1.
Lubok
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A lubok is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales. Lubki prints were used as decoration in houses and inns, early examples from the late 17th and early 18th centuries were woodcuts, then engravings or etchings were typical, and from the mid-19th century lithography. They sometimes appeared in series, which might be regarded as predecessors of the comic strip. Cheap and simple books, similar to chapbooks, which consisted of pictures, are called lubok literature or. Both pictures and literature are commonly referred to simply as lubki, the Russian word lubok derives from lub - a special type of board that pictures were printed on. Russian lubki became a genre of during the last half of the seventeenth century. Russian lubok was primarily influenced by the woodcuts and engravings done in Germany, Italy and its popularity in Russia was a result of how inexpensive and fairly simple it was to duplicate a print using this new technique. Luboks were typically sold at various marketplaces to the lower and middle classes and this type of art was very popular with these two social classes because the lubok provided them with an inexpensive opportunity to display artwork in their houses. The Koren Picture-Bible, 1692-1696 established the most prominent style, an Old Russian rendering of international iconography and subjects, by mid-18th century, however, the woodcuts were mostly replaced with engraving or etching techniques, which enabled the prints to be more detailed and complex. After printing on paper, the picture would be hand-colored with diluted tempera paints, while the prints themselves were typically very simplistic and unadorned, the final product, with the tempera paint added, was surprisingly bright with vivid colors and lines. The dramatic coloring of the early woodcut prints was to some extent lost with the transfer to more detailed engravings, in addition to the images, these folk prints would also include a short story or lesson that correlated to the picture being presented. Russian scholar Alexander Boguslavsky claims that the style is a combination of Russian icon and manuscript painting traditions with the ideas. Typically, the luboks artist would include minimal text that was supplementary to the illustration that would cover the majority of the engraving. Folklorist Dmitri Rovinsky is known for his work with categorizing lubok. Jewish examples exist as well, many luboks can be classified into multiple categories. Russian lubok The satirical version played an important role in the luboks from Russian wartime and it is used to present Napoleon in a satirical manner while portraying the Russian peasants as the heroes of the war. This also inspired other Russians to help fight the war by attempting to, the luboks presented a manner for the Russians to mock the French enemy, while at the same time display the ‘Russianness” of Russia. “These war luboks satirized Napoleon and depicted French culture as degenerate”, the lubok was a means of reinforcing the idea of defeating the French invaders and displaying the horrible destruction Napoleon and his army caused Russia. All the different representation of the Russian heroes helped define and spread the belief in Russian identity, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 began on February 8,1904, at Port Arthur with a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy
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Viktor Vasnetsov
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Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, Viktor Vasnetsov was born in the remote village of Lopyal in Vyatka Governorate in 1848, the second of the six children. His father Mikhail Vasilievich Vasnetsov, known to be inclined, was a member of priesthood. His grandfather was an icon painter, two of Mikhail Vasnetsovs three sons, Viktor and Apollinary, became remarkable painters, the third one becoming a schoolteacher. It was in Lopyal that Viktor started to paint, mostly landscapes and scenes of village life, recalling his childhood in a letter to Vladimir Stasov, Vasnetsov remarked that he had lived with peasant children and liked them not as a narodnik but as a friend. From the age of ten, Viktor studied in a seminary in Vyatka, during his seminary years, he worked for a local icon shopkeeper. He also helped an exiled Polish artist, Michał Elwiro Andriolli, having graduated from the seminary, Viktor decided to move to Saint Petersburg to study art. He auctioned his paintings of Woman Harvester and Milk-maid in order to raise money required for the trip to the Russian capital, in August 1867 Viktor entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. Three years later, the Peredvizhniki movement of realist painters rebelled against the Academism, Vasnetsov befriended their leader Ivan Kramskoi, referring to him as his teacher. He also became close to his fellow student Ilya Yefimovich Repin. It is ironic, but Viktor, whose name is associated with historical and mythological paintings, for his graphic composition of Christ and Pontius Pilate Before the People, the Academy awarded a small silver medal to him. In the early 1870s he executed a lot of engravings depicting contemporary life, two of them won him a bronze medal at the World Fair in London. At that period he started producing genre paintings in oil. Such pieces as Peasant Singers and Moving House were warmly welcomed by democratic circles of Russian society, in 1876 Repin invited Vasnetsov to join the Peredvizhniki colony in Paris. While living in France, Viktor studied classical and contemporary paintings, at that period, he painted Acrobats, produced prints, and exhibited some of his works at the Salon. It was in Paris that he became fascinated with fairy-tale subjects, starting to work on Ivan Tsarevich Riding a Grey Wolf, Vasnetsov was a model for Sadko in Repins celebrated painting Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom. In 1877 he returned to Moscow and these works were not appreciated at the time they appeared. Many radical critics dismissed them as undermining the realist principles of the Peredvizhniki, even such prominent connoisseurs as Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov refused to buy them
3.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
4.
