1. BETRAY see Betray. 2. TREND; TRADIO, I; Wed 1. Oral story; a story passed down from generation to generation. P. says. Keep p. Biblical p. Family, folk p. Ancient p. Living p. (a legend that is alive in the mouths of the people is not ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

TRADING, traditions, cf. (book). 1. units only Action under Ch. betray betray. Bringing to trial. Commitment to the earth. 2. A story, a belief passed from one generation to another through oral transmission. An ancient legend. “The legends of deep antiquity.”... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Ukrainian opinion, German Sage, French and English tradition, Greek paradosis, in popular terminology “pre-syulshchina”, “byl”, “byvalshchina”) “ folk tale", more precisely those stories and memories that are not included in the circle of genres that are clearly distinguished: epics ... Literary encyclopedia

See fairy tale... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. legend, history, fairy tale; myth, belief, parable, Kabbalah, belief, legend, shazhere, story, legend, sunnah... Synonym dictionary

Genre of folklore; an oral story that contains information about historical persons, events, and places passed down from generation to generation. Often arising from an eyewitness account, the legend, when transmitted, is subjected to free poetic... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

BETRAY, betray, etc. see betray. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dahl. 1863 1866 … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

The sacred (sacra traditio) is the second of the two primary sources of the Christian faith. Holy tradition, like Holy Scripture, is the teaching of Himself. Christ and the apostles, taught by them to the church orally, and later written. Such written bodies of St. Petersburg now serve as... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Tradition- TRADING is a story that has developed among the people and is passed down through oral transmission from generation to generation. A legend about a historical person is called a historical or legend. Depending on their content, legends can be heroic (about... ... Dictionary of literary terms

TREND, in folk poetry, a type of legend containing information about historical persons, localities, and events of the past. Fiction in legends is different from fairy-tale fiction and legendary miracles … Modern encyclopedia

See Gospel of Matthew (I,2) see Masoretic Text see Holy Bible(II,C) see Bible (II,4; III,4) ... Brockhaus Biblical Encyclopedia

Books

• Tradition, Petr Shmakov. Poet and writer Petr Shmakov was born in 1950 in Kharkov. Graduated from Kharkov Medical Institute. Worked as a doctor. In 1995 he emigrated to the USA. Lives in the suburbs of Chicago. Written in 2003…
• Tradition, Shmakov Peter. Poet and writer Petr Shmakov was born in 1950 in Kharkov. Graduated from Kharkov Medical Institute. Worked as a doctor. In 1995 he emigrated to the USA. Lives in the suburbs of Chicago. Written in 2003…

In this lesson we will get acquainted with legends like historical genre Russian prose. Let's consider the classification of legends, find out what they talk about, whether they can be historical documents. Let's read several legends about Emelyan Pugachev and Ermak.

ON THE. Krinichnaya identifies 8 plots thematic groups(Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Classification by N.A. Krinichnoy ()

The popularity of legends can be explained by the fact that literacy and books were accessible to few people, but everyone wanted to know their place in life and understand events. Until the 19th century, legends replaced literature, interpreting events of the past and present. Legends tell us about events that cannot be read about in books, but are most often embellished. For example, people believed that in former times giants lived (Fig. 3), which is why large bones are found at battle sites.

Rice. 3. Giant skeleton ()

Folk heroes are endowed with magical qualities, for example, Ermak was considered invulnerable, Stepan Razin was a sorcerer. At the center of events in legends is a bright historical figure - a king, a prince, a general, an ataman, a robber. From them you can learn about the great historical events: about the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible (Fig. 4), about Ermak’s conquest of Siberia.

Rice. 4. Capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible ()

Aroused interest private life historical figures, for example, legends about how Peter I baptized the son of a simple peasant, about the 18th century commander Rumyantsev, who was fishing on his estate, about Suvorov’s conversation with the soldiers.

The heroes of legends were strong men and robbers (Fig. 5). Robbers attack people and rob them, hiding treasures by burying them in the ground. Legends are told about bandit villages, whose inhabitants lure travelers to spend the night with them, and at night kill and rob them.

