Volga Svyatoslavich (also Volkh Vseslavyevich) hero werewolf (sorcerer) of Rus'. Characteristics of Volga Svyatoslavovich

I fell in love with this character early childhood, his image was very unusual compared to the rest of the fairy tales and myths available to Soviet children. Lively, realistic. When selecting information for this post, I Once again I was amused by the fact that the Werewolf Prince is treated more like a historical character and his amazing abilities are mentioned only in passing. It was also pleasantly surprising that Wiki, as it turned out, talks about him surprisingly clearly and concisely) A little about werewolves in Slavic mythology and, directly about Volga under the cut, but this picture seemed to me to best reflect the image of my favorite, because the ermine and the aurochs, and even the front sight are unearthly cool, but Voooolk is the essence)

WEREWOLVES IN SLAVIC PAGANITY

Volkodlak, volkolak, volkulak, vovkulak, in Slavic mythology the wolf-man; werewolf; a sorcerer who can transform into a wolf and turn other people into wolves.
Legends about the werewolf are common to everyone Slavic peoples. The ideas about the werewolf combine the features folklore image and borrowings from ideas about Christian demonology. The exceptional archaic nature of ideas about werewolves is evident from the fact that in other Indo-European traditions(particularly in Hittite), the transformation of the groom into a wolf is associated with a common form of marriage - kidnapping (forcible abduction of the bride).
The antiquity of this image is also confirmed by the chronicle of 1282, which tells about the werewolf, which “drives the clouds and eats away the moon” (the Slavs for a long time kept faith in the cloud-busters, who turned into wolves, rose to the sky and called for rain or dispersed clouds). According to F. Buslaev, “the remnant of this legend is still preserved in the proverb: “The gray wolf catches the stars in the sky.” Unlike the mythology of the peoples of Europe, the Slavs originally had a werewolf positive character, and the fact of werewolfism was perceived in principle as normal phenomenon. Unusual - yes, but by no means scary or terrible. This is indirectly confirmed by the ancient Russian conspiracy recorded by Sakhorov:

“On the sea, on the ocean, on the island of Buyan, in a hollow clearing, the moon shines on an aspen stump, in a green forest, in a wide valley. A shaggy wolf walks near the stump, all the cattle are on his teeth, but the wolf does not enter the forest, but The wolf will not wander into the valley. Month, month - golden horns!
Melt the bullets, dull the knives, wear out the clubs, send fear into the beasts of man and reptile, so that they do not take the gray wolf, do not tear the warm skin from it. My word is strong, stronger than sleep and heroic strength."

Turning into a wolf was likening one of the most revered and powerful, endowed supernatural powers animals. The name of this beast was so sacred that it could not be pronounced out loud, so instead of “wolf” they said “fierce”, and the men of some tribes were called “Lutichs”. Since ancient times, the ability to transform into a wolf was attributed to “especially strong” sorcerers and, apparently, formed a necessary part of certain rituals. “Turn around”, “turn around” (transform) often literally meant “turn over”, that is, to somersault, “throw over oneself” or over a conventional border. "Turning around", the person seems to
turned over with that side of his being that is attached to higher powers world, to revered animals, birds, fish - “ancestors, relatives and patrons.” In stories about werewolves, the line between man and beast is a narrow strip of a knife, rope, branch; in essence, it passes through the werewolf himself: he is both man and animal [I would say BEAST] at the same time. The practice of werewolf was so widespread among the Slavic tribes that Herodotus describes [based on the attitude of Herodotus himself to his own words - they say, I will write, but let those who want to believe it believe it...] the annual transformation of neurons ( Slavic tribe, presumably living on the territory of Belarus) for several days in wolves, as a matter of course.
And Slavic heroic epic, in general, characterizes the werewolf's main character as a being of divine origin. At the birth of the Russian wolf hero Volkh [as well as Volkhv and Volga himself] Vseslavovich:

And the moon brightened in the sky,
And in Kyiv a mighty hero was born,
How young Volkh Vseslavyevich is.
The damp earth trembled,
Stressed glorious kingdom Indian,
And the blue sea swayed
For the sake of the birth of Bogatyrskov,
Volkha Vseslavyevich is young.

