Many are interested in the question: to which cycle does the Sadko epic belong? It turns out that the folk epic with this common name refers to the Old Slavonic Novgorod cycle of epics, which, according to researchers, arose in the XII century - the time of the economic development of the city of Novgorod, but the general decline of all Kievan Rus.
At that time, Novgorod was practically unaffected by the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol horde, and it was the largest trade and fishing center. By this time, the heyday of Kiev was already a thing of the past. And with Novgorod began to communicate epic tales of the feats of arms of Russian soldiers.
Novgorod cycle of epics "Sadko"
The flowering of fishing and trade in Novgorod became a real and vibrant modernity for the 12th century, which is why the themes were sung mainly by social amenities: the organization of trade and the life of the merchants.
The main character of the epic is the merchant Sadko, and not some historical hero. The epic itself is narrated in three parts, which can also be found as completely independent works. And still it is interesting, to what cycle the epistle "Sadko" belongs?
Sadko was a hero of the epics of the Novgorod cycle, and I must say that there are 9 of the most famous options that were recorded in the Olonets province. Moreover, their storyline can be completely different. However, there are only 2 full ones: from the storytellers Vasily Shchegolenko and Andrey Sorokin.
Plot development
In one part, Sadko resides in the underwater kingdom, a similar plot is found in other peoples.
Later, the story of how Sadko got rich with the help of the golden fish that the king of the sea awarded him when he heard an unusual game of a hero on a harp standing on the shore of Lake Ilmen became a part of the epic. In some epics about Sadko, storytellers call the king not “sea”, but “water”. And this fact suggests that these are two different characters.
Indeed, in Russian folklore there is in some way a three-stage hierarchy of water spirits, some live in small streams and backwaters, others in rivers and lakes, and there is a sea king - the master of the seas and oceans.
Which cycle does epic Sadko belong to
The latest part of the epic is a very colorful story about how Sadko argued that he would buy all Novgorod goods from merchants, but could not do this.
Some researchers of epics say that the hero Sadko had a prototype - the rich Novgorodian Sadko Sytinich, who is mentioned in one of the chronicles as the builder of the Novgorod Church in honor of Boris and Gleb in 1167. It is believed that the basis of the epic and became the tale of him.
In the question of which cycle Sadko epic refers to, the main thing to note is that the plots can sound in a variety of interpretations. Even in one Old French novel, the hero Zadok is found, whose adventures are very similar to the adventures of our hero. This gives reason to believe that the novel and the epic date back to the same source in which the name already existed.