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:
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I hope this proves useful or interesting to some of the list members.
Robert Mann
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