Slavic history is rich in events, knowledge about which is passed from generation to generation, not only orally, but also in writing. Oral legends are, as a rule, an epic, including songs, legends, that is, everything that was composed directly by the people. Later epics, legends and songs were recorded and already in this form have come down to our time. These legends preserved narratives and sketches about the life of some absolutely fantastic people, but in reality, in most cases, behind each of such heroes real people were hiding who, many centuries ago, inhabited the Slavic lands and were in such great respect among the people that about them began to compose legends. The basis of Old Russian legends is, as a rule, heroes. If we talk about the etymology of the word "hero" itself, then it is interpreted as a man-demigod, or a man endowed with the power of God. For a long time there have been heated discussions about the origin of this word. Versions were put forward about borrowing it from the Turkic languages, and even from Sanskrit. It is now generally accepted that the word "hero" was borrowed from the Tatar language.

Russian scientists distinguish two main categories of heroes - senior and junior. It is customary to rank Svyatogor, Mikula Selyaninovich, Volga Svyatoslavich, Sukhan as senior heroes. This group, according to scientists, is the personification of various natural phenomena, in most cases - the phenomena of formidable, hostile to the common man. The group of younger heroes includes the famous "Vasnetsov" trinity of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. They are also the personification of natural phenomena, but only beneficial to humans.

Traditional folk writings became the reason that the heroes of the epic were no longer just heroes, and brave warriors who opposed the invaders, but real fighters against evil spirits. Indeed, very often you can find works in which heroes have to fight against dragons, witches and other otherworldly creatures. In addition, the heroes were assigned a large role in the life of the people, because they were a kind of psychological subtext of the invincibility of Russia, evidence that among the common people there are people who are always ready to defend their native land from any misfortune ... Consider the most striking among them.

One of the most mysterious characters of the Slavic epic is Svyatogor. This is a real giant, which even the earth cannot hold. He is endowed with tremendous strength that even the most noble heroes do not dare to enter into battle with him. It is noteworthy that he does not take part in any battles, he does not perform any feats. Its main purpose is limited to fight enemies with your wisdom and fantastic strength. In the image of this hero is hidden the philosophical meaning of the ancient Slavic population about the veneration of the holy hero simply for his existence.

Mikula Selyaninovich, in spite of the fact that he is not mentioned among the Kiev heroes, nevertheless was such. He was the real pride of the Slavic people, because the plowman-hero was a real embodiment of the Russian spirit, which by its existence claims that a simple farmer can fight with real heroes.

Another no less striking image is Volkh Vseslavievich. This is a fantastic epic character. According to legend, he was born of a serpent, so he grew very quickly. Not even an hour and a half had passed since his birth, when he was put on damask armor. He very quickly mastered magic and all kinds of sciences. He was considered a pagan priest, sorcerer and warrior.

Unlike Volkh, another famous epic hero, Danube Ivanovich, is a historically accurate character. His story begins from the very moment when he enters into a duel with Dobrynya Nikitich. According to legend, Ilya Muromets separates them, after which fraternization takes place. Later, the Danube was looking for a bride for Prince Vladimir and, having killed the Lithuanian prince, took away his daughter Apraksia. Another story related to the Danube is very interesting and entertaining. He is in love with Bogatyrka Nastasya, who agrees to become the wife of only the one who can defeat her. Of course, the Danube wins a victory over her. When the wedding takes place, after an insane argument, he kills his betrothed by shooting a bow into the ring that stood on Nastasya's head. Unable to withstand grief, the Danube kills himself.

Despite the fact that there are enough mentions of these heroes in literature, the first name that comes to the mind of most people is Ilya Muromets. This hero had those features that were mainly attributed to mythical and fantastic heroes - the miraculous gain of great power. He was the son of simple peasant parents, from childhood he was bedridden. This happens until the Kaliki wanderers appear. They order the boy to bring them water, and Elijah is healed. Moreover, he has extraordinary strength. From that very moment, the heroic life of Ilya Muromets began, and his exploits became the basis for many epics and legends. However, the most famous epic is his battle with the Nightingale the Robber. By the way, until now, scientists have not been able to come to a consensus about who the Nightingale really was - either a fictional hero, or one of the warriors of the Mongol-Tatar army, or a simple robber living in Murom and ruined merchants forced to pass through the Murom forests. At a certain period of time, Ilya comes to the service in Kiev to save Russia from numerous misfortunes and perform incredible and even miraculous feats.

At the same time with Ilya Muromets, another hero lived, whose name was Dobrynya Nikitich. He was born in Ryazan, but like Muromets, he served in Kiev. The heroic history of Dobrynya begins from the moment when he defeated the Serpent Gorynych. The prince instructs him to engage in a fierce battle with the Serpent, on the way the hero is overcome by little snakes, but Dobrynya manages to fulfill the prince's order and free the girls and princes from the dragon caves.

