The Celtic epic is one of the significant monuments of the early Middle Ages. Its creators were the Celts who inhabited the territory of modern Ireland, the southern part of England and the north of France.
Of all nations after the fall of the Roman Empire island celts(Irish, Scots, Welsh) in the 1st millennium AD were at the most archaic stage of culture. Naib. The finished form of tribal culture from Ireland. In the period from the 3rd - 8th c. AD, when formed. Irish Heroic epic, customs typical of the tribal system dominated in Ireland: communal agriculture, natural economy, the power of leaders / elders, blood feud, the cult of tribal gods, natural forces and spirits, rituals and spells. Although in the 5th century the Celts underwent Christianization, but it did not take deep roots. The Celts remained faithful to pagan traditions, believed in tribal gods, in natural forces and spirits, in all kinds of magic spells, vows, taboos.
On this basis from generic and local giving grew saturated myth. representations heroic epic. Initially guardians poet. tradition - elders who are both priests and singer-casters, sorcerers, etc. Then there was a division. Singers-narrators were divided into bard o v and f i l i d o v. Bards - lyric poetry associated with music. (sedentary - in the service of the prince, vagrants - who lived by collecting voluntary donations from listeners). Philides are soothsayers, lawyers, connoisseurs of old beliefs and traditions. Also singers and storytellers. The main specialty is the story of epic legends, which they subjected to systematization and complex literary processing. For a long time they were preserved orally. They also told epic stories (skelas), they had a prosaic form, as a result of which they are called "sagas", then they began to add poetic inserts (the speech of real people in places of significant dramatic tension). When moving from a filid to his student, it is likely that the text was not fully learned, but only the scheme of the saga and its essential parts, the rest is improvisation (description of feasts, armament of heroes, etc.), for which there were traditional style formulas that were transferred narrators from one saga to another.
First entries legends were made in VII-VIII centuries monks, they were applied to animal skins. The monks subjected the records to Christianization, but not very deep, because. the church of Ireland was independent from Rome, so for a long time there was a "dual faith" here. Therefore, the Earl.monks did not change the pagan elements (preserved references to witchcraft, clashes with s and dm and (spirits, elves, fairies). Due to this, the Earl.epos is richer than the epic of the rest of the Western European peoples in remnants of beliefs and ideas of the genus era. building.
One text, for example, was called "The Book of the Brown Cow". Total in libraries
collected up to 300 volumes of legends, which were called "sagas". Saga- small
in terms of volume, a story that was performed over the course of one evening. This usually happened when the men who returned home after hunting or fishing whiled away the time before going to bed. Sometimes the sagas formed a cycle, a long narrative story. The most famous cycle is "The Abduction of the Bull from Kualnge".
The oldest part of the Celtic epic - Ulad cycle, born by storytellers from the Ulad tribe who lived in the northern part of Ireland, on the territory of modern Ulster. The protagonist of the cycle Cuchulainn, in it we find the features of a people's intercessor: nobility, courage, readiness to give life for their loved ones. The image is saturated with mythical features, the ideal of valor and perfection. Protector of the weak and oppressed. He dies like a hero, a victim of his generosity. Together with him is his faithful friend Emer, the embodiment of the Celtic female ideal. The Celtic epic, which is closely connected with the folklore tradition, is characterized by elements of fantasy, the richness and colorfulness of the plots, and some special immediacy, naivety, and "childish" perception of the world.
One of the most significant artistic monuments of the early Middle Ages was the Celtic epic. Its creators were the Celts, a people who inhabited the territory of modern Ireland, the southern part of England and the north of France. Island Celts in the first millennium AD were at the most archaic stage of culture. The most developed form of tribal culture was observed in Ireland. In the period from the 3rd - 8th c. AD, when the Irish heroic epic was being formed, customs typical of the tribal system dominated in Ireland: communal agriculture, subsistence farming, the power of leaders / elders, the cult of tribal gods, natural forces and spirits, rituals and spells. In the 5th c. the Celts underwent Christianization, but it did not take deep roots. The Celts remained faithful to pagan traditions.
On the basis of tribal and local legends, a heroic epos saturated with mythical ideas grew up. Initially, the keepers of the legends were the elders, who were also priests, singers, spellcasters, sorcerers, etc. Then a separation occurred. Singers-narrators were divided into bards (lyrics related to music) and filids (soothsayers, experts in ancient legends, storytellers/singers of epic legends). For a long time, the legends were preserved in oral form and passed from the filid to the students. Traditions were not fully memorized, there was improvisation, but still there were traditional stylistic formulas that were transferred by storytellers from one saga to another.
The first records of legends were made in the 7th-8th centuries. monks, they were applied to the skins of animals. The records were Christianized, but to a very small extent - the pagan elements were completely preserved, so the Irish epic retained its originality.
Lifestyle, giving influenced the peculiarities of the poetics of the Celtic sagas. The Celtic epic, closely associated with the folklore tradition, is characterized by elements of fantasy, magic, colorful plots, synthesis with folklore traditions, the key role and activity of women, the importance of the speeches of heroes, the synthesis of prose and poetic inclusions.
The oldest part of the Celtic epic is the Ulad cycle, born by storytellers from the Ulad tribe who lived in the northern part of Ireland. The protagonist of the cycle is Cuchulainn, in his image the moral ideas of the Celts are embodied: nobility, courage, readiness to give life for their loved ones. The image is saturated with mythological features, Cuchulain is the ideal of valor and perfection, the protector of the weak and oppressed. Another great cycle of legends was the saga of Finn, the leader of the Fenni. Subsequently, the cycle of tales about Finn was processed into a number of poetic folk ballads that were widely used in Ireland and Scotland. There was also a cycle dedicated to stories about wonderful voyages.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, writing developed in Iceland, which is why most of the Icelandic sagas were recorded during this period. The events described in the sagas refer mainly to the end of the "Viking Age", before the final Christianization of Iceland (approx. 950 -1030). The main monuments of Old Icelandic fiction fall into 3 groups: the songs of the Edda, the poetry of the skalds (9-13 centuries, the songs of the skalds are addressed to the present, praise the military exploits of the prince and his squad; the use of "kennings" - metaphorical allegories) and prose sagas ( Basically, these include generic, family sagas). The Edda is a collection of songs, partly mythological, didactic and partly heroic.
In the 13th century Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson compiled a collection of Scandic poetry written in prose (including songs dating back to the 9th-12th centuries) and entitled "Edda" by him. Later it was called the "Younger Edda".
In 1643 an Icelandic bishop found a manuscript collection of anonymous sagas. The name of the poetic, or Elder Edda, was assigned to this collection.
The mythological songs of the Edda include stories about the gods and, as a special subsection, teachings of worldly wisdom (close to Hesiod's Works and Days, given in the form of advice, sayings; these are ethical precepts, a wide variety of everyday advice is given, on behavior with loved ones, etc.). They are based on a system of pagan beliefs in mythology, which finally developed among the Scandinavian peoples in the "Viking Age", but is rooted in the mythological ideas of the ancient Germans. Another direction of the Edda is sagas about historical events, for example, the saga Eric the Red. They talk about the discoveries of lands, travel, the nature of a particular territory. Also in the "Edda" ancient myths are well systematized, the "Divination of the Volva" stands out in particular, where on behalf of the seer there is a story about the fate of the world as a whole. The first part of the "prophecy" is a story about the past (etiological myths), the second part is a prophecy about the end of the world.
