THE “THREE BROTHERS” MYTHOLOGEME IN THE ANNALISTIC LEGEND ABOUT THE SUMMONING OF RURIK WITH HIS BROTHERS
The article shows that the mythologeme “three brothers” in the annalistic Legend about the Summoning of Rurik with his brothers concludes the idea of three priests of a luminous godhead, which has developed within the framework of the ancient tradition of worshiping the Sun Deity among the speakers of Indo-European languages. According to the arguments in the article, the choice of the Ilmen Slovenes to invite three brothers - princes to their reign - has been justified referring to this tradition. The article draws attention to the antiquity and scale of the ancient Russian tradition of worshiping the Sun Deity as well as to the commonality of this tradition between Priilmen and the South Baltic Slavs.