"And the Maiden Will Pick Up the Shield ...": Female Warrior in A. Blok's Poetry (Article I)

This first article of the two-part cycle considers the image of the female warrior in the early lyrics by A. Blok (1898-1904). The author demonstrates that it is strongly represented there but not in its pure form - the female warrior is usually interpreted by Blok as a variant of Sophia-like character. The sources of this image at Blok are revealed: R. Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, the Volsunga Saga, more or less loose translations of the Poetic Edda form one line of his creative reception, while another one is represented by the poetry and philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov reflecting the Gnostic myth in its two variants - of the imprisoned, enchanted, and sleeping World Soul waiting to be rescued by the hero, and of the hero which is kept by the forces of evil and released by the Sophia-like heroine (Wagner's interpretation of Siegfried and Brunnhilde is considered here as implicitly containing both variants of "Sophian myth"). The article also shows the influence of Ovid's Amores on Blok's concept of "love as war". The constant motifs of Blok's early lyrics constituting the plot about female warrior, as well as the Sophian plot are analyzed (fire surrounding mountain together with nuptial motif, awakening of the sleeping heroine, sacral spring, betrayal committed by the hero and / or humiliation of the heroine, epiphany and recognition at death's door etc.). The modifications of archetypal motifs of love-hate and love-fight, of the duel, of fatal non-recognition are demonstrated. The paper also reveals constant mutual metamorphoses of two variations of Blok's Sophia-like heroine (sleeping beauty, i.e. passive character, and female warrior, i.e. active character) which participates in the plot of salvation accordingly those two roles.