Bolotnik, which is also called Swamp or Swamp, - in Slavic mythology, the spirit and owner of the swamps.
It so happened that the swamp has always been associated with insecurity and hidden deceit.
It happens that an absolutely smooth and strong-looking road can instantly turn into an addictive abyss. And bumps that are scary to step on can actually withstand not only a person, but even a large animal.
Our ancestors, who often had to pass through the swamps, believed that this place was mystical. And how else to explain that, for example, a huge elk calmly overcomes unpredictable terrain, and a person, following literally in his own footsteps, can literally get stuck right away?
Bolotnik in the mythology of the ancient Slavs
The ancient Slavs believed that it was very dangerous to approach the swamps at dusk. At this time, even an absolutely non-superstitious person can hear groans, groans and screams. It's waking up and Bolotnik - a mythical creature, in Slavic mythology, the spirit and owner of the swamps.
The swamp is very severe, and cannot stand uninvited guests. Most of all, he loves peace and quiet, so anyone who disturbs him risks being severely punished.
Bolotnik - a Slavic mythical creature - most often appears to people as an old man, all smeared in green slurry. Him big belly, long arms or frog legs hanging down like whips, and bulging eyes like a toad.
The Swampman's mouth is huge, framed by a long beard covered in mud, algae, and snails. Sometimes there are references that the evil spirit has a crocheted tail.
Rarely Bolotnik appears before people. Only when he is in a good mood and wants to play pranks. Then he pretends to be a cat. And when a person steps on it, it abruptly jumps out of the water. In this case, the victim has the opportunity to escape. While the old man is laughing, you can have time to escape.
But most often he sits in a swamp and grabs a passing person by the legs. If Bolotnik grabbed his legs with a stranglehold, there is practically no chance of salvation.
The ancient Slavs believed that Bolotnik was created to deceive people. charusu. This is a very beautiful clearing with fresh grass and very beautiful flowers. Forget-me-nots, buttercups grow here, but besides them there are water lilies and non-nuphars. It is by them that a trap can be recognized.
These flowers only keep their heads on the surface, and their roots go into the water. These plants do not need soil. A beautiful clearing of charus hides dirt and abyss from people.
A tired traveler steps on it and immediately drowns in the mud of the swamp. And the charusa carpet will sway a little and return to its original state, waiting for the next victim.
Such a dead place can be determined by the behavior of animals. They intuitively catch the smell of death and bypass the charusa.
Folk beliefs about Bolotnik
If Bolotnik has enough victims, he does not go beyond his territory. But if his swamp is far from human paths, he can get closer to people.
According to popular beliefs, ordinary travelers often encounter Bolotnik. Accepts swamp spirit the guise of an old man and leads quite ordinary, at first glance, conversations, but only at this time he enchants, leads the wanderer off the path, leads him to his swamp.
Only there does he take on his real appearance and begin to laugh, rejoicing that he managed to deceive a person and lure him to him.
Bolotnik often comes out to the fishermen. He takes them away, taking the nets with the catch, or pulling the boat.
To protect yourself from the evil spirit of the Bolotnik, you should not respond to unfamiliar voices in the forest, you should not enter into conversations with strangers. And if the meeting could not be avoided, one must pray to God and ask him for protection.
According to legend, Bolotnik rarely touches a group of people. Therefore, it is much safer to travel through the forest with a company than alone, and it is always better to stick together without separating from the rest.
Ivan - a peasant son and Miracle Yudo In a certain kingdom, in a certain state they lived - there was an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons. The youngest was called Ivanushka. They lived - they were not lazy, they worked from morning till night: they plowed arable land and sowed bread. Suddenly, bad news spread in that kingdom - the state: a miracle was about to attack their land, to destroy all the people, all the cities - to burn the villages with fire. The old man and the old woman were tormented, they were grieving. And the older sons console them: - Do not grieve, father and mother! Let's go to a miracle - Yudo, we will fight him to the death! And so that you do not yearn alone, let Ivanushka stay with you: he is still very young to go to battle. - No, - says Ivanushka, - I don’t want to stay at home and wait for you, I’ll go and fight with a miracle! The old man and the old woman did not stop him and dissuade him. They equipped all three sons on the road. The brothers took heavy clubs, took knapsacks with bread and salt, sat on good horses and rode off. How long, how short they drove - they meet an old man. - Hello, good fellows! - Hello, grandfather! - Where are you heading to? - We are going with a filthy miracle - to fight, to fight, to defend our native land! - This is a good thing! Only for the battle you need not batons, but damask swords. - And where can I get them, grandfather! - I'll teach you. Go - you, good fellows, everything is straight. You will reach a high mountain. And in that mountain there is a deep cave. The entrance to it is littered with a large stone. Roll away the stone, enter the cave and find damask swords there. The brothers thanked the passer-by and drove straight, as he taught. They see - there is a high mountain, on one side a large gray stone is rolled up. The brothers rolled away that stone and entered the cave. And there are all sorts of weapons - and you can’t count them! They chose a sword for themselves and drove on. - Thank you, - they say, - to a passer-by. With swords - it will be much more convenient for us to fight! They drove and drove and arrived at some village. They look - there is not a single living soul around. Everything is burnt, broken. There is one small hut. The brothers entered the hut. An old woman lies on the stove and groans. - Hello, grandma! the brothers say. - Hello, well done! Where are you on your way? - We are going, grandmother, to the Smorodina River, to the viburnum bridge. We want to fight with a miracle - Yud, to prevent our land. - Oh, well done, they took up a good deed! After all, he, the villain, ruined everyone, plundered! And he got to us. Only I alone survived here ... The brothers spent the night with the old woman, got up early in the morning and set off again on the road - the road. They drive up to the Smorodina River itself, to the viburnum bridge. Swords and broken bows lie all over the shore, human bones lie. The brothers found an empty hut and decided to stay in it. - Well, brothers, - says Ivan, - we drove into an alien side, we need to listen to everything and look closely. Let's go on patrol one by one, so that the miracle - Yudo does not pass through the viburnum bridge. On the first night, the older brother went on patrol. He walked along the bank, looked across the Smorodina River - everything was quiet, no one could be seen, nothing could be heard. The elder brother lay down under the willow bush and fell asleep soundly, snoring loudly. And Ivan lies in a hut - he can’t sleep, he doesn’t doze off. As the time went past midnight, he took his damask sword and went to the Smorodina River. Looks - under a bush the elder brother is sleeping, snoring with all his might. Ivan did not wake him up. He hid under the viburnum bridge, stands, guards the crossing. Suddenly, the waters on the river were agitated, the eagles screamed on the oaks - a miracle was driving up - a Yudo with six heads. He rode out to the middle of the viburnum bridge - the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started up, behind the black dog bristled. Says a miracle - Yudo six-headed: - What are you, my horse, stumbled? Why are you a black crow, startled? Why are you bristling black dog? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant's son here? So he was not yet born, and if he was born, he did not fit into battle! I'll put him on one hand, slam the other! Ivan came out here - a peasant son from under the bridge and said: - Do not boast, a miracle - a filthy Yudo! Didn't shoot clear falcon- too early to pluck feathers! I did not recognize the good fellow - there is nothing to shame him! Come on better strength try: whoever overcomes, he will boast. Here they converged, caught up, and hit so hard that the earth hummed all around. Miracle - Jude was not lucky: Ivan - a peasant son with one stroke knocked down his three heads. - Stop, Ivan - a peasant's son! - shouts the miracle. - Give me a break! - What a vacation! You, a miracle - Yudo, have three heads, and I have one. This is how you will have one head, then we will rest. Again they converged, again hit. Ivan, the peasant's son, chopped off the miracle - Yuda and the last three heads. After that, he cut the body into small pieces and threw it into the Smorodina River, and folded six heads under the viburnum bridge. He himself returned to the hut and lay down to sleep. In the morning the elder brother comes. Ivan asks him: - Well, didn't you see something? - No, brothers, a fly did not fly past me! Ivan didn't say a word to him. The next night the middle brother went on patrol. He looked like, looked around, looked around and calmed down. I climbed into the bushes and fell asleep. Ivan did not rely on him either. As the time went past midnight, he immediately equipped himself, took his sharp sword and went to the Smorodina River. He hid under the viburnum bridge and began to guard. Suddenly, on the river, the waters were agitated, the eagles screamed on the oaks - a miracle was driving up - a nine-headed Yudo. As soon as he drove onto the viburnum bridge, the horse stumbled under it, the black raven on his shoulder started up, the black dog bristled behind him ... A miracle - the horse's yud with a whip on the sides, the crow - on the feathers, the dog - on the ears! - What are you, my horse, stumbled? Why are you, black crow, startled? Why are you bristling black dog? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant's son here? So he was not yet born, and if he was born, he was not fit for battle: I will kill him with one finger! Ivan jumped out - a peasant's son from under the viburnum bridge: - Wait, a miracle - Yudo, do not boast, first get down to business! Let's see who gets it! As Ivan waved his damask sword at one another, he blew off the miracle - there were six heads. And a miracle - Yudo hit - on Ivan's knees damp earth drove. Ivan, the peasant son, grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into his enemy's eyes. While the miracle - Yudo's eyes were rubbing and cleaning, Ivan cut off his other heads as well. Then he cut the body into small pieces, threw it into the Smorodina River, and folded nine heads under the viburnum bridge. He himself returned to the hut. I lay down and fell asleep as if nothing had happened. In the morning the middle brother comes. - Well, - Ivan asks, - didn't you see anything during the night? - No, not a single fly flew near me, not a single mosquito squeaked. - Well, if so, come with me, dear brothers, I will show you both a mosquito and a fly. Ivan brought the brothers under the viburnum bridge, showed them a miracle - Yudov's heads. - Here, - he says, - what kind of flies and mosquitoes fly here at night. And you, brothers, do not fight, but lie at home on the stove! The brothers were ashamed. - Sleep, - they say, - knocked down ... On the third night, Ivan himself was about to go on patrol. “I,” he says, “I’m going to a terrible battle!” And you, brothers, do not sleep all night, listen: when you hear my whistle, let my horse out and rush to my aid yourself. Ivan came - a peasant son to the Smorodina River, stands under the viburnum bridge, waiting. As soon as the time passed after midnight, the damp earth shook, the waters in the river stirred, the violent winds howled, the eagles screamed on the oaks. A miracle leaves - Yudo twelve-headed. All twelve heads are whistling, all twelve are burning with fire. The miracle's horse is a yud about twelve wings, the horse's hair is copper, the tail and mane are iron. As soon as a miracle drove - Yudo onto the viburnum bridge - the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started up, the black dog bristled behind him. A miracle horse with a whip on the sides, a crow - on feathers, a dog - on the ears! - What are you, my horse, stumbled? Why, black raven, startled? Why, black dog, bristled? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant's son here? So he was not yet born, and if he was born, he did not fit into battle: just a dun - and his ashes will not remain! Ivan came out from under the viburnum bridge - a peasant son: - Wait, a miracle - Yudo, boast, how would you not be disgraced! - Oh, so it's you, Ivan - a peasant's son? Why did you come here? - Look at you, enemy force, try your courage! - Where do you try my courage! You are a fly in front of me! Ivan, the peasant son of a miracle, answers: - I came not to tell you fairy tales and not to listen to yours. I came to fight to the death, from you, damned, good people deliver! Here Ivan swung his sharp sword and cut down the miracle - Yuda three heads. Chudo - Yudo picked up these heads, struck them with his fiery finger, put them to their necks, and immediately all the heads grew, as if they had not fallen from their shoulders. Ivan had a bad time: a miracle - Yudo stuns him with a whistle, burns him with fire - burns, showers him with sparks, drives him up to his knees into the damp earth ... And he chuckles: - Would you like to rest, Ivan is a peasant son. - What kind of rest? In our opinion - beat, cut, do not take care of yourself! Ivan says. He whistled, threw his right mitten into the hut, where his brothers were waiting for him. The mitten shattered all the panes in the windows, but the brothers were sleeping, not hearing anything. Ivan gathered his strength, swung again, stronger than before, and cut down the miracle - Yuda six heads. Miracle - Yudo picked up his heads, struck a fiery finger, put it to his neck - and again all the heads were in place. He rushed at Ivan, hammered him to the waist into the damp earth. Ivan sees - things are bad. He took off his left mitten, launched into the hut. The mitten broke through the roof, but the brothers are all asleep, they hear nothing. For the third time, Ivan, the peasant son, swung his hand, cut down nine heads for a miracle. A miracle - Yudo picked them up, struck a fiery finger, put them on their necks - their heads grew back again. He rushed at Ivan and drove him into the damp earth up to his shoulders ... Ivan took off his hat and threw it into the hut. From that blow, the hut staggered, almost rolled over the logs. Just then the brothers woke up, they heard Ivanov's horse neighing loudly and tearing from the chains. They rushed to the stable, lowered the horse, “and after him they themselves ran. Ivanov’s horse galloped up, began to beat the miracle - Yudo with his hooves. The miracle - Yudo whistled, hissed, began to shower sparks on the horse. ", contrived and cut off the miracle - Yudu's fiery finger. After that, let's chop off his head. Knocked down everything to the last! The body was cut into small pieces and thrown into the Smorodina River. The brothers come running here. - Oh, you! - says Ivan. - Because of I almost paid with your drowsiness with my head! The brothers brought him to the hut, washed, fed, watered and put him to bed. In the morning, Ivan got up early, began to dress - put on shoes. - Where did you get up so early? - the brothers say. - I would rest after such a slaughter! - No, - Ivan answers, - I don’t have time to rest: I’ll go to the Smorodina River to look for my sash - I dropped it there. - Hunt for you! - say the brothers. - We’ll go to the city - you’ll buy a new one. - No, I need mine! Ivan went to the Smorodina River, but he didn’t look for a sash, but crossed to the other side of the black passed the viburnum bridge and crept unnoticed to the miracle - Yudov stone chambers. He went to the open window and began to listen - are they planning something else here? He looks - three miracle - Yudov's wives are sitting in the wards, and his mother, an old snake. They sit and talk. The first says: - I will avenge Ivan - the peasant son for my husband! I’ll get ahead of myself when he and his brothers return home, I’ll turn on the heat, and I myself will turn into a well. They want to drink water - and from the first sip they fall dead! This is a good one you came up with! says the old snake. The second says: - And I will run ahead and turn into an apple tree. They want to eat an apple - then they will be torn into small pieces! - And you have a good idea! says the old snake. - And I, - says the third, - let them sleep and slumber, and I myself will run ahead and turn into a soft carpet with silk pillows. If the brothers want to lie down - to rest - then they will be burned by fire! - And you have a good idea! - said the snake. “Well, if you don’t kill them, I myself will turn into a huge pig, catch up with them and swallow all three!” Ivan, the peasant son, overheard these speeches and returned to his brothers. - Well, did you find your sash? the brothers ask. - Found. And it was worth the time! - It was worth it, brothers! After that, the brothers gathered and went home. They go through the steppes, they go through the meadows. And the day is so hot, so sultry. I want to drink - I have no patience! The brothers are watching - there is a well, a silver ladle floats in the well. They say to Ivan: - Come on, brother, let's stop, drink some cold water and water the horses! - It is not known what kind of water is in that well, - Ivan answers. - Maybe rotten and dirty. He jumped off his horse and began to cut and chop this well with his sword. The well howled, roared in a bad voice. Then fog descended, the heat subsided - I don’t want to drink. - You see, brothers, what kind of water was in the well, - says Ivan. They went further. How long, how short they drove - they saw an apple tree. Apples hang on it, large and ruddy. The brothers jumped off their horses, they wanted to pick apples. And Ivan ran ahead and let's chop the apple tree with a sword to the very root. The apple tree howled, screamed ... - See, brothers, what kind of apple tree is this? Tasty apples on it! The brothers got on their horses and rode on. They rode and rode and got very tired. They look - a patterned, soft carpet is spread out on the field, and down pillows are on it. - Let's lie down on this carpet, rest, take a nap for an hour! the brothers say. - No, brothers, it will not be soft on this carpet! - Ivan answers them. The brothers got angry with him: - What kind of pointer are you to us: that is impossible, the other is impossible! Ivan did not say a word in response. He took off his sash and threw it on the carpet. The sash burst into flame and burned. - That would be the same with you! Ivan says to his brothers. He went up to the carpet and let's cut the carpet and pillows into small pieces with a sword. Chopped up, scattered to the sides and says: - In vain you, brothers, grumbled at me! After all, the well, and the apple tree, and the carpet - all this is a miracle - there were Judov's wives. They wanted to destroy us, but they did not succeed: they all died themselves! The brothers went on. How many, how few they drove - suddenly the sky darkened, the wind howled, the earth hummed: a huge pig was running after them. She opened her mouth to her ears - she wants to swallow Ivan and his brothers. Then the good fellows, don't be bad, pulled out of their knapsacks a pood of salt from their travel bags and threw it into the pig's mouth. The pig was delighted - she thought that Ivan, the peasant son with his brothers, was seized. She stopped and began to chew salt. And as I tasted it, I again rushed off in pursuit. She runs, raised her bristles, clicks her teeth. It's about to catch up ... A pig ran up, stopped - he didn’t know who to catch up with first. While she was thinking different sides twirled her muzzle, Ivan jumped up to her, lifted her and hit the ground with all his might. The pig crumbled to dust, and the wind scattered that dust in all directions. Since then, all miracles - yes, snakes have hatched in that land - people began to live without fear. And Ivan - a peasant son with his brothers returned home, to his father, to his mother. And they began to live and live, to plow the field and sow wheat. So the fairy tale Ivan is a peasant son and Miracle Yudo is over, and whoever listened is well done
Part 6. Swamps, field workers and other natural spirits.
In addition to the main natural spirits - and, which were described earlier, there were other, certainly less significant, but quite noticeable evil spirits in natural ecosystems. These are various inhabitants of swamps - swamps, bagniki, orzhavniki, shishigs, and field spirits, among which field workers and noonworts are most famous, and others that are less common - patrons of meadows, mountains, steppes ... There are also very rare ones, found only in certain areas; there are those about which information is vague and uncertain.