Ilya Muromets
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Ilya Muromets, or Ilya of Murom, sometimes Ilya Murometz, is a folk hero of Kievan Rus, a bogatyr and a character of many bylinas. In the legends he is featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobrynya Nikitich. Although Ilya Murometss adventures are mostly a matter of epic fiction, he is believed to have a prototype, a medieval warrior. Venerable Ilya Pechersky is beatified as a saint of the Orthodox Church. His relics are preserved in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, according to legends, Ilya Muromets, the son of a farmer, was born in a village near Murom. He suffered an illness in his youth and was unable to walk until the age of 33. He could only lie on a Russian oven, until he was healed by two pilgrims. He was then given super-human strength by a knight, Svyatogor. Along the way he defended the city of Chernihiv from nomadic invasion and was offered knighthood by the local ruler. In the forests of Bryansk he then killed the forest-dwelling monster Nightingale the Robber, in Kiev, Ilya was made chief bogatyr by Prince Vladimir and he defended Rus from numerous attacks by the steppe people, including Kalin, the tsar of Golden Horde. Generous and simple-minded but also temperamental, Ilya once went on a rampage and he was soon appeased when Vladimir sent for him. It is generally believed that Murometss prototype was Venerable Ilya Pechersky, according to hagiography, before taking his monastic vows Ilya was a warrior famous for his strength. His nickname was Chobotok, Old East Slavic for boot, given to him after an incident when Ilya, caught by surprise, in 1988, Soviet archeologists exhumed Ilya Chobotoks remains, stored in Kiev Pechersk Lavra, and studied them. He is the epic hero canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, Ilya supposedly served Prince Vladimir of Kiev, he fought Batu Khan, the founder of Golden Horde, he saved Constantine the God-Loving, catterino Cavoss 1807 opera Ilya Bogatyr Viktor Vasnetsovs 1898 painting Bogatyrs. Nicholas Roerichs 1910 painting Ilya Muromets Reinhold Glières 1911 Symphony No.3 in B minor, Viktor Vasnetsovs 1914 painting Ilya Muromets. Aleksandr Ptushkos 1956 film Ilya Muromets, konstantin Vasilyevs 1974 and 1977 paintings. Liz Williams Nine Layers of Sky writes an account of Ilya
5.
Rostov
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Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero,202 kilometers northeast of Moscow, while the official name of the town is Rostov, it is also known to Russians as Rostov Veliky, i. e. This name is used to distinguish it from Rostov-on-Don, which is now a larger city. Rostov Yaroslavsky is the name of its railway station. First mentioned in the year 862 as an important settlement. It was incorporated into Muscovy in 1474, even after it lost its independence, Rostov was still an ecclesiastic center of utmost importance. In the 14th Century, the bishops of Rostov became archbishops, one of those metropolitans, Iona Sysoyevich, commissioned the towns main landmark, the kremlin that many regard as the finest outside of Moscow. Ravaged by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries and the Poles in 1608, the metropolitan see was transferred to Yaroslavl late in the 18th century. Apart from its history, Rostov is renowned for its enamels, within the framework of administrative divisions, Rostov serves as the administrative center of Rostovsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the town of oblast significance of Rostov—an administrative unit with the equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Rostov is incorporated within Rostovsky Municipal District as Rostov Urban Settlement, the central square of Rostov is occupied by the Assumption Cathedral. It is unknown when the present building was erected, the century being the most likely date. Lower parts of the walls are dated to the 12th century. The ponderous bell-tower was constructed mostly in the 17th century and its bells are among the largest and most famous in Russia - each has its own name. The largest bell, cast in 1688, weighs 32,000 kilograms and it is named Sysoy to honor the citys founding father. An area situated between the square and the lake was chosen by Iona Sysoevich as a place for his fairy-tale residence. All the construction works were carried out between 1667 and 1694, major buildings include the ornate Savior Church-na-Senyakh, the sombre Church of St. Gregory, and the barbican churches of St. John the Apostle and of the Resurrection of Christ. The residence, often erroneously called kremlin, also includes eleven ornate tower bells, numerous palaces, several small belfries, all the churches are elaborately painted and decorated
6.
