Bulgarian Literature

The paper discusses problems and points of view related to set up networking between Scripta Bulgarica project (http://www.scripta-bulgarica.eu/bg), Repertorium of Old Bulgarian literature and letters (http://repertorium.obdurodon.org/), and also other corpuses (e.g. Codex Suprasliensis from the 10th century: http://suprasliensis.obdurodon.org/, etc.) for further improvement of linking between data bases. The proposed networking will connect transcribed texts with terminology in palaeoslavistics, and other on-line resources, such as electronic editions of individual sites, electronic dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographic arrays and so on. The networking will decided a number of problems that can not yet solve in a satisfactory way. The results will be useful not only for the palaeoslavists but also for librarians, teachers, and students, representatives of mass media and the general public interested in Slavic literacy.

This article discusses the presumable composition of the Service for the Heavenly Bodiless Angelic Powers, which was included in the Old Bulgarian Menaion under the date of 8 November and has no Greek parallel. Taking into account the fact that there are two known kanons of probable Old Bulgarian origin, the author searches in various manuscripts for the rest of the chants that, according to the liturgical rules, might have been part of the service.

The article discusses the currently available information on the extant copies of Filip Stanislavov’s Abagar, printed in Rome by the Propaganda Fide in 1651. Starting from Božidar Rajkov’s 1979 edition, which lists fifteen known copies and their presumed location, the article offers information on several copies that are not reported by Rajkov. These include copies in London, Paris, and Uppsala, the latter in the form of a scroll. In addition, the current location of most of the earlier known copies has been verified, and new information on a number of copies is presented: for example, the copy formerly located in Brussels is currently preserved at the Bibliothèque Diderot in Lyon, whereas the two German copies seem to have been lost.

Among the great number of Bogomil apocrypha there is one which tells about the struggle between Archangel Michael and Satanail, who steals his sacred garment. A. Miltenova publishes two Slavonic versions of this text in “Old-Bulgarian literature”. (Book 9, 1981, p. 98-113). The plot of this apocryph is familiar in the Bogomil circles in Bulgaria and Serbia (there is a fresco from the 14th century in the church “St. Archangel Michael” in Lesnovo, which depicts the plot of the apochryph). Apart from the Slavonic version, however, there is also an extensive Greek variant of the same text. The story has typical Bogomil features. Satanail decides to be equal to God and escapes from Heaven, taking with him the angelic garment. God orders Archangel Michael to bring the garment back. He pretends to take the side of Satanail, deceives him and steals the piece of clothing. The Greek version is famous from only one manuscript, Vatic.Gr. 1190a. 1542. Fol.882-887. The text considerably differs from the two Slavonic versions, published by A. Miltenova. The origin of the Greek variant is quite unclear. There is no direct evidence about the translation of this text from Slavic to Greek, but its Bogomil origin is obvious. Therefore, such a translation seems possible. Such being the case, this could be a unique occasion in the post Byzantine literary tradition. The Greek version is published for the first time, with a translation in Russian, brief introduction and notes.