It is said that God first created solid water on earth. One day God was walking on the water and saw a cloudy bubble floating on the surface. The bubble suddenly burst, and the devil jumped out of it. God ordered the devil to dive to the bottom and get the earth out of there. The devil complied with the order, but he hid some earth behind his cheeks. Meanwhile, God scattered the earth brought by the devil from the bottom, and so dry land appeared, and on it - trees, bushes and grasses. At the same time, plants also began to sprout in the mouth of the devil. The devil was frightened, and began to spit out the earth. So swamps appeared - a dead, liquefied land, on which nothing worthwhile can grow, except for ugly low trees, thorny bushes and coarse grass. But different evil spirits in the swamp - like barboska fleas. People, of course, were less likely to encounter local unclean people than with water and goblin - yes, it’s understandable, there’s not much to do in the swamp, except to collect cranberries, well, maybe even hunt.
So, the main character of the swamp demonography is swamp. In different localities, it is also called a swamp, marsh grandfather, swamp jester, antsybal, anchibil, nomad.
Used materials:
S. Maksimov, "Unclean, unknown and cross power", St. Petersburg, 1903;
K. Nikiforovsky, "Unclean", Vilna, 1907;
A. Korinfsky, "People's Russia", Moscow, 1901;
E. Levkievskaya, "Russian Folk Mythology", 2009;
N. Shaparova, " Brief Encyclopedia Slavic Mythology", 2001;
M. Vlasova, "New ABEVEGA of Russian superstitions", 1995.
In the west and north-west of Russia, in Belarus - where there are a lot of spaces occupied by marsh marshes, respectively, and marsh spirits were fairly. In these places, bogs, depending on the area of habitat, it was customary to divide into bogs proper, as well as bugs - inhabitants of peat pits and rustlings, who settled in swamps with rusty water, rusty.
| Mutual assistance in the pursuit of the victim - a person, or his accomplices - domestic animals, which unity does not occur, for example, between manor villains, should be considered a distinctive feature of the swamp evil spirits. At the same time, swamp spirits are not employees and helpers of the merman, who usually shuns these dirty, extremely slovenly creatures. With the exception of the aforementioned mutual assistance, swamps, bagniks and rustlings do not get along with one another, although they often live side by side: they are incapable of bliss and affection, because they are clumsy, motionless, gloomier and more intractable than all unclean ones. Finally, all of them are deprived of the possibility of the slightest change in their personal being, which makes it difficult for them to approach the surface of their dwellings: huddling at the bottom of them, these humanoids are looking for a victim, luring with beautiful images and sounds. In this, nature itself helps them, substituting the victim with tempting vegetation, but insidious soil, or simply gives a mirage. They begin their activities when the victim succumbed to deceit and got bogged down in the swamp, bagn, orzhaven, entangled in the roots and trunks of the willow. The subject unclean grabs her by the legs and slowly but firmly pulls her towards him. The surface of the swamp, once separated, is reconnected, leaving no traces of the death of a living creature. What are the death throes of the latter and the mockery of the evil spirits over the victim, one can only guess from the wild features of the tormentor, who has been waiting for the victim for centuries. "Unclean" |
| One of the descriptions of the swamp is a man with long arms, the body is covered with hair, the tail is also long, crocheted. In the beliefs of some regions of Russia, a swamp and a swamp are noted, "specializing" in dragging people into a quagmire. However, information about such creatures is scarce. More often, swamps are called various mythological characters that live in a swamp and retain their usual characteristics, as well as an unclean force of an indefinite, vague appearance; swamp "owners" in popular beliefs are often mixed with goblin, water, and are called devils. In the Novgorod province, it was believed that “bog spirits live in the swamps. At night, they light fires in the swamps and lure people to them. In a story from the Vologda province, the actions of swamp devils are attributed to damage to a forest intended for building a house (when transporting it through a swamp): “This swamp has a bad reputation among the people; they say that many devils live in it. Before buying a corner of the forest for a hut, the peasant decides where to buy - on this or on the other side of the swamp? Behind the swamp, the forest is farther from the villages and is sold cheaper, but the fact is that some neighbors took the forest beyond the swamp ... but everything went wrong with them - either they burn out, then the owner dies, then the cattle are badly behaved. It is the "swamp devil" playing tricks over the logs when they are transported through the swamp. And the peasant decides to buy a forest on this side of the swamp.
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| A boghead is most often an exorbitant fat man, covered in a thick layer of mud, to which algae, mossy fibers, snails, beetles and other aquatic insects have stuck in disorder. All this, while making the swamp man clumsy, at the same time puts him in the category of the most disgusting unclean. Swampmen are invulnerable to thunder bolts, which lose their destructive power at the first contact with the surface of their dwellings, and swamps fearlessly, with satanic mockery, pick up these arrows. But for all these unclean people there is an unavoidable, greatest danger- draining their dwellings by sewerage: since water was brought down from here, the thickened earth settled - the unclean man died fiercely, since he could not leave the dwelling, which has now become his grave. Over time, the dust of the unclean merges with the earth, serving as a harmless fertilizer material - and one less unclean, because they are all eternally lonely, bachelors. The swamp is amuses when plant and animal life is going on on the surface of its dwelling: in the evenings and mornings it roars like a cow (the voice of a bittern), quacks like a duck, gurgles like a grouse to lure a hunter or a predator here - groans wildly and immediately suddenly burst into laughter of a young human voice, cackling with an alluring buzz, like a snipe on a current. Nature has decorated the surface of the swamp dwelling with wonderful flowers, berry plants, mushrooms. And the swamp covertly grows between them an insidious bagoon, bringing the visitor to a carbon monoxide stupor. Whilst away his endless leisure, the swamp here and there sometimes breaks through the swamp windows and surrounds them with treacherous vegetation, then drives the fish to the window hole. This is a satanic trap that has killed more than one victim. Whichever way the victim is attracted, the swamp is able to destroy it only when the swamp is deep enough; otherwise, he is left to languish in impotent rage. The swamp man is very angry at the human adaptation to walk through the swampy swamp with the help of swamp skis: the soil shakes, bends down, and the person fearlessly moves forward! "Unclean" |
| Bagnik huddles in a peaty, never covered with vegetation swamp, which looks like a black mud puddle. It never appears on the surface of its "bagna" and its presence betrays only bubbles on the surface and occasionally - small lights in the same place; both are accompanied by a special "fart". In appearance, the bagnik is even dirtier than the swamp. People scoop out bagn mud to produce fuel, fertilize fields and gardens. and thus extremely disturbing the bugnik. In a dry summer, the bagna (peat bog) not only dries up, but also burns in some places, and the half-dead bagan languishes at the bottom of its dwelling. "Unclean" |
| As you know, even needy animals do not go to the rust (orzhavi) for food and drink: the extremely meager, hard sedge and horsetail and the yellow glandular water of the rust are harmful and cloying; the same property of water does not make it possible to huddle here and such animal trifles as frogs, leeches, worms, beetles. It is clear that the rust is completely filthy with the rust that huddles here, which does not even want to cover its shameful dwelling; these cloudy bubbles and "lard" (iron candles) eloquently testify to the highest contamination of rust. What should be its tenant? belching, rusty can not attract the attention of even illegible unclean, and living creatures avoid its dwelling.Thus, the rusty very rarely has to have a victim: the animal runs into the rust in a hurry, escaping from a predator-pursuer, and a person will only enter in an abnormal state. So far, the orzhavennik enjoys more peace than its aforementioned counterparts, because the hot summer does not dry up the orzhaveni, and people do not need this shameful, extremely unproductive land. Unclean is left to wallow at the bottom of his dwelling, layered with sticks and maintain the shameful dregs of rust. "Unclean" |
In Belarus and in the west of Russia, vines, or vines, are also referred to as swamp evil spirits. It seems to be how they live in willow thickets in swamps.
