Sadko
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sadko was a legendary hero of a Onega-Novgorodian bylina (epic tale) of the same name, a merchant and gusli musician from Novgorod. The word "Садко" (Sadko) is slavonic adoptation of jevish word "Zaddik/Zedek". Sadko is the just man like Melchizedek, King of Salem. So Sadko is a spiritual image of the right christian man. It have to know that in north-west russian folklore Sadko and Melchizedek is one person. So in the old russian/slavonic north-west legend King of Salem is the patron of City Lord Great Novgorod (Господин Великий Новгород). There are such words in russian folklore: "We have The Communion by the order of Sadko" (e.g.: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek" [Psalm 110:4]).
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Synopsis
Sadko played the gusli on the shores of a lake. The Sea Tsaritsa (female Tsar) enjoyed his music, and offered to help him. Sadko made a bet with the local merchants about catching a certain fish in the lake; when he caught it, the merchants had to pay the wager, making Sadko a rich merchant.
Sadko traded on the seas with his new wealth, but one day, his ships stopped in the sea and would not move. He and his sailors tried to appease the Sea Tsaritsa with gold, but finally Sadko had to jump into the sea. He played the gusli for the Sea Tsaritsa, who offered him a new bride. On advice, he took the last maiden in a long line, and lay down beside her.
He woke up on the shore and rejoined his wife.
Motifs
In some variants, Sadko is chosen to jump overboard by throwing lots between the men. This motif is a widespread device, appearing, for instance, in Child ballad 57 Brown Robyn's Confession.
Adaptations
This tale attracted the attention of several authors in 19th century with the rise of the Slavophile movement and served as a basis for a number of derived works, most notably the poem "Sadko" by Alexei Tolstoy and the opera Sadko composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who also wrote the libretto. In 1922 the English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji wrote a transcription of the "Hindu Merchant's Song" as the third of his Three Pastiches for Piano. In 1953, Aleksandr Ptushko directed a film based on the opera entitled Sadko. A shortened and heavily-modified American version of this film entitled The Magic Voyage of Sinbad was spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. (The original version of the film is available on DVD from RusCiCo).
Historical parallels
Sadko can be viewed as a metaphor for Yaroslav the Wise. Vivid parallel is the presence of Vyshata. The liberation of the Novgorodian people by Sadko can also be linked to the establishment of the Novgorod Republic by Yaroslav. Sadko may also be based on a certain Sedko Sitinits, who is mentioned in the Novgorodian First Chronicle as the patron of the stone Church of Boris and Gleb built in the Novgorodian Detinets in 1167.
See also
