"THE TALE OF THE POSSESSED WOMAN SOLOMONIA". MYTHOLOGICAL CONTEXTS AND PARALLELS

Abstract

The article discusses a masterpiece of Old Russian literature of the 17th century, “The Tale of the Possessed Woman Solomonia”, in the context of Russian and Finno-Ugric mythology. The plot of the Tale is compared to two close plot sets: about people given away to spirits of nature (lost / cursed) or taken away by said spirits (the plot of the North Russian and Finno-Ugric mythological narratives), and about the supernatural or enchanted wife (husband) (the plot is common in Russian fairy tales and in non-fairytale prose of the Finno-Ugric peoples). Consideration of the Tale in a wider mythological context allows to talk not only about the folklore origins of the Old Russian literary masterpiece or thematic unity of the literary and oral texts, but also about the work of cross-genre transmission for mythological motifs, about the logic and ideology of the plot composition in texts of different genres. In particular, it is assumed that, from the point of view of comparative mythology, the motif of sexual persecution of Solomonia by demons can be considered not a result of the influence of Western European demonology with its idea of the succubi and incubi, but an inverse of the mythological model of exogamous marriage regarding of its content, structure and function. The article offers an extension of the context in which one can think about the plot of the Old Russian tale and about weaving yet another thread into the canvas of interpretations.