Mythological concept thunderstorm in English, Swedish and Slavonic song discourses

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Department of Germanic Philology and Translation, Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Mythological concept thunderstorm in English, Swedish and Slavonic song discourses

Gusar A.V.

The current state of linguistic science is marked by a tendency to study the relationship between language, on the one hand, and knowledge structures, processes of thinking and consciousness, on the other. According to such a tendency, the particular interest could be found in the integrative study of speech and language as a linguo-creative phenomenon and in the study of semiotic and cognitive features of linguistic units to denote mythological phenomena which are supposed to be the basic constructs of the alternative worlds.

This field has witnessed the appearance of different researches devoted to the development of conceptual analysis methods, among which there are remarkable works by A. Askoldov, A. Babushkin, S. Vorkachev, I. Golubovska, V. Karasyk, V. Kolesov, E. Kubryakova, D. Likhachev, V Maslova, Z. Popova, I. Sternin, R. Frumkina, O. Kolesnyk, A. Levitsky etc.

A human being constantly contemplates the world around himself or herself, he or she percepts, realizes, interprets, feels, cognizes and reproduces it. Depending on the cognitive activity and reflective abilities of the individual's mind, an image of the world is created in his head and can accurately convey the perception characteristics of the real (from his point of view) and fictional worlds [3]. As a result of one's interactive activities, each person creates a system of concepts and representations which form the footing of a certain image of the world or world picture - that is, “an originally achievable reality” [2]. For some other person, this reality could be an imaginary/alternative world.

Texts of different discourses, which are at the same time verbally embodied images of the world or worlds, also represent semiotic correlates of an infinite number of worlds with different axiological coordinate systems. A complete set of such discourses constructs the information field of our planet, the noosphere. To create a new alternative world, a person must first consider the basic, underlying information structures, unprovable nature of which allows us to correlate them with certain universal myths that function in mythological space. The mythological space is the conductor for the person's consciousness to the underlying semantic structures which serve as a material for new alternative informational formations, new worlds, new texts, new discourses.

According to O. Kolesnyk, national-cultural texts, conceived in the internal form of nominations of mythological concepts and mythological scenarios outline the initial configuration of the world and the apparent scenarios of its inner changes. Every rethinking of such nominations by new participants leads to the creation of new notational meanings that make the corresponding concepts play in “stereotyped situationally modified scenarios”, which are a fractal reflection of basic mythological scenarios. Decoding texts by using the mythological space provides an entry to the world of a certain level of reality and abstraction, and generates in the imagination of the recipe-interpreter images and concepts that make up the “secondary myth” [2], which differs from the “original matrix of the world”. Recipe-interpreter or linguistic personality is the subject of a semiosis that performs linguistically-apocryphal modeling of the world / worlds, which results in a certain “holographic image” that, in turn, can be materialized in other code systems, for example, in music discourse.

The relevance of our research is caused by the interest of present- day linguistics in such a decoding of basic concepts of different mythological spaces and in finding out how these concepts could be rediscovered in modern discourses, especially in modern songs. Considering all said above we can name the purpose of this article which is to study how the mythological concept THUNDERSTORM is represented in modern song discourses of different cultures, namely English, Swedish and Slavonic (Russian and Ukrainian) and the construction of their associative fields, which is significant to understand the mental processes that occurred when an individual was perceiving, comprehending and, consequently, cognizing the reality a long time ago and to see how it works nowadays.

To begin our decoding research, we will consider first how the concept “thunderstorm” is understood and pictured in nowadays reality. Modern lexicographic sources interpret lexeme “thunderstorm” as a certain atmospheric phenomenon, which is explained by the laws of physics. For example, in Merriam-Webster dictionary, you can find the first simple definition: “a thunderstorm is a storm accompanied by lightning and thunder” [9]. In some other sources, you can find more explicit definition: “a thunderstorm is a storm of heavy rain accompanied by lightning, thunder, wind, and sometimes hail” [8]. Other languages have the same explanation for this natural phenomenon. Today people normally perceive a thunderstorm not as a will or anger of the gods, but as a meteorological phenomenon, however, in the linguistic picture of the world there are still traces of the ancient mythological perception, which could be revealed in the etymological background of the core notion “thunder”.

