The concept of historical legends message on literature. Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism What is Tradition, what does it mean and how to write it correctly
The meaning of the word TREND in the Dictionary of Literary Terms
TRADITION
Genre of oral folk art: story, narration about real people and events of the past, information about which needed to be passed on to subsequent generations. However, the plot of P. usually does not unfold into a complex chain of events, as in a fairy tale (see literary fairy tale), but is built on one episode, as a rule, always bright and extraordinary. P.'s source is the stories of eyewitnesses, however, being passed on from mouth to mouth, P. moves away from the actual basis and is subject to free poetic interpretation, thereby becoming closer to fairy tales and legends (see legend). By topic, they distinguish between historical (the origin of a particular people, the history of ancestors, etc.) and toponymic (the origin of natural objects: mountains, rocks, rivers, lakes, swamps, etc.; ancient monuments: burial grounds, monasteries, etc. items and their names) P.
Dictionary of literary terms. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what TRADING is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- TRADITION in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
TRIAL - a stage of the criminal process in which the sufficiency of factual data and legal grounds for consideration of the case in court is checked. ... - TRADITION in the Literary Encyclopedia:
[ukr. - confirmation, German. — Sage, fr. and English - tradition, Greek - par?dosis, in popular terminology - “pre-syulshchina”, “truth”, ... - TRADITION in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- TRADITION in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
in folk poetry, a narrative containing information about real persons and events. Having emerged from the stories of eyewitnesses, P., during the transfer, moves away from ... - TRADITION in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- TRADITION in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
V folk poetry a type of legend containing information about historical persons, localities, and events of the past. Fiction in legends is different from fairy-tale fiction... - TRADITION V Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -I, Wed. Passing from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, a story about the past, a legend. People's settlement Family... - TRADITION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
TREND, genre of folklore; an oral story that contains information about history. persons, events, places passed down from generation to generation. Often arising... - TRADITION in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
legend, legend, tradition, legend, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, ... - TRADITION in the Popular Explanatory Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
-I'm with. An oral history of the past, a story passed down from generation to generation. Family legend. Read ancient legends. The family has... - TRADITION in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
see history,... - TRADITION in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
Kabbalah, legend, myth, belief, superstition, parable, story, tale, fairy tale, sunnah, ... - TRADITION in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
1. Wed. The process of action by value. verb: to betray. 2. Wed. 1) A story about the past, passed on from generation to generation in ... - TRADITION in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
tradition, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: Sacred Tradition... - TRADITION in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
legend, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: Sacred Tradition... - TRADITION in the Spelling Dictionary:
tradition, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: sacred tradition... - TRADITION in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
passing from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, a story about the past, a legend of the People's village. Family ... - TREND in Dahl's Dictionary:
betray, etc. see betray... - TRADITION in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
folklore genre; an oral story that contains information about historical persons, events, and places passed down from generation to generation. Often arising from... - TRADITION in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
legends, cf. (book). 1. units only Action according to verb. betray-betray. Bringing to trial. Commitment to the earth. 2. A story, a belief, passing from one ... - TRADITION in Ephraim's Explanatory Dictionary:
legend 1. cf. The process of action by value. verb: to betray. 2. Wed. 1) A story about the past, passed on from generation to generation... - TRADITION in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
- TRADITION in the Large Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
I Wed. process of action according to ch. betray II Wed. 1. A story about the past, passed down from generation to generation orally...
Tradition is a story about the past, sometimes very distant. Tradition depicts reality in everyday forms, although fiction and sometimes even fantasy are always used. The main purpose of legends is to preserve the memory of national history. Legends began to be written down before many folklore genres, as they were an important source for chroniclers. A large number of legends exist in the oral tradition even today.
Traditions are an “oral chronicle,” a genre of non-fairy tale prose with an emphasis on historical authenticity. The word “tradition” itself means “to convey, to preserve.” Legends are characterized by references to old people and ancestors. The events of legends are concentrated around historical figures who, regardless of their social status (be it a king or the leader of a peasant uprising), most often appear in an ideal light.
Any legend is historical at its core, because the impetus for its creation is always a genuine fact: a war with foreign invaders, a peasant revolt, major construction, royal wedding, etc. At the same time, legend is not identical to reality. As a folklore genre, it has the right to fiction, offers his own interpretation of the story. Plot fiction arises on the basis of historical fact (for example, after the hero of the legend has been at a given point). Fiction does not contradict historical truth, but, on the contrary, contributes to its identification.
In July 1983, during folklore practice, students of Moscow State Pedagogical University in Podolsk near Moscow wrote down from A. A. Vorontsov, 78 years old, a legend about the origin of the name of this city. It is historically reliable that Peter I visited Podolsk. The legend expresses the negative attitude of the people towards his foreign wife (Catherine I), for whose sake the legitimate queen was exiled to a monastery (see in the Reader).
