Introduction
The medieval epic is a symbolic concept in world literature, a special world living according to its own laws, a mirror reflecting not only the author’s contemporary reality, but also the hopes of the people, the ideas of broad layers about the ideal hero. Such a hero is a kind of core of every epic work; his actions became an example for ordinary members of society. In his image we can trace the ancient Greek mythological tradition. If in the Mediterranean countries the hero is an intermediate link between gods and people, Heaven and Earth, in medieval epic the same trend persists with minor deviations in the late Middle Ages, when historicity gives way to mythology, and divine intervention gives way to the individual personality.
So, the object of our research is the medieval heroic epic, the subject is its genre and stylistic features. The purpose of the work is to trace the ways of formation of the medieval heroic epic.
Theories of the origin of the heroic epic
The question of the origin of the heroic epic - one of the most difficult in literary science - has given rise to whole line various theories. Two of them stand out: “traditionalism” and “anti-traditionalism.” The foundations of the first of them were laid by the French medievalist Gaston Paris (1839-1901) in his major work"The Poetic History of Charlemagne" (1865). The theory of Gaston Paris, called the “cantilena theory,” boils down to the following main principles. The primary basis of the heroic epic were small lyrical-epic cantilena songs, widespread in the 8th century. Cantilenas were a direct response to certain historical events. For hundreds of years, cantilenas existed in... oral tradition, and from the 10th century. the process of their merging into large epic poems begins. The epic is the product of long-term collective creativity, the highest expression of the spirit of the people. Therefore, it is impossible to name a single creator of the epic poem; the recording of the poems itself is a more mechanical process than a creative one.
Close to this theory was the point of view of Gaston Paris's contemporary Leon Gautier, author of the work "The French Epic" (1865). There was only one position where scientists decisively disagreed: Paris insisted on the national origins of the French heroic epic, Gautier spoke of its Germanic origins. The largest "anti-traditionalist" was Gaston Paris's student Joseph Bedier (1864-1938). Bedier was a positivist, he recognized only a documentary fact in science and could not accept the theory of Gaston Paris simply because no historically attested information about the existence of cantilenas has been preserved. Bedier denied the position that the epic existed for a long time in the oral tradition, being the result of collective creativity. According to Bedier, the epic arose precisely when it began to be written down. This process began in the middle of the 11th century, reaching its peak in the 12th century. It was at this time that pilgrimage, actively encouraged by the church, was unusually widespread in Western Europe. The monks, trying to draw attention to the holy relics of their monasteries, collected legends and traditions about them. This material was used by wandering singers-storytellers - jugglers, who created voluminous heroic poems. Bedier's theory was called "monastic-jugglery."
The positions of “traditionalists” and “anti-traditionalists” were to a certain extent brought together in his theory about the origin of the heroic epic by Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky. The essence of his theory is as follows. The beginning of epic creativity was small songs - lyrical-epic cantilenas, born as a response to the events that excited After a while, the attitude towards the events described in the songs becomes calmer, the sharpness of emotions is lost, and then an epic song is born. Time passes, and the songs, in one way or another, are close to each other, and finally the cycle turns into an epic one. poem. While the text exists in the oral tradition, it is the creation of a collective. At the last stage of the formation of the epic. decisive role played by a separate author. Writing down poems is not a mechanical act, but a deeply creative one.
The fundamentals of Veselovsky’s theory retain their significance for modern science (V. Zhirmunsky, E. Meletinsky), which also dates the emergence of the heroic epic to the 8th century, believing that the epic is the creation of both oral collective and written individual creativity. Only the question of the fundamental principles of the heroic epic is corrected: they are considered to be historical legends and the richest arsenal of figurative means of the archaic epic.
It is no coincidence that the beginning of the formation of the heroic (or state) epic dates back to the 8th century. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), over the course of a number of centuries there was a transition from slave-owning forms of statehood to feudal ones, and among the peoples Northern Europe- the process of the final decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations. Qualitative changes associated with approval new statehood, definitely make themselves felt in the 8th century. In 751, one of the largest feudal lords in Europe, Pepin the Short, became king of the Franks and founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Under the son of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne (reign: 768-814), a huge state was formed, including a Celtic-Roman-Germanic population. In 80b, the pope crowned Charles with the title of emperor of the newly revived Great Roman Empire. In turn, Kara completes the Christianization of the German tribes, and seeks to turn the capital of the empire, Aachen, into Athens. The formation of the new state was difficult not only because of internal circumstances, but also because of external ones, among which one of the main places was occupied by the ongoing war between the Christian Franks and the Muslim Arabs. This is how history powerfully entered the life of medieval man. And the heroic epic itself became a poetic reflection of the historical consciousness of the people.
The focus on history determines the decisive features of the difference between the heroic epic and the archaic epic, Central themes heroic epic reflect the most important trends historical life, a specific historical, geographical, ethnic background appears, mythological and fairy-tale motivations are eliminated. The truth of history now determines the truth of the epic.
Introduction
Bylinas are Russian folk epic songs. They tell about the exploits of heroes fighting monsters or enemy troops, going to the afterlife, or otherwise demonstrating their strength, prowess, and courage.
In childhood, everyone learns about Ilya Muromets and other heroes, who are soon mixed with the characters of fairy tales, and with age they are simply forgotten as “childish”. Meanwhile, epics did not belong to the children's folklore. On the contrary, these songs were performed by serious adults for the same serious adults. Passing from generation to generation, they served as a way to transmit ancient beliefs, ideas about the world, and information from history. And everything that is told in epics was perceived as the truth, as events that actually happened once in the distant past.
