Ancient Russia: myths and legends about heroes and gods

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

The most interesting of the cultural treasury of civilizations are myths. All countries and peoples had their own legends about the power of the gods, about the courage of heroes, about the strength of rulers. Ancient Russia is no exception. Her myths speak of twenty thousand years during which she perished and was reborn. Our time is the moment of the revival of a long-gone faith, and it began with the publication of books about ancient Slavic traditions.

Russian Vedas, Book of Veles

In these books - a reminder of the ancestral home. These are the lands that gave birth to this or that Russian family. They also talk about ancestors. One of the most ancient lands of the Slavs, judging by the content of the book "Russian Vedas", is considered the sacred Belovodie, the Russian North.

From here, our ancestors, led by the Sun God and Prince Yar, moved first to the Urals, then to the steppes of Semirechye. And finally they mastered Iran and India. Here, the Aryan, that is, Indo-Iranian, clans singled out the Slavs themselves, those who glorified the ancestors and the gods.

Othersources

It turned out that the original Slavic texts have not reached us. The integrity of paganism was almost completely destroyed when not only myths, but also the traditions themselves were eradicated by Christianity.

The whole picture of the mystical ideas that Ancient Russia had (myths, epics, legends) can be compiled or reconstructed only on the basis of secondary material and written sources. Of the most important are medieval chronicles of observers (Germanic and Latin) and books preserved from Czech and Polish tribes. Also interesting are the works of Byzantine authors, Arabic and European.

Folklore

Strange as it may seem, but much information about the ideas and beliefs that Ancient Russia professed, its myths in the most simplified and often deliberately perverted state can be gleaned from the teachings of the persecutors of paganism - Christian missionaries. It speaks of the falsity of certain rites, where the actions of the pagans are commented on in detail. The lower mythology can still be obtained from folklore: various spirits, witches, mermaids, kikimoras and immortal koshchei come from beliefs, fairy tales, rituals, conspiracies.

These are later myths, when deities began to replace the elements and animals, at least remotely similar to humans. Like, for example, goblin. In fact, at first he was considered kind, helping to find a way in the forest, and only those who behaved incorrectly in his domain could harm. Such a person could get lost and even die. After the advent of Christianitygoblin became unambiguously evil characters.

Fertility is impossible without water, and for a good harvest, ancient people needed coastlines that shed dew on the fields. Half birds, half girls, the mistresses of all wells and reservoirs first flew from heaven, and then “grew” a fish tail and became mermaids. In Christian teachings, they are also negative characters.

Archaeology

Some information is provided by archeology: at the places of ritual prayers, many treasures with male and female jewelry were found, where pagan symbols are present. The surviving remnants of ancient beliefs among neighboring peoples also help. And of course, most of our knowledge is connected with epic tales, for example, epics, which Ancient Russia is famous for. Her myths have not died, they are simply forgotten.

Beliefs

The beliefs of the Slavic tribes are characterized by duality, animism and totemism. In their view, the worlds were equivalent and strongly interconnected: human, real, and another, in which only gods lived - evil or good, who welcomed the souls of their ancestors.

Another world is both difficult to reach, and far, and familiar, and close, as if a place often visited, like native forests, mountains or steppes. The progenitor - the main deity - dominated there.

Totemness

In the depths of, if not millennia, then many, many centuries, when the peoples of the Slavs lived only by hunting, they knew and believed that the ancestors awaiting them in another world were those same forestresidents who give them food, clothing, household items and even medicine. For this, animals were sincerely worshiped, seeing in them powerful and intelligent patron gods.

Each tribe had its own totem - a sacred beast. For example, people who consider the Wolf to be their patron put on skins on the winter solstice and, as it were, felt like wolves, communicating with their ancestors and receiving strength, wisdom and protection from them. Ancient Russia was so strong, smart, and its myths were composed precisely about this.

The pagan forest has always had an owner - the strongest. Lions were never found in the Slavic lands, so the Bear was the king of animals. He not only protected from all evil, but also patronized crops. The bear woke up in the spring - it's time to do farming. A bear's paw in the house is a talisman and a talisman: it will protect you from witchcraft and all kinds of diseases. The strongest oath was the name of the bear, and the hunter who broke it would inevitably die in the forest.

Ungulates

The hunting era was rich in totems, and one of the brightest and most common revered animals was a deer (or elk). Moreover, a deer was clearly embroidered on the towels - the ancient goddess of fertility, as well as sunlight and the sky itself. The forest inhabitants were not literally depicted by the Slavs. Horned deer do not exist in nature, but each animal has antlers on the embroidery. On them he brings the sun. The horns in the house are a symbol of the sun's rays, heat. Elk and deer were often called elk (and even now they are called so), from the word "plow", which names an agricultural tool.

Heavenlyelk and calf - the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the sky. And Cassiopeia is two men with braids who mow the heavenly grass. The golden heavenly horse - the sun, later - a chariot, but also drawn by horses. In the views of ancient people, a horse from the time of nomadic life is the most useful and most intelligent animal. The ridge on the roof is still installed by the builders of new village houses, although people have probably already forgotten why and why this is needed. A horseshoe for good luck is now considered a very effective amulet. The thing is that the ancient Slavs had a cult of a horse.