There are two main ways of creating legends: 1) generalization of memories; 2) generalization of memories and their design using ready-made plot schemes. The second path is characteristic of many legends. General motifs and plots pass from century to century (sometimes as myths or legends), being associated with different events and faces. There are recurring toponymic stories (for example, about failed churches, cities). Typically, such stories paint the narrative in fairy-tale-legendary tones, but they are capable of conveying something important for their era.
One of the international ones is the story of how the king pacified the raging water elements. (He, for example, was attributed to the Persian king Xerxes.) In the Russian oral tradition, the plot began to appear in the legends about Ivan the Terrible and Peter I (see in the Reader).
Stories about Stepan Razin were also subsequently attached to other characters. For example, V.I. Chapaeva, like Razin, cannot be killed by any bullet; he fantastically frees himself from captivity (by diving into a bucket of water or sailing away in a boat painted on the wall), and so on.
And yet the event of the legend is depicted as single, complete, unique.
The legend tells about something generally significant and important for everyone. This influences the selection of material: the theme of the legend is always of national significance or is important for the inhabitants of a given area. The nature of the conflict is national or social. Accordingly, the characters are representatives of the state, nation, specific classes or estates.
The legends have developed special moves images of the historical past. Attention is shown to the details of a big event. The general, typical is depicted through the particular, specific. Legends are characterized by localization—geographical confinement to a village, lake, mountain, house, etc. The reliability of the plot is supported by various material evidence—the so-called “traces” of the hero (he built a church, paved a road, donated a thing)
In Olonets province. they showed silver cups and fifty kopecks, allegedly donated by Peter I; in Zhiguli, all antiques and human bones found in the ground were attributed to differences.
The prevalence of legends varies. Legends about the tsars existed throughout the entire territory of the state, and legends about other figures of Russian history were told mainly in the area where these people lived and acted.
Thus, in the summer of 1982, the folklore expedition of the Moscow State Pedagogical University recorded in the village of Dorofeev, Ostrovsky district, Kostroma region. from the peasant D.I. Yarovitsyn, 87 years old, the legend “About Ivan Susanin” (see in the Reader).
The plots of legends are usually single-motive. Consolidated (contaminated) legends could develop around the character; story cycles emerged.
Legends have their own ways of depicting heroes. Usually the character is only named, and in the episode of the legend one of his traits is shown. At the beginning or end of the story, direct characteristics and assessments are allowed, which are necessary for the image to be correctly understood. They act not as a personal judgment, but as a general opinion (about Peter I: This is the tsar - so the tsar, he didn’t eat bread for nothing; he worked better than a barge hauler; about Ivan Susanin: ... after all, he saved not the tsar, but Russia!) .
The portrait (appearance) of the hero was rarely depicted. If a portrait appeared, it was laconic (for example: the robbers are strong, handsome, stately fellows in red shirts). A portrait detail (for example, a costume) could be connected with the development of the plot: the unrecognized king walks around dressed in a simple dress; The robber comes to the feast in a general's uniform.
Scientists identify different genre varieties legends. Among them are historical, toponymic, ethnogenetic legends, about the settlement and development of the region, about treasures, etiological, cultural - and many others. We have to admit that all known classifications are conditional, since it is impossible to offer a universal criterion. Often legends are divided into two groups: historical and toponymic. However, all legends are historical (by their genre essence); therefore, any toponymic legend is also historical.
Based on the influence of the form or content of other genres, groups of transitional, peripheral works are distinguished among the legends. Legendary tales are tales with a miracle motif, in which historical events are interpreted from a religious point of view. Another phenomenon is fairy tales dedicated to historical figures (see the story about Peter I and the blacksmith in the Reader). famous storyteller F. P. Gospodarev).
Zueva T.V., Kirdan B.P. Russian folklore - M., 2002
"The legend of deep antiquity, things have been done for a long time days gone by..." Every Russian-speaking person has heard, seen, and read these lines since childhood. This is how Alexander Pushkin began his work “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” Are his fairy tales really legends? To know for sure, you need to understand the concepts.
Poetry is poetry, but what does the word “tradition” mean? We will consider the definition and special features of this phenomenon in our article.
Tradition as a genre
We will begin our acquaintance with the world of folk legends with the definition of the concept itself. So, various sources give us the following.
Tradition is a prosaic plot in which historical facts are presented in a popular interpretation. People's legends are not associated with the fairy tale genre, although sometimes events resemble mythical or fairy tales.
Legends in literary theory are usually divided into two large groups by type of plot: historical and toponymic.
Legends are part of oral folk prose
We learned, Definition gave us a general idea. Let's talk about one feature of this genre. It is noteworthy that legends are This means that the stories heard today were created hundreds of years ago and passed from mouth to mouth. By the time the legend was recorded on an information medium, dozens or even hundreds of transformations of the plot and images could have occurred.
The works of the famous Greek poet Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which have an incredible size, were also transmitted orally. They also described historical events, embellished and somewhat modified. This shows some similarity between these creations and newer legends.
