One of the most famous characters of Russian epics belonging to the Novgorod cycle is Sadko.
Prototype of an epic hero
Sadko’s personality cannot be called fictitious. There is a version that its prototype was the rich and very generous merchant Sotko Sytinich, who lived in Novgorod around 1167. He did a lot for his native Novgorod, in particular, with his money, according to legend, the Church of Boris and Gleb was built.
This version is refuted by a theory based on the fact that the epic about Sadko in a more or less similar version is described in French literature, moreover, the main character of the legendary epic was called Sadok. This gives historians and art critics the right to argue that, perhaps, the prototype of both stories was the same real person (or work). And given that the name Sadko and Zadok have Jewish roots, fans of this version are sure that we are talking about a Jewish merchant forgotten by history or a fairy tale that has not survived to our times.
And finally, the third version, put forward by Vsevolod Miller, finds an explanation for Sadko’s personality in the epics of the Finnish-Estonian tribes. The scientist bases his theory not on the personality of the main character, but on the very story associated with him and described in the legend.
Sadko's personality traits
Unlike the epic heroes, Sadko did not perform feats and did not defend the Russian land. He became famous as a merchant, so it can be argued that, in this way, the epics first glorified merchants as a social category that was gaining real political power at that time.
Sadko’s character deserves special attention. He is distinguished by his generosity, ability to part with acquired goods, ease, honesty and extraordinary musical abilities. The negative character traits of the hero include his unprecedented boasting and gambling nature, which almost cost him his life.
In addition, the epic notes Sadko’s luck, ability to be in the right place at the right time, as well as the eternal desire of the Russian people for “freebies,” since the hero did not earn his wealth through hard work, but won as a result of a banal dispute, turning from a simple guslar into a prominent and a wealthy person.
Epic about Sadko
Only one epic about Sadko has survived to this day, called “Sadko and the Sea King,” consisting of three parts. In the first part, Sadko is presented as a poor guslar who entertained a noble audience. He mastered the instrument so masterfully that he gained the favor of not only the Novgorod nobility, but also Vodyanoy himself, who lived in Lake Ilmen. Having managed to please his ears, the Tsar helped Sadko earn money from the dispute and become a rich, respected man.
In the second part of the epic, Sadko appears as a wealthy merchant, one of the richest on Novgorod land. But his trading activities were interrupted by a banal dispute, after which Sadko was forced to go by sea to trade in distant lands. The sea king demanded tribute from him, but he was not satisfied, neither bags of gold nor pearls - he needed a human sacrifice, which Sadko became. He took with him a harp, on which he began to play for the King of the Sea, but Saint Nicholas the saint, who appeared to him in the role of an elder, forbade him to do this, since the king’s dances caused the sea to ripple and the ships sank.
In the third part of the epic, the Sea King forced Sadko to marry. He chose, on the advice of the same Saint Nicholas, the maiden Chernava, who was the river on the banks of which he woke up after the wedding feast. The merchant's fleet immediately returned, increasing his wealth, and in honor of the saint, Sadko built a church in Novgorod.
There is a version in which, instead of getting married, Sadko manages to resolve the king’s dispute about what is more valuable - damask steel or gold. Sadko chose damask steel because it can be used to win in battle.
To summarize, it can be noted that the image of Sadko differs from other images of Russian epics. This means that the Russian people gradually learned to appreciate the contribution made to the development of the lands not only by the defenders of the fatherland, but also by those who did not have strength, courage, or heroic prowess. That is, Sadko can rightfully be called a “hero” of a new, calmer time, when the Russian lands, primarily the Novgorod principality, lived in relative peace.
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Sadko (epic)
There lived in rich Novgorod a good fellow named Sadko, and in the street he was nicknamed Sadko the Guslar. He lived as a bob, subsisting from bread to kvass - no yard, no cola, only a harp, ringing, spring-like, and the talent of a guslar-singer, which he inherited from his parents. And his fame flowed like a river throughout Veliky Novgorod. It was not for nothing that Sadka was called to play at feasts and entertain guests in the golden-domed mansions of the boyars, and in the white-stone mansions of the merchants. He will play, start a tune - all the noble boyars, all the first-class merchants listen to the guslar, they cannot hear enough. That's why he lived well because he went to feasts. But it turned out like this: for a day or two Sadok was not invited to the feast, and on the third day they were not invited, they were not called. It seemed bitter and offensive to him.