Rice. 5. Robbers ()

Not in all legends, robbers are negative characters, they are often presented as people's intercessors who rob the rich and help the poor. Such heroes were Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev (Fig. 6). Many legends about them indicate that they were popular among the common people.

Read the legend “Pugachev and the Cannon” (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Legend “Pugachev and the cannon” ()

In legend big role played by the narrator, who sets out the event and conveys his attitude towards it, and the image of Pugachev is menacing and inspires mystical horror in the reader. Reprisal against a person who did not obey the impostor is natural for that time. The reprisal against the cannon seems meaningless (Fig. 8); here the narrative is colored by the narrator’s irony over Pugachev.

Read the legend “On the origin of Pugachev” (Fig. 9).

Rice. 9. Legend “On the origin of Pugachev” ()

This legend does not correspond to historical truth: the narrator believes that Pugachev was actually a king, and does not talk about death penalty. Pugachev allegedly comes to Moscow, and the empress cedes the throne to him. People wanted to believe in it.

Folk legends cannot be historical documents, because people tend to embellish the past.

Read the legend “About Ermak’s conquest of Siberia” for yourself. We talked about this historical event in the last lesson, when we analyzed historical songs. Let's draw up a plan for this legend (Fig. 10).

Rice. 10. Plan of the legend “About the conquest of Siberia by Ermak” ()

The main task of the legend is to tell about the history of the development of Siberian lands. But again the events are embellished, nothing is said about Ivan the Terrible’s hostile attitude towards Ermak. For Ivan the Terrible, the goal of the campaign was the development of Siberia, for Ermak it was to gain freedom. In the legend, the boyars and the poor peasant servant are contrasted, the boyars' advice is stupid, and the peasant's advice is practical for the tsar. This legend embodies the people’s dream that the king would appreciate folk wisdom and devotion.

Legends are a unique source of epic genres of Russian literature. Writers turn to folk art to create bright images, for example A.S. Pushkin in the work "The Captain's Daughter".

Bibliography

1. Merkin G.S. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook in 2 parts - 9th ed. - M.: 2013., Part 1 - 384 p., Part 2 - 384 p.
2. Kurdyumova T.F. and others. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook-reader in 2 parts, Part 1 - 12th ed., 2011, 272 pp.; Part 2 - 11th ed. 2010, 224 p.
3. Korovina V.Ya. and others. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook in 2 parts - 8th ed. - M.: Education, 2009. Part 1 - 399 pp.; Part 2 - 399 p.
4. Buneev R.N., Buneeva E.V. Literature. 8th grade. A house without walls. In 2 parts. - M.: 2011. Part 1 - 286 pp.; Part 2 - 222 p.

1. Toposural.ru ().
2. Sokrnarmira.ru ().
3. Nsportal.ru ().

Homework

1. What is legend?
2. How can we explain the popularity of legends in their time?
3. Why cannot legends be considered a reliable source of historical events?

The meaning of the word TREND in the Dictionary of Literary Terms

TRADITION

Genre of oral folk art: story, narration about real people and past events, information about which needed to be conveyed future generations. However, the plot of P. usually does not unfold into a complex chain of events, as in a fairy tale (see literary fairy tale), but is built on one episode, as a rule, always bright and extraordinary. P.'s source is the stories of eyewitnesses, however, being passed on from mouth to mouth, P. moves away from the actual basis and is subject to free poetic interpretation, thereby becoming closer to fairy tales and legends (see legend). By topic, they distinguish between historical (the origin of a particular people, the history of ancestors, etc.) and toponymic (the origin of natural objects: mountains, rocks, rivers, lakes, swamps, etc.; ancient monuments: burial grounds, monasteries, etc. items and their names) P.

