The image of Skald in Russian lyric: stages of formation and versions

Тпе article considers the formation of the image of skald in Russian poetry of the 18th-21st centuries. The author analyzes the artistic semantics of this image, as well as plots, motifs and contexts connected with it. Cultural and historical allusions to Old Icelandic poetry play a special role in Russian poetic tradition and particularly in the formation of the image of skald. During the 18th-21st centuries, it evolves through three stages. The first stage in this process is associated with the reception of Ossian's poetry by Russian literature and culture at the end of the 18th - the first quarter of the 19th century (in the works by G. R. Derzhavin, K. N. Batyushkov, E. A. Baratynsky). The poetic canon created by Ossian and his followers was developed and modified. The second stage refers to the last third of the 19th century and the Silver Age of Russian poetry. This stage involves the lyric hero's introspection and comprehension of his role in the world culture. The image of skald became more complicated; individual myth-making was superimposed on the complex system of Norse mythology. The third stage, which began in the last decade of the 20th century, is characterized by the search and renovation of the cultural identity and new artistic forms through return to the old canons of Old Norse poetry (Poetic Edda and songs of skalds). Special attention is given in the paper to the process of adaptation of the borrowed image to Russian poetic tradition. The chosen research perspective allows us to conclude that Scandinavian images periodically arose in Russian cultural consciousness of the three centuries under study. We deem it right that the image of skald is included into the broad context of the "Scandinavian text" of Russian literature.