Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology became the subject of scientific research from the second half of the 18th century, with the appearance of the works of M. I. Popov "Description of the ancient Slavic pagan fable" (1768) and M. D. Chulkov "Abeveg of Russian superstitions ..." (1786). At the beginning of the 19th century, the researches of G. A. Glinka, The Ancient Religion of the Slavs (1804) and A. S. Kaysarov , Slavic and Russian Mythology (1810), appeared.

In the XIX century, the study of Slavic mythology received a new impetus with the advent of the collection " Slavonic Bulletin " (1866), edited by A. Khovansky , where D. O. Shepping , A. N. Afanasyev , A. published their articles on this issue . A. Potebnya , N. I. Kareev , F. I. Buslaev and others. In 1884, the journal Philological Notes published an article by Louis Léger , A Short Sketch of Slavic Mythology , containing a detailed bibliographic review of modern publications on this topic, and in 1907 a translation of his Slavic Mythology ^[1] was published.

In the 20th century, L. Niederle's studies “Slavic Antiquities”, “Essays on Russian Mythology” by D. K. Zelenin, “Slavonicism and Ancient Russia” by E. V. Anichkov, “The Morphology of a Fairy Tale” and “Historical Roots of a Fairy Tale” by V. I Proppa, "Studies in the Slavic Antiquities" by V. V. Ivanov and V. N. Toporov, "Paganism of the Ancient Slavs" by B. A. Rybakov.

Scientists restore Slavic mythology from various sources.

First, it is written sources. Texts of Byzantine authors of the 6th – 10th centuries: Procopius of Caesarea , Theophylact Simokatta , Constantin Bagryanonny , Leo Deacon, and others. Western European authors of the 9th – 13th centuries: Bavarian Geographer , Titmar of Merseburg , Helmold , Saxon Grammar , etc. Arabic authors -Masudi , Ibn Fadlan , Ibn Ruste and others. In the Scandinavian sagas of the XIII century, in the Elder and Junior Eddah there is information that can be used for the reconstruction of Slavic paganism. Old Russian , West Slavic ( Kozma Prague with his " Czech Chronicle ") and South Slavic sources of the 11th-15th centuries: chronicles , teachings and teachings against pagans ( Cyril of Turov , Kyrik Novgorod and others) and inserts into translated literature, including apocrypha . A special place is occupied by the “ Word about the regiment of Igorev ”, which reflected a significant layer of pagan myths, mentioned by the heir and bearer of pagan culture - an unknown songwriter. All these texts do not contain any holistic statements of mythology or individual myths . In any case, it should be remembered that this is not a statement of the myths themselves, but a retelling of their understanding by contemporaries of the Gentiles.

Secondly, written sources of the XV-XVII centuries and folklore sources of the XVIII-XX centuries, which are less close to paganism, but contain a number of information from earlier sources that have not reached us, as well as detailed records of legends , fairy tales , epics , conspiracies , bylichyk and former , proverbs and sayings , which is possible to restore the ancient myths . Of particular importance are the information of Polish, Czech and German authors and historians who recorded the local legends of the Western Slavs, who preserved the information of ancient Russian sources. In Russia of the 16th — 17th centuries, some information was recorded by Western diplomats, military men and travelers ( Sigismund Herberstein , Adam Olearius, and others). Among folklore scenes, paganism usually refers to epic stories about Svyatoslav , Potyk , Volga (Volkha) , Mikul ; fairy tales about the Existence of the Immortal , the Snake Gorynych , Baba Yaga , Alyonushka and Ivanushka. The difficulty of interpreting these sources lies in the fact that later strata, fabrications of authors, storytellers, and folklore collectors lay down on ancient ideas. Among the authoritative researchers of folklore are I. P. Sakharov , A. N. Afanasyev , DK Zelenin , V. Ya. Propp and others. Although these sources are very controversial since it is not always clear what is the heritage of popular Christianity, what is “paganism”. A. A. Panchenko, criticizing the construction of archaic reconstructions divorced from reality, writes:

... we do not have too many methods for determining the antiquity of certain phenomena of mass (especially - oral) culture. The “archaism” of many cultural forms studied by Russian ethnologists and folklorists is a scientific illusion. What was considered the "legacy of paganism" was often a relatively late phenomenon that arose in the context of Christian culture. <...> I think that the pursuit of archaic is another way of constructing the "alien" - this "obscure object of desire" of colonial anthropology ^[2] .