Dictionary of literary terms. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what TRADING is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

• TRADITION in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
  TRIAL - a stage of the criminal process in which the sufficiency of factual data and legal grounds for consideration of the case in court is checked. ...
• TRADITION in the Literary Encyclopedia:
  [ukr. - confirmation, German. — Sage, fr. and English - tradition, Greek - par?dosis, in popular terminology - “pre-syulshchina”, “truth”, ...
• TRADITION in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  
• TRADITION in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
  in folk poetry, a narrative containing information about real people and events. Having emerged from the stories of eyewitnesses, P., during the transfer, moves away from ...
• TRADITION in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  
• TRADITION in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  V folk poetry a type of legend containing information about historical persons, localities, and events of the past. Fiction in legends is different from fairy-tale fiction...
• TRADITION V Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  , -I, Wed. Passing from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, a story about the past, a legend. People's settlement Family...
• TRADITION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  TREND, genre of folklore; an oral story that contains information about history. persons, events, places passed down from generation to generation. Often arising...
• TRADITION in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
  legend, legend, tradition, legend, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition, ...
• TRADITION in the Popular Explanatory Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  -I'm with. An oral history of the past, a story passed down from generation to generation. Family legend. Read ancient legends. The family has...
• TRADITION in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
  see history,...
• TRADITION in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
  Kabbalah, legend, myth, belief, superstition, parable, story, tale, fairy tale, sunnah, ...
• TRADITION in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
  1. Wed. The process of action by value. verb: to betray. 2. Wed. 1) A story about the past, passed on from generation to generation in ...
• TRADITION in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  tradition, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: Sacred Tradition...
• TRADITION full spelling dictionary Russian language:
  legend, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: Sacred Tradition...
• TRADITION in the Spelling Dictionary:
  tradition, -ya (from betray; story about the past); but: sacred tradition...
• TRADITION in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  passing from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, a story about the past, a legend of the People's village. Family ...
• TREND in Dahl's Dictionary:
  betray, etc. see betray...
• TRADITION in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
  folklore genre; an oral story that contains information about historical persons, events, and places passed down from generation to generation. Often arising from...
• TRADITION in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  legends, cf. (book). 1. units only Action according to verb. betray-betray. Bringing to trial. Commitment to the earth. 2. A story, a belief, passing from one ...
• TRADITION in Ephraim's Explanatory Dictionary:
  legend 1. cf. The process of action by value. verb: to betray. 2. Wed. 1) A story about the past, passed on from generation to generation...
• TRADITION in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
  
• TRADITION in the Large Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  I Wed. process of action according to ch. betray II Wed. 1. A story about the past, passed down from generation to generation orally...

Definition of genre. Folklorists have not yet given a sufficiently satisfactory and substantiated definition of legends. Often in scientific literature mix traditions and legends, although these are different genres. This is explained by their proximity, as well as the presence of transitional forms, some of which are closer to legends, while others are closer to legends.

Legends People call bylyami "bylytsiny". They are characterized by

historical theme. Tradition preserves the memory of events and figures national history. This type of works of oral folk art is of great educational importance, since the legends tell about the distant historical past, about a time from which, as a rule, no other evidence has been preserved. What is said in legends is usually perceived by both the storyteller and the listeners as something that really happened.

A number of features give the legends a realistic character: historical material, which sometimes has a local coloring, an exact indication of the time and place of events, household parts, often a reference to the traditional nature of the narrative (old people tell, talk), minor role in the plots fantastic elements. Legends not only tell about events and actions of historical figures, but also explain their reasons. This increases the educational value of the stories.

The legends are close to historical songs, but have a prosaic
poetic form, not poetic. Legends differ from fairy tales
because they tell about reality existing facts,
although sometimes interpreted with a certain amount of fiction, they are also distinguished by their free form; legends do not have stable beginnings and endings, or specific plot developments. Tradition differs from everyday oral history in that it talks about the distant past, and not about the near one, and also in that the narrator is never a participant or witness to the events.

Legends – epic i.e. narrative, plot genre. But the plot in them usually does not unfold into a complex chain of events, as in a fairy tale, but is built on one episode, bright and unusual. The unusual is the subject of narration in a fairy tale, but there it is the result of fiction, whereas in legend we're talking about about the unusual in life, which gives the story an amazing, amazing character.

Tradition, although it has a “free form”, in which there is no specific model for constructing a work, is not without an internal structure, principles of ideological and artistic organization of the work: the consolidation of all narrative material by one plot episode, one main character, the creation of whose image both the plot and expressive means are subordinated to. .