Sometimes one gets the impression that Dobrynya is a mythological hero. The story about the witch Marinka, who bewitched the hero, also looks a bit fantastic. However, Dobryna, with the help of her mother, the same witch, manages to defeat the spell of Marinka and deal with her. But its history contains not only a large number of fantastic legends. In Kievan Rus, he carried out more important assignments, appearing before the readers as a brave, wise warrior, who, among other things, is also the first assistant of Ilya Muromets.

Another famous hero - Alyosha Popovich, according to legends, was from the city of Rostov. He found himself in Kiev quite by accident. In an open field, the hero found a stone on which three roads were indicated: one led to Chernigov, the other to Murom, and the third to Kiev. He also begins to serve at the court of Prince Vladimir. Perhaps the most famous story associated with Popovich is the legend of his duel with Tugarin (this, according to the epic, is a fictional character, therefore he occasionally bears the nickname Zmeevich and appears as a monster). Tugarin is a foreign invader who can swallow a whole swan at a time, and the servants carry him on a gold stand. And Alyosha Popovich is always a young, brave and even sometimes reckless warrior.

There is always a connection between Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich. There is also a great similarity between them, not only in characters, but also in adventures and some life events.

And in conclusion, it is necessary to say a few words about such heroes as Vasily Buslaev and Nikita Kozhemyaka. They were all real people. Vasily Buslaev was from Novgorod. By nature, this man has always been a rebel and even a drunkard. He inherited his heroic strength from his father. However, the young man uses it differently from the rest of the heroes. On the contrary, he violates the laws of the city in every possible way, recruits a squad from the same as him (the main selection criteria are the ability to drink a bucket of wine or withstand a blow to the head with a club). Together with the squad, Vasily does not fight enemies and invaders, but only gets drunk in taverns, fights. According to legend, he died as recklessly as he lived - on the way back from Jerusalem, he hit his head on a stone, falling from a horse (and in fact it was written on the stone that one cannot jump through it ...).

Unlike Vasily, Nikita Kozhemyaka was a real warrior who served the Kiev prince Vladimir. Together with him, Kozhemyaka went to battle against the Pechenegs, fighting one on one with a strong man and defeating him. This victory was the beginning of the victory of the Russian army over the invaders. In different periods, Nikita Kozhemyaka is presented either as a simple artisan, or as a real hero who is in service in Kiev.

Believing that the Slavic heroes existed in reality, or holding the opinion that these were exclusively fictional characters is everyone's personal business. However, this is not the main thing. And the main thing is that, in any case, it was they who played a big role in the history of the Slavs, becoming symbols of the past.

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Russian folklore is very rich and diverse in its history, culture and traditions, which are reflected in songs, epics and legends. The epics composed by the common people were distinguished by the beauty and believability of their narration, with the presence of a small fictional fiction, which gave them an even greater originality inherent in the ancient Russian era. In the center of the epics there is always a positive character - a hero who embodied the invincible strength and boundless love for Mother Russia, the people's patron. Of course, the image of the hero is collective. The people created the image of a hero, placing their hopes and aspirations on him, in order to show the next generations and educate an ideology about the invincibility of Russia before the enemy force.

The main qualities of the Russian heroes were- military valor and efforts to protect their native land. The merits of the heroes are tested in battle, in an unequal battle, with which the composition of the epic is connected, colorfully saturated with exaggerations.

Who were these demigods endowed with superhuman strength?

The most popular in ancient Russia is the character of Ilya Muromets. This character has absorbed all the features inherent in mythological heroes - miraculous healing and the acquisition of superhuman strength. Ilya comes from from a simple peasant family, bedridden since childhood, until the pedestrians appear and miraculously heal him. From this episode, the heroic life of Ilya Muromets begins, whose exploits are reflected in art in epics and legends.

Another equally important hero is Nikitich, who lived in the same era with Ilya Muromets. The glorification of the irresistible strength and courage of the Russian hero begins with a duel with the serpent Gorynych. The story about Dobryna Nikitich contains not only fantastic stories, he also appears as a wise and brave warrior, carrying out all the orders of Ilya Muromets. Dobrynya became the standard of the warrior of the era of Kievan Rus.

The third famous hero is - Alesha Popovich, who is often represented as a young, brave, savvy and cunning warrior.

One of the most mysterious images of Russian epics is Svyatogor, having a strength superior to the great heroes of ancient Russia. The character of Svyatogor was taken from ancient mythology, which absorbed the idea of ​​the great mountain giants, who embodied the greatness and equanimity of the mountains. Epics about Svyatogor are tragic stories about how a mighty giant dies not in a battle for a just cause, but in a dispute with some unknown, irresistible force.

No less mysterious hero in the Russian epic is Volkh Vseslavievich who was born from a fantastic snake. Magus is considered a sorcerer and priest of the pagan gods. Volkh is the hero of The Lay of Igor's Host. Despite his fame, the character of Volkh was not a historical person, but just the fruit of the artistic invention of the people.

Unlike Volkh, Danube Ivanovic is a character with a real-historical basis. The story of the Danube begins with a fight with Dobrynya Nikitich. The Danube is part of the Kiev heroism.

