Forest spirits in are found under a variety of names: from the word bor [1] - Polish.borowiec [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] , borowik [1] , borowy [1] [2] [3] [5] [7] , boruta [1] [2] ( pine in Polish style [7] ); from the word forest - leśnik [2] [3] , lasowy [2] [3] [8] , leśny [1] [3] , leśny duch [7] leśny dziad [2] [3] ; from the word gai - gajowy [2] , gajowik [3] ; from the various names of willow (willow, vine, rakita) in which they allegedly lived - wierzbicki , łożiński , rokicki , rokitą [1] ; as well as laskowiec [7] (i.e. tickhead ).
According to different sources, they could be invisible [6] ; to be in the form of a forest animal - owl [2] , deer or deer , bear , lynx , wild boar [2] , or domestic animal - ram , cat , horse [2] , black dog [1] ; appear as a person ( Z. Gloger believed that the latter was brought in by writers [1] ) - a dwarf with a beard to the ground [3] [5] , a peasant, a nobleman , a German , a townsman [2] , a forester with a stick or a gun [ 2] , a rider with a pack of dogs [2] , while in human form, such features are sometimes noted as very small or, on the contrary, gigantic growth, livid face, strange eyes [2] ; or it could be a monster with horns and a tail [2] . They scared people at night in the woods and on the dams [1] , forced them to wander [1] [2] [3] [5] , poured mushrooms and berries out of baskets, kidnapped girls to take them as wives. But they could also help out of the forest, bestow money on a person they liked, drive off the bandits from the innocent, help the deserter from the tsarist army escape [2] , protect from predatory animals [2] . They were credited with dashing whistling and a loud cry from the tops of spruce [2] [3] [5] [6] , as well as crying and moans when felling coniferous trees [6] . It was believed that the Borovets met in the forest becomes sad. [four]
Conducting a comparative analysis of Slavic forest demonology, a number of researchers, for example, K. Moshinsky, considered Polish folk beliefs as echoes of common Slavic ideas about the forest spirit, the image of which they tried to recreate [3] [7] . Best of all, Slavic forest spirits describe East Slavic wood goblin [7] (it is also called Borov [9] and boletus [6] in some regions), with which Polish spirits have some similarities [5] [6] [7] . However, in contrast to the devotee, among the Western Slavs, the functions of the patron of forest animals and hunters were completely transferred from forest spirits to Saint Hubert , and the protector of people from wolves to Saint Nicholas [2] [3] [5] [10] and already in the XIX century, the image of Polish forest spirits was largely distorted and erased [3] . They gave one of their names to the character of Polish legends popularized in the first half of the 19th century - a demon guarding the treasures of the Lenchitsky castle [1] [2] [3] [11] .
However, as far back as the twentieth century, certain elements of beliefs in forest spirits persisted in rural areas of Poland , albeit under impersonal names. (zly, leśne, lasowe) duchy , diably (leśne) strachy [3] , also talked about encounters with wild people in the forest [2] [3] , giants [2] , volkolaks [2] , fornication [3] , etc. they are described in different ways: man (man, woman, baby - naked or in various clothes) [2] [3] , animal (black bird, owl , wolf , dog , horse , cat , boar , hare ), mixed human-animal images (woolen people, sometimes with horns or horse legs) [3] , wandering lights , disembodied, invisible [2] [3] and able to change their appearance of being (man, then animal) [2] [3] . According to popular beliefs, they came from "wrong" dead (killed, killed or tragic death of another, unbaptized babies), cursed, sinners, crafty, mean, sold their souls to the devil, did not go to church, hermits, or had a demonic origin . In most cases, they treated people negatively: they scared them with whistles and knocks, knocked them out of the way and drove through the woods, locked them in their holes, led them into water or a swamp, choked them [3] , attacked physically in the form of a wild beast [2] deprived of reason, caused misfortune, harmed horses [3] .
