A New Source for the Study of Ust-Tsilma Bylinas (Russian Heroic Epics): The 1975 Recording of Ivan Ivanovich Chuprov

This publication introduces a new source for studying the epic tradition of the Ust-Tsilma District of the Komi Republic (Pechora River Basin). This is the tape recording of two bylinas obtained by the Folklore Archive of the Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University at the end of 2018. The bylinas “Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich” (365 verses) and “Stavr Godinovich” (fragment, 62 verses) were performed by a resident of Ust-Tsilma Village, 83-year-old Ivan Ivanovich Chuprov (1892–1983) at the request of his granddaughter Tatyana Petryasheva (Tatyana Mikhailovna Kotelnikova). She made the recording in 1975. The introduction of this material into scientific circulation is relevant due to the fact that by now almost all known records of Pechora bylinas identified by researchers have been published, and the new material will add to the corpus of texts of the two stories, making them available for comparative study. The article presents the history of obtaining these recordings, information about the storyteller, and commentary on both works based on comparison with other Pechora variants, as a result of which the most noticeable differences at the plot-motive level and in unique poetic details are highlighted. Text transcripts of the audio recordings are appended, with commentary by E.A. Dorokhova.