Oral folk art during the period of ancient Rus'. Oral folk art: types, genres of works and examples
It is a pity that much of this wealth of Russian fantasy has not been preserved, not only because it began to be written down very late: the first collection of epics was published only in the 18th century, when much had already been lost.
The hostile attitude towards folklore on the part of the Russians also played a fatal role. Orthodox Church, which sought to eradicate the remnants of paganism by all means available to it. [Kryanev Yu.V., Pavlov T.P. Dual faith in Rus'. M-1988 p.366]
And yet, despite everything, this did not leave us without a trace. “From ancient times, folklore has persistently and uniquely accompanied history,” writes M. Gorky.
A significant place in the folklore of Rus' was occupied by ideas about nature, life and death, and cult rituals. All rituals were accompanied by specially timed songs and dances, fortune telling and spells.
Songs, of course, were especially widespread. People always sang at work and on holidays, at funeral feasts and feasts, laments were included in funeral rites. Conspiracies and spells were seen as a means of influencing the outside world. They addressed the forces of nature, the spirits that contributed to recovery, harvest, and successful hunting.
And fairy tales! Serpent-Gorynych, Baba Yaga, Koschey, Leshy... All of them came to us from time immemorial. In all fairy tales there is an eternal struggle between good and evil. And good, of course, wins. This is the eternal desire of people to influence spontaneous hostile forces with the power of words and conspiracy. But can’t Christian prayer be called, to some extent, a spell? Even if it sounded a little rude, prayer has the same character: requests for help, protection.
And in fairy tales the dream of good, happy life. Hence the flying carpet, the walking boots, the self-assembled tablecloth, the palaces that grow overnight.
Rus' still knows and loves proverbs and sayings, riddles. They are woven into written sources. In some cases these are original notes for the historical events being described, in others they are sayings of historical figures.
RUSSIAN FOLK HOLIDAYS
Ritual folklore was, as already mentioned, closely connected with calendar and non-calendar holidays. We celebrated the welcoming of winter - caroling and farewell - Maslenitsa. The holiday of Krasnaya Gorka and Radunitsa meant the welcome of spring, which was seen off during the seventh week. There were summer holidays - Rusalia and Kupala.
For a long time, villages lived by three calendars. The first is natural, agricultural. The second - pagan - also correlated with natural phenomena. And the third, the latest calendar is the Christian, Orthodox calendar, in which there are only twelve great holidays, not counting Easter, and the rest cannot be counted.
Some Russian holidays have changed their dates more than once over the years.
For example, New Year in Rus' until the middle of the 14th century. celebrated on March 1, and then moved to September 1, and in 1700. Peter I ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1, and even with a Christmas tree. However, in ancient times the main winter holiday It was considered Christmas, not New Year.
The Christmas night was especially mysterious, full, as it was believed, of unusual phenomena. And around Christmas - Christmastide. They began on December 25 and ended on January 5, old style. At this time they gathered, organized caroling, mummers' games, and fortune telling.
Fortune-telling at Christmas time was the main entertainment of the girls: they threw a shoe over the gate so that by where the sock pointed, they could find out which direction the betrothed would come from; if he pointed to the house of the local fortune-teller, it meant that he had to spend another year as girls; they threw the snow up and watched it fall: if it was smooth and loud, the girl would soon be married. One of the most common was fortune telling. The girls, putting their rings in a dish and covering it with a scarf, sang songs of prediction. After each such song, the dish was shaken and one ring was pulled out at random. The content of the song that was just performed, predicting fortune, belonged to its owner.
Fortune telling on candle wax, fortune telling with a mirror and a candle, fortune telling based on someone else's conversation, when, wishing for a married life, they went to eavesdrop under the windows of houses. If the conversation was cheerful, then life was expected to be not boring, and the husband was expected to be kind and affectionate.
At Christmas time we went to caroling. Stopping under the windows of someone’s hut, they sang special songs - carols. Their content was traditional - glorification of the owner, wishes for his family and home well-being and prosperity.
There was a reward for this. If the carolers did not receive it, then they sang songs of a different – threatening content, frightening the owners with crop failure and livestock diseases. Among the carolers there was also a special carrier of the bag for gifts - mekhonosh.
Of course, the ancient Russian buffoon fun of mummers remained the most pagan. Persecuted by the church and the authorities, this tradition nevertheless survived centuries and became an inseparable part of the holidays. They dressed up in suits and masks (hari), a fur coat turned outward - a bear, the same fur coat with a poker inserted into the sleeve - a crane, girls dressed up as boys, boys - as girls. Particularly successful were groups of mummers - a horse with a rider, a bear with a leader, and with him a wooden goat. The mummers entered the huts and had as much fun as they could: they tumbled, fooled around, yelled in voices that were not their own, and sometimes put on entire performances. [Ryabtsev Yu.S. Travel to Ancient Rus'. M-1995 p.197, 198, 199, 200]
At first spring holiday Magpies (March 9, the day of the forty martyrs) children gathered in the gardens and brought with them waders, which were baked from wheat or rye dough. Sometimes they were called larks. These waders were tied with threads to poles that were stuck into the bottoms. The wind shook the waders, so that they seemed to be flying, and the children sang, inviting spring. [Andreev. Russian folklore. p.67]
And the most noisy holiday was, of course, Maslenitsa. It has also been known since pagan times as a holiday of farewell to winter and welcome of spring. In the Christian tradition, it became the harbinger of Lent before Easter.
During Maslenitsa week it is no longer allowed to eat meat, but dairy products, including butter, which is generously poured over pancakes, are not yet prohibited.
In Rus', Maslenitsa was celebrated for a whole week. Each day had its own name: Monday - meeting, Tuesday - flirting, Wednesday - delicacies, Thursday - revelry, Friday - mother-in-law's evening, Saturday - sister-in-law's gatherings and, finally, Sunday - seeing off Maslenitsa, forgiven day.
On the first day of the holiday, they made a straw effigy - the personification of Maslenitsa. He was carried on a sleigh with songs and dances. This day ended with a fist fight: at a signal, two teams came together wall to wall.
It was forbidden to use any weapons, you could not hit someone who was lying down, or catch up with someone who was fleeing. There were also tragic outcomes, so at the end of the 17th century the tsar issued two decrees banning fist fights. However, this measure had no effect. Cruel fun existed almost until the beginning of the 20th century.
On Tuesday, for fun, boys and girls rode down ice slides or in sleighs. These rides continued throughout the week. In the process, the boys looked for brides, the girls looked for grooms.
On Wednesday, mothers-in-law invited their sons-in-law for pancakes, demonstrating mutual love and respect.
