RSSS 315 1nd Edition Exam # 1 Study Guide
Vocabulary
Folklore: traditional tales, knowledge that is widely circulated Fairytale: fantastical tale with a happy ending and improbable events Legend: link to history, person/place inspires but not verifiable Myth: traditional story that morphs over time, popular belief or tradition Dvoeverin: simultaneous Christian and Pagan beliefs Hypertrichosis: "werewolf" syndrome, abnormal hair growth on body Vampire: generally believed to be an unclean body who rises from its grave in the night to suck blood Werewolf: generally believed to be s shape-shifter in the form of a wolf who preys on animals and people Apotropaic: methods of turning evil away Night wolves: formed in 1989 to defend rock music from the soviets, swore to defend orthodox cathedrals from hooliganism Dracul: Devil/dragon Post hoc/ergo propter hoc: the notion that because one event happens, others follow (ex, the rooster crowed, the sun rose, therefore the rooster made the sun rise)
Dark Creatures
Baba Yaga Large nose, thin as a skeleton, travels in mortar and pestle Home: Hut deep in the woods, grows chicken legs that can only be stopped with an incantation, bone and skull fence Powers: controls the elements, associated with wind, no power over those pure of heart, protected by love, virtue or a mother's blessing Servants: a pair of menacing hands, white/red/black horseman Koshchey the Deathless Thin, flies or travels under mist, soul is hidden outside of body, long claws/fingers Powers: shape-shifter, whirlwind/storms, destructive powers of nature Servants: shrieks to summon spirits Kikimora Soul of unbaptized woman Wanders the world to bring hell's anguish to the living Thought to come from witch’s lips in the form of a butterfly, settling on a sleeping person's face to suffocate Morphs into horse of strand of hair Rusalka Dark, beautiful seductress who kills those who embrace her Soul of stillborn child Irony: Rusalnaia week in Russia to celebrate courtship Gorynich Dragon with 3 heads and 7 claws of copper Slain by Dobrynya (root word, dobr= good)
Pagan Gods Perun: god of thunder Dazhbog: god of giving Rod: god of kinship (sacrifice wheat) Chernobog: god of night, darkness Belobog: god of day, light Makosh: goddess of fertility Stribog: god of music/wind/devils Sviatovid: All Seeing (4 faces) Simargi: guards the tree of life
The Slavic People Eastern Russia Ukraine Belorussia Western Poland Czech Slovakia Southern Slovenia Croatia Serbia Bulgaria Macedonia
European Vampires Bathory 1516-1614 "Blood Countess/Countess Dracula" Grew up during war and torture, happy marriage and good mother Hungarian, preyed on Slovak peasants Killed over 650 Young servant women "disciplined for petty mistakes/infractions, turned into torture Vampire link: eating of flesh, bathing/drinking blood