Sadko took his spring-necked caterpillars and went to Lake Ilmen. He sat down on the shore on a blue-flammable stone and struck the sonorous strings, starting to play an iridescent tune. I played on the shore from morning until evening. And at sunset, the red sun began to agitate Lake Ilmen. A wave rose like a high mountain, water mixed with sand, and Vodyanoy himself, the owner of Lake Ilmen, came ashore. The guslar was taken aback. And Vodyanoy said these words:
- Thank you, Sadko-guslar of Novgorod! Today I had a banquet, a feast of honors. You made my guests happy and amused. And I want to congratulate you for that!
Tomorrow they will invite you to play the harp with a top-ranking merchant and entertain the famous Novgorod merchants. The merchants will drink and eat, they will boast, they will brag. One will boast of an innumerable gold treasury, another - of expensive goods from overseas, a third will boast of a good horse and a silk port. The smart one will boast about his father and mother, and the stupid one will boast about his young wife. Then eminent merchants will ask you what you, Sadko, could boast about, boast about. And I will teach you how to keep the answer and become rich.
And Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, told the orphan guslar a wondrous secret.
The next day they invited Sadok to the white stone chambers of the eminent merchant to play the harp and entertain the guests.
The tables are full of drinks and food. The feast is half-feasted, and the guests, Novgorod merchants, are sitting half-drunk. They began to boast to each other: some about their golden treasury and wealth, some about expensive goods, some about a good horse and a silk port. A smart man boasts about his father and mother, and a stupid man boasts about his young wife.
Then they began to ask Sadka, to extract from the good fellow:
- And you, young guslar, what can you boast about?
To those words and speeches, Sadko answers:
- Oh, you rich merchants of Novgorod! Well, what should I brag about in front of you? You know yourself: I have neither gold nor silver, there are no shops with expensive goods in the living room. That's the only thing I can boast about. I am the only one who knows and knows the miracle, the marvelous, the marvelous. There is a golden feather fish in our glorious Lake Ilmen. And no one had ever seen that fish. I didn’t see it, I didn’t catch it. And whoever catches that golden feather fish and sips that fish soup will turn from old to young. That's all I can boast about, boast about!
The eminent merchants began to make noise and argue:
– You, Sadko, boast about nothing. For centuries, no one has heard that there is such a golden feather fish and that by consuming fish soup from that fish, an old man will become young and powerful!
The six richest Novgorod merchants argued the most:
“There is no such fish as you, Sadko, are talking about.” We will bet on a great bet. All our shops are in the living room, we are mortgaging all our property and wealth! Only you have nothing to put forward against our great pledge!
- I undertake to catch the golden feather fish! “And I’ll bet my wild head against your great pledge,” answered Sadko the Guslar.
With that, they settled the matter and ended the dispute with a handshake about the mortgage.
Soon a silk seine was tied. They threw that net into Lake Ilmen for the first time - and pulled out a golden feather fish. They swept out the net another time and caught another golden feather fish. They cast the net a third time and caught the third golden feather fish.
Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, kept his word, rewarded Sadok, and granted him a favor. The orphan guslar won a great bet, received untold wealth and became a famous Novgorod merchant. He carried on a large trade in Novgorod, and his clerks trade in other cities, in places near and far.
Sadok's wealth is increasing by leaps and bounds. And he soon became the richest merchant in the glorious Veliky Novgorod. He built white stone chambers. The rooms in those chambers are wonderful: decorated with expensive foreign wood, gold, silver and crystal. No one had ever seen such chambers, and no one had ever heard of such chambers.
And after that Sadko got married, brought the young mistress into the house and started an honorable feast in the new chambers. He gathered the noble boyars and all the eminent Novgorod merchants for a feast, and also invited the Novgorod men. There was a place for everyone in the mansion of the hospitable owner. The guests got drunk, ate too much, got drunk, and argued. Who talks loudly and boasts about what? And Sadko walks around the wards and says these words:
- My dear guests: you, well-born boyars, you, rich, eminent merchants, and you, Novgorod men! All of you at my place, at Sadok’s, got drunk and ate at the feast, and now you argue noisily and boast. Some speak the truth, while others boast emptyly. Apparently, I need to tell about myself. And what can I boast about? My wealth has no cost. I have so much gold treasury that I can buy up all Novgorod goods, all goods - good and bad. And there will be no goods in Great Glorious Novgorod.