On Thursday, the height of the holiday came: again they carried the stuffed animal, accompanied by a sleigh train with mummers. They sang, played, made faces.
Collective feasts – fraternities – were often held.
On Friday it was the sons-in-law's turn to treat their mothers-in-law to pancakes. And the next day, during her sister-in-law’s get-together, the young daughter-in-law hosted her husband’s relatives.
Maslenitsa is associated with the vyunisnik - the custom of glorifying the young. The fact is that during the winter, when there was time free from agricultural work, there were many weddings in the villages, so they honored the young ones - the convolvulus and the bindweed, who had recently gotten married. Friends came to visit them and sang health songs to them.
On the last day of Maslenitsa it was customary, and it is still customary now, to ask each other for forgiveness. The farewell to Maslenitsa was being arranged. Again they carried the straw effigy around the village, and outside the outskirts they burned it and went home. Maslenitsa revelry ceased, and Great Lent began on Monday:
"Every day is not Sunday!". [Ryabtsev Yu.S. Travel to Ancient Rus'. M-1995 p.201, 202, 203, 204]
Even in the spring, around the end of April, Yarilki were celebrated in many places in Rus'. This holiday was directly associated with paganism. Yarilo is a solar god, strong, emotional, and brings fertility. He was presented as a young man. And the image of the head that Yarilo held was probably associated with the fact that he, like the Egyptian Osiris, belongs to the annually dying and resurrecting gods of fertility. [Semenova M. We are Slavs! S-P-1997]
His influence was so strong that for many centuries after the baptism of Rus', rituals associated with the name of Yarila survived until the 19th century. In addition, this word has penetrated into our vocabulary: rage, ardent, furious - means a character with demands that know no obstacles, aspirations without limits.
In pagan myth, Yarilo can be described as something that belongs to spring and its beneficial effect on nature. It is no wonder that the beginning of the year in ancient times was in the spring, because it was then that nature came to life.
In Kostroma for a long time there was a custom to bury Yarila during the All Saints' service. So, for example, some poor man, a beggar, would take upon himself the task of burying a man’s doll, with extremely developed accessories of performance, placed in a coffin, and drunken, and sometimes maybe sober, but very superstitious women would accompany this coffin and cry unfeignedly.
There was a Yarili holiday near Galich. Even in early XIX V. there they still did this: they got the peasant drunk and joked with him as they wanted, demanding that he pretend to be Yarilo.
Not everywhere the Yarilin holiday was designated by one number. In the villages of the Ryazan and Tambov provinces, it was timed either to coincide with All Saints' Day or on Peter's Day. In Vladimir on Klyazma - on Trinity Day, on Nizhny Novgorod province Yarila's holiday on June 4 was connected with the fair.
In Tver, this holiday began on the first Sunday after Peter's Day. It took place in the Three Saints Garden, where young people gathered in the evening. They sang and danced the blanzhu (dance of 8 couples). Taking advantage of this, many families sent their daughters there to spend some time. There this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century.
In Voronezh until 1763 celebrated annually before Peter's fast folk games Yarily. There was a fair in the city square, the person chosen by society to play the role of deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, and bells. He walked around the city in this outfit. All this was accompanied by games and dancing, drinking and fist fights.
These holidays continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the holiday forever. [Zabylin M. Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. M-1989, p.80-83]
Among the spring and summer holidays Three were especially revered by the people - Semik, Trinity and Ivan Kupala. Trinity is still celebrated on the 50th day after Easter, and Semik was celebrated the day before - on Thursday. Since it was the seventh post-Easter week, the holiday was called “semik”. He was associated with the cult of nature. Houses, courtyards, and temples these days were decorated with flowers and tree branches, mainly birch. Trinity week in Rus' was called “green”.
Wildflowers collected on Trinity Sunday were dried and stored behind icons in the red corner, placed in granaries to keep mice out, in attics, protecting houses from fires. The girls, wearing their best outfits, went to the birch grove, found a young beautiful birch tree, curled its branches, decorated them with ribbons and flowers, danced in circles, sang songs praising the birch.
The rite of communion was performed. The girls made wreaths, exchanged them, and this meant that they became the best and most faithful friends.
The gossips gave each other colored eggs, exchanged rings and earrings, and told fortunes. They floated wreaths on the water. If a wreath floats calmly - it will turn out happily, if it spins - the wedding will be upset, if it sinks - there will be trouble, someone close to you will die. Here is one of the legends confirming the folk sign: “In the vicinity of the ancient town of Aleksin, lovers, having decided to get married, threw wreaths into the Oka. At first they swam calmly, then suddenly the water swirled and pulled them to the bottom. A guy and a girl rushed into the river to save their happiness, but drowned themselves. They say that on the same day, drowned wreaths float up from the bottom of the river. [Ryabtsev Yu.S. Travel to Ancient Rus'. M - 1995, p.204, 205, 206]
In the village of Shelbov, former Yuryevsky district of the Vladimir province, on Trinity Day, a ritual called “spikelet” was performed. Only girls and young women took part in it. They held hands in pairs, forming dense squares with their hands. All the couples stood side by side, and walking along their arms was a girl of about twelve, dressed in an elegant sundress and decorated with multi-colored ribbons. The couple that the girl passed moved forward, and thus the procession moved towards the winter field. The girl was brought to the field, she picked a handful of rye, ran to the church and threw the plucked ears of corn near it (earlier, when the church was wooden, the ears of corn were placed under it. [Andreev. Russian folklore. p. 70]
The holiday of Ivan Kupala was celebrated by almost all peoples of the world. It falls on the summer solstice - June 24, the eve of Christian holiday Nativity of John the Baptist. Kupala is a pagan holiday of human worship of the water elements. Two of them, fire and water, took part in the festive ritual.
It was believed that fire cleanses a person, and water washes people, so they always lit fires and had bathing. Fire had to be produced using the ancient method – friction. Among my favorite games was jumping over a fire. It was believed that if a guy and a girl did not open their hands, they would soon get married. They also believed in another superstition: the higher you jump, the better the bread will be produced.
In some places they made a straw doll - Kupala. They dressed her up in women's dress, decorated. By folk beliefs, bathing night is a mysterious time: trees move from place to place and talk to each other, the river is covered with a mysterious silvery sheen, and witches flock to the Sabbath. And at midnight a magical fern flower blooms.
