A brief retelling of the epic Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich. The meaning of mikula selyaninovich in a brief biographical encyclopedia

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"Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich"

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Mikula Selyaninovich- the legendary plowman-hero in Russian epics of the Novgorod cycle.

Etymology

The name Mikula is a folk form of the name Nikolai; possibly the result of a contamination with the name Michael.

The image of the hero-plowman

The hero personifies the peasant strength; you can’t fight him, because “the whole Mikulov family loves Mother Earth Cheese”.

According to one of the epics, he asks the giant Svyatogor to pick up a bag that has fallen to the ground. He is not up to the task. Then Mikula Selyaninovich lifts the bag with one hand, saying that it contains "all the burden of the earth."

Mikula Selyaninovich, according to folklore, had two daughters: Vasilisa and Nastasya (wives of Stavr and Dobrynya Nikitich, respectively), who are also the central heroines of epics.

Epics dedicated to Mikula: “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich”.

Mikula and Nicholas the Wonderworker

Connection of the Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker with epic hero Mikula Selyaninovich. An interesting version of the connection with the day of the folk calendar, St. Nicholas, is given by P. I. Melnikov in 1874:

Mikula was honored most of all by a smerd (peasant, farmer) ... He, a drinker, he, a gracious breadwinner, and he celebrated holidays more honestly and more often ... He was honored with feasts and dining at brachins - Mikulshchina.
Just as the veneration of Thunder the Thunderer during the introduction of Christianity was transferred with us to the veneration of Ilya Gromovnik, and the veneration of Volos, the cattle god, to Saint Blaise, so the veneration of orata Mikula Selyanynych was transferred to the Christian saint - Nicholas the Wonderworker. That is why in Russia most of all Nicholas the Merciful is celebrated. The spring holiday to Nicholas the Wonderworker, which the Greeks do not have, was borrowed by the Russians from the Latins to coincide with the feast of the Mother of the Raw Earth, who loves "Mikula and his kind." Mikule's celebration coincided with Mother Earth's name day. And until now, two folk holidays converge side by side: the first day of "Mikula with food" (May 9, according to the old style), the other day (May 10, according to the old style) " name day of the Mother of the Raw Earth».

daughters

- Vasilisa Mikulishna- wife of Stavr Godinovich
- Nastasya Mikulishna- Dobrynya Nikitich's wife

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Notes

Literature

Melnikov-Pechersky P.I. . - 1874.
/ Petrukhin V. Ya. // Mythological Dictionary / ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. - S. 358. - ISBN 5-85270-032-0.