The story of the Danube and the heroes Nastasya is also fascinating. At his own wedding, as a result of an insane dispute, the Danube kills Nastasya, having missed when shooting from a bow. Unable to bear the grief of loss, the Danube kills itself.

Russian heroes play a huge role in Russian history... The epics tell about those glorious men who became Russia, protected and defended the Russian people from the invasion of the enemy forces. Russian heroes in epics embodied the idea of ​​the reunification of the Slavs, invincibility and inviolability of the ancient Russian state before external enemies, being a role model in patriotism and courage for future generations.

However, here the word old does not mean "burdened by years", but only mature, experienced in military affairs.

Military prowess of heroes

The totality of military valor and a kind, honest disposition are the main features of the Russian hero, but physical valor alone is not enough, it is also necessary that all the activities of the hero have a religious-patriotic character. In general, the people idealize their heroes, and if they hyperbolically represent their physical qualities: strength, dexterity, heavy gait, deafening voice, prolonged sleep, then still they do not have that brutal gluttony of other monstrous giants who do not belong to the category of heroes in the epics ...

The element of the miraculous plays a big role in the fates of heroes: they often meet with beneficial and hostile supernatural forces, but in general, nevertheless, in epics there is a tendency to smooth out the miraculous element, which does not play such a role in them as, for example, in fairy tales, and has its purpose, according to Maikov, is to give the heroes a more ideal character.

The origin of the words "hero" and "knight"

It has long been suggested that it was borrowed from the languages ​​of the Altai language family, where it appears in various forms: bagatur, bakhadir, bagadur, batur, batyr, bator, baatar... But opponents (Orest Miller and others) of this opinion appeared: they proceeded from the position that the word Bagadur was not a Turkic-Mongolian word, but borrowed from Sanskrit bhagadhara(possessing happiness, successful), and that as a result of this, the Russian "hero" also goes back to the pre-Aryan origin. Others directly deduced the "hero" from "God" through the "rich" (Shchepkin, Buslaev).

None of these opinions, however, should be accepted: the Mongolian word (modern Mong. baatar) can really be borrowed from Sanskrit, and nevertheless the Russian word is not root, but also borrowed; the Sanskrit word would correspond to the root Russian "bogodar", and in no way "bogatyr". From the word “rich-” “bogatyr” cannot come, since there is no suffix -yr. The fact that it is absent in other Slavic languages, with the exception of Polish (bohater), which borrowed it from Russian, which is proved by the presence of the sound h and the solid r at the end of the word, also speaks against the primacy of the words "hero". Other explanations are historical. Khalansky thinks ("Great Russian epics") that the original form of the word was "bagatyr" and that it was originally used in the meaning of "Tatar voivode" and the title, which was placed with proper names in the meaning of the present "lord"; this has already been pointed out by Buslaev.

The assumption of borrowing the word "hero" from the Turkic or Mongolian language is now accepted by all Russian scientists, although, on the other hand, old false explanations of the etymology of the word are encountered quite often, especially in textbooks on the history of Russian literature. From the above, it does not at all follow that in the pre-Mongol period there was no concept in Russia corresponding to the current concept of a hero. It only corresponded to other words in the language, for example: polyanik, raspberry, (f. - polyanitsa, raspberry); chorobar (later replaced under the book influence of the Church-Slavic word brave), chorobor, chorober, frolic, daring. Then his word was replaced by a foreign one under the influence of psychological factors: in the eyes of the people, Russian heroes, bearing the same name as the Tatar-Mongolian, were not inferior to these latter, opposed to them. The word "hero" itself appears for the first time in Sernitsky's book, published without designation of a place in the city "Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova", which says: "Rossi ... de heroibus suis, quos Bohatiros id est semideos vocant , aliis persuadere conantur ".

There are also two versions of the origin of the word "knight". According to the first version, the word comes from the ancient German word Witing... According to the second version, the word "knight" comes from the ancient Norwegian "vikingr" - in the Slavic languages ​​the Scandinavian suffix "-ing" passed into "-ez", respectively, the Eastern Slavs pronounced the word "vikingr" as "knight".

Epics

With this division, as we have already said, Khalansky does not agree at all, who divides the heroes into types related to the pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar, or Moscow epochs: he includes Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Danilovich and Alyosha Popovich in the first group; to the second: the heroes at the outpost, Idolishche, Ilya Muromets, Vasily Ignatievich and the heroes who were "extinct"; to the third: Mikul Selyaninovich, Khoten Bludovich, Churilu Plenkovich, Duke Stepanovich, Danil Lovchenin, forty kaliks with a calico, Nightingale Budimirovich. In addition, the same author divides the heroes according to the regions in which, in his opinion, they were created by the people; so, to the Kiev region, he ranks only Vladimir himself, Dobrynya, as well as Volga Svyatoslavich, Stavr Godinovich, Ivan Danilovich, Churila Plenkovich and partly Ivan Godinovich.

Review of the most important epic heroes of Kievan Rus

These are the general views on the heroes; Let us now review the views of various researchers about the main representatives of the Kiev epic heroism in the next order: here the views of all directions, which we have already discussed in general terms, will be compared.