| The vines are pointed out as kindred helpers of water filths, or as teenagers. They make up a separate osprey rather of above-water than water evil spirits, and dense bushes of woven undersized vines serve as their den, from the color of which they perceive the color of their cover. By themselves, the vines are too tiny imps, they are playful, and do not mean to destroy the victim that is entangled in the vine bush, or forced to fall into the hidden window of the swamp. All this is done not as a satanic misfortune, but as a game, a joke, after which they give help, pushing a bush, reed, calamus to the victim. If even with such help the victim was not saved, then it will be picked up by the large uncleaner living here - the water, the swamp - which the vines did not intend to serve. What exactly the significance of the vines in the demonic world is difficult to determine; one should guess that these unclean people were driven here and chained to the place for lack of suitable activity for them. "Unclean" |
The vine grandfather, depicted in this illustration, is apparently the leader of the vines, and the vines themselves are imps jumping on branches.
Let us now turn to the consideration of the representatives, so to speak, of the beautiful swamp floor. swamps- these are by no means the wives of swamps, those, as they say, are inveterate bachelors. These, according to some sources, are some kind of relatives of mermaids. Rumor has it that they have amorous intrigues with mermen from nearby reservoirs, who, as you know, unlike swamps, are not inclined to asceticism. Swamps live in white water lily flowers, the size of a cauldron. They say that the swamp is indescribably pretty, shameless and seductive. Whether she sits in her flower, or on a tussock, or on the bank, but at the same time she keeps her feet in the water. And all because her legs are like goose, only with black membranes. When a male person appears, the swamp begins to cry and sob so that the traveler has an irresistible desire to console the beautiful maiden. But as soon as you get close to her, the villainess pounces on the victim and strangles in her arms, and drags her into the swamp abyss.
Other inhabitants of the swamps - marsh kikimora, or shishigi, have a much less attractive appearance, but in terms of dirty tricks they are also craftsmen. They can lure some mushroom pickers or hunters into a swamp or into an impenetrable thicket.
Kikimors do not particularly like to show themselves to people, but many have heard them. They howl, scream, make frightening sounds. They say that the call of the kikimora does not scare away, but, on the contrary, attracts travelers - this is how it lures people into the swamp abyss.
Strictly speaking, kikimors live not only in swamps, they can be found both in the forest and on the banks of reservoirs. There are rumors about the cohabitation of kikimor with goblin and water. Well, the water one has a better choice: mermaids there, swamps, mavkas - they will be any more presentable.
There are different opinions regarding the relationship of marsh kikimors with domestic ones. Who says it different entities, simply united by one name. Others believe that, in fact, this is one and the same, and the habitat of the kikimora depends on her choice of a life partner. She will marry a brownie - she lives in a house, for a goblin - in a swamp.
According to legend, girls who are cursed by their own mothers in the womb or before baptism, who died unbaptized, and also born of women from a goblin, water or other representative of evil spirits. Such children are kidnapped by evil spirits in infancy, and at the age of seven they turn into a kikimor.
But in principle, these creatures are worthless, they have no separate function in the world of evil spirits, and their authority among respectable spirits is extremely low.
Even in swamps, but not in bogs, but on those where berries grow - cranberries, cloudberries, the smallest of natural spirits is found - flywheel. He appears to people in the form of a little pig or a ram. Completely harmless, feeds on plants and berries. Information about flywheels is scarce.
Next to the field worker in the picture is depicted meadow grass who holds tubes of paint. Lugoviki, in principle, are also not too harmful spirits, although there are different opinions on this matter.
| Lugovik (meadow) - in folk beliefs, one of the meadow spirits, the child of a field worker. The peasants of some places believed that he, in the form of a little green man in clothes made of grass, runs through the meadows and catches birds (but according to some beliefs, as food for his parent, a field worker). Sometimes it was also believed that the meadow is a small and furry spirit that lives underground in holes and emerges from there only at noon and before sunset. According to popular beliefs, the meadow is not an evil spirit, it even helps people during haymaking. However, if the mowers are late in mowing, he gets angry and drives the grass into lush growth; braids herbs so that the braid gets tangled in them and cannot be cut; dries the grass on the vine; blunts and breaks the scythes of the mowers, making the scythe stumble upon a stone invisible in the grass, etc. It can also harm people who fall asleep in the field, especially at the boundary: it leans on their chest and chokes them to death or sends them into a fever. "A Brief Encyclopedia of Slavic Mythology" |
It happens that they live in haystacks haystack and waiter. There is not much information about them. Here, for example, is what they said in the Novgorod region:
| - I walked past the haystack. Suddenly “he” jumped out like a pimple and shouted: “ darling, tell the kutiha that the little girl is dead". I ran home - neither alive nor dead, climbed into my husband's bed, and I said: "Ondrey, what did I hear?" As soon as I spoke to him, something groaned in the podzbitsa: “ oh baby, oh baby". Then something black came out, again like a little man, threw a new piece of cloth and went out: the doors from the hut opened for him by themselves. And it all howls: oh waiter". We are stunned: we are sitting with the owner, as if sentenced to death. And so it went.
|
"Kutikha" in the Novgorod region was called homemade kikimora. From this we can conclude that the stozhikha was also a kind of kikimora, or was closely related to it.