An excerpt characterizing Mikula Selyaninovich

- Your mother loves you more than anything in the world, Alina, and she asked me to tell you that she never left you.
“So she lives with you now?” - the girl bristled.
- Not. She lives where neither I nor you can go. Her earthly life here with us is over, and she now lives in another, very beautiful world from which he can observe you. But she sees how you suffer, and she cannot leave here. And she can't stay here any longer. That's why she needs your help. Would you like to help her?
– How do you know all this? Why is she talking to you?!
I felt that as yet she did not believe me and did not want to recognize me as a friend. And I just couldn't figure out how to explain to this little, ruffled, unfortunate girl that there is "another", distant world, from which, unfortunately, there is no return here. And that her beloved mother speaks to me not because she has a choice, but because I was just “lucky” to be a little “different” than everyone else ...
“All people are different, Alinushka,” I began. - Some have a talent for drawing, others for singing, but I have such a special talent for talking with those who have left our world forever. And your mother speaks to me not at all because she likes me, but because I heard her when no one else could hear her. And I'm glad that I can help her in some way. She loves you very much and suffers very much because she had to leave ... It hurts her very much to leave you, but this is not her choice. Do you remember, she was seriously ill for a long time? – girl nodded. “It was this sickness that made her leave you. And now she must go to her new world where she will live. And for this, she must be sure that you know how much she loves you.
The girl looked at me sadly and quietly asked:
- Does she live with angels now? .. Dad told me that she now lives in a place where everything is like on the postcards that they give me for Christmas. And there are such beautiful winged angels... Why didn't she take me with her?..
“Because you have to live your life here, honey, and then you, too, will go to the same world where your mother is now.
The girl beamed.
“So I can see her there?” she murmured happily.
- Of course, Alinushka. So you should just be a patient girl and help your mom now if you love her so much.
- What should I do? – the little girl asked very seriously.
“Just think about her and remember her because she sees you. And if you don't be sad, your mom will finally find peace.
“Does she see me now?” the girl asked, and her lips began to twitch treacherously.
- Yes Dear.
She was silent for a moment, as if gathering inside, and then she clenched her fists tightly and whispered softly:
- I will be very good, dear mommy ... you go ... please go ... I love you so much! ..
Tears rolled down her pale cheeks in big peas, but her face was very serious and concentrated ... Life for the first time dealt her a cruel blow and it seemed as if this little, so deeply wounded girl suddenly realized something for herself in an adult way and now I tried to take it seriously and openly. My heart was breaking with pity for these two unfortunate and so sweet creatures, but, unfortunately, I could not help them any more ... The world around them was so incredibly bright and beautiful, but for both it could no longer be their common world. ..
Life is sometimes very cruel, and we never know what the meaning of the pain or loss that has been prepared for us is. Apparently, it is true that without losses it is impossible to comprehend what, by right or by a lucky chance, fate gives us. Only now, what could this unfortunate girl, cowering like a wounded animal, comprehend when the world suddenly collapsed on her with all its cruelty and pain of the most terrible loss in life? ..
I sat with them for a long time and tried my best to help them both find at least some peace of mind. I remembered my grandfather and the terrible pain that his death brought me ... How terrible it must have been for this fragile, unprotected baby to lose the most precious thing in the world - her mother? ..
We never think about the fact that those who, for one reason or another, are taken from us by fate, experience the consequences of their death much deeper than we do. We feel the pain of loss and suffer (sometimes even angry) that they left us so ruthlessly. But what is it like for them when their suffering is multiplied a thousand times, seeing how we suffer from this?! And how helpless should a person feel, not being able to say anything more and change anything? ..
I would have given a lot then to find at least some opportunity to warn people about this. But, unfortunately, I did not have such an opportunity ... Therefore, after the sad visit of Veronica, I began to look forward to when I could help someone else. And life, as it always usually happened, was not long in coming.
Entities came to me day and night, young and old, male and female, and all asked to help them talk to their daughter, son, husband, wife, father, mother, sister ... This continued in an endless stream, until, in the end, I I felt that I had no more strength. I didn’t know that when I came into contact with them, I had to be sure to close myself with my (and very strong!) Protection, and not open emotionally, like a waterfall, gradually giving them all my vitality, which then, unfortunately, I did not know how to fill.

And Mikula Selyaninovich - one of the three senior heroes of Russian epics. Some believe that the name Volga comes from the name of the historical prince Oleg. It is possible that the brilliant victories of Oleg seemed to the people miraculous, supernatural, and from the image of this prince, who was known during his lifetime as a “prophetic”, that is, a sorcerer, a fabulous heroic image grew up.

Volga of miraculous origin - the son of the princess and the Serpent Gorynych. Volga is the prince himself, who has a squad, and at the same time a werewolf wizard. His "cunning-wisdom" lies in the ability to "turn around" in different animals (into a fierce beast, a gray wolf, a clear falcon, a bay tour, a pike).

He is an unusually strong hero. When Volga was born

The mother of cheese-earth shivered,
The blue sea shook.

From early childhood, Volga learned various “tricks-wisdoms”. He learned to understand animal and bird language, he learned to turn around (turn) into animals, birds and fish;

Pike-fish to walk in deep seas,
Fly like a falcon under the clouds,
gray wolf roam the open fields.

Thanks to this ability to turn around and, when necessary, turn around his squad, Volga wins miraculous victories. One epic tells how Volga Svyatoslavich planned to "fight the Turkish kingdom." Turning into a “little bird”, he flew over the “Okian-Sea”, flew to the court of the Turkish Sultan and, sitting on the window, overheard the conversation of the Sultan with his wife that the Sultan was going to “fight the Russian land”. But the Sultan's wife felt that the "little bird" sitting on the windowsill was none other than Prince Volga Svyatoslavich himself, and told her husband about it.

