Information on the thesis

The paper is the first attempt in Ukrainian folkloristics to offer a complex
analysis of relics of the Princedom period chivalry in ritual poetry and prove the
existence of chivalry-retinue poetry, whose remarkable samples have been retained in
calendar-ritual and family-ritual texts. The concepts of “chivalry” and “chivalry-retinue
poetry” have been expanded to comply with the nature of the area of research. The
methodological instruments employed to analyze the motifs and images of the
Ukrainian folklore have been upgraded. The findings of research in other related areas
of studies (literary studies, ethnoliguistics, ethnology, history) made it possible to
handle the set tasks comprehensively.
Academic works by Ukrainian historians were a prerequisite to answer the
question about whether the chivalry existed as a stratum in Kyivan state synchronously
with the development of medieval knighthood in Central and Western Europe of the
9^th-13^th centuries. Numerous historical research proved that even though the
knighthood was hardly shaped as a stratum in the Princedom period, certain features
and customs thereof were existent and developed by their own laws.
Eventually, when chivalry as an institution became a matter of the past, the
memories thereof remained documented in heroic motifs and fixed epic cliché folmulas,
samples of old Ukrainian literature, and also in various genres of oral lore (ritual and
non-ritual poetry, dumas, bylinas, historical songs, fairy tales, legends and other
narratives).
In view of the analyzed material, it may be claimed that the relics of the pre-Princedom
and Princedom period chivalry have essentially been retained in the texts of calendar-
ritual poetry (primarily carols and Epiphany songs) and family-ritual (wedding) songs.
The relics of the chivalry of the Princedom and pre-Princedom period in the
traditional Ukrainian wedding are represented in ritual actions and song texts through
the system of wedding ranks, including prince, princess, king, queen, retinue, army,
boyars, best men/bridesmaids, svashky (groom’s married sister or female relative),
khorunzhyi/marshal (standard bearer), svitylky (maidens holding a sword and a candle),
scribes, ambassadors. The central role of a protector and warrior in the bride’s escort if
performed by her brother, who takes on the mentioned functions. The chivalry relic in
the wedding drama are military attributes, such as the sword, sable, mace, standard,
flag or marshal.
The symbolic meaning of threat, sending to the war, conquering or battle as
components of abduction is traceable at the following stages of the wedding event:
inviting to the wedding, departure of the fiancé with his men to the fiancée on Saturday,
departure of the groom with his escort to fetch the bride on Sunday morning, collecting
the bride from the parents’ home to the groom’s home, even at the moment of the
bride’s arrival at the groom’s home etc.
Most wedding stages are accompanied by the ransom ritual. It is believed that
ransom was one of the original wedding forms of ancient Ukrainians. This, however, is
hardly probable, inasmuch the traditional Ukrainian wedding consists of numerous
stages reflecting this symbolic moment, which may testify to the fact that initially the
marriage was exercised based on the mutual consent of the young couple and both kins.
Keywords: chivalry, chivalry-retinue poetry, relic, carols, Epiphany songs,
wedding songs, motif, image, loci communes.