RU | EN
Submenu

Golikova S., Shkerin V. “Everyone seems to have him”: the image of Domovoy in mythological beliefs of Ural villagers

S. Golikova - Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural branch of the RAS Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation ORCID: 0000-0001-8272-4763
E-mail: avokilog@mail.ru

V. Shkerin - Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural branch of the RAS Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation ORCID: 0000-0003-3925-2873
E-mail: shkerin_uit@mail.ru

 

 Download  |  Go to Issue #2. 2020

 

ABSTRACT. The article is based on the field materials collected in the 2010s and considers the traditional beliefs of rural inhabitants of the Southern Urals about domovoy — his appearance, functions, qualities and abilities, as well as the practices of establishing relationships with him. The research has been conducted in the Russian village of Bedjarysh located in the southwestern part of the Chelyabinsk Region. The local folklore tradition presents notions of domovoy, which generally correspond to the all-Russian mythological system. His image is syncretic and causes contradictory feelings among the bearers of the tradition. Domovoy is a patron spirit that protects the peasant manor and all its inhabitants (people and animals) from misfortunes. However, encounters with him are undesirable and dangerous. For adult persons (unlike children) it is dangerous to hear and see domovoy, but a tactile contact with him is possible. Domovoy belongs to the other world, where time flows according to different laws. He knows both the past and what will happen in the future. But domovoy likes joking, that is why not all the signs given by him should be perceived as a premonition. Domovoy is an ancestor protector and perhaps even a progenitor, so he must be present in every house. His absence is fraught with troubles. Moving to a new place of residence, one should invite domovoy to join him. However, new house owners can also get him together with the house. Domovoy is a werewolf. He is able to appear as a human or an animal and can be visible and invisible. But anomalies in his appearance or behavior disclose him to people inevitably.

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2020-2(8)-170-183
УДК 3 98(470.5)

 

KEYWORDS: domovoy, mythological tradition, guardian spirits, charcoal burner, industrial Ural

 

