Volkh-Volk: Metamorphosis and shamanic motifs in Old Russian Literature In ancient Russia the art of metamorphosis was connected with witchcraft. The book Charovnik (Wizard) presented “all twelve convertible shapes, animal-like and bird-like” into which the wizard was able to transform himself. In the Igor’s Tale the motif of the metamorphosis of man into various animal forms is particularly important and consistent. It connects three major characters of the Tale: the mythical old Russian poet-bard Boyan, the prince of Polotsk Vseslav Bryachislavich, also reported to be a wizard by the Old Russian Chronicles, and the protagonist of the Tale himself, Igor Svyatoslavich. Even the enemies, the Polovicians, display a certain capability of transforming themselves into wolves and ravens. It has been argued that these metamorphoses should be treated as mere metaphors or comparisons. It is noteworthy, however, that in the Igor’s Tale the instrumental case is used regularly to signify the tranformation of the hero, while the structure “jako” plus the name of an animal is used in other contexts where a mere comparison is intended. These three characters of the Igor’s Tale can therefore be considered real werewolves, or better, “were-animals”. In East Slavic folk beliefs the equivalent of the Western werewolf is called “oboroten’”. This word underlines the capacity of transforming, literally “turning” oneself (oborotit’sia) into a different being without limiting the transformation only to a wolf. Similar pre-Christian or pagan elements can be found clearly and in abundance in the oral folk epic tales called byliny, and in particular the byliny about «Vol’ga» e «Volkhh Vseslavl’evich», which are unanimously considered to be the most archaic. Moreover, in the Primary Chronicle, at year 1044 Vseslav is said to be born with a caul on his head and soon after his birth the young Prince begins his magic apprenticeship transforming himself into various animals. All of this clearly recalls us what Eliade tells about the process of identifying the future shaman and his long spiritual apprenticeship. In all these byliny and in the Igor’s Tale the transformation of the Prince is not permanent and is not caused by external or enemy forces. It is voluntary and is definitely not considered a negative event caused by the Devil. The Prince-werewolf is in fact a hero and a chief who transforms himself in order to help his war comrades and beat his enemies. This mythical or shamanic transformation of the Wizard-Volkh into a Wolf-Volk is also reflected by the trope of paronomasia Volkh-Volk, through which the first word is transformed by replacing the velar fricative consonant /kh/ with the velar plosive /k/.

Volch-Volk: Metamorfosi e motivi sciamanici nella letteratura russa antica

IMPOSTI, GABRIELLA ELINA
2013

Abstract

Volkh-Volk: Metamorphosis and shamanic motifs in Old Russian Literature In ancient Russia the art of metamorphosis was connected with witchcraft. The book Charovnik (Wizard) presented “all twelve convertible shapes, animal-like and bird-like” into which the wizard was able to transform himself. In the Igor’s Tale the motif of the metamorphosis of man into various animal forms is particularly important and consistent. It connects three major characters of the Tale: the mythical old Russian poet-bard Boyan, the prince of Polotsk Vseslav Bryachislavich, also reported to be a wizard by the Old Russian Chronicles, and the protagonist of the Tale himself, Igor Svyatoslavich. Even the enemies, the Polovicians, display a certain capability of transforming themselves into wolves and ravens. It has been argued that these metamorphoses should be treated as mere metaphors or comparisons. It is noteworthy, however, that in the Igor’s Tale the instrumental case is used regularly to signify the tranformation of the hero, while the structure “jako” plus the name of an animal is used in other contexts where a mere comparison is intended. These three characters of the Igor’s Tale can therefore be considered real werewolves, or better, “were-animals”. In East Slavic folk beliefs the equivalent of the Western werewolf is called “oboroten’”. This word underlines the capacity of transforming, literally “turning” oneself (oborotit’sia) into a different being without limiting the transformation only to a wolf. Similar pre-Christian or pagan elements can be found clearly and in abundance in the oral folk epic tales called byliny, and in particular the byliny about «Vol’ga» e «Volkhh Vseslavl’evich», which are unanimously considered to be the most archaic. Moreover, in the Primary Chronicle, at year 1044 Vseslav is said to be born with a caul on his head and soon after his birth the young Prince begins his magic apprenticeship transforming himself into various animals. All of this clearly recalls us what Eliade tells about the process of identifying the future shaman and his long spiritual apprenticeship. In all these byliny and in the Igor’s Tale the transformation of the Prince is not permanent and is not caused by external or enemy forces. It is voluntary and is definitely not considered a negative event caused by the Devil. The Prince-werewolf is in fact a hero and a chief who transforms himself in order to help his war comrades and beat his enemies. This mythical or shamanic transformation of the Wizard-Volkh into a Wolf-Volk is also reflected by the trope of paronomasia Volkh-Volk, through which the first word is transformed by replacing the velar fricative consonant /kh/ with the velar plosive /k/.
2013
Sul cammino delle metamorfosi tra gli Urali e il Mediterraneo. Dal mito alle trasformazioni sociali
88
97
G.E. IMPOSTI
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/142055
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