Image of the world

Legends have been preserved about how the creation of the world happened, where it came from and who its inhabitants are. The ancient Chinese, Iranians, Greeks believed that our world was hatched from an egg. There are similar myths among the Slavs. For example, such. The three kingdoms that the prince received in the lower worlds from the three princesses were folded into eggs, and the prince simply unwrapped them when he rose to the ground, breaking the shell. The kingdoms are copper, silver and gold.

Another legend tells of a duck that flew over an empty ocean and dropped an egg into the water. It split in two. From the bottom half turned out damp earth, and from the top - the vault of heaven. There is also a legend about a snake that guarded a golden egg. A hero came, he killed the snake, he cracked the egg, and three kingdoms came out of it - underground, earthly and heavenly.

Carpathian song

In the Carpathians they sing about the creation of the world like this: when there was no light, no sky, no earth, but only the blue sea, a tall oak tree grew in the middle of the water. Arrivedtwo doves sat on branches and began to think about how to establish a white light.

They descended to the seabed, brought fine sand in their beaks, captured golden pebbles. They sowed the sand, sprinkled with golden pebbles. And the black earth rose, the icy water poured, the grass turned green, the sky turned blue, the sun shone, a clear month came out and all the stars.

Well, how exactly did the creation of the world actually happen, let everyone decide for himself.

Trinity

In the image of the world that surrounded the ancient tribes, tripartiteness is clearly traced. The earth represents the middle world, lying on the three heads of the leader of the underworld in the middle of the ocean.

The bowels of the middle world - the lower subworld. It was incinerated with unquenchable fire. The upper world is heaven, stretching over the earth with many vaults, with luminaries and elements living there. The seventh heaven is eternally shining. This is the place of the abode of the highest powers.

Country Ir

A special word about the Ocean (as it was called - Kiyan, with the navel of the earth in the middle, namely the sacred stone Alatyr, which lies at the very roots of the World Tree) says that the oak on the island of Buyan is most often described in legends. This is the center of the entire universe. The holy mountains sometimes take over the concept of the World Tree.

The latter is sometimes called the Iriy tree from the country of the blessed, bearing the name of Ir. This is the very place where all the birds fly away in the fall and where Spring spends the winter. The most ancient beliefs say that the country of Ir is located at the very bottom of the sea-ocean, that it is there that higher forces constantly live, which decideall the fates of people.

Geography

All directions of the world in the views of the ancient Slavs had their own functions associated with the deification of natural forces. The most fertile regions were in the east. There is a wonderful sacred country with the abode of the gods. But the northwest turned out to be the edge of death and winter.

The location of rivers was of great importance in ancient beliefs. The Don and the Danube were considered the boundaries of the human world, then another world, the ancestral home, where the souls of dead ancestors await everyone who is ready to overcome impenetrable forests, huge mountains and ferocious rivers. Only there awaits a person eternal rest. Or restlessness, because those who were guilty during their lifetime, who violated at least one moral law, will certainly be punished.

Svarog and sons

Among the ancient Slavs, the supreme deities were a married couple: Mother Earth and Father Sky. The shining, brilliant god Svarog was revered on a par with Mother Earth. His other name is Stribog, which means God the Father. He brought iron tools (blacksmith tongs) to people in the Stone Age, taught them how to smelt copper, and then iron. The sons whom the god Svarog also taught to help people were called Dazhdbog Svarozhich and Perun Svarozhich. The most interesting myths have developed about the latter, almost like the Greek Hercules.

The exploits of Perun are described very extensively even in fiction until the twentieth century. This is the ancient god of thunder, thunder and lightning. His name is translated in several versions as "Striking", "First" and even "Right". His lightning is different: gold - life-giving, purple -deadly. His weapon is an ax, with which some customs in the peasant economy are still associated. A lightning rod in the form of a wheel with six spokes can still be seen on old buildings. This is also a sign of Perun. But he was not only a deity, but also a hero. The main qualities and even some of the exploits of Perun, as it were, were inherited by Ilya the Prophet with the advent of Christianity.

Smoke

God, born of a goat, was in charge of the night sky. Having been born, he even eclipsed the clear sun, and then settled in the Ural Mountains, gave birth to a son, Churilu. Gathered Churila giant friends and began to offend the warriors of Svarog. Svarog and Dyi are both gods, they had to deal with each other like a god. First, Svarog beat Dyy, drove his people into the foothills. And then he had mercy, arranged a feast in the Dyev mansions. Churila shared gold and precious stones with Svarog. He thawed out completely and took Churilu to his service.

Veles and Yasunya

The patron of we alth and livestock, the protector and assistant to all merchants, cattle breeders, hunters, tillers, lord over all lower spirits, this ancient Slavic god was distinguished by a good character and great luck. He only married Azovushka, but he loved Yasunya with her green skin, disgusting character, pugnacity and lack of hospitality. Baba Yaga Bone Leg and nothing more. However, this is not entirely true. Yasunya was called otherwise - Storm-Yaga Golden Leg. But it seems that Veles managed to consider the bewitched Yasunya Svyatogorovna in Yaga, but he could not receive the blessings of his parents, they separated him from Yasunya.