More reliable, but also more difficult to read, archaeological sources: information from the excavations of religious places, finds of idols , ceremonial objects, jewelry, pagan signs , inscriptions mentioning pagan gods or pagans, remnants of sacrifices and ceremonial actions. Significant contributions to the study of pagan antiquities were made by L. Niederle , A. N. Lyavdansky , I. Hermann, E. Kässowska, E. Gjassovsky, V. Losinsky, A. Lapinsky, V. Y. Mansikka , V. V. Sedov , P N. Tretyakov , B. A. Rybakov , I. S. Vinokur, P. P. Tolochko , D. N. Kozak, Ya. E. Borovsky, B. A. Tymoschuk, I. P. Rusanova, N. I Tolstoy , L. S. Klein and others.

Important are the information of linguistics, comparative religion and the study of mythological subjects in other nations. In addition to the world authority in this area, J.J. Frazer , you can call S.A. Tokarev , V.N. Toporov and Vyach. Su Ivanova .

From antiquity to VI — IX centuries.

Slavic mythology was formed over a long period in the process of isolating the ancient Slavs from the Indo-European community of peoples in the II — I millennium BC. e. and in conjunction with the mythology and religion of neighboring peoples. Therefore, naturally, in Slavic mythology there is a significant Indo-European layer . It is assumed that it includes images of the god of thunderstorms and the fighting squad ( Perun ), the god of livestock and the other world ( Veles ), elements of the images of the twin deities ( Yarilo and Yarilikha , Ivan da Marya ) and the God- Heaven deities ( Stribog ). Also, Indo-European in essence are such images as the Mother of the Cheese-Earth , the associated goddess of weaving and spinning ( Mokosh ), the solar deity ( Dazhbog ), and some others ^[3] .

The beliefs of the Slavs and the Balts were very close. This applies to such deities as Perun ( Perkunas ), Veles ( Wellness ) and, possibly, others. There is also much in common with the German-Scandinavian mythology : the motive of the world tree , the presence of dragons, and so on.

When the Eastern Slavic tribes were settled in the 6th – 9th centuries (and the Russians - up to the 19th century), the mythologies of their separate groups could be influenced by the mythologies of the Finno-Ugric , Balt and Turkic peoples.

Little is known about the views of the ancient Slavs on the creation and structure of the surrounding world due to the practical absence of written sources. Therefore, to get some idea about this part of the worldview of the ancient Slavs is possible only from indirect sources - according to archeology, ethnography, indirect information from written sources.

Some information about the ideas of the ancient Slavs about the Universe is given by the so-called “ Zbruch idol ”. This tetrahedral stone sculpture is oriented to the cardinal points . Each side of it is divided into three levels - apparently, heavenly, earthly and underground. At the heavenly level, deities are depicted, on the earthly level - people (two men and two women, as well as deities), and in the underground level - presumably some chthonic creature holding onto the earth.

Fragmentary information about the attitude of the ancient Slavs can be obtained from the Old Russian literature. In particular, in the “ Instructions of Vladimir Monomakh ” Iriy is mentioned - a distant southern country, to which birds fly for the winter. With the help of ethnographic materials, we can learn that Irii was identified in the people's memory later with Paradise and personified the “land of the blessed,” the world.

Something about the ideas of the Slavs can tell the old Russian chronicle oath:

And if the above is not done ... then let them be yellow, like gold.