That arrogant, boastful, offensive speech seemed offensive to the entire capital: the boyars, the merchants, and the peasants of Novgorod. The guests made noise and argued:
“It has never happened and never will happen that one person could buy up all Novgorod goods, buy and sell our Great, Glorious Novgorod. And we are betting with you on a great bet of forty thousand: you, Sadko, will not be able to overcome the master of Veliky Novgorod. No matter how rich and powerful one person may be, against the city, against the people, he is a dry straw!
But Sadko stands his ground, does not let up and bets on a great bet, putting up forty thousand... And with that the feasting and dining ended. The guests left and went their separate ways.
And Sadko got up early the next day, washed his face white, woke up his squad, his faithful assistants, poured the gold treasury full for them and sent them along the shopping streets, and Sadko himself went to the living room row, where shops sell expensive goods. So all day long, from morning to evening, Sadko, a rich merchant, and his faithful assistants bought all the goods in all the shops of the Great Glorious Novgorod, and by sunset they had bought everything as if they had swept it with a broom. There were no goods left in Novo-Gorod, not worth a penny. And the next day - lo and behold - the Novgorod shops are bursting with goods; they brought in more goods during the night than before.
With his squad and assistants, Sadko began to buy goods along all the shopping streets and in the living room. And by the evening, by the time the sun was setting, there were not even a penny worth of goods left in Novgorod. They bought everything and took it to the barns of Sadka the Rich. On the third day, Sadko sent assistants with the gold treasury, and he himself went to the living room and saw: there was more goods in all the shops than before. Moscow goods were delivered at night. Sadko hears a rumor that carts with goods are coming from Moscow, and from Tver, and from many other cities, and ships are running across the sea with goods from overseas.
Here Sadko became thoughtful and sad:
“I can’t overcome Mr. Veliky Novgorod, I can’t buy up goods from all Russian cities and from all over the white world.” Apparently, no matter how rich I am, the glorious Great Novgorod is richer than me. It’s better for me to lose my mortgage with forty thousand. I still can’t overcome the city and the people of Novgorod. I see now that there is no such power that one person can resist the people.
He gave Sadko his great pledge - forty thousand. And he built forty ships. He loaded all the goods he had bought onto the ships and sailed on the ships to trade in overseas countries. In overseas lands he sold Novgorod goods with a large profit.
And on the way back, a great misfortune happened on the blue sea. All forty ships, as if rooted to the spot, stood still. The wind bends the masts and tears the rigging, the sea waves beat, and all forty ships, as if standing at anchor, cannot move.
Ozera from morning to evening and with his play gained the favor of Tsar Vodyanoy, who taught Sadko to bet with rich Novgorod merchants that there was a fish “golden feathers” in Lake Ilmen; With the help of Tsar Vodyany, Sadko won a bet, began trading and became rich.
The obvious similarity of the episodes of the French novel and the epic, as well as the coincidence of the names Sadko and Sadok, gives reason to assume that both the novel and the epic independently go back to the same source - a story or legend in which this name was already found. The name Sadko, Zadok is of Jewish origin (Heb. Zadok, Zadok - fair), which indicates the possible influence of Jewish folk literature.
Vsevod Miller finds an explanation for the types of Sadko-guslar and the sea king in Finnish and Estonian legends: he equates the sea king of the epic with the sea king Ahto, who is also a hunter of music; he sees the prototype of Sadko-guslar in the musician and singer Veinemeinen (see The Sea King).
see also
Literature
- Sun. Miller, “Essays on Russian Folk Literature” (M., 1897), A. Veselovsky, “Bylina about S.” (“J. Min. Nar. Ave.”, 1886, No. 12);
- Art. I. Mandelstam (ib., 1898, No. 2; refuting Vs. Miller’s theory, the author proves that those passages of the Finnish epic that served as the basis for Vs. Miller to bring the Water King closer to Ahto and S. to Weinemeinen were not borrowed from folk tales , and are Lennrot insertions).