Similar disasters and natural phenomena accompanied the birth of elemental Slavic deities. Many researchers draw parallels (though very conditional), according to which Volkh is Kyiv prince Oleg, who was considered prophetic (another word for a werewolf was a word derived from the verb vedati - “to know”: Ukrainian vischun - “werewolf”, other Czech vedi - “werewolves”, Slovenian vedomci, vedunci , vedarci - “werewolves”). However, such a werewolf prince was the no less famous Vseslav of Polotsk (second half of the 11th century), who “... dressed up the princes of the city, and himself prowled the night like a wolf... The great Kherson scoured the path like a wolf...” (Tale of Igor's regiment).
Another Slavic werewolf, the hero of the Belarusian and Serbian epics, was the Fiery Wolf Serpent. His image also goes back to the common Slavic myth of the wolf hero. He is born from the Fiery Serpent, appears in human form, “in a shirt” or with “wolf hair” - a sign of miraculous origin. Can turn into a wolf and other animals, including a bird; performs feats using the ability to transform himself (and his squad) into animals. Many of the creatures of lower mythology also had a tendency towards werewolves; the goblin, for example, very often turned into a white wolf (white king) or into a wolf shepherd. With the adoption of Christianity, all previous deities were overthrown and declared demons. This fate did not spare werewolves, who, from helping deities and heroic heroes, became terrible monsters of nightmares. Among Russian peasants of the 20th century, belief in werewolves is generally fading, although stories about werewolves - wolves and bears - are still popular in some regions of Russia.
An interesting transformation of the theme of werewolf is found in the recording by I.V. Karnaukhova in the Russian North, a story about one of the heroes Civil War, “famous” for its cruelty: in this story, the partisan commander acts as a werewolf, destroying people.

A separate plot of the epic about Volga was recorded only once by A.F. Hilferding from eighty-year-old Kuzma Ivanovich Romanov, a student of the legendary 18th-century storyteller Ilya Elustafyev, from whom T.G. understood the epics. Ryabinin and many other storytellers of the 19th century. Usually the name Volga is found in combination with another name - Mikula Selyaninovich. IN this option The image of Volga, from the age of five learning tricks and wisdom, knowledge of all kinds of different languages ​​(meaning, of course, the languages ​​of animals and birds), is closest to the image of Volkh Vseslavyevich.

The epic recreates a surprisingly poetic image ancient hunter and a fisherman (quite possibly the god of hunting and fishing himself), who knows how not only to set silk ropes, but also to wrap martens, foxes, black sables, galloping hares and small ermines, taking on their appearance. The same thing happens when fishing: Volga turns around the pike fish and wraps it in the net: the hay fish, the white fish, the pike fish, the pike fish, the expensive sturgeon fish.

Description of scenes magical hunt Volgi has no equal in Russian folk epic. This is a whole hunting poem created by the people.

The text is published according to the edition: Hilferding A.F. Onega epics. 3rd ed. M., 1938, vol. 2, no. 91.

On my own behalf, I’ll just add that there is a vague feeling from the image of the three heroes (in particular, Vasnetsov’s painting) that Volga, who was unfairly rejected with the advent of Christianity, should be in Alyosha Popovich’s place.

Volga Svyatoslavich (also Volkh Vseslavevich) is a hero, a character in Russian epics. Basic distinctive feature Volga is cunning, the ability to shapeshift and the ability to understand the language of birds and animals.
Volga (Volkh) is one of the most ancient characters in Russian folklore. There is a lot of archaic and magical things in it. Miller gives Volga mythical meaning: in his opinion, initially it was the image of a thunder cloud, as indicated by the shaking in nature described in the epic at the birth of Volga (thunder) and werewolf, that is, a constant and rapid change in the shape of the cloud under the influence of air movement. They suspect a connection between his name and the word “magician,” suggesting that only later it turned from a common noun into a proper name. Based on the surviving data about Volga, researchers of the mythology of the ancient Slavs even reconstruct (rather controversially) the ancient Slavic god of hunting Volkh.

The epic about the campaign is preserved in 11 records.

The birth of a hero

Volga is the son of a serpent and Princess Marfa Vseslavyevna, who miraculously conceived him by accidentally stepping on a serpent. The shaking of the earth and the terrible fear of all living creatures at the moment when Volga saw the light point to him as the personification of some elemental force. Volga grows by leaps and bounds, and soon becomes a powerful hero, possessing not only the art of fighting enemies, but also reading books and turning into different animals.

March on the Indian Kingdom

The central point of the epics about Volga is his trip to a distant kingdom: Indian, the lands of Turets-Saltan, etc. He recruits a squad. To provide her with everything she needs, he turns into a wolf and a falcon, feeding her by hunting. The success of the campaign is due to the wisdom of Volga. He spoils the bowstrings of enemies with an ermine, bites the throats of horses with a wolf, and so on. So that the squad can overcome the impregnable walls, he turns them into ants, and within the walls of the city returns their human appearance. The winner marries the wife of the murdered king, and his warriors - the local girls left alive. He himself becomes king.

Meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich

Meeting with a wonderful plowman who surpassed Volga in “cunning and wisdom.” While collecting taxes from the cities of Gurchevets and Orekhovets, Volga met the plowman Mikula Selyaninovich, who complained about the tax collectors of the city of Gurchevets, who were charging a simple peasant exorbitant prices. Yes, and told him how he punished them for greed with a whip. Seeing a mighty hero in Mikul, Volga invited him to join his squad to collect taxes. Having driven away, Mikula remembered that he had forgotten the plow in the ground. Twice Volga sent his warriors to pull out that plow, but the third time he and his entire squad did not overcome it. Mikula pulled out that plow with one hand. Arriving in the cities of Gurchevets and Orekhovets, they fought and collected taxes.
According to the Slavic Faith, a person has three paths: Magus, Knight and Worker. Each fulfills his destiny, and the inability of the squad to lift the plow shows that the Knight/Wizard cannot do without the Worker. Just like the Worker Mikula cannot punish unrighteous people without the Knight of Volga.

