Polenitsa (mythology)

In epics, these are female warriors who in their combat skills are not inferior to male heroes. In order to win their hand, the future husband must master them in a duel, which is difficult (Nastasya Korolevichna even knocks out the eye of the Danube with an arrow). Their occupation is Poles: they ride in the open field and fight with the heroes. Because of their strength, they can be mistaken for men ( Vasilisa Mikulishna in the epic "Stavr Godinovich", Nastasya Mikulishna in the epic "The Marriage of Dobryny").

I caught up with Dobrynya, a clearing, a hero I remove,
He hit the clearing with a damask club,
Yes hit her in the head with violence.
The clearing here will glance back
Says the polar meadow are the words:
- I thought mosquitoes bite me,
And this Russian hero clicks.

So, Dobrynya, seeing a huge hero, enters into a duel with her, but suffers a shameful defeat. Nastasya Mikulishna “grabbed Dobrynya by the yellow curls, pulled Dobrynyushka off the saddle,” without looking at the stuff of Dobrynya in her pocket, and then wonders who, in fact, she put it in her pocket. Decides: if the hero likes it, I’ll marry him, if I don’t like it, I’ll cut my head off. She takes out Dobrynya, and she likes him, she marries him.

In the descriptions of the feasts of Prince Vladimir, often some feasting raspberries are mentioned in tunes along with a feasting squad.

Roots

B. A. Rybakov linked the abundance of female warlike characters in fairy tales and several epic stories in which raspberry acts with the Dotatar steppe world of Scythian-Sarmatian origin ^[5] . This may be a reflection of the contacts of the Kiev warriors with the Alanian or Bulgarian steppes ^[6] .

D. M. Balashov ^[7] believed that raspberries resemble horse-drawn steppe Sarmatian warriors: they are usually skilled horsewomen and skillful archers. “From this point of view, epics reflect the victories of the Slavs over the Sarmatians: the Danube and Dobrynya defeat the raspberries in a heroic duel and gain over them the power of the husband over his wife. In favor of the steppe origin of the image of raspberry, the fact is that, according to the bylina, from the blood of Nastasya killed by the Danube, the Nepra River originates (that is, the Dnieper is a river that was bordering on the steppe). In addition, it is known that the Sarmatians had very strong vestiges of matriarchy, therefore it is not surprising that the memory of these people was preserved in an epic in the image of women warriors ” ^[8] . In the plots of weddings of raspberries with heroes, in his opinion, "it is permissible to see a clash between the Slavs and the Sarmatians, which Tacitus also noted cross-marriages."

Balashov writes: “These are the steppe riders and, at the same time, after the battle with the hero, the wives of the warriors. It is hardly possible to admit their root Slavic origin, the fact of persistent, constant struggle of Russian heroes against them contradicts this, although the common name of these riders - “polar forests” - is Slavic. Apparently, it is necessary to recognize the female polar inhabitants as Sarmatian horse warriors, and the presence of the Slavic name means that the notions of polar women were confirmed in the epic work until the Turkic word “hero” appeared in Russian, the name of the female warriors did not change, because from living being they have already disappeared ” ^[9] .

A modern researcher writes about the kinship of raspberries with the images of women warriors in the Turkic epos: “In the epic works there are many images of brave horsewomen who own the sword and the art of hunting. These are the heroines of the Kyrgyz destan "Dzhangyyl Mirza", the Uyghur - "Nezyugyum", the Bashkir destan "Zaya Tyulek", the Kyrgyz epic "Manas", the Altai and Khakass destan "Altyn Aryg", as well as the Azerbaijani epic legend about Ker-ogly. We believe that the “heroes-scorchers” fell into Slavic folklore as a result of contact with the Turkic peoples. Turkic warriors, in particular, are in the Tatar army in the epic "Ilya-Muromets and Kalin the Tsar" ” ^[4] . The match between the bride and groom, the researcher notes, among the Turkic peoples in the Middle Ages was part of the wedding ceremony and did not imply a fatal outcome.

• Daughters of the hero Mikula Selyaninovich :
  • Vasilisa Mikulishna is the wife of Stavr Godinovich . When her husband boasts at a feast with Prince Vladimir, she dresses up in men's clothing and saves him.
  • Nastasya Mikulishna is the wife of Dobryni Nikitich . Marries him after a duel; also after his long absence, when Prince Vladimir forces her to marry Alyosha Popovich, she recognizes her husband in disguise.
• Nastasya Korolevichna , Nepra - daughter of King Danil Manoilovich, wife of Danube Ivanovich . Marries him after a duel; then dies at his hands during the shooting competition, the Danube kills itself.
• Women of Ilya Muromets:
  • Zlatigorka , Lata- gorka ^[10] - the mother of the hero Sokolnik from Ilya Muromets , who enters into a duel with his father.
  • The nameless raspberry, the daughter of Ilya Muromets, who wants to kill him for the dishonor of her mother, and perishes at his hands ("Ilya Muromets and his daughter"; an epic version of the same story about his son).
  • Savishna - the wife of Ilya Muromets, dressed in his heroic dress, saves Kiev from Tugarin (in the version of the epic “About Ilya Muromets and Tugarin”).
• Marya Morevna is a steppe warrior queen.
• Nameless raspberry from the epic "Three trips of Ilya Muromets", who wanted to lure him.
• In the tale of Afanasyev (No. 173) there is “a girl who has water flowing from her hands and feet: whoever drinks this water will become thirty years younger. (Variant - mistress of rejuvenating apples) Leaves with his army to amuse themselves in green meadows - the entire army of some girls was recruited ” ^[11] .
• The Turk girl, the mistress of animals and the leader of the female army, associated with the city of Kitezh and Lake Svetloyar ^[11]

The owners of the witchcraft gift are also mentioned (military advantages are not emphasized in them):

• Marina Ignatievna ^[10] - has magical abilities, a witch from the epic "Dobrynya and Marina"
• Marya Lebed Belaya , Avdotya Likhovidovna ^[10] - has magical powers (werewolf), the wife of Mikhailo Potyk , the villain.

• Warrior virgin
• Amazons