This lasts only one moment, everything around is illuminated with bright light. Anyone who manages to catch this moment and pick a flower gains magical power find treasures. They also looked for a magical gap-grass, which supposedly destroyed iron and opened any locks. [Ryabtsev Yu.S. Travel to Ancient Rus'. p.206-207]
And here is the legend associated with this holiday: “One guy went to look for Ivan’s flower on Ivan Kupala. He stole the Gospel somewhere, took a sheet and came into the forest, into a clearing. He drew three circles, spread out the sheet, read the prayers, and at exactly midnight the fern blossomed like a star, and these flowers began to fall on the sheet. He picked them up and tied them in a knot, while he read the prayers. But out of nowhere the bears came, a storm arose... The guy doesn’t let everything out, he reads to himself, you know. Then he sees: it was dawn and the sun rose, he got up and walked. He walked and walked, holding the bundle in his hand. Suddenly he hears someone driving behind him; looked around: she was rolling in a red shirt, right at him; he swooped in, and when he hit him with all his might, he dropped the bundle. He looks: it’s night again, as it was, and he has nothing.” [Andreev. Russian folklore. p.138]
Thus, on a pagan holiday a person went with the Gospel, on a Christian holiday he worshiped nature and told fortunes. And after this, someone else will argue that paganism was not a serious part of ancient Slavic culture and died out at the time of the adoption of Christianity.
SUPERSTITIONS IN Rus'.
Why should we attribute the fact that not only in Rus', but throughout Europe, there are so many superstitious concepts and beliefs? They cannot be forgotten or destroyed; from century to century, one generation passes on to another with all the little details, often attributing incomprehensible properties to completely insignificant things.
From time immemorial, all imaginary miracles were done with the help of knowledge inaccessible to the people and were kept in the hands of priests or shamans of ancient tribes.
When Christianity came into its own, the previous system and way of life of peoples changed, and a struggle ensued over a new creed. That's when it came together favorable conditions for the development of everything wonderful and supernatural. With the fall of paganism, the priests who were the main guardians mystical secrets, expelled and desecrated, spread their knowledge throughout the world.
But in their jurisdiction were, if you can call it that, scientific knowledge ancient Slavs. For example, where did traditional medicine recipes come to us from?
Don’t we know that: “Whoever drinks it after sweating, and the disease will go away, take a spoonful of sheep’s milk, and bear gall the size of a pea grain, and drink the rubble on your empty heart, having leavened it twice”; or for toothache: “Get a living snake, take out the living bile from it; and if the snake is alive without gall from that smear, and in that hour the sacrifices (worms) will disappear.” [Zabylin M. Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. M-1989 p.417, 418]
Where did the brownie come from? People have always believed that someone was protecting their homes. The brownie is the soul of the hut, the patron of the building and the people living in it.
There were all kinds of myths about its origin. For example, in the Voronezh province, there was a story about the appearance of brownies, intertwined with the biblical legend: “God, during the pandemonium of Babylon, punished the people who dared to penetrate the secret of his greatness by confusing languages, and depriving the main ones of their image and likeness, he determined forever to guard waters, forests, mountains, etc. Whoever was in the house at the time of punishment became a brownie.” [Zabylin M. Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. M-1989 With. 245]
According to other legends, the brownie was born from the souls of trees cut down and used for construction. Brownies had wives and children: therefore, a brownie for a new home could be born “naturally.”
If you don’t respect or offend the soul of the hut in some way, the little owner will play all sorts of dirty tricks until you obey. However, he himself sometimes became naughty and crossed the boundaries of what was permitted. In this case, he had to be reassured: “Why are you, grandfather-next-door, throwing the cat to the ground! What would a household be without a cat?”
Perhaps such exhortations can also have an effect on the modern drummer, or in German, “noisy spirit” - poltergeist. And then there will be peace and prosperity in the house. [Semenova M. We are Slavs! S-P-1997 With. 54, 55]
And now about the bread. Everyone has heard the words that bread is the head of everything. This is not easy because a lot of work goes into making bread, but the fact is that now few people remember the deep mythological roots who have our views on bread.
In the visual arts of ancient cultures, a sown field was depicted with the same sign as a pregnant woman. This sign (a rhombus divided into four parts, each of which has a dot) has survived to this day in traditional embroidery on clothing. It follows from this that bread was a sacred gift for the Slavs. It was forbidden, by the way, to hit the table with your fist: the table is God’s palm!
And in order to cook the simplest porridge, you need to ensure the “union” of Fire, Water and Grain - a product of the Earth. Sweet porridge (cooked with honey) seasoned with wild berries was the oldest pagan ritual food; it carried a powerful idea of fertility, victory over death, and the eternal return of life.
Is it any wonder that pagan porridge, having fit perfectly into Christian rituals, still lives on under the name kutya, which I serve at funerals. Is it possible that sugar is now used instead of honey, raisins are used instead of wild berries, and rice is used instead of whole wheat. [Semenova M. We are Slavs! S-P-1997 p.63, 65]
Of course, many superstitions were associated with the animation of inanimate nature and its gifts. So, for example, if God spared a peasant from all kinds of misfortune, and good bread was produced, the time of harvest would come. People called it “zazhinki” and accompanied it with ancient rituals. The first sheaf, the “zazhinochny” one, like the last one, the autumn one, was decorated with flowers and ribbons, brought into the house and placed in the red corner. Later, this sheaf was the first to be threshed, and its grains were credited with miraculous powers. [Ryabtsev Yu.S. Journey to ancient Rus'. M-1995 p.164-165]
Wedding traditions were also distinguished by their peculiar primitiveness.
For example: a bride and groom going to get married in church had earless and headless needles and pins stuck into their dress, shirt, collar and hem, and scraps of hemstitch were wrapped around their body. All this was done so that the newlyweds would not be spoiled during the wedding. It is impossible for any healer to spoil a person who has headless and earless needles and pins, and even more so if he has a cape on his body with countless knots on it.
During the wedding, when a fly is placed under the feet - a cloth or a scarf, the one who steps forward on it will be the big one - the big one in life. And whichever of the spouses burns out the candle sooner will die first. During the wedding, you should not look at each other, and if they do, especially look into each other’s eyes, they will not love each other, or someone will cheat in their married life. [Andreev. Russian folklore.]
But there are superstitions associated directly with Christian holidays.
More precisely, not superstitions, but folk signs. So, in the Monthly Book compiled by V.I. Dahl, all Russian holidays are traced and this is what happens: “On Epiphany night, before the morning, the sky opens. Snow flakes - for the harvest. A clear day means a bad harvest. Starry night of Epiphany - Harvest for peas and berries";
or: “At Candlemas, winter met summer. Sun for summer, winter for frost.
On the Meeting of drops - harvest for wheat" [V.I. Dahl. Proverbs of the Russian people. GIHL-1957]
Here you have the animation of inanimate nature and interweaving with Christian tradition. And everything in this is so well harmonized that it seems wonderful how two such different things merge so beautifully and harmoniously with each other.