Volga Svyatoslavich and Prince Oleg

At one time it was customary to identify Volga Svyatoslavich with the Prophetic Prince Oleg, who reigned after Rurik. The identification is based on the similarity of names, the correspondence of Oleg’s chronicle epithet “Prophetic” (indicating his cunning and wisdom) with the qualities of Volga. In addition, Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople was correlated with Volga’s campaign in India, and in Volga’s birth from a snake they found a similarity to Oleg’s death from a snake. Vladimir Propp rejects this attempt to find historical prototype Volga is absolutely fantastic.
According to Miller, over time, memories of the prophetic Oleg and Vseslav of Polotsk joined the initially purely mythical basis. According to Wollner, there were initially two separate songs about Volga and Volkh, which were later mixed with each other. Veselovsky brings one of the epics about Volga closer to “The Walking of Charles,” and thus he compares Volga himself with Charlemagne. Volga also bears the name Buslaevich, which, according to Miller, along with the news of his learning, was transferred to him from Vasily Buslaevich of Novgorod.
Some researchers identify Volga Svyatoslavich and the Drevlyan prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, brother of Vladimir and Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich.
This story preserves the most ancient totemic ideas about animals as the ancestors of man and the possibility of the birth of a great hunter and sorcerer directly from an animal father.

I found this article to be one of the most interesting

Volkh, Volkh Vseslavevich, Volga

Volkh, Volkh Vseslavyevich, Volga, a mythologized character in Russian epics, the owner of miraculous werewolf properties. The plot about Volkh Vseslavevich (less often - Volga Buslavlevich or Svyatoslavevich) and his campaign against India belongs to the most archaic layer in Russian epic epic, characterized by never-eradicated totemistic ideas and the widely represented elements of the miraculous, magical, magical, and the fusion of human and natural principles. V.’s birth was miraculous: V.’s mother Marfa Vseslavyevna, walking in the garden, jumped from a stone onto a fierce snake; he wraps himself around her leg and “hits her white thigh with his trunk”; soon V. is born, whose birth shocked all of nature: thunder rumbles, the damp earth trembles, the “kingdom of the Indians” shakes, the sea sways, the fish goes into deep sea, a bird - high in the sky, animals - in the mountains, etc. V.’s development is also wonderful: as soon as he is born, he already says “like thunder roars”, he is swaddled in “damask armor”, they put “golden wool” in his cradle ", "a club worth three hundred pounds"; at the age of seven he is sent to learn to read and write, and by the age of ten he comprehends the “cunning and wisdom” of turning around “ clear falcon», gray wolf, "bay aurochs - golden horns." Having mastered the art of werewolf, V. at the age of 12 recruits a squad, and at the age of 15 he is already ready for military exploits. When news arrives that the “Indian king” is going to march on Kyiv, V. decides to get ahead of the enemy and sets off with his retinue on a campaign against the Indian kingdom. Along the way, he exercises and demonstrates his “cunning-wisdom”, acting as a great hunter, ruler of the natural kingdom, especially the world of animals. Turning into a wolf, he runs through the forests and “beats eagles”; in the guise of a falcon, he beats geese, swans, and ducks. B, feeds and waters, dresses and shoes his squad; he is always awake. Having decided to “repair hostility” to the Indian king and making sure that none of the squad can complete the upcoming task successfully, V. uses his “cunning wisdom” to crush the Indian kingdom. Turning into a tour-golden horns, he quickly reaches his goal; turning into a clear falcon, he flies into the chambers of the Indian king Saltyk (Saltan) Stavrulievich and overhears his conversation with “Tsarina Azvyakovna, young Elena Alexandrovna.” Having learned about the tsar’s hostile intentions to Rus', V. turns into an ermine, goes down to the cellars, bites the bow string, neutralizes the arrows and guns, again turns into a clear falcon, flies to his squad and leads them to the fortress city of the Indian king. To get inside unnoticed, V. wraps his warriors in ants (murashiki) and, together with them, penetrates the city through a narrow crack, subjecting it to destruction. V. kills the Indian king, takes Queen Azvyakovna as his wife, marries his warriors to seven thousand spared girls, and he himself becomes king, richly endowing his squad.