Common characteristic features of the Icelandic epic: a developed historical beginning; specific chronotope: past, present and future are separated, but at the same time constantly interact with each other; a decrease in the number of fantastic elements, while a large number of prophetic dreams and beliefs. The main themes are tribal feuds, blood feuds, victorious campaigns of the Vikings. By style: avarice of description, developed plot, the key role of dialogue, not monologue, realism, psychologism. They are an alloy of prose (there is less of it) and poetry, the widespread use of kennings in the text.
List of questions for the exam / test for the course "History of Foreign Literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance" 1. Epic creativity of the early Middle Ages (Celtic epic, ancient Germanic epic) 2. General characteristics of medieval culture 3. Factors in the formation of medieval culture 4. Heroic epic of the XII century. 5. Lyrics of the Provencal troubadours 6. Knightly romance of the Middle Ages, its main cycles 7. Urban literature of the Middle Ages 8. General characteristics of the Renaissance. Early Italian Renaissance 9. Dante's work before the Divine Comedy 10. Dante's Divine Comedy 11. Petrarch's work 12. Boccaccio's work 13. Boccaccio's Decameron 14. French Renaissance 15. Gargantua and Pantagruel by F. Rabelais 16. Northern Renaissance. Reformation. Erasmus of Rotterdam 17. Spanish Renaissance. Creativity of Cervantes 18. "Don Quixote" of Cervantes 19. Creativity of Lope de Vega (one of the comedies, "Fuente Ovehuna") 20. General characteristics of the English Renaissance 21. Thomas More and utopianism 22. General characteristics of Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era 23. "Twelfth night" 24. "Romeo and Juliet" 25. "Hamlet" 26. "Macbeth" 27. "Othello" 28. "King Lear"
Lecturer: Zhukov A.P.
The Celts, who were later forced out to the British Isles, played a large role in the creation of world literature. The Celts are one of the branches of the Gauls tribe, then they founded Ireland. These are no less warlike than the Germans tribes. But at the same time, they have a developed literary tradition, it has been preserved due to their peripheral position. The Celtic epic has come down to us in abundance. It is represented by the so-called sagas.
A saga is any prose narrative work, oral or written, realistic or fantastic, historical or non-historical.
Originality: the archaic epic of the ancient Irish is formed in prose, this is an isolated case.
The state and statehood are developing slowly, the features of the tribal system of ancient times have lingered: matriarchy, the people's assembly, blood feud, the cult of tribal gods and blood kinship. Families, clans, tribes. All the time they fought, wandered. Cattle breeding leaves its mark on the epic.
Almost all sagas tell about cattle theft. The main epic: "Theft of the bull from Kualnge." This is a huge epic - a compilation of many sagas.
The manners were wild. Until 697, women participated in battles on an equal basis with men. Then a decree appeared on excommunication of them from the church in the event of a battle. Then they began to use ferocious dogs, accustomed to gnaw out a person's throat.
There were three groups of people who created literature. Druids - at first they were judges, creators, keepers of mythical and heroic traditions. Then they shared their functions with the filids. Initially, these were historians - keepers of the histories of families, clans, were engaged in topography, jurisprudence and predictions. Bards are lyric poets. The meaning of the word has not changed. The legendary bard Ossein, the son of one of the war chiefs, is better known to us as Ossian. Both a warrior and a poet. His work has not come down to us, but in the 18th century a certain James MacPherson allegedly found a parchment with Ossian's songs and translated it. It turned out that it was his fake.
In fact, two huge manuscripts have come down to us. The oldest is the "Book of the Brown Cow" late 11th - early 12th century. The second is the Book of Leinster, mid-12th century. Over 100 sagas.
Combination of colorful, dreamlike fantasy with realistic details. Along with people, there are seeds - in the Western European version - fairies.
4 main cycles:
1. Mythological (ideas about ancient Ireland). The works originated before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and were recorded later by the monks.
2. Uladsky - the most ancient (Kuchulin's Cycle).
3. Finn cycle (Osianna)
4. Mixed - mostly stories about the journey of heroes to the next world.
Ulad cycle (modern Ulster). The connecting figure is King Conchobar. He probably created the Ulad state. He turns into an epic king. It is a standard that does not evolve or change. This is an ethical, moral, heroic example. His nephew is Cuchulainn, one of his favorite heroes, as he fought for the independence of his homeland. Cuchulainn is a semi-mythical character because his father is the god of light. He has the qualities of both a man and a fabulous creature. In battle, his body grows three times, one eye goes into the skull, the second into the center of the forehead, hair is called blood, he can almost fly. He doesn't get his name right away. The name then had to be earned. At birth, they were given a nickname, Cuchulainn - Senta. At the age of 7 he accomplished a feat. Uncle Conchobar went to the blacksmith Kulan, who had a killer dog. The boy got bored, went to the blacksmith, killed this dog. Kulan forced Cuchulain to serve him for three years.
Ulad is constantly at war with Queen Medb. Once she and her husband began to count wealth. She has one less bull, she wants to buy from the Ulads, otherwise by force. The bull is extraordinary. The messengers were careless, they blabbed, although the bull was sold. War. Magic disease - Ulad's men lie in bed and cannot get up. Only Cuchulain is not ill. But he can't win everyone. Comes up with a trick with the bridge. Cuchulainn has a twin brother, Ferdiad. Medb demands to beat him. Cuchulain also perishes because of a disgraceful song.
Fenya cycle. Fenya is a military-religious organization that has come down to us. Now they are terrorists. King Fin, son of Osein. Within the framework of this epic, love sagas appear. Fin is the prototype of King Mark. Sagas about wonderful voyages and about love. The beginning of a love chivalric romance. The Irish are excellent sailors, they say that they were the first to reach America. Two motifs come into modern literature. The motif of the blessed islands, where time flies much faster.
The most significant work of Anglo-Saxon poetry is the Poem of Beowulf. This work has come down to us in more or less complete form in a single manuscript written at the beginning of the 10th century. The poem is divided into 2 parts, interconnected only by the personality of the protagonist Beowulf. The poem is extremely complex. At present, the composition of the poem is usually attributed no earlier than the beginning of the 8th century, and it is regarded as a book epic written by a Christian cleric.
The central episodes of the first part of the poem - about the battles of Beowulf with Grendel and his mother - have a number of parallels in folk tales, as well as in Icelandic sagas; the story of the second part about the battle of Beowulf with the dragon presents analogies with other Germanic legends. It is also significant that Beowulf is not an Anglo-Saxon hero; the action of the poem is not confined to England and takes place in the first part in Denmark or Zealand, in the second - in southern Sweden. Beowulf is not a historical person, but in the poem one can find echoes of actual historical events - strife and wars of the North German peoples among themselves or with their West German neighbors, however, in the form of brief episodes or even just random hints.
In the edition that has come down to us, the poem bears traces of rather significant changes by the Christian scribe, who threw out the names of pagan gods and too obvious allusions to Germanic mythology, and also made a number of inserts that are easily distinguishable in a work that has a generally pre-Christian character. This editor of the poem calls Grendel a descendant of Cain, sea monsters a fiend, regrets the paganism of the Danish king; in various places of the poem, the names of Abel, Noah, the biblical tradition of the flood are mentioned. Even Beowulf himself is turned into a kind of Christian saint, a snake fighter who sacrifices his life in order to rid the country of a fire-breathing dragon, and delivers purely Christian instructions. Like all works of Anglo-Saxon poetry, it is written in ancient Germanic alliterative verse, which is distinguished by its particular sophistication and abundance of literary and poetic techniques (stringing synonyms, metaphors, indirect speech instead of direct speech).