Svyatogor

Svyatogor, a terrible giant, whom even the earth does not hold, lies on the mountain in inaction when Ilya comes to him. Other epics tell about his marriage, about the meeting with the craving of the earth and death in a magic grave. In some epics, Svyatogor is replaced by Samson, who is named after his patronymic Kolyvanovich, Samoilovich or Vasilyevich. Many features of the personality and life of the biblical hero Samson have been transferred to Svyatogor, but in general the epics about Svyatogor have been little developed. Everyone, not even excluding Miller, admits that the creation of his image was strongly influenced by the biblical influence, but they do not know how to explain the origin of other, non-biblical character traits.

Miller considers his name to be purely Kiev, derived from "holy" and "mountain", denoting a hero the size of a mountain; in his opinion, initially Svyatogor served as the personification of huge, immobile clouds that lay all over the sky. In this face, according to Miller, who knows how to "mix the earthly with the heavenly", there is something elemental, titanic, hostile to the earth. Over time, under the influence of the Bible, the original myth about Svyatogor began to change, and this was followed by a complete identification with the face of Samson, who is the later support for Svyatogor and partly a prefix to it in some details.

According to Veselovsky's instructions ("Hebrew Bulletin", 1875, April), there are some undoubted similarities between Svyatogor and Anika the warrior, the hero of one verse of book origin, which depends on the Byzantine poem about Digenis. On the basis of the same verse, Petrov ("Works of Kiev. Spiritual Ac." 1871, X) brings Svyatogor closer to Yegor the Brave. Vollner also sees two words in the name of Svyatogor: Saint Yegor, thus the name of Svyatogor would have grown on Christian soil; Miller rebels against this, saying that there is no internal connection between Svyatogor and Yegor the Brave. Be that as it may, there are places where such a comparison occurs: Yegor Svyatogor. Vollner, explaining the origin of some of the details in the epic, brings them closer to the verse about Yegor in a few episodes, however.

Zhdanov explains the expression Yegor Svyatogor in such a way that the first name serves as a real name, and the second as an epithet. He considers the epithet of the hero "Svyatogor" to be the same epithet, which is also found in the form "the hero of Svyatogorsk"; his real name was Samson (cf. "To the literary history of Russian bygone poetry", p. 164). Thus, in the person of Svyatogor, according to the controversial version of Zhdanov, we would have united several persons: Samson, Yegor, Anika, Moses, the Nart hero, etc., and according to Miller, also a Proto-Slavic deity who ruled gigantic clouds.

Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy, or Sukhman Damantievich

There is one epic about Sukhan, or Sukhmantiy and Sukhman Damantievich, which tells how Sukhan, offended by Vladimir, takes his own life. Bessonov sees in him a mythical creature, while Vollner sees in the epic the sentimental influence of the latest written literature.

Kolyvan

From Ivan Kolyvanovich and Kolyvan Ivanovich, who were originally one person, only names remained in the epics, by which, of course, it is difficult to judge with any certainty.

Danube Ivanovic

Danube Ivanovich belongs to the number of matchmakers' heroes; according to Yagich (Archiv I), he represents the personification of the Danube River, as evidenced by the epithet "quiet" that constantly accompanies him in the epic. Miller also sees in him the personification of the river, but not the present Danube, but the river in general; he believes that Danube was originally a household word. This river was not earthly, but heavenly, it was generally a reservoir of water, clouds, therefore the hero, in fact, is a mythical creature, the personification of the cloud.

Already the matchmaking of the Danube, according to Miller, indicates the mythical character of the hero. The everyday side of the epics differs from all other epics by the antiquity of the general color: the mores here have not yet been softened by settledness and agriculture. On the other hand, in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1281 and 1287. there is a mention of the governor of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich Danube. Aksakov in the Danube sees only a warrior: “The Danube is not like other heroes; obviously a newcomer from other countries, violent in spirit, he is distinguished by some special proud bearing. " The marriage of the Danube to Nastasya is reminiscent of Sigurd's matchmaking to Brunhilde.

According to Stasov, in the epic about the Danube, a cosmic spontaneous myth was preserved, and in this he agrees with Miller. He differs from him in that he does not see in the Danube a memory of a mythical creature inherited by Russians from Aryan ancestors, but simply a type borrowed from mythological Asian legends. So, he brings the Danube closer to Soma, the god of the moon, the hero of one story in Harivans, with Bgrigu from Mahabharata, with Brahman Saktideva from the collection of Somadeva; thus, according to Stasov, India should be recognized as the fatherland of the Danube.

Ilya Muromets

A number of younger heroes begin with their main representative, the guardian of the Russian land, Ilya Muromets. A huge literature is dedicated to him, in comparison with other heroes, but, despite the fact, the question about him also remains far from clear. We will limit ourselves here to pointing out the more original views of scholars regarding this hero, views are extremely diverse and contradictory to each other, since some see Ilya as a mythical creature, others see him as a representative of the Russian peasant class, others consider him a borrowed type and, finally, 4th look at it as a mixture of dissimilar elements: mythical, historical, domestic and foreign. Its very name, Muromets, causes disagreement as to whether it is original or not.