In general, the variety of pagan customs that have survived almost to this day (although, who knows, maybe they have survived) is amazing. Moreover, they not only persisted, but also did not change for centuries. Is it really necessary to talk about adapting such a custom as the veneration of stones to Christianity? This phenomenon took place for a long time, for example, in Odoevsky district, Tula province. There were two stones there (and maybe they are still there to this day) Bash and Bashikha or Bashi, who were honored around Peter’s day. It was believed that these were people, a man and a woman, who had quarreled among themselves and Bashikha, for disobedience to her Basha, received a blow with a boot. From this blow, for a long time, even the imprint of the foot and heel nails was visible. However, in Bashikha, in addition to vengeance for insult, they also noticed miraculous power. For this in summer time, around Peter's Day, people flocked to the village in crowds, first they served a prayer service to the Mother of God - Tenderness, and then they went to bow to the stones. Things, money, etc. were left at the stones, and then the church elder collected them, and these donations went to the church. [Zabylin M. Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. M-1989 With. 87]
Isn’t this proof of the vitality of paganism and at the same time its unity with the Christian tradition?
A. N. Tolstoy. wrote: “The Russian people created a huge oral literature: wise proverbs and cunning riddles, funny and sad ritual songs, solemn epics - spoken in a chant, to the sound of strings - about the glorious exploits of heroes, defenders of the land of the people - heroic, magical, everyday and funny fairy tales. It is vain to think that this literature was only the fruit of popular leisure. She was the dignity and intelligence of the people. She established and strengthened him moral character, was his historical memory, the festive clothes of his soul and filled with deep content his entire measured life, flowing according to the customs and rituals associated with his work, nature and the veneration of his fathers and grandfathers.”
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17 of the most beautiful types of folk art in Russia.
Folk crafts are exactly what makes our culture rich and unique. Painted objects, toys and fabric products are taken with you Foreign tourists in memory of our country.
Almost every corner of Russia has its own type of needlework, and in this material we have collected the brightest and most famous of them.
Dymkovo toy
The Dymkovo toy is a symbol of the Kirov region, emphasizing its rich and ancient history. It is molded from clay, then dried and fired in a kiln. After that, it is painted by hand, each time creating a unique copy. There cannot be two identical toys.
Zhostovo painting
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Vishnyakov brothers lived in one of the Moscow villages of the former Trinity volost (now Mytishchi district), and they were engaged in painting lacquered metal trays, sugar bowls, pallets, papier-mâché boxes, cigarette cases, teapots, albums and other things. Since then art painting in the Zhostovo style began to gain popularity and attract attention on numerous exhibitions in our country and abroad.
Khokhloma
Khokhloma is one of the most beautiful Russian crafts, which originated in the 17th century near Nizhny Novgorod. This decorative painting furniture and wooden utensils, which are loved not only by connoisseurs of Russian antiquity, but also by residents foreign countries.
Bizarrely intertwined herbal patterns of bright scarlet berries and golden leaves on a black background can be admired endlessly. Therefore, even traditional wooden spoons, presented on the most insignificant occasion, leave the recipient with the kindest and longest memory of the donor.
Gorodets painting
Gorodets painting has existed since the mid-19th century. Bright, laconic patterns reflect genre scenes, figurines of horses, roosters, and floral patterns. The painting is done in a free stroke with a white and black graphic outline; it decorates spinning wheels, furniture, shutters, and doors.
Filigree
Filigree is one of oldest species artistic metal processing. Elements of a filigree pattern can be very diverse: in the form of a rope, lace, weaving, herringbone, path, satin stitch. The weaves are made from very thin gold or silver wires, so they look light and fragile.
Ural malachite
Known deposits of malachite are in the Urals, Africa, South Australia and the USA, however, in terms of color and beauty of patterns, malachite from foreign countries cannot be compared with that from the Urals. Therefore, malachite from the Urals is considered the most valuable on the world market.
Gusev crystal
Products made at the Gus-Khrustalny crystal factory can be found in museums all over the world. Traditional Russian souvenirs, household items, sets for festive table, fine jewelry, boxes, figurines self made reflect beauty native nature, its customs and primordially Russian values. Products made from colored crystal are especially popular.
Matryoshka
Chubby and plump cheerful girl in a headscarf and Russian folk dress, she won the hearts of lovers of folk toys and beautiful souvenirs around the world.
Now the nesting doll is not just a folk toy, a keeper of Russian culture: it is a memorable souvenir for tourists, on the apron of which play scenes, fairy tale plots and landscapes with attractions are finely drawn. The nesting doll has become a precious collectible that can cost hundreds of dollars.
Enamel
Vintage brooches, bracelets, pendants, which quickly “entered” modern fashion, are nothing more than jewelry made using the enamel technique. This type of applied art originated in the 17th century in the Vologda region.
Masters depicted floral patterns, birds, and animals on white enamel using a variety of paints. Then the art of multi-color enamel began to be lost, and monochromatic enamel began to supplant it: white, blue and green. Now both styles are successfully combined.
Tula samovar
IN free time An employee of the Tula arms factory, Fyodor Lisitsyn, loved to make something out of copper, and once made a samovar. Then his sons opened a samovar establishment where they sold copper products, which were wildly successful.
The Lisitsyn samovars were famous for their variety of shapes and finishes: barrels, vases with chasing and engraving, egg-shaped samovars, with dolphin-shaped taps, with loop-shaped handles, and painted ones.
Palekh miniature
Palekh miniature is a special, subtle, poetic vision of the world, which is characteristic of Russian folk beliefs and songs. The painting uses brown-orange and bluish-green tones.
Palekh painting has no analogues in the whole world. It is done on papier-mâché and only then transferred to the surface of boxes of various shapes and sizes.
Gzhel
The Gzhel bush, an area of 27 villages located near Moscow, is famous for its clay, which has been mined here since the mid-17th century. In the 19th century, Gzhel craftsmen began to produce semi-faience, earthenware and porcelain. Of particular interest are still items painted in one color - blue overglaze paint applied with a brush, with graphic detailing.
Immensely oral folk art. It has been created for centuries, there are many varieties of it. Translated from English, "folklore" is " national significance, wisdom." That is, oral folk art - everything that is created by the spiritual culture of the population over the centuries historical life his.
Features of Russian folklore
If you carefully read the works of Russian folklore, you will notice that it actually reflects a lot: the play of the imagination of the people, the history of the country, laughter, and serious thoughts about human life. Listening to the songs and tales of their ancestors, people thought about many difficult questions their family, social and work life, they thought about how to fight for happiness, improve their lives, what a person should be, what should be ridiculed and condemned.