Beowulf is a brave, generous, always ready to help people hero. He fearlessly enters into single combat with the bloodthirsty monster Grendel, who for a long time devoured those close to the Danish king Hrothgar. Having defeated Grendel, Beowulf also defeats his fierce mother, who came to the palace to avenge the death of her son. For this, Beowulf had to sink to the bottom of a terrible swamp, where a fierce monster lived. Thanks to the selfless prowess of Beowulf, Denmark was spared from mortal danger. The second part of the poem tells about the new, this time the last feat of Beowulf. Becoming the king of the Geats, the aged Beowulf kills a ferocious dragon that devastated the country with fire. However, the dragon managed to inflict a mortal wound on Beowulf with his poisonous tooth. Beowulf dies, mourned by the brave squads.
Unlike many epic heroes who act in the interests of their kind-tribe (such as the Irish Cuchulainn), Beowulf is the protector of humanity, but humanity itself is represented by friendly tribes of the Danes and Gauts. According to his mission, Beowulf resembles the Scandinavian Thor, but, unlike Thor, his activities are devoid of a cosmic-mythological character. The image of the mother of the enemies of the epic hero is extremely characteristic of the archaic epic of various peoples (for example, the Turkic-Mongolian, Finno-Ugric, in a relic form - the Celtic).
Beowulf's function in monster fighting. He is the protector of the earthly world. He is a god-loving warrior, blessed by a higher power to fight infernal forces: Grendel and his mother are the descendants of Cain, the dragon is a greedy werewolf, the keeper of treasures.
Beowulf is not a historical figure; in any case, he was not a Gautian king, as evidenced by his name, which does not alliterate with the names of other Gautian kings and is not mentioned in other sources on the Gautian genealogy.
Beowulf acts as a saint, protecting, however, the people under God walking from evil forces not with a word of prayer, but with a dash of gallantry (here, apparently, we can observe the formation of the ideologeme of chivalry: a knight as a Christ-loving warrior, fulfilling his vow, given to God, by wrestling destructive to the enemies of Christ). Beowulf says: "I will be glad to work in the military." The people whose peace is guarded by Beowulf walk under God. But the fact that he walks under God does not in itself protect him. Beowulf is a weapon in the hand of God. However, for the people he is also Fate, which is very significant. Initially, Beowulf embodies Fate, but later a disastrous differentiation occurs and the hero finds his end. As they say: the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.
The death of a hero is tragic. This is the fate of all epic heroes. He dies fighting the dragon, but dies victorious.
TESTS ON THE HISTORY OF FOREIGN LITERATURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE
For intermediate or final certification
NOTE: Some tests may have more than one correct answer, while others may not have a correct answer.
SECTION 1. LITERATURE OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
1 . S: Establish a correspondence between periods and their chronological framework:
Early Middle Ages
Mature Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
X-XIII centuries
XIY-XY centuries
2. S: Establish a correspondence between the stages of the Early Middle Ages and their chronological framework:
Fall of the Roman Empire
The era of the Great Migration of Nations
- "Dark Ages"
Carolingian and Ottonian Renaissance
455 CE e.
YII-YIII centuries
3 . S: The beginning of the Middle Ages is
455 CE e.
476 CE e.
410 CE e.
4 . S: A significant contribution to the study of medieval literature was made by:
M. P. Alekseev
V. M. Zhirmunsky
V. I. Kuleshov
B. I. Purishev
A. A. Smirnov
S. S. Mokulsky
A. Ya. Gurevich
A. I. Revyakin
Yu. M. Lotman
5 . S: The literature of the Early Middle Ages was formed on the basis of:
Partially preserved ancient literature
Archaic epics
Christian Literature
Literature of the Middle East
Byzantine literary tradition
Heroic epics
6 . S: Three streams of medieval literature are represented by:
urban literature
chivalric literature
clerical literature
mythology
translated literature
7 . S: Literature of the Early Middle Ages is represented by:
Archaic epics
Heroic epics
hagiographies
Historical chronicles
chivalric novels
Knight's lyrics
8 . S: The three streams of literature of the Mature Middle Ages are:
Clerical literature
Knight literature
Folklore
9 . S: Choose the correct definition: hagiography is
Biography of the monarch
The biography of the hero
Life of an Apostle
Life of a Saint
10 . S: Choose a science that was not one of the seven liberal arts:
Rhetoric
Grammar
Dialectics
Arithmetic
Astronomy
Geometry
Theology
11 . S: The Crisis of the Roman Empire Begins
In the II century. n. e.;
In the III century. n. e.;
In the 4th century n. e.
12 . S: Centon is
This is a poem of 14 lines;
This poem is a list of names and titles;
This is the glorification of victories and accomplishments in verse;
This is a poem consisting of the lines of classical authors.
13 . S: Peacock Polanski is
Late Latin poet;
Advisor to Emperor Constantine I;
Christian writer.
14 . S: The first attempt to synthesize Christianity and antiquity is made by:
Tertullian;
Jerome;
lactation;
Jerome.
15 . S: The work of Tertullian was called:
- "About the city of God";
- "Apologetic"
16 . S: Tertullian
Cynic moods;
Imperial ambitions;
Democratic sentiment.
17 . S: Lactantius was a tutor:
Constantine I;
Empress Helena;
Crispus, son of Konstantin I.
18 . S: The emperor who legalized Christianity was:
Constantine I;
Calligula;
Empress Elena;
Emperor Tiberius.
- "Guide to divine and worldly literature";
- Apologetics.
20 . S: The first translation of the Bible into Latin is done
Tertullian;
lactation;
Jerome.
21. S: The translation of the Bible into Latin was called:
- "Vulgate";
- "Scripture".
22 . S: Jerome translated the Bible from
Greek;
Egyptian.
23 . S: Augustine the Blessed was a bishop in
In Verona;
Hippo (North Africa).
24 . S: Alaric occupied Rome in
410 CE e.;
455 CE e.;
476 CE e.
25 . S: The most important works of Augustine
- "About the city of God";
- "About famous people";
- "Confession";
- Apologetics.
26 . S: Augustine is developing a concept
dialectics of history;
Dialectics of the formation and development of personality;
Synthesis of Catholicism and Orthodoxy;
Association of secular and secular authorities.
27 . S: Theodoric commissioned the revival of the ancient heritage
Cassiodorus;
Odoacer;
Romulus Augustulus.
28 . S: He founded a school on his estate
Cassiodorus;
Theodoric.
29 . S: Cassiodorus translated
Plato;
Aristotle;
Hesiod.
30 . S: Major work of Cassiodorus
- "Divine institutions";
- "Guide to divine and worldly literature";
- "Consolation of Philosophy".
31
In verse;
In the form of a monologue;
in the form of a dialogue.
32 . S: "Consolation of Philosophy" by the pen
Cassiodora;
Augustine.
33 . S: Consolation by Philosophy is based on the technique
antitheses;
Allegories;
Metaphorizations.
34 . S: The last poet of antiquity is called:
Cassiodora;
lactation.
35 . S: "Consolation by Philosophy" written
In the dungeon, awaiting execution;
At the school of Cassiodorus;
In the monastery.
36 . S: The aphorism that “a monk best serves God by copying books” belongs to
Charlemagne;
Augustine;
Cassiodorus.
37 . S: The Carolingian Renaissance falls on the period:
768-814;
900-914.
38. S: Palace Academy is being created
Charlemagne;
Theodoric;
Augustine.
39 . S: Scientists and poets adjoin Charlemagne:
Theodulf;
Paul Deacon;
Einhard;
Augustine the Blessed;
Jerome.
40 . S: Determine who owns the following works:
- "Verbalization of Spring with Winter";
- "Biography of Karl";
- "History of the Lombards";
- "Against the Plague"
Paul Deacon;
Einhard;
Angilbert;
Seduli Scott.