- The Jagfar Tarihi (Bulgar chronicle) tells about the Novgorod merchant Sadyk, who went over to the service of the Bulgars, who with his comrades after captivity lived in a separate Novgorod fort (“balik Nukrat near the Kolyn fortress”, can be identified with two neighboring settlements of the 12-14th century at the mouth Molomy, Kovrovsky and Shabalinsky, by the way, there is a river Chernavitsa nearby). It is interesting that Nikola Mozhaisky was revered in Vyatka and in neighboring Perm.
Links
See what “Sadko (epic)” is in other dictionaries:
The rich guest is the hero of the epics of the Novgorod cycle; Of the nine known variants recorded exclusively in the Olonets province, only two are complete. According to the most complete version (Sorokin), S. was at first a poor guslar who amused the Novgorodians... ... Biographical Dictionary
Opera Sadko ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Sadko (meanings). Ilya Repin “Sadko” ... Wikipedia
Genre Russian epic songs of legends. The term B. is literary; introduced by I. P. Sakharov in 1839; Some literary scholars (A.M. Astakhova) consider it folk. In Russian North B. and historical. the songs are called stbrins. B.... ... Music Encyclopedia
This term has other meanings, see Sadko (meanings). "Sadko" ... Wikipedia
EPICAL- Genre of Russian folklore, heroic song of epic nature. Epics arose in the 9th–13th centuries. and reflected historical events in poetic form, decorating them with fantastic fiction. Anonymous authors created and strengthened images in the popular consciousness... Linguistic and regional dictionary
The rich guest is the hero of the epics of the Novgorod cycle; Of the nine known variants recorded exclusively in Olonets province, only two are complete. According to the most complete version (Sorokin), S. was at first a poor guslar who amused the Novgorod merchants and... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Genre of Russian folk epic poetry. The first records were made in the 18th century, the last - in the second half. 20th century The term “epic” was introduced by the collector and researcher of folklore I. P. Sakharov, who took the word from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, where it... ... Literary encyclopedia
epic- a genre of Russian folklore, a heroic patriotic song, a legend about heroes and historical events of Ancient Rus'. Rubric: genres and genres of literature Genus: genres of folklore + lyric epic genres...The epic reflects the amazing concepts of our... ... Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism
epic- (old) genre of oral folk art: Russian folk epic song of heroic patriotic content. It tells about the exploits of heroes and reflects the life of Ancient Rus' from the 9th to the 13th centuries. B. combines a historical basis with a large share... ... Dictionary of literary terms
Books
- Sadko is a rich guest, I.K. Kondratiev. Russian folk epic as presented by I.K. Kondratiev. Colorfully illustrated edition. Reproduced in the original author's spelling of the 1884 edition (publishing house "M. Borisenko"…
An interesting semi-statistical picture emerged by itself from an everyday incident... The other day I had the opportunity to receive foreign guests in the ancient and great, one of whom asked who Sadko was, what he is famous for, and why we are revered by Novgorodians. From the point of view of appearance, Sadko presented himself to me very clearly: a tall, stately, kind fellow, slanting fathoms in the shoulders, with a constant beard, in a red and gold caftan with a harp in his hands... But the historical and literary aspects led me to some confusion. A vinyl record from childhood, stills from an old, old movie, a fountain and the Sadko restaurant...
Well, yes, the merchant, the epic hero, played the harp. There was some kind of story there... I really wanted to tell my guest about Sadko in a more colorful way, but my story consisted of meager platitudes. Sincerely horrified by the gap in my own education, I delved into the depths of Wikipedia and decided to conduct a small survey among my acquaintances and friends. It must be said that almost all of the respondents were people with higher education, who had lived on Novgorod soil all their lives or for many years, people of different ages and professions.
What do you know about Sadko?
Sadko? – the respondents smiled, rolled their eyes and... plunged into the abyss of historical-mythological-consumer diversity. We remembered everything we could: the Sadko hotel and restaurant, the store, the opera, the fountain, the choreographic ensemble, Novgorod vodka and the TV of the same name.
So who is he, Sadko Sytinych? According to random Novgorodians, Sadko lived under water, either at the bottom of a reservoir, or in the kingdom of the sea, but, according to some versions, in the ocean. Desperately fought either with Neptune or with the Vodyanoy. He was a merchant, musician, performer of epic songs, fisherman (caught a goldfish), built Novgorod, and also captured nearby lands. And he had some kind of princess, or maybe a bird with golden feathers, or maybe a fish with scales...