The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that the epic is a key genre in Russian culture. With the help of epics, many genres in Russian literature and art were formed. The epic was a way of transmitting information about the ideas of life of the people and their culture. The purpose of this topic is to give a brief description of the epic genre as a key style of folk artistic culture. The relevance of the topic is that the epic provided the “soil” for the development of many genres of folk art.
Origin of epics
There are several theories to explain the origin and composition of epics:
1. Mythological theory sees in epics stories about natural phenomena, in heroes - the personification of these phenomena and their identification with the gods of the ancient Slavs.
2. Historical theory explains epics as a trace of historical events, sometimes confused in popular memory.
3. Borrowing theory points to literary origin epics, and some are inclined to see borrowings through the influence of the East.
As a result, one-sided theories gave way to mixed ones, allowing in epics the presence of elements of folk life, history, literature, and borrowings from Eastern and Western. Initially, it was assumed that the epics, which are grouped according to the place of action into the Kyiv and Novgorod cycles, were mainly of southern Russian origin and only later transferred to the north; according to other epics, the phenomenon is local. Over the centuries, epics have undergone various changes, and have constantly been influenced by books and borrowed much from medieval Russian literature and oral tales of the West and East.
Adherents of the mythological theory divided the heroes of the Russian epic into older and younger; later a division into pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar eras was proposed.
Place of origin of epics
As for the place where the epics originated, opinions are divided: the most widespread theory assumes that the epics are of South Russian origin, that their original basis is South Russian. Only over time, due to the mass migration of people from Southern Rus' to the North, were the epics transferred there, and then in their original homeland they were forgotten due to the influence of other circumstances that caused Cossack thoughts. Everyone knew about Vladimir as a reformer of all ancient Russian life, and everyone sang about him, and there was an exchange of poetic material between individual tribes. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow became a collector of Russian epic, which at the same time was more and more concentrated in the Kiev cycle, since the Kyiv epics had an assimilating effect on the rest, due to the song tradition, religious relations, etc.; Thus, at the end of the 16th century, the unification of epics into the Kiev circle was completed (although, however, not all epics joined it: the entire Novgorod cycle and some individual epics belong to these, for example, about Surovets Suzdalets and about Saul Levanidovich). Then the epics spread from the Muscovite kingdom to all directions of Russia through ordinary transmission, and not through emigration to the north, which did not happen. To what extent is the study of epics still imperfect and to what contradictory results has it led some
The epics have undergone many and, moreover, strong changes, there is no doubt; but it is currently extremely difficult to indicate exactly what these changes were. Based on the fact that the heroic or heroic nature itself is everywhere distinguished by the same qualities - an excess of physical strength and rudeness inseparable from such excess, the Russian epic at the first stages of its existence should have been distinguished by the same rudeness; but since, along with the softening of folk morals, the same softening is reflected in the folk epic, therefore, in his opinion, this softening process must certainly be allowed in the history of Russian epics. According to the same scientist, epics and fairy tales developed from the same basis. If an essential property of epics is historical timing, then the less noticeable it is in an epic, the closer it comes to a fairy tale. Thus, the second process in the development of epics becomes clear: confinement.
There are also epics in which there is no historical reference at all, and, however, he does not explain to us why he does not consider such works to be fairy tales (“Experience”). The difference between a fairy tale and an epic is that in the first the mythical meaning was forgotten earlier, and it is confined to the earth in general; in the second, the mythical meaning underwent changes, but not oblivion. On the other hand, one can notice in epics a desire to smooth out the miraculous. The miraculous element in fairy tales plays a different role than in epics: there, miraculous performances form the main plot of the plot, but in epics they only complement the content taken from real life; their purpose is to give a more ideal character to the heroes. The content of the epics is now mythical, and the form is historical, especially all the typical places: names, names of places, etc.; epithets correspond to the historical, and not the epic, character of the persons to whom they refer. But initially the content of the epics was completely different, namely truly historical. This happened by transferring epics from the South to the North by Russian colonists: gradually these colonists began to forget the ancient content; they were carried away by new stories that were more to their taste. Typical places remained untouched, but everything else changed over time. According to Yagich, all Russian folk epic thoroughly imbued with Christian-mythological legends, apocryphal and non-apocryphal in nature; Much in content and motives was borrowed from this source. New borrowings have pushed ancient material into the background, and epics can therefore be divided into three categories:
1) songs with obviously borrowed biblical content;
2) for songs with originally borrowed content, which, however, is processed more independently and
3) songs that are completely folk, but contain episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world. Wolner even sees in the epic about Sukhman the influence of the latest sentimental literature XVIII c., and Veselovsky says this about the epic “How the Heroes Were Lost”: “The two halves of the epic are connected by a common place of a very suspicious nature, seemingly showing that the outer side of the epic was touched by an aesthetically correcting hand.” Finally, in the content of individual epics it is not difficult to notice layers of different times (the type of Alyosha Popovich), the mixing of several initially independent epics into one (Volga Svyatoslavich or Volkh Vseslavich), that is, the unification of two plots, the borrowing of one epic from another (according to Volner, the beginning of B. about Dobrynya was taken from the epic about Volga, and the end from the epic about Ivan Godinovich), accretion (the epic about Solove Budimirovich by Kirsha), greater or lesser damage to the epic (Rybnikov’s widespread epic about Berin’s son, according to Veselovsky), etc.
One can recognize the existence of a united, integral Vladimirov circle, kept in the memory of the singers, who in their time formed, in all likelihood, closely knit fraternities.