As a genre of oral prose, legends delight in their long history. Fortunately, or maybe not, distributing them in recorded form is much easier these days. We should appreciate every word and legend that provides important spiritual knowledge about our ancestors.
Comparison with other folk prose genres
Traditions can sometimes be mistakenly defined as legends or epics. To avoid this, let's call this pattern: the plots of legends are aimed at explaining the origin of some cultural or natural phenomenon. They often give a certain moral assessment to the events described. A legend is a retelling of a story in a folk style with the participation of widely known or locally famous heroes.
The legends of the people differ in content from the epics, actors(historical figures: robbers, rulers, simple people, artisans), the participation of real personalities famous in a certain area who became mythological heroes.
Characteristic for this genre folklore prose is a third-person narration of events in the past. The narrator of the legends was not an eyewitness to the events, but conveys a story heard from third parties.
Historical legends
Collective folk memory created ancient legends from real facts, which we can read about in a slightly different light in history textbooks. This is how historical legends were created.
Historical legends include legends about Joan of Arc, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Ataman Mazepa and others.
This also includes biblical stories about the creation of the world, the exit of the Israelites from Egypt in search of their land, and many others.
IN this group includes such legends that absorb people’s ideas about the creation of their world. All folklore units create a single historical and mythological world, reflecting a broad picture of the people's view of the surrounding reality.
The time frame covered by the legends is difficult to determine: this information ranges from biblical antiquity to the present.
Toponymic legends
Toponymic legends include legends that record events that became the basis for the origin of a particular name. Their heroes are, accordingly, local famous characters and events that have meaning only there. The study of such local stories is an interesting part of toponymic and ethnographic research.
Toponymic are short legends about the Serpentine Ramparts (from the Serpent), the city of Kyiv (about Kiy, his brothers and sister), the city of Orsha (Prince Orsh and his daughter Orshitsa), the city of Lvov and many other toponymic objects.
Prospects for Researchers
In every city, every village there are such short stories about where some local name came from. Collections of such legends can be compiled endlessly. There is still room for research today. Therefore, everyone who has discovered legends and found them an interesting object of activity has a job.
Publishing a collection of legends collected in a specific area is a very real prospect. New names are appearing today, right at this moment. Also in remote corners of Russia there are settlements in which folklore is actively developing. This means that new boundaries for ethnographic and folklore work are emerging.
It is noteworthy that nowadays more topographical legends appear. Historical ones are preserved from previous eras, since for some time all facts have been recorded immediately after their appearance.
Legends, myths and their historical basis
Tradition, which we have already defined, is sometimes associated with mythology. So, stories about exploits Greek hero Hercules, according to researchers, could not have arisen without real historical facts. Those mythical events and heroes with which the probable real story the adventures of Hercules appeared over time.
Some facts from the Book of Enoch, which mentioned giants, were confirmed. In the same way, architectural monuments were found that could have witnessed the events that became the basis of the legend about the Flood.
conclusions
Thus, we learned that legend is a folk story about historical events. In the process of transmission, speakers tend to embellish the legend. The definition and features of this folklore genre are now known to us. We can easily distinguish it from legends and fairy tales.
Ancient legends are a reflection of the deepest layers of culture and history certain people. By studying and comparing them with the facts of the history of certain nationalities, one can draw conclusions about the worldview of the people living at that time. The value of retellings for ethnology is also extremely great.
Every person has heard folk legends, historical and toponymic, but could not pay attention to this diamond, cut over the years of transmission from mouth to mouth. We can now appreciate what we know and hear about the cultural world around us. Let our article be useful to you and give you the opportunity to look at the creativity of the people from a different perspective.
Tradition is“oral chronicle”, a genre of non-fairy tale prose with an emphasis on historical authenticity. Legends are common in folklore different nations . The main purpose of tradition is to preserve the memory of national history. Historicism is determined by the staged state of folklore of this ethnic group. Ancient legends are full of mythological ideas, while later ones depict reality in everyday forms, but they also necessarily contain fiction, sometimes even fantasy. Scientists highlight different groups legends: historical, toponymic, ethnogenetic, about the settlement and development of the region, about treasures, etiological, culturological. Often legends are divided into historical and toponymic, but all legends are historical (by their genre essence), therefore, any toponymic legend is also historical. The legends continue to exist in oral tradition. legends are always universally significant, the conflict is national or social, the characters are representatives of the state, nation, specific classes or estates. The general, typical in legend is depicted through the particular, specific. Legends are characterized by local confinement to a village, lake, mountain, house. Their reliability is sometimes supported by material evidence (the hero built a church, donated a thing). Events are centered around historical figures, who are most often presented in an ideal light. The plots of legends are usually single-motive. Summary (contaminated) plots may develop around the character, and cycles may arise. At the beginning or end of the story, direct characteristics and assessments of the hero are allowed, necessary for the image to be correctly understood, and acting as a general opinion (about Peter I: “Here is the king - so the king, he didn’t eat bread for nothing, he worked better than a barge hauler”) .
