Rus Mitleri

The Legendary Past

by Elizabeth Warner

This introduction to Russian mythology begins with the coming of Christianity to the state of Kievan Rus' at the end of the 10th century, heralding a state of co-existence between pagan and Christian practices that came to be known as "dual faith". The book deals with the mythic beliefs, notions and customs concerning nature, the cult of the dead, demons, witchcraft, the supernatural and more, many of which have their roots in the pre-Christian past, but which continue to survive. The author draws on a rich variety of sources to illuminate the evolution of major themes and motifs, and to give context to the mythology. These include anecdotal narrative forms, religious legends, epic songs, funeral laments, and folk tales.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Russia, Religion, History, Folklore, Anthropology

136 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Elizabeth Anne Warner

Elizabeth Warner is Emerita Professor of Russian, University of Durham, where she was formerly Head of the Department of Slavonic Studies.

Author of many scholarly articles as well as four books.

Reviews

[Sara Hasanova]

Kitabın çevirisini başarılı bulmadım.

[Cwn_annwn_13]

Really just as much about Russian Pagan beliefs, Gods, folklore and folk custom as much as any Russian mythological system. Its a short and basic book but is also full of nice illustrations. This seems to me like a very good introductory book for someone studying this books subject matter. I look forward to reading more about the Slavic interpretations of the Indo-European Gods in the future.

[Yasemin Günindi]

Kiev Büyük Prensi Vladimir’in 988’de Hristiyan olmasıyla, paganizmden beslendiği için kınanan Rus mitlerinin çoğu kayboldu ve unutuldu. Özellikle kırsal kesimdeki düalist din sayesinde günümüze gelmeyi başaranları Elizabeth Warner; Dört Element, Cinler ve Mekân Ruhları, Ölüler ve Öbür Dünya, Büyücüler, Ejderhalar ve Baba-Yaga alt başlıkları içinde inceliyor. Klasik Yunan ve Roma mitolojisi dışında İran, Türk ve Sırp mitolojisinden etkilenmiş olabileceği düşünülen Rus mitolojisi oldukça ilginç ve ilham verici. Benim gibi Rus mitolojisi hakkında daha önce okumayanlar için bir giriş kitabı olarak uygun ve derin incelemeler istemeyenler için tatmin edici olduğunu düşünüyorum.

[Bahman Bahman]

The coming of Christianity to the state of Kievan Rus' at the end of the tenth century had an enormous impact on the development of Russian civilization. Despite the abandonment of the pagan gods, both Christian and pagan practices and beliefs continued to coexist for centuries, producing a system known as "dual faith."

Russian Myths deals with mythic beliefs, notions, and customs—concerning the veneration of earth, water, fire, and air, demons and spirit-beings in the world of nature, the cult of the dead, and witchcraft—many of which have their roots in the pre-Christian past but still survive to the present day. To illuminate the evolution of major themes and motifs and set Russian myths in the context of mythology the world over, Elizabeth Warner draws upon a rich variety of sources, including anecdotal narrative forms and religious legends, epic songs, funeral laments and folk religion, and, of course, the folktales where the sacred gives way to pure imagination in the depiction of mythic themes and characters.

[Kevin Jones]

A very good supply of information about Russian mythology or of the Eastern Slavs. Most of what we know come from religious texts from when Russia developed the Cyrillic alphabet and were converting to Christianity. Mostly they state how ancient and evil from the Christian view certain traditions were they converted the people away from doing. So, there is limited understanding and she also includes some folk tales as well which are a little bit different than mythology itself. A short read, but full of some interesting tidbits that I didn't already know or read about.

[Sara Tiede]

Accessible for the most part, but coming in at only 79 pages, there's not a lot of deep exploration. This book focuses on the analysis of the myths mentioned, which is interesting, but does not describe many of the myths in much detail at all. I would have enjoyed actually getting to read the stories being discussed more than the bare bones descriptions that were sometimes provided. It was certainly an interesting read, but it also definitely left me wanting more.

[Joseph]

This is an excellent, succinct summary of Russian mythology assembled by an honest and thorough researcher in the field, put forth without embellishment.

[Kim]

Not a collection of myths as so much as an analysis of Russian myth structure and pre-Christian beliefs. For as tiny as this book is (respectively), it’s quite dense.

[Marlowe]

This is a VERY short survey of Russian myths. It's a good starting point to get a grasp on the broad strokes, though I would have appreciated a bit more depth.

[Esther]

No era lo que esperaba, pensaba que sería algún tipo de compilación de relatos, pero es un análisis de la estructura de los mitos.

[Patricia Woodruff]

A quick read if you need a quick and simple summary of the basic mythological deities and spirits.

[Dan Nelson]

Wonderful survey of Russian folktales and myths.

[Lukas Stock]

3.5

Solid thematic survey of Russian myth and folklore. Brief enough that even a passing interest makes it worth the time.

[Julius]

I do not know if I have ever mentioned how strongly I am enthralled by folk-lore. I like mythology, but folklore rises higher. But wait, you might ask, doesn't the title of that book say 'myths'?. Indeed it does. While this book is a history of Russian mythology so to speak, it actually I think should have been placed as folk-lore, because that is really what the book concerns; the folk-lore and superstitions of the peasants.

It starts with the explaination and a look at some of the spritual beings that the Russians believed in. Then moves on to explore the things they considered sacred, evil, good, fortunate, abominable, and so forth. One can really learn a good deal about a people by finding out about their lore and myths. I have done so with the Russians. The book was quite informative for what it was. As stated in my before opinion, I think that a title such as 'A breif look into Russian folk-lore' would have suited this book better. But I enjoyed it well enough.

[Writtenwyrdd]

If you are looking for a lot of information on Russian myths and/or folk beliefs, this extremely slender and overpriced volume is not the place to turn. As an alternative, you might try Russian Folk Belief by Linda Ivanits, which, while a bit too scholarly in tone for easy digestion, is still full of valuable bits of information. In particular, I appreciate how she places beliefs and mythology in the context of both time and place, as these folk beliefs change over time. The mythology can be found in other places, but as I was looking for references for a story I'm writing, this was the best book I was able to find.

[Haven]

One of the most comprehensive books on myths that I have read in a long time. This book covers many time spans, such as the myths in Russia before the rise of Christianity. The most intriguing for me was reading about dual faiths. I particularly enjoyed reading about the myths combining christianity along with pagan myths. These myths made a huge mark on the identity of who Russia is today. It's a great academic read.

[EAL]

Concise and interesting. The information flowed logically from one point to the next. Though the book pointed out connections between topics, it did not repeat itself too much except on the point that pagan beliefs blended with Orthodox. The book wasn't dry even though many books detailing myths objectively are.

[Mel Polk]

Bits of the beginning of this book were very dry. I wasn't reading it for those bits anyway.

This was a great, concise, and readable collection of myth/fairytale elements in Russian folklore. It has given me a lot to chew on in regards to the story I'm trying to write. I highly recommend it if you're in search of some insight behind Russian myths and legends.

[Kristen]

Enjoyable read, but not really academic.

[Ευθυμία Δεσποτάκη]

Δεν ξέρω αν μου λύθηκαν όλες οι απορίες, αλλά μια καλή αρχή για εμβάθυνση την πήρα.

[Jess]

Informative, useful bibliography, but the writing style wasn't super captivating.

[Mahir Şanlı]

Phoenix Yayınlarının çıkardığı serideki en güzel kitap buydu bence.

[Ela Nazari]

Not exactly myths, but a good intro to getting to know some ideas about russians

[Shunil Dangol]

very nice book.

[Melisa]

eski türk pagan geleneklerine o kadar benziyor ki.