Varieties of folklore
Varieties of folklore include fairy tales, epics, songs, proverbs, riddles, calendar refrains, magnification, sayings - everything that was repeated passed from generation to generation. At the same time, the performers often introduced something of their own into the text they liked, changing individual details, images, expressions, imperceptibly improving and honing the work.
Oral folk art for the most part exists in a poetic (verse) form, since it was this that made it possible to memorize and pass on these works from mouth to mouth for centuries.
Songs
A song is a special verbal and musical genre. It is a small lyrical-narrative or lyrical work that was created specifically for singing. Their types are as follows: lyrical, dance, ritual, historical. Folk songs express the feelings of one person, but at the same time of many people. They reflected love experiences, social and family life, reflections on a difficult fate. In folk songs, the so-called technique of parallelism is often used, when the mood of a given lyrical character is transferred to nature.
Historical songs are dedicated to various famous personalities and events: the conquest of Siberia by Ermak, the uprising of Stepan Razin, peasant war under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev, the battle of Poltava with the Swedes, etc. The narration in historical folk songs about some events is combined with the emotional sound of these works.
Epics
The term "epic" was introduced by I.P. Sakharov in the 19th century. It represents oral folk art in the form of a song of a heroic, epic nature. The epic arose in the 9th century, it was an expression historical consciousness the people of our country. Bogatyrs are the main characters of this type of folklore. They embody the people's ideal of courage, strength, and patriotism. Examples of heroes who were depicted in works of oral folk art: Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Mikula Selyaninovich, Alyosha Popovich, as well as the merchant Sadko, the giant Svyatogor, Vasily Buslaev and others. Life basis, at the same time enriched with some fantastic fiction, constitutes the plot of these works. In them, heroes single-handedly defeat entire hordes of enemies, fight monsters, and instantly overcome vast distances. This oral folk art is very interesting.
Fairy tales
Epics must be distinguished from fairy tales. These works of oral folk art are based on invented events. Fairy tales can be magical (in which fantastic forces are involved), as well as everyday ones, where people are depicted - soldiers, peasants, kings, workers, princesses and princes - in everyday settings. This type of folklore differs from other works in its optimistic plot: in it, good always triumphs over evil, and the latter either suffers defeat or is ridiculed.
Legends
We continue to describe the genres of oral folk art. A legend, unlike a fairy tale, is a folk oral history. Its basis is an incredible event, a fantastic image, a miracle, which is perceived by the listener or storyteller as reliable. There are legends about the origin of peoples, countries, seas, about the sufferings and exploits of fictional or real-life heroes.
Puzzles
Oral folk art is represented by many riddles. They are an allegorical image of a certain object, usually based on a metaphorical rapprochement with it. The riddles are very small in volume and have a certain rhythmic structure, often emphasized by the presence of rhyme. They are created in order to develop intelligence and ingenuity. The riddles are varied in content and theme. There may be several versions of them about the same phenomenon, animal, object, each of which characterizes it from a certain aspect.
Proverbs and sayings
Genres of oral folk art also include sayings and proverbs. A proverb is a rhythmically organized, short, figurative saying, aphoristic popular saying. It usually has a two-part structure, which is supported by rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and assonance.
The saying represents figurative expression, which evaluates some phenomenon of life. It, unlike a proverb, is not a whole sentence, but only a part of a statement included in oral folk art.
Proverbs, sayings and riddles are included in the so-called small genres of folklore. What is it? In addition to the above types, these include other oral folk art. The types of small genres are complemented by the following: lullabies, nurseries, nursery rhymes, jokes, game choruses, chants, sentences, riddles. Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Lullabies
Small genres of oral folk art include lullabies. People call them bikes. This name comes from the verb "bait" ("bayat") - "to speak." This word has the following ancient meaning: “to speak, to whisper.” It is no coincidence that lullabies received this name: the oldest of them are directly related to spell poetry. Struggling with sleep, for example, the peasants said: “Dreamushka, get away from me.”
Pestushki and nursery rhymes
Russian oral folk art is also represented by pestushki and nursery rhymes. At their center is the image of a growing child. The name “pestushki” comes from the word “to nurture”, that is, “to follow someone, raise, nurse, carry in one’s arms, educate.” They are short sentences with which in the first months of a baby’s life they comment on his movements.
Imperceptibly, the pestles turn into nursery rhymes - songs that accompany the baby's games with his toes and hands. This oral folk art is very diverse. Examples of nursery rhymes: “Magpie”, “Ladushki”. They often already contain a “lesson”, an instruction. For example, in “Soroka” the white-sided woman fed everyone porridge, except for one lazy person, although he was the smallest one (his little finger corresponds to him).
Jokes
In the first years of children's lives, nannies and mothers sang songs of more complex content to them, not related to play. All of them can be designated by the single term “jokes”. Their content is reminiscent of short fairy tales in verse. For example, about a cockerel - a golden comb, flying to the Kulikovo field for oats; about the rowan hen, which “winnowed peas” and “sowed millet.”
A joke, as a rule, gives a picture of some bright event, or it depicts some rapid action that corresponds to the active nature of the baby. They are characterized by a plot, but the child is not capable of long-term attention, so they are limited to only one episode.
Sentences, calls
We continue to consider oral folk art. Its types are complemented by slogans and sentences. Children on the street very early learn from their peers a variety of calls, which represent an appeal to birds, rain, rainbows, and the sun. Children, on occasion, shout out words in chorus. In addition to the nicknames, in peasant family every child knew the sentences. They are most often pronounced one by one. Sentences - appeal to a mouse, small bugs, a snail. This may be imitation of various bird voices. Verbal sentences and song calls are filled with faith in the powers of water, sky, earth (sometimes beneficial, sometimes destructive). Their utterance introduced adult peasant children to the work and life. Sentences and chants are combined into a special section called “calendar children's folklore”. This term emphasizes the existing connection between them and the time of year, holiday, weather, the whole way of life and the way of life of the village.
Game sentences and refrains
Genres of oral folk art include game verdicts and choruses. They are no less ancient than calls and sentences. They either connect parts of a game or start it. They can also serve as endings and determine the consequences that exist when conditions are violated.
The games are striking in their resemblance to serious peasant activities: reaping, hunting, sowing flax. Reproducing these cases in strict sequence with the help of repeated repetition made it possible to instill in the child from an early age respect for customs and the existing order, to teach the rules of behavior accepted in society. The names of the games - "Bear in the Forest", "Wolf and Geese", "Kite", "Wolf and Sheep" - speak of a connection with the life and way of life of the rural population.
