the world clearer and tries to explain the unknown. Therefore, with the interaction of the functions of folklore and literature, a powerful resource is created to influence the consciousness of the recipient, in which the text is able to mythologize human consciousness and even cause a transformation in the rational sphere of human thinking. The answer to the question “what is folklore in literature” is determined by a whole area of ​​integral creative understanding and use. In works of folklore, ideas of creativity are often revealed on the verge of intersection with literature. Perhaps this is also influenced by primordial ritual folklore. Literature (5th grade) in modern schools is increasingly returning to the current topic of spiritual and cultural revival, to the fundamental basis of the existence of our people, one of the main carriers of information about which is folklore.

Tradition of analysis

In our time, there has already emerged a certain tradition of analyzing what folklore is in literature, according to which equating creativity with standards is considered inappropriate: despite the label of “mass production” of novels, they have their own style, creative manner and, most importantly, the themes of the works. They “regenerated” from the depths of the soul eternal themes, the reader’s interest in which had been dormant since the beginning of the new era. The favorite themes of ancient authors are the village and the city, the historical connection of generations, mystical stories with a love-erotic overtones. A modern style of “direct” description of events is built on established historical images; traditional culture is presented in a modified version. The heroes of the works are characterized by a breadth of comprehension of life and psychological experience; descriptions of their characters are emphasized by reminiscences of the history and culture of our people, which most often appear in the author’s digressions and remarks.

Desacralization of folklore

Emphasis is placed on the visualization of paintings, which is carried out using increased dynamism in the presentation of events and the effect of understatement, which stimulates the reader to creative “collaboration”. In every novel, the hero exists in a world created by the author himself, with its own geography, history, and mythology. But when reading, the recipient perceives this space as already known, that is, he penetrates the atmosphere of the work from the first pages. The authors achieve this effect through the inclusion of various folklore schemes; that is, we are talking about “imitation of myth by non-mythological consciousness,” according to which folklore elements appear under their traditional context and acquire a different semantic meaning, but at the same time perform the function of identification by the reader of ancient meanings already known to him. Thus, in the texts of mass literature there is a desacralization of traditions and folklore.

The phenomenon of modification of the past and present

The phenomenon of modification of the past and present can be traced even in the nature of the construction of almost all works. The texts are replete with proverbs and sayings, which makes it possible to convey the centuries-old experience of the people in a condensed, condensed form. The main thing in the works is that they act as elements of the hero’s monologues and dialogues - most often in this, characters are used as bearers of wisdom and morality. Signs and sayings also serve as a hint at the tragic fate of the heroes of that time. They carry a deep meaning; one sign can tell the hero everything.

Folklore is the harmony of the inner world

So, a certain mythologization and reference to folklore in works is a natural and as integral part of the created world as the specificity of the peasantry, ethnic flavor and live, real broadcasting. Mass literature is built on the “basic models” of the consciousness of the reader of a given nation (which are based on “initial intentions”). In works, such “original intentions” are precisely folklore elements. With the help of folklore motifs, there is a closeness to nature, harmony of the inner world, and other functions of folklore fade into the background, a simplification of sacredness occurs.

REVOLUTIONS

As a manuscript

GOLUB MARINA LEONIDOVNA

UDC 7. 01."(398.0)

[dissertations for the degree of candidate of philosophical sciences

09-00-04 - AESTHETICS

The dissertation was completed at Kiev State University. T. G. Shevchenko at the Department of Ethics, Aesthetics 1 Theory of Culture, Faculty of Philosophy.

Scientific supervisor: candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor

Official opponents: Doctor of Philosophy, Professor

rubbish Bychko A.K.

Leading organization: Institute of Art History, Folk

lore and ethnography named after. M. T. Rylsky Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR

The defense will take place on November 28, 1991 at 15:00 at a meeting of the Specialized Council D 068.18.23 at the Kiev State University. T. G. Shevchenko at the address: 252000 GPS-1, st. Vladimirskaya, 60, a¿yd. 267.

The dissertation can be found in the scientific library of Kyiv State University. T. G. Shevchenko

Scientific Secretary of the Specialized Council

Rusin M. Yu.

