Volume 25, 2026 year

This article examines the concept of the heroic mode in world litera ture. The classical understanding of heroism, developed in European scholarship on the basis of ancient and medieval literature, cannot always be applied to the analysis of Eastern literatures, especially non-Indo-European ones. The article undertakes a comparative analysis of the heroic mode based on the following literary works: Western European (“The Song of Roland”, “The Song of the Nibelungs”, “Beowulf”), Old Russian (chronicles, hagiographies, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”), Indian (“Mahabharata”), Persian (“Shahnameh”), Chinese (“Romance of the Three Kingdoms”), and Japanese (“The Tale of the Heike”). The focus is on the understanding of the heroic deed, its purposes, means of achievement, and the role of defeat in the hero’s fate. Significant differences are identified, ranging from the Western European emphasis on self-sacrifice for the sake of posthumous glory to the Indian orientation toward decisive victory and the restoration of world harmony; from the Chinese diversity of goals and the transfer of heroic action into the intellectual sphere, to the Japanese inter pretation of victory through the lens of transience and the law of retribution. Special attention is paid to the collective nature of heroism and the “feat of en durance” in Old Russian literature, as well as to psychological readiness for death and the ability to adapt to defeats as crucial traits of the hero in Eastern traditions. Understanding the heroic mode requires taking into account the cultural specificities of each civilization and rejecting simplified notions of heroism as a single ethical category in world literature.

Keywords: heroic mode, heroic deed, aim, Western European epic, Old Russian literature, Indian literature, Chinese literature, Persian literature, Japanese literature

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This article aims to clarify the definition of the concept of “formula.” The study analyzes various definitions presented in dictionaries of several languages and explores different approaches to defining a formula, including literary, linguo-stylistic, and folkloric interpretations. The most established definition is considered to be the one proposed by A. Lord in “The Singer of Tales.” Using examples from Spanish and English epic poetry, the article discusses the problem of the “group of words” featured in the definitions by M. Parry and A. Lord, and examines its stability. In refining the term, three factors ensuring the coherence of a formula are identified: phonetic, syntagmatic, and semantic. Every sound device performs two functions: primary and secondary. The primary function is constitutive: alliteration and assonance enhance the coherence of a formula by connecting its elements at the phonetic level. Phonetic coherence traces its origins back to the religious and magical roots of traditional oral storytelling. The secondary function is aesthetic. The formula became a means of composing verse, but for historical reasons, it did not become solely a means. The elements of a formula exhibit a high degree of syntactic coherence, which in extreme cases can lead to lexicalization. The semantic factor is interpreted through the lens of M. Black’s analytical philosophy. An external factor that limits and regulates the selection of specific “ideas” (in A. Lord’s terminology) and the words expressing them within a formula is tradition. The conclusion proposes a refined definition: a formula is a coherent and semantically integral pattern that is used and filled by the singer under specific metrical and thematic conditions determined by tradition.

Keywords: formula, poetics, terminology, function, “The Singer of Tales”, Albert Lord, Max Black, Millman Parry, Alexander Veselovsky, Boris Putilov

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The byliny depicting Ilya Muromets’ defeat of Solovei the Brigand (Solovei-razboinik) and Idolishche share structural similarities with other early oral sources. This makes it possible to reconstruct the outlines of an early song about the victory of the prophet Elijah over the pagan idol of Perun in Kiev. Widespread echoes of this song suggest that it likely served as a central national myth celebrating the conversion of Rus. Initially, the two bylina episodes — about Solovei and about Idolishche — formed a single narrative. The transformation of the prophet Elijah into a Russian warrior named Ilya Muromets is a late development; originally, the hero was thought to come from Constantinople, the cradle of the East Slavic Church. The “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” contains motifs that refer to the song about Elijah and the idol. Several other narratives likely derive from offshoots of this central myth: the legend of Dobrynia’s confrontation with the pagan priest Solovei (reported in the loachim Chronicle), the legend of Avraamii’s struggle with the Rostov idol of Veles, and a legend in the Trinity Compilation Chronicle about the liberation of Kiev from a gathering of pagan forces. A close connection is undeniable between the early song about Elijah, the bird, and the idol, and the dukhovnyi stikh (spiritual verse) about St. George, a giant bird, and the idolatrous Persian king, though the precise nature of this connection remains to be clarified.

Keywords: Ilya Muromets, Elijah the Prophet, Idolishche, Nightingale the Robber, The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, Avraamy of Rostov, Perun, Veles, Div, Troyan, Dobrynya, Baptism of Rus, bylinas, Simurgh

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The article analyzes the narrative structure of the Patericon of Volokolamsk in the context of the interaction between written and oral traditions. It focuses on identifying and describing typological parallels between patericon narratives and folklore tales, as well as “wandering plots” of world literature. The material consists of the stories of the Paterikon of Volokolamsk, examined in comparison with texts of Byzantine, Slavic-Balkan, and Western European literary traditions, as well as with Slavic folklore. In particular, the study considers the narrative of the heretical priest and the Eucharistic miracle, eschatological visions, prophetic dreams, the motif of crossing a river of fire, the personification of Monday, and the motif of a hero rescued by a faithful animal. Some narratives derive from written sources, while others reveal stable typological correspondences with folklore traditions. The incorporation of oral tales into the patericon narrative is shown to be accompanied by their adaptation within the framework of the hagiographic canon. As a result, the Paterikon of Volokolamsk emerges as a text in which the complex interaction of different cultural layers is realized, shaping a distinctive poetics of narrative.

Keywords: “wandering” tales, literature and folklore, the Paterikon of Volokolamsk, Old Russian literature, genre, motive, image, narrative, folklore, folklorism

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