The earliest mention of him is in the "Vestovaya unsubscribe" of the Orsha head Philon Kmita of Chernobyl to Ostafy Volovich, castellan Trotsky, written in Orsha in 1574, August 5th day: "Ilii Murawlenina i Solowia Budimirowicza" read in this note; then Erich Lasota also says "Morowlin". This is the initial form of this word, which later only passed into "Muromets" under the influence of the association of the hero with the city of Murom. With these names O. Miller brings Ilya Muromets closer to each other in a story borrowed from the notebook of Grigory Pankeyev, a shorn monk of the same faith. In any case, these considerations do not have sufficient confirmation, therefore, most researchers refrain from a decisive judgment; so, for example, Khalansky says that it is difficult to decide how this word was originally pronounced, although he adds that in any case it is impossible to stand for the antiquity of the Muromets form. V. Kallash is definitely expressed in this regard, who takes as the correct form: Muromets, Morovlyanin ("Ethnographic Review", 1890).

There are many stories about Ilya, they make up a whole cycle, united by his personality; in these epics he is presented more or less in the same light, although here, too, there is a slight difference in the shading of some of his character traits; so, for example, Ilya, who frightens the robbers without causing them any harm, and Ilya, who kills his own son, are not the same.

Since the popular fantasy combined Elijah the Prophet with Perun, it was quite natural to transfer the features of Perun, the thunder god, to Ilya of Muromets, who bore the name of Elijah the Prophet. " If we recognize the mythical meaning of Ilya, which Miller attaches to him, then it is much more rational to admit something completely opposite, namely, that Ilya Muromets as the thunder god originally bore a completely different name and only then, due to his rapprochement with Elijah the prophet, took over from the latter the present name. Orest Miller quite definitely speaks about the mythological significance of Ilya Muromets: he says that although Ilya becomes the head of the younger heroes, already understood in the zemstvo historical sense, nevertheless, the basis of his every adventure can almost always be seen as the main, albeit obscured, myth.

He was originally a thunder deity, then became an agricultural deity and finally a hero-agriculturalist. On the main myth lay thick layers of historical and everyday layers, and under their influence the character of Ilya changed; there, for example, where Ilya goes from a defensive position to an offensive one, he is a reflection of the fate of the Russian land. According to Miller, Ilya from other heroes is closer to Potyk and Dobryna. Other researchers of epics do not speak out so generally and break the epics about Muromets into separate plots and try to explain each moment separately. The main moments of the epics about Ilya are next: Ilya has been sitting in Sydney for thirty years; receives strength from kalik pedestrians (according to some epics, from Svyatogor), performs the first peasant work, goes to Svyatogor; having received the parental blessing, he goes to Kiev; on the way he captures the Nightingale the Robber, frees Chernigov from the Tatars and meets the staff, whom he talks about Alyosha Popovich.

Arriving in Kiev, he feasts at Vladimir's and Alyosha throws a knife at him; then Ilya - at the heroic outpost together with his other "brothers of the cross"; the fight against Polenitsa, Sokolnik, Zhidovin; bad relations with Vladimir; the attack of the Tatars on Kiev, Kalin, Idolische; the battle with the Tatars, the heroes are put down together with Ilya; three "trips" by Ilya Muromets. Not all points are equally developed in the literature: comparatively a lot of research has been devoted to one (for example, the fight with his son Sokolnik), while almost no one has yet been involved in others in detail.

The first fact from Ilya's life - that he sits in sydney for a long time - Miller explains in a mythological way: a good, charitable deity should remain inactive throughout the winter, and only the honey drink of kalik passages, that is, warm rain pouring out of spring clouds , gives this deity miraculous power. Khalansky compares the epics in which power passes to Ilya from Svyatogor with the Nart Caucasian legends, and if we accept his explanation, then Ilya is here a hero borrowed from the Caucasus. The youth of Ilya Stasov compares with the youth of the heroes of the Indian collection of legends under the title. "Mahavansi" and with Rustem's youth in "Shahnama".

Ilya's meeting with Nightingale the Robber was examined several times: the entire epic narrating about Ilya's trip to Kiev and this meeting, Stasov brings, of course, from the East, namely, he sees in it the reflection of the story of the Siberian Tatars, known in several editions, about the hero Tan; Accordingly, the Nightingale the Robber would be just a Tatar monster, the black seven-headed bull Yelbegen. Other scientists spoke about the same issue. Miller initially saw in Nightingale as simply a singer like Bayan, whom the author of The Lay of Igor's Campaign calls the Nightingale of old times; Buslaev sees in this name the same thing as in the epithet "prophetic", Afanasyev considers the singing of a nightingale to be a symbol of spring thunder and, thus, looks at our robber as a mythical creature. Melnikov compares the epic with a half-book legend in a manuscript of the 17th century. about strong Mordvins who bore the names of birds, including the nightingale.

