The Volkhovnik (; ) was an Old Russian book of divinatory nature which included collections of signs and their interpretations. It appears in Russian lists of banned books dating from the 15th century onward. It is likely that the entry for the Volkhovnik in Russian lists is based on the Tabula prenostica Salomonis or a closely related text. No copies of any works with this title have survived, and it is known that most of the omens are widely recognized in Russian folk belief.
Structure Modern researchers characterize Volkhovnik as a collection of signs and divination.Alexander Afanasyev. Processes about sorcerers and witches / / Tree of Life: Selected articles / Preparation of the text and commentary. Yuri Medvedev, intro. article by B. P. Kirdan. - M.: Sovremennik, 1982. - 464 p.- (Publisher "Lovers of Russian literature"). — 75,000 copies.Mikhail Speransky. Abnegated Books // Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia / Ed. Nikolai Glubokovsky. - St. Petersburg: Appendix to the spiritual journal "The Wanderer", 1910. - Vol. XI. - Stb. 405-433 It is known that this book was divided into chapters, each of which was dedicated to a separate sign and had a corresponding title, for example: "Voronograi" (from voron, 'raven'; omens and divination by the cry of ravens, which since ancient times in Russia was considered an evil sign);Приметы // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: in 86 t. (82 t. and 4 add.). - St. Petersburg, 1890–1907. "Kuroklik" ("Kuroglashennik"; divination by the crowing of roosters); "Ptichnik" ("Potochnik", "Bird charove"; by the cry and flight of birds in general); "Trepetnik" (signs associated with twitching of various parts of the body and other physiological phenomena); "Snosudets" ("Snovidets", "Sо́nnik", a dream dictionary); "Putnik" (signs associated with meetings); "Zeleinik", which was divided into: "Travnik" (words, prayers, spells, or prophetic signs); "Tsvetnik" (divination by flowers); "Lechebnik" (a medical manual, most often with healing zagovory, spells, and descriptions of medicinal herbs and minerals).
Individual chapters of the Volkhovnik were distributed among the people as independent works,Jan Los. Volkhovnik // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: in 86 t. (82 t. and 4 add.). - St. Petersburg, 1892. - Vol. VII. and the texts of some of them have survived to this day. Thus, although the full text of the book is unknown, researchers can form an idea of its individual parts.
Content An excerpt from the early Volkhovnik is given in his work by the historian Mykola Kostomarov, giving in some cases notes of incomprehensible expressions. In Russian:
Also, at the moment, the texts of several travniki and about 400 lists of lechebniki that were distributed as independent works are known in full. Lechebniks were constantly supplemented and improved up to the 16th century, because of which researchers believe that earlier lechebniks have not reached us, and fragments of those that are known are poorly read.
Other fortune-telling books From other fortune-telling books, the Gromnik and Lunnik are known, which are not directly related to Volkhovnik. The Gromnik (from grom, 'thunder') interprets what exactly should be expected from thunderclaps at a particular time, sets out the omens of wars, diseases and weather. The Lunnik (from luna, 'moon') describes divination by the days of the lunar calendar. The set of prophecies concerning economic matters is given in an indefinite order, but with a stable list of significant events: the birth and upbringing of children, the treatment of livestock, arable land and garden, diseases and bloodletting, dreams, monetary transactions, trade; there are no military or state affairs. Both books were also widely known in Russia, and probably were translations of South Slavic works (there are many Serbisms in the text, including lexical ones).
See also Volkhv Fortune-telling Witchcraft
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