41 . S: The poem "Farewell to the cell" belongs to
Alcuin;
Angilbert;
Sedulus Scott.
42 . S: Small Academy was located
in Aachen;
in Reims;
In Paris.
43 . S: The Ottonian Renaissance falls on the period:
962-973;
862-873;
1062-1073
44 . S: Eschatological myths show:
The birth of the supreme god
End of the world
world creation
45 . S: Cosmogonic myths show:
The birth of the supreme god
End of the world
world creation
46 . S: Choose a work that is not an archaic epic
- "Beowulf"
- Elder Edda
- The Nibelungenlied
Celtic sagas
47. S: The Celtic saga is a unique genre formation due to:
The inclusion of poetic fragments in a prose narrative
The inclusion of foreign language fragments in the narrative
Incorporating graphic illustrations into the narrative
48 . S: The heroic cycle of the Celtic epic is represented by:
Ulad cycle
Finn's cycle
Conchobor cycle
Cycle Dekhtire
Connaught cycle
49 . S: The Celtic epic was formed on the territory of:
Byzantium
Ireland
50. Q: Match the sagas to the cycles they belong to:
- "Illness of Ulads"
- "The Persecution of Diarmuid and Graye"
- "Disappearance of Kondla the Beautiful, Son of Kond of a Hundred Battles"
Ulad cycle
Finn cycle
Cycle of fantastic sagas
51 . Q: Distribute among the narrators of the Celtic epic those areas of epic creativity for the preservation and execution of which they were responsible:
The history of the origin and settlement of the clan
love lyrics
incantatory poetry
52 . S: The genre form of the Celtic epic is:
53 . S: The hero of the Ulad cycle of the Celtic epic is
54 . S: Cuchulainn's name means
55 . S: Where did the following passage come from
Why do I need all the hardness of the spirit now?
Anguish and madness took possession of me
Before this death that I caused
Over this body that I slew.
- "Beowulf"
- "Short song about Sigurd"
- "Fight of Cuchulain with Ferdiad"
56 . S: The reason for the death of the hero in the saga "Death of Cuchulainn" is:
The willfulness of a hero
Hero's recklessness
Numerical superiority of enemies
Self-sacrifice of the hero in favor of the family
57 . S: In lines: “Oh, Emain-Maha! Oh Emain Maha! Great, greatest treasure!” saga ends
- "Cuchulain's disease"
- "Wooing to Emer"
- "Death of Cuchulainn"
58 . S: The first records of the Celtic sagas come from
YI-YII centuries
YII-YIII centuries
59 . S: The Celtic epic was the source for the collection of J. McPherson
60 . S: The main cycles of the Celtic epic:
Mythological
Heroic
Poetic
Prosaic
Fantastic
61 . S: The Irish Iliad is called the saga:
Bull-stealing from Kualnge
Book of Five Conquests of Ireland
Book of the Brown Cow
Persecution of Diarmuid and Greine
62 . S: Cuchulainn acts as a son
God Oghme
Fairy Morrigan
God of Light Meadows
63 . S: The center of Celtic culture before the 1st c. n. e. spoke:
Iceland
Iberian peninsula
64 . S: In the Celtic sagas, the activity of a woman is explained
The absence of male heroes;
The fight for independence
Equality of men and women
Remnants of matriarchy
65 . S: The main plots of the fantastic Celtic sagas:
Obtaining miraculous items;
Swimming in a magical land;
Love of a mortal and sid;
War of seeds and people
66. S: The heroic cycle of the Celtic epic includes two sections:
Ulad cycle;
Osiine cycle;
Osgar cycle;
Finn cycle;
67 . S: Tragic blame falls on Cuchulain after:
Heroic matchmaking
After learning martial arts from Scathach
After killing the blacksmith's dog
After killing brother
68 . S: The genre identity of the Celtic saga is determined by:
The poetic form of the saga
Combination of verse and prose
Fantastic characters and plots
prosaic narrative
69 . Q: Match the Celtic sagas with their heroes:
- "The expulsion of the sons of Usneh"
- "The Voyage of Bran, son of Phoebalus"
- "The Persecution of Diarmuid and Greine"
70 . S:Irish explorers prefer to name their sagas
stories
ballads
fairy tales
skelami
71 . S: The Celtic epic had a significant impact on the formation
Romanticism
realism
Heroic epic
chivalric romance
72 . S: The poem "Beowulf" belongs to
Germano-Scandinavian literature
Celtic Literature
Anglo-Saxon literature
73 . S: Beowulf's name is a kenning of a bear and translates as ##
74 . S: Beowulf describes the events that take place
In England;
In Denmark;
In Sweden.
75 . S: In Beowulf
Two parts;
Three parts;
Four parts.
76 . S: The central event of the first part of "Beowulf"
Dragon fight;
Fight with Grendel and his mother;
Fight with the Danes.
77 . S: Beowulf mining at the bottom of the lake
Sword of battles;
Miraculous armor;
Spear of battles
Miraculous helmet;
Hat of invisibility.
78 . S: Grendel was
monster;
Mighty hero;
Werewolf;
The king of the underwater world.
79 . S: "Beowulf" preserved in manuscript
10th century n. e.;
11th century n. e.;
12th century n. e.;
13th century n. e.
80 . S:The below excerpt is taken from
The sun turned black
land sinks into the sea,
bright stars
are falling from the sky.
- "The exile of the sons of Usneh"
- "Beowulf"
- "Speech of the High"
- "Divinations of the Velva"
81 . S: The name of the German-Scandinavian epic songs "Elder Edda" means:
great-grandmother
Farm Oddi
Poetic name of Snorri Sturluson
The name of the heroine of the songs
82 . S: "Elder Edda" was discovered in a manuscript
Brown cow book
Book of Five Conquests of Ireland
Royal code
83 . S: The Elder Edda includes:
10 mythological songs
14 mythological songs
6 mythological songs
84 . S: "Elder Edda" includes two cycles of songs:
Mythological
Fantastic
Heroic
Archaic
85 . S: Heiti in skaldic poetry is
Name of the patron of poetry
The name of the legendary skald
The name of the legendary king
Form of metaphor
Form of a one-member epithet
86 . S:Kenning in skaldic poetry
It's another name for a king
This is the designation of the king's brother
Form of binomial metaphor
form of comic
87 . S: Choose from the given examples the one that is not a haty of the sun:
fiery red
Light of the elves
88 . S:Choose from the given examples of ship kenning
Battle stick
house of eels
horse of the sea
89 . S: The dialogue songs of the Elder Edda are called
squabbles;
ballads;
90 . S: The plot of Thor's return of his hammer is described in the song
- "The Song of Humir";
- "Velva Divination";
- "Song of the Hold";
- "Speech of the High"
91 . S: High is one of the names:
92 . S: Where does the following passage come from:
Gunnar is sad
He hung his head.
He sat all day
In sorrowful confusion;
Didn't know at all
What to do
He befitted
He did not know at all
How to do it
In this case...