In pre-revolutionary Russian folklore, and sometimes even now, not all scientists recognized the legends folklore genre and often considered them as a type of oral everyday word. However, legends not only perform informative and ideological functions, but also have an aesthetic one, which is manifested in the unusualness of the plot situation, idealization positive hero, the use of special expressive and figurative means. Traditions exist in the mouths of many people, while an oral story-memory is conveyed by one person. Legends exist in many versions, which is an important feature of folklore. They relate to and interact with other folk prose genres, as well as with historical songs. Finally, they have their own history. For them, as for some other genres oral creativity, is characterized by cyclization, that is, the unification of groups of works around historical characters or similar plot situations. The cycle reveals the image of the hero more fully than a separate legend. The works included in it are similar in themes, in their assessment of events and characters.

Collecting and studying legends. Gathering of Russians folk legends was not carried out systematically. The most ancient legends are recorded in retellings in Russian chronicles. Records of legends were also made by some Western European travelers; Olearius, Fletcher, Collins.

In journals of the 18th century. from time to time, so-called historical “anecdotes” were published - stories about amazing incidents in life famous people, mainly kings and generals. These stories were often of a loyal nature. Such works also appeared in separate books. Big number they came out in early XIX V. The collection “Anecdotes and Deeds of Glorious Men” went through several editions (1808, 1809, etc.). Peter I was especially popular. A book of jokes about him was published many times. Anecdotes were published relating to Patriotic War 1812, for example, the book by F. M Sidelnikov “Anecdotes of the most noteworthy incidents that happened during the current war with the French” (1813). This kind of publication contained legends composed mainly among soldiers.

The first consolidated (and, in fact, the only so far) collection of legends was M. N. Makarov’s book “Russian Legends” in three parts, published in St. Petersburg in 1838-1840.

It contains a variety of material, but nevertheless there are also folk legends.

In the XIX - early XX centuries. legends were published mainly in magazines that paid attention to Russian history: “Historical Bulletin”, “Russian Archive”, “Conversation”, as well as in regional collections. Publications were published by E.V. Barsov, N.Ya. Aristov and others. The legends were also included in collections of fairy tales. Thus, D. N. Sadovnikov’s book is called “Tales and Legends of the Samara Region” (1884). The legends were published in the ethnographic magazines “Ethnographic Review”, “Living Antiquity”, “Siberian Living Antiquity”, etc.

Russian folklorists began collecting legends more systematically after October revolution. Information about their publication is given in the well-known bibliographic index by M. Ya. Melts “Russian folklore”.

Study of Russian historical legends in the 19th century. for the most part was a commentary on published “texts. Actually, the research received almost no development.

The most valuable are the article by N. I. Kostomarov “Traditions of the original Russian chronicle” (1905), the book by I. P. Khrushchev “On the Old Russian historical stories and legends of the 11th-12th centuries" (1878), article by N. Ya. Aristov "Legends about historical persons and events" (1880), article by A. Zachinyaev "On the epic legends of the Oryol, Kursk and Voronezh provinces."

In these works, an attempt is made to distinguish legends from other prosaic genres of folklore, to determine the main plots and composition of the most popular heroes, establish the role of legends as historical source.

The study of legends expanded significantly during Soviet times.

K. V. Chistov developed the issue of classification of non-fairy tale genres folk prose and about their plot composition. S. N. Azbelev tried to distinguish between these genres in their relation to reality, V. K. Sokolova studied the typology of legends.

Peculiar Ural legends were studied by V.P. Kruglyashova and A.I. Lazarev.

A fundamental work is the book by V.K. Sokolova “Russian Historical Legends” (1970). The study by V.K. Sokolova is the first work in which the plots, cognitive, ideological and artistic value of legends are examined in detail, and what has been done in their study is summarized. The book clarifies the relationship of legends to other genres and the coverage of reality in works of this type. The researcher turns to the historical and comparative comparison of Russian legends with the traditions of others Slavic peoples and establishes important features of their relationship. V.K. Sokolova gave a classification of types of legends, showed the use of traditional material of legends and its adaptation to new social conditions. Unfortunately, the book does not discuss legends about Russian commanders (Suvorov, Kutuzov, Platov, Skobelev).