Tradition in the Russian repertoire
In the Russian repertoire one can highlight the most ancient legends, legends about the “just tsar”, legends about the leaders of popular movements, about robbers and treasures. The most ancient legends tell about the settlement of Slavic tribes and their ancestors. A large number of legends are dedicated to the struggle Ancient Rus' With external enemies. Legends about the “just tsar” are associated with the names of Ivan IV (the Terrible) and Peter I. There is a large group of legends about the relationships of Peter I with representatives of different social classes and professions. Legends about the leaders of popular movements (Ermak, Stepan Razin, Emelyan Pugachev) complement the utopian dream of the people about a “just tsar”. Legends of robbers and treasures were told everywhere in Russia. The image of the “noble robber” who robs the rich and stands up for the poor appeared in numerous local variations (Churkin, Roshchin, Soroka). Legends about the robber Kudeyar are widespread, reflecting the genetic connection of stories about treasures with mythology. The ancient layer of Kudeyar’s image goes back to a mysterious and powerful creature, the owner of the earth’s bowels and the values hidden in them. The word “Kudeyar” itself means a violent rebel, a wizard. The legends about Kudeyar were used by N.A. Nekrasov in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1863-77). There are recurring toponymic stories (about failed churches, cities). The plot of how the king pacified the raging water element is international (it was attributed to the Persian king Xerxes, and in the Russian oral tradition the plot began to appear in the legend of Ivan the Terrible and Peter I). In a number of cases, international legends reveal a typological commonality: throughout history they arose among different peoples independently of each other, generated by similar social, cultural and everyday conditions. Such were the legends about noble robbers(Robin Hood, Razin, Schinderhannes, etc.). And yet the event of legends is always depicted as single, complete, unique. At present, some national catalogs of legends have been compiled and the problem of creating a unified international catalog has been raised.
Definition of genre. Folklorists have not yet given a sufficiently satisfactory and substantiated definition of legends. Often in scientific literature mix traditions and legends, although these are different genres. This is explained by their proximity, as well as the presence of transitional forms, some of which are closer to legends, while others are closer to legends.
Legends People call bylyami "bylytsiny". They are characterized by
historical topics. Traditions preserve the memory of events and figures of national history. This type of works of oral folk art is of great educational importance, since the legends tell about the distant historical past, about a time from which, as a rule, no other evidence has been preserved. What is said in legends is usually perceived by both the storyteller and the listeners as something that really happened.
A number of features give the legends a realistic character: historical material, which sometimes has a local coloring, an exact indication of the time and place of events, everyday details, often a reference to the traditional nature of the narrative (old people tell, talk), a minor role in the plots of fantastic elements. Legends not only tell about events and actions of historical figures, but also explain their reasons. This increases the educational value of the stories.
The legends are close to historical songs, but have a prosaic
poetic form, not poetic. Legends differ from fairy tales
because they tell about real-life facts,
although sometimes interpreted with a certain amount of fiction, they are also distinguished by their free form; legends do not have stable beginnings and endings, or specific plot developments. From household oral history The legend differs in that it talks about the distant past, and not about the near one, and also in that the narrator is never a participant or witness to the events.
Legends – epic i.e. narrative, plot genre. But the plot in them usually does not unfold into a complex chain of events, as in a fairy tale, but is built on one episode, bright and unusual. The unusual is the subject of narration in a fairy tale, but there it is the result of fiction, whereas in legend we're talking about about the unusual in life, which gives the story an amazing, amazing character.
Tradition, although it has a “free form”, in which there is no specific model for constructing a work, is not without an internal structure, principles of ideological and artistic organization of the work: the consolidation of all narrative material by one plot episode, one main character, the creation of whose image both the plot and expressive means are subordinated to. .
In pre-revolutionary Russian folkloristics, and sometimes even now, not all scientists recognized legends as a folklore genre and often considered them as a type of oral everyday word. However, legends not only perform informative and ideological functions, but also have an aesthetic one, which is manifested in the unusualness of the plot situation, idealization positive hero, the use of special expressive and figurative means. Traditions exist in the mouths of many people, while an oral story-memory is conveyed by one person. Legends exist in many versions, which is an important feature of folklore. They relate to and interact with other folk prose genres, as well as with historical songs. Finally, they have their own history. For them, as for some other genres oral creativity, is characterized by cyclization, that is, the unification of groups of works around historical characters or similar plot situations. The cycle reveals the image of the hero more fully than a separate legend. The works included in it are similar in themes, in their assessment of events and characters.
Collecting and studying legends. The collection of Russian folk legends was not carried out systematically. The most ancient legends are recorded in retellings in Russian chronicles. Records of legends were also made by some Western European travelers; Olearius, Fletcher, Collins.