- "The First Song of Gudrun"
- "Speech of Sigriva"
- "Brynhild's Journey to Hel"
- The Nibelungenlied
- "A short song about Sigurd"
93 . Q: Match the genres and songs of the Elder Edda:
- "Speech of the High"
- "Divination of Velva"
- "Speech of Vaftrudnir"
- "Song of Hymir"
didactic song
Divination
Dialogic song
mythological ballad
94 . S:"Edda Minor" belongs to
Segmund the Wise
Brinolv Sveinsson
Snorri Sturluson
95 . S: "The Younger Edda" is written
Poetry
Combines poetry and prose
SECTION 2. LITERATURE OF THE MATURE AND LATE MIDDLE AGES
96 . S: A distinctive feature of the heroic epic is
Historical basis
Mythological origin
Fairy tale orientation
Orientation to the clerical tradition
97 . S: The debate about the origin of the German heroic epic is between:
Carl Lachmann
Andreas Häusler
Joseph Bedier
Menendez Pidal
Menendez Pidal
Gaston Paris
Joseph Bedier
99. S: The formula for the origin of the epic in the edition of J. Bedier is as follows:
"In the beginning there was a poet"
"In the beginning was history"
100 . S: The formula for the origin of the heroic epic as edited by M. Pidal is as follows:
"In the beginning there was a poet"
- "in the beginning there was a historical chronicle"
"In the beginning was history"
- "in the beginning was the road of pilgrims"
101. S: The historical basis of the "Song of Roland" is presented in
- "The Acts of Carl" by Einhard
In the chronicles of Theodulf
In The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
102 . S:Roland is a vassal
Charlemagne
Genolona
103 . S: The historical Roland had a name (there may be several correct answers):
hruotland
Hruotland, Macgrave of the Brittany March
Hruotland, Chief of the Breton March
104 . S: The cause of Roland's death is
Conflict with Olivier
Conflict with King Charles
Betrayal of Ganelon
Betrayal of the peers of France
105 . S: Roland is
fictional character
mythological hero
historical face
106 . S: The historical basis of the French heroic epic is
Campaign of Charlemagne in 778
Reconquest of Valencia by Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar
The death of the Burgundian kingdom
107 . S: The ideal vassal in "The Song of Roland" is:
Ganelon
108 . S: The main conflict in "The Song of Roland":
Confrontation between the Christian world and the world of infidels
Confrontation between king and hero
Confrontation between a traitor and a hero
109 . S: In the "Song of Roland" in terms of the exhaustion of the conflict, the final
110 . S: Main themes of the Spanish heroic epic:
Reconquista
Feudal strife
Conflict between king and hero
Love of a Castilian and a Mauritanian
The struggle for freedom and political primacy of Castile
111 . S: The protagonist of the Spanish heroic epic:
Cid de Bivar
Ganelon
Giselher
112 . Q: Set the sequence of story episodes of "Song of Sid":
Sid's exile
Help from Martin Antolines
First victory over the Moors and gifts to King Alphonse
Victory over King Yusuf
Conquest of Valencia
Connecting with the family
Reconciliation with the king
Marriage of the daughters of Cid and the Infantes of Corrion
Insult in the forest Korpes
Cortes
Judicial duel and restoration of justice, the new marriage of Sid's daughters
113 . Q: Match the heroic epics with their heroes:
Marsilius
Giselher
Pedro Bermudez (Silent)
- "The Song of Roland"
- The Nibelungenlied
- "Song of Side"
114 . S: Sid wins back
Granada
Castile
Valencia
115 . S: Sid name means
Conqueror
noble lord
King's relative
Mister
116. S: Sid's Nicknames
Invincible
Exile
compeador
glorious beard
Born in a good hour
117 . S: Sid's full name
118 . S: Sid had
two sons
Two daughters
There were no children
119. S: The Spanish heroic epic is characterized by:
anti-aristocratic tendencies;
Monarchist tendencies;
Religious pathos;
Fantastic episodes
realism
120 . S: From which epic are these lines taken:
“Here would be a good vassal,
be good to him."
- "The Song of Roland"
- The Nibelungenlied
- "Beowulf"
- "Song of Side"
121 . S: The anti-aristocratic tendencies in the "Song of Sid" are associated with
Images of Judah and Rachel
In the image of Martin Antolines
The image of Pedro Bermudez
Images of Diego and Fernando
122 . S: The beginning of the epic is lost in
- "Songs about Roland"
- "Songs about Side"
- "Songs of the Nibelungs"
123 . S: One of them said:
"Destined by fate
You lose your life and all your friends with you.
We know that only the palace chaplain
Will return to the land of Gunther from foreign countries.
This prediction was given
Giselher
Shpilman Volker
Gernot
Dietrich of Bern
Hildebrant
124 . S: Siegfried's invulnerability in the Nibelungenlied is related to
Victory over the dragon
Possession of miraculous items
Possession of miraculous weapons
125 . Q: Match the heroes of the Nibelungenlied with their archaic prototypes:
Brynhild
Siegfried
Kriemhild
Brynhild
126 . Q: Correspond between time and space locus in the Nibelungenlied
Isenstein
State of Attila
mythological antiquity
knight civilization
The era of the Great Migration of Nations
127 . S: The cause of the queens' quarrel in the Nibelungenlied is
Hoard of the Nibelungs
Dispute about the nobility of the spouses
Dispute about the valor of the spouses
128 . S: Siegfried Hoard
Moved to Kriemhild
Moved to Etzel
Stayed with the Burgundians
Buried at the bottom of the Rhine
129 . S: Christian Fiction dominates
- "Songs of the Nibelungs"
- "Songs about Side"
- "Songs about Roland"
130 . S: Common features for the heroic epics of the Mature Middle Ages are:
The conflict of the king and the hero (obvious or potentially possible)
Controversy between vassal and lord
Historical basis
The willfulness of a hero
The activity of the hero and the passivity of the king
Presence of Christian fiction
The presence of mythological fiction
131. Q: Match the heroic epics with their historical basis:
- "The Song of Roland"
- "Song of Side"
- The Nibelungenlied
437, 453
132 . Q: Establish a correspondence between the epics and the features of their content:
Epos with elements of knightly aesthetics
Strict military epic
Realistic epic
- The Nibelungenlied
- "The Song of Roland"
- "Song of Side"
133 . S: A chivalric romance is formed on
South of France
In the central states of France
North of France
South of England
Northern Spain
134. S: Where does the following passage come from:
But still the servant in response
She is in the usual madness,
Almost all women are accustomed,
What makes them always
"No" to say, but to think "yes" -
Screaming: "Leave me alone!"
From "The Romance of Aeneas"
From "The Romance of Troy"
From the novel "Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart"
From the novel "Yvain, or the Knight of the Lion"
135. S: The basis of the chivalric romance is
Christian sources
Antiquity
Celtic myths and legends
Oriental tales
136 . Q: Match the chivalric romances with their cycles
- "Alexandria"
- "Yvain, or the Knight of the Lion"
- Aucassin and Nicolette
antique cycle
Arthurian cycle
Byzantine cycle
137. S: In the romance of chivalry, adventure means
risky adventure,
The feat of a knight
risky love affairs
Relationship between love and achievement
138 . S: Celtic legends and chivalric romance combined
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Chretien de Troy
Hartmann von Aue
Thomas Malory
139 . S: Arthurian legends have been processed
In the chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth
In the chronicle of Robert Vasa
In the novel by Lambert de Thor and Alexandre de Berne
In the novel by Benoît de Sainte-Maur
140. S: Alexandrian verse, classic tragedy verse, goes back to the novel:
Lambert de Thor and Alexandre de Berne
Benoit de Saint Maur
Chrétien de Troyes
141 . Q: Match chivalric romances with their authors:
- "Alexandria"
- "Erec and Enida"
- "Parzival"
- "Poor Heinrich"
Lambert de Thor, Alexandre de Bernay
Chretien de Troy
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Hartmann von Aue
142 . S: German chivalric romance grouped around
Christian didactic legends
Legends of the Holy Grail
Arthurian legends
Legends of Tristan and Iseult
143 . Q: Set the episode sequence of the legend of Tristan and Isolde
Tristan's battle with Morolt
Departure of Tristan and his healing
Finding a Bride for King Mark
Drinking a love potion
Betrayal of the courtiers
Escape to the Forest of Morua
Tristan's exploits in the court of King Arthur
Tristan's marriage
My work, in which everything is so new,
Let it be taken lightly
The one for which I write.
