FINNO-UGRIC CONTEXTS OF THE RUSSIAN BYLINA

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the ongoing discussion about the ethnic status of the Russian people and its state, which is expressed, in part, in the existence of two main concepts in Russian historiography - the Norman and anti-Norman ones. The epic, which reproduces the ethnic, historical and state views of an ethnos at the stage of its emergence and formation, was not sufficiently involved in addressing this issue or was considered unilaterally and with a Slavophil or Normanist bias. The article attempts to analyze epic plots, characters and ideas with the involvement of the Finno-Balt and Ugric contexts, for the Finns and the Balts, as evidenced by The Tale of Bygone Years, took part in the vocation for the reign of Rurik, Sineus and Truvor, with which it is customary to designate the beginning of Russian statehood. The geography of epic plots and characters points to the Novgorod principality, the lands of Chudi, Korela, Vesi, Mary, Sloven, Krivichi, - to the Russian North as the place of addition of heroic epic poetry. Heroic poetry is formed in the ethnogenetic core of the nationality, where there are ideological and social processes associated with the formation of its statehood. Consciousness of the Russian person is still looking for an answer to questions about who he is? From where? What is its purpose? Who are his ancestors? It is noteworthy that the relevance of these issues compared with the XII century, the time of creation of the “Tale of Bygone Years”, did not decrease, but increased. Hence the constant presence in the Russian literature of the historical genre, also trying to answer the indicated questions. In this study, the problem “...where did the Russian Land come from and is...” is examined with the help of epics, which have their own concept of the history of Russia.