Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature 1607-6192 2713-2226 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-430-450 Research Article Articles On a One Unnoticed Reminiscence from the Bible in the Tale of Boris and Gleb and on the Problem of Quotation in Old Russian Literature Ranchin Andrey M. old-rus@imli.ru 2026 25 430 450 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article examines the problem of distinguishing between quotations — functional references to the donor text in the recipient text — and non-functional inclusions from a “foreign” text — borrowings, using the material of Old Russian literature. The issue of boundaries between quotations, borrowings, and topoi is also analyzed. It is shown how a quotation and borrowing become topoi, moving from work to work. An inclusion from a “foreign” text, even without attribution, retains its quotation character if it is a statement from an authoritative text (primarily from the Holy Scripture), if the meaning of a fragment in the recipient text is unclear without recipient texts, if the reminiscence contains rare vocabulary or a rare combination of lexemes. The article focuses on the expression from the Tale of Boris and Gleb изъмълкъшьмь грътаньмь (izъmъlkъshьmь grъtanьmь), which goes back to Psalm 68: 4 and corresponds to the Greek ἐβραγχίασεν ὁ λάρυγξ μου — ‘my throat has grown hoarse’. It is proven that in the Tale of Boris and Gleb it functions as a quotation. It is demonstrated how in later copies of the Tale измълкъшм грьтаньмь there is a replacement for измълкшъм гласъмь. It is shown how, on the basis of this variant, the topos рука измолкнетъ (ruka izmolknetъ) / руки измолкоша (ruki izmolkosha) is formed in Old Russian literature. Bobrov, P. “Zaimstvovanie i vliianie” [“Borrowing and Influence”]. Pechat’ i revoliutsiia, no. 8, 1922, pp. 72–92. (In Russian) Bugoslavskii, A. “Drevnerusskie literaturnye proizvedeniia o Borise i Glebe: istoriko-literaturnoe issledovanie” [“Old Russian Literary Works about Boris and Gleb: Historical and Literary Research”]. Bugoslavskii, S.A. Tekstologiia Drevnei Rusi [Textology of Old Rus’], vol. 2, comp. Iu.A. Artamonov. Moscow, Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ., 2007, pp. 7–360. (In Russian) Wigzell, “Tsitaty iz knig sviashchennogo pisaniia v sochineniiakh Epifaniia Premudrogo” [“Quotations from the Books of Holy Scripture in the Works of Epiphanius the Wise”]. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature], vol. 26. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., Leningradskoe otdelenie, 1971, pp. 232–242. (In Russian) Gardzaniti, “Bibleiskie  tsitaty  v  literature  Slavia  Orthodoxa” [“Biblical  Quotations  in  the  Literature  of  Slavia  Orthodoxa”]. Trudy   Otdela   drevnerusskoi   literatury   [Proceedings   of   the Department of Old Russian Literature], vol. 58. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2008, pp. 28–40. (In Russian) Gardzaniti, Bibleiskie tsitaty v tserkovnoslavianskoi knizhnosti [Biblical Quotations in Church Slavonic Literature]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2014. 232 p. (In Russian) Gardzaniti, “‘Khozhenie’ igumena Daniila v Sviatuiu zemliu. Literatura i bogoslovie na Rusi XII veka” [“‘The Journey’ of Hegumen Daniel to the Holy Land. Literature and Theology in Rus’ in the 12th Century”]. Slavianovedenie, no. 2, 1995, pp. 22–38. (In Russian) Gasparov, L. “Literaturnyi intertekst i iazykovoi intertekst” [“Literary Intertext and Linguistic Intertext”]. Gasparov, M.L. Izbrannye trudy [Selected Works], vol. 4. Moscow, Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ., 2012, pp. 65–74. (In Russian) Gasparov, L., and E.G. Ruzina. “Vergilii i vergilianskie tsentony: poetika formul i poetika reministsentsii” [“Virgil and Virgilian Centones: the Poetics of Formulas and the Poetics of Reminiscences”]. Gasparov, M.L. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], in 6 vols, vol. 2, comp. N.P. Grintser, M.L. Andreev. Moscow, Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie Publ., 2021, pp. 237–259. (In Russian) Griffin, “Evkharisticheskii podtekst muchenichestva kniazei Borisa i Gleba” [“The Eucharistic Subtext of the Martyrdom of Princes Boris and Gleb”]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Series 2. History, vol. 65, issue 2, 2020, pp. 5–18. (In Russian) Dviniatin, N. “Traditsionnyi tekst v torzhestvennykh slovakh sv. Kirilla Turovskogo” [“Traditional Text in the Solemn Words of St. Cyril of Turov”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature], eds. O.V. Gladkova, E.B. Rogachevskaia, iss. 8. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 1995, pp. 81–101. (In Russian) Zholkovskii, K. “Zametki o tekste, podtekste i tsitatsii u Pasternaka (K raz- licheniiu strukturnykh i geneticheskikh sviazei)” [“Notes on the Text, Subtext, and Citations in Pasternak (Towards Distinguishing Structural and Genetic Links)”]. Boris Pasternak: Essays, ed. N.A. Nilsson. Stockholm, Almqvist a. Wiksell Intern., 1976, рр. 67–84. (In Russian) Zapol’skaia, N. “Bibleiskie tsitaty v tekstakh konfessional’noi kul’tury: semantika, funktsii, adaptatsiia” [“Biblical Quotes in the Texts of Confessional Culture: Semantics, Functions, Adaptation”]. Slavianskii al’manakh [Slavic Almanac], 2002. Moscow, Institute of Slavic Studies of RAS Publ.; Indrik Publ., 2003, pp. 482–492. (In Russian) Kazimova, A. “Psaltirnye tsitaty v ‘Slove prostrannom, izlagaiushchem s zhalostiiu nestroeniia i bezchiniia tsarei i vlastei poslednego veka sego’” Maksima Greka” [“Psalter quotations in the ‘Lengthy Sermon, Pityingly Expounding the Disorders and Lawlessness of the Tsars and Authorities of the Last Age’ by Maximus the Greek”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 13, ed. D.S. Mendeleeva. Moscow, Znak Publ., 2008, pp. 495–521. (In Russian) Kamchatnov, M. “Forma aorista reche kak znak tsitatsii v drevnerusskikh tekstakh” [“The Aorist Form of ‘Reche’ as a Sign of Citation in Old Russian Texts”]. Drevniaia Rus’. Voprosy medievistiki, no. 1 (15), 2004, pp. 14–16. (In Russian) Karavashkin, V. “Labirinty tsentonno-parafrazovogo metoda” [“Labyrinths of the Centon-paraphrase Method”]. Istochnikovedenie kul’tury: Al’manakh [Source Studies of Culture: Almanac], iss. 1. Moscow, RSUH, 2007, pp. 373–381. (In Russian) Koniavskaia, L. “Problema obshchikh mest v drevneslavianskikh literatura (na materiale agiografii)” [“The Problem of Common Places in Old Slavic Literature (Based on Hagiography)”]. Ruthenica, vol. 3. Kyiv, Institute of History of Ukraine, NAS of Ukraine, 2004, pp. 80–84. (In Russian) Levinton, A. “K probleme literaturnoi tsitatsii” [“On the Problem of Literary Сitation”]. Materialy XXVI nauchnoi studencheskoi konferentsii. Literaturovedenie. Lingvistika [Proceedings of the XXVI Scientific Student Conference. Literary Criticism. Linguistics]. Tartu, Tartu State University, 1971, pp. 52–57. (In Russian) Likhachev, S. “Literaturnyi etiket Drevnei Rusi: (K probleme izucheniia)” [“Literary Etiquette of Old Rus’: (On the Problem of Study)”]. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature], vol. 17. Moscow; Leningrad, Academy of Sciences of USSR Publ., 1961, pp. 5–16. (In Russian) Likhachev, D.S. Poetika drevnerusskoi literatury [Poetics of Old Russian Literature]. 2nd , suppl. Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaia literature Publ., 1971. 415 p. (In Russian) Marchalis, N. “Reministsentsiia, parafraza, tsitatsiia: o printsipakh ispol’zovaniia istochnikov v moskovskoi polemicheskoi literature XVI veka” [“Reminiscence, Paraphrase, Citation: on the Principles of Using Sources in Moscow Polemical Literature of the 16th Century”]. Contributi italiani al XIV Congresso Interntationale degli Slavisti (Ohrid, 10–16 settembre 2008), a cura di Alberti, S. Garzonio, N. Marcialis, B. Sulpasso. Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2008, pp. 167–178. (Biblioteca di Studi Slavistici. 7) (In Russian) Mints, G. “Funktsiia reministsentsii v poetike A. Bloka” [“The Function of Reminiscences in the Poetics of A. Blok”]. Trudy po znakovym sistemam [Works on Sign Systems], iss. 6. Tartu, Tartu State University, 1973, pp. 387–417. (Scientific Notes of Tartu University, iss. 308) (In Russian) Pikkio, “Funktsiia bibleiskikh tematicheskikh kliuchei v literaturnom kode pravoslavnogo slavianstva” [“The Function of Biblical Thematic Clues in the Literary Code of Slavia Orthodoxa”], trans. from English O. Belova. Pikkio, R. Slavia Orthodoxa: Literatura i iazyk [Slavia Orthodoxa: Literature and Language], eds.-in-chief N.N. Zapol’skaia, V.V. Kalugin, ed. M.M. Sokol’skaia, pref. V.V. Kalu- gin. Moscow, Znak Publ., 2003, pp. 431–473. (In Russian) Ranchin, M. “O topike v drevnerusskoi slovesnosti: k probleme razgranicheniia toposov i tsitat” [“On the Topic in Old Russian Literature: On the Problem of Distinguishing Topoi and Quotes”]. Drevniaia Rus’. Voprosy medievistiki, no. 3, 2012, pp. 21–32. (In Russian) Ranchin, M. Pamiatniki Borisoglebskogo tsikla: tekstologiia, poetika, religiozno- kul’turnyi kontekst [Monuments of the Borisoglebian Cycle: Textual Criticism, Poetics, Religious and Cultural Context]. Moscow, Universitet Dmitriia Pozhar- skogo Publ., Russkii fond sodeistviia obrazovaniiu i nauke Publ., 2017. 512 p. (In Russian) Tvorogov, V. “Zadachi izucheniia ustoichivykh literaturnykh formul Drevnei Rusi” [“Tasks of Studying Set Literary Formulas of Old Rus’”]. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature], vol. 20, Moscow; Leningrad, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1964, pp. 29–40. (In Russian) Toporov, V.N. Sviatost’ i sviatye v russkoi dukhovnoi kul’ture [Holiness and Saints in Russian Spiritual Culture], vol. 1. Moscow, Gnozis Publ, Iazyki russkoi kul’tury , 1995. 875 p. (In Russian) Fateeva, A. Kontrapunkt intertekstual’nosti, ili Intertekst v mire tekstov [Counterpoint of Intertextuality, or Intertext in the World of Texts]. Moscow, Agar Publ., 2000. 280 p. (In Russian) Shaikin, A. Povest’ vremennykh let: Istoriia i poetika [The Tale of Bygone Years: History and Poetics]. Moscow, Russkaia panorama Publ., 2011. 616 p. (In Russian) Eikhenbaum, M. Lermontov: Opyt istoriko-literaturnoi otsenki [Lermontov: An Experience of Historical and Literary Evaluation]. Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo Publ., 1924. 168 p. (In Russian) Griffin, Sean Byzantine Liturgy and the Primary Chronicle. A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures. University of California, Los Angeles, 2014. 159 p. (In English) Griffin, Sean. The Liturgical Past in Byzantium and Early Rus’. Cambridge; N. Y., Cambridge University Press, 2019. 284 p. (In English)