According to Yagich (Archiv, I), everything that relates to the whistle of a robber is a later work, caused by the consonance of his name with the name of a bird; initially it was a strange hero, who did not really fit the cycle of Russian heroes, and from there an element of hostile attitude towards the Russian land appeared in the epic. But he is well suited to such heroes as Anika, Samson, Malfey, Yegor-Svyatogor. Further, Yagich believes that Nightingale the Robber and Nightingale Budimirovich have not only a common name, but also a common origin in some legend about Solomon, perhaps in the legend of Solomon the sorcerer.

How plausible this rapprochement is, we will speak below, under Solov'e Budimirovich. O. Miller in his "Ilya Muromets" speaks about the Nightingale somewhat differently than in "Experience": he considers the Nightingale the Robber the personification of such natural phenomena as wind, whirlwind, storm. The whistle of the storm and the nightingale is here a link connecting the name with the phenomenon it designates. The nightingale, as a representative of continuous bad weather, escaped the fate of other heroes who have undergone historical influence, and still remains a pure mythical type. As for the bogatyr outpost, then, according to Khalansky, it is due to the fact that in the XIV century. border fortresses and guards began to be established and border guards were established. At this time, the image of the heroes, standing at the outpost and guarding the borders of the Svyato-Russian land, was formed in the former epic. About Polenitsa, the same scientist believes that this name came about in this way: to denote a giant, the word polonik was used (akin in origin to the present “giant”); according to Sreznevsky, it was used in Russian books as a constant explanatory epithet for the word giant; other forms of this word were: polnik, executive; Khalansky thinks that the nominative case of the masculine plural - polnitsi, polnice - began to be felt by the people as the same case of the word raspberry, which did not exist until now; it was used at first as a common name for the masculine and feminine gender, and then became the proper name of the giantess who fought with Ilya and then became his wife. Memories of such a struggle between a hero and a hero were especially vividly reflected in German epic literature, although, however, there is no shortage of them in other literatures.

The same story about the fight against the hero is repeated in the epics about other heroes, for example. about Dobryna, Danube and friend. The episode about Ilya's struggle with his son can be viewed only by a comparative method, since we have no materials for historical conclusions. But the comparative method can also lead us to different conclusions: either you can see in this episode the reflection of Western European legends in the kind of song about Hildebrant and Gadubrant, or you can look for its source together with Stasov in Asia, in the poetic history of Rustem Shahname, or, finally, with O. Miller to see in this epic the common Aryan heritage of mythical content, preserved in the Russian edition through tradition, and not by borrowing. All in. Miller compares Ilya, who is fighting with his son, with the heroes of two fairy tales: the Estonian (Kivi-al) and the Kirghiz (Gali); in his opinion, both of these tales, like the Russian epic, may have arisen under the influence of Shahnameh, and in this case all these heroes are a reflection of Rustem (Ethnogr. Observer, 1890, 2). Russian epics end in two ways: tragically and not tragically; the first ending is ancient, the second is softened under the influence of new everyday and religious principles. The main mythical meaning of the episode, according to O. Miller, is as follows: Ilya kills his son - this means that lightning cuts through the cloud.

Khalansky considers the meeting of Ilya with Zhidovin to be a modification of the meeting with his son; the latter is also the son of Ilya, but only his recognition is lacking in the epic. The case is explained in such a way that the son of Ilya has different names in different epics, so it could happen that he is named Zhidovin in one of them. But after this, other changes began, already in the content of the epic itself. Zhidovin could not be the son of a Christian, and therefore the episode about his recognition as a son was simply released; and since the word "Jew" in the sense of an enemy was first used in book legends, Khalansky also sees in this person a book influence. Veselovsky does not agree with him, who in his "Small Notes" ("Zhurn. Min. Nar. Pr.", 1889, V) indicates the historical basis for Zhidovin.

Heroes of the Novgorod type

It remains for us to say a few more words about the heroes of the Novgorod cycle, who in all respects differ from the heroes of Kiev, since they contain features that characterize them as non-Russian, alien types. Almost all researchers of epics, not even excluding O. Miller, recognize a very strong foreign element in Novgorod epics. There are only three of these heroes: Vasily Buslaev, Gavrilo Aleksich and Sadko, a rich guest. The first of them serves as the ideal of boundless, unrestrained prowess and has much in common with the rampant Norman heroes. More or less extensive studies by Vollner, Stasov and Veselovsky are devoted to Sadko. According to O. Miller, an alien element is expressed in Sadko that does not agree with the Russian absorption of the individual by the community: it represents the ideal of personal wealth, thus similar to the South Russian type of Churila and Duke; the difference lies in the minor character traits and actions of these persons; there is nothing mythical in Sadko, but he is only surrounded by a mythical element in the person of the sea king, etc.

Who are the heroes?

It would seem that this is a question that any schoolchild will answer, but how you undertake to formulate an exact definition, it turns out that it is not so simple.

To each his own hero

Where did these fabulous knights, the heroes of Old Russian epics come from? Did they ever really exist or were they invented by our ancestors, like brownies and gobies, kikimors, mermaids and other fairy-tale characters? Can they be considered purely Russian epic heroes, or did other countries also have their own heroes? Finally, what were these heroes doing?