Conclusion
Folk epics, fairy tales, legends, and songs contain no less exciting colorful images than in works of art classical authors. Original and surprisingly accurate rhymes and sounds, bizarre, beautiful poetic rhythms - like lace are woven into the texts of ditties, nursery rhymes, jokes, riddles. And what vivid poetic comparisons we can find in lyrical songs! All this could have been created only by the people - the great master of words.
Behind these words lies a large and important phenomenon: folk poetry and theater, music and dance, architecture and fine arts. Folk art is the foundation on which the building of the world has grown artistic culture.
This article only talks about folk arts and crafts. It originated in ancient times and, like other types of artistic creativity, at first it was not at all recognized as art. People simply did the things they needed in everyday life, creating, as we now say, an objective environment: traditional home decoration, costume, household utensils, tools and military weapon. All working people created this objective world, reflecting in it his social and everyday way of life, a unique perception of the world, ideas about happiness and beauty, a unique national character.
Collective creativity is the most characteristic feature of folk art. After all, almost everything in the master’s work was dictated by a centuries-old tradition: the choice of material and methods of processing it, the nature and content of decorative decoration.
The art critic V. S. Voronov, a great connoisseur of folk art, wrote well about the collectivity of folk art: “All its formal wealth was created through constant repetition: the slow accumulation of paraphrases, additions, amendments, changes... and variations... led to the creation of strong, well-worn forms ... Successful and original, brought into art by individual dexterity and keen vigilance, were grafted, developed and brought into finished form; the random, mediocre and far-fetched could not withstand further collective scrutiny, fell away and disappeared.”
This is a historical collectivity, closely related to the transmission of traditions from master to master, from generation to generation. But there is also collective creativity of contemporaries, in which the “choral” principle characteristic of folk art is clearly manifested. Since ancient times, its spiritual basis was the commonality of worldview, rituals, customs, and folklore. The same image varied in the works of different masters. When someone found a new technique or motive, it quickly became public knowledge. As a result, the art of not one or several masters, but of an entire craft as a single creative organism, developed and enriched. And today, the artists of Palekh and Khokhloma, the village of Kubachi and Polkhovsky Maidan are proud of their belonging to the unique art of their native craft, and together they solve the creative problems facing it (see Folk artistic crafts).
Isn’t this where the amazing cheerfulness of folk art comes from - from the consciousness own strength! After all, behind every thing - be it a carved spinning wheel or an embroidered towel, a painted spoon or a woven tablecloth - is the talent, work and unanimity of many people, ideally an entire people! And beauty also comes from this source. And of course, from native nature, from which the master learns tirelessly. And she takes colors, rhythms, and forms - remember at least the buckets in the shape of a swimming bird, typical of the Russian North. Like nature, folk art selects only the best and polishes it over centuries, creating truly perfect technology, forms, ornaments, and colors. Over time, all this acquires the character of tradition: since the beautiful achieved must be preserved - this is the demand of the people. That is why they talk about works of folk art as monuments of history and culture.
Today we buy the “golden” Khokhloma bowl not because it is needed on the farm. It enchants us with the nobility of its form and the elegance of its painting. For this beauty, we seem to free the thing from performing its direct function and put it on the shelf as an interior decoration. Today, the decorative side is beginning to increasingly predominate in works of folk art.
When making any thing necessary for the household, the master used the conventional language of ornament to reproduce the picture of the world as he imagined it. One of the largest researchers of folk art, V. M. Vasilenko, recently “read” the symbolism of a wooden ladle-scoop from the city area. Kozmodemyansk. Peering into the scoop, you can easily see the swan's head. Above is a circle and a rhombus decorated with radial notches. These are very ancient motifs, most often representing the sun. And the whole product is crowned with a horse figurine. He stands solemnly, as if on a pedestal. No doubt this is not ordinary peasant horse, and a real “fire horse”! To make the symbolism of the thing clear, let us remember that for centuries the people had a poetic idea that during the day a light in the sky was pulled in a cart by horses, and at night it was transferred to a boat, which was pulled along the underground ocean by swans or ducks.
This meaning, often incomprehensible to us now, made it completely an ordinary thing an integral part of not only everyday life, but also the worldview of the people, associated with the peculiarities of their worldview and ethical ideals. Other aspects of a work of folk art are also inseparable: utilitarian and aesthetic. Over the centuries, unique rules have been developed that the masters have always followed. For example, the shape of an object is dictated by its purpose, so it is ideally simple and thoughtful. Further, any shape is the result of the special properties of the material. A clay jug will have one configuration, a wooden one of the same size will have a completely different configuration, and a copper one will also have its own configuration. Finally, the shape of the item and its decor must match each other.
Originating in ancient times, folk art has long been a national property. The situation changed with the development of class society. The division of labor gave rise to new type artistic activity - professional art that satisfies the spiritual and aesthetic needs of the ruling classes. In its center stood creative individuality with her uniquely personal perception of the world around her. By the beginning of the capitalist period, folk art in industry developed countries everywhere it turns into the art of the working masses of villages and cities. Increasingly, it is assessed as “common” and “outdated.” The efforts of patrons who tried to save the “dear old days” could not change fate.bu folk artist, doomed to compete with a factory that throws millions of faceless but cheap things onto the market. By the end of the 19th century. in most European countries it was practically solved.
In states that took the capitalist path of development later, the gap between the people and professional art was not so noticeable. Especially where, as in Russia, folkloric elements have deeply penetrated the culture of the upper strata of society. It is no coincidence that they are decorated with light herbal ornament the golden ladles now kept in the Armory are very similar to their wooden counterparts, which were used by ordinary people.
The folk art of Rus' was predominantly peasant, so it clearly reflected the farmer’s view of the world. What concepts occupy a central place in such a worldview? Sun, earth, water. And, of course, everything that grows on earth. Hence the main “characters” of folk art: the sun, which was most often depicted in the form of a cross, rhombus or rosette; horses and birds; mermaids firmly connected with the water element; the mythical Tree of Life, symbolizing the endless growth of earthly fruits; finally, Mother Cheese Earth, the image of which scientists recognize in women embroidered on towels with their hands raised to the sky, as if asking him for rain and blessed rays of the sun, and in clay toys from various regions of Russia - a woman with a baby at her breast, and along the hem there are bright “suns”.
But life changed, and folk art changed along with it. After all, the power of tradition lies precisely in the fact that it sensitively responds to changes in reality, helping new things to be imprinted in art. If it were otherwise, folk art would have long ago turned into cold stylization. But it still makes us happy today! Gradually, the mythological meaning of ancient symbols was forgotten, and their connection with agricultural rituals weakened. At the end of the 19th century. The master often no longer knew what certain images meant, and yet he did not abandon them: he crowned the roof of the hut with a ridge, and carved solar rosettes on the shutters. True, gradually the ancient symbols acquired an increasingly noticeable decorative character, but something important for people from their original meaning was always preserved.