Candidate of Philosophy, Associate Professor Gumeshok Tatyana Konstantinovna.

D. Y. KUCHERYUK

Kyiv ORDER OF LENIN AND ORDER OF OCTOBER

REVOLUTIONS

STATE UNIVERSITY NAMED AFTER T. G. SHEVCHENKO

As a manuscript

GOLUB MARINA LEONIDOVNA

■ UDC 7. 01 (398.0)

SPECIFICITY OF ARTISTIC IMAGE IN FOLKLORE

dissertations for the degree of candidate of philosophical sciences

09-00-04 - AESTHETICS

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK.

The relevance of research. The growth of national self-awareness associated with the democratization of public life contributes to the revival of interest in the cultural heritage of the people, their moral and aesthetic values, most fully embodied in folklore. Folklore, being a creative expression of deep folk intentions, a way of expressing the spiritual values ​​of a people and its ideological searches, is an important component in the spiritual life of society -

Thus, we consider the philosophical study of the problem of folklore as a socially conditioned and historically developing artistic activity, the fundamental category of which is the artistic image, to be relevant, since it is in it that the entire spiritual experience of the people is accumulated, the universals that underlie spiritual and practical life are formed people.

The degree of development of the problem. Folklore, as a socially conditioned and historically developing artistic activity of the masses, is closely connected with the spiritual life of the people. However, the lack of fundamental developments that would lead to the creation of a general theory of folklore, as well as the lack of development of not only the conceptual apparatus of the theory of folklore, but also the uncertainty of the concept of “folklore” itself, leads to the need for a theoretical analysis of this problem. As before, in art history and aesthetic literature, there is a whole range of points of view on folklore as a set of certain rituals, a code of morals, a collection of customs and superstitions. There is also no unity regarding approaches to the study of folklore. None of the existing approaches - archaeological, historical, psychological or literary criticism - can answer the question: what is folklore and what is its specificity.

Isolation of the constituent elements of folklore, namely verbal, musical, playful, contributes to the accumulation of empirical material, but cannot give a holistic idea of ​​this phenomenon of artistic activity.

Several conceptual paradigms can be identified in determining the specifics of folklore. Thus, the dominance in the 30s of epistemological interpretations of the phenomenon of art and the recognition of figurative nature also affected the understanding of the characteristics of folklore as an art form. The insufficiency of the epistemological model of the nature of art, in our opinion, is as follows: firstly, epistemology reduces all the diversity of forms of human worldview, to which art undoubtedly belongs, to the cognitive attitude of man to the world. Thus, art is viewed through the prism of the characteristics of cognition, which leads to the loss of its specificity as a form of spiritual and practical exploration of the world. Secondly, the “registration” of art according to the epistemological department, although it carries a heuristic potential, however, narrows the possibilities of its consideration from the spiritual-practical, objective worldview, limiting art to only a reflective function. Thirdly, epistemology, suffering from an excessive commitment to abstraction, does not take into account that the meanings generated by practical consciousness cannot be depersonalized, otherwise they cannot serve as the basis for a spiritual-practical way of relating a person to the world and cannot accompany practical actions individual. Further, the scheme that epistemology applies to knowledge is automatically superimposed on consciousness, in which knowledge is only one of the components. And, finally, the assignment of cognitive functions to art is due to its consideration as a mental essence, and not a form of spiritual and practical relationship to the world. This was also reflected in the consideration of the artistic image, which became the subject of theoretical research only in the 50s (A. N. Dremov. Z. S. Paperny, etc.).

The second important stage in understanding the specifics of art is the aesthetic approach to the unification of its nature, the main characteristic of which is recognition for

the art of the ability to perceive the surrounding reality in developed forms of human sensibility, the development of this approach is associated with research. A. Burov, who saw the specificity of art not in its reverse structure, but in its aesthetic qualities. In the works. V. Palievsky, B. M. Runin show the essence of the artistic image as a connection between cognition and evaluation of reality

Within the framework of this approach, the study of artistic Zraz was carried out in the following aspects: firstly, “the accumulation of its meaningful characteristics, new-)