За какво разказва Солунската легенда?
What Is the Story in the Salonika Legend?

Summary/Abstract: Today it is accepted that the Salonika Legend is an apocryphal legendary work reflecting the memory of the invention of the Slavonic alphabet. There is some disagreement as to who is the “central figure” of the work, i.e. which historical personality is indicated as the author of the alphabet and in whose name the Salonika Legend is written. The prevalent opinion is that this was St. Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher who lived in the second half of the 9th century and who recounts the story of his mission among the Bulgarian Slavs in the lands along the Bregalnitsa river, a mission carried out by God’s will and inspiration. Some scholars have expressed the opinion that, in fact, the Salonika Legend is a sort of “autobiography” of St. Cyril of Alexandria who lived in the 7th century. In this case we have a different thesis, i.e. that the Salonika Legend has nothing to do with the invention of an alphabet (or with the person of St. Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher from Salonika, who is believed to have invented the Glagolitic alphabet), but is an as a whole authentic (with some mystical supernatural details) autobiographical tale of a Christian missionary who preached in Bulgarian lands on the territory of present-day Macedonia.

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