REFERENCES

  • Baiburin А. K. Zhilishche v obreadakh i predstavleniyakh vostochnykh slavyan [Dwelling in ceremonies and representations of East Slavs]. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1983. (In Russian).
  • Baiduzh М. I., Liskevich, N. A., Masharipova А. Kh. Tradicionnye predstavleniya o domovom u komi yuga Zapadnoj Sibiri [Traditional notions of home from the South of Western Siberia]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and Ethnography], 2013, no. 3 (22), pp. 148–155. (In Russian).
  • Chajko E. A. Budni sovetskogo cheloveka v kontekste rossijskoj istorii 1930–1950-h godov: lokal’nyj mir Yuzhnoural’skogo gornozavodskogo rajona [Everyday life of the Soviet man in the context of Russian history of the 1930s and 1950s: the local world of the South Ural mining district]. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Chelyabinsk state University], 2008, no. 35, pp. 115–125. (In Russian).
  • Dal’ V. I. O poveriyakh, sueveriyakh i predrassudkakh russkogo naroda [About the beliefs, superstitions and prejudices of the Russian people]. Moscow: TERRA Publ., Knizhnaya lavka — RTR Publ., 1997. (In Russian).
  • Golikova S. V. Narodnaya religioznost’ russkogo naseleniya Urala 18—nachala 20 vekov [Popular religiosity of the Russian population of the Urals 18 — early 20 centuries]. Ekaterinburg: Bank kul’turnoi informatsii Publ., 2011. (In Russian).
  • Golubkova O. V. Dusha i priroda: Etnokul’turnye traditsii slavyan i finno-ugrov [Soul and nature: ethno-cultural traditions of the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples]. Novosibirsk: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the RAS Publ., 2009. (In Russian).
  • Golubkova O. V. Obraz doma i ego mificheskih obitatelej v tradicionnom mirovozzrenii komi-izhemcev [The image of the house and its mythical inhabitants in the traditional worldview of the Komi-Izhemtsy]. Balandinskie chteniya [Balandinskaya reading], 2015, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 20–27. (In Russian).
  • Krinichnaya N. A. Russkaya mifologiya. Mir obrazov fol’klora [Russian mythology. The world of images of folklore]. Moscow: Akademicheskii Proekt Publ.; Gaudeamus Publ., 2004. (In Russian).
  • Levkievskaia E. E. Domovoy [Domovoy]. Slavyanskie drevnosti. Etnoligvisticheskii slovar’
  • [Ancient Slavic. Ethnolinguistic dictionary]. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya Publ., 1999, vol. 2: D–K, pp. 120–124. (In Russian).
  • Levkievskaia E. E. Golos i zvuk v slavyanskoj apotropeicheskoj magii [Voice and soung in Slavic apothropeic magic]. Mir zvuchashhij i molchashhij. Semiotika zvuka i rechi v tradicionnoj kul’ture slavjan [The world is sounding and silent. Semiotics of sound and speech in the traditional culture of the Slavs]. Moscow: Indrik Publ., 1999, pp. 51–72. (In Russian).
  • Maksimov S. V. Nechistaya, nevedomaya i krestnaya sila [Evil, unknown and power of the cross]. St. Petersburg: Poliset Publ., 1994. (In Russian).
  • Metallurgicheskie zavody Urala 17–20 vv. [Metallurgical works in the Urals in the 17–20 centuries]. Ekaterinburg: Academia Publ., 2001. (In Russian).
  • Mukomolov A. F. Na yuzhnoural’skikh zavodakh [At South Ural plants]. Moscow: Territoriya Publ., 2007, vol. 6. (In Russian).
  • Panchenko A. A. Inkvizitory kak antropologi, antropologi kak inkvizitory [Inquisitors as anthropologists, anthropologists like inquisitors]. Zhivaya starina [Living antiquity], 2001, no. 1, pp. 7–9. (In Russian).
  • Pomerantseva E. V. Mifologicheskie personazhi v russkom fol’klore [Mythological characters in Russian folklore]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1975. (In Russian).
  • Sugonyak V. V. Domovoy v vostochnoslavyanskoj mifologii (po materialam Celinnogo rajona Altajskogo kraya) [Domovoy in East Slavic mythology (according to the materials of Virgin district of the Altai territory]. Sibirskaya arkheologiya i etnografiya: vklad molodykh issledovatelei [Siberian archaeology and Ethnography: the contribution of young researchers]. Chita: Transbaikal State Uni. Publ., 2016, pp. 276–277. (In Russian).
  • Tokarev S. A. Religioznye verovaniya vostochnoslavyanskikh narodov 19—nachala 20 v. [The religious beliefs of the East Slavic peoples of the 19 — early 20 century]. Moscow; 
  • Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences Pulb., 1957. (In Russian).
  • Trostina M. A. Bylichki o domovom kak istochnik informacii o semejnyh otnosheniyah i byte russkih i mordvy (na fol’klornom materiale, sobrannom v Respublike Mordoviya) [Little stories about the house as a source of information about family relationships and everyday life of Russians and Mordvins (folklore material collected in the Republic of Mordovia)]. Voprosy arkhivovedeniya i istochnikovedeniya v vyshei shkole [The issues of archival and source studies at the higher school]. Arzamas: Arzamas branch of the UNN Publ., 2015, pp. 274–280. (In Russian).
  • Ust’yantsev S. V. Katavskii fenomen: Nauchno-populyarnoe izdanie [Katav phenomenon: popular science publishing]. Ekaterinburg, 2007. (In Russian).
  • Vinogradova L. N. Narodnaya demonjlogiya i mifo-ritual’naya traditsiya slavyan [Folk demonology and mytho-ritual tradition of Slavs]. Moscow: Indrik Publ., 2000. (In Russian).
  • Zelenin D. K. Vostochnoslavyanskaya etnografiya [East Slavic Ethnography]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1991. (In Russian).
  • Zheleznov I. I. Skazaniya ural’skikh kazakov [Tales of the Ural Cossacks]. Orenburg:
  • Orenburgkaya kniga Publ., 2006. (In Russian).