The motif of V. (and his warriors) turning into ants penetrating an impregnable fortress is reminiscent of a similar motif in connection with the thunderer Indra. (Rigveda I, 51, etc.). Zeus also appears to Eurymedusa in the form of an ant. Their son Myrmidon (lit. “ant”) became the ancestor of the Myrmidons, the “ant” people. In the Russian fairy tale, Ivan Tsarevich, having turned into an ant, penetrates the crystal mountain, kills the twelve-headed Serpent and frees the princess, whom he marries. The connection with V. of the motif of thunder in the epic also outlines the theme of the thunderer in his image. At the same time, V. also implements the theme of the Thunderer’s opponent, the Serpent: being the son of the Serpent, he inherited from him “cunning-wisdom” and, in particular, the ability to hide from the enemy and turn into other creatures. Therefore, in the image of V., echoes are found with Volos-Veles, in whom serpentine features are also found, or with the Serpent Fiery Wolf. In the Novgorod book legend about the Wolf the Sorcerer, V., the eldest son of Sloven, who gave his name to the Volkhov River, formerly called Mutnaya, was an “unpleasant sorcerer”; “by demonic tricks” he turned “into a fierce crocodile beast”; blocking in Volkhov waterway those who did not worship him: some he devoured, others he drowned. And the ignorant people revered him as a god and called him Thunder or Perun (cf. the image of the “snake of Perun” in Novgorod sources). V. placed a “small town” on the river bank in a place called Peryn, and an idol of Perun. Demons strangled V. in Volkhov, his body floated up the river and was thrown out “against his Volkhov town” and was buried here by the pagans. But after three days, “the earth shed tears and devoured the vile body of the crocodile, and the grave awoke above it to the bottom of hell.”

V.'s werewolfism was continued in the same property attributed to historical character Prince Vseslav of Polotsk (11th century), mentioned in this regard and in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (cf. patronymic V.-Vseslavyevich, i.e. son of Vseslav). The connections between V. and Vasily Buslaev are also undoubted (the motive of the absence of a father and being raised by a mother, a trip to a distant land, the role of a stone in birth or death, etc.). In the post-Mongol period (13th century), new interpretations of V.’s enemy appeared: now he is the king of the Golden Horde or even the Turkish Sultan; instead of the Indian kingdom, the Turkish-earth appears, etc.

The second plot, in which V. appears (as a rule, it is Volga, sometimes Volga Svyatoslavgovich, etc.), connects him with Mikula Selyaninovich. Volga has this plot in common with V. - growing up as a child without a father, mastering “wisdom” (transforming into a pike, a falcon, a wolf and hunting animals), gathering a squad for a hike. Volga's uncle, Prince Vladimir Stolno-Kyiv, favors his nephew with the three cities of Gurgovets, Orekhovets and Krestyanovets (their real prototypes They also belong to the Novgorod land, to the Neva-Ladoga area), and Volga and her squad go “to get their pay”; On the way, V. meets the oratai Mikula plowing his field; Volga and his squad cannot lift Mikula’s plow, his peasant mare overtakes Volga’s horse, etc. (cf. also the contrast in the Russian epic “ peasant son"Ilya Muromets and Prince Vladimir). Sometimes Sadko appears together with V. and Mikula, in other cases V. mixes with Vasily Buslaev (beating merchants on the Volkhov Bridge, the motif of a stone with an inscription, jumping over it and dying, etc.).

V. V. Ivanov, V. N. Toporov.

And, for those who are patient, here is http://www.neohogwarts.ru/subjl.php?s=122&l=1 a nice site on animorphmagic)))

Happiness to all tailed animals and may your claws and teeth never become dull!

The characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich from the epic of the same name is usually compiled by students in a Russian literature lesson in the seventh grade. This hero has many positive qualities, and therefore it will not be difficult to describe it. Let's try to do this in more detail.

First appearance

The characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich begins from the moment he first appears before the reader. From childhood, this prince showed himself to be a very educated and adventurous person. He is ready to learn to swim underwater as high as through dark forests, like a predatory wolf. This speaks of his activity and curiosity.

When the boy grew up and became a grown man, he decided to assemble a large squad for himself. He goes on a hike with her. His uncle Vladimir gave him an expensive gift: now Volga is the owner of three cities. The young man wanted to look at them and visit that area.

The brave squad was mounted on brown stallions by Volga Svyatoslavovich. The characterization of the hero continues with an analysis of his actions. The prince respects his warriors and does not spare them the best equipment and horses. However, his path is interrupted by a sudden acquaintance.

Mikula

Another one appears before us main character epics. The prince is very surprised by his new acquaintance. He is so strong and brave that he plows alone huge field. The characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich from the epic should also include a description of Mikula. This brave guy doesn’t look at all like an ordinary plowman: he’s wearing expensive clothing, which is not at all typical of a peasant tiller. True, before meeting, the main characters could not reach each other for three days. By this the author wants to show how vast the vast expanses of our Motherland are.

Volga decided to talk to the Oratai, telling him where the path was heading. In response, Mikula told him about himself. It turns out that not so long ago he also visited the city where the prince was going. He bought salt for himself. The author uses the technique of hyperbolization and through Mikula’s mouth says that he is so strong that he had to drag three bags on himself, each containing one and a half tons of salt. Undoubtedly, Volga and his squad are very surprised by such strength of the hero.

However, not everything went well on that trip: robbers attacked Mikula and began to demand money. The hero shared with them, but it was not enough; they began to beat Oratai. Then Mikula Selyaninovich had to answer them. In the end, more than a thousand men were victims of one single plowman!

Undoubtedly, this story impressed Volga. Since childhood, he dreamed of having an unusual gift or power, but, unfortunately, this is not always within our power.

