Open AccessFlaying Angels: Аn Early Byzantine Edifying Tale Preserved Only in Slavic Translation
Author(s) -
Sergey A. Ivanov
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
slověne/slovene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.165
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2305-6754
pISSN - 2304-0785
DOI - 10.31168/2305-6754.2021.10.1.1
Subject(s) - byzantine architecture , legend , slavic languages , action (physics) , islam , history , ancient history , literature , art , classics , archaeology , physics , quantum mechanics
On the basis of four existing manuscripts, a Byzantine “spiritually beneficial tale” is published for the first time. This is an obvious translation from Greek but its original is nowhere attested. The action takes place in Jerusalem and its surroundings, the actors are pre-Islamic Arabs. In all probability, the story was written down at the beginning of the 6th century; the hidden message of the legend is the questionability of “barbaric” conversions as such.