I lift all my desires to her.
So good, good! Should
She is called to be a rose.
This passage is taken from:
- The Romance of the Rose
Canzones by D. Rüdel
Sonnet by F. Petrarch
- "The novel about Tristan and Iseult"
145 . S:Sochi is a genre
Liturgical drama
folk drama
folk epic
Folk lyrics
146 . S: Mystery is a genre
Liturgical poetry
Liturgical drama
urban epic
147. S: From which work is the following passage taken:
holy madonna,
good maiden,
I pray for your protection.
calling you.
- "About the villan, who by litigation won paradise for himself"
- "Game about Robin and Marion"
- Aucassin and Nicolette
- "The Miracle of Theophilus"
After all, cunning distorted the truth.
Fake nature struck,
Krivda captured all the ways,
Dexterity has become more necessary than strength.
These lines end
- "A novel about the Fox";
- "The Romance of the Rose";
Fablio "About the Cow, Priest's Cow";
Fablio "On the villan, who by litigation acquired paradise for himself";
Fablio "The Will of the Donkey"
149 . S: The heyday of urban literature falls on
150 . S: The peculiarities of urban literature are that it
Created in national languages;
Represented by all kinds of literature;
Expressed the interests of the people;
Created in Latin;
Was under the control of the church
151 . S: Individual episodes of "The Romance of the Fox" are called:
heads
branches
ballads
152 . The leading form of the comic in the "Novel of the Fox" is:
Oxymoron;
Paradox.
153 . Q: Establish a correspondence between the heroes of the “novel about the Fox” and those estates, the personifications of which they are:
Isengrim
Petty feudal knight
Large feudal lord
Bourgeois city dweller
154 . S: "The Romance of the Rose" belongs to
Didactic-allegorical epic
Courtly epic
Satirically-allegorical epic
155 . Q: Match fablios to their genre types
- "Are you there"
- "About a dappled gray horse"
- "Testament of a donkey"
Humorous, anecdotal fablio
Narrative fablio
satirical fablio
156 . S: A medieval Provençal ballad is
Song with chorus
historical poem
Short folk narrative song
157 . S: Alba is
song of the dawn;
Genre of lyrics of troubadours;
Genre of Vagant lyrics
Lyric genre Trecento
158 . S: Centon is a poem:
On a borrowed plot
This is a poem that continues the poems of a famous poet
This is a poem built from borrowed lines
159 . S: Tenson is
Poetic dispute between two poets
Poetic novella
Poetic ballad
160 . S: Serena in the lyrics of the troubadours is
song of the dawn
parting song
Sunset Waiting Song
magic spell
161 . S: Senyal is
Conventional name of the lady or patron saint
Encrypted poet's own name
Name of poetic or ideological opponent
162 . S: Komjata in the lyrics of the troubadours is
parting song
song of the dawn
Poetic dispute
Complaint about unhappy love
Message to the beloved
163 . S: Sirventa in the lyrics of the troubadours is
satirical poem
Poetic controversy
Poetic ballad
Song with a dance chorus
164 . S: In the lyrics of the troubadours, the ballad is
Song with a dance chorus
Girl Complaint
Poem of mystical content
Poem of historical content
165. S: The concept of courtesy in chivalric culture meant
Consistent with the ideal of a vassal
Compliance with the ideal of a senior
Elegance, sophistication
Exemplary behavior in the castle
166 . S: Pastorella in the lyrics of the troubadours is
song of the dawn
Song of the Beginning of Spring
Song about the meeting of the knight and the shepherdess
167 . S: Provence becomes the center of chivalric culture thanks to:
Good geographical location
Urban growth and intensive trade
own Provencal language
Development of secular education
The influence of the philosophy of the East
The flowering of freethinking and heresies
Lack of central royalty
168 . S: Choose one quality that is not necessary for a perfect knight
Generosity and Valor
Completion of feats in the name of love for the Lady
Completion of feats in the name of glory
Accomplishment of feats in the name of the king and the Fatherland
The ability to gallantly speak about love
Ability to compose and sing poetry
169 . S: Troubadour lyrics
Depicted real feelings
Glorified the king
Glorified the mistress counting on the reward
Depicted only love
170. S: The word troubadour comes from the verb
Invent
Find
create
To suffer
write poetry
171 . Q: Establish a correspondence between the genres of chivalrous lyrics and their content:
Tenson
canson
Pastorella
Komjata
Sirventa
love song
Love of a knight and a shepherdess
song of the dawn
parting song
satirical poem on a political theme
172 . Q: Match the content of concepts
high platonic love
Low sensual love
unrequited love
173 . S: The lyrics of the troubadours have
book origin
Folk sources
Italian poetry source of origin
The poetry of the Irish bards as a source of origin
Arabic poetry as a source of origin
174 . Q: Match the troubadours with their creative and life credo:
Singer of love from afar
Supporter of shared and equal love
Champion of knightly and noble honor, war singer
Juafre Rudel
Bernart de Ventadorn
Bertrand de Born
175
In a tavern, take me death, and not on a bed!
To be close to wine is dearest to me;
It will sing and the angels will have more fun too:
“Have mercy on the great drunkard, oh God!”
From the poetry of the troubadours
From the poetry of the Trouvers
From the lyrics of Francois Villon
From Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel
From the poetry of the Vagants
176 . S: Vagants wrote on
177 . S: The word vagant means:
stray
Student
Free
178 . S: Famous vagant poets were
Archipite of Cologne
Adam de la Al
Bertrand de Born
Hugon (Primate) Orleans
179 . S: The main genres in the lyrics of the Vagants:
Parody
Confession
Pastoral
Ballad
canson
Madrigal
180 . S: The main artistic devices in the lyrics of the Vagants:
Bilingualism
Pun
Parody
Retardation
speech characteristic
181 . S: Where did the following lines come from:
According to the laws of nature
We must live in the world.
Roman Rabelais "Gargantua and Pantagruel"
From The Decameron by G. Boccaccio
From the poetry of the Vagants
182 . S: These lines
I am Francois, which I am not happy about.
Alas, the death of the villain leads,
And how much does this ass weigh;
The neck will recognize soon.
F. Villon completed:
- "Ballad of the Hanged"
- "The Ballad of the Poetry Contest in Blois"
- "The Ballad of the Ladies of Old"
this is an independent quatrain
183 . S: The main tropes in the lyrics of F. Villon
Oxymoron
Antithesis
Metonymy
Citation
184. S: The first line of F. Villon's "Ballad of the Poetry Contest in Blois" is:
- "I'm dying of thirst over the stream"
- "I am accepted by everyone, expelled from everywhere"
- "I'm François, which I'm not happy about"
“I know everything but myself”
185 . S: An oxymoron is a poetic device
close to hyperbole
epithet form
Form of metaphor
Connection of the unconnectable
186 . Q: Establish a correspondence between works and their authors:
- "Big Testament"
- "Game about Robin and Marion"
- "The Miracle of Theophilus"
- "The Romance of the Rose"
François Villon
Adam de la Al
Jean de Main, Guillaume de Lorris
187. Q: Establish a correspondence between the small forms of the epic and those European countries in whose folk literature they existed:
Ballad
France
Germany
Spain
188 . S: There are two directions in the city theater:
folk drama
Liturgical drama
fantasy drama
realistic drama
189 . Q: Match urban theater dramas with their genres:
- "Game about Adam and Eve"
- "Lawyer Patelen"
- "The Miracle of Theophilus"
Mystery
Miracle
190. Establish a correspondence between countries and works of urban literature:
Ballads of Robin Hood
A novel about the Fox
Pop Amis
France
Germany
191 . S: The transitional figure from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance is
petrarch
Boccaccio
192 . S: Dante writes the Divine Comedy
In exile in Italy
At home, in Florence
In France
193. S: Dante's Divine Comedy is written:
in Latin;
In Italian;
French
194. S: Dante's "New Life" in terms of genre:
Autobiographical story
Installation of poems and comments to them
Instruction in the art of versification
Treatise on love
195 . Q: Distribute the sins according to their severity in the circles of Hell, based on the ethical concept of Dante:
Adultery
Gluttony
Greed and waste
Anger and sadness
Violence
Betrayal
196 . S: The beginning of the scientific study of the life and work of Dante is laid:
Giovanni Boccaccio
Lorenzo Medici
Francesco Petrarch
197 . S: Dante's main work was originally called
Comedy
Divine Comedy
Incomparable Comedy
Hell, Purgatory and Paradise
198 . S: Who set a goal for themselves, releasing their creation into the light:
“To tear out the living people and the state of misfortune and bring them to a state of happiness”?