In journals of the 18th century. From time to time, so-called historical “anecdotes” were published - stories about amazing incidents in the lives of famous people, mainly kings and generals. These stories were often of a loyal nature. Such works also appeared in separate books. A large number of them came out at the beginning of the 19th century. The collection “Anecdotes and Deeds of Glorious Men” went through several editions (1808, 1809, etc.). Peter I was especially popular. A book of jokes about him was published many times. Anecdotes were published relating to Patriotic War 1812, for example, the book by F. M Sidelnikov “Anecdotes of the most noteworthy incidents that happened during the current war with the French” (1813). This kind of publication contained legends composed mainly among soldiers.
The first consolidated (and, in fact, the only so far) collection of legends was M. N. Makarov’s book “Russian Legends” in three parts, published in St. Petersburg in 1838-1840.
It contains a variety of material, but nevertheless there are also folk legends.
In the XIX - early XX centuries. legends were published mainly in magazines that paid attention to Russian history: “Historical Bulletin”, “Russian Archive”, “Conversation”, as well as in regional collections. Publications were published by E.V. Barsov, N.Ya. Aristov and others. The legends were also included in collections of fairy tales. Thus, D. N. Sadovnikov’s book is called “Tales and Legends of the Samara Region” (1884). The legends were published in ethnographic magazines “Ethnographic Review”, “Living Antiquity”, “Siberian living old man" and etc.
Russian folklorists began collecting legends more systematically after October revolution. Information about their publication is given in the well-known bibliographic index by M. Ya. Melts “Russian folklore”.
Study of Russian historical legends in the 19th century. for the most part it consisted of commenting on published “texts.” Actually, the research received almost no development.
The most valuable are the article by N. I. Kostomarov “Legends of the original Russian chronicle” (1905), the book by I. P. Khrushchev “On ancient Russian historical stories and legends of the 11th-12th centuries” (1878), the article by N. Ya. Aristov “Legends about historical persons and events" (1880), article by A. Zachinyaev "On the epic legends of the Oryol, Kursk and Voronezh provinces."
In these works, an attempt was made to distinguish legends from other prosaic genres of folklore, to determine the main plots and composition of the most popular characters, to establish the role of legends as historical source.
The study of legends expanded significantly during Soviet times.
K.V. Chistov developed the question of the classification of genres of non-fairy tale folk prose and their plot composition. S. N. Azbelev tried to distinguish between these genres in their relation to reality, V. K. Sokolova studied the typology of legends.
Peculiar Ural legends were studied by V.P. Kruglyashova and A.I. Lazarev.
A fundamental work is the book by V.K. Sokolova “Russian Historical Legends” (1970). The study by V.K. Sokolova is the first work in which the plots, cognitive, ideological and artistic value of legends are examined in detail, and what has been done in their study is summarized. The book clarifies the relationship of legends to other genres and the coverage of reality in works of this type. The researcher turns to the historical and comparative comparison of Russian legends with the traditions of others Slavic peoples and establishes important features of their relationship. V.K. Sokolova gave a classification of types of legends, showed the use of traditional material of legends and its adaptation to new social conditions. Unfortunately, the book does not discuss legends about Russian commanders (Suvorov, Kutuzov, Platov, Skobelev).
Types of legends. Russian scientific knowledge is heterogeneous. But attempts to give them a reasonable classification were not always successful. The simplest classification was thematic, which, for example, is adhered to by S. N. Azbelea: “Tales and legends, as a rule, are distinguished by topic - historical, toponymic, religious, demonological, everyday and etc." V.E. Gusev divides historical legends into historical ones, or legends about events, and “heroic, or legends about persons.” V.K. Sokolova rightly criticizes this classification, since legends about events and persons are difficult to distinguish: both legends about events and legends about persons can be historical, legends about both events and persons can also be heroic.
V.K. Sokolova distinguishes two types of legends: historical and legendary. Further explaining that she classifies among them historical legends of religious content and socio-utopian legends, that is, she mixes two genres - traditions and legends.
As for the legends themselves, we can accept the classification given by V.K. Sokolova, which divides them into two types: historical and toponymic legends. The first includes stories about historical events and personalities related to them, as well as about persons who participated in the events or met with historical figures. The second includes stories about the emergence of settlements (cities and villages) and their names, about places associated with the most important events.
Historicism of legends and their historical development. The historicism of legends lies primarily in the fact that they have a historical basis. In chronicles and folk traditions, legends play the role of a reliable historical source; they are referred to as true evidence of the past of their native country.
The historicism of legends also lies in the fact that over time, changes occur in the life content and form of works. Their themes, plots, motives, characters, and the nature of the depiction of events and persons are constantly updated. The general evolution of folk art and changes in popular views introduce new elements into the structural and artistic features of legends.
Russian folk legends in their historical development identified several cycles that are associated with certain historical periods and tell about important events and people of that time.
The most ancient legends. The most ancient Russian folk legends have not reached us in exact records. Early Russian chronicles include many stories, the basis of which can be considered oral traditions. Chroniclers sometimes refer to the fact that they use the stories of old people, to what is said among the people. Moreover, they provide versions of oral stories and their own refutation of the information contained in them. For example, the chronicler cites a legend in which Kiy is spoken of as a prince, but here he mentions that “others who are not knowledgeable” call him a carrier: if Kiy had been a carrier, he would not have gone to Constantinople, where he was received by the king with great honors.