Now there are no such brothers, the singers are separated, and in the absence of reciprocity, no one between them is able to store in their memory all the links of the epic chain without exception. All this is very doubtful and not based on historical data; Thanks to a thorough analysis, one can only assume that “some epics, for example Hilferding 27 and 127, are, firstly, a product of isolating epics from the Kyiv connection and a secondary attempt to bring them into this connection after development on the side” (“South Russian epics”) .
Specifics
Epics constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature; in their epic calm, richness of detail, vivid color, distinct character of the persons depicted, variety of mythical, historical and everyday elements, they are not inferior to the German heroic epic and epic folk works all other peoples, with the exception of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Bylinas are epic songs about Russian heroes; It is here that we find a reproduction of their general, typical properties and the history of their lives, their exploits and aspirations, feelings and thoughts. Each of these songs speaks mainly about one episode in the life of one hero, and thus a series of songs of a fragmentary nature are obtained, grouped around the main representatives of Russian heroism. The number of songs also increases due to the fact that there are several versions, more or less different, of the same epic. All epics, in addition to the unity of the subject described, are also characterized by the unity of presentation: they are imbued with an element of the miraculous, a sense of freedom and the spirit of community. The independent spirit of the epic Russian epic is a reflection of the old veche freedom, preserved by free Cossacks and free Olonets peasants who were not captured by serfdom. According to the same scientist, the spirit of community embodied in epics is an internal connection connecting the Russian epic and the history of the Russian people.
Stylistics
In addition to the internal, the external unity of the epics is also noticeable, in verse, syllable and language: the verse of the epic consists either of trochees with a dactylic ending, or of mixed trochees with dactyls, or, finally, of anapests; there are no consonances at all and everything is based on the musicality of the verse; in that the epics are written in verse, they differ from the “visits”, in which the verse has long been decomposed into a prose story. The syllable in the epic is distinguished by its richness of poetic turns; it abounds in epithets, parallelisms, comparisons, examples and other poetic figures, without losing its clarity and naturalness of presentation. Bylinas are now “expressed” in the pure Great Russian language, preserving quite large quantity archaisms, especially in typical parts. The epic is divided into two parts: one - changing according to the will of the “storyteller”; the other is typical, which the narrator must always convey with possible accuracy, without changing a single word. The typical part contains everything essential that is said about the hero; the rest appears only as a background for the main picture.
Epic
LECTURE N 6
Epics are epic songs of heroic, everyday or fantastic content. They formed the main core of Russian oral poetry. According to Academician Grekov, “this is a story told by the people themselves.” The specificity of the Russian epic is that it consists of separate independent works, each epic has its own complete plot and its own hero. The term “epic” was established in science only in the second half of the 19th century; among the people, epics were usually called “old” or “old”. V.F. Miller, and after him other scientists, believed that the term “epic” has literary origin; this symbol was introduced into scientific circulation by I.P. Sakharov in the 30s of the 19th century and borrowed from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (“According to the epics of this time”). Before the introduction of the term “epic” in Russian science, the term “heroic tales” was used; this term was used in his “Articles on Folk Poetry” by V.G. Belinsky, but later this term was not used in folkloristic terminology.
In folkloristics, there are different views on the place of composition of epics and the time of the emergence of this genre. Some researchers (V.F. Miller, the Sokolov brothers, etc.) believe that the genre of epics developed in the conditions of Kievan Rus simultaneously with the events described and only developed in subsequent years. Other scientists (M.E. Khalansky, S.K. Shambinago and others) argued that epics were mainly created in Muscovite Rus', as songs about past events. The question of the time of origin of the epic continues to concern modern scientists: D.S. Likhachev put forward the assumption that epics were mainly formed in the Middle Ages, after the fall of Kievan Rus, as heroic songs united by the image of the capital city of Kyiv. According to this theory, epics were composed as songs about the past, and not about the present. According to V.Ya. Propp, many of the epics were a reflection of the struggle not with real enemies, but with mythological creatures; they are based not on historical events, but on fiction. V.Ya. Propp divides epics into three groups; the epic of the period of development of feudal relations (epics about Volkh and Svyatogor, epics about matchmaking and the fight against monsters); the epic of the time of struggle against the Mongol-Tatar invasion; epic of the era of the formation of the centralized Russian state.
V.P. Anikin notes different periods in the historical periodization of epics: mythological period, Kiev period, Vladimir-Suzdal period, Galicia-Volyn, Pskov-Novgorod, Bryansk, etc., i.e. he also singles out the “regional epic”. Most modern scientists believe that epics, for the most part, arose during the period of Kievan Rus. When considering this complex issue, it is necessary to take into account the wide variety of Russian epics; it can hardly be associated with any one historical stage, because there are epics, the content of which reflects the pre-Kiev period (epics about Volkh Vseslavyevich, about Dobryn and Marinka, etc.) . Apparently, we must come to the conclusion that the question of the origin of epics does not have a clear answer; in each case it has an individual solution. But in folklore studies, three stages are distinguished in the development of epics:
Stage I - 9-12 centuries, it coincides with the heyday of Kievan Rus. The epics of this period tell about snake fighters, since the enemy in these epics appears in the form of a mythological monster - a snake. One of the first heroes of epics is Dobrynya Nikitich, who has a historical prototype (“Dobrynya and the Serpent”). This epic allegorically represents the adoption of Christianity in Rus', i.e. the struggle of Christianity against paganism. Already in these epics the image of Prince Vladimir appears, the prototype of which was Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. At first, the image of the prince was positive; he was depicted as a man who united the Russian lands.