Types of legends. Russian scientific knowledge is heterogeneous. But attempts to give them a reasonable classification were not always successful. The simplest classification was thematic, which, for example, is adhered to by S. N. Azbelea: “Tales and legends, as a rule, are distinguished by topic - historical, toponymic, religious, demonological, everyday and etc." V.E. Gusev divides historical legends into historical ones, or legends about events, and “heroic, or legends about persons.” V.K. Sokolova rightly criticizes this classification, since legends about events and persons are difficult to distinguish: both legends about events and legends about persons can be historical, legends about both events and persons can also be heroic.

V.K. Sokolova distinguishes two types of legends: historical and legendary. Explaining further what she refers to them historical legends religious content and social-utopian legends, that is, it mixes two genres - traditions and legends.

As for the legends themselves, we can accept the classification given by V.K. Sokolova, which divides them into two types: historical and toponymic legends. The first includes stories about historical events and personalities related to them, as well as about persons who participated in the events or met with historical figures. The second includes stories about the emergence of settlements (cities and villages) and their names, about places associated with the most important events.

Historicism of legends and their historical development. The historicism of legends lies primarily in the fact that they have historical background. In chronicles and folk tradition legends play the role of a reliable historical source; they are referred to as true evidence of the past of their native country.

The historicism of legends also lies in the fact that changes occur over time life content and forms of works. Their themes, plots, motives, characters, and the nature of the depiction of events and persons are constantly updated. The general evolution of folk art and changes in popular views introduce new elements into the structural and artistic features of legends.

Russian folk legends in their historical development identified several cycles that are associated with certain historical periods and tell about important events and the faces of that time.

The most ancient legends. The most ancient Russian folk legends have not reached us in exact records. Early Russian chronicles include many stories, the basis of which can be considered oral traditions. Chroniclers sometimes refer to the fact that they use the stories of old people, to what is said among the people. Moreover, they provide versions of oral stories and their own refutation of the information contained in them. For example, the chronicler cites a legend in which Kiy is spoken of as a prince, but here he mentions that “others who are not knowledgeable” call him a carrier: if Kiy had been a carrier, he would not have gone to Constantinople, where he was received by the king with great honors.

There are three types of texts in the chronicles, which there is reason to consider as coming from folk legends: these are either brief records of important and amazing incidents (dating back to the most ancient times), or retellings of oral traditions, or more common narratives, to a certain extent plot-organized and including itself a significant dialogical text. They, as a rule, are devoid of religious Christian overtones, and sometimes contain some pagan elements. This kind of chronicle records are distinguished by significant realism: simplicity of narration, presentation plot development actions, characteristics of characters in their actions. Already the most ancient forms of legends contain; in itself essential elements, forming this type of works.

Early legends captured a lot of important evidence about the past of the Russian people. These are primarily stories about the ancients Slavic tribes, about their ancestors. So, according to legend, Radim and Vyatko came from the “Lash countries”; the first with his family settled on the Sozh, and the second on the Oka. From them came the Radimichi and Vyatichi. Stories about the neighbors of the Slavs were also preserved in the chronicles: about the giants Aubry, who were punished by God for cruelty and violence against other peoples - they disappeared from the face of the earth, which is why the proverb “perished like Aubry” came into being. A story is also recorded about how the glades were freed from the Khazar yoke; The khan demanded tribute from the glades, they gave the Khazars “a sword from the smoke.” The Khazars were afraid of this tribute and left. On this occasion, N.I. Kostomarov notes: “There is, of course, not a drop of historical truth here. The clearing could not give away a sword from the smoke, while swords were rare and precious...” The scientist believes that “the basis of this story was a song,” this “is shown by the tone of the story and the poetic fluency of expression.”

Ancient legends tell about the first Russian princes; about Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople, about his death from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of his beloved horse (the plot was processed by A. S. Pushkin in “The Song of prophetic Oleg"), about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of Igor, about the matchmaking of Prince Vladimir to Rogneda.

Many stories are devoted to the struggle of Russian tribes with southern nomads. Particularly noteworthy are the stories about the young man from Kiev Kozhemyak, who defeated Pechenezhin in single combat, about whom it is said: “Great and terrible.” The legend about Kozhemyak can be compared with epic motifs: here the young hero, the youngest among the brothers, shows incredible strength; he is a man of ordinary height, and his enemy is a giant, reminiscent of a filthy Idol; before the battle, Pechenezhin mocks Kozhemyaka, like an enemy in an epic over a hero; Kozhemyaka hits Pechenezhin on the ground, like an enemy hero at the end of a duel.