Then the Volga bird flew up and immediately turned into an ermine, which made its way into those chambers where all the weapons of the Turkish army were stored. And then Volga the ermine began to bite all the bowstrings of Turkish bows. He did not gnaw them, but only bit them imperceptibly, so that when the Turks would stretch their bowstrings with an arrow, preparing to shoot, all their "silk bowstrings would burst at once."

Volga and the Sultan's wife. Cartoon

Having then flown safely as a bird "Okian-Sea", Volga gathered his "good squad", turned it all into a pike and thus swam across with the squad "Okian-Sea". The squad approached - already in human form - to the Turkish city, but it turned out that the city was surrounded by a strong, indestructible wall, and the “patterned” gates were tightly locked.

Then Volga again resorted to magic. He turned his whole squad into “ants” (ants), who crawled through the patterns and cracks of the strong city gates and already behind the wall turned back into a strong squad and rushed at the enemies. The Turks grabbed their bows and arrows, pulled on "silk bowstrings" - all the bowstrings burst at once - and Volga conquered the whole Turkish kingdom.

In one epic Volga, also,

Bylina "Volga and Mikula" refers to Novgorod cycle epics. Already the first researchers drew attention to the sharp social sound of the epic, where the image of the peasant plowman Mikula Selyaninovich is clearly opposed to the image of Prince Volga Svyatoslavich, the nephew Kiev prince Vladimir. At the same time, other assumptions were made, according to which the images of not just a peasant and a prince, but two pagan gods: the god of agriculture - Mikula and the god of hunting - Volga. This is the interpretation of the famous 19th-century mythologist Orest Miller, who saw Mikul Selyaninovich as the "patron of agriculture in Russia." 1 At the same time, Vsevolod Miller drew attention to everyday features in the epic, reflecting the features of agricultural labor in the north:

The ratai yells in the field, urges, The bipod creaks at the ratai, The omeshiki underline the pebbles, Then the roots, the stones twists, Yes, he brings down all the great stones into the furrow.

"This is an accurate picture of northern plowing," wrote V.F. Miller. 2

The plot of the epic is based on the story of the meeting of Prince Volga and his squad with the plowman-peasant Mikula. The epic opens with a story about the birth of Volga, about his maturity:

As Volga began to grow and swear here, Volga longed for a lot of wisdom: He would walk like a pike-fish in the deep seas, He would fly like a falcon under the shells, Scour the gray wolf and through the clear fields.

Volga collected a brave warrior for himself. The nephew of the Kiev prince received three cities as a gift from Vladimir: Gurchevets, Orekhovets, Krestyanovets. He goes for tribute and in an open field he sees the plowman Mikula, who, working in the field, shows remarkable strength: "he twists the stump-roots, knocks large stones into the furrow." The plowman asks the prince how far he is on his way, and, having learned where he and his retinue are going, tells him what robbery people live in these cities. Volga, seeing his strength, offers the plowman to go with him "in comrades." The plowman agrees, his participation in the trip is necessary - the fight against robbery alone is beyond the power of the princely squad.

Mikula asks the prince's warriors to pull his plow out of the ground and throw it under a willow bush. However, it turns out that neither the squad nor Volga can do this work. And only the heroic strength of Mikula allows him to effortlessly, with one hand, pull the bipod out of the ground.

This is the end of some variants of the epic. According to others, Volga and Mikula come to the cities in which the prince appoints Mikula as governor, the townspeople ambush Volga, and Mikula saves his life.

Mikula is folk hero. He, like a hero-hero, expresses best qualities common man. Bylina affirms respect for the hard work of the tiller, in which one must also show strength and heroism. Mikula's strength is in connection with the land, with the common people.

This epic is characterized by its artistic features. The element of the folk language is amazing. It is characterized by repetitions, epithets. With the help of epithets, a special poetic world is created. For example, the unusual plow that Mikula plows:

The bipod of the bipod is maple, The omeshiki on the bipod are damask, The bipod has a silver cup, And the horn of the bipod is red and gold. 3

With the help of epithets, a portrait of the hero is created:

And at the oratay the curls sway, What if the pearls are not skewed, they crumble; The oratay's eyes are clear of a falcon, And his eyebrows are black of a sable. 4

The storytellers describe the clothes of the hero: green morocco boots, a downy hat, a black velvet caftan.