Original Text (Old Russian)

If we don’t take care of the sam неh prezhechenykh ... let us be gold, as if gold is ... ^[4]

This oath is explained by the fact that the dead Slavs seemed to be, as a rule, yellow, so in this case the words "let's be yellow" have a direct meaning "let us die." In this regard, it should be noted that the underground world or the thirtieth kingdom in Russian fairy tales, as well as the inhabitants of this other world, often have golden color ^[5] . This myth is also likely to be found in other Indo-European peoples (cf. the golden palace of Odin ).

Finally, according to some researchers, some of the information about the ideas of the ancient Slavs about the Universe can be found in the "Lay of Igor". In particular, this passage draws attention:

The prophetic Boyan, if he has planned to sing about someone, then he scatters with a squirrel thought on a tree, a gray wolf on the ground, a gray eagle under a cloud. (Translated by A. K. Yugov )

Original Text (Old Russian)

Boyan bo things, if anyone wants to create, then spread his thoughts on the tree, walk around the ground, shizym orlom clouds. ^[6] .

Some researchers in this passage find the three-part division of the world (sky-air-earth) and the archetypal image of the World Tree , and the squirrel that runs along this tree is compared to the squirrel Ratathosk from German-Scandinavian mythology . In this case, it turns out that Boyan , like the Old German skalds , traveled around the World Tree (among the Germans, World Ash ), thus connecting worlds and receiving divine knowledge and inspiration from the higher world ^[7] . In addition, ideas about the World Tree are preserved in the later traditional culture of the Slavic peoples - in fairy tales, conspiracies, spinning-wheels, etc. For example, in the initial part of the conspiracy the conspirator localizes himself in the center of the sacred world:

On the Sea-Ocean , on the island of Buyan there is an oak Carcolist, on that oak there is a falcon, under that oak tree ...

That is, it is clear how the Slavs (in this case, the Russians ) imagined the Universe: in the center of the world ocean there is an island ( Buyan ), on which, in the Center of the World, lies a stone ( Alatyr ) or the World Tree grows (usually oak) . On this tree, as seen from the plot, a bird sits, and under the tree is a serpent ^[8] . This picture is very similar to the German-Scandinavian and presented in the "Lay of Igor".

• Spirit of the place
• Slavic paganism
• Proto-Indo-European religion
• Russian folk calendar
• Popular Christianity
• Literature on Slavic mythology

• Zelenin DK Selected Works. Sketches of Russian mythology: Dead and unnatural death and mermaids . - M .: Indrik , 1995. - 432 p. - ( Traditional spiritual culture of the Slavs . From the history of the study). - ISBN 5-85759-018-3 . Archived copy from February 23, 2014 on Wayback Machine
• Propp V.Ya. Historical roots of a fairy tale. - L .: Izd-vo LSU, 1986.
• Word about the regiment of Igor / Trans., Com. and articles by A. K. Yugov . M .: Moscow Worker, 1970.
• Slavic mythology and religion of the Slavs // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Ivanov Vyach. Sun., Toporov VN Research in the field of Slavic antiquities
• Levkievskaya E.E. Myths of the Russian people

Related monographs

• Agapkina, T. A. Mythopoetic Basics of the Slavic Folk Calendar. Spring-summer cycle
• Belova O. V., Petrukhin V. Ya. Folklore and bookishness: Myth and historical realities
• Zhuravlev A.F. Language and Myth. Linguistic commentary on the work of A. N. Afanasyev "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature"
• Ivanov Vyach. Vs., Toporov V. N. Slavic linguistic modeling semiotic systems
• Essays on the history of the culture of the Slavs
• Ouspensky B. A. Philological Studies in the Field of Slavic Antiquities

Video

• Lecture by Alexandra Barkova "Myths about Russian mythology" on TV Culture (inaccessible link)
• Lecture Zaliznyak about fake "Veles Book"