Perarca
199 . S: Symbolic numbers in the Divine Comedy
200. S: In The Divine Comedy, Hell opens:
Forest of suicides
Around voluptuaries
201 . S: In the Limbo of Dante's Hell are
Worthless
Unbaptized babies
Pagans who died in the pre-Christian era
Heretics
202 . S: Beatrice in the Divine Comedy performs:
unattainable ideal;
A wonderful memory
Actor
203 . S: The worst sin in the Dante hierarchy:
Adultery;
Anger and despondency;
Betrayal
204. S: The first circle of Hell is busy
Killers
Deceivers
suicidal
voluptuous
205 . S: The sixth circle of Hell is reserved for
Traitors and false advisers
Deceivers and blasphemers
Suicides and heretics
Angry and sad
206 . S: The prime mover of the universe in the "Divine Comedy" is
Divine love
God's wrath
human act
207 . S: "New Life" Dante - the first in European literature
Autobiographical story
memoir prose
Philosophical studies
208 . S: Dante's New Life is divided into
Four parts;
Three parts;
Two parts
209 . S: In each part of the Divine Comedy,
100 songs
210 . S: Total number of songs in The Divine Comedy
211 . Dante belonged to the party
Black gfelphs
white gfelwof
Gibbelins
212. S: It was an early hour, and the sun was in the clear firmament
Accompanied by the same stars again.
What is the first time when their host is beautiful
Divine moved love.
From which work of Dante are these lines
- "New life"
- Divine Comedy
213. S: The Divine Comedy begins with
214. S: Who and where meets Dante with these words:
It was time, he found help
in my face; I look young
Lead him to the right path.
Beatrice in Hell
Beatrice in Purgatory
Beatrice in "New Life"
Beatrice in Paradise
215 . The leading scholars who study Dante's work are:
A. L. Dobrokhotov
A. A. Ilyushin
A. K. Dzhivelegov
N. I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov
M. M. Bakhtin
V. E. Khalizev
216. S: About whom G. Boccaccio writes:
Ravenna sheltered the exile,
Her body, spirit - God's grace,
And envy receded before consent.
About Francesco Petrarch
About Torquato Tasso
About Lorenzo Medici
About Dante Alighieri
Virgil;
Beatrice
218 . Dante, creating the "Divine Comedy", set the goal
Save humanity;
Save your hometown;
Save your family;
Save Beatrice.
219. The ashes of Dante rest in
Florence
Ravenna
220 . The Divine Comedy is written
Tercinami;
apartments;
Octaves.
221 . Dante's guide to Paradise is
Virgil;
Beatrice;
Apostle Peter.
222 . S: Dante's guide to Paradise is
Virgil
Beatrice
Guardian angel
223 . Dante's guide to Hell is
Virgil;
Beatrice;
224 . In Dante's Purgatory
Passes through the fiery river;
He endures torment as a proud sinner;
Arguing with Beatrice.
225 . Dante visits other worlds because
Writes a poem in the genre of vision;
Cannot climb Virtue Hill;
Wants to find the perfect person.
226 . The last word in each part of the Divine Comedy is the word
Luminaries;
227 . "Prologue" adjoins
Purgatory;
228 . Dante places the pope
In Purgatory.
229. Dante, passing through Hell and Purgatory,
Becomes an atheist;
Does not agree with the divine will;
He overcomes his own sinfulness.
230 . Dante considers the mission of the Poet:
Correction of mankind;
Creation of a perfect work;
The ability to resurrect the past.
Ireland, where the Roman legionaries penetrated, was in ancient times a remote periphery of the Celtic world, but in the Middle Ages it became the main center of Celtic culture.
Invasions of the Scandinavian Vikings in the VIII-X centuries. and the Anglo-Norman conquest in the 11th century. did not have a significant impact on the original Irish culture. Until the final political subordination to the British (in the 16th century), essential features of the tribal system were preserved in Ireland. The rather early Christianization of Ireland (in the 5th century) also changed little. Among the Irish monks there were many zealots of their native antiquity, who copied and protected the manuscripts containing records of the ancient Irish sagas * (in Irish - scela). These sagas are one of the main parts of the Celtic cultural heritage.
Irish sagas- samples of a prose epic with poetic inserts (syllabic, mostly seven-syllable verses in the form of short stanzas, of four lines, paired in rhyme or assonance; sometimes alliteration is used). The prose form is found in the epic of some peoples (for example, in the Nart legends in the Caucasus), and the mixed (poetic-prose) form is quite widespread.
In the Irish sagas there are a number of common places, traditional formulas (descriptions of appearance and clothes are especially characteristic in this respect), which indicates their folklore origins. In the descriptions, the style of the sagas is rich in retarded details, in dramatic places it is lapidary and impetuous. In verse, most of the speech of the characters is transmitted, especially at a moment of high tension (this is typical for the mixed form in the epic). Poems often use parallelisms that decorate epithets and other stylistic devices.
This is a special cycle, since its sagas are sometimes considered as cosmogonic myths of the Celts, that is, myths about the creation of the world, although in this case we are not talking about such grandiose stories as the birth of the universe, like Babylonian and Scandinavian legends, but only about the design of the current image of Ireland and the tribes that inhabited it. The mythological cycle is the least well preserved of all four cycles. The most important sources are "Old Places" and "Book of Captures". Other sagas of the cycle - "Angus' Dream", "Wooing to Etain" and "(Second) Battle of Mag Tuired", as well as one of the most famous Irish sagas "The Tragedy of Lear's Children".
The Ulad cycle is complex around the beginning of the Christian era, most of the action takes place in the areas of Ulster and Connacht. This cycle consists of a series of heroic stories concerning the life of Conchobar mac Ness, king of Ulster, the great hero Cuchulainn, son of Lug, their friends, lovers, and enemies. The cycle is named after the Ulads, a population of the north-eastern part of Ireland, and the action of the stories takes place around the royal court in Emine Mah, near the modern city of Armag. The Ulads are closely associated with the Irish colony in Scotland, and part of Cuchulainn's training takes place there.
The cycle consists of stories of births, childhood and training, courtship, battles, feasts and deaths of heroes and depicts a military society in which war is a sequence of single skirmishes, and wealth is measured mainly in the number of livestock. These stories are usually written in prose. The central product of the cycle is Bull-stealing from Kualnge. Other important texts of the Ulad cycle are − Tragic death of Aife's only son, Feast of Brikren and Destruction of Da Derg's House. The famous part of this cycle is The expulsion of the sons of Usneh, better known as the tragedy of Deirdre and the source of plays by John Sing, William Yeats and Vincent Woods.