In English, noun “thunder” appeared before the 12th century and was used in its first modern meaning, which came from Old English ^unor “thunder, thunderclap; the god Thor,” from ProtoGermanic *thunraz (source also of Old Norse ^orr, Old Frisian thuner, Middle Dutch donre, Dutch donder, Old High German donar, German Donner «thunder»), from PIE *(s)tene- “to resound, thunder” (source also of Sanskrit tanayitnuh “thundering,” Persian tundar “thunder,” Latin tonare “to thunder”). Verb came from Old English ^unrian, from the source of thunder (n.) and has some additional meaning, figurative sense of “to speak loudly, threateningly, or bombastically” which is recorded from mid-14c. (dutchdonderen, German donnern) [11].

In Swedish notion “aska” = “thunder” according to Norse mythology originally meant that “^sir, god Thor is somewhere out and rides his chariot pulled by goats” (as = god + aka (aka) = ride). In Danish and Norwegian there is only notion “torden” which is Swedish “tordon” (tor (aska) = thunder and don (dunder) = to make a loud sound) and literally means “Thor's din.” The unetymological -d- also is found in Dutch and Icelandic versions of the word. In some old Swedish dialects people still use verb “torar” to note the approaching of thunder [7]. In Celtic mythology, there was also a god of thunder Taranis (in Irish Tuireann). His name is originally connected with Germanic god Thor.

In Slavic languages, concept “гроза” ['groza] has also some thought-provoking connotations. It derives from Proto-Slavic *groza (Greek фркг|) = horror, to compare: Ukrainian гроза, Bolgarianrpo3a, Serbo-Croatian гроза = “thrill, horror”, Slovenian groza, Czech hrnza, Slovak hroAza, Polish groza. Verb ProtoSlavic “грозить, грожу” = “threaten” akin to Lithuanian grazoju, grazoti, Latvian grgzuot “threaten, to be angry”; also a possible connection to the Greek уоруод «terrible, horrifying», Горую «terrible ghost» [4]. In other words, the Slavic concept of thunder in its lexicographic interpretation reflects the notions of “trouble, danger”, or “something (that) inspires fear, causes horror”, “something terrifying, or horrible” [1]. What was that supernatural power which scared people, who possessed it and why we will try to find out in the next passage proceeding to the next lingua-semiotic stage of decoding our mythological concept THUNDERSTORM.

According to 19th century science, nature and meteorological phenomena were a major source of inspiration for humans in the myths creating process. Some mythologists preferred to look for solar gods, but lots of them also regarded thunder as the key element for understanding the symbolism of ancient deities (A. Kuhn, W. Schwartz) [5]. Folklore about thunder has strong legendary qualities because it discusses the relationship of man with supernatural powers and his vulnerable position in relation to those powers. Lots of our ancestors lived in the lands that were subjected to thunderstorms which are to be some hugely dramatic events, especially when they are experienced under the open sky. People saw the lightning, smelled the ozone, heard the ear-splitting rolls of thunder, felt the rain and hail and naturally they were impressed by all this incomprehensible magic and believed that this was “a direct divine communication” [6]. At once they began to pray, make promises, offerings and hoped that this divine something would go elsewhere as soon as possible.

In many mythic discourses there is a god of thunder - a source or personification of terrible natural forces (primarily thunder and lightning). Above all thunder is personified as “a wrathful god, who chases devils and tries to strike them dead with his arrow of lightning”. So it is a widely spread international belief that Thunder is a celestial deity who destroys evil powers. The image of this god varies significantly in different cultures depending on their primary occupation (nomads, farmers or Vikings). For example, in Indo-European tradition, the thunder god is often the chief god, the ruler of all other gods (Zeus in Greek mythology and Jupiter in Roman, Indra in Hinduism, Perun in Slavic mythology,) or is in close, often familial relations with the main god (for example, Thor, the son of Odin in Germanic mythology) [5].