Allegorically, Mikula reveals his folk roots. To Volga's question: "What is your name, are you called by your fatherland?" spoke oratay-oratayushko:

Oh, you Volga Svyatoslavovich! I’ll plow some rye and put it in stacks, I’ll put it in stacks and drag it home, I’ll drag it home and thresh at home, And I’ll brew beer and make the peasants drink, And then the peasants will begin to praise me: Young Mikula Selyaninovich!

The artistic means in the epic are aimed at capturing the characters and their actions, the situation, and expressing their attitude towards them most vividly.

Volga Svyatoslavovich is a very ancient hero from epics. He is cunning, understands the language of birds and animals. He, like a werewolf, can turn into different animals and birds. When he was seven years old, he began to learn tricks and wisdom. He learned to swim as a fish, fly as a bird and walk as a beast. When he walked on the earth, the earth trembled and the seas splashed out of the banks. Volga is a real hero, and like all heroes - a warrior.

When Volga matured, he wanted to acquire strength and wisdom in life. He asked Prince Vladimir for 30 people and got ready to go on a tribute campaign. To collect tribute, Vladimir allocates three cities to his nephew Volga: Orekhovets, Gurchevets and Krestyanovets.

As soon as Volga and his retinue left for the field, he heard the creak of a plow and the whistle of a plowman. Volga went to these sounds, he rode for the second day, and only on the third day did he see the plowman. He drew attention to the fact that the plowman had an aspen staff and an ordinary horse, but on his horse he could not keep up with him. When he caught up with the peasant, he saw in front of him a healthy peasant with long curls, large clear eyes and a strong-willed face. He wore green pointed-toed boots and a black suede caftan. A heavy bag hung over his shoulder.

The prince said that he was going for tribute to the cities that Prince Vladimir had granted him. Mikula Selyaninovich turned out to be a peasant, he listened to Volga and said that he had recently been in these cities. He bought salt and wanted to leave, but the men attacked him to take the money. He had to fight and teach the villains a lesson. Mikula said that the men there were evil robbers and could drown the Volga in the Smorodina River.

After a little thought, Volga decided that such a hero would be useful to him and invited Mikula to go with him to these cities for tribute. Mikula Selyaninovich agreed and they hit the road. They drove off to long distance, and the plowman remembered that he had forgotten to pull his plow out of the ground and hide it behind a willow bush. The prince decided to save time and not return. Volga ordered five good fellows from his squad to return and throw a plow behind a willow bush. It turned out that they could not cope and pull the staff out of the ground. Then the prince sent ten more fellows to help, but they could not cope. Then all the wars returned, but they also could not even move the staff. Jumping on his horse, Mikula effortlessly pulled out a plow and threw it behind a bush. The prince was very impressed by the strength of this peasant, so Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich became friends.

They galloped on, and the prince noticed that when the peasant's mare runs slowly, his horse gallops at full speed, and when the mare runs a little faster, the horse cannot catch up with her at all. Having reached the city, Volga saw that the peasants, whom the peasant had beaten, recognized Mikula. The men approached the riders and began to apologize for what they had done in the past. Then Volga realized that Mikula was respected by the peasants and gave him three cities. He made him his governor and instructed to collect tribute from the peasants.

Mikula, at first glance, is a simple and uneducated worker, but he is a very wise, hard-working person with great spiritual strength who can protect himself and his homeland.

30px	Mikula Selyaninovich at Wikiquote
	Mikula Selyaninovich in Wikisource
30px	at Wikimedia Commons

A brief retelling of the epic Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich. The meaning of mikula selyaninovich in a brief biographical encyclopedia

Etymology

The image of the hero-plowman

Mikula and Nicholas the Wonderworker

daughters

see also

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Notes

Literature

Links

An excerpt characterizing Mikula Selyaninovich

Picture or drawing epic Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich

Other retellings for the reader's diary