The function of constant epithets in the poetics of the bylina

The article analyses constant epithets in the poetics of the bylina (epic tale) and determines their role in the creation of an epic picture of the world as an ideal, aesthetically transformed version of reality. The study of constant epithets which accumulate folk ideals and values selected and polished by the longtime folklore tradition made it possible to find out what the Russians think about, how they characterise and assess people, objects and phenomena of the surrounding world in terms of their perfection. The identified traditional meanings of statements with constant epithets, displaying the ideal correspondence of an object and its characteristic to the norm in the epic picture of the world, participate in shaping the images of the Motherland, its defenders and the entire representational system of “one’s” epic world. For example, the set phrases “the land of Holy Russia,” “Orthodox/Christian faith,” “God’s/cathedral/the Lord’s churches,” “saved monasteries,” “life-giving crosses” create the image of Holy Rus’; the series of the constant epithets “daring, portly, good youth” and “strong mighty Holy Rus bohatyrs” express the total of physical and moral qualities that the defender of his native land, glorified in the epic, should possess; an “honouring feast” means a feast at which honors are given to heroes for their victories. The constant epithets “glorious,” “great,” “fair” often used to characterise oikonyms, indicating their fame, greatness and beauty, contribute to the celebration and glorification of Russian cities embodying the Russian land. Traditional cultural meanings (concepts), which are part of the folklore, becoming meaningful constants of the epic picture of the world, undergo transformation. For example, a hat/cap of the Greek land -- a wonderworking object functioning as a military weapon with the help of which a bohatyr defeats the enemy. The proposed approach to the study of constant epithets, which considers the mental existence of oral poetic invariables and the attitude to folklore as a worldview phenomenon, contributes to a better comprehension of the Russian epic.