LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis ("The Bear-Slayer") is an epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs, a Latvian poet, who wrote it between 1872 and 1887 based on local legends. It is set during the Livonian Crusades telling the story of the mythical hero LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis "the Bear Slayer". LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis is regarded as the Latvian national epic.
The poem opens at the council of the Baltic gods at the palace of PÃÂrkons in the sky where the Father of Destiny declares that Latvians are under threat because Christian crusaders are going to come and conquer the Baltic lands and enslave the Latvian nation. The Gods promise to protect the Latvians. When the meeting comes to an end suddenly Staburadze arrives and ask for advice in her matter: she has found a young man drowning in the river Daugava where he has to turn into stone. PÃÂrkons says that he has chosen this man for an important matter and that he will save the man. The council ends with the question, will the Baltic gods ever come back together?
There follows a flashback of a few days to an occasion upon which the Lord of LielvÃÂrde is taking a walk with his 18-year-old son. Suddenly a bear jumps out to attack them. Undaunted, the son seizes the bear by the jaws and rips it apart as if it had been no more of a threat than a small goat, thus earning himself the name LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis - the bear slayer. After this he is sent off to the castle of Burtnieks to continue his studies. On the way, at the castle of Lord Aizkrauklis, he spies on the activities of the witch Spëdala, who is under the control of the Devil, and the holy man Kangars, who is in reality a traitor plotting with crusaders to replace the old gods with Christianity. Spëdala tries to drown LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis by throwing him into the whirlpool of Staburags in the Daugava, but he is rescued by the goddess Staburadze and taken to her underwater crystal castle. There LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis meets and falls in love with the maiden Laimdota. Shortly afterwards, LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis becomes friends with another hero, Koknesis ("Wood-bearer"), and they study together at the castle of Burtnieks, Laimdota's father.
Kangars provokes a war with the Estonians, and LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis sets out to fight the giant Kalapuisis ( (the "Kalapuisis" name is derived from kalapoiss; it probably refers to the hero of the Estonian epic poem Kalevipoeg)). The two fight to a draw. Afterwards, they make peace and decide to join forces to fight their common enemy, the German crusaders, who are led by the priest Dietrich (Dëtrihs). LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis performs another heroic deed by spending the night in a cursed sunken castle, breaking the curse and allowing the castle to rise into the air again. Laimdota and LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis are engaged. In the following episodes, Laimdota reads from the old books about the Creation and ancient Latvian teachings.
Laimdota and Koknesis are kidnapped and imprisoned in Germany. Spëdala convinces LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis that Laimdota and Koknesis are lovers. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis returns home to LielvÃÂrde, then sets sail for Germany. His ship becomes lost in the North Sea, and he is welcomed by the daughter of the North Wind. In the meantime, Dietrich and the Livonian prince Caupo of Turaida meet with the Pope in Rome to plan the Christianization of Latvia. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis begins his dangerous journey home from the Northern Sea. He fights monsters with three, six, and nine heads on the Enchanted Island. Finally, he encounters Spëdala on the island, and frees her from her contract with the Devil. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis is reunited with Laimdota and Koknesis, who escaped from Germany but were then trapped on the Enchanted Island. Koknesis declares his love for Spëdala, and the four friends return to Latvia.
A double wedding is celebrated during the JÃÂÃ Âi (midsummer) festivities, but the heroes soon set off to fight the German crusaders. After several battles, the Germans are pushed back, and their leader, Bishop Albert, brings reinforcements from Germany, including the Dark Knight. At Dietrich's bidding, Kangars finds out the secret of LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis' strength and treacherously reveals it to the Germans: LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis' mother was a she-bear, and his superhuman strength resides in his bear ears. The German knights come to LielvÃÂrde offering to make peace. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis organizes a friendly tournament at the castle LielvÃÂrde, during which he is goaded into fighting the Dark Knight. The knight cuts off LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis' right ear and LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis loses the strength in his right hand. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis becomes angry and with his left hand destroys the armor of the Dark Knight, but his sword is also destroyed. The Dark knight struck back cutting off LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis' left ear, leading him to also lose the strength in his left hand. The two wrestle. LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis manages to throw the Dark Knight into the Daugava, but falls into the river himself. At this moment Laimdota also dies. At the end of the story a promise is given that the battle between LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis and the Dark Knight is not over yet, one day LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis will win, then new times will come, and Latvians will be free again.
The work was written during the Latvian national awakening. At this time a popular belief around Europe was that a Nation can be defined by the fact that it has a National epic while the Nations East of the Baltic sea were left without one. Finns wrote their epic Kalevala in 1835, Estonians published their Kalevipoeg 1857-1861. There were several attempts create a Latvian National Epic which were finally realized by the poet and military man Andrejs Pumpurs and released during the 3rd Latvian Song Festival on 1888. Unlike in the Finnish and Estonian text no original folk song are used in the Latvian story, but it's heavily based on Latvian folklore. By this time it was already considered to be an anachronism, but still amongst the people it became the National epic.
From the time of the Northern Crusades in the early 13th century, most of the land in the Baltic governorates was owned by nobles descended from the German invaders. In 1863, the Russian authorities issued laws to enable Latvians, who formed the bulk of the population, to acquire the farms which they held, and special banks were founded to help them. By this means, some occupants bought their farms, but the great mass of the population remained landless, and lived as hired laborers, occupying a low position in the social scale. This was the situation prevailing at the time of writing â thus, the strongly negative presentation of these German invaders had clear contemporary implications for the writer's own time.
Scholarship suggests that the legendary hero LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis mirrors similar tales of strong men born of animals and who go on adventures. These tales are classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale types ATU 650A, "Strong John" and AT 301B, "Jean de l'Ours" or "John The Bear". Indeed, according to professor Valters Nollendorfs, the author "utilized legends and folklore motifs" to compose the poem.
It is known to be one of the most influential works of Latvian culture. Interpretations of the story keep appearing frequently.
Based on the story at the context of the 1905 Russian Revolution, Rainis issued a symbolic play Uguns un Nakts (Fire and Night). There, he focuses on the relationships of LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis and Spëdola, where LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis is the symbol of strength and Spëdola the symbol of wisdom, beauty and change. While Spëdola is in love with LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis, he decides to stay with Laimdota. Still, after LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis falls into the Daugava during the battle, Spëdola promises to follow him and help him in the battle, giving hope for Latvian freedom.
During the Latvian War of Independence, the battles between Latvian and German troops under the command of Bermondt-Avalov were compared with the battle between LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis and the Black Knight. The decisive victory of Latvians happened on November 11 next to the Daugava where it was promised in the epic, and ever since, it is called the day of the Bear Slayer. In 1930, a movie named LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis was made.
The play Uguns and Nakts was frequently played during the Soviet occupation. Unlike the Soviet propaganda had intended it to show the battle between Latvians and Germans, the Latvian society started to identify the Crusaders with the Soviets. In 1988, the rock opera LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis was performed more than 40 times, becoming one of the turning point of the 3rd Latvian National Awakening. Using the mythological narrative it depicted the occupation of Latvia, work of KGB, russification, the destruction of Christianity in Latvia etc. A memorable moment in the rock opera happened on the bewitched island where LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis turned people who had turned into rock back into human flesh. Many saw this as a moment where people were wakened up from the Soviet sleep they were placed by the Soviet regime. A big emphasis in the rock opera was put on the ears of LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis, in the final LÃÂÃÂplÃÂsis sings to the Latvians to call for him, he still has language and a word, but call for him even louder.