In the XVII-XIX centuries. Many new motifs entered the art of the people - the sources were Baroque, classicism, and empire styles. However, these images became an expression of a purely popular worldview, often even acquiring a new appearance. Thus, the lions on the window sills of Nizhny Novgorod huts clearly echo the stone lions noble estates. But how good-natured they are: often such an animal resembles a dog or a cat. Folk art never copies, it always remains itself. We can say that there is no change of styles at all, which is so characteristic of professional art. All historical layers, starting with the most ancient, coexist in folk art, just as they are inseparable in the memory of the people. This is a clear example of the wise accumulation of cultural values.
Folk art experienced a rebirth in the USSR and socialist countries with the entry into the historical arena of broad masses. A lot has been done during the years of Soviet power. Many artistic crafts that had died out were revived, and new folk artistic crafts arose, for example, lacquer miniatures by the former icon painters of Palekh, Mstera and Kholuy. The works of local artists are full of images of Soviet reality and carry new content that pre-revolutionary folk art did not know (see Palekh, Lacquer miniature).
Similar processes occurred in Kholmogory bone carving, in Fedoskino lacquer miniatures, in Tobolsk bone sculpture, and in Shemogodsk carved birch bark. Ukrainian wall painting appears to be a surprisingly fresh phenomenon, finding itself in easel-type art. The same can be said about Kosovo ceramics, painted Uzbek dishes, Georgian and Armenian pottery vessels, and the creativity of the northern peoples. Soviet folk art did not know the simple restoration of old traditions. On their basis, new decorative and applied art was created, imbued with genuine nationality.
Today it exists in two main forms. On the one hand, the traditional art of the village is still alive, connected with the unique way of life of a particular people and the characteristics of the surrounding nature. On the other hand, folk arts and crafts are developing, many of which have a rich history. The resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “On folk artistic crafts” (1974) emphasizes important role folk art in the culture of socialist society.
And today, works of folk art give us all the spiritual and aesthetic values that the people have accumulated over the centuries. Here is the history of the country, its present day and future. Because the rich and varied art of a people is the guarantee of its creative power, moral health and historical longevity.
About oral poetic creativity(folklore) of the ancient Slavs has to be judged to a large extent speculatively, since its main works have come down to us in the records of modern times (XVIII-XX centuries)
One might think that the folklore of the pagan Slavs was associated primarily with labor rituals and processes. Mythology has already developed at a fairly high stage of development. Slavic peoples and represented complex system views based on animism and anthropomorphism.
The Slavs apparently did not have a single higher pantheon like the Greek or Roman, but we know evidence of the Pomeranian (on the island of Rügen) pantheon with the god Svyatovid and the Kiev pantheon.
The main gods in it were considered Svarog - the god of sky and fire, Dazhdbog - the sun god, the giver of blessings, Perun - the god of lightning and thunder, and Veles - the patron of the economy and livestock. The Slavs made sacrifices to them. The spirits of nature among the Slavs were anthropomorphic or zoomorphic, or mixed anthropomorphic-zoomorphic in the images of mermaids, divas, samodivas - goblins, water creatures, brownies.
Mythology began to influence the oral poetry of the Slavs and significantly enriched it. Songs, fairy tales and legends began to explain the origin of the world, humans, animals and plants. They featured wonderful, human-speaking animals - a winged horse, a fiery serpent, a prophetic raven, and man was depicted in his relationships with monsters and spirits.
In the preliterate period, culture artistic word Slavs were expressed in works of folklore, which reflected social relations, life and ideas of the communal tribal system.
An important part of folklore was work songs, which often had magical meaning: they accompanied rituals associated with agricultural work and the change of seasons, as well as the most important events human life (birth, marriage, death).
Ritual songs are based on requests to the sun, earth, wind, rivers, plants for help - for the harvest, for the offspring of livestock, for luck in the hunt. The beginnings of drama arose in ritual songs and games.
The most ancient folklore of the Slavs was diverse in genres. Fairy tales, proverbs and riddles were widely used. There were also toponymic legends, tales about the origin of spirits, inspired by both oral tradition and later traditions - biblical and apocryphal. The most ancient chronicles have preserved the echoes of these legends for us.
Apparently, the Slavic peoples arose early and heroic songs, which reflected the Slavs’ struggle for independence and clashes with other peoples (when moving, for example, to the Balkans). These were songs in praise of heroes, outstanding princes and ancestors. But the heroic epic was still only in its infancy.
The ancient Slavs had musical instruments, to the accompaniment of which they sang songs. In South Slavic and West Slavic written sources harps, whistles, pipes, and trumpets are mentioned.
The ancient oral poetry of the Slavs largely influenced the further development of their artistic culture, but it itself also underwent historical changes.
With the formation of states, the adoption of Christianity and the emergence of writing, new elements entered folklore. Songs, fairy tales and especially legends began to combine old pagan mythology and Christian ideas. Christ, the Mother of God, angels, saints appear next to the witches and divas, and events take place not only on earth, but also in heaven or hell.
On the basis of the worship of Veles, the cult of Saint Blaise arose, and Elijah the Prophet took possession of the thunders of Perun. New Year and summer rituals and songs were Christianized. New Year's rituals were attached to the Nativity of Christ, and summer rituals to the Feast of John the Baptist (Ivan Kupala).
The creativity of peasants and townspeople was somewhat influenced by the culture of feudal circles and the church. Among the people, Christian literary legends were reworked and used to expose social injustice. Rhyme and strophic division gradually penetrated into folk poetic works.
The spread of legendary and fairy-tale stories from Byzantine literature, literature of Western European and Middle Eastern countries in the Bulgarian, Serbian, and Croatian lands was of great importance.
Slovenian folk art already in the 9th-10th centuries. learned not only literary subjects, but also poetic forms, for example the ballad - a genre of Romanesque origin. So, in the 10th century. In the Slovenian lands, a ballad with a tragic plot about the beautiful Vida became popular.
A song about her originated in Byzantium in the 7th-8th centuries. and then through Italy it came to the Slovenians. This ballad talks about how Arab merchant lured the beautiful Vida onto his ship, promising her medicine for a sick child, and then sold her into slavery. But gradually the songs became stronger in terms of motives reflecting reality and social relations (ballads “The Imaginary Dead”, “The Young Groom”).
Songs about a girl’s meeting with overseas knights and the fight against the “infidels” were popular, which was obviously a reflection crusades. The songs also contain traces of anti-feudal satire.
