The problem of demonizing the image of a pagan hero in the church and secret literature of the 12th–14th centuries

V.A. Ilichev 

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia 

E-mail: vlad.panoptikum92@yandex.ru 

Received December 26, 2018 

Full text PDF

DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2019.2-3.60-72 

For citation: Ilichev V.A. The problem of demonizing the image of a pagan hero in the church and secret literature of the 12th–14th centuries. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2019, vol. 161, no. 2–3, pp. 60–72. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2019.2-3.60-72. (In Russian)

Abstract 

The adoption of Christianity as the dominant form of the religious world perception was the basis for fundamental changes in the field of socioeconomic, political, and spiritual life of the peoples of Central and Western Europe. This study is a reflection of the results of the scientific research on the problem of how the indicated transformations are conveyed in the culture and art of the period from the 12th to 14th centuries. The main tendencies of European perception of the hero image during the pagan era were singled out on the basis of the materials obtained during the analysis of texts from such sources as English church chronicles, Irish folklore, Scandinavian sagas, and other works of scaldic poetry. A wide range of general scientific and specialized methods and techniques necessary for the analysis of archaeographic data were used. 

The scientific relevance and novelty of the study lies in the fact that it represents an attempt to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the selected sources on the history of the German-Scandinavian peoples in the early and high Middle Ages. At the moment, an increased attention to the culture and life of the peoples of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages has taken place, both among humanitarian professionals and among non-specialists. In this regard, this work has a certain theoretical and practical significance for representatives of various humanitarian scientific disciplines – history, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, etc., as well as representatives of those research practices whose activities are directly or indirectly related to the study sociocultural background of the European Middle Ages. 

Keywords: Middle Ages, Europe, polytheism, Christianization, Celts, Normans, Fenians, Berserkers, Epos, Saga 

References 

1. Kareev N.I. Myth and heroic epos. Filologicheskie Zapiski, 1872, no. 6, pp. 2–25. (In Russian) 

2. Kokuev A.N. An image of ideal hero in the heroic epos of Mesopotamia and German culture. Comparative analysis. Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Istoriya, 2009, no. 2, pp. 147–150. (In Russian) 

3. Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya O.A. Kul'tura zapadnoevropeiskogo Srednevekov'ya [The Culture of Western European Middle Ages]. Moscow, Nauka, 1987. 345 p. (In Russian) 

4. Le Goff J. Geroi i chudesa srednikh vekov [Heroes and Miracles of Middle Ages]. Moscow, Tekst, 2012. 224 p. (In Russian) 

5. Losev A.F. Antichnaya mifologiya v ee istoricheskom razvitii [Ancient Mythology in Its Historical Development]. Moscow, Min. Prosveshch. RSFSR, 1957. 620 p. (In Russian) 

6. Pashinina D. Werewolf and resolving into it. Logos, 1999, no. 9, pp. 83–93. (In Russian) 

7. Leonova V.V. Vseslav of Polotsk in “The Lay of Igor's Campaign”: Authoral intention and mythological context. Vestnik RUDN. Seriya Literaturovedenie. Zhurnalistika, 2015, no. 4, pp. 7–16. (In Russian) 

8.  Darkevich V.P. Narodnaya kul'tura Srednevekov'ya: svetskaya prazdnichnaya zhizn' v iskusstve IX–XVI vv. [Folk Culture of the Middle Ages: Life during Secular Holidays in the Art of the 9th–16th Centuries]. Moscow, Nauka, 1988. 344 p. (In Russian) 

9. Sconduto L.A. Metamorphoses of the Werewolf: A Literary Study from Antiquity through the Renaissance. Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Co., 2008. 220 p. 

10. Karkov C.E. Tales of the ancients: Colonial werewolves and the mapping of post-colonial Ireland. In: Ingham P.C., Warren M.R. (Eds.) Postcolonial Moves: Medieval through Modern. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, pp. 93–109. 

11. Izmenennye sostoyaniya soznaniya i kul'tura [Altered States of Consciousness and Culture]. St. Petersburg, Piter, 2009. 336 p. (In Russian) 

12. Voenno-istoricheskii slovar' [Military Historical Dictionary]. Moscow, AST, 2005. 992 p. (In Russian) 

13. Shkurlatov R. Berserkers: Frantic special forces of vikings. Bratishka, 2007, no. 10, pp. 76–79. (In Russian) 

14. Byock J.L. Islandiya epokhi vikingov [Island in the Epoch of Vikings]. Moscow, Astrel', CORPUS, 2012. 912 p. (In Russian) 

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.