Tver
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Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa Rivers, the city was known as Kalinin from 1931 to 1990. Tver’s foundation year is accepted to be 1135, although there is no universal agreement on this date. Originally a minor settlement of Novgorodian traders, it passed to the Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1209, in 1246, Alexander Nevsky granted it to his younger brother Yaroslav Yaroslavich, from whom a dynasty of local princes descended. Four of them were killed by the Golden Horde and were proclaimed saints by the Russian Orthodox church, formerly a land of woods and bogs, the Principality of Tver was quickly transformed into one of the richest and most populous Russian states. As the area was accessible for Tatar raids, there was a great influx of population from the recently devastated south. By the end of the century, it was ready to vie with Moscow for supremacy in Russia, both Tver and Moscow were young cities, so the outcome of their rivalry was far from being certain. Mikhail, the Grand Prince of Tver, who ascended the throne of Vladimir in 1305, was one of the most beloved of medieval Russian rulers and his policy of open conflict with the Golden Horde led to his assassination there in 1318. His son Dmitry the Terrible Eyes succeeded him, and, concluding an alliance with the mighty Grand Duchy of Lithuania, exasperated by Dmitrys influence, Prince Ivan Kalita of the Grand Duchy of Moscow engineered his murder by the Mongols in 1326. On hearing the news of crime, the city revolted against the Horde. The Horde joined its forces with Muscovites and brutally repressed the rebellion, many citizens were killed, enslaved or deported. This was the blow to Tver’s aspirations for supremacy in Russia. In the second half of the 14th century, Tver was further weakened by struggles between its princes. Two senior branches of the house, those of Kashin and Kholmsky. The claimers were backed up by Moscow and eventually settled at the Moscow Kremlin court, during the Great Feudal War in the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tver once again rose to prominence and concluded defensive alliances with Lithuania, Novgorod, Byzantium, and the Golden Horde. Grand Prince Boris of Tver sent one of his men, Afanasy Nikitin, to search for gold, nikitin’s travelogue, describing his journey from 1466 to 1472, is probably the first ever firsthand account of India by a European. A monument to Nikitin was opened on the Volga embankment in 1955, at last, on September 12,1485, the forces of Ivan the Great seized the city. The principality was given as an appanage to Ivan’s grandson, only to be abolished several decades later, last scions of the ruling dynasty were executed by Ivan the Terrible during the Oprichnina
7.