Stage II - 13-15 centuries, the period of the collapse of Kievan Rus, the period of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus', therefore all epics receive an anti-Tatar orientation. In the epics there was a chronological shift in time; later events were confined to the period of Kievan Rus. At this stage, new characters emerge - Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich. There is a cyclization of epics, i.e. epics are united into groups around one center: Kyiv (military, heroic) and Novgorod (social and everyday). In the epics that arose at this stage, there is a “decrease” in the image of Prince Vladimir, from positive hero he turns into a negative character (he cannot find a hero who would protect the city, his behavior and appearance look funny).
Stage III - 16-17 centuries, the final formation of the genre takes place, epics receive the completed form that is recorded in the records of collectors. New plots do not appear, new images do not appear. Some epics mention Moscow instead of Kyiv, reflecting the idea of the need to centralize Russian lands, but the ideological orientation of the epics is preserved - a story about the heroic struggle of a hero against external enemies.
The 18th century is the period of the existence of epics, i.e. epics continue to be performed without being enriched with new plots or images; the 19th and 20th centuries are a period of attenuation and disappearance of the genre.
We accept the traditional division of epics into Kyiv and Novgorod, but this does not mean that epics developed only around these centers. Researchers have proven that there were several regional centers around which epics were created: these are the Galicia-Volyn cycle, Vladimir-Suzdal, Chernigov, Bryansk, etc. V.Ya. Propp proves that all these epics were included in the all-Russian epic. Regional subjects, of which there are very few, were created under the influence of already existing traditions of this genre; they also shaped the all-Russian epic.
Collections of epics published from the end of the 18th century to the end of the 20th century contain more than 2,500 texts. These texts are different in themes, plots, images of heroes, structure, but their systematization and study is difficult, since there is no consolidated catalog or index of epics in Russian science. In modern folkloristics, the division into two cycles has been preserved - Kiev and Novgorod, first proposed by V.G. Belinsky; although a division into two types is used - military and social. Some epics occupy an intermediate place; they are not easy to attribute to one type or another (for example, the epics about the marriage of Prince Vladimir).
Military, heroic, heroic epics they talk about defending their homeland from enemies; Russian heroes became their heroes. Social and everyday epics speak mainly about the life of Novgorod; the best known are the epics of the Novgorod cycle about Sadko and Vasily Buslaev.
Kyiv CYCLE EPICS
The epics of this cycle have general features: the action takes place in or near Kyiv, in the center of the epics is the image of Prince Vladimir, the main theme is the defense of the Russian land from enemies. The main content of traditional Russian epic epic constitutes popular patriotism, which combines awareness of the great power of the people, the idea of selfless service to the fatherland and irreconcilable hatred of foreign invaders. These ideas were most clearly reflected in the gigantic images of heroes, in their courage, stamina, indestructible strength and fabulously heroic images. The abundance of heroic images is one of the features of the Russian national epic.
“It is impossible not to recognize,” V.G. Belinsky wrote about the epics, “the extraordinary, gigantic power of the life contained in them... Russian folk poetry is seething with heroes... This courage, this daring and youth appear in such wide proportions, in such indestructible strength that you involuntarily bow before them...” Undoubtedly exaggerated, the images of heroes are still realistic at their very core. In them folk singers embodied perfect performance about the indestructible power of the people.
The real blood enemies of the heroes are the enemies of the homeland, foreign invaders. The historical features of numerous enemies who attacked the Russian land, as a result of a long artistic generalization, were united in epics in several images, which bear names memorable from the raids of ancient nomads, these are the names: Tugarin (Tugorkan), Shark the Giant (Sharukan), Konshik (Konchak) etc. The mortal danger that threatened Rus' from its enemies, the robberies and atrocities they committed, led to an extremely negative depiction of these images. The Tatar force in epics is called “black”, and the Tatars themselves are called “filthy”. The most common generalizing images of enemies are the image of the most disgusting creature - the Snake, or the image of the “filthy Idol”, which “has a head like a tub; and eyes like beer bowls.” All these images are depicted as fantastic monsters: for some reason Tugarin has paper wings, the Nightingale the Robber sits on a tree, but the epic does not indicate what he looks like. But it can be clearly noted that the enemies are never depicted as people, they are monstrous creatures.
The epic depicts the enemies as arrogant, arrogant “boasters”, but the narrator does not allow their “black power” to be underestimated. In the epic depiction, the enemy is strong, cunning, cunning and numerous. Tugarin and Idolishche commit outrages in Rus' with impunity until they encounter Russian heroes. Victory over the enemy in epics is achieved through a titanic struggle of heroes; victory is often preceded by defeats of individual heroes, which continue until the main hero, Ilya Muromets, enters the battle. The epics show the insidious treachery of a defeated but undead enemy (“Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber”).
1). The question of the origin of the heroic epic is one of the most difficult in literary science and has given rise to a number of different theories. Two of them stand out: “traditionalism” and “anti-traditionalism.” The foundations of the first of them were laid by the French medievalist Gaston Paris (1839-1901) in his major work “The Poetic History of Charlemagne” (1865). The theory of Gaston Paris, called the “cantilena theory,” boils down to the following main principles. The primary basis of the heroic epic were small lyrical-epic cantilena songs, widespread in the 8th century. Cantilenas were a direct response to certain historical events. For hundreds of years, cantilenas existed in... oral tradition, and from the 10th century. the process of their merging into large epic poems begins. The epic is the product of long-term collective creativity, the highest expression of the spirit of the people. Therefore, it is impossible to name a single creator of an epic poem; the recording of poems itself is a more mechanical process than a creative one,
The positions of “traditionalists” and “anti-traditionalists” were to a certain extent brought together in his theory about the origin of the heroic epic by Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky. The essence of his theory is as follows. The beginning of epic creativity was small songs - lyrical-epic cantilenas, born as a response to events that excited the people imagination. After a while, the attitude towards the events described in the songs becomes calmer, the severity of emotions is lost and then an epic song is born. Time passes, and the songs, in one way or another, are close to each other, and finally the cycle turns into an epic poem. While the text exists in the oral tradition, it is the creation of a collective. At the last stage of the formation of the epic, the decisive role is played by the individual author. The recording of poems is not a mechanical act, but a deeply creative one.
