As we have already found out in the previous article ("Heroes of epics and their possible prototypes"), the image of the epic prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko is synthetic. The most likely prototypes of this prince are Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh. And his patronymic, according to many storytellers and the unknown author of the South German poem "Ortnit", was Vseslavich.
Prince Vladimir. Still from the film "Ilya Muromets", 1956
The many-faced prince Vladimir
Prince Vladimir is almost always present in epics, but invariably as a secondary or even episodic character. And we see him exclusively at the feast, even if Kiev is besieged or captured by enemies. The character of Vladimir in Russian epics changes in accordance with the requirements of the plot. For some reason, the storytellers did not consider it necessary to invent an antipode to this, in general, a positive character - some conditional Svyatopolk or Izyaslav. That is, Russian epics have their own "King Arthur", but there is no "Mordred". If you need a fair and affectionate prince - please, Vladimir is feasting surrounded by boyars and heroes, not denying hospitality even to a stranger.
Feast at Prince Vladimir. Colored lithographic splint, 1902
We need an envious and greedy person - as such Vladimir appears in the epics about Duke Stepanovich and Stavr Godinovich (Gordyatinovich).
Bogatyr Duke Stepanovich - a rich guest of Prince Vladimir, illustration by I. Bilibin
It is required to illustrate the collaborationism of the ruler, who betrays the interests of the people, surrendering the state to the power of foreign invaders - read the epics about Tugarin Zmeevich and Idolishche Poganom: the conquerors feast merrily at the table of the prince who pleases and serves them in every possible way (who tolerates even the flirting of the “guest” with his wife Apraksoy).
Tugarin Zmeevich feasting in the princely palace in Kiev, illustration for the epic about Alyosha Popovich, 1975 artist V. Lukyanets
Voluptuousness and deceit is attributed to Prince Vladimir by an epic about Danil Lovchanin. We see treachery and ingratitude in the epics about his quarrel with Ilya Muromets.
As a result, the image of the epic prince turned out to be very ambiguous.
Historians' opinions
Historian-medievalist and researcher of Russian folklore A. V. Markov suggested that the epics were previously subdivided into "heroic" and "princely". For princely epics, in his opinion, idealization of the image of Vladimir was characteristic. And in the heroic epics, hostility and even antagonism between ordinary warriors and the aristocratic entourage of the prince could be manifested.
So, the epic prince Vladimir, who is traditionally revered as the embodiment of popular ideas about the ideal prince - the defender of his native land, has dark sides.
The famous Russian ethnographer V. F. Miller wrote:
“Vladimir is given the epithets bright, glorious, affectionate; he is distinguished by his beloved beauty, he is called the red sun, the Grand Duke, but, at the same time, the epic often depicts him as greedy, envious, idle, treacherous, ungrateful, insidious and cruel."
V. Miller explained this duality in the characteristics of prince by the eastern influence on the Russian epic:
“The features of petty tyranny, suspicion, anger, cruelty - and next to this the comic appearance of a coward, an inglorious and treacherous intriguer, at which the hero-hero sometimes mocks, threatening to kill him and sit in his place, - all these features must be inspired from the outside, should be brought from the East, from the realm of fairytale tsars - despots and cowards, and could not organically arise on Russian soil as epic echoes of the personalities of some historical Russian rulers."
V. F. Miller, 1848-1913
But his namesake, Orest Miller, professor of the history of Russian literature (Ostsee German and Slavophile) considered some of the negative features of the epic Vladimir as an echo of the “German squad in Vladimir as a Varangian prince”. From here, in his opinion, comes the greed of this prince. It is impossible to agree with this argument, since stinginess was considered by the Normans to be one of the most terrible shortcomings of any king. It was because of her that Yaritsleiv from Holmgard (Yaroslav the Wise) did not become the ideal hero of the sagas: all Scandinavian authors noted that the king was a good ruler, but stingy, and this sounded almost like a sentence. The Normans of the Viking Age believed that every free man should own only what he got himself. Everything that the father did not give to his sons as a reward for their deeds had to go with him to the grave. At the same time, it was not forbidden to excavate the mounds, and the weapon was even specially wrapped in an oiled cloth so that the hero, who was not afraid of the wrath of the grave resident, could extract it. Memories of such searches formed the basis of Russian fairy tales about swords-kladenets (that is, from a hoard).