Arkhangelsk Oblast
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Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Including Nenetsia, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of 587,400 km2 and its population was 1,227,626 as of the 2010 Census. The city of Arkhangelsk, with a population of 348,716 as of the 2010 Census, is the center of the oblast. The second largest city is the nearby Severodvinsk, home to Sevmash, Plesetsk Cosmodrome is one of three spaceports in Russia. Arkhangelsk Oblast, which includes Nenets Autonomous Okrug, borders Kirov Oblast, Vologda Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, Cape Fligely in Franz Josef Land and Cape Zhelaniya in Novaya Zemlya are both located within Arkhangelsk Oblast. Arkhangelsk Oblast is located on the East European Plain, and most of it represents forested hilly landscape, the north-eastern part belongs to the Timan Ridge, a highland mostly situated east from the oblast. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is essentially a flat tundra with several hill chains like Pay-Khoy Ridge, the Arctic islands including Novaya Zemlya and Franz Joseph Land are mountainous with glaciers and eternally snow-covered. This region has a distinct population of polar bears associated with the Barents Sea area. Almost all of the area of the Oblast belongs to the basin of the Arctic Ocean, with the rivers being Onega River, Northern Dvina River, Kuloy River, Mezen River. A minor area in the west of the Oblast, most notably the basin of the Ileksa River, drains into the Lake Onega and eventually to the Baltic Sea. A very minor area in Kargopolsky District in the south-west of the Oblast drains into the Kema River which belongs to the basin of the Caspian Sea. The area in the Onega River basin containing the biggest lakes in the oblast, such as Lake Lacha, Lake Kenozero, Lake Undozero, the tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug also contains a number of bigger lakes. The river basin of the Pinega is characteristic of the karst, the White Sea coast within the Oblast is split into the Onega Bay, the Dvina Bay, and the Mezen Bay. Solovetsky Islands, as well as a number of islands, are located in the Onega Bay. The Onega Bay and the Dvina Bay are separated by the Onega Peninsula, the Mezen Bay is separated from the main body of the White Sea by Morzhovets Island. Almost all of the oblast is covered by taiga, the coniferous forest dominated by pine, spruce, large areas in the middle of taiga are devoid of trees and covered by swamps. In the floodplains of the rivers, there are meadows, a number of areas in Arkhangelsk Oblast have been designated as protected natural areas
8.
Wikisource
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Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
9.
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
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The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles,7,800 images and it was published in Imperial Russia in 1890–1907, as a joint venture of Leipzig and St Petersburg publishers. The articles were written by the prominent Russian scholars of the period, such as Dmitry Mendeleyev, reprints have appeared following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. To this end the Brockhaus-Efron joint stock company was established, originally they intended to translate the German publication with a more detailed account of issues related to Russia. It was supposed to release 16-18 volumes, the first 8 half-volumes were edited by Ivan Andrievsky, the rest by Konstantin Arsenyev and Fyodor Petrushevsky. The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary contains 121,240 entries,7800 illustrations and 235 maps, the encyclopedia came out in two versions, one had 41 main and 2 additional volumes, the other had 82 primary and 4 additional half-volumes. Half-volumes have double numbering, e. g.49 and 50 and on the pages are numbered XXV. In the years 1899-1902 the Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary was produced, in the years 1911-1916 there appeared the New Encyclopedic Dictionary,29 volumes of the planned 48 were published, up to the entry for Отто. The National Library of Russia holds proof-copies of the 30th, illustrations from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus Enzyklopädie Brockhaus Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Digitized copy – DjVu format at Runivers. ru
10.
Historical Slavic religion
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Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation. Unlike ancient Greek, Hindu, Chinese or Egyptian mythology, there are no records for the study of Slavic mythology. It has not been proven that the Slavs had any sort of writing system before the arrival of Saints Cyril, fragments of old mythological beliefs and pagan festivals survive up to this day in folk customs, songs, stories and folk-tales of all the Slavic nations. Although Herodotus is himself not convinced by this rumour, he stresses that he has heard some swear it, the identification of Neuri with Proto-Slavs remains controversial, however. According to Procopius, these Slavs worshipped a single deity, who crafted lightning, though not named explicitly, it can be deduced this is a reference to the deity known as Perun in later historic sources, as in many Slavic languages today. Perun simply means thunder or lightning bolt and he also mentions the belief in various demons and nymphs, but does not mention any other names. The Slavic Primary Chronicle is a work with many valuable references to the pagan beliefs of Eastern Slavs. The chronicle treats the history of the early Eastern Slavic state, even though the manuscript was compiled at the beginning of the 12th century, it contains references to and copies of older documents, and describes events predating the Baptism of Kiev. Two deities, Perun and Veles/Volos, are mentioned in the text of the early 10th century peace treaties between pagan rulers of East Slavs and Byzantine Emperors, later, Nestor the Chronicler describes a state pantheon introduced by Prince Vladimir in Kiev in 980 CE. Vladimirs pantheon included Perun, Hors, Dažbog, Stribog, Simargl, the Hypatian Codex of the Primary Chronicle also mentions Svarog, compared to Greek Hephaestus. Also very interesting are the passages in the East Slavic epic The Tale of Igors Campaign referring to Veles, Dažbog, the original epic has been dated to the end of the 12th century, although there are marginal disputes over the authenticity of this work. The most numerous and richest written records are of West Slavic paganism, particularly of Wendish and Polabian tribes, the German missionaries and priests who criticized pagan religion left extensive records of old mythological systems they sought to overcome. However, they restrained themselves from pious lies, claiming pagan Slavs were idolatrous. As none of those missionaries learned any Slavic language, their records are confused and exaggerated, major works include a chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg from the beginning of the 11th century, who described a temple in the city of Riedegost where the great deity Zuarasic was worshipped. According to Thietmar, this was the most sacred place in the land of pagan Slavs, another very valuable document is the Chronica Slavorum written in the late 12th century by Helmold, a German priest. Saxo meticulously described the worship of Svantevit, the associated with it. He also mentioned multi-headed deities of other Slavic tribes, Rugievit, Porewit, according to the manuscript, the most important Slavic deity was Triglav, whose temples in the city of Szczecin were respected oracles. In the cities of Wolgast and Havelberg, the war god Gerovit was worshiped, a corruption of Jarovit
11.