New and important phenomenon Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian folk art in the XII-XIV centuries. there was the emergence and development of epic songs. This process went through two stages: first, songs of everyday content arose, reflecting the originality of social relations and the life of early feudal society, almost simultaneously with them heroic songs took shape.
Subsequently, with the creation and strengthening of the state, with the beginning of the struggle against Byzantium and the Turks, youth heroic songs began to be created and gradually took first place in the epic. They were created by folk singers shortly after the events sung in them.
The South Slavic epic was created with the creative cooperation of all Balkan Slavs, as well as with the participation of individual non-Slavic peoples. The epic songs of the Southern Slavs are characterized by common plots, which are based on the events of the struggle with neighboring peoples, common heroes, common means of expression and forms of verse (the so-called decasyllable). At the same time, the epic of each nation has its own distinctive features.
The Serbo-Croatian epic is historical at its core. Despite the presence of anachronisms, fantasy and hyperbolization, the texts that have reached us also contain historically correct information. The songs reflected the features of early feudal relations, political system and the culture of that time. In one of the songs Stefan Dusan says:
I curbed the obstinate commander,
Subjected them to our royal power.
The songs express thoughts about the need to maintain state unity and the attention of feudal lords to the people. Stefan Dečanski, dying, bequeaths to his son: “Take care of the people as you do your own head.”
The songs vividly depict feudal life, the relationship between the prince and his squads, campaigns, battles and duels, and military competitions.
The earliest songs, the so-called Dokosovo cycle, are dedicated to the events of the reign of the Serbian princely (from 1159) and then royal (from 1217) Nemanjić dynasty. They have a religious overtones and talk about the “holy deeds” and “righteous life” of the Serbian rulers, many of whom were canonized by the church as saints: the songs condemn feudal strife and civil strife.
Many songs are dedicated to Sava, the founder of the Serbian church. These earliest songs are valuable monument culture. They give a vivid artistic summary of destinies native land, are distinguished by great content of plots and images, remarkable mastery of the poetic word.
Unlike the folklore of the Eastern and Southern Slavs, Western Slavs- Czechs, Slovaks and Poles, apparently, did not have a heroic epic in such developed forms. However, certain circumstances suggest that heroic songs probably also existed among the Western Slavs. Historical songs were widespread among the Czechs and Poles, and the predecessor of this genre is usually the heroic epic.
In a number of genres of Czech and Polish folklore, especially fairy tales, one can find plots and motifs characteristic of other nations heroic epic(fight-duel, getting a bride): individual West Slavic historical figures became heroes of South Slavic heroic songs, such as Vladislav Varnenchik.
In the historical chronicles of Poland and the Czech Republic (Gall Anonymous, Kozma of Prague, etc.) there are plots and motifs, apparently of epic origin (legends about Libusz, Krak, about the sword of Boleslav the Bold, about the siege of cities). Historiographer Kozma Prazhsky and others testify that they drew some materials from folk legends.
The formation of a feudal state, the idea of the unity of Polish lands and patriotic goals in the fight against foreign invaders determined the popularity of historical legends, the appeal to them by chroniclers, thanks to whom these legends are known to us.
Gall Anonymous indicated that he used the stories of old people; Abbot Peter, the author of the “Book of Henryk” (XIII century), named the peasant Kwerik, nicknamed Kika, who knew many legends about the past of the Polish land, which were used by the author of this book.
Finally, these legends themselves are recorded or retold in the chronicles, for example, about Krak, legendary ruler Poland, who is considered the founder of Krakow. He freed his people from a cannibal monster who lived in a hole. Although this motif is international, it has a clear Polish connotation.
Krak dies in the fight with his brothers, but the throne is inherited by his daughter Wanda. The legend about her tells how the German ruler, captivated by her beauty, tried to persuade her to marry with gifts and requests. Having failed to achieve his goal, he started a war against her. From the shame of defeat, he commits suicide, throwing himself on his sword and cursing his compatriots for succumbing to female charms (“Greater Polish Chronicle”).
The winner Wanda, not wanting to marry a foreigner, rushes into the Vistula. The legend about Wanda was one of the most popular among the people. Both its patriotic meaning and the romantic nature of the plot played a role in this. Dynastic legends also include legends about Popel and Piast.
Popel, the Prince of Gniezno, according to legend, died in a tower in Kruszwice, where he was killed by mice; a similar motif is common in medieval literature and folklore. Piast, the founder of the Polish royal dynasty, according to legend, was a peasant charioteer.
The chronicles mention songs in praise of princes and kings, songs about victories, chronicler Vincent Kadlubek talks about “heroic” songs. The “Greater Poland Chronicle” retells the legend about the knight Walter and the beautiful Helgund, which indicates the penetration of the German epic into Poland.
The story about Walter (Valgezh the Udal) from the Popel family tells how he brought the beautiful Helgunda from France, whose heart he won by singing and playing the lute.
On the way to Poland, Walter killed the German prince who was in love with her. Arriving in Poland, he imprisoned Wieslaw, who was plotting against him. But when Walter went on a two-year campaign, Helgunda freed Wieslaw and fled with him to his castle.
Walter, upon returning from the campaign, was put in prison. He was saved by his sister Wieslawa, who brought him a sword, and Walter took revenge on Helgunda and Wieslawa by cutting them into pieces. Literary historians suggest that the legend about Walter and Helgund goes back to the poem about Walter of Aquitaine, which was brought to Poland by the Shpilmans, participants in the Crusades.
However, in Polish folklore there were tales that were original works in plot, type of characters and form.
Chronicles and other sources attest to the existence of songs about historical heroes and events. These are songs about the funeral of Boleslav the Bold, songs about Casimir the Renovator, about Boleslav Crooked-mouth, about the latter’s battle with the Pomeranians, songs from the time of Boleslav Crooked-mouth about the attack of the Tatars, songs about the battle of the Poles with the Galician prince Vladimir, songs about Polish knights who fought the pagan Prussians. The report of a 15th century chronicler is extremely valuable.
Jan Dlugosz about the songs about the battle of Zavichost (1205): “the glades sang of this victory [...] in various kinds of songs that we hear to this day.”
The chronicler noted the emergence of songs shortly after historical event. At the same time, historical ballads, or thoughts, began to appear. An example would be the thought of Ludgard, the wife of Prince Przemysław II, who ordered her to be strangled in Poznań Castle because of her infertility.
Dlugosh notes that even then a “song on Polish language" Thus, Polish folklore is characterized not by heroic songs such as epics and South Slavic youth songs, but historical legends and historical songs.
History of world literature: in 9 volumes / Edited by I.S. Braginsky and others - M., 1983-1984.
