Byliny

1. Byliny (also called stariny) are poetic songs about legendary Russian heroes. The term derives from Russian byl', a word which signifies a true story as opposed to a fanciful one. So bylina could be translated as a poem about bygone heroes. Byliny seem to have been composed during the time beginning some time before the rise of Kiev until after the Mongol conquest. Thus they contain Christian as well as pagan imagery. They refer to places, people, and events which are recounted in the chronicles, as well as to legendary and even semi-mythic figures. Many of the heroes of the byliny are national Russian folk heroes, something like the more modern American Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed.
   
   Byliny are unique to the East Slavs but have as their counterpart the epics of other peoples. Most byliny contain a historical setting, but mythological or fantastic events and non-historical or legendary characters. Some motifs are common to the fairy tale, as well. The byliny heroes, rather than being recognizable historical personages, seem to be mostly allegorical representations of different groups and classes of people in old Russia. This is what is meant by the word "epic," since each hero represents certain values in society as a whole rather than a single known individual. The true-to-life prototypes for some of the heroes may even predate Kievan Rus. The hero is called bogatyr, possibly related to the Persian word bagadur, meaning strongman or athlete. It is also interesting that there is a Mongol and Turkic term bagadur, which means hero (as in the name of the modern capital of Mongolia, Ulan Baator, or "Red Hero"). Women heroes were called polyanitsa, or "field women." These were possibly the same prototype that gave rise to stories about the Amazons.
   Byliny are oral, sung not written. Byliny are not part of Russian literature. Poetry sung in a monotonous tone with no musical accompaniment. There is no set word order. The songs differed at least slightly each time they were sung. The singers were called skaziteli.
   
   Byliny were only written down in the 19th century by professional folklorists, who discovered singers on the shore of the White Sea. The byliny had all been composed and originally sung centuries earlier in the far south, but events such as the Mongol invasions had apparently forced the singers to flee northward. Notably, the northern singers where all fishermen and hunters, not farmers.
   
   
2. Chief Heroes:
   A. The Kievan Cycle--set in Kiev with the heroes in the military service (druzhina, voevoda) of Vladimir I, the Grand Prince of Kiev.

   1. Dobrynya Nikitich: dragonslayer (cf. St. George), wins by bravery; kills the dragon Gorynich. Elements similar to the fairy tale. He seems to be a representative of the noble class of warriors.
   2. Ilya Muromets: strong and wise, wins by overpowering his enemies. In childhood a cripple or very late bloomer, miraculously healed by three traveling wise men whom Ilya gives water to. Called "The Old Cossack." From peasant stock, a newcomer to the Kievan court (recount the tale of Nightingale the Robber).
   3. Alyosha Popovich: crafty priest's son: wins by tricking and outsmarting his foes. Defeats the dragon Tugarin Zmeevich by trickery. In later versions the dragon was transformed into the figure of a Mongol Khan.

   B. Novgorodian byliny:

   1. Sadko: rich merchant, taken to the underwater kingdom.
   2. Vasily Buslaev: strongman-ruffian in Novgorod, gets into drunken quarrels with other citizens of Novgorod. His mother has to talk him out of destroying the town.

   C. Other figures with definite pagan and supernatural overtones:

   1. Mikula Selyaninovich: peasant hero, ploughman of the steppes (Cf. American Paul Bunyan), associated with St. Nicolas (Mikola or Mikula in Ukrainian), who is the patron Saint of agriculture (a thinly disguised Volos, or male earth god).
   2. Volkh Vseslavich: magician, throwback to pagan times, could change into a wolf or other animal (oboroten).
   3. Svyatogor: Giant, supernatural being, endowed with great strength (Cf. Samson or Atlas). Must live in high mountains or rocks, too heavy for the Russian soil. The most mythical of the personages.)

3. Literary interpretation of the byliny
   
   Differences between byliny and historical writing. The events depicted in the byliny are not recognizable historical events. The poems are datable to the Kievan period due to certain details, such as mention of Grand Prince Vladimir. But the songs evolved through time and incorporated historical detail from a variety of times and sources. They were not meant to record history, but rather to embody and glorify the fighting spirit of the Russian people. They were songs of the warrior class rather than of the ruling class. Sometimes warriors are even shown to argue with the prince.
   Differences between byliny and a true epic. Byliny are often referred to as Russian epic poetry, but they are a series of disjointed songs; never put together in the form of a single, long epic such as the Finnish Kalevala. Russian epic poetry was only recently recorded. Perhaps, had the Kievan state not fallen to the Mongols, these songs might have developed into a true epic.
   Differences between the byliny and myth. Myth tells of how the world got to be the way it is. There is some mythic detail in some of the poems (Svyatogor). But mainly they deal with adventures in the world as it already exists. The adventures do not really change the world; more often they depict the world as it is and should remain.
   Differences between the byliny and fairy tale. The fairy tale hero quests only once; the bogatyr quests again and again for life. The fairy tale hero changes; the bogatyr does not. Events in the byliny are random, not strictly ordered and numbered as in the fairy tale. This is because each byliny originated in a different place at a different time and does not reflect any single ritual or event. (Russian fairy tales derive from the ancient tribal rite of passage for adolescent boys.)