Then the prince decided to invite the hero with him on a campaign.

Characteristics of Volga Svyatoslavovich and his squad

Mikula is not averse to accompanying a new acquaintance on the road. But our farmer cannot just throw away the tool of his labor. His bipod, made of strong damask steel, is decorated with gold and silver. It is unlikely that we would have met an ordinary peasant with such a rich plow. But Mikula is the personification of all men in Rus'. For this reason, the author “dresses” him in expensive clothes, elegant morocco boots, and in his hands is a tool that only a hero can have.

The characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich and Mikula Selyaninovich continues with an analysis of the episode with the prince’s squad. The hero asks Volga to send five warriors to help him and move the plow behind the willow bush. He wants to preserve it not for the poor or the rich, but for the simple Russian peasant.

The prince orders the guys to fulfill the request of the oratai. But, unfortunately, this turned out to be beyond their power.

Then Volga already sent ten warriors, but they could not cope with this.

Seeing that the squad cannot fulfill his request, Mikula himself decides to remove the bipod. This comes very easily to him: with one hand he lifts it and throws it in front of the surprised Volga.

Hike

The characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich from the epic includes information about how he got to the desired city. The prince noticed that Mikula's horse was much faster and stronger than his own. He makes fun of Volga a little with the hero that if his mare were a stallion, he would offer him as much as five hundred rubles for her. But Mikula does not want to part with her faithful friend under any circumstances and answers the prince that there is nothing more precious to him than this horse. He himself took care of it from a very young age, now he doesn’t need anyone else.

Upon arrival in the city, the prince was surprised that the men who had offended Mikula three days ago had gone to him to ask for forgiveness. Volga understands that Oratai is good, kind and strong-willed Human. He does not want to part with him, so he invites him to become a governor in his lands. This suggests that the prince is a grateful person who remembers kindness.

Conclusion

Of course, the characterization of Volga Svyatoslavovich is not as bright as that of the hero Mikula. Any warrior, even the strongest, pales against his background. However, we managed to find out that this person is friendly and responsive. He does not envy Mikula, but, on the contrary, wanted to be friends with him.

Volga Svyatoslavich (also Volkh Vseslavyevich) is a hero, a character in Russian epics. Volga's main distinguishing feature is her cunning, the ability to shapeshift and the ability to understand the language of birds and animals.

Ryabushkin, Andrey Petrovich. Volga Vseslavevich. 1895.

Volga (Volkh) is one of the most ancient characters in Russian folklore. There is a lot of archaic and magical things in it. Miller gives Volga a mythical meaning: in his opinion, it was originally an image of a thunder cloud, as indicated by the shaking in nature described in the epic at the birth of Volga (thunder) and werewolf, that is, a constant and rapid change in the shape of a cloud under the influence of air movement. They suspect a connection between his name and the word “magician,” suggesting that only later it turned from a common noun into a proper name. Based on the surviving data about Volga, researchers of the mythology of the ancient Slavs even reconstruct (rather controversially) the ancient Slavic god of hunting Volkh.
The epic about the campaign is preserved in 11 records.

The birth of a hero

Boris Olshansky. Volkhv Vseslavovich

Volga is the son of a serpent and Princess Marfa Vseslavyevna, who miraculously conceived him by accidentally stepping on a serpent. The shaking of the earth and the terrible fear of all living creatures at the moment when Volga saw the light point to him as the personification of some elemental force. Volga grows by leaps and bounds, and soon becomes a powerful hero, possessing not only the art of fighting enemies, but also reading books and turning into different animals.

This story preserves the most ancient totemic ideas about animals as the ancestors of man and the possibility of the birth of a great hunter and sorcerer directly from an animal father.

Ivan Bilibin. "Volga with his squad."

March on the Indian Kingdom

Boris Olshansky. Campaign of the Volga

The central point of the epics about Volga is his trip to a distant kingdom: Indian, the lands of Turets-Saltan, etc. He recruits a squad. To provide her with everything she needs, he turns into a wolf and a falcon, feeding her by hunting. The success of the campaign is due to the wisdom of Volga. He spoils the bowstrings of enemies with an ermine, bites the throats of horses with a wolf, and so on.

Illustration for the epic "Volga": Volga turned into a pike fish. 1904

So that the squad can overcome the impregnable walls, he turns them into ants, and within the walls of the city returns their human appearance. The winner marries the wife of the murdered king, and his warriors - the local girls left alive. He himself becomes king.

Illustration for the epic "Volga": Tsar Saltyk Stavrulyevich and Tsarina Azvyakovna

Meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich

Ivan Bilibin.Bogatyr Volga and Mikula Selaninovits.