In addition to male characters, the Poles were associated with forest forest mermaids and mermaid -like creatures: , , forest , red and green mist or women , boron aunt [8] who lured careless travelers into the depths of the forest to tickle them to death or simply throw them in difficult places - in impassable forest slums, on rocks, in a swamp, sometimes it also ended in death - falling into the abyss, drowning in a quagmire [2 ] [3] . Also, the Poles had stories about the attack in the forest of Yaga women , whose image, although practically merged with the witch’s image, nevertheless retained some autonomy - this is an ugly bloodthirsty woman, often even a cannibal, especially aggressive to young boys and girls. [2]
See also
- Yasek-Ptasek
- The forester is a character of the Serbian cabinet mythology, considered as an analogue of the devils of the Serbs.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gloger Z. Boruta // Encyklopedja staropolska ilustrowana . - Warszawa: Druk P. Laskauera i W. Babickiego, 1900. - T. I. - S. 189-190 . (polish)
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Duchy leśne // W kręgu upiorów i wilkołakakw. - Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, 1981. - S. 157-170. - 326 S. - ISBN 83-218-0072-6 . (polish)
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Demonologia leśna // Polska demonologia ludowa. - Warszawa, 1987. - S. 105-111. - 236 S. - ISBN 83-207-0610-6 . (polish)
- ↑ 1 2 Sannikova OV. Polish mythological vocabulary in the structure of the folklore text // Slavic and Balkan folklore : Beliefs. Text. Ritual / Institute of Slavonic and Balkan Studies RAS ; rep. ed. N. I. Tolstoy . - M .: Science , 1994. - p. 61. - 270 p. - 800 copies - ISBN 5-02-011499-5 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Leshy / E. E. Levkievskaya // Slavic Antiquities : Ethnolinguistic Dictionary: in 5 tons / total. ed. N.I. Tolstoy ; Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences . - M .: Int. relationship , 2004. - V. 3: K (Circle) - P (Quail). - p. 108. - ISBN 5-7133-1207-0 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vinogradova L.N. Folk demonology and the myth-ritual tradition of the Slavs / Ed. ed. S. M. Thick . - M .: Indrik , 2000. - p. 128. - 432 p. - ( Traditional spiritual culture of the Slavs / Modern research). - ISBN 5-85759-110-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gieysztor A. Duchy leśne i zwierzęce // Mitologia Słowian. - Warszawa, 1982. - S. 263. - 407 S. - ISBN 978-83-235-0234-0 . (polish)
- ↑ 1 2 Sannikova OV. Polish mythological vocabulary in ethno-linguistic and comparative historical lighting: the author's abstract of the dis. ... Candidate of Philology / Institute of Slavonic and Balkan Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences . - M. , 1990. - p. 5. - 16 p. - (10.02.03: Slavic languages).
- ↑ Schepanskaya TB The culture of the road in the Russian mythological and cultural tradition of the XIX — XX centuries. . - Indrik , 2003. - p. 170. - 527 p. - ( Traditional spiritual culture of the Slavs . Modern research). - ISBN 5-85759-176-7 . Archived copy from May 1, 2016 on Wayback Machine
- ↑ Levkievskaya E.E. The Lower Mythology of the Slavs // Sketches of the History of Culture of the Slavs / Institute of Slavic Studies and Balkan Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences . - M .: Indrik , 1996. - p. 180. - ISBN 5-85759-042-6 .
- ↑ Podgórscy B. i A. Wielka Księga Demonów Polskich - leksykon i antologia demonologii ludowej. - Katowice: Kos, 2005. - S. 62-63. - 560 S. - ISBN 9788389375407 ; ISBN 8389375400 . (polish)
Literature
- Gloger Z. Boruta // Encyklopedja staropolska ilustrowana . - Warszawa: Druk P. Laskauera i W. Babickiego, 1900. - T. I. - S. 189-190 . (polish)
- Duchy leśne // W kręgu upiorów i wilkołakakw. - Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, 1981. - S. 157-170. - 326 S. - ISBN 83-218-0072-6 . (polish)
- Demonologia leśna // Polska demonologia ludowa. - Warszawa, 1987. - S. 105-111. - 236 S. - ISBN 83-207-0610-6 . (polish)