A CHURCH / A TEMPLE / A CATHEDRAL IN THE EPIC WORLD OF THE RUSSIAN BYLINY

The aim of this article is to consider plots and motifs of Russian epic poems (byliny) that mention churches and to determine the place and semantics of the church in the imagery of the byliny. The study uses the continuous sampling method to select certain byliny from the multitude of the Northern Russian epic texts that were recorded on the rivers Pechora, Mezen, Kuloi, Pinega, on the Winter Coast of the White Sea, and in the Pudozh region and that were published in volumes of the Svod russkogo folklora (Code of Russian folklore). Special attention is paid to the way and the contexts in which churches are mentioned in these texts. The study considers different types of churches, their founders and clergymen, their dedications, elements of their exterior and interior, and church sacraments and services. The analysis leads to the conclusion that a “church” was a well established key locus on the map of the Russian epic world and that its semantics does not only pertain to the religious sphere but also reveals distinct shades of meaning, which are related to politics, economy, and social life. In fact, although the Slovar’ iazyka russkogo folklora (Dictionary of the language of Russian folklore) shows that “church” is the most common lexeme (concept) in the “Religion” cluster, it is of little value for the study of the religious sphere that is reflected in the byliny. It provides, however, an opportunity for a multidimensional analysis of the imagery of the Russian epics.