The fundamentals of Veselovsky’s theory retain their significance for modern science (V. Zhirmunsky, E. Meletinsky), which also dates the emergence of the heroic epic to the 8th century, believing that the epic is the creation of both oral collective and written individual creativity.
Only the question of the fundamental principles of the heroic epic is corrected: they are considered to be historical legends and the richest arsenal of figurative means of the archaic epic.
It is no coincidence that the beginning of the formation of the heroic (or state) epic dates back to the 8th century. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), over the course of a number of centuries there was a transition from slaveholding forms of statehood to feudal ones, and among the peoples of Northern Europe there was a process of final decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations. Qualitative changes associated with the establishment of a new statehood definitely made themselves felt in the 8th century. In 751, one of the largest feudal lords in Europe, Pepin the Short, became king of the Franks and founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Under the son of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne (reign: 768-814), a huge state was formed, including a Celtic-Roman-Germanic population. In 80b, the pope crowned Charles with the title of emperor of the newly revived Great Roman Empire. In turn, Kara completes the Christianization of the German tribes, and seeks to turn the capital of the empire, Aachen, into Athens. The formation of the new state was difficult not only because of internal circumstances, but also because of external ones, among which one of the main places was occupied by the ongoing war between Christian Franks and Muslim Arabs. This is how history powerfully entered the life of medieval man. And the heroic epic itself became a poetic reflection of the historical consciousness of the people.
The focus on history determines the decisive features of the difference between the heroic epic and the archaic epic. The central themes of the heroic epic reflect the most important trends in historical life, a specific historical, geographical, ethnic background appears, mythological and fairy-tale motivations are eliminated. The truth of history now determines the truth of the epic.
Heroic poems created by different peoples of Europe have much in common. This is explained by the fact that a similar historical reality was subjected to artistic generalization; this reality itself was comprehended from the point of view of the same level of historical consciousness. In addition, the image medium served artistic language, which has common roots in European folklore. But at the same time, the heroic epic of each individual nation has many unique, nationally specific features.
The most significant of the Heroic poems of the peoples Western Europe considered: French - “The Song of Roland”, German - “Song of the Nibelungs”, Spanish - “Song of My Sid”. These three great poems make it possible to judge the evolution of the heroic epic: “The Song of the Nibelungs” contains a number of archaic features, “The Song of My Sid” shows the epic at its end, “The Song of Roland” is the moment of its highest maturity.
2) GENERAL FEATURES OF THE HEROIC EPIC
During the Mature Middle Ages, the development of the traditions of folk epic literature continued. This is one of the significant stages in its history, when the heroic epic became the most important link in medieval book literature. The heroic epic of the Mature Middle Ages reflected the processes of ethnic and state consolidation and the emerging seigniorial-vassal relations. The historical theme in the epic has expanded, displacing the fairy-tale-mythological theme, and the significance has increased Christian motives and patriotic pathos intensified, a larger epic form and a more flexible style were developed, which was facilitated by some distance from purely folklore models. However, all this led to a certain impoverishment of the plot and mythopoetic imagery, so subsequently the chivalric romance again turned to folklore fiction. All these features of the new stage in the history of the epic are closely interconnected internally. The transition from epic archaics to epic classics, in particular, was expressed in the fact that the epics of nationalities that had reached the stage of clear state consolidation abandoned the language of myth and fairy tales and turned to developing plots taken from historical legends (while still continuing to use, of course, old plot and language clichés dating back to myths).
Clan and tribal interests were pushed aside by national interests, albeit still in their infancy, therefore in many epic monuments we find pronounced patriotic motives, often associated with the fight against foreign and other religious conquerors. Patriotic motives, as is specific to the Middle Ages, partly appear in the form of contrasting Christians with “infidel” Muslims (in Romanesque and Slavic literatures).
As said, the epic at the new stage depicts feudal strife and seigniorial-vassal relations, but due to the epic specificity, vassal loyalty (in the “Song of the Nibelungs”, “Song of Roland”, “Song of My Sid”), as a rule, merges with loyalty to family, tribe, home country, to the state. A characteristic figure in the epic of this time is the epic "king", whose power embodies the unity of the country. He is shown in a complex relationship with the main epic hero - the bearer of folk ideals. Vassal loyalty to the king is combined with a story about his weakness, injustice, with a very critical depiction of the court environment and feudal strife (in the cycle of French poems about Guillaume of Orange). The epic also reflects anti-aristocratic tendencies (in songs about Dietrich of Bern or in “Song of My Sid”). In epic-heroic works of the XII-XIII centuries. At times, the influence of the courtly (knightly) novel also penetrates (in “The Song of the Nibelungs”). But even with the idealization of courtly forms of life, the epic mainly preserves folk-heroic ideals and heroic aesthetics. The heroic epic also displays some tendencies that go beyond its genre nature, for example, hypertrophied adventurism (“Raoul de Cambrai” and others), material motivations for the behavior of the hero who patiently overcomes adverse circumstances (in “The Song of My Sid”), drama , reaching the point of tragedy (in “The Nibelungs” and in “The Song of Roland”). These various trends testify to the hidden possibilities of the epic kind of poetry and anticipate the development of the novel and tragedy.