In some respects, this cycle is close to mythological. Some of the mythological characters appear in the Ulad, in the same form of magic that changed the form. Although some characters, such as Medb or Ku Roi, we may suspect that they were once deities, and Cuchulainn often displays superhuman perfection, the characters are mortal and rooted in a specific time and place. If the mythological cycle corresponds to the Golden Age, then the Ulad cycle corresponds to the Age of Heroes.
These sagas also tell about heroes, but if in the sagas of the Ulad cycle the heroes are mostly loners, then this cycle of sagas is dedicated to the camaraderie of warriors and their pleasure from being in the "chosen society of beautiful young warriors." The central saga in this group of stories is "The Persecution of Diarmuid and Graine", dedicated to love and the tragic death of lovers. Perhaps such a change of mood in the sagas is due to the fact that the heyday of the cycle coincides in time with the spread in Europe of courtly poetry of troubadours and trouveurs, as well as novels of the Arthurian type.
The sagas of the last, royal, cycle tell not so much about kings as about the kingdom as an idea, about the dynasties of different regions of Ireland, the change of royal houses and their destinies. This cycle includes stories about such kings as Conaire the Great, Conn of the Hundred Battles, Cormac Mac Art, Niall the Nine Hostages or Domnal Mac Aed.
Three kinds of monuments : songs of the Edda. Elder (poetic) Edda - 36 canonical songs about gods and heroes. The main part is composed in antiquity. Songs were formed even among the continental Germans. Mention of the Rhine, German landscapes, Sigurd (Siegfried).
The second kind - skaldic poetry. Skalds are warrior poets. It is written in a special language. Such metaphors that could not be immediately understood. These figures were called kenings. The more the skald knew them, the more talented he was considered. The ship is the rider of the storm, the warrior is the spear of battle, the shaft of battle. The best kenings were based on mythology.
Third kind - sagas(ancestral sagas), there is no fiction in them. They are about exceptional people. Curious psychological studies. Royal sagas. The most famous is Snorre Sturlson's Circle of the Earth. There are also sagas of an entertaining nature - the so-called false sagas.
1. Songs of the Elder Edda preserve the ideas of the ancient Germans. This manuscript was written around the 10th century. Edda was written in the 12th century, and then lost. Found only in 1643 in Copenhagen, no name. Before it was found, there was an Edda by Snorre Sturlson. Prose created to help the skalds. In this "Edda" the main kenings were deciphered. The main part: a prose story about Old Norse mythology. The prose of this book is transposed from the Elder Edda. Hence the name. They just started calling Edda the youngest. Some believe that Edda comes from a word meaning poetics. The second interpretation is the farm where Snorre wrote to Edda. The third - in one of the dialects Edda means great-grandmother. The Edda songs are very small, focused on the bottom of the episode. Associations with other songs. Lots of listings. prospective content. There is much more content encoded in these songs.
Songs about gods and heroes - 2 parts. The songs contain a lot of material on mythology. The ancient Greeks have life-affirming myths. The Scandinavians are sad. The gods are immortal. The gods will die protecting this world. The gods are not lenient like the Greeks. Among the ancient Germans, they are only SLIGHTLY better than people, they exist in alliance with them, because this is the only way to delay Ragnarok. It is the eternal winter before the end of the world. The main gods are divided into two camps: the ases, who are supreme, and the baths, more ancient, the gods of nature. They are in a constant struggle, but the idea of Ragnarok united them. The giants jotuns (turses) are more ancient than the gods, but they are the bearers of evil. Perhaps it was they who created the world. There are also zwergschnauzers and Albs/alves - dwarfs. Tsvergs are skilled craftsmen, they keep treasures, and elves are darker, more neutral. Ases and baths gave each other hostages.
Elder Edda
Songs about gods
Songs about heroes
Younger Edda
2. Skaldic versification already fully developed in the era to which the oldest monuments of skaldic poetry belong. Therefore, it is impossible to trace how it arose. It is most likely, however, that the skaldic verse developed from the eddic as a result of the complication of the latter, and not as a result of any external influence. The basis of both verses is alliteration. All the elements of the skaldic verse are also present in the Eddic. However, while Eddic verse is the most simple and free form, Skaldic verse is the most strict and restrictive form. It is most likely, therefore, that skaldic versification is one of the manifestations of that hypertrophy of form which is characteristic of skaldic poetry in general.
In contrast to Eddic versification, alliteration in skaldic versification is more strictly regulated; internal rhymes are strictly regulated (in eddic verse they occur only sporadically), the number of syllables in a line (in eddic verse it is not regulated at all), the number of lines in a stanza (in eddic verse it is not strictly regulated).
The main genre of skaldic poetry is a laudatory song. For three and a half centuries, from the middle of the X century. and until the end of the 13th century, the Icelanders supplied the rulers of Norway, and sometimes other Scandinavian countries and even England, with laudatory songs. Many of them have been preserved (but usually not completely).
The main form of the skaldic song of praise is the drape. In the middle part of the drape, there were always several inserted sentences (the so-called "stev", i.e. chorus), which divided this middle part into several segments. Etymologically, the name "drapa" apparently means "a song broken into pieces by choruses" (drápa from drepa "to break"). The stem could be of various shapes, it could be completely unrelated to the main content of the drape. The presence of a steve is the only thing that distinguishes a drapa from the so-called "flokk", that is, a song of praise consisting of a series of stanzas not broken by a steve. The drape was considered a more magnificent and solemn form than the flock.
3. The most peculiar and most famous of the Icelandic sagas- these are those that tell about the events of the first century after the settlement of Iceland, i.e. "sagas about the Icelanders", or "ancestral sagas".
The style of "ancestral sagas" was defined as "pure", "unconditional" or "absolute" prose. First of all, it is characterized by the absence of any ornaments or figures, even epithets, not to mention metaphors. Thus, the style of "ancestral sagas" is characterized by a minimal deviation from the language of live speech. There is undoubtedly a certain similarity in this prosaism with that rejection of rhetoric and figurativeness, which, with the advent of the realistic novel, became a characteristic feature of realistic literature in general. the predominance of syntactic structures that are as simple as possible in construction and elementarily interconnected, the inconsistency of the syntactic connection, the random alternation of the past tense with the present and direct speech with indirect speech, the predominance of the simplest, elementary words and at the same time a large idiomatic expression, an abundance of stereotyped expressions, demonstrative and personal pronouns and adverbs of place and time, the repetition of the same word in the same sentence, etc. - these are features characteristic of natural and living speech in general, and in particular for oral narration.
But the prosaic style of "ancestral sagas" is, of course, a consequence of the fact that they are the product of unconscious authorship. In a work that is a syncretic truth, the author's activity was directed, of course, not so much to the content or transmitted facts in themselves, but to the form, that is, to how these facts were told, to their dramatization and concretization in scenes and dialogues, etc. But since this authorial activity was unconscious, the form remained unconscious, and consequently not delimited from content. The prosaism of the "ancestral sagas" is this non-delimitation of form from content, minimal independence of form, minimal stylization. From this, however, it by no means follows that there is no art in the style of the "ancestral sagas". On the contrary, there is that high art in it, which is possible only with unconscious authorship and the essence of which lies in the fact that it is imperceptible. Thus, if the prosaism of the style of realistic literature of modern times is a form realized against the background of its opposite form, then the prosaism of the "ancestral sagas" is a form that was not realized as such and not delimited from the content.