In Finno-Ugric folklore the god of thunder is imagined as a celestial rider who chases evil spirits or devil and kills them with some fire-weapons, causing thunder and lightning. Estonians, for example, imagined thunder to be an old, serious and strict man who took fatherly care of his children: “when it thundered, it was said that the old man is walking in the fields and shouting with his powerful voice, chasing evil spirits and if he found one, either in a house, in a tree or in a cliff, he flashed a vengeful beam and destroyed the hiding place of the evil one” [5]. In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перун) is the chief god and the god of thunder and lightning. His attributes were fire, mountains, wind, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament, horses and carts, weapons (hammer, axe, and arrow) and war (he was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal) [14]. Name “Perun” is strongly correlated with Perkunas/Perkons from Baltic mythology, suggesting a common derivative of the Proto-Indo European thunder god (whose original name has been reconstructed as Perkwunos) [5]. The root *perkwu originally was defined as an oak (a tree which is frequently struck by lightning), but in Proto-Slavic part “per-” meat also “to strike, to slay” so the name of the thunder god refers to him as a striker. The natural phenomenon of thunderstorm was believed to be the battle of Perun with the Divines - the gods of fear and death and the demons sent by Chernobog (Black God), Mara and other evil spirits. Perun rides along the sky in a golden chariot, pulled by nine winged golden horses. He kills evil spirits and blesses the ground with a life-giving water [1]. Considering these facts, we can also conclude that Slavic peoples have shared the international belief that the thunder god uses his powers to destroy devils.

With the advent of Christianity, “duties” of Perun passed to Elijah the Prophet [1]. It gives us a clue that even in the Bible, there is some traces of thunder god or at least of some figure that can command thunder and lightning - a prophet Elijah who departed this world in a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire. Elijah appeals also to the Lord “to evoke heavy rain, and the sky grows black with clouds and a wind rises” [5]. These facts from the Holy Scripture support Elijah's role as causer of thunder - when it thunders, it is said that Elijah drives in a fiery chariot. There are other recordings which manifest that thunder appears to be an instrument of the Christian God. It is believed that two angels blow trumpets during a thunderstorm as thunder usually spreads into two directions. On Doomsday, twelve angels blow trumpets together, the thunder will be so heavy then that heaven and earth will collide and break apart. The lightning is a consuming fire, sent by God to earth to punish people and remind them of the last judgment day. The material environment responds to man's behavior and natural occurrences such as thunder and lightning have moral significance. These natural phenomena do not exist independently from man but are provoked by humans. Thunder is a demonstration of God's wrath and a moral message to Christians who fail to live faultlessly.

The core belief about thunder destroying evil powers is also spread among the Germanic peoples. The ancient Germanic thunder god was characterized by W. Schwartz as follows: “Donar was believed to be a gigantic, demonic being, moving through the clouds, urging his thunderous steed around the sky in the wild commotion of the storm. The flash of lightning that shot underneath the clouds was believed to be the flash of his eye, which was shaded by the clouds as by a hat. But the flash of lightning could, at the same time, be a spear hurled from the heights, or a gleaming sword” [5]. mythology concept song discourse

All in all, if we summarize both decoding stages, we will be able to give a general description of the universal mythological concept “thunderstorm” which functions almost identically in English, Swedish and Slavonic both ancient and modern pictures of view. It reflects how our ancestors understood the natural phenomenon of a thunderstorm: they imagined some celestial deity to be a master and cause of thunder, lightning, wind and other accompanying natural forces which were used in a global fight against devils and evil spirits and sometimes against sinful people; possessing some basic archetypical features of a father who protects and punishes hid naughty children.

Now that we have the decoded concept THUNDERSTORM, we can find out how it is implied in the linguo-creative process, that is, in the process of creating new worlds, in our case, in modern songs.