Deities of Slavic religion
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Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, she has undergone a fakeloric metamorphosis, and today is identified as a combination of the hearth-mother and the rusalka. This metamorphosis has its roots in the late 1980s, as several Ukrainian writers sought to personify their vision of an ideal Ukrainian woman, consequently, Berehynia today also has a place in Ukrainian nationalism, feminism, and neopaganism. In 2001, a column with a monument to Berehynia on top, as a protector of Kiev, was erected at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the center of the city, kievs historic protector Archangel Michael older monument is located just across at the same square. Goddess of the Orange Revolution by Marian J. Rubchak, compares Berehynia with Yulia Tymoshenko, oksana Kis Who is protected by Berehynia, or Matriarchy as a mens invention, Zerkalo Nedeli, April 26 - May 6,2005
12.
Marzanna
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She is an ancient goddess associated with winters death and rebirth and dreams. In Slavic rites the death of the Goddess Marzanna at the end winter, becomes the rebirth of Spring of the Goddess Kostroma, Lada, some medieval Christian sources such as the Czech 9th century Mater Verborum compare her to the Greek goddess Hecate, associating her with sorcery. 15th century Polish chronicler Jan Długosz likened her in his Annales to Ceres, in modern times the rituals associated with Marzanna have lost their sacred character and are a pastime – an occasion to have fun and celebrate the beginning of spring. The tradition is celebrated around the spring equinox. Usually schoolchildren and young participate in the celebrations alongside local folklore groups. A procession consisting of men, women and children carries handmade Marzanna to the nearest river, the participants sing traditional songs and throw effigies of Marzanna into the water. Sometimes the effigies are first set on fire, or their clothes are torn, on the journey back to the village the focus falls on the copses, adorned with ribbons and blown egg shells. The procession, still singing, returns to the village, in some locations, the beginning of spring is then celebrated with a feast. Marzannas name most likely comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *mar-, *mor-, the Slovak form of the theonym – Mamuriena – suggests that the goddess may have originally been connected to the Roman god of war Mars. The connection to Mars is supported by, among others, Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov, other theories claim her name is derived from the same Indo-European root as Latin mors death and Russian mor pestilence. Some authors also likened her to mare, a spirit in Germanic and Slavic folklore, associated with nightmares. In Belarusian, Polish, Ukrainian and in some Russian dialects the word mara means phantom, vision, hallucination. Similar to burning witches in some European countries or Holika Dahan in India, in terms of the season when its celebrated - at the end of winter, start of spring - and the evil character involved. The tradition of burning or drowning an effigy of Marzanna to celebrate the end of winter is a custom that survives in the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania. In the past, the festival was held on the fourth Sunday of Lent, in the 20th century the date 21 March was fixed. The rite involves preparing an effigy in female clothing, and either setting it on fire or drowning in a river and this is often performed during a field trip by children in kindergarten and primary schools. The effigy, often made by the themselves, can range in size from a puppet to a life-size dummy. This ritual represents the end of the days of winter, the victory over death
Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article: Алёша Попович, Danilov ed.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.