Let's immediately clarify the second question: every nation, which has its own folklore and its own heroic epic, certainly has its own semi-imaginary semi-real heroes, often copied from real, once famous warriors: Belarusian asilka, Kazakh batyrs, Azerbaijani pakhlavans, Scandinavian Vikings ...

Fiction or reality?

The list can be continued, and historians and literary scholars have a long debate about each of these heroes: were these people real, did they really exist, or was it all just a fantasy of storytellers, supported by the fact that each of them, who transmitted stories about good and fair strongmen and giants, did you add something of your own?

Well, about the heroes of other countries to say for sure, perhaps we can not do anything. But about the heroes of Russian folk epics, folklorists and historians have long come to a consensus: something may have been embellished by the storytellers, but many of the events sung in the epics actually happened, and many of their characters have real historical prototypes ...

Sometimes it is not easy to understand the intricacies of history and literature: for example, one legendary hero can be "copied" from two or even three real people at once. It is also known that, for example, Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich could not accomplish their glorious feats together in any way: they lived at different times!

A slanting fathom, a heroic dream ...

Let us turn, however, to dry facts: epic heroes are strong men, skillful warriors and fierce fighters against evil and injustice of all stripes. Many sources also mention that they stood "at the outpost", that is, they guarded the borders of Russia from enemies.

The adjective "heroic" has firmly entered our lexicon: when we say "heroic dream", "heroic strength" or "heroic appetite", we mean something great in every sense. Indeed, in the legends, heroes appear as strong men of enormous stature, capable of dying a bull in one sitting and sleeping for thirty years. This, of course, is a literary exaggeration - after all, if we proceed from literary views, heroes are legendary heroes of the folk epic, but such heroes have always been idealized and, at least in stories, awarded with all kinds of valor and positive qualities in unthinkable quantities.

There is, however, a completely practical explanation: of course, no one was taken to defend the borders of the Motherland, to the princely squad and other important services - they selected the most dexterous and skillful, courageous and strong. It is quite possible that the prototypes of epic heroes stood out for their height and strength among their contemporaries - after all, before the average height of a man was completely short, and a guy 170-180 centimeters tall could easily be considered a giant.

Where did the hero come from in Russia?

Another interesting fact: the very word "hero", which we consider to be primordially Russian, even came from the Turkic "baattar" or "bahadur", which means about the same - a strong, brave, dashing and brave warrior. And this is not the only word that has passed into Russian from other languages ​​and has taken root there forever. Even the analogue of the word "hero", often found in fairy tales - "knight" - most likely comes from the ancient Norse "Viking".

There is probably no such person in Russia who would not have heard of the heroes. The heroes who came to us from ancient Russian legendary songs - epics, have always been popular with writers, artists, and cinematographers. The next round of popularity of the heroes is associated with the release of a series of animated films dedicated to their somewhat modernized adventures.

At the same time, most Russians know only about a very narrow circle of heroes. In fact, the number of heroic epics that have come down to our time is in the hundreds, and the heroes themselves are divided by scientists into several categories. The heroes of the pagan and Christian epochs, pre-Tatar, Tatar and post-Tatar ones stand out ...

"Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor". Painting by Ivan Bilibin. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

There is a large group of heroes associated with Kiev and Prince Vladimir, but there are those who have no relation to the “central government” at all, remaining “regional heroes” of individual cities.

The adventures of some heroes are intertwined with each other, while others act independently.

Svyatogor

Svyatogor is so huge that it is "higher than a standing forest, lower than a walking cloud." The hero lived on the Holy Mountains, during his trip Mother - Cheese, the Earth is shaken, forests sway and rivers pour out of the banks.

The father of the hero was called "dark", that is, blind, which in East Slavic mythology was a sign of creatures from another world.

Svyatogor does not carry out any service, although it intersects with other heroes. So, in one of the epics Svyatogor travels with Ilya Muromets, and they meet a stone coffin on the way. Deciding to try it on, Svyatogor turns out to be his prisoner and dies, having transferred part of his powers to Ilya Muromets. In another epic, the story of the coffin is preceded by intimate adventures - Ilya Muromets is seduced by the wife of Svyatogor. Upon learning of this, Svyatogor kills the fallen woman, and with Ilya, who instructed him, enters into a brotherhood.

In yet another epic, Svyatogor is measured by the strength of the hero with another "colleague" - Mikula Selyaninovich. The cunning rival throws a bag on the ground, which contained "all earthly burdens", inviting Svyatogor to pick it up. This attempt ends with the death of the hero.

In epics, Svyatogor dies more often than other heroes. Scientists associate this with the fact that this image personifies the primitive forces of nature, an element that does not serve man.

Mikula Selyaninovich

Mikula Selyaninovich, like Svyatogor, is not in any service with the prince and is not a warrior. But, unlike Svyatogor, Mikula Selyaninovich is engaged in socially useful work - he is a bogatyr-plowman.

