medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear
Robert,
Many thanks indeed
for your posting on Elijah in the Russian Church calendar. It was most
enlightening, and you might be interested to know that there is devotion to him
in the Latin Church, but only in the Carmelite Order as far as I'm aware (he's
considered the founder of the 'Carmelite ideal'). Best
wishes,
Johan
---
Mr. Johan Bergstrom-Allen
Flat 2, 74
Walmgate,
York, YO1 9TL, U.K.
-----Original Message-----
From:
Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Robert
Mann
Sent: 03 August 2003 05:44
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Subject: [M-R] Elijah's Day in
Russian Tradition
medieval-religion: Scholarly
discussions of medieval religion and culture Today is Elijah's
Day according to the Russian church calendar (July 20/August 2), so please allow
me to say a few things about Elijah in Russian tradition. When the eastern Slavs
were first introduced to the Biblical Elijah, they immediately saw in him a
close similarity to their own thunder god Perun. Not long after the conversion
of Kiev in 988, there evolved a song about Elijah's coming to Rus' and defeating
the idol of Perun. This song underwent a long evolution, but it survived until
the early 20th century, and Elijah, hero of the song, gradually became
transformed into a mighty warrior named Elijah of Murom (Il'ia Muromets), the
foremost hero of Russian "bylina" tradition. Traces of the early Elijah song are
found in the Igor Tale, an epic song that dates from the 12th century but was
not written down until the early 13th century. Russians traditionally expected a
thunderstorm each year on Elijah's Day. At the sound of thunder, people would
make the sign of the cross, believing the rumbling is that of Elijah's chariot
as he races across the clouds, flinging down lightning bolts to remind us of our
sins. Peasants often refrained from fighting fires that were started by Elijah's
lightning, believing that one should not oppose Elijah and God. In time of
drought, people appealed to Elijah for rain; when there was too much rain, they
appealed to him to stop the rain. For these purposes, in Novgorod there were two
Churches of Elijah: "Elijah the Wet" and "Elijah the Dry". Dostoevsky was quick
to see in these beliefs surrounding Elijah an aspect of Christian faith that was
specific to the Russian people, and in order to highlight his theme of "Russian
spirituality," or "the Russian soul," he weaves much of this lore into his major
fiction. His early novella The Landlady cannot be properly understood without a
knowledge of Elijah in Russian belief. For this reason it has stymied all
scholars until very recently. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov confesses to
an assistant police superintendent named Elijah 'Gunpowder' on approximately
July 20, after wandering around town all night beneath a horrendous
thunderstorm. (The Church of Elijah in Petersburg was built at the gunpowder
factory: the Church of Elijah at the Powderworks.) In The Village of
Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants, the virtuous Yegor Il'ich ('son of
Il'ia/Elijah') kicks out the nasty sponger Foma Fomich on Elijah's Day as
lightning strikes overhead -- the novel's climax. In Brothers Karamazov the
dying boy Ilyusha has manifold connections with Elijah. Dmitry Karamazov strikes
out at Sukhoi Posyolok ('Dry Village') where he is led by a priest from a
village with a Church of Elijah in his quest for money to repay his debt; and he
is arrested during a rainstorm at Mokroye ('Wet Village'). Bunin, Goncharov,
Platonov and other Russian writers have used Elijah motifs, but for Dostoevsky
this was virtually his "author's signature." The chain of associations continues
into Soviet times, when August 2 became the official day of "Airborne Landing
Troops" -- paratroopers and all the units that contribute to a landing attack
from the sky... You can read about these topics in:
Tainyi kod Dostoevskogo
(Russian Academy of Sciences);
The Igor Tales (The Birchbark Press of
Karacharovo);
The Landlady (The Birchbark Press of Karacharovo);
Lances
Sing (Indiana University Press/Slavica);
The Brothers Karamazov: an
Unorthodox Guide (Birchbark Press).
Most of these titles you can find
through Birchbark Press:
[log in to unmask]
I hope this proves useful
or interesting to some of the list members.
Robert Mann
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