Volga Svyatoslavovich: characteristics of the hero

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

Volga Svyatoslavovich is a famous epic hero, which reflects the features of both historical and primitive communal systems. A feature of the character is that, according to the 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 the features of several real-life ancient Russian princes were combined in the face of this character.

Opinions on origins

In historiography, there are several opinions about who Volga Svyatoslavovich is. Some researchers see in his image features of the primitive communal way of life. They refer to the following plot points in 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 this as echoes of ancient Slavic cults and pagan beliefs. However, other authors trace real historical roots in this character. For example, there is a version that Volga Svyatoslavovich was the prototype of Prince Vseslav of Polotsk. There is a point of view that the hero reflects the features of the famous Prophetic Oleg, who, according to legend, died from a snakebite, in which there are parallels with the history of this fairy-tale character.

Birth

Several stories are connected 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 kinds of mythological layers. At the moment of his birth, according to the legend, there was thunder, lightning flashed, and all the animals were frightened. As in 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 the language of animals. In this version of its origin, the influence of the pagan totemic ideas of the ancient Slavs about the connection between people and animals is clearly expressed.

Wars

Volga Svyatoslavovich, an epic about which is dedicated to his campaigns in overseas countries, was one of the most popular folklore heroes of the 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 a work dedicated to his campaign in India.

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

Historical motifs

Many scholars find in this episode another important difference between the character's story and traditional stories about knights. The fact is that usually the epic Old Russian warrior did not stay in place, but continued to travel around the Russian lands, protecting them from enemies. The fact that the hero remained in the conquered city allows many authors to assert that this legend contains echoes of a distant time of migration and enmity between the tribes, when the conquerors settled in the conquered territories and married local residents.

Meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich

About the reflection of many archaic features in the myths about the hero says 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 governorship, where he intended to collect tribute. He gathered his squad and set off. On the way, he met a peasant plowman who worked 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 combatants nor Volga himself could pull out of the furrow. According to the story, the protagonist gave Mikula control of these cities after he put things in order in the collection of tribute. The fact is that before the tax collectors abused their powers, collecting more money than it was supposed to.

Historical realities

The main idea of the epic "Volga Svyatoslavovich" is that it shows not only the feats of arms of warriors, but also simple peasant labor, as well as the occupations of the ancient Slavs. In the legend of the Indian campaign, hunting is shown, for example, as the main occupation of the people. If in other works this type of occupation was portrayed as the fun of princes and their combatants, then here it is shown that forestry provided people with a livelihood. The work reflected those times when the population did not yet know either agriculture or cattle breeding, and was mainly an appropriating economy. So, it is precisely due to prey that the squad of the character eats on a campaign.

Influence of foreign legends

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

Novgorod roots

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

Another curious point that the authors point to 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 enduring 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.

Features

Epics dedicated to this character are distinguished by the fact that they reflected many archaic features inherent in ancient Russian society. Therefore, in his image, Volga Svyatoslavovich combined several cultural traditions. 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 of the 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 stories andtraditional epics, which show the already established social structure. But none of these features were shown by the cartoon "Volga Svyatoslavovich", which was filmed in a modern style without taking into account historical realities.