FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGICAL IMAGES IN FANTASY WORKS

ABSTRACT

Authors of fantasy novels usually address to ancient myths while creating their main heroes. They make use of mythological and folklore creatures and by adding some individual characteristics, they change the images. This article analyses general and individual properties of images used in “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S.Lewis and “Harry Potter” by J.K.Rowling.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Авторы фэнтезийных романов при создании своих главных героев часто обращаются к древним мифам. Они используют мифологические и фольклорные существа и, добавляя какие-то индивидуальные характеристики, изменяют образы. В статье анализируются общие и индивидуальные свойства образов, использованных в «Хрониках Нарнии» К.С.Льюиса и «Гарри Поттере» Джоан Роулинг.

Keywords: image, concreteness, individuality, multi-meaning, folklore, mythology.

Ключевые слова: образ, конкретность, индивидуальность, многозначность, фольклор, мифология.

In modern literary studies, different definitions are given to the concept of image. According to Prof.  L.I. Timofeev, “an image is a generalized and, at the same time, a concrete picture of human life created with the help of fabric and acquired an aesthetic value”. [1, pp 62-63] Artistic scenes of human life include five features: a) generalization, b) concreteness, individuality, c) use of artistic texture, d) achieving impressiveness in the image, and g) multi-meaning.

Historically, a system of mythological and folklore images has been formed in the oral literature of each nation, and these images have entered the written literature over time, and the authors have been using them to make their works more attractive.

In “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” authors used a number of mythological and folklore images, including positive images like centaurs, unicorns, red gnomes, spirits, and negative images like troll, giant, goblin, faun, werewolf, dragon, a three-headed dog. Their image and functions in the works go back to the myths of ancient peoples. However, in the works analyzed by us, these images are individualized by the authors and have their own symbolic meaning.

In “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” - the image of half-man-half-horse creatures, that is, centaurs. They are reflected in the mythology of different peoples. The image of similar creatures is depicted in the Iranian mythology “Gopotshah” and in the religion of Islam (half-man-half-bull) [2, p 105]. But in English fantasy novels, it is clear that more references are made to Greek mythology. Centaurs were depicted as wild and rude creatures, and later, over time, under the influence of the wise centaurs Chiron and Pholus, depicted in the legend of “Heracles”, these creatures became symbols of wisdom and harmony with nature. In the novels, we can observe that centaurs have become a product of individualized artistic description and fully fulfilled the symbolic function. In the first part of the work, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hogwarts school keeper Hagrid introduces Harry and his friends to centaurs. In the work, although centaurs are celestial beings who protect their territory, that is, the forest, from other creatures and strangers and live in harmony with nature, they are described as very wise, intelligent beings who can predict the future based on the position of the planets. During the play, the centaurs sometimes fight against Harry and sometimes stand on his side against Voldemort [3, p 252]. Centaurs are creatures who fight evil in the cause of good, and act as guides and advisors to Harry and his friends throughout the play.

In “The Chronicles of Narnia” the image of the centaur is also present among the creatures that inhabit the forests of Narnia. The centaurs in this work have many fighting skills, and they always stand on Aslan's side against the enemy. As in Harry Potter, these creatures can also predict the future based on the position of the stars [4, p 15]. The image of the centaur created in these works is different from the images of Greek mythology. The authors enriched these images with the ability to read the sky and the stars. We think that the authors developed the images they created based on the origin of the gods of the centaurs named Chiron and Pholus in ancient Greek mythology.

Unicorn – in Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese mythologies is considered a one-king creature with the body of a bull, a goat or a horse [2, p 204]. The entry of this creature into mythology is associated with ancient Hindu literature, where it was first described as a wild donkey, and later it was also reflected in Asian and European myths. In the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the unicorn became a symbol of purity and virginity. Its horn or alicorn was considered a cure for diseases or an ointment to purify poisoned water. In the first part of the Harry Potter series, this image was used as a symbol of immortality. It is mentioned in the play that whoever drinks the blood of the unicorn will be immortal. Before creating the characters mentioned in Rowling's work, she thoroughly studied the mythology of all nations. In ancient Chinese mythology, this image was considered a symbol of not only virginity, but also of immortality. In order to achieve impressiveness in the image, Rowling skillfully used artistic texture and skillfully depicted the scene of the killing of the unicorn, a symbol of virginity, by the tyrant Voldemort [3, p 255].