Isn't it a rather blurry collective image? And the further it went, the wider the list of versions and guesses became. All this might seem funny if it weren't so sad.
Why don't we know our heroes? Of course, first of all, this is a question for every Novgorodian personally. I’m glad that the incident with Sadko took place, now I can “patch up the holes” in local history. However, how to organize and preserve knowledge in the modern cycle of information? I would definitely give the teaching of my school history a “failure”; at the university very few hours were devoted to studying my native land. At music school, I remember, we sang something about the old days. I periodically visit the museum-reserve. And then, one fine day, Sadko took me by surprise.
The tourism development program, which is worked out annually “at the top,” apparently should be aimed not only at tourists, but also at Novgorodians. The more we ourselves know about Novgorod, the more freely we will be able to popularize it among guests, and, therefore, promote tourist services. How wonderful it is that today the city is introducing a “live”, interactive tour conducted by characters in costumes. Let the guslar-Sadko appear among the guides. Let these small trips through time become available to residents of our city, schoolchildren, students, and not only as commercial ones, but also socially and culturally oriented. Otherwise, the number of Novgorod eccentrics will increase.
What should we do with Sadko?
Director of MAU “Tourism Development Center “Red Izba” Oksana Chernega:
We live in an age oversaturated with information. And not only the guests of Veliky Novgorod, but also the Novgorodians have little idea of what is interesting about our land, what significant events for the history of Russia took place here, what people who actually lived in the city became epic heroes and entered the annals of history. For the Krasnaya Izba Tourism Development Center, every Novgorodian is a carrier of this information. It is very important to ensure that the history of Veliky Novgorod is included in the history curriculum of Russian schoolchildren, and for local schoolchildren to begin their studies at the Trinity archaeological site and in the exhibitions of the Novgorod State Reserve Museum. I consider Russian schoolchildren to be a strategically important segment of the cultural and educational tourism market. We need to reach this audience with historical computer games (we are starting to do this), interesting TV games and shows. Unfortunately, such projects have left our local television; they need to be resumed. We are negotiating with all-Russian channels.
Historian Boris Kovalev:
Of course, this is not very good, because you need to know such branded heroes of your history. Perhaps our knowledge about Sadko is largely drawn not from Novgorod epics, but from a very good old Soviet film. Consequently, here one can make a certain claim to the teaching of local history in schools. And some stories of our history are perceived largely only through mass culture: for example, the same film “Alexander Nevsky”. We cannot demand knowledge, but we must strive to ensure that they know; The authorities should also do this - in addition to general patriotism, there should also be local patriotism, the school should also do this, and the regional media should do this. An educated Novgorodian should know the main milestones in the history of the city, that 1151 is not just a date, but the destinies of many generations of people who decided the destinies of the entire country.
The Legend of Sadko
Sadko is the same Novgorod symbol as the veche, St. Sophia Cathedral, the “Millennium of Russia” monument... Sadko is the name of the legendary Novgorod guslar, who, thanks to his musical talent, became a rich merchant. There is so much that is not named in Novgorod by this name: a hotel, a fountain in the center of the Kremlin Park, a television, a famous ensemble, a folklore festival...
Novgorod epics (folk legends in poetic form) tell us about Sadko. As a rule, epics tell about the exploits of heroes, but only in Novgorod the main character of the epics is not a warrior-hero, but a merchant - enterprising, independent, energetic and successful. Sadko was at first a poor psaltery player whose only property was a spring harp. He went to honest feasts, played, and entertained the people. Once Sadko played the harp on the shore of Lake Ilmen from morning until evening. The king of the sea liked his performance so much that he went ashore and decided to reward the young guslar.
The Sea Tsar taught Sadko to bet with rich Novgorod merchants that there was a “golden feather” fish in Lake Ilmen. With the help of the king of the sea, Sadko won a mortgage, began to trade and turned into a “rich guest” - a merchant. Sadko, who had become rich, once boasted at a feast that he would buy up all the goods in Novgorod. For two days he bought goods in the shopping arcades, but on the third day, when Moscow goods were delivered, Sadko admitted that he could not buy goods from all over the white world: It’s not me, apparently, the rich merchant of Novgorod - glorious Novgorod is richer than me.
