If we turn to the history of the creation of myths, legends and epics, then many of them are based on real facts. Over the years and centuries, they have been embellished, modified and endowed with new details, but the outline of the story has always remained the same. Sometimes it concerned heroes, and sometimes places where the events mentioned took place.
So the Smorodina River, often mentioned in ancient Russian epics and tales, could indeed flow between Chernigov and the capital city of Kiev. Scientists have not yet determined the reality of its existence.
What does the old Russian word “currant” mean?
For many readers, the exploits of the heroes of Kievan Rus are not in doubt, since the names of princes and other heroes mentioned in the epics of the city are a historical fact. So, the most revered hero among the people was Ilya Muromets, who was born in the village of Karacharova near Murom, a real place. According to legend, his relics rest in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev.
Detailed descriptions of the way of life of people of those years, the appearance of heroes and historical events indicate that in each epic there is some truth. The collectors of the old Russian epic thought the same way, who, since the 19th century, tried to find out where the Smorodina River is located, which means its name.
It has nothing to do with tasty berries, although for many it causes a picture of shores overgrown with bushes. In its root, the old Russian word "currant", used since the 11th century, which means a strong smell. Even the bushes were so named because of the aroma of their leaves.
Much later, the word began to be applied exclusively to unpleasant odors, and such a meaning as “stench” appeared. The river Smorodina in epics meant an unpleasant rotten place, where people expected a possible death. Often it is called the Puchai River, which further confuses researchers who certainly want to find it on the map.
Etymology of the word “viburnum”
Another erroneous association is formed when the words “Kalinov bridge” are mentioned. The ancient compilers of the epics “threw” it across the Smorodina river, meaning not red viburnum at all. The etymology of the word originates in the root “red-hot”, that is, red-hot.
In all sources, with the mention of the Kalinov bridge, it is associated with the passage through the river of fire, which is probably why it was given such a name. Red-hot or made of copper, it is described in fairy tales and epics.
The Smorodina River, Kalinov Bridge are symbols of the barrier that a real hero must overcome. Usually, a monster was waiting for the daredevils at this place: the Serpent Gorynych with the number of goals equal to three. In some tales he is three-headed, in others about six or nine heads.
Was this place really real and so inaccessible that it was endowed with such a terrible guard in fairy tales, but in the epics the Smorodina River is a reservoir near which there was a big battle, since it is often mentioned that its banks are strewn with bones and skulls. Perhaps it was from here that the name of the river came, because the currant that came from the battlefield formed the basis of its name.
Another thing is Kalinov bridge. Everywhere he appears as a means of crossing from the world of Yavi to the world of Navi, the guardian of which was Mara (Marena). Veles transferred the souls of the dead to the realm of death, which is in tune with the myths of other peoples of the world, for example, with Hades and the ferryman Charon among the Greeks or Pluto and Hades among the Romans.
The ancient Slavic epic combined the site of a fierce battle with a belief in the existence of the afterlife. Many historians and ethnologists believe that the real place was the Smorodina River, Kalinov Bridge. Where this body of water is located is the only thing they still don’t have agreement on.
Location of the Currant River
If we take the description of the area indicated in the epic as the basis, then this river flowed between Chernigov and Kiev. This is exactly the path of Ilya Muromets, who asked the men of Chernigov how to get to the capital city. The people answered him: “Yes, whether that one has a birch tree near the slandering one, or that one has a river near the Smorodina River, that Nightingale the Robber, Odikhmantiev’s son sits at that cross near Levanidov.”
According to some scholars, it could be the Smorodina River, flowing near Karachev in the Bryansk region, but then why in the bylina the Chernigov men indicate the way to Ilya Muromets? There is a pond with a similar name in the Elbrus region, and the Sestra river, translated from Finnish (Sestar-yoki), means “currant”.
This river appears in many legends, for example, Vasilisa Nikulishna crossed it, Dobrynya Nikitich died near it, Leviks stopped on its banks, nephews of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian speech, Prince Roman Dmitrievich overcame it, turning into a wolf.
Each of the listed rivers could be the one mentioned in epics, but its description casts doubt on the reasoning of scientists.
Smorodina River on the map
On the territory of modern Russia there are several rivers that could become a prototype of an epic source:
- The Smorodinka River flows in the Troparevsky forest near Moscow, in the Kursk, Tver and Vladimir regions.
- Currants are in the Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk and Leningrad regions.
- A river of the same name flows in Transbaikalia.
Each of these rivers could become a symbol of the separation of the two worlds, in which the ancient Slavs believed. Judging by the description, the qualities that the performers of the epics gave it are similar to the description of the rivers leading to the underworld, in the myths of other peoples.
Description of the river in epics
The people of the river Currant, where there is a crossing from the world of Reveal to the world of Navi, caused a holy awe. According to one version, its waters were black, stench emanated from them, and according to another, it was fiery.
“A ferocious river, itself angry, ” was what people said about it. Apparently, the course of the Currant was so strong, and the water was cold, that it “burned” everyone who entered it. Because of the spray above it, drizzle, which people called smoke, always curled.
Thus, the river in their minds became fiery, and since it was difficult to cross it, they made it the place where the dead go to the world of Navi. Since in the days of Kievan Rus all the performers of the epics knew which bridge was on the Smorodin River, the composers of fairy tales did not lag behind them. They “put” on the Kalinov bridge at the entrance to the world of Mary the guard - the Serpent Gorynych, so that he would not let the living into the afterlife. In all folk epos of different countries there are similar guards, for example, Cerberus in Greek myths.
The connection of ancient Russian epics with myths of other peoples
According to ancient legends, the Smorodina River was a serious obstacle for those whose path lay from Murom through Chernigov to Kiev. Apparently, a lot of people died there, and not only on the battlefield, that it became a symbol of the river of death.
Some scientists believe that this river was one of the tributaries of the Dnieper, which is more logical if you go from Chernigov to Kiev, but wherever it is, in folk tales, according to the description of Smorodin, it is similar to the Styx river, which the ancient Greeks went underground in Hades.
In the days of pagan Russia, people believed in the afterlife, and since it existed, there should have been a path to it. The storytellers endowed the Smorodin River with this function, but instead of the boatman, they “established” the Kalinov bridge, through which the souls of the dead passed.
The afterlife of the ancient Slavs
The kingdom of Mary, the goddess of winter and death, lay beyond the Smorodina River. Not only the red-hot bridge was an obstacle on the way of the living to the land of the dead, but also the monster guarding it. In some tales - this is the Serpent Gorynych, in others - Miracle-Yudo.
Sometimes the heroes had to fight with Koshchei the Immortal himself, the husband of Mary, to cross the bridge. Using the example of old Russian legends, one can trace how a real river, which was mortally dangerous when crossing it, became a legendary place that divides the worlds.