The stories about battles include the legend about the fight against the Mongol-Tatars, especially about the Battle of Kulikovo. True, almost no legends about her have survived, but research has shown that famous work ancient writing"The Tale of Mamaev's massacre"is based on oral tradition. A special type of work should be highlighted - heroic tales, which are an intermediate phenomenon between historical song and legend. S. N. Azbelev believes that a heroic legend tells directly about specific historical facts, bringing this closer to historical legend and historical song. The tale is characterized by a specific historicism, in contrast to the conventional historicism of the epic.

Legends of the 16th-18th centuries. In the legends of the 16th-18th centuries. Three cycles of works stand out: about Ivan the Terrible, about Ermak and about Stepan Razin. Each of them is original in its own way.

Among the legends about Grozny, especially popular are the stories about the Kazan campaign and about the mounds poured by order of the tsar in order to count the army (each warrior brought a cap of earth).^ the justice of the Terrible, his communication with the peasants, to whom he comes to the huts and from whom he baptizes children. The Tsar brutally deals with the boyars and governors who rob the people. He executes the governor for taking a bribe - a goose stuffed with gold. \ The sympathy of the people for Ivan the Terrible became the basis of the plot about his election to the kingdom (the Tsar is made of men) .

Foreign travelers visiting Rus' recorded several characteristic stories about Grozny, reminiscent of jokes. Gil Fletcher, English ambassador to the court of Tsar Fyodor. Ioannovich, was in Moscow in late XVI V. In 1591, he published 120 I in London the book “On the Russian State,” in which he reported a story about the cunning of Ivan the Terrible: the tsar ordered each of the governors to collect a cap of fleas, otherwise they would pay a fine for disobeying the tsar’s order. But since the governors could not carry out the order, the king imposed a large fine on them. The legends tell how Grozny, unrecognized, accosted a gang of thieves and began to persuade them to rob the royal treasury. But the thieves did not agree: they do not rob the treasury. The king rewarded the thieves. In another legend, a poor peasant, having nothing else, presented the king with a pair of bast shoes and a turnip as a gift; Ivan the Terrible ordered the boyars to buy turnips from this peasant. And then one of the boyars decided to receive a greater privilege from the tsar and presented him with an expensive gift, but the tsar gave him a turnip.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. Two important social cycles of legends are emerging - about Ermak and about Stepan Razin. This was the result of the influence of large peasant movements on folk art. The legends of these cycles represent a new phenomenon in works of this type, namely: the masses were no longer satisfied with the dream of a just king, but began to dream of a hero who would lead the “free people”, of a people’s leader. In many regions of Russia, legends about Ermak developed, attaching his origin or his actions to a certain region; Don, Ural, Volga. And Ermak spoke Don Cossack, then a barge hauler from the Volga, then a robber from the Kama. The main plot is a trip to Siberia. He is motivated, as in historical songs, by the fact that Ermak offers his comrades to earn the king’s forgiveness. Legends are dedicated to both Ermak’s victories in Siberia and his death.

Stories about Stepan Razin began to take shape during his lifetime. They reflected the growth of peasant unrest. Large detachments of “free people” gathered on the Don and especially on the Volga. They were led by Stepan Razin. In legends, this is the image of a people's leader. The motives of the legends are very close to the motives historical songs about him. The main plots, as in the songs, are the capture of Astrakhan, reprisals against the governor, and the campaign in Persia. The image of Razin is revealed in his relationship with the “freedom”. People come to Razin from all over the Russian land: runaway peasants, the poor; he takes care of them and gives them what he takes from merchants and landowners.