The stylistic features of the epic are now largely determined by a departure from folklore and a deeper processing of folklore traditions. In the process of transition from oral improvisation to recitation from manuscripts, numerous enjambements appear, i.e. transfers from verse to verse, synonymy develops, the flexibility and variety of epic formulas increases, sometimes the number of repetitions decreases, a clearer and more harmonious composition becomes possible (“Song of Roland").
Although broad cyclization is familiar and oral creativity(for example, in the folklore of Central Asia), but mainly the creation epic works large volume and their addition into cycles is supported by the transition from oral improvisation to handwritten book. Apparently, bookishness also contributes to the emergence of “psychological” characteristics, as well as the interpretation of the heroic character in terms of a kind of tragic guilt. However, the interaction between folklore and book literature actively continues: in the composition and especially the performance of many epic works, the participation of shpilmans and jugglers was great during this period.
6) One of the most remarkable monuments of medieval literature is considered to be the epic tale of the French people - “The Song of Roland”.
An insignificant historical fact formed the basis of this heroic epic and over time, enriched by a number of later events, helped the widespread dissemination of tales about Roland and the wars of Charlemagne in many literatures of Western Europe.
The Song of Roland clearly expresses the ideology of a feudal society, in which the faithful service of a vassal to his overlord was an untouchable law, and violation of it was considered betrayal and treason. However, the traits of courageous steadfastness, military valor, selfless friendship and a thoughtful attitude to what is happening were not given a class-feudal connotation in the poem, as in the remarkable monument of creativity of the Russian people “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”; on the contrary, these convincing properties of the valiant defenders of the homeland - military leaders-peers and their vassals, were perceived as typical, national. Also in to a greater extent recognition and sympathy on the part of the broad masses were facilitated by thoughts about the defense of the fatherland, about the shame and danger of defeat, which run like a red thread through the entire poem.
Feudal society, with its sharp class struggle, differentiation, with the peculiar pathos of class knightly heroism and features of Christian religiosity, gave rise to dozens of epic tales. It is in France, where feudal relations developed in a classical form, the following arose big number heroic poems. Differing in theme, volume and form, these poems did not equally reflect the broad interests of the people. Some of them talked about bloody civil strife, about vengeful and selfish invader barons who recognized the right of the strong as the only law and considered violence and arbitrariness to be the basis of their morality; A convincing example of this kind of poem is the poem "Raoul de Cambrai". Personal interest prevailed in these works, and faithful service to the overlord and the state lost its obligatory character for the “unfaithful barons.” In other epics, the theme of fidelity dominated, and the fate of a traitor, a traitor to the homeland and a violator of the vassal oath led him to retribution and a sad end. This theme is most clearly developed in the poems telling about the wars of Charlemagne, and especially in the “Song of Roland.”
The actual events of the 8th century formed the core of the Song of Roland. In 778, in the Pyrenees, the troops of Charlemagne, who were returning from the Spanish campaign, were attacked by the Basques. In the bloody battle, the best regiments were destroyed; the best commanders did not escape a common fate, according to close biographer Karl Einhard. In the “Biography of Charlemagne” this author says: “In this battle, Eggichard, the royal steward, Anselm, the Count Palatine and Hruodland (i.e. Roland), the head of the Breton March, were killed.” A particular episode of the battle with the Basques, co-religionists of the French (Franks), underwent a significant rethink: instead of the Basques, formidable Muslim Arabs appeared, who captured significant areas in Spain and more than once invaded France. The defeat at Roncesvalles did not cover the French with shame, but only helped to reveal their courage and ability to stand to the death, defending their homeland and covering the rear of the main retreating forces. The historical governor of the Breton March became the main character of the epic tale - Roland, his clash with his stepfather Gwenelon and the latter's betrayal became the basis of the plot. New details have also emerged characterizing the warring camps and their commanders. The historical Charlemagne was contrasted with the Saracen king Marsilius, a fictitious person. The events and their participants shifted in time and space: the crusades of the 11th century gave a new ideological coloring to the entire poem as a whole. Although historical authenticity is not observed in “The Song of Roland,” the features of the distant past found their poetic interpretation in it.
The question of the origin and historical periodization of epics is very controversial. A necessary condition for studying the epic, its history and theory is a comparison of epics with annals and chronicles.
V. F. Miller came to the following assumption about the time and environment of the emergence of epics. He wrote that the creation of Vladimirov’s cycle of heroic tales, the prototype of later epics, dates back to the 11th century, the period of established Russian national consciousness. Both princely singers and druzhina could participate in the creation of songs of this circle; the object of chanting could be princes and the same warriors, governors or “brave men”, like Dobrynya and Putyata, who were popular among the druzhina and the people.<...>Glorifying princes and warriors, this poetry had an aristocratic character, was, so to speak, the elegant literature of the highest, most enlightened class, more imbued with national identity, a sense of the unity of the Russian land and political interests in general." Despite many years of criticism of this theory for "aristocratism", it has not lost its objective scientific significance.