After this, Sadko equipped 30 ships, loaded them with goods and went to trade. But at sea the ships suddenly stopped, despite the strong wind. Sadko guessed that the sea king was demanding tribute, and began throwing barrels of gold, silver and pearls into the sea. But in vain - the king of the sea demanded a living head. The merchants began to cast lots, and it fell to Sadko. Fulfilling the desire of the sea king, Sadko sinks to the bottom, taking with him the harp. It turned out that the sea king wanted to listen to him play. To the sounds of Sadko’s gusli, the king of the sea began to dance, causing the sea to become agitated, the ships began to sink, and many people began to die.
Then Saint Nicholas the Saint appeared to Sadko under the guise of a gray-haired old man (he is reputed to be an ambulance on the waters and is even called “sea” and “wet”). Nikolai the saint tells Sadko to stop playing, breaking the strings of the gusli. The sea king tries to keep Sadko in his kingdom, but Sadko answers him: Don’t hold me with your wealth; I would give all these luxuries and bliss for the cry of a quail in the rye, For the creaking of a Novgorod cart!
The sea king invites Sadko to marry a sea maiden, offering him hundreds of brides to choose from. But the guslar chose the very last girl - the modest Chernava: Nikolai the saint said that she would save Sadko from underwater captivity. Sadko falls asleep after the wedding feast and wakes up in Novgorod, on the banks of the Chernava River (such a river, or rather the Black Stream, was in ancient Novgorod, near Peryn). At the same time, his ships with the treasury sail along the Volkhov. In gratitude for the salvation, Sadko erected churches to St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk and the Blessed Virgin Mary in Novgorod. (A. Tolstoy. “Sadko”)
This is interesting:
- It is believed that the prototype of Sadko was the real person Sotko Sytinets, who in 1167 erected the stone church of Boris and Gleb in Detinets (Novgorod Kremlin). There is an entry about this in the Novgorod chronicle: “In the summer of 6675 (1167)... In the same spring, the Sadko Sytinitsa Church was founded to stone the holy martyr Boris and Gleb under Prince Svyatoslav Rostislavitsa, under Archbishop Elijah.”
- In 1952, based on the Novgorod epic, the fairy tale film “Sadko” was shot. American producer Roger Corman saw this film, admired it and bought the copyright so that Americans would also become acquainted with the story of Sadko. Only in America the film was called “The Magic Voyage of Sinbad” - the name Sadko, so famous in Russia, did not mean anything to the Americans...
We thank the website “Novgorodik for Children” http://www.novkraj.natm.ru for the information provided and the legend about Sadko.
Yulia Soltaganova and Mila Vladimirova
It is believed that in the entire Russian epic there are only two authentic written epics that have preserved the ancient form of storytelling. One of them, and the most famous, is the epic about Sadko.
Until recently, it was considered an ancient Novgorod epic from around the 10th century. In this article you will find evidence that this ancient story about a strange man traveling between worlds came to us from such an antiquity that it may well have been true.
The epic about Sadko consists of three parts.
First- Sadko, the poor guslar, offended that he was no longer invited to play at rich feasts, goes to play on Lake Ilmen. The water king overhears this game and rewards him for it: he teaches him how to catch a fish with golden feathers in Lake Ilmen and how to make a bet with the Novgorod merchants that he will catch such a fish. He catches a fish, wins a bet - shops with goods - and becomes a rich merchant.
Second- Having become rich, Sadko makes a second bet with Novgorod merchants: he undertakes to buy up all Novgorod goods. In some cases he succeeds, but in most cases he fails. In both cases, he ends up with a huge amount of goods.
And the third one, standing apart. With the purchased goods, Sadko goes to sea to trade. The sea king stops his ships and demands him to come to him. Sadko ends up in the kingdom of the sea lord, where he amuses him with his playing of the harp. He chooses Chernavushka as his wife, thanks to which he returns home from the magical underwater world.
Please note that the action of the first two Novgorod parts differs in location from the main third. And, characteristically, it is the king of the sea that Sadko goes to visit, and not the king of the river or the king of the lake. There is no sea near Novgorod, which means that the real action is no longer taking place in Novgorod.