In general, there is an opinion that a "stogovoy" is none other than field worker, for some reason living in a haystack. The field worker has already been mentioned above; paternity is attributed to him in relation to Lugovik.
| With regard to his kind, but mischievous disposition, the field worker has much in common with the brownie, but by the nature of the pranks themselves, he resembles a goblin: he also knocks you off the road, leads you into a swamp, and especially makes fun of drunken plowmen. With a field worker, you can especially often meet at the boundary pits. For example, it is absolutely impossible to sleep in such places, because the children of the field workers (“landscapers” and “meadows”) run along the boundaries and catch birds for their parents to eat. If they find a person lying here, they lean on him and strangle him. Like all unclean spirits, field workers are bribe-takers, arrogant and capricious. And their peasants are forced to reckon with these properties. So, for example, the Oryol tillers once a year, under Spirits day, go in the dead of night, somewhere far away from the road and from the village, to some moat and carry a couple of eggs and an old and voiceless rooster stolen from good neighbors - they carry in a gift to the field worker, and, moreover, in such a way that no one could see it, otherwise the field worker would get angry and destroy all the grain in the field. "Unclean, unknown and cross power" |
| The field workers, unlike other evil spirits, have a favorite time - noon, when the chosen lucky ones manage to see it in reality. However, these eyewitnesses boast more than explain, confuse more than tell the truth. So in the end appearance the field worker, as well as his character, is very little clarified, and in all folk mythology this is perhaps the most vague image. It is only known that the field worker is angry, and that sometimes he likes to play an unkind joke with a person. In the Zaraisk district, for example, according to the words of the peasants, such an incident was recorded: “We conspired to marry our sister Anna to the Lovetsky peasant Rodion Kurov. Here at the wedding, as usual, they got drunk in order, and then the matchmakers went to their village of Lovtsy at night, which is not far from us. Here the matchmakers were driving and riding, and suddenly the field worker decided to play a trick on them - both carts with horses fell into the river. Somehow they rescued the horses and one cart and left for home, while others went on foot. When they came home, the matchmakers, the groom's mother, were not found. They rushed to the river, where they left the cart, picked it up, and under the cart they found the matchmaker completely numb. "Unclean, unknown and cross power" |
| The area of each field worker is the fields and meadows of one or several adjacent villages. Here, often in a vast space, a field worker huddles on a hill, in a ravine, in a ditch, near a stone, near a field tree, bush, boundary post, without fail under the cover of these objects, with which he is immediately separated from the water field, rain runoff, since he hates may sputum, leaving for lofty places. The field worker takes care of the fertility of the fields, of fattening the meadows, frightens away mischief-makers from here and aligns the stems and leaves of plants; but this is done in order to bring here possible more people, among whom he will undoubtedly find victims. However, it also happens that he drives away those who have improperly entered his area for the sake of his own peace. By the way, the field worker guards the field treasures, which he does not give out in any deal with a person, and mercilessly takes revenge on the accidental finder of the treasure. Knowing this, treasure hunters do not turn to the field worker, but having become the owners of the field treasure, they leave all relations with the field worker's habitats. "Unclean" |
| The essential activity of the field worker is directed only to the harm of man's field economy. Destroying fences, poles, he attracts cattle to the fields, and strives to do this on the site of the hater. The field worker does the same when he lures children and youth for flowers, field plants, or simply for games and gatherings. The field worker also causes direct harm: he rolls bread and grass to the ground, twists plants, deflects rain, sends harmful insects, leads lost children here and there to exhaustion, torments grazing animals, as well as working people, with gadflies, horseflies, mosquitoes. He confuses all visitors to fields and meadows with a wild echo, mimicking, whistling, roaring, and most importantly, with a frightening appearance. The field worker can take the form of a monstrous shadow that either chases a person or leaves him, luring the victim. One has only to succumb to the insidious lure - and a person will endure a lot for gullibility: it may happen that, caressing with his shady appearance, a field worker suddenly strikes a person with a terrible sun and kills on the spot. "Unclean" |
| One Belozersky widow says: - Cows disappeared, - I went to look for them. Suddenly such a wind blew from the field, that, Lord, my God! I looked around - I see: someone in white is standing, and it’s blowing like that, and it’s blowing like that, and even whistles. I forgot about the cows, and rather go home, and people tell me: - If you saw in white, it means "field" it. Oryol and Novgorod knowledgeable people on the contrary, this spirit, assigned to guard the grain fields, has a body as black as earth; his eyes are multicolored; instead of hair, the head is covered with long green grass; no hats or clothes. There are many of them in the world (they interpret them there): four field workers were given for each village. This is understandable, because there are many fields in the black earth places, and it is difficult for one field worker to keep up everywhere. On the other hand, the forest inhabitants, less perspicacious, but no less cowardly, saw the “field” very rarely, although they often heard their voice. Those who saw it claimed that the field worker appeared to them in the form of an ugly, little man with the ability to speak. "Unclean, unknown and cross power" |
| Field workers are more sociable with each other than estate spirits, it is known that they visit each other, help to torment the victim who has fallen; friendly, especially at night sometimes, in calm weather. Almost inactive in the winter, field workers come together for fun, and the favorite of them is the destruction of road markers, the dusting of the road, the snowing of ditches and ruts, so that a passerby who has lost his way and a passerby, whom they drive back and forth for a long time, until freezing, gets there. The field workers live most badly in spring and autumn, with the then slush and sputum: no matter how strong their satanic desire to harm a person and his good, they cannot part with a cozy dry place, they cannot trample on dirty and wet soil. But here the person himself is often given into their hands when he comes to rest in the dry valley: caressing and lulling the visitor with calm, sunny heat, they keep the vacationer until he begins to have a feverish chill. It is difficult to answer whether the field workers die and how exactly, although it is known that they recognize the approach of a thunderstorm sooner than others, they know how to hide from thunder arrows, and the very area where the field workers live, if there are no tall, lonely growing trees, rarely receives thunder strikes. People have not yet come up with reliable means for the death of field workers. "Unclean" |