A. Nikitin wrote:
“Even royal dignity did not save a Viking from the contempt of others if he was greedy and calculating. The worst sin of the sons of Eirik the Bloody Ax was that, according to rumors, they buried the jewels in the ground instead of giving them away."
Another philologist and literary historian, F. Buslaev (XIX century), drawing attention to the "dullness and colorlessness" of the epic Vladimir, considered the reason for this to be the memory of the Varangian origin of the Kiev princes, their foreignness for the bulk of the population of Russia, which was preserved among the people:
“The state principle, sealed by the newcomer Varangians, embraced Russian life only from the outside, by only external forms of conquest and taxes … the prince and the squad, recruited from strangers, adventurers, became apart from the base, indigenous population of Russia … the historical ideal of Prince Vladimir himself in the folk epic was little developed, did not develop with a variety of feats and outlines of character … Affectionate prince only feasts with his heroes and sends them to various exploits, but he does not take part in any danger and sits at home with his wife Aprakseevna."
The same author believed that the epic epic is a reflection of pre-Christian Russia, and Vladimir, in his opinion, only in later storytellers acquires some superficial features of a Christian sovereign.
Now let's consider the epics in which Vladimir turns out to be not so "bright" and not at all affectionate "Sun".
Prince Vladimir and Ilya Muromets
The most famous of them is “Ilya Muromets in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir”. This epic is often unlawfully combined or confused with another song called "Ilya and the Goliers of the Tavern", in which Vladimir did not invite the aged Muromets to his feast. There are two versions of this epic. In the first, Ilya himself went to the princely feast, but leaves, being dissatisfied with the place offered to him. In the second, the offended Ilya does not even enter the prince's tower. In both versions, he knocks down the golden domes of Kiev churches with arrows and uses the proceeds to arrange his own feast, to which he invites all the poor, and then leaves Kiev.
Ilya Muromets knocks down golden domes from Kiev churches, illustration for the epic
In the epic "Ilya Muromets in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir", the conflict between the hero and the prince is much deeper and has very serious consequences. In the text of this epic, the guests are divided into two categories: boyars and merchants, boasting at the table "silver, gold, pearls, treasury", and heroes, "Svyatorus warriors", who have nothing to boast of in this respect. This is followed by the traditional ritual of the princely award. Vladimir declares to the guests:
I will give you, grant you.
Whom will I give with pure silver
Whom will I give with red gold
Whom to favor with pitched pearls.
At the same time, he generously endows the boyars, the heroes literally get crumbs, and Vladimir completely forgets about Ilya. The situation is so scandalous that even the prince's wife, Apraksa (or Eupraxia), intervenes and reminds her husband of the hero. Vladimir replies:
Thou art thou, foolish princess!
I will give you a good fellow
With the gifts that came to me
From Tatar from Busurmanov:
I will present him with that sable fur coat.
It would seem that the situation was successfully resolved, but, as they say later in the epic, "Ilya's fur coat did not come in honor."
Firstly, this is a gift according to the residual principle, secondly, a Tatar fur coat, and thirdly, in the Pechora version of the epic, Vladimir gives Ilya a fur coat that was previously presented to him by the hero Danube, and remained ownerless after his death, that is, castoffs. On this basis, we can conclude that, in fact, Ilya Muromets is not at all loved by Vladimir and his closest entourage: in the prince's mansion this hero, despite all his merits, is still considered an "upstart" and "redneck".
An additional reason for Ilya's displeasure is that, again, he was not even invited to this feast, and when he came himself, they were seated at the end of the table - "with the boyar children." Some storytellers try to mitigate the situation and explain this by the fact that Ilya was absent from Kiev for too long: when the hero came to the prince, they simply did not recognize him. Ilya Muromets, beloved by the people and authoritative in military circles, cannot sit in such a place, and therefore he hides his name, calling himself "Nikita Zaleshanin who came from behind the forest", that is, an ordinary vigilante (in the epic about the heroic outpost, the "men Zalashany "). As a sign of protest, he, allegedly by accident, breaks the partitions on the bench and “presses the boyars and merchants sitting at the other end.
The quarrel between Ilya Muromets and Prince Vladimir, illustration by S. Gilev to the epic
Seeing this, Vladimir “got dark like the dark of the night”, “roared like a lion is a beast” and ordered to take the ignorant out - into the street. But Ilya easily scatters the warriors, and, only having demonstrated his strength, leaves the princely chambers. Here the events of the epic about the "goleys of taverns" are repeated: Ilya shoots at the golden domes of the prince's court and churches, and arranges a feast with the poor. At the same time, he threatens Vladimir:
Drink you, goli, do not hesitate, In the morning I will serve as a prince in Kiev, And with me you will be the leaders.