This mythological image is also mentioned in the chronicles. Even if all creatures betray the lion, the unicorn is always loyal. The author, who did not avoid the features of generality and individuality, took the appearance of the unicorn he created from myths, and the qualities of wisdom and fighting that he gave him served to distinguish him from the characters in other works. One of the last kings of Narnia, Tyrian's best friend is a recluse named Jewel, who gives the king valuable advice on how to run the kingdom. These creatures fight valiantly against the enemy during parts of the novel and use their corns as weapons.

Negative images are also divided into 2 types from the point of view of their physical appearance: 1) large and disgusting creatures - trolls and giants 2) small tyrants - black gnomes and goblins. In the process of analyzing the works listed by our object, we came across characters with similar appearance but different names, among which we can include trolls and giants, gnomes and goblins. Trolls and giants are tall and lanky creatures that have a negative connotation in mythology and folklore. Even modern children's author Alice Peebles wrote a book called Trolls and Giants, in which she wrote about the similarities and differences between these creatures [6]. Trolls are described as giants living in caves in Germano-Scandinavian mythology. Although they are ugly, they are very strong, but short-sighted creatures. In folklore, trolls harm people, and are sometimes called cannibals. In the mythology of ancient Scandinavian peoples (Norway, Denmark), trolls lived separately from people in mountains, hills or caves. In “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone”, the troll is used to scare children, scare them, and trap Harry. The author creates his image on the basis of a prototype, that is, the same as the trolls in the myths of ancient peoples. He even skillfully describes the stench coming from it [3, p 174].

And in “The Chronicles of Narnia” the image of giants, close to the image of trolls, is well used, unlike the trolls in Harry Potter, they are not used to scare children, but, on the contrary, to help them fight against the enemy. Giants, according to the definition given in the Encyclopedia Britannica, are giant creatures with a human-like appearance, but a very wild and vicious character [7]. In the fairy tales of the European peoples, they are described as short-sighted. The giants depicted in medieval English legends were kind and friendly, contrary to the initial images. Lewis also gave such positive characteristic to the giants living in the land of Chronicles, which he created.

Another mythological figure found in parts of Narnia is the faun, which is considered neither negative nor positive, but is a transpositional character, that is, if it is depicted as evil at the beginning of the work, it passes to the side of the characters during the events of the plot. Faun is a half-man, half-goat creature in Greek and Roman mythology. They are included in the ranks of negative characters in Greek mythology, and are described as creatures that frighten people who have lost their way or wander alone. The image that inspired Lewis to create the entire Chronicles of Narnia was a faun, and he began writing the novel when the image of this creature with a goat's hooves walking in the snow with an umbrella in hand came to his mind. Describing the faun named Tumnus in this work, the author refers to the initial features of the image. He first appears in the novel as a character who kidnaps children, then regrets his actions and helps them fight the enemy [5, p 4].

Therefore, an artistic image is an artistic representation of a person, nature or individual events in a literary work, which has both general and concrete characteristics, that is, when it copies the exemplary aspects from the images created before it, it is enriched with some individual characteristic that is not present in other images. The mythological and folklore images analyzed in the works “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” and “The Chronicles of Narnia”, which are the object of our research, are positive (centaur, unicorn), negative (werewolf, ghost, dragon, three-headed dog) and transposition (faun) images, and according to size, we divided them into large (troll, giant) and short (goblin, gnome) images. While creating these images, both authors give generality and concreteness to the image by adding certain additional functions or characteristic of their own through artistic texture while referring to the myths of Greek or other ancient peoples in order to increase the impact.

References:

1. Тимофеев Л.И. Основы теории литературы. – М. Просвещение, 1976. – 355 с.
2. Мелетинский Е.М. Мифологический словарь. – Москва: «Советская энциклопедия», 1990. – 709 c.
3. Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. – New York: Arthur A. Levine books, 1998. –327 p.
4. Lewis C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: the Last Battle. – HarperCollins e-books, 2002. – 240 p.
5. Lewis C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. – HarperCollins e-books, 2008. – 156 p.
6. Peebles A. Mythical Beasts. Giants and Trolls. –Cornwall, Hungry tomato, 2015. – 32 p.
7. Encyclopedia Britannica – URL// https://www.britannica.com/search?query=giant