ABSTRACT
This song represents an example of how written and oral traditions may interact. As Vs.F. Miller (1897–1924, 3: 174–202) and A.N. Veselovskii (1872) have shown in their comparative studies, a cycle of medieval apocryphal stories about the Biblical King Solomon, common in the Near East, Western Europe, and Russia, often consisted of two parts. The first involves Solomon’s childhood and the building of the temple in Jerusalem, while the second concerns his marriage and the abduction of his wife. In Russian manuscripts composed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, King Por or Kitovras may be Solomon’s adversary. Although the written versions differ considerably in their details and some have been strongly influenced by oral versions, essentially Por abducts Solomon’s wife Solomonida out of revenge because Solomon, before he married, had seduced Por’s wife and had kept a token from her that he later sent to Por. The plot is further complicated by the fact that Solomonida may willingly contact Por and ask him to come for her. She drinks a potion that apparently causes her death, but Solomon, incredulous, tests her by branding her arm, receives no reaction, and only then buries her in a crypt from which Por takes her away and revives her. Solomon may send out scouts to find out where his wife is and, having located her, goes to the area with an army that he leaves nearby. Solomon may then go to his wife disguised as a pilgrim, but she recognizes him and reveals him to Por, who prepares to hang Solomon but grants him a last request to blow his horn three times at the gallows. Solomon’s army responds to the signal, saves him, and hangs the offenders.