Even during the height of the vulgar sociological approach to folklore, some scholars found the opportunity to express support for it. For example, Yu. M. Sokolov wrote: “To assert that the creators and performers of epics in Ancient Rus' there were only peasants - plowmen, that the epic was from beginning to end the product of only peasant creativity, would be wrong, since the vast majority of epics speak about events that took place in cities (Kiev, Veliky Novgorod, Galich-Volynsky, etc.), and they contain historically very accurate details of urban (military, merchant) life. The composers of the epics were experienced people, people who knew the country well and the everyday and social life of various strata of the people."
The epic was also adopted by buffoons. This environment had an influence on him: entertainment came to the fore. In the epics themselves, a number of scenes represent buffoon singers at Prince Vladimir’s feasts.
In “Essay on the History of the Russian Epic,” V. F. Miller described the general process of development of the epic songs of Vladimirov’s cycle. Their formation and flourishing took place in Kleve in the 11th-12th centuries, and from the second half of the 12th century. (after the weakening of Kyiv) these songs moved to the west and north, to the Novgorod region.
The researcher wrote: “These tales, prototypes of later epics, surrounded the name of “old” Vladimir in the 11th century. In this century, a certain type of these poetic tales was developed, their style, figurative language, and poetic composition were developed. The heroic element was determined by the political conditions of southern Russian life - constant war with the eastern nomads, first the Pechenegs, then the Polovtsians.<...>glorified outstanding warriors, idealizing their exploits, and attached them to Kyiv and the prince. Vladimir. Local legends - Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Rostov - were also drawn to this center, traces of which we sometimes find in chronicles, sometimes in modern epics. In the 12th century The epic of Vladimir experienced its heyday along with the heyday of culture, literature and art. The most outstanding prince of this time, Vladimir Monomakh, glorified by his successful wars with the Polovtsians, left his mark on the epic Vladimir in at least certain features, and the names of some of his contemporaries were preserved in epics.
Modern scientists solve the problem of the origin and development of epics in terms of their historical poetics.
Let us cite the opinion of S.N. Azbelev. In the spirit of the ideas of A. N. Veselovsky, the researcher believes that a new epic is always the result of a combination of two sources. One of them has a specific historicism. The second source is the epic heritage. “It includes the work in the tradition, introduces it into the circle of the epic epic.”
Azbelev paints the following picture of evolution. First - the Slavic "tribal" (pre-state) epic. Then - the concrete historical epic of Southern Rus' - ancient Russian lyric epic songs. Actually, epics existed almost exclusively in the space of ancient Novgorod land and where settlers from this area settled.
The epic tradition of the Novgorod North differed from the epic tradition of Southern Russia. The researcher noted: “The evolution of those works of Southern Russia that were brought to Novgorod took place under conditions different from natural ones. Hence, a more intensive growth of spontaneous fiction and a wider use of “extraneous” epic material.” Azbelev believes that the folk epic that has reached us allows us to judge only “about content historical songs of Kievan Rus. An idea of “how high the degree of concrete historicism was in the epic works of Ancient Russia and how high its poetic level was” is given by “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and such a relatively late phenomenon as the Ukrainian national dumas.
The composition of the Russian epic was formed gradually. Modern researchers, summarizing the knowledge accumulated by science about epics, offer a specific historical periodization of their plots.
V.P. Anikin identifies four periods, each of which gave the epic its heroes.
The first is mythological: it ends by the 9th century. (“the time of the emergence and initial development of epic songs”).
Second - Kyiv: IX - mid-XII V. (“Epic songs of the previous time in this new period of history concentrated their action around Kiev and the capital Kiev prince”).
The third is Vladimir-Suzdal: (“At this time, a cycle of epics with Ilya Muromets at the head was formed,” and also “a specific group was formed Novgorod epics"). This was a period of state and ethnic development of North-Eastern Russia.
The fourth is the period of creative processing of previously created epics in relation to historical conditions Moscow Russia.
The classification of historian B. A. Rybakov is more detailed. He singles out: “the initial stage of the epic” - before the reign of Vladimir I; epics of the era of Vladimir I; Monomakh cycle; Novgorod cycle of the 12th century; epics about the Mongol-Tatar invasion; epics about Vasily Buslaev and some others. Within these periods, the researcher builds the history of the creation of individual epics and their cycles.
Ticket No. 40. Epics of mythological content.
Bylinas are a poetic heroic epic of Ancient Rus', reflecting the events of the historical life of the Russian people.
this is an early genre that developed back in the days of Kievan Rus (X-XI centuries),
Among the epics, a group of the most ancient stands out. These are the so-called epics about “elder” heroes, associated with mythology. The heroes of these works are the personification of unknown forces of nature associated with mythology. Such are Svyatogor and Volkhv Vseslavevich, Danube and Mikhailo Potyk. and Mikula Selyaninovich.
Examples of epics
Svyatogor does not perform any feats. He is so great that “mother earth carries him by force.” His name testifies to some kind of holiness, maybe that’s why the sinful earth cannot bear it.
This is what one epic says. Ilya Muromets was driving across an open field and “ran into” a stranger huge hero, who, sitting on a horse, was dozing. Ilya hit him on the back with all his might with his club, “weighing ninety pounds.” The stranger did not even wake up from such a blow. On the third blow, the unknown hero woke up, looked around, saw Ilya, took him and his horse, put him in his pocket and rode on. For three days and three nights Svyatogor rode in this way with Ilya in his pocket. On the third day the horse began to “stumble” near Svyatogor.