Meeting with a wonderful plowman who surpassed Volga in “cunning and wisdom.” While collecting taxes from the cities of Gurchevets and Orekhovets, Volga met the plowman Mikula Selyaninovich, who complained about the tax collectors of the city of Gurchevets, who were charging a simple peasant exorbitant prices, and punished them for their greed with a whip. Seeing a mighty hero in Mikul, Volga invited him to join his squad to collect taxes. Having driven away, Mikula remembered that he had forgotten the plow in the ground. Twice Volga sent his warriors to pull out that plow, but the third time he and his entire squad did not overcome it. Mikula pulled out that plow with one hand. Arriving in the cities of Gurchevets and Orekhovets, they fought and collected taxes.

Volga Svyatoslavich and Prince Oleg

At one time it was customary to identify Volga Svyatoslavich with the Prophetic Prince Oleg, who reigned after Rurik. The identification is based on the similarity of names, the correspondence of Oleg’s chronicle epithet “Prophetic” (indicating his cunning and wisdom) with the qualities of Volga. In addition, Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople was correlated with Volga’s campaign in India, and in Volga’s birth from a snake they found a similarity to Oleg’s death from a snake. Vladimir Propp rejects this attempt to find a historical prototype of the Volga as completely fantastic.

Ivan Bilibin.

According to Miller, over time, memories of the prophetic Oleg and Vseslav of Polotsk joined the initially purely mythical basis. According to Wollner, there were initially two separate songs about Volga and Volkh, which were later mixed with each other. Veselovsky brings one of the epics about Volga closer to “The Walking of Charles,” and thus he compares Volga himself with Charlemagne. Volga also bears the name Buslaevich, which, according to Miller, along with the news of his learning, was transferred to him from Vasily Buslaevich of Novgorod.

Konstantin Vasiliev.Volga

Some researchers identify Volga Svyatoslavich and the Drevlyan prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, brother of Vladimir and Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich.

The red sun rolled over the high mountains, frequent stars scattered across the sky, and at that time a young hero, Volga, was born in Mother Rus'. His mother swaddled him in red swaddling clothes, tied him with gold belts, put him in a carved cradle, and began to sing songs over him.

Volga only slept for an hour, woke up, stretched - the golden belts burst, the red diapers tore, the bottom of the carved cradle fell out. And Volga stood up and said to his mother:

Madam mother, don’t swaddle me, don’t twist me, but dress me in strong armor, a gilded helmet, and give me right hand a club, so that the weight of the club was one hundred pounds.

The mother was frightened, and Volga was growing by leaps and bounds.

Volga has grown up to five years old. Other kids at such years only play games, but Volga has not yet learned to read and write - to write and count and to read books. When he turned six years old, he went for a walk on the earth. His steps made the ground shake. The animals and birds heard his heroic tread, got scared, and hid. The aurochs-deer fled to the mountains, the sable-martens swam to the islands, small animals hid in the thicket, fish hid in deep places.

Volga Vseslavyevich began to learn all sorts of tricks.

He learned to fly in the sky like a falcon, learned to turn into a gray wolf, and gallop through the mountains like a deer.

Volga turned fifteen years old. He began to gather his comrades. He recruited a squad of twenty-nine people—Volga himself was the thirtieth in the squad. All the guys are fifteen years old, that's all mighty heroes. Their horses are fast, their arrows are accurate, their swords are sharp.

Volga gathered his squad and went with it to an open field, to the wide steppe. Carts with luggage do not creak behind them, neither down beds nor fur blankets are carried behind them, servants, stewards, cooks do not run after them...

For them, a feather bed is dry earth, a pillow is a Cherkassy saddle, there is a lot of food in the steppe, in the forests - there would be a supply of arrows and flint and steel.

So the fellows set up a camp in the steppe, lit fires, and fed the horses. Volga sends younger warriors into the dark forests.

Take silk nets and place them in dark forest along the ground itself and catch martens, foxes, black sables, we will stock up fur coats for the squad.

The vigilantes scattered through the forests. Volga waits for them for a day, waits for another, and the third day is approaching evening.

Then the warriors arrived sadly: they knocked down their legs on the roots, tore off their clothes on the thorns, and returned to the camp empty-handed. Not a single animal caught them in the net.

Volga laughed:

Oh you hunters! Return to the forest, stand near the nets and keep your eyes peeled, well done.

Volga hit the ground, turned into a gray wolf, and ran into the forests. He drove the animals out of holes, hollows, and dead wood; he drove foxes, martens, and sables into nets. He didn’t disdain small animals; he caught gray hares for dinner.

The warriors returned with rich booty.

Volga fed and gave water to the squad and also put on shoes and clothes. The warriors wear expensive sable fur coats, and for recess they also have leopard fur coats. They can’t praise Volga enough, they can’t stop looking at her.

Here time is running Yes, come on, Volga sends middle warriors.

Set a snare in the forest on tall oak trees and catch geese, swans, and gray ducks.

The heroes scattered throughout the forest, set a snare, and thought to come home with rich booty, but they didn’t even catch a gray sparrow.

They returned to the camp gloomily, hanging their violent heads below their shoulders. They hide their eyes from Volga and turn away.

And Volga laughs at them:

Why did the hunters return without prey? Well, okay, you'll have something to feast on. Go to the snares and watch carefully.