This is a very old story... and not entirely Novgorod
It can be assumed that in the epic about Sadko we have the remains of that mosaic structure, which is characteristic of very early epics.
In Russian epic, as we know, this mosaic has long been overcome: Russian epics, as a rule, are completely monolithic. But in this case, the structure of the epic is unusual for a Russian singer. A weak internal connection between parts leads to their disintegration. Perhaps in no other Russian epic do we have such a large number of variations and fluctuations. This clearly speaks of some other origin of the epic, going back thousands of years.
Let's remember history
We usually call the oldest period of Russian history the Kyiv period. We should not forget, however, that, as Academician Grekov says, “The Kiev state, or the Rurik power, was formed from the merger of two East Slavic states - Kyiv proper and Novgorod.” Of these, Novgorod should be recognized as the more ancient. Thus, the recognition of the Novgorod epic as one of the oldest in Russian epic in itself does not contradict historical data.
But the epic about Sadko is not only “Dokiev”, but also “Donovgorod”. The main components of this epic are much older than historical Novgorod. Let's remember the historical facts. In the 11th century, Novgorodians, attracted by rumors about the fabulous fur and fish riches of the “midnight countries,” as the north was called in the old days, began to populate the territory of the modern Arkhangelsk region.
Modern genetics divides the Slavs into three groups, genetically distinct from each other: southern, eastern and northern Slavs. These three groups are interconnected by language, customs, marriages, and culture. However, the Novgorodians belong to the Eastern Slavs, the people who lived in the north are, accordingly, the Northern Slavs. According to chronicle legends, it is known that the North has long been inhabited by the Chud, “Chudi of Navolotsk, white-eyed” tribes. Paganism and idolatry flourished among the “white-eyed miracle.” Christianity came here much later and was much weaker.
The signs of paganism are a worldview in which the Gods, as supreme beings, are at the same time the ancestors and relatives of people.
And you now understand that the Christian Novgorodians who came to the North in the 11th century encountered amazing myths, fairy tales telling that people are almost Gods, they are descendants of the Gods, they are relatives of the Gods. How the soul of the Novgorodians must have sounded like a harp when they heard the ancient songs, reminding them of the ancient times when the earth was inhabited by Human Gods and Noble People!
How they wanted to become a part of this fabulous life! We know that the Novgorodians came from the mouth of the Pinega River, but did not reach the upper reaches and in the area of the tributaries of the Vyya and Pinezhka, where the representatives of the ancient people who had been displaced by them gathered. It seems that the winners themselves were conquered by the ancient tales of a bygone people. A Novgorod “preface” was simply added to the northern story about Sadko.
Where is this epic actually written down?
To this day, about forty records of the epic about Sadko have been published, which fall into four groups: Olonets, White Sea, Pechora and Ural-Siberian.
Please note that these are northern territories, not Novgorod. These materials would be quite sufficient if the song were well preserved. But this is not the case. A large number of records are fragmentary and incomplete. This picture is quite unexpected, and we will have to try to find our own explanation for this. One can name only one singer who knew all the episodes of this epic in their complete form and gave a coherent and consistent presentation of the entire plot from beginning to end. This is the wonderful Onega singer Sorokin, who, in terms of the completeness and colorfulness of his songs, occupies one of the first places in the Onega tradition. His epics were recorded by A.F. Hilferding in 1871. Let me remind you that Onega is part of the Arkhangelsk region.
There is something in this story that never happened in other epics
The first is God’s benevolent attitude towards man
The tale of Sadko regarding his meeting with the sea king is so archaic that researchers talk about the ancient origin of this tale. Sadko meets - the only case in the entire Russian epic - the master of the water element, the sea king, the sea God. The sea king's attitude towards the hero is not at all hostile, but friendly - a very archaic trait.
The second is the presence of a ritual for interacting with God
The scene when the Sea God demands a sacrifice is deeply symbolic. The sea is dangerous because of those unknown forces that man does not know how to control and against which he was then completely powerless.
Two disasters beset the ancient northern navigator. One disaster is calm, in which ships can stand still on the open sea for days and weeks. Another disaster is a storm that threatens ships with destruction.
But the disaster that befalls Sadko’s ships is of a completely unusual nature: a terrible storm breaks out, but the ships do not move, but stand still, as if there was no wind.