In English song discourse the concept THUNDERSTORM is quite often associated with Scandinavian god of thunder Thor and he is described to be a fearless and powerful savior of mankind, a father of all people, who is going to suffer just to save his children: “Thor Odin's son / Protector of mankind / Rise to meet your fate / Your destiny awaits", “God of thunder, god of rain / Earth shaker who feels no pain / The powerhead of the universe / Now send your never ending curse", “Oh Thor above the mountain /Look down upon your children", also he is described as a god of war who fights against evil: “Thor the mighty, Thor the brave / Crush the infidels in your way", “...And this heaven is the home / Of every man who loves his sword / And he uses it for freedom / To preach the word of Thor", “We're like thunder and lightning / We're always fighting, there's no denying", “Asgard's calling to war for the earth /Mighty hammer of Thor Mjolnir / Lightning's magical lord of thunder"[13]. In some songs powers of Thor are highlighted by different natural phenomena: “Crack in the distance, a flash in the sky / It's getting dark, clouds gather power / You heard it coming from over the hill /It's time to run, time to seek cover /Now there is no hideaway / And you have no chance / Thor and his hammer are riding his chariots of storm". In Swedish music discourse powers of the thunder god are also often emphasized by weather description: “Med sin styrka, med sitt mod se hansvrede / GUDEN TOR / Hylladavman, som dog, ejforgaves / DE SPILLDE SITT BLOD / Blixtochdunder, ifranmjolner, Tors ilska / DEN GLODER / Vindenviner, detblaserkallt, askanslar/NER OVERALLT"(Eng. With his strength, with his courage see his anger / God Thor / Hailed by men, who died, not in vain / They spilled their blood / Lightning and thunder, from the clouds, Thor's anger / It's glowing / Cold wind is blowing the thunder strikes / Down over everything), “Tor haverilskan med Mjolneri sin hand/askan den dundrar/1vartvackra land"(Eng. Thor has the anger with Mjolner in his hand / thunder, it thunders in our beautiful country). He is also depicted as a god of war and savior of all men: “Se hansvrede, se hand dad, visa ej / DIN FIENDE NAD / Hammarenskraft, geross mod, ty enviking / PA SLAGFALTDOG /Med Oden, vid sin sida, de ser / KRIGARNA STRIDA / Forfrihet, ochforsitt land nu gardess / STARKA HAR FRAM"(Eng. See his anger, see your hand's deed, do not show / Your fight need / The power of the Hammers, give us courage, for a Viking / To die on the battlefield / With Odin, on their side they see / Battle of war / For freedom and for their country now it is / Strong here). In Ukrainian song discourse emotions and feelings of the thundergodPerun are often compared with thunderstorm: “Грізно вдарили у землю / Грому палиці коряві. / Гнів нестримний блискавичний / Полихнув холодним сяйвом - / Люто сріб- ною сокирою / Повітря простір розсікає..." [12] (Eng. Strongly hit the ground / Thunderstorm sticks. / Wrath unrestrained, like lightning / Beamed with cold glow - / Angrily with a silver ax / Air dissipates the space ...). Perun and his wife are often compared to ordinary married couple and have their humanlike quarrels; Perun is also represented as a warrior and as a god of war, patron of all warriors: “Гримить Перуниця, сипле живицю / На наші пашниці і наші лиця. / Сердить Перуниця та й на Перуна: / «Чом ти знов на війні, а не удома?» / «Слухай, Перунице, люба мя жоно, / Ворог сина ступає оружонно, / А хто ж підійме меч супроти та тя, /Хто захищатиме Рідне Багаття?»"(Eng. “Perunitsa (Perun's wife) makes thunder and sends rain / On our fields and our faces. / Perunitsa is angry at Perun: / “Why are you on war again, not at home?” / “Hear, Perunitsa, my dear wife,” / The enemy is approaching with weapons, / And who will raise the sword against him, / Who will defend our native land?“), «На позір Перунова Полка /Піднімає меч Ареєварука - /Намо- гутній дух, на захист нам, / На погибель злим підступним ворогам. / Гримне Небо - і тремтить Земля, / Меч Арея Русь з неволі визволя» (Eng.Arei's hand lifts the sword / For the glory of Perun warriors, / For strong spirit, for our defense. / He will kill evil foes! / The Earth shakes because of the Thunder in the Sky, / The sword of Arei brings a freedom for Rus-Ukraine. / Foes will be vanished in Ukraine. / The sword of Arei will bring our land back! [10]), «Силою Перуна загострений /Я тримаю свій меч! / Міцн акриця кована / Гостре залізо гартоване / У ворожому серці - мій меч!» (Eng. Sharpened by the force of Perun / I hold my sword! / Hard forged steel / Sharp iron / In a hostile heart goes my sword!). In Russian songs the thunder god is also defined as a patron of warriors: «Честь - дружине, князю -слава. / Песнь летит над всей землёй./ Из тьмы веков пусть громо мгря- нет. / Ратною сверкнёт стезёй./ Перун - бог воинов уда- лой!"(Eng. Honor to the fellow-warriors, glory to the prince. / The song flies over the whole earth. / From the darkness of ages let thunderclap. / flashes on the battle path./ Perun - the skilful god of warriors!). There is even a Russian song where two gods Thor and Perun are having dialog which describes both gods: «Тор: Силу гор и небес, я несу от земли /И мне перечить не смеет никто / Бывало, горы шатались от схваток моих, /Миры дрожали до самых основ. / Перун: Но я такой же как ты - я - воевода богов / Моя дорога не знала преград / Я грозным криком своим, отбросил смерть и врагов / Меня не сдвинуть - ни шагу назад.» (Eng.Thor: The strength of the mountains and the skies, I carry from the earth / And no one dares to contradict me / It happened that mountains moved because of my fights, / Worlds trembled to the very foundations. / Perun: But I am like you - I am the chief of the gods / My road did not know the obstacles / I used my terrible cry to threw away the death and enemies / No one can move me - not for one step back).Some heavy metal bands often use the concept of thunder god and his features when they describe their music: “I am the lord of the wastelands / A modern day man of steel /1 gather darkness to please me / And I command thee to kneel / Before the / God of thunder and rock and roll / The spell you're under / Will slowly rob you of your virgin soul", “They're moving to the rhythm of the drums / Their heavy sounds are breaking through the night / Gods of thunder / Sword of fate / Storm, wind and fire / Sent to devastate / And the mighty gods of thunder / Are rumbling in the sky / It's the clash of powers / With boiling rage and anger". Another unexpected mention of the thunder god is his feminine version found in some love songs used to describe passionate feelings: “Goddess of thunder / She's faster than the wind / And I know she S going under / She S going under your skin / Cruel as a tiger / You know she will win”. And these are only some examples how the mythological concept THUNDERSTORM could be rediscovered in different modern music discourses.