“It’s difficult for me to carry two heroes, and even a heroic horse, for three days and three nights,” the horse answered. took Ilya Muromets out of his pocket and, having learned that he, too, a mighty hero, “fraternized” with him, that is, exchanged the baptismal cross with Ilya; Then they went on together. We arrived at high mountain and they saw a huge coffin on the mountain. Svyatogor tried to lie down in it, and it turned out that the coffin was just his height. asked Ilya to close it with a lid. Ilya fulfilled his request, but he could no longer remove the lid from the coffin. Then Ilya grabbed his “damask sword.” From each blow of Ilya’s sword, iron hoops jumped out and chained Svyatogor more tightly in the coffin. “Apparently, death is destined for me here.” Svyatogor proposed, through the crack left between the lid and the coffin, to convey to Ilya his heroic spirit, his heroic strength - but not all, but only half of the strength, otherwise, said Svyatogor, mother earth will not bear you will blow it away." Ilya received the heroic spirit through the crack, and so Svyatogor died in his huge coffin on an unknown mountain.
Another epic tells about Svyatogor’s meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich, a heroic peasant. Svyatogor rode on his heroic horse and could not catch up with Mikula Selyaninovich, who was walking with a small saddlebag over his shoulders. Svyatogor forcibly caught up with him and began to ask what he was carrying in his saddlebag? Mikul threw his purse on the ground and invited Svyatogor to pick it up. Svyatogor got off his horse, grabbed his handbag, but could not lift it; Svyatogor exerted all his strength, and from the effort he sank into the ground up to his waist, and did not move his handbag from its place. Mikula Selyaninovich bent down, picked up his purse with one hand and threw it on his back. It turns out that Mikula carried in this bag all the “earthly cravings”, as if the whole burden of agricultural labor, which only he, a heroic peasant, could do.
Volga Svyatoslavich and Mikula Selyaninovich.
The third of the senior heroes is Volga Svyatoslavich, or, as he is called in another epic, Volkh Vseslavich. One might think that his name - Volga - comes from the name of the historical prince Oleg. It is possible that Oleg’s brilliant victories seemed miraculous and supernatural to the people, and from the image of Prince Oleg this fabulously heroic image grew. Volga is a prince, Volga has a brave squad, Volga leads the warriors and always wins.
In one epic, Volga, like Svyatogor, meets Mikula Selyaninovich. Volga and his brave squad were riding across an open field and heard that a plowman (oratay) was plowing (yelling) in the field,
Volga wants to catch up with the plowman, but although he lets his heroic horse gallop, it is only on the third day that he catches up with the humble Oratai. Volga asks him what kind of wonderful horse he has? to which the plowman replies that he bought his salty filly while she was still a suckling foal in the herd, and that if this filly had been a horse, then she would not have had a price. Then Volga calls the plowman to go with him and his squad to collect “tributes” from the people. The plowman agrees, but, having driven away, he remembers that he forgot to pull his bipod out of the ground and put it away. Volga sends her warriors to do this, but they cannot move the peasant plow. Volga’s entire squad makes an effort and only “twists the bipod” on the spot. Then the plowman returns himself, with one hand he pulls the bipod out of the ground and throws it over the “crawfish bush.” Amazed by such power, Volga asks the plowman who he is? To which the latter replies: “And I’ll plow the rye, and put it in stacks, I’ll put it in the stacks, and I’ll drag it out, I’ll drag it home, and I’ll thresh it at home, I’ll pull out the rubbish, and I’ll make beer, I’ll make beer, and I’ll give the men a drink.” The peasants will start calling me: “Young Mikulushka Selyaninovich!”
This is how we learn the name of this mysterious powerful peasant plowman. He turns out to be stronger than both Svyatogor and Volga Svyatoslavich - this is explained by the special sympathy and respect of the Russian people for peasant agricultural labor.
Meanwhile, Volga Svyatoslavich is also an unusually strong hero. When he was born, “I imitated the mother of cheese-earth,
The blue sea shook.” From early childhood, Volga learned various “tricks and wisdom.” He learned to understand the language of animals and birds, learned to turn himself into animals, birds and fish; “To walk like a pike fish in the deep seas, to fly like a falcon bird under the clouds, Gray wolf prowl in clean fields" Thanks to this ability to turn around and, when necessary, turn around her squad, Volga wins wonderful victories. One epic tells how Volga Svyatoslavich decided to “fight the Turkish kingdom.” Turning into a “small bird”, he flew across the “ocean-sea”, flew to the court of the Turkish Sultan and, sitting on the window, overheard a conversation between the Sultan and his wife about how the Sultan was going to “fight the Russian land”. But the Sultan’s wife felt that the “little bird” sitting on the windowsill was none other than Prince Volga Svyatoslavich himself, and told her husband about it. Then the bird, Volga, flew up and immediately turned into an ermine, which made its way into the chambers where all the weapons of the Turkish army were kept. And then Volga the ermine began to bite all the strings of the Turkish bows. He did not gnaw them, but only bit them unnoticed, so that when the Turks pulled their bowstrings with an arrow, preparing to shoot, all their “silk bowstrings would burst at once.” - Having then flown safely over the Ocean-Sea bird, Volga gathered his “good squad”, turned it all into pike and thus swam across with the Ocean-Sea squad. The squad approached - already in human form- to the Turkish city, but it turned out that the city was surrounded by a strong, indestructible wall and the “patterned” gates were tightly locked. And then Volga resorted to magic. He turned his entire squad into “murashchiki” (ants), who climbed through the patterns and cracks of the strong city gates and, already behind the wall, turned back into a strong squad and rushed at the enemies. The Turks grabbed their bows and arrows, pulled the “silk strings” - all the strings burst at once - and Volga conquered the entire Turkish kingdom.