The Carol about the Pagan Rite of Sacrifice of a Goat and Its Interpretation in Russian Scholarship of the 19th to 20th Centuries

Andrey Toporkov

doi:10.3390/rel12050366

Abstract

In publications of Russian folklore, along with authentic texts there are a number of literary stylizations based on folklore. The article traces the history of one such pseudo-folkloric text—a carol which was first published by Ivan Petrovich Sakharov (1807 to 1863) in 1837. It has been established that this carol is a montage of two texts: the first is a carol, printed in 1817 by I.E. Sreznevsky in the Ukrainian Bulletin, and the second is a song included in the Tale of Brother Ivanushka and his Sister Alyonushka (SUS 450). Such contamination is unique and is found only in this one text, which was later reprinted many times. Taking into account Sakharov’s reputation as a falsifier of folklore, there is no reason to doubt that it was he who composed this carol; such contamination of works belonging to different folkloric genres is also characteristic of other of Sakharov’s publications. The carol that Sakharov published attracted the particular interest of researchers of Slavic mythology due to the fact that it described how an old man was going to sacrifice a goat. Several generations of historians saw in this pseudo-folkloric text a description of a ritual that pagan Slavs performed in ancient times. Considering the carol as an historical document, researchers of mythology built their interpretations based on the supposed time of its appearance, the nature of its genre, plot, and individual details. Thus, Sakharov’s pseudo-folkloric creation found an eager audience among scholars, and it stimulated their imagination in picturing the life of pagan Rus’.

Highlights

What is the origin of Sakharov’s carol—what comes from folklore and what does not? Secondly, how was the carol perceived by readers and how did scholars of Slavic mythology regard it in the 19th and 20th centuries?
In order for the carol to be seen as an historical document, they have interpreted its generic nature, time of appearance, plot, and individual details in a particular way
The song was viewed not as a traditional carol, performed to congratulate homeowners on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, but as a miraculously preserved description of a real ritual practiced in ancient Russia, as if it were a fragment of a chronicle or a work by an Arab or Byzantine author of the tenth century

Summary

Introduction

Researchers of the pre-Christian culture of ancient Rus from the late 1830s to almost our time have regarded I. The evidence indicates that this work was Sakharov’s own creation, adapted from carols and other material from folklore. Ivan Petrovich Sakharov (1807 to 1863), a local historian, paleographer, archaeologist, and publisher of historical and folkloric materials, occupies a special place in the history of Russian culture. Folklorists, ethnographers, and literary historians have confirmed that Sakharov composed fairytales which he passed off as authentic, using the plots of genuine byliny and referring to non-existent manuscripts. He edited the texts of charms (zagovory) and riddles and made insertions in the texts of ancient Russian monuments. The pseudo-folkloric texts that Sakharov composed were subsequently reprinted in other publications; as is the case with “Za rekoiu, za bystroiu . What is the origin of Sakharov’s carol—what comes from folklore and what does not? Secondly, how was the carol perceived by readers and how did scholars of Slavic mythology regard it in the 19th and 20th centuries?

The Origins of Sakharov’s Carol

Subsequent Use of Sakharov’s Carol as Historical Evidence

Conclusions