As shown above in our short research, we have studied the basic mythological concept THUNDERSTORM discovering that in prehistoric mentality the natural phenomenon of thunderstorm was imagined to be an incarnation of some celestial god who fought against evil spirits. All these features of ancient concept with some additional interesting interpretations were reborn in modern English, Swedish, Ukrainian and Russian songs. Our further research will be devoted to analyzing the linguistic means of embodiment of the concept THUNDERSTORM in different discourses.

References

1. Kolesnyk O.S. Lingvokreatyvnyj aspect mifologichnogo semiozysu [Linguo-creative aspect ofmythic semiosis]. / O. S. Kolesnyk // Zapysky z romano-germans'koi'filologii'. [Notes from Roman-Germanic Philology] 2013, no. 1, pp. 106-114. (In Ukrainian).

2. Levytsky A. E. Vzaimodejstvie real'nogo i irreal'nogo v prostranstve vymyshlennogo: kognitivno-diskursivnyj aspekt [The interaction of the real and the surreal in the space of the fictional: the cognitive-discursive aspect]. // Jazyk. Kul'tura. Perevod. Kommunikacija. Sbornik nauchnyh trudov. [Tongue. Culture Transfer. Communication. Collection of scientific papers]. Moscow, 2018, vol. 2 (2), pp. 369-374 (In Russian).

3. Гусар А. В. Концепт-міфологема THUNDERSTORM у англійському, шведському та слов'янському пісенних дискурсах

Summary

The article is devoted to analyzing the basic mythological concept THUNDERSTORM and studying its possible incarnations in different modern song discourses, namely, in English, Swedish and Slavonic (Russian and Ukrainian). Also it investigates the construction of its associative fields, which are significant in understanding the mental processes that occurred when an individual was perceiving, comprehending and, consequently, cognizing the reality a long time ago and compare it to how it works today.

Key words: conceptual sphere, picture of world, mythological concept, musical discourse, alternative worlds, conceptual analysis

Статтю присвячено аналізу базового кон- цепту-міфологеми THUNDERSTORM та дослідженню можливих сценаріїв його втілення у різних сучасних пісенних дискурсах, зокрема в англійському, шведському та слов'янському (російському та українському), а також побудові його асоціативних полів, важливих для розуміння ментальних процесів, які відбувалися, коли наші пращури сприймали, усвідомлювали та аналізували реальність, та процесів, властивих свідомості наших сучасників.

Ключові слова: концептосфера, картина світу, кон- цепт-міфологема, пісенний дискурс, альтернативні світи, концептуальний аналіз.

Статью посвящено анализу базового концепта-мифологемы THUNDERSTORM и исследованию возможных сценариев его воплощения в разных современных песенных дискурсах, в частности в английском, шведском и славянском (русском и украинском), а также построению его ассоциативных полей, важных для понимания ментальных процессов, что происходили, когда наши предки воспринимали, осознавали и анализировали реальность, и для понимания процессов, присущих сознанию наших современников.

Ключевые слова: концептосфера, картина мира, концепт-мифологема, песенный дискурс, альтернативные миры, концептуальный анализ.

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