And he "drags the fur coat on the ground" donated by Vladimir, with the words that he will carry the prince in the same way, tramples it with his feet, pours wine over it.
Vladimir already understands who came to his tower. The higher is his fear: he orders Ilya to be imprisoned:
In a deep cellar and forty fathoms, Do not give him anything to drink or eat for exactly forty days, Yes, let him die, dog, and of hunger.
The drunk Ilya is tricked into the cellar, which is closed with a grate and covered with sand. The indignant heroes led by Dobrynya leave Kiev, which now remains defenseless against the Tatar invasion. The rest is known to everyone: Ilya did not die of hunger because Vladimir's wife (or daughter) ordered me to bring food to the cellar.
Ilya Muromets in captivity. Illustration by S. Gilev
The hero was reconciled with Vladimir only when Kiev was almost taken by the Tatars who besieged him.
Sukhman the hero
Another epic, in which Prince Vladimir turns out to be a negative hero, is the song about the hero Sukhman Odikhmantievich (note that this hero has the same patronymic as the Nightingale the Robber).
Sent by the prince for a living swan, Sukhman meets the Tatar army on the banks of the Nepra river and single-handedly defeats it.
Sukhman Odikhmant'evich, illustration for the fairy tale by L. N. Tolstoy
But Vladimir does not believe him and, enraged by the failure to comply with the order, imprisons him in the cellar. Having cooled down a bit, he still sends Dobrynya to check Sukhman's message. Convinced of the veracity of the story, he releases the hero, but he refuses to meet, rips off the bandages and dies of bleeding. According to legend, the river Sukhman was formed from his blood.
B. A. Rybakov believed that this hero was a representative of the tribe of "black hoods". Moreover, he considered the prototype of the hero of the prince of torcs Kuntuvdey, who was stipulated by the enemies before the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich in 1190. And the leader of the Tatar army, with whom Sukhman fought, Azbyak Tavrulievich, Rybakov compared with the Polovtsian khan Kobyak Karlyevich in 1183, killed.
However, in other versions, the hero's patronymic is called Damantovich, which, according to some researchers, may indicate his Lithuanian origin (the options are Dovmontovich and even Gediminovich).
Some researchers drew attention to the similarity of the epic with the messages of the Nikon Chronicle: in 1148 the governor Demyan Kudenevich defeated the allied troops of the son of Yuri Dolgoruky Gleb and the Polovtsy allied to him near Pereyaslavl. The next year, Gleb again laid siege to Pereyaslavl, and Demyan again emerged victorious, but received many wounds in battle, from which he died. The Pereyaslavl prince Mstislav Izyaslavovich tried to reward the dying voivode, but received the answer: "The dead have no need to desire perishable gifts and transient power."
The tragic fate of Danila Lovchanin
Vladimir looks even more unsightly in a rather rare epic about Danil Lovchanin (“Danilo Lovchanin with his wife”). Some researchers have suggested that in this case, the features of Ivan the Terrible were superimposed on the image of Vladimir.
Danilo Lovchanin and Vasilisa Nikulichna, illustration for the epic
Danila's wife, Vasilisa Nikulichna, a sycophant according to Mishatychka Putyatnitin (Putyatovich) recommended to Prince Vladimir as a bride. To get rid of Danila, he is sent to get the "fierce lion." But this is just an excuse, not trusting the "ferocity" of some kind of lion, Vladimir sends after Danila his warriors, headed by the same Mishatychka Putyatnitny. The indignant Ilya Muromets tries to reason with the prince ("you will bring out the clear falcon, but you will not catch the white swan"), for which he (again!) Is put into the cellar. Danila fights with the heroes sent to kill him, and almost wins, but seeing among them his brother Nikita and the named brother, Dobrynya, he
Takes his sharp spear, The blunt end sticks the earth into the cheese, And he fell to the eastern end.
According to another version, Danila ran out of arrows, and the weapon broke, and he was killed by a blow in the back, hidden in the bushes by Mishatychka.
Vasilisa, having learned about the prince's plan, having changed into a man's dress, goes for Danila to warn him, but is late. And Vladimir, languishing with impatience, leaves Kiev to intercept her and bring her back. Forced to go down the aisle, Vassilisa hides a knife under her wedding dress and kills herself on the way to the church. The ashamed Vladimir releases Ilya Muromets from the cellar and orders Mishatychka to be executed.