There are three types of texts in the chronicles, which there is reason to consider as coming from folk legends: these are either brief records of important and amazing incidents (dating back to the most ancient times), or retellings of oral traditions, or more common narratives, to a certain extent plot-organized and including itself a significant dialogical text. They, as a rule, are devoid of religious Christian overtones, and sometimes contain some pagan elements. This kind of chronicle records are distinguished by significant realism: the simplicity of the narrative, the presentation of the plot of the action, the characteristics of the characters in their actions. Already the most ancient forms of legends contain; contains the main elements that form this type of work.
Early legends captured a lot of important evidence about the past of the Russian people. These are, first of all, stories about ancient Slavic tribes, about their ancestors. So, according to legend, Radim and Vyatko came from the “Lash countries”; the first with his family settled on the Sozh, and the second on the Oka. From them came the Radimichi and Vyatichi. Stories about the neighbors of the Slavs were also preserved in the chronicles: about the giants Aubry, who were punished by God for cruelty and violence against other peoples - they disappeared from the face of the earth, which is why the proverb “perished like Aubry” came into being. A story is also recorded about how the glades were freed from the Khazar yoke; The khan demanded tribute from the glades, they gave the Khazars “a sword from the smoke.” The Khazars were afraid of this tribute and left. On this occasion, N.I. Kostomarov notes: “There is, of course, not a drop of historical truth here. The clearing could not give away a sword from the smoke, while swords were rare and precious...” The scientist believes that “the basis of this story was a song,” this “is shown by the tone of the story and the poetic fluency of expression.”
Ancient legends tell about the first Russian princes; about Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople, about his death from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of his beloved horse (the plot was processed by A. S. Pushkin in “The Song of the Prophetic Oleg”), about Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of Igor, about the matchmaking of Prince Vladimir to Rogneda .
Many stories are devoted to the struggle of Russian tribes with southern nomads. Particularly noteworthy are the stories about the young man from Kiev Kozhemyak, who defeated Pechenezhin in single combat, about whom it is said: “Great and terrible.” The legend about Kozhemyak can be compared with epic motifs: here the young hero, the youngest among the brothers, shows incredible strength; he is a man of ordinary height, and his enemy is a giant, reminiscent of a filthy Idol; before the battle, Pechenezhin mocks Kozhemyaka, like an enemy in an epic over a hero; Kozhemyaka hits Pechenezhin on the ground, like an enemy hero at the end of a duel.
The stories about battles include the legend about the fight against the Mongol-Tatars, especially about the Battle of Kulikovo. True, almost no legends about her have survived, but research has shown that famous work ancient writing "The Tale of Mamaev's massacre"is based on oral tradition. A special type of work should be highlighted - heroic tales, which are an intermediate phenomenon between historical song and legend. S. N. Azbelev believes that the heroic legend tells directly about specific historical facts, thus bringing it closer to historical legend and historical song. The tale is characterized by a specific historicism, in contrast to the conventional historicism of the epic.
Legends of the 16th-18th centuries. In the legends of the 16th-18th centuries. Three cycles of works stand out: about Ivan the Terrible, about Ermak and about Stepan Razin. Each of them is original in its own way.
Among the legends about Grozny, especially popular are the stories about the Kazan campaign and about the mounds poured by order of the tsar in order to count the army (each warrior brought a cap of earth).^ the justice of the Terrible, his communication with the peasants, to whom he comes to the huts and from whom he baptizes children. The Tsar brutally deals with the boyars and governors who rob the people. He executes the governor for taking a bribe - a goose stuffed with gold. \ The sympathy of the people for Ivan the Terrible became the basis of the plot about his election to the kingdom (the Tsar is made of men) .
Foreign travelers who visited Rus' recorded several characteristic stories about Grozny, reminiscent of jokes. Gil Fletcher, English ambassador to the court of Tsar Fyodor. Ioannovich, was in Moscow in late XVI V. In 1591, he published 120 I in London the book “On the Russian State,” in which he reported a story about the cunning of Ivan the Terrible: the tsar ordered each of the governors to collect a cap of fleas, otherwise they would pay a fine for disobeying the tsar’s order. But since the governors could not carry out the order, the king imposed a large fine on them. The legends tell how Grozny, unrecognized, accosted a gang of thieves and began to persuade them to rob the royal treasury. But the thieves did not agree: they do not rob the treasury. The king rewarded the thieves. In another legend, a poor peasant, having nothing else, presented the king with a pair of bast shoes and a turnip as a gift; Ivan the Terrible ordered the boyars to buy turnips from this peasant. And then one of the boyars decided to receive a greater privilege from the tsar and presented him with an expensive gift, but the tsar gave him a turnip.
