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Video: Why Lisa is Patrikeevna, Baba is Yaga, and the Serpent is Gorynych: In honor of whom were the characters of Russian fairy tales named
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Russian fairy tales are full of heroes whose names we know from early childhood and take for granted. But if Mikhailo Potapovych is named so simply for the habit of trampling and stomping, then with most other names, patronymics and nicknames, everything is not so simple. Many of them were given to the heroes in ancient times and at one time carried a huge semantic load.
Lisa Patrikeevna
Surprisingly, in the middle name of this character, the name of one historical person is immortalized, who with her cunning and resourcefulness, as folk wisdom decided, can compete with the fox and even be her father. We are talking about the Lithuanian prince Patrikey Narimuntovich from the Gediminovich family. At the end of the XIV century, the boyar council of Novgorod invited him to be the prince's governor. The new ruler was received with great honors, but in the coming years he showed such miracles of resourcefulness that his name, apparently, became a household name. Patricay cleverly intrigued, and also became the patron saint of local robbers and pirates - ushkuiniks. True, he also expanded his Novgorod possessions - he took almost the entire southern coast of the Gulf of Finland and built the Yam fortress to protect the new lands, which then grew into the city of Kingisepp. However, the rumor of the cunning prince did not forgive, and after a few years he was removed from the high post. Patrick was not taken aback and went to serve the Moscow prince Vasily. By the way, his descendants were the famous names of the Kurakins and Golitsins.
Tugarin Serpent
Another historical figure on the pages of Russian fairy tales is the Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan, who very much annoyed our ancestors in the 11th century. Having united several hordes, he, together with Khan Bonyak, utterly defeated the army of the Pechenegs and defeated the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich. However, later, during the siege of Pereyaslavl, the Polovtsian army was defeated by Vladimir Monomakh. Tugorkan and his son were killed, and bylinas and then children's fairy tales were replenished with a new character - an evil hero, a symbol of the wild steppe and paganism. Why he is the Serpent (or Serpent) is not entirely clear, perhaps because Tugorkan was from the Sharukanid clan, which translates as “snakes”.
Zmey Gorynych
This old Russian dragon, personifying all the forces of evil and the unbridled power of nature, may have originated from a very epic image. In ancient fairy tales, there were already forgotten today three giant heroes: Gorynya, Dubynya and Usynya. They personified three elements - fire, earth and water. Each were endowed, respectively, with their own "superpower", if we go over to the language of modern children's folklore. Gorynya (possibly from the word "burn") - possessed fire and possessed incredible power:, Dubynya personified the earth:, and Usynya - water:. According to one version, the fire-breathing Serpent Gorynych is a transformed giant Gorynya. It is interesting that these three mythical characters are considered the prototypes of the three heroes - the winners of the very evil embodied in the Serpent.
Baba Yaga and Koschey the Immortal
These characters, despite all their significance for mythology and modern New Year's performances, have no real or mythical prototypes. Their names came simply from the Old Church Slavonic words characterizing these heroes. The old "yega" - left a mark in almost all Slavic languages. Concepts that are similar in meaning and sound to different nations mean "horror", "danger", "anger" and even "evil woman" and "forest witch" in Czech. In the Russian language, by the way, such a word was lost, and the only one close to it is "ulcer" - however, its meaning is very close to the original one.
The word "koschey" was used by our people not so long ago. It had two meanings: "thin, bony man" or simply "bone" and "captive." This is how it is used, for example, in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign." So the image of the evil and bony ruler, to which we are accustomed, is clearly associated with the name of this character. It is interesting that in birch bark letters of the 12th century from Novgorod and Torzhok, the word Koschey is found as a personal name.
Mermaids
The description of this character is very different not only among different peoples, but even in the Slavic tradition - in legends from separate regions. According to numerous versions, mermaids are more or less associated with water and are not always friendly to people (most often they are not at all disposed to them). Their names are also very diverse: bobcat, bathing, mavka, watery, joke, tickle. Until the 20th century, the word “mermaid” was perceived in Russia as a bookish word, “scholarly”. Most likely, it has a really interesting ancient history. According to the theory of "Roman influence", it comes from the name of the ancient Roman feast of remembrance of the ancestors - Rosalia. During these celebrations, the tombs were decorated with chants of roses. Not all scientists agree with this interpretation, but such a beautiful version has the right to exist, since the Old Slavic Rusalia had a lot in common with the Roman ones in meaning and timing.
Read on about how mermaids looked like in Slavic mythology, why they were worth fearing and how to protect yourself from them
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