The weather was strong on the blue sea,
The blackened ships on the White Sea stagnated;
And the wave hits, the sails are torn,
Breaks blackened boats,
And the ships are not moving from their place in the white sea.
This is a miracle, but a miracle that means that the intervention of those unknown and mysterious forces began to interfere in the fate of the sailors, which the sailors of those times were so afraid of. Sadko believes that his old patron, the sea king, to whom he has never paid tribute, is angry with him.
Sadko thinks what the sailors of his time thought: the sea needs to be pacified, a sacrifice must be made to it. Sacrifice to the sea, “feeding” the sea is an ancient maritime custom, it is known to all peoples whose life and well-being depended on the sea. There is no doubt that such sacrifices were actually made in pagan times: the materials cited by R. Lipets in her mentioned work on “Sadko” fully confirm this. An epic is a poetic recollection of a custom that once really existed.
There is no doubt that even human sacrifices were made. A straw effigy was subsequently thrown into the water as a substitute sacrifice, a memory of which was preserved until very recently.
Third - transition to another world
Think for yourself - the hero easily moves to another world, to the Underwater King. The epic about Sadko is the only one in the entire Russian epic where the hero, leaving home, finds himself in some other world, namely, in the underwater one. On the raft, Sadko falls asleep and wakes up in the underwater kingdom. We know that this method of getting into the “other world”, in this case the underwater one, has a prehistoric origin. We also know that in the most ancient epics the hero is also always the master of another world.
Fourth – the power of the Divine
The figure of the sea king is powerful and strong. He forces Sadko to play a dance song, and he dances to his playing. Sometimes sea maidens and mermaids lead their round dance to his playing. The dance of the sea king is of a special kind. This dance causes a storm. The sea king forces Sadko to play for three whole days. From his dance, waves rise, ships perish, people drown.
How Sadko began to play guselki yarovchaty,
How the king of the sea began to dance in the white sea,
How the king of the sea danced.
Sadko played for 24 hours, others played too,
Yes, Sadko and others also played,
And still the king of the sea dances in the white sea.
In the blue sea the water shook,
The water became confused with yellow sand,
Many ships began to be wrecked on the White Sea,
Many property owners began to die,
Many righteous people began to drown.
The idea that a storm comes from the dance of the owner of the water element, the sea king, dates back to pagan times. This is impossible in the Christian religion.
Fifth – marriage with a being of the non-human world
The sea king invites Sadko to choose any beauty - a princess - as his wife. But Sadko chooses Chernavushka. He is not seduced by the beauty of the sea princesses or mermaids, who sometimes lead their round dance to his playing. He chooses Chernavushka, and this moment is one of the most beautiful and poetic in the entire epic.
This advice also corresponds to the internal aspirations of Sadko himself. The entire underwater world with its unearthly beauty and beauties is the temptation of Chernobog, to which Sadko does not succumb. He does not forget about the human world for a minute.
Who is Chernavushka and how to understand her image? Her touching human beauty is clearly contrasted with the false beauty of mermaids.
But, despite her human appearance, she is not a person, she is also a mermaid. The epic about Sadko is one of the rare and exceptional epics in the Russian epic, in which the tradition of marriage with a creature from another, non-human world is still preserved.
What happens?
In the oldest, archaic part of the famous epic, the action takes place on the sea (which was not near Novgorod, but which has washed the northern part of Russia for many thousands of years).
The plot itself is a pagan story unthinkable for new Christians - the hero ends up in the Other World and marries the daughter of the Divine.
The action of the first parts is geographically distant from the main plot, which takes place at sea. The epic itself differs sharply in structure and content from the famous later Russian epics.
Consequently, this old tale has deep northern roots and is based on pagan ideas about the world and man's place in it. The epic is not the work of the eastern, but of the northern Slavs, who have their own ancient and not yet fully understood history.
This is such an old story that it may well be true, evidence of those ancient times when people and their capabilities were different.
Do you know that in northern mythology this story is told in different but recognizable ways? Among the ancient Germans, this is Siegfried, catching the treasure of the Nibelungs (Buslaev) in the form of a goldfish; among the Scandinavians it is the mythical singer and spellcaster Veinemeinen, who plays and sings to the sea god (Miller).