‘Poetic Views of Slavic People on the Nature’ (1865-1869) is a three-volumed work by historian and folklore collector Aleksander Nickolaevich Afanasiev (1826-1871). He has worked at it for 17 years. Nowadays, it is evaluated as the main work by A., and the outstanding sample of application mythological theory at Russian folklore.
In the subtitle the author concentrated his basic idea: ‘An Attempt of Comparative Study of Slavic Legends and Beliefs, in the Context of Mythological Narrations of Other Related Peoples’. The first volume, publ. in 1865, contained 15 chapters. In the first chapter, ‘The origin of myth, the method and the means of its studying’, A. explained the myth and its shaping through the evolution of language. On his opinion, the older the epoch in question, the more is the richness of its language. He noted that before the historical shaping of a certain people, its language had already formed in its perfect view – and later it went to the decline. The initial meaning of words was forgotten, and it produced ‘fable ideas’. The author argued that the most part of mythical conceptions were shaped thanks to the observation of nature: each phenomenon demanded a creation of its ‘mythical face’. After a while, myths separated from their natural sources and were perceived independently. According to A., the key to understanding of mythical tales was in the history of language, in restoration of the ‘initial word’ connected with a certain natural phenomenon. In the following chapters, the author tried to restore meanings of various mythological plots on the material of folk sources (for instance, conceptions of light and darkness, heavens and earth, sun and so on). In the afterword to the first volume, A. mentioned foreign researchers who had an influence at his work: Max Muller, Kuhn, Manngardt, Schwartz, Pictet.
The second volume, publ. in 1868, there were six chapters (XV-XXI); the author kept analyzing Slavic conceptions of fire, water, the tree of life, forest spirits, cloudy rocks, etc. For instance, he made broad comparison of Slavic myths with Indian, Scandinavian, Greek, and other myths to show the unity of ideas on the heavenly origin of fire. The author noted the important role of the thunderer gods in the pantheon of many peoples; he connected it with a habit to cross at a candle to demonstrate the respect to the fire god. He found numerous parallels in the language and habits. The final third volume, publ. in 1869, contained seven chapters (XXII-XXVIII), on devilry, souls of deceased, heavenly maidens, witches, folk feasts, etc.
The fundamental work by A. was actively discussed by his contemporaries. Although many conclusions and explanations became obsolete, the historical importance of the research is still great. Works of the mythological school, to which A. belonged, made a big influence at the now existing theory of the ‘main myth’, worked out by V. V. Ivanov and V. N. Toporov.