Overview Of Anthropomorphism In Medieval Slavic Mythology

In Kieven Rus’ Animal is You
Anthropomorphism in Medieval Slavic Mythology
Jeffery Simpson, V00781708
MEDI 210
James Acken
April, 2014
Word Count: 2,538
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or hundreds of years, Russia has carried the moniker of ‘The Bear.’ Seen as large, clumsy and unpredictable, Russia has been long associated with this animal. But where did this likeness come from? Was it merely developed by 17th century political cartoonists or does it have a deeper meaning? In the Medieval Slavic mythological corpus, animals play a large roll, and are often found both aiding and opposing the hero, and also feature as main characters in many instances. While many cultures have had a ‘Mother Earth’ character, Vlashnaya Mat-Zemlya, or ‘Damp Mother Earth’ seems to have much more importance in Slavic myth. She is frequently mentioned and is given great reverence. In the Povest’ Vremyan’nykh Let’, or The Primary Chronicle and the Tale of Bygone Years, Prince Vladimir the Great, first Christian ruler of the Kievan Rus’, condemns the Romans, because “they call the earth their mother…if, according to their understanding, the earth is their mother, why do they spit upon their mother, and pollute her whom they caress?”1 This personification of the earth as a living being gave way to the increased instances of anthropomorphism within their myths and legends. In addition to this, it was common for Slavic animals to be portrayed with a soul. The Serbs tell of the Vjedogonja, spirits of both sleeping humans and animals who assemble on mountain-tops, where
1 Nestor the Chronicler, compiler. Cross, Samuel & Olgerd Sherbowitz-Wetzor, editors. The Primary Chronicle. Cambridge: The Medieval Academy of America. pg. 115
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2 they do battle, with the victor winning good weather for h...

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... Folk-Tales: Primitive Literature of the Empire of the Tsars. London: The C.W. Daniel Company. 1925. pg. 674
34 Coxwell, pg. 703
35 Coxwell, pg. 798
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those who begin to take on various human qualities. These animals belonging in the latter group not only gain physical human attributes, but they become mentally human, being treated as equals by people in the myths. No long are they a feral force of nature, but a tamed and co-operative agent of diplomacy between civilization and nature. Reinforcing this, three animals have stood out; birds, wolves, and bears. All three of these carry deep religious and cultural significance behind them and through examining that, not only can we study the flexible distinctions between man and beast in the Medieval Slavic world, but we are also given excellent insight on linguistic and religious origins of various characters and terms.