Many researchers paid attention to some similarity of the story of the epic with the events described in "The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu in 1237": Eupraxia, the wife of the Ryazan prince Fyodor Yuryevich, who died at Batu's headquarters after refusing to "show the khan her beauty", also committed suicide. throwing himself to the ground from the window of his mansion. The historical prototype may be Mishatychka Putyatin: this was the name of the thousand prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, whom the Kievites killed in 1113.
The literary merits of the epic about Danil Lovchanin were highly appreciated by many famous writers (including Leo Tolstoy, who, according to his wife, was going to write a drama based on this plot) and critics. NG Chernyshevsky considered this epic "the best example in folk poetry of the unity of form and content, their perfection."
"Women's" epic "Stavr Godinovich"
Another epic, in which the Kiev prince Vladimir does not look the best way, is the famous song "Stavr Godinovich" (or Gordyatinovich). Currently, over 80 records of this epic are known.
True, it should be said that in this epic not only Vladimir and his courtiers, but also Stavr himself do not evoke the slightest sympathy. This song can be called "an epic without heroes" (masculine). The only positive character (heroine) is Stavr's wife, who is forced to act not of her own free will, but because of the stupid boasting of the absurd husband.
Stavr Godinovich and Vasilisa Mikulishna, illustration from the book "Russian Fairy Tales"
The epic begins with a description of the feast at which the guests, and then Prince Vladimir himself, boast of their wealth - and, of course, no one dares to contradict the prince. But suddenly "finds a scythe on a stone": apparently, already pretty drunk Stavr begins to challenge the primacy of the prince, while clearly provoking him. V. F. Miller wrote:
"Stavr is represented (in the epic) with the manners of a merchant, like the Novgorod Sadok."
But this is not enough for Stavr - he also brings his wife, Vasilisa Mikulichna, here. The enraged prince puts him in a hole, mockingly offering to expect help from a "cunning and sensible wife." Subsequent events are well known to everyone, we will not waste time describing them. Let's talk better about the possible historical background of those events.
Novgorodians always insisted on the observance of the ancient liberties by the Kiev princes, in particular, they refused to go to court in Kiev. But Vladimir Monomakh felt himself a strong enough prince to try to break this system. It is believed that the main reason for the dissatisfaction of the wealthy Novgorod merchants was the provision of Vladimir Monomakh's "Charter", which limited the period for paying interest on the debt to two years, then this debt was to become interest-free. And in 1188, Vladimir and his son Mstislav were summoned to Kiev and brought to trial the Novgorod boyars accused of robbing two merchants (their names are called Danslav and Nozdrcha). Those of them who declared their innocence were “brought to an honest cross,” after which they were allowed to go home. But some refused to take the oath, appealing to ancient law. Such prince detained at home.
The Novgorod First Chronicle reports:
“Tomorrow, in summer, bring Volodymyr to Mstislav, all the boyars of Novgorod to Kyev, and lead me to an honest chrest, and let me go home. but keep others with you; and being angry with you, even then they robbed Danslav and Nozdrchya, and against soch on Stavr, and all of me was sunk."
That is, a certain Novgorod Sotsky Stavr angered the prince and was arrested by him.
B. A. Rybakov identified this Sotsk Stavr with a certain Stavko Gordyatinich, who once accompanied Monomakh to Smolensk (1069-1070) and his son Izyaslav to Berestye (in 1100).
Traces of this person are also found in the Novgorod birch bark letter No. 613 (supposed date - the end of the 11th-beginning of the 12th centuries), the record on which represents the beginning of a letter to Stavr. In addition, the autograph of a certain Stavr is known on the wall of the Kiev Sophia Cathedral, which also dates from the XI-XII centuries:
"Lord, help your servant Stavrovi, your unworthy servant."
And then - in a different handwriting:
"Stavr Gordyatinich wrote".
Stavr's autograph, St. Sophia Cathedral, Kiev
The Nikon Chronicle states that in Kiev, to the north of the Tithe Church, was the courtyard of Father Stavr Gordyaty.
Of course, it is impossible to say with absolute certainty that in all cases we are talking about the same person. However, the Novgorod origin of this epic is not questioned by anyone.
This concludes the review of the "dark" sides of the character of the epic Prince Vladimir, just in case, once again reminding him that, in general, this is still a rather positive character.
