byliny

epic folk songs in ancient Rus’ which reflect the historical reality of the period primarily from the 11th through the 16th century. In the process of many centuries of development the byliny underwent changes; they incorporated historical events of later times and sometimes drew on events of an earlier epoch. Rich stores of byliny were discovered in the Trans-Onega, Pinega, Mezen’, and Pechora regions and along the shores of the White Sea. Since the end of the 18th century byliny have attracted the attention of writers and scholars as highly artistic monuments of folk creativity.

At the center of the byliny are the figures of the bogatyri, who are endowed with lofty moral qualities and who are self-sacrificingly devoted to the homeland. In the figure of the favorite bogatyr’, Il’ia Muromets, the people created a poetic biography of a peasant’s son having calm self-confidence and strength that is alien to any affectation. He stands at the head of the bogatyri’s outpost, which bars the way to any foes (this theme took shape during the time of the Mongol invasion). Equally poetic are the figures of the other bogatyri protecting their native land—Dobrynia Nikitich and Alesha Popovich. The theme of defending the homeland is naturally merged in the byliny with the theme of the people’s life and work. Thus, the first great deed that Il’ia Muromets accomplishes after being restored to life is rooting out stumps and clearing fields for plowing. The age-old dream of working people concerning easy tillage and work that ensures prosperity is reflected in the bylina about the Volga and Mikula Selianinovich.

Simultaneously, byliny arose bearing the imprint of the people’s everyday social and family life (for the most part, those of Novgorod). The most important of these are Sadko and Vasilii Buslaev, which have preserved sketches of the medieval city’s daily life. A special group of byliny represents the life of the skomorokhi (itinerant performers—Vavila and the Skomorokhi, A Fable, The Birds, About the Big Ox). The artistry of the folk skaziteli (bylina narrators), who transmitted the byliny orally from generation to generation, increased the diversity and richness of the bylina characters.

The greatness of the characters, which is a reflection of the spiritual resources of the people and their moral ideals, and the patriotic content of the byliny were highly prized by Russian writers, composers, and artists of the 19th century and early 20th (by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, V. M. Vasnetsov, I. E. Repin, and others).

The poetic system of the byliny is rich and varied. In order to characterize a bylina figure, the people often employed hyperbole. A “triple quality” of narration is one of the principal devices for depicting heroic deeds and serves to underscore their importance. Characteristic for the poetics of the byliny are fixed epithets, comparisons, and parallelisms. The verse is marked by a precise and rich rhythm and by a uniform number of stresses per line. By the middle of the 20th century byliny had almost disappeared from the oral repertoire of the people, and they continue their literary life now only in books.

During the period of the 1760’s, 1770’s, and 1780’s the first collection of byliny of scholarly signifiance was compiled (Kirsha Danilov, Ancient Russian Poems, published in 1804). Collectors of byliny during the 19th and 20th centuries included P. V. Kireevskii, P. N. Rybnikov, A. F. Gil’ferding, A. V. Markov, A. D. Grigor’ev, and N. E. On-chukov. The study of the byliny was begun by V. G. Be-linsky (in his articles in 1841) and was continued by the democratic critics of the 1860’s. The links between the byliny and historical reality formed the basis for the works of the so-called historical school, headed by V. F. Miller. The foundations of the present-day understanding of the byliny were laid at the beginning of the 20th century by M. Gorky in his articles on literature and folklore. He regarded the byliny as the epic poetry of the working people, underscoring their collective principle, realistic basis, and high artistic merit.