ABSTRACT
The bylina “Solovei Budimirovich” belongs to a group of Russian epics about bride taking (Loboda 1904: 127–68; Propp 1958b: 167–79). Some variants open with a lyrical introduction about the expanse and beauty of the Russian land—its forests, mountains, rivers, and fields. A number of cities, both from Kievan and from later Muscovite times, may be mentioned: Smolensk, Pskov, Byelo-ozero, Kazan, Ryazan, and Astrakhan. Intriguing attempts have been made to use these actual place names, as well as obscure references to the Island of Kodol and the land of Vedenyets, to attribute the homeland of Solovei Budimirovich to the Baltic region, the Black Sea, and even Venice, but no single explanation has proved entirely satisfactory. The basic function of the geographic allusions is to show that Solovei has come from a distant place and is not from Kiev. The prelude also sets an optimistic mood and may be regarded as a hymn to the Russian land. Only twenty-eight recordings have been made of this imaginative and colorful epic.
