HISTORY OF A MYTH. THE LEGEND OF RURIK DYNASTY

Abstract

This article is devoted to the dynastic myth of the Rurikids and its cultural and religious grounds as an example of positive state-forming historical mythology. The problem of historical mythology now takes on a new urgency. On the one hand, a broad public debate about the falsification and demythologizing history goes on. On the other hand, the development of the historical consensus as one of the fundamental elements of the Russian state ideology is on the agenda.The author postulates that along with the deliberate falsification of history, there are, in fact opposite to it, positive historical myths included in the national consciousness and that became key components of the cultural and historical identity. Development of positive historical myth for any state, for any nation is the inevitable and desirable process. As an example of such myth the article considers the historical dynastic mythology of state of the Rurikids in Kiev and Moscow period. Particular attention is paid to the period’s literary monuments in which the dynastic myth was reflected and developed. Its development is Traced from the «Tale of Bygone Years» to «Book of Degrees».The article Shows how the Old Russian writers and chroniclers disclose basic, sacred meaning of existence of the Russian state. Often it happens through the formal distortion, in the opinion of the modern researchers, of historical fact. However, the perception of the historical text in the Middle Ages differed from the modern. Approximation of described reality to the ideal one through biblical allusions and paraphrases contributed only, in the opinion of the medieval author, to the establishment of genuine truth. The Myth sacralized the reign of the ruling dynasty, playing a significant positive role in the construction of the Russian state.