Volga struck the ground, took off like a white falcon, rose high to the very clouds, and fell down on every bird in the sky. He beats geese, swans, gray ducks: only the fluff flies from them, as if covering the ground with snow. Whoever he didn’t beat himself, he drove into a snare.

The heroes returned to the camp with rich booty. They lit fires, baked game, washed down the game with spring water, and praised Volga.

How much or how much time has passed, Volga again sends his warriors:

Build oak boats, make silk nets, take pure gold floats, go out into the blue sea, catch salmon, beluga, stellate sturgeon.

The vigilantes caught it for ten days, but they didn’t catch even a small brush.

Volga turned into a toothy pike, dived into the sea, drove the fish out of deep holes, and drove them into silk nets. The fellows brought boatloads of salmon, beluga, and barbel catfish.

The vigilantes are walking around clean field, they play heroic games, throw arrows, ride horses, measure their heroic strength...

Suddenly Volga heard that the Turkish Tsar Saltan Beketovich was going to war in Rus'.

His brave heart flared up, he called the warriors and said:

You've had enough of lying around, you've had enough of exercising your strength, the time has come to serve native land, protect Rus' from Saltan Beketovich. Which of you will sneak into the Turkish camp and find out Saltan’s thoughts?

The fellows are silent, hiding behind each other: the older one behind the middle one, the middle one behind the younger one, and the youngest one closes his mouth.

Volga got angry:

Apparently, I need to go myself!

He turned around - golden horns. The first time he galloped, he jumped a mile, the second time he galloped, they only saw him.

Volga galloped to the Turkish kingdom, turned into a gray sparrow, sat on the window of Tsar Saltan and listened. And Saltan walks around the room, clicks his patterned whip and says to his wife Azvyakovna:

I decided to go to war against Rus'. I will conquer nine cities, I will sit as a prince in Kyiv, I will distribute nine cities to nine sons, I will give you a sable shushun.

And Tsarina Azvyakovna looks sadly:

Ah, Tsar Saltan, today I bad dream I saw it as if a black raven was fighting in a field with a white falcon. The white falcon clawed the black raven and let its feathers fly into the wind. The white falcon is the Russian hero Volga Vseslavyevich, the black raven is you, Saltan Beketovich. Don't go to Rus'. You won’t take nine cities, you won’t reign in Kyiv.

Tsar Saltan got angry and hit the queen with a whip:

I am not afraid of Russian heroes; I will reign in Kyiv.

Then Volga flew down like a sparrow and turned into an ermine. His body is narrow and his teeth are sharp. The ermine ran through the royal courtyard and made its way into the deep royal cellars. There he bit off the strings of tight bows, chewed the shafts of arrows, chipped sabers, and bent clubs into an arc.

An ermine crawled out of the basement, turned into a gray wolf, ran to the royal stables - killed and strangled all the Turkish horses.

Volga got out of royal court, turned into a clear falcon, flew into an open field to his squad, and woke up the heroes.

- Hey, my brave squad, now is not the time to sleep, it’s time to get up! Get ready for a campaign to the Golden Horde, to Saltan Beketovich!

They approached the Golden Horde, and around the Horde there was a high stone wall. The gates in the wall are iron, the hooks and bolts are copper, there are sleepless guards at the gates - you can’t fly over, you can’t cross, you can’t break down the gate.

The heroes became sad and thought: “How can we overcome the high wall and the iron gate?”

Young Volga guessed, turned into a small midge, gave all the fellows goosebumps, and goosebumps crawled under the gate. And on the other side they became warriors.

They struck with Saltan's force, like thunder from heaven. But the Turkish army’s sabers are dull and their swords are chipped. Here the Turkish army began to run away.

The Russian heroes marched through the Golden Horde, ending all of Saltan’s strength. Saltan Beketovich himself ran away to his palace, closed the iron doors, and pushed the copper ones behind the owls.

When Volga kicked the door, all the locking bolts flew out and the iron doors burst.

Volga entered the room and grabbed Saltan by the hands:

You shouldn’t be in Rus', Saltan, don’t burn - don’t burn down Russian cities, don’t sit as a prince in Kyiv!

Volga hit him on the stone floor and crushed Saltan to death.

Do not boast, Horde, of your strength, do not go to war against Mother Rus'!

Volga Svyatoslavovich - famous epic hero, which reflected the features of both historical and primitive communal systems. The peculiarity of the character is that, according to legends, he was able to understand the language of animals and birds, and also turn into animals. In science, there is a point of view that in the person of this character the features of several actually existing ancient Russian princes were combined.

Opinions about origin

In historiography, there are several opinions about who Volga Svyatoslavovich is. Some researchers see in his image features of a primitive communal way of life. They refer to the following plot points in the epics: the description of thunder and lightning at his birth, as well as the mythological fact that, according to fairy tales, his father was a snake.

Some scientists see in this echoes of ancient Slavic cults and pagan beliefs. However, other authors trace real historical roots. For example, there is a version that Volga Svyatoslavovich was the prototype of the Polotsk prince Vseslav. There is a point of view that the hero reflected the features of the famous Prophetic Oleg, who, according to legend, died from a snake bite, which has parallels with the story of this fairy-tale character.

