eBook - ePub
An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics
James Bailey, Tatyana Ivanova
This is a test
Share book
- 411 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics
James Bailey, Tatyana Ivanova
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
An extensive introduction provides basic information about Russian epics, their historical background, their poetics, the history of their collection, their performance context, and their main interpretations. In addition, their is a short introduction to each song, explaining its plot, allusions, and interpretations. A glossary of common terms and a selected bibliography of studies about the Russian epic in English and Russian are also included in the volume.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cancel my subscription?
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics by James Bailey, Tatyana Ivanova in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & International Relations. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
II
KIEVAN CYCLE
Epics About Ilya Muromets
3
Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber
A s the central figure in the Russian epic tradition, Ilya Muromets is the subject of more songs and has a more complete epic biography than any other bogatyr (Astakhova 1958: 393â419). His appearance as âIlyas von Riuzenâ in several German and Scandinavian sagas dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries reveals that he was an established hero by that time in Kievan epics. Since that period the characteristics of Ilya Muromets as an epic hero have undoubtedly changed. For example, even though he is frequently referred to as an âold Cossack,â folklorists believe that this appellation appeared in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. They also note that the adjective âoldâ does not indicate age but rather respect, experience, and seniority. The image of Ilya appears to have evolved further in the nineteenth century when peasant performers started emphasizing his peasant background. The importance of Ilya Muromets in Russian culture is also shown by the fact that his relics were long believed to lie in a Kiev monastery and that he appeared in many tales circulated in chapbooks in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The song âIlya Muromets and Nightingale the Robberâ has been recorded 132 times and is one of the most popular Russian epics. Singers may more accurately call this bylina âThe First Journey of Ilya Murometsâ because in it he leaves his village of Karacharovo near the city of Murom (the names vary), performs his first exploits, and for the first time comes to Kiev, where he is accepted as a bogatyr at Prince Vladimirâs court. The events in other songs about Ilya largely do not follow any chronological order: âIlya and Idolishche,â âIlya and the Highwaymen,â âThe Three Journeys of Ilya Muromets,â âIlya Muromets and Falconer,â âIlya Murometsâs Fight with Dobrynya,â âIlya Muromets Quarrels with Prince Vladimir,â and âIlya Muromets and Kalin Tsar.â However, the earliest part of this heroâs biography appears in a work entitled âThe Cure of Ilya Muromets,â where Ilya is presented as the son of peasants and lies paralyzed on a stove for thirty years. He is miraculously cured by several passing pilgrims whom he befriends and who give him something special to drink. Ilya then helps his parents clear a field by uprooting whole trees and, realizing that he now has the strength of a bogatyr, he leaves home on his first journey. From the mysterious pilgrims Ilya also learns that he is not fated to die in battle. âThe Cure of Ilya Murometsâ probably is a relatively recent work, is composed in prose instead of verse, and reflects the attempt by singers to complete Ilyaâs epic biography by describing his childhood and peasant origin.
Although the confrontation with Nightingale the Robber forms the core of this epic, three conflicts ac...