| With people, the field behaves harshly and especially does not stand on ceremony. His favorite pastime is to scare and knock people off the field road. He especially loves to make fun of drunken plowmen, leading them into a swamp or into a river. It attracts children with wild flowers, beautiful cornflowers blooming in rye. And then he knocks them off the road, leads them through the fields, forcing them to wander. Uninvited by the visitor, the field and meadows of the field frightens with a wild echo or whistle. And he also likes to fool people working in the field at noon, calling out to them with the voice of their relatives or acquaintances. Noon, like midnight, in general dangerous time. At this time, something may seem, something to scare a person. In some regions of Russia, they say that it is not a man-fielder who manages the field, but a woman - a field mistress or fields. However, few people saw her. More heard her voice. Some say that the fields are small and ugly. According to other sources, she has the appearance of a stork living next to a person. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to ruin the stork's nest - after all, it is he who can turn out to be a field mistress. "Russian folk mythology" |
There are no direct references to the marital cohabitation of the Poleviks, but since Mezheviki and Lugoviki appear as their children, it follows that they also have wives. We have already mentioned the “stozhihonka” that died in the Bose and the fields. Looks like there are others women's perfume living in the fields. In the Vologda region, there was a belief about a certain "fried woman" living in a pea field. "Rzhanitsy" or "ryzhitsy" inhabited the rye fields in Zaonezhye, in the Arkhangelsk province, in the Vologda region, and in the Olonets province the spirit of the rye field was called the "witch". In the beliefs of some regions of the Russian North, there is also a wolverine, but not a predatory animal, but a female beast with a female body, animal head and paws. True, it was attributed to dwelling mainly in hemp plants, so perhaps it was a haze from alkaloid exposure. But the most common and popular female image among the field spirits is midday, or noon.
In the picture, the midday woman is depicted in an atypical appearance: she is small, plump, and her dress is non-canonical, green. There are many different, sometimes contradictory, descriptions of the appearance of the midday, but most witnesses claimed that her height is either ordinary woman, or generally basketball, the dress is most often white, the appearance is either a beautiful maiden or a terrible old woman.
| According to the beliefs of the Yaroslavl region, noon is a tall girl in white, lives in fields sown with bread; she lures children into rye and “turns” the heads of those working at noon. In the beliefs of the Arkhangelsk region, noon is a woman with long hair; she sits on the boundary, pursues people who appear on the boundary, is dangerous for children. Noon can be similar to a mermaid, also sitting in the rye chasing children, and with a black hairy sorcerer, living in rye and dangerous for children, and with a “shaggy” kikimora. According to the beliefs of Southern Siberia, noon - an old woman in rags, with disheveled hair, lives in nettle bushes, protects gardens from children; in the Surgut Territory, a mummer in a fur coat turned inside out was called noon; she was also represented as a hairy woman with huge breasts, who “mows down” people at noon. According to the beliefs of the Arkhangelsk region, noon appears at night, it can show how to get a flower that makes a person invisible. Perhaps the “high white noon” is one of the “daytime”, “summer” looks of the kikimora, which “is small in winter at Svyatki, and then grows up.” Both afternoons - both beautiful and terrible - are the spirits of noon: in essence, they guard not only the field, but also the noon itself. The time of maximum activation of the sun, noon is the "border" dividing the day, the "turn to the evening", this time is both sacred and dangerous. It makes the most diverse forces and beings very active, including exclusively "midday" ones. From time immemorial, noon was revered as the time of middays, while a person was supposed to rest. "New ABEVEGA of Russian superstitions" |
| Noon appears on the borders during the flowering of rye and the ripening of bread and protects cereals from the scorching rays of the midday sun. There is a good afternoon and a bad afternoon. The good one closes bread and herbs with a huge frying pan from the hot sun at noon, the evil one wraps the white-hot frying pan with the other side and burns the tops of cereals and flowers of plants. Midday is very dangerous for people. She protects flowering cereals from people and especially from children. She makes sure that they do not go to the field during the flowering period and do not crush the bread. She lures the children who are in the field into the thick of the bread and makes them wander for a long time through the rye. Therefore, children used to be scared: “Don’t go into the rye, noon will burn you” or “Noon will eat you.” However, some believe that there is a kind of noon, which does not live in a rye field, but in a pea field, as well as in a garden. She guards her possessions from the raids of children for peas, young cucumbers, turnips and other garden delicacies. "Russian folk mythology" |
Sometimes it was said that noon women wear transparent dresses, and sometimes they said that they don’t wear any dresses at all.
| - Before, there were noon days, tickling tickled until death, my father told everything. They won't do anything until noon, and after noon they have to go home. As they reap rye, so the middays sit, everyone will curl up, arms, legs folded like this. Now afternoons began to disappear somewhere. Father never saw them, but the old women reap, so they saw them. Sorry. It was with an old woman. Time is leaning like this, leave the field - middays will come. Noondays will steal, tickle, and kill a person. And so they said, one woman stings. I sting and looked - there was no one: "Give me another sheaf." She didn’t bring a little sheaf - the noon flew in, and grabbed her to tickle. She tickles to death. And fall down - retreat (Arkhangelsk region). Noons are not only able to tickle to death. At noon, they walk along the roads with scythes and mow down people they meet on their way with scythes. Some of these vicious creatures may even enter the village. Therefore, earlier at noon, the shutters were closed so that noon people would not look into the windows. "Russian folk mythology" |
Often attributed to middays huge growth, about four or five meters.
Before finishing with the evil spirits living in the fields and moving on to the patrons of other natural objects, I will mention one more unpleasant character, called "Yrka" and supposedly also living in the field. The mention of "yrka" is only in one modern source, so its reality seems doubtful. It seems to be like this "yrka" with his friend "ukrut" catch late travelers, and also steal children, and drink blood from them.