In the XVI-XVII centuries. Two important social cycles of legends are emerging - about Ermak and about Stepan Razin. This was the result of the influence of large peasant movements on folk art. The legends of these cycles represent a new phenomenon in works of this type, namely: the masses were no longer satisfied with the dream of a just king, but began to dream of a hero who would lead the “free people”, of a people’s leader. In many regions of Russia, legends about Ermak developed, attaching his origin or his actions to a certain region; Don, Ural, Volga. And Ermak acted either as a Don Cossack, or as a barge hauler from the Volga, or as a robber from the Kama. The main plot is a trip to Siberia. He is motivated, as in historical songs, by the fact that Ermak offers his comrades to earn the king’s forgiveness. Legends are dedicated to both Ermak’s victories in Siberia and his death.
Stories about Stepan Razin began to take shape during his lifetime. They reflected the growth of peasant unrest. Large detachments of “free people” gathered on the Don and especially on the Volga. They were led by Stepan Razin. In legends, this is the image of a people's leader. The motives of the legends are very close to the motives of historical songs about him. The main plots, as in the songs, are the capture of Astrakhan, reprisals against the governor, and the campaign in Persia. The image of Razin is revealed in his relationship with the “freedom”. People come to Razin from all over the Russian land: runaway peasants, the poor; he takes care of them and gives them what he takes from merchants and landowners.
The main aspect of the image of Razin, as well as the nature of the entire cycle of legends about him, can be called romantic, which is most clearly expressed in the plot of “Razin and the Persian Woman”. However, the general plan of the image is quite realistic. With all this, the Razin cycle of legends is distinguished by a significant development of fantastic motifs. There are many deviations from the historical truth in the legends. So, for example, the story about how Razin in 1670 in Astrakhan throws the bishop who was anathematizing him from the bell tower, but Razin was not in Astrakhan in 1670. IN in this case does not occur fantastic motive, but only the historical truth is violated. However, in the legends about Razin, motifs of magic are not uncommon; the narrative sometimes takes on a fairy tale character. The people endowed Razin with wonderful qualities; a bullet does not take him, his shackles do not hold him, he escaped from prison on a boat, which he drew on the wall and on which he splashed water from a mug: the waves splashed and the boat floated. Fairy-tale motifs were complemented by legendary ones: the execution of Razin caused not only grief among the people, but also utopian dreams, which found expression in stories that he was alive and would come to protect the people. This kind of motive is much more common in legends than in historical songs, which are more faithful to historical truth. The legends of the Razin cycle differ from previous cycles social issues of great significance, a direct glorification of popular protest and the struggle against class oppression.
Legends of the 18th-19th centuries . In the legends of the 18th-19th centuries. finds further development theme of popular uprisings. It serves as the basis for a rich cycle of stories about Emelyan Pugachev. This cycle has a pronounced anti-feudal character. It reflected the scope of the social struggle of the Russian peasantry in the 70s of the 18th century. In the center is the image of Pugachev, the leader of the rebellious masses and, which is typical of the folk psychology of that time, the “peasant king.”
The main plots of the cycle are the plots of the struggle against the governors and landowners, reprisals against them. Pugachev is presented as a “fair king”. He protects the people from tyranny and oppression, and the people follow him, supply weapons and clothing, and feed Pugachev’s troops. A number of legends paint pictures of battles with tsarist troops, the capture of fortresses, cities and factories in the Urals. The defeat of Pugachev's troops and his execution are covered in legends in a special way: the people could not come to terms with such an outcome of the peasant war. This gave the basis for the legend that Pugachev was alive, would come to the aid of the people, and instead of him he voluntarily went to the execution of a soldier. Here we see a repetition of the motif of some legends of the Razin cycle.
Pugachev is close to the people, relies "on the people, protects them, promises them "freedom", fights with generals and landowners. An important feature of the legends about Pugachev is that he acts with the masses of the people, and not with "free people", escaped from the landowners, like Razin. This reflected a new stage in the liberation struggle. A. N. Lozanova noted the realistic plan of legends and songs about Pugachev.
In the legends of the 18th-19th centuries. The theme “tsar and people” continues to develop. It is most realized in the legends about Peter I. Russia's numerous wars with the Swedes, Germans and Turks gave this theme a new aspect - it turns into the theme of "commander and soldiers", especially in the legends about Suvorov and Kutuzov.
One of the first images of commanders in legends was the image of Peter I. At the same time, he was also the image of a “just king”. With all the hardships for the people military service and labor, for example, on the construction of the Ladoga Canal, Peter I is portrayed as positive. Only in backward layers of the population, especially schismatic ones, is he presented as the Antichrist.
Great place In legends, circumstances related to the capture of Azov, Oreshok (Shlisselburg), and Riga are occupied, but there are no images of the battles themselves. This may be explained by the fact that little legends were written down; their collection began late, when much had already been forgotten. At the center of the legends associated with military events is Peter, who is presented as a commander, but only in a general aspect. Most of all, the image of Peter is developed in everyday terms. Legends about him often have the nature of so-called historical anecdotes. For example, in Solovki, Peter proves to the monks the great benefits of cannons compared to bells. There are many stories about Peter's meetings with different people. He is depicted as a businesslike owner, strict towards soldiers and generals, despising the clergy. In one story, Peter tells the monks: such slackers should be in the army, not saving souls.