The main aspect of the image of Razin, as well as the nature of the entire cycle of legends about him, can be called romantic, which is most clearly expressed in the plot of “Razin and the Persian Woman”. However, the general plan of the image is quite realistic. With all this, the Razin cycle of legends is distinguished by a significant development of fantastic motifs. There are many deviations from the historical truth in the legends. So, for example, the story about how Razin in 1670 in Astrakhan throws the bishop who was anathematizing him from the bell tower, but Razin was not in Astrakhan in 1670. IN in this case no fantastic motive arises, but only historical truth is violated. However, in the legends about Razin, motifs of magic are not uncommon; the narrative sometimes takes on a fairy tale character. The people endowed Razin with wonderful qualities; a bullet does not take him, his shackles do not hold him, he escaped from prison on a boat, which he drew on the wall and on which he splashed water from a mug: the waves splashed and the boat floated. Fairy-tale motifs were complemented by legendary ones: the execution of Razin caused not only grief among the people, but also utopian dreams, which found expression in stories that he was alive and would come to protect the people. This kind of motive is much more common in legends than in historical songs, which are more faithful to historical truth. The legends of the Razin cycle differ from previous cycles social issues of great importance, a direct glorification of popular protest and struggle against class oppression.

Legends of the 18th-19th centuries . In the legends of the 18th-19th centuries. finds further development theme of popular uprisings. It serves as the basis for a rich cycle of stories about Emelyan Pugachev. This cycle has a pronounced anti-feudal character. It reflected the scope of the social struggle of the Russian peasantry in the 70s years XVIII V. In the center is the image of Pugachev, the leader of the rebellious masses and, which is typical for folk psychology of that time, the “peasant king”.

The main plots of the cycle are the plots of the struggle against the governors and landowners, reprisals against them. Pugachev is presented as a “fair king”. He protects the people from tyranny and oppression, and the people follow him, supply weapons and clothing, and feed Pugachev’s troops. A number of legends paint pictures of battles with tsarist troops, the capture of fortresses, cities and factories in the Urals. The defeat of Pugachev's troops and his execution are covered in legends in a special way: the people could not come to terms with such an outcome of the peasant war. This gave the basis for the legend that Pugachev was alive, would come to the aid of the people, and instead of him he voluntarily went to the execution of a soldier. Here we see a repetition of the motif of some legends of the Razin cycle.

Pugachev is close to the people, relies on the people, protects them, promises them “freedom,” and fights against generals and landowners. Important Feature legends about Pugachev is that he acts with by the masses, and not with “free people” who escaped from the landowners, like Razin. This affected new stage liberation struggle. A. N. Lozanova noted the realistic plan of legends and songs about Pugachev.

In the legends of the 18th-19th centuries. The theme “tsar and people” continues to develop. It is most realized in the legends about Peter I. Russia's numerous wars with the Swedes, Germans and Turks gave this theme a new aspect - it turns into the theme of "commander and soldiers", especially in the legends about Suvorov and Kutuzov.

One of the first images of commanders in legends was the image of Peter I. At the same time, he was also the image of a “just king”. With all the hardships for the people military service and labor, for example, on the construction of the Ladoga Canal, Peter I is portrayed as positive. Only in backward layers of the population, especially schismatic ones, is he presented as the Antichrist.

Great place In legends, circumstances related to the capture of Azov, Oreshok (Shlisselburg), and Riga are occupied, but there are no images of the battles themselves. This may be explained by the fact that little legends were written down; their collection began late, when much had already been forgotten. At the center of legends related to military events is Peter, who is presented as a commander, but only in general aspect. Most of all, the image of Peter is developed in everyday terms. Legends about him often have the nature of so-called historical anecdotes. For example, in Solovki, Peter proves to the monks the great benefits of cannons compared to bells. There are many stories about Peter's meetings with different people. He is depicted as a businesslike owner, strict towards soldiers and generals, despising the clergy. In one story, Peter tells the monks: such slackers should be in the army, not saving souls.

There are many legends about Peter’s meetings with craftsmen, with “working” people. He keeps up with them in their work and shares all the difficulties with them. He is simple and can measure his strength with a soldier, give him his doublet, reward him for a cunning invention (the soldier drinks his sword and, having made a wooden one, assures that it was God who turned it into such a thing so that he would not carry out the king’s order to stab another soldier). This type of legend arose among soldiers and was a natural consequence of both long military service and the truly peculiar attitude of Peter I towards soldiers.