And in the steppe, according to popular beliefs, a specific, severe spirit was in charge - steppe. We rarely saw him, he showed up more and more in the form of dusty whirlwinds.
| About the steppe, there are fewer and fewer legends-tales that remain in the people's memory, probably because the vast expanse of the steppe itself is becoming more and more crowded in the world: its sharp plow plows open, and every year faster. “Stepovoy is not a brownie, you can’t put him in the oven!” - say the village eloquentists. “The owner of the steppe is good: he doesn’t mow hay, he doesn’t ask for food or drink!” The Russian people see the incarnation of the “master of the steppe” in the whirling whirlwinds. Sometimes, in the words of superstitious people, he “appears”, and such an appearance of the forgotten spirit of the steppes, the kinsman-ruler of violent winds, is not good. Gray whirlwinds rise, run along the roads, collide with each other at crossroads. And now - from the crowd of them, in the very middle of the funnel, the steppe one rises: a gray, like a whirlwind, a tall old man with a long dusty beard and a mop of hair flying in all directions. It will seem, he will threaten with an senile bony hand and hide. The trouble is for the traveler who, without blessing, leaves the house, but at noon he gets to the crossroads, where a dusty crowd of whirlwinds is spinning. There were times when people disappeared. “Witches rule weddings with witchers!” the village says, looking at the dance of whirlwinds rushing along the streets from the steppe, and hastily herding the children to the huts. "People's Russia" |
In the mining regions - in the Urals and Altai, in the South and Western Siberia- lived, according to legend, the owner of the mountains, mountain. He most often took the form of a long-bearded old man with burning eyes, but sometimes the devil. He is prone to mischief, smokes, is not a fool to drink. You can make an agreement with a mountaineer by making him an offering or promising part of the booty, and then he will show the way to the treasure deposits, endow him with wonderful items for work, for example, a special shovel. Those who do not show him due respect or simply do not like him, the mountain banishes from the mines.
And, as usual, at the end of the next chapter of the review - a couple of funny pictures. One of the lives of swamp kikimors, the other is about the ubiquitous Maskaev cat, who, this time, made friends with someone from the swamp evil spirits.
Bolotnik
The swamp has long been considered a habitat for evil spirits, as evidenced by numerous proverbs: “It would be a swamp, but there will be devils”; "Sits like a devil in a swamp"; "Running like hell in a swamp"; “Do not walk in a swamp - the devil will chop off your ears”, etc. It is no coincidence that in conspiracies, evil spirits and diseases are sent “to forests, to swamps” or “to mosses, to swamps”. The Novogorodskaya Pilot of the 13th century testifies to the worship of swamps among the Eastern Slavs, noting that the pagans "sacrifice to demons and swamps, and wells."
And in many places they believed that the swamps have a special owner - swamp, swamp or swamp, swamp grandfather, swamp jester. However, sometimes it was considered a kind of water or even goblin. The swamp was represented as a gloomy, motionless creature sitting at the bottom of the swamp, an eyeless fat man, covered with a layer of mud, with adhering algae, snails, fish scales; or a man overgrown with gray hair, with long arms and a twisted tail. Unlike other representatives of evil spirits, the swamp cannot change its appearance.
A swamp lures a person or animal into a quagmire and destroys him. A person who plays the nozzle (shepherd's pipe) at night becomes an especially easy prey. The swamp lures its prey by quacking like a duck, roaring like a cow, moaning wildly or laughing. When a person gets stuck in a quagmire, the swamp grabs him by the legs and pulls him deeper. Bolotnik has neither wife nor children. Unlike other demons, he is not afraid of thunder bolts, as they lose their power when they come into contact with the surface of the swamp. Swamps die when swamps are drained and in winter, when the swamp freezes.
Belarusians distinguished different swamps. Considered the oldest orzhavinik- he is covered with dirty red hair, with a thick belly and thin legs. younger was considered bagnik- the owner of the bagna, a gloomy, motionless, dirty creature, living alone at the bottom of the bagna and grabbing random travelers by the legs. You can spot the bugnik by the bubbles that rise to the surface, and by the small pale lights that sometimes appear in the swamp. The youngest of the swamp demons was considered just a swamp. And in the Russian North, swamps are often endowed not with a master, but with a mistress - swamp.
Bolotniki) - spirits of the swamp - companions and helpers of the unkind Do not expect good from them. In the hierarchy Slavic gods and spirits Bolotnik does not occupy a high place.
ELEMENTS. Swamps - elemental spirits
OTHER NAMES: Bog Master,
HOW TO NOTICE AND HOW TO FIGHT. It is difficult to notice Bolotnik, except perhaps by the bubbles that sometimes rise up and even by small pale lights you can guess his presence.
But if you got into a swamp - don't worry, don't be afraid, don't get lost. The brave and the brave are afraid of evil spirits.
Remember though Swampman's red eyes often filled with malice and hatred for the human race, but outside the swamp, its owner cannot do anything with a person.
IN LITERATURE.
. And then they say in the villages
It is not known where they came from
Sorcerers and shaggy witches:
“The swamp is playing tricks on you.
It's a dark force beckoning you."
A.A. BLOCK "Swamp - a deep depression
IN LITERATURE. Well, let someone else enter me. Let him deceive, take away the Leshy, who has overgrown with leaves, drown the Bog Master, tear the ruthless beast! .. I ran away that day far away. From fatigue, the resentment gradually dried up, I remembered that I should have been afraid. M. Semenova, The one I'm always waiting for.
Different faces of Bolotnik in the paintings of V. Slavuk - Bolotnik ordinary, Arzhavinnik, Lozovoy Grandfather.
Different faces of Bolotnik in the paintings - Bolotnik ordinary, Arzhavinnik, Lozovoy Grandfather.
In Belarus, Lozovoy Grandfather also belongs to the swamps (together with the vines). This above-water wickedness lives in thickets of willows that grow above the swamps. Vineyards are tiny and playful demons. They will play, fool around, dip into the water, but then they will stretch out the saving branches.
A bog man can easily pretend to be a monk and lead him who knows where. By the way, about the time of the appearance of this ability - the times of Christianity, since there were no monks in Russia before. So, no more than 1000 years.
LITERATURE. Before midnight, he reached the swamp and pulled the reins in front of a motionless figure in a black monastic cassock, girded with a thin hemp rope. A deeply drawn hood completely hid the face - if this creature had any at all.