Video on the topic

Birth

Several stories are associated with the name of the hero, and the first of them is dedicated to his birth. As mentioned above, its origin is shrouded in various mythological layers. At the moment of his birth, according to the legend, thunder rang out, lightning flashed, and all the animals were afraid. Like many other Russian folk tales, Volga Svyatoslavovich grew by leaps and bounds, intensively gaining strength. He quickly learned to read and write, as well as understand animal language. This version of its origin clearly expresses the influence of the pagan totemic ideas of the ancient Slavs about the connection between people and animals.

Wars

Volga Svyatoslavovich, whose epic is dedicated to his campaigns in overseas countries, was one of the most popular folk heroes ancient Russian epic. His difference from other characters is that he achieves victory not by physical strength, like other knights, but by cunning, magic and sorcery. This is shown in the work dedicated to his campaign in India.

According to the legend, he recruits a squad and goes to fight in foreign lands. Unknown author writes how he turns first into a wolf, then into a falcon, getting game for his warriors to eat. Before the siege, according to myth, he turns the warriors into ants, and after taking the fortress, he returns them to human form again. After the victory, he marries the wife of the deceased ruler, and his warriors take local women as wives.

Historical motives

Many scientists find another thing in this episode important difference character stories from traditional stories about knights. The fact is that usually the epic ancient Russian warrior did not remain in place, but continued to travel across Russian lands, protecting them from enemies. The fact that the hero remained in the conquered city allows many authors to argue that in this legend there are echoes of the distant time of migration and enmity of tribes among themselves, when the conquerors settled in the conquered territories and married local women.

Meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich

The reflection of many archaic features in the myths about the hero is indicated by their summary. Volga Svyatoslavovich not only travels to overseas lands, but also travels through Russian lands. One of the legends tells how he received three cities as governor, where he intended to collect tribute. He gathered his squad and hit the road. On the way, he met a peasant plowman who was cultivating the land with a plow.

The work gives a lengthy description of this new hero, a simple peasant peasant Mikula, who could lift a heavy plow with one hand, which neither the warriors nor Volga himself could pull out of the furrow. According to the story, the main character gave Mikula control of these cities after he brought order to the collection of tribute. The fact is that previously tax collectors abused their powers by collecting more money than it was supposed to be.

Historical realities

The main idea of ​​the epic “Volga Svyatoslavovich” is that it shows not only the military feats of soldiers, but also simple peasant labor, as well as the activities of the ancient Slavs. In the legend about the Indian campaign, hunting is shown, for example, as the main occupation of the people. If in other works this type While the activity was portrayed as fun for the princes and their warriors, it is shown here that forestry provided people with a means of subsistence. The work reflected those times when the population did not yet know either agriculture or cattle breeding, and was mainly engaged in appropriative farming. So, it is from the spoils that the character’s squad feeds on the campaign.

The influence of foreign legends

The second part, as generally recognized by researchers, is less historical, since it reflects several cultural layers, for example, the motives of writings about Alexander the Great, who also made a campaign in India. In addition, there are a number of references to the tales of others eastern peoples. This was reflected, first of all, in folklore moments associated with the transformation of a character into animals. However, the epic contains a reference to an event from ancient Russian history: we're talking about about the campaign of the Prophetic Oleg against Byzantium. This prince built ships on wheels to carry his army. Volga also resorts to various tricks to achieve the capture of the city.

Novgorod roots

The story of the hero’s meeting with Mikula, as most experts note, is connected with Novgorod realities. This is evidenced by the description of nature, which is reminiscent of the northern regions of the country. In these places the soil was very difficult to plow; there were indeed stones in it, as the epic said. In addition, the work mentions salt and pennies, which, according to a number of authors, is due to the fact that Novgorod, having plenty of its own salt, nevertheless bought it from German merchants, for which they paid a large tribute. Related to this is the mention of unjust tax collectors. Also mentioned in the epic is the city of Orekhovets, in which many historians see a reference to ancient city Oreshka.

Another interesting point that the authors point out regarding this epic is how the character’s relationship with a simple peasant is shown. Mikula clearly surpassed his Volga in strength and agility. His mare turned out to be faster and more resilient than Volga’s horses. In this, the authors see references to that distant time when the Varangian squads and the local Slavic population were at enmity with each other.

Peculiarities

The epics dedicated to this character are distinguished by the fact that they reflect many archaic features inherent in ancient Russian society. Therefore, in my image I combined several cultural traditions Volga Svyatoslavovich. The cartoon, filmed in 2010, however, did not at all reflect the ancient Russian motifs characteristic of these works. But the legends showed a transitional period in the formation ancient Russian state with the preservation of elements of the communal system, but with the emergence of the political power of the rulers. This is the difference between legends and traditional epics, which show an already established social structure. But none of these features were shown in the cartoon “Volga Svyatoslavovich,” which was filmed in modern style without taking into account historical realities.