Similar topic is especially widely developed in the legends about Suvorov, the beloved commander of the mass of soldiers at the end of the 18th century. Legends about him are very popular. They are patriotic in nature. The soldiers are proud of their military leader, the victories they won under his command, and his heroic behavior in battle. In legends, Suvorov is described as a simple, witty, cheerful person with whom you can speak directly/without embarrassment. The soldiers' love for Suvorov was the basis for the deep sorrow expressed in the legends about his death. Many motifs of legends about him were then transferred to the image of Kutuzov.

The legends about Ataman Platov were especially popular. He is presented as a simple Cossack, brave, courageous, setting an example in battle. The peculiarity of the image is that Platov is not afraid to say a word against the opinion of the king.

The images of Suvorov, Kutuzov and Platov are the most vivid and meaningful images of commanders who can rightfully be called folk heroes.

Toponymic legends. Toponymic legends are an ancient, popular type of legends among the people. They are stories about geographical objects(areas, rivers, lakes, mountains, etc.) and settlements, attached to certain areas. The main feature of toponymic legends is that they explain the nature, origin or names of geographical objects and settlements. They are connected with historical legends in that they are often attached to certain events or persons, and thereby to historical periods.

Already in ancient Russian legends there are stories about the settlement of Slavic tribes, about their names, about the founding of cities. Thus, Kyiv, according to legend, was founded by three brothers: Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid. It should be noted that near Kiev there are hills Khorivitsa, Shchekovitsa and a tributary of the Dnieper Lybid. A legend has been recorded about the origin of the name of the city of Orsha. The young Prince Orsha and his daughter Orshitsa, in a difficult hour for Kiev, came to the aid of Prince Vladimir and helped him repel the raids of the Pechenegs.

Toponymic legends also include stories about the origin of mounds. Kurgan mounds are associated with many people: with Ivan the Terrible, with Razin (mounds on the banks of the Volga).

Important group legends include explanations of the names of localities, cities, etc. The names were given not only according to the characteristics of the area, but also according to the events and persons who were associated with it. For example, near the city of Alatyr there is the Tsar-Horse area. Its name was explained by the fact that Ivan the Terrible’s horse died there. In several places in the Volga region, the heights are called “Besednye Mountains” or “Dumnye Mountains”. Their names allegedly arose due to the fact that in those places Razin or Pugachev held thoughts - meetings with their assistants.

Let us present toponymic legends recorded in the Saratov region of Acad. A, A. Shakhmatov.

“I heard from old people about one place that Stenka Razin lived there. This place can now be recognized very well: a huge mountain, similar to a courtyard, its name now is Stone Courtyard, in the middle of it is a hillock, on the hillock there is an oak forest, and in the very middle, at the top near the hillock, three birch trees, under the birches there is a spring. The old people say that robbers lived in that very place, and the outer side of that mountain on one side looks like a gate. And around it there is a yard. At the very top of the mountain there is a forest like a roof, at the bottom it’s like stone wall. This wall is called front side Stone yard. To the side of this yard are located high mountains... The name of these mountains is the Karaulnye Mountains. Old people say that when Stenka Razin lived, robbers on these mountains watched for travelers on the road, and it was as if a chain was stretched through the ground from there. As soon as they saw people passing by, they would pull this chain, and a bell was tied to the ring of this chain. As soon as their comrades hear this bell, they will go out onto the road. And even further to high road there is a ravine called Bath Ravine, as if they went there to take a steam bath.”

Toponymic legends, according to their nature, can be divided into two groups: legends that realistically convey information about historical facts, and legends in which significant place I occupies fiction; Moreover, in ancient stories of this type it usually takes a fantastic form.

Fantasy in toponymic legends can be the result of personifications, remnants of mythological ideas and introduction fairy tales. Rivers, lakes, mountains can be personified. There is a story about a dispute between the Kama and the Volga; The Kama made a mistake; it broke through in the wrong direction), and it failed to become an independent river; it remained a tributary of the Volga. An example of a legend in which traces of mythological ideas have been preserved is a story (recorded by the traveler Olearius) that explains the name of the Snake Mountain on the Volga bank: on the mountain lived a huge snake, it caused great harm to people, but a brave young man cut the snake into three pieces, which turned into large stones. And they still lie on the top of the mountain.