What is a carol? Folk carols

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In the expanses of the post-Soviet space, in everyday speech and in the media, you can often hear the phrases "Russian carols" and "carol texts", the use of which is timed to coincide with certain calendar dates.

So what is a carol? How often is it performed in modern Russia? What specific text do calendar carols have in Russian?

Christmas rituals in the context of Russian and Ukrainian cultures

Carols were originally laudatory ritual songs dedicated to the Sun, performed during ritual processions from house to house. Their origin is lost for centuries. These bypass rites, apparently, owe their origin to Ukrainian folk traditions and signs associated with the winter solstice - one of the three main annual holidays, along with the spring equinox and summer solstice, celebrated by the ancestors of modern Ukrainians.

Specific features of bypass rites

Actually, changing the execution time,fullness and ideology of the carol-song began to occur under the assertive influence of the Orthodox Church. She sought to destroy the agrarian - pagan - component of the rituals. Therefore, over time, the caroling process as a traditional procession for certain time periods was divided into several typological branches according to the time of the event (Christmas, Epiphany, New Year), characters (laity, clergy) and the nature of the texts - the purpose of the carol-song. So, it could be thanksgiving hymns and church hymns praising Christ.

Due to the particularly strong pressure of the Orthodox Church on the traditional culture of Russians, folk carols have practically disappeared from the ritual accompaniment of the annual cycle. However, a certain part of the bypass rites has reached the present. They replaced the traditional carol songs with improvised lyrics.

The theme of carol songs of some ethnographic groups of Russians

As noted above, the text of the carol magically blessed the owner of the house for good luck, the fertility of cattle. The performed ritual predetermined the richness of the harvest and profit in material we alth. However, carol songs are divided into several types, the text of which has different semantic nuances.

The economic theme of wishes, supported by executive requirements, is clearly traced in the oats. In schedrovkas, carols retain the text of the demand, but the main semantic load is carried by the owner's spell for good luck. Vineyards are characterized by everyday-romanticlyrics, most often revealing the theme of the languor of the bride and groom and setting the listener in a friendly mood in the family.

Fawn as one of the Russian caroling rituals

Thus, the Russians have several types of ritual rounds of houses, related to each other, but present in different territories of Russia. In the Volga region, some middle and southern regions (Tambov, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Voronezh, Tula) carols are held on Ovsen - on New Year's Eve or on New Year itself, and the process of caroling is called, respectively, ovsenkanie. The texts of ovsenek do not differ from the texts of other types of carols, but they include the refrain "Avsen, avsen!" or “Oh, oatmeal!”. This type of speech can be illustrated by an example:

The little bridge was paved, They covered it with cloth, They killed with nails.

Ai, Avsen, ai, Avsen! Across that bridge?

Avsenya go there.

Ai, Avsen, ai, Avsen!

and their houses for good luck, but subject to their friendly attitude towards fellow villagers.

Shchedrovki - mythological caroling songs

Similar in nature of content and direction of actions of participants in the South Russian territories aregenerosities having the choruses "Generous/good evening!".

It is very difficult to single out the main plots of the lavenders, due to the large number of later ideological layers, it is only known that they had religious and mystical plots with the addition of ordinary folk texts about the lives of saints. With this addition, it was planned to strengthen the magical component of the generous text:

Shchedrovochka was generous, Spent the night under the window.

Chi ram, chi sheep, Serve pancake, Don't bite, don't break,And in general, let's.

Generous evening, oh, good evening.

A few words about carol grapes

Northern Russians have ritual actions, also dedicated to Christmas time and the New Year, but containing the refrain "Grapes, red-green!". Grapes were among the Slavs a symbol of we alth and love, so such songs were sung in the homes of single and newlywed people. If in the texts of oatmeal and shedrovka the storyline of songs and disguise consisted of gospel and mythological themes, then grapes are romantic allegories, the texts of which for girls and boys were different. An example of such a ritual text can be given:

We walked-walked

Through Holy Russia.

We joked and jokedMaster's Court.

Master's yard

Twelve miles away, And the moon was bright

Ivanushka, You will marryWe will marvel.

Grammatical construction of carol texts and features of their use

What is a carol in terms of semanticand grammatical turnover? The folk ritual texts that have come down to us consist mainly of a ten-syllable verse, divided into two five-syllable half-lines. Russian and Ukrainian schedrovkas most often consist of an eight-syllable verse with a four-syllable half-line. It seems most likely that, being performed strictly on certain dates - Christmas, New Year, Easter, previously timed to coincide with pagan holidays, under the pressure of the Orthodox Church, bypass rituals moved one time period and contributed to the confusion of their textual and ideological components. This theory is also supported by the facts of holding grapes in certain regions for Easter.

The role of mummers in caroling rites

What is a carol without the optional presence of mummers setting the tone for the playful mood of the bypass? In what order did they visit the houses of the villagers and neighbors? Performing the text of the carol, the procession usually moved through the houses of the village from west to east - to miss someone's house was a bad omen and a great insult. In ritual costumes, people most often acted out three groups of images - impure or otherworldly forces, animals or people of a different ethnicity. The element of disguise contains hints of friendly ties with people of other nationalities, reflections of surrounding living beings, and fear of otherworldly power dispersed during Christmas time by the army of Christ. Therefore, the Slavs had a common custom of communion of mummers after a bypass ritual or forcibly bathing them in an ice hole in order to cleanse them of the acquired inthe process of disguising filth. Children usually did not dress up, but traveled in groups to their homes.

Costumes and attributes of mummers

Costumes of mummers, designed to portray animals and evil spirits, most often were sheepskin coats turned inside out. Further, body parts and attributes were added to enhance the similarity - sticks and branches for bird beaks, birch bark masks and wooden horns, panicle tails of otherworldly creatures, and so on. When depicting a couple of rich merchants, guys and girls dressed up in women's and men's clothes, portraying gypsies or araps - they smeared their faces with soot. To increase intimidation, carolers stood on stilts and depicted humps on their backs.

Carol Kitchen

Special dishes are also prepared during Christmas time, most of which are pastries. For example, such a dish is carols (gates) - small boxes made from a mixture of rye and wheat flour measuring 5 by 5 centimeters, filled with minced meat, jam or other stuffing.

Modern bypass rites

What is a carol in modern Russian realities? Does it exist today? Modern Russian carols, unlike the old Russian and Ukrainian ones, which, like many centuries ago, were held from sunset to sunrise, usually begin early in the morning. If earlier this process had a magical character, and with the advent of the mummers, small comic scenes were played out, then in the modern version, the meaning of the bypass rite is reduced to a festive game, during whichas the carols are performed, christoslavs and mummers receive some yummy from the owners of the house - pies, sweets and other delicacies.

In modern rituals, carol songs are performed, the text of which is either sufficiently distorted by the translation of a genuine poem into modern language, or is completely improvised. These songs are easy to find. How can you recognize the original, real carols? The text of any of them may have been preserved in the memory of our grandparents. It is worth asking them about such rituals. Often they can tell a lot of interesting things. Carol songs, the text of which was previously known to everyone - from young to old, today you can listen to the recording. Some of them were recorded in real "field" conditions, others are theatrical performances. An example of such improvisation is the following text of a carol in Russian:

Good evening good people!

Let the holiday be merry!

Merry Christmas!

We wish you happiness, joy!

Generous evening, good evening !Kind people to he alth!

After these words, either everyday continuation of wishes, or reading of the following ritual texts is possible. In any case, a congratulation designed in this way, supplemented with the appropriate attributes of the holiday, will make it unforgettable for the addressee and please with originality in the choice of national color.