There are many legends about Peter’s meetings with craftsmen, with “working” people. He keeps up with them in their work and shares all the difficulties with them. He is simple and can measure his strength with a soldier, give him his doublet, reward him for a cunning invention (the soldier drinks his sword and, having made a wooden one, assures that it was God who turned it into such a thing so that he would not carry out the king’s order to stab another soldier). This type of legend arose among soldiers and was a natural consequence of both long military service and the truly peculiar attitude of Peter I towards soldiers.
A similar theme is especially widely developed in the legends about Suvorov, the beloved commander of the mass of soldiers. late XVIII V. Legends about him are very popular. They are patriotic in nature. The soldiers are proud of their military leader, the victories they won under his command, and his heroic behavior in battle. In legends, Suvorov is described as a simple, witty, cheerful person with whom you can speak directly/without embarrassment. The soldiers' love for Suvorov was the basis for the deep sorrow expressed in the legends about his death. Many motifs of legends about him were then transferred to the image of Kutuzov.
The legends about Ataman Platov were especially popular. He is presented as a simple Cossack, brave, courageous, setting an example in battle. The peculiarity of the image is that Platov is not afraid to say a word against the opinion of the king.
The images of Suvorov, Kutuzov and Platov are the most vivid and meaningful images of commanders who can rightfully be called folk heroes.
Toponymic legends. Toponymic legends are an ancient, popular type of legends among the people. They are stories about geographical objects (terrains, rivers, lakes, mountains, etc.) and settlements, attached to certain areas. The main feature of toponymic legends is that they explain the nature, origin or names of geographical objects and settlements. They are connected with historical legends in that they are often attached to certain events or persons, and thereby to historical periods.
Already in ancient Russian legends there are stories about the settlement of Slavic tribes, about their names, about the founding of cities. Thus, Kyiv, according to legend, was founded by three brothers: Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid. It should be noted that near Kiev there are hills Khorivitsa, Shchekovitsa and a tributary of the Dnieper Lybid. A legend has been recorded about the origin of the name of the city of Orsha. The young Prince Orsha and his daughter Orshitsa, in a difficult hour for Kiev, came to the aid of Prince Vladimir and helped him repel the raids of the Pechenegs.
Toponymic legends also include stories about the origin of mounds. Kurgan mounds are associated with many people: with Ivan the Terrible, with Razin (mounds on the banks of the Volga).
Important group legends include explanations of the names of localities, cities, etc. The names were given not only according to the characteristics of the area, but also according to the events and persons who were associated with it. For example, near the city of Alatyr there is the Tsar-Horse area. Its name was explained by the fact that Ivan the Terrible’s horse died there. In several places in the Volga region, the heights are called “Besednye Mountains” or “Dumnye Mountains”. Their names allegedly arose due to the fact that in those places Razin or Pugachev held thoughts - meetings with their assistants.
Let us present toponymic legends recorded in the Saratov region of Acad. A, A. Shakhmatov.
“I heard from old people about one place that Stenka Razin lived there. This place can now be recognized very well: a huge mountain, similar to a courtyard, its name now is Stone Courtyard, in the middle of it is a hillock, on the hillock there is an oak forest, and in the very middle, at the top near the hillock, three birch trees, under the birches there is a spring. The old people say that robbers lived in that very place, and the outer side of that mountain on one side looks like a gate. And around it there is a yard. At the very top of the mountain there is a forest like a roof, at the bottom it is like a stone wall. This wall is called the front side of the Stone Courtyard. To the side of this yard are located high mountains... The name of these mountains is the Karaulnye Mountains. Old people say that when Stenka Razin lived, robbers on these mountains watched for travelers on the road, and it was as if a chain was stretched through the ground from there. As soon as they saw people passing by, they would pull this chain, and a bell was tied to the ring of this chain. As soon as their comrades hear this bell, they will go out onto the road. And even further to the main road there is a ravine called Bath Ravine, as if they went there to take a steam bath.”
Toponymic legends, according to their nature, can be divided into two groups: legends that realistically convey information from historical facts, and legends in which fiction occupies a significant place; Moreover, in ancient stories of this type it usually takes a fantastic form.
Fantasy in toponymic legends can be the result of personifications, remnants of mythological ideas and the introduction of fairy tales. Rivers, lakes, mountains can be personified. There is a story about a dispute between the Kama and the Volga; The Kama made a mistake; it broke through in the wrong direction), and it failed to become an independent river; it remained a tributary of the Volga. An example of a legend in which traces of mythological ideas have been preserved is a story (recorded by the traveler Olearius) that explains the name of the Snake Mountain on the Volga bank: on the mountain lived a huge snake, it caused great harm to people, but a brave young man cut the snake into three pieces, which turned into large stones. And they still lie on the top of the mountain.