Mikula Selyaninovich. Illustration for the book "Russian epic heroes". Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Butko

It is impossible to fight Mikula Selyaninovich, because Mother Earth is behind him. That is why Mikula Selyaninovich is able to lift the bag with "all the burden of the earth," in contrast to Svyatogor, whom this attempt is destroying.

Scientists find in the image of Mikula Selyaninovich a lot in common with the Slavic god Perun. According to one version, popularity in Russia Nicholas the Wonderworker is rooted in the veneration of Mikula Selyaninovich.

If we take into account that the image of St. Nicholas served to create a story about a Christmas wizard, who in our area is stubbornly associated with Santa Claus, then we can build a chain according to which Santa Claus is a retired hero Mikula Selyaninovich.

Unlike Svyatogor, who has only an unfaithful wife in the epics, Mikula Selyaninovich has daughters - Vasilisa and Nastasya. Nastasya became the wife of Dobrynya Nikitich, and as for Vasilisa, she is well known to fans of Soviet cartoons - this is the same Vasilisa Mikulishna, who, pretending to be an ambassador from the Golden Horde, freed her husband Stavr Godinovich from prison.

Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets, the first in a series of so-called "junior heroes", warrior heroes, is perhaps best known to the general public.

After spending up to 33 years at home, not using his hands and feet, he was healed by the elders and went to perform feats. It is curious that the epics of Ilya's service to the Kiev prince Vladimir were told only in part of the Russian lands - in other regions the heroic deeds of the hero were exclusively his personal affair.

Ilya Muromets in the painting "Heroic Skok" by Viktor Vasnetsov. Reproduction

The most common and classic feat of Ilya Muromets is the victory over the Nightingale the Robber. At the same time, Muromets is perhaps the most popular hero, more than fifteen original epics are dedicated to his exploits. Among those whom Ilya defeated were Idolische Filthy, a certain serpent, Kalin the Tsar and many others.

Ilya's life is rather stormy: he has a wife Zlatigorka, a son Sokolnik (in another version - a daughter), he actively interacts with other Russian heroes. At the same time, if relations with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich are often friendly, then meetings with Svyatogor end in tears for the latter.

If Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich do not have a real prototype, then Ilya Muromets has several of them.

Most often it is associated with Ilya Pechersky, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who lived in the XII century. The strongman, born in Murom, bore the nickname "Chobotok". This hero received the nickname for having once fought off enemies with a "chobot", that is, with a boot.

"Nikitich". Illustration by Andrey Ryabushkin for the book "Russian epic heroes". Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Butko

According to one version, the hero became a monk after a serious wound received in battle. Examination of the relics of Elijah of Pechersky showed that he really died from the consequences of being hit with a sharp weapon in the chest. The prototype of Muromets could have died in 1204 during the capture of Kiev Prince Rurik Rostislavich when the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was destroyed by the Polovtsy.

Nikitich

Unlike Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich is a person close to the Kiev prince, carrying out his orders. Dobrynya does not hesitate to collect and transport tribute, takes on tasks that colleagues refuse for some reason, and has a penchant for diplomacy.

The most famous enemy of Dobrynya is the Serpent, better known as the Serpent-Gorynych, from whose captivity the hero frees the niece of Prince Zabava Putyatishna.

Dobrynya is the most creative person among the heroes. He plays tavlei (Old Russian checkers) well, sings well and plays the harp.

Dobrynya Nikitich has extensive connections - in addition to being close to the prince, he is married to Nastasya Mikulishna, daughter of Mikula Selyaninovich.

According to the epics, Dobrynya is the son of the Ryazan governor. The most likely prototype of the hero is called Dobrynya, the governor of Prince Vladimir Saint... Dobrynya was an extremely influential person, since he was the prince's uncle - he was the brother of his mother Malushi... For a certain time, Dobrynya was a mentor for the prince, an older friend.

Alesha Popovich. Illustration for the book "Russian epic heroes". Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Butko

Alesha Popovich

Alyosha Popovich is the most dubious character from the "classic troika" of heroes. The son of a Rostov priest, Alyosha is boastful, arrogant, sly, sometimes allows himself inappropriate jokes, for which he is reprimanded by his comrades.

So, for example, in one of the epics, Alyosha solicits Dobrynya's wife Nastasya Mikulishna, spreading false rumors about the death of a comrade.

In another epic, Alyosha's head is chopped off by the angry brothers of Elena or Alyona seduced by him. True, in the more famous version, Alyosha Popovich had to marry Alyonushka in order to avoid the worst.

Alyosha's main adversary is Tugarin, an evil hero, behind whom the image of a nomad is guessed, with whom the Russians have been fighting for a long time.

The main historical prototype of Alyosha Popovich is the Rostov boyar Olyosha (Alexander) Popovich. Excellent warrior, Olyosha served Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, and then participated in the internecine wars of his sons. Subsequently, Olesha Popovich went to the service to Prince Mstislav the Old and died with him in 1223 in the Battle of Kalka, which became the first meeting of the Russians with the Tatar-Mongols. In the same battle he died and Dobrynya Ryazanets Zlat Belt, another candidate for prototypes of the epic Dobrynya Nikitich.