THE RUSSIAN FAIRY-TALE "SIVKO-BOURKO" IN THE CONTEXT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Abstract

One of the areas of study of folk tales is to determine the origin of individual motifs. Usually in the process of this study historical, ethnographic and folklore sources are appealed to. The paper illustrates the use of archaeological materials in the search for the historical roots of the formation of individual motifs of fairy tales, including the story "SivkoBourko." We analyze two motifs: "reaching the goal through the ear" and "horse in the basement." The possibility of foreign origin is revealed. For the analysis of the motif of "reaching the goal through the ear" a Nart epos episode and Scythian images curled predators were considered.The motif of "horse in the basement" was had been studied by V. Propp. The analysis of archaeological materials served to clarify the possible ways of its origin. The study showed that the motif of "horse in the basement" and the formation of the miraculous image of the horse-assistant in Russian fairy tales may be influenced by the traditions of special horse burials which existed in the culture of the southern steppe nomadic tribes.The paper shows how these motifs may have appeared in the Russian folklore. The analysis of archaeological materials led to the conclusion about the antiquity of the origin of the considered motifs.

Keywords

• motifs of fairy tales
• archeology of steppe nomads