Safron, E. A. MYTHOLEGEME OF ISLAND IN SCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE // Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2018. No 6 (175). DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2018.208


Literary studies

MYTHOLEGEME OF ISLAND IN SCANDINAVIAN FOLKLORE

Safron
E. A. 		Petrozavodsk State University
Keywords:
mythologeme
Scandinavian folklore
island
paradise
vittra
Blockula
Valhalla
skessa
supernatural		 Summary: On the material of different genres of Scandinavian folklore (spells, legends, stories, fairy tales of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) the author analyses the mythologeme of the island. For the analysis the researcher uses only the stories about a trip to the island (with a possible subsequent return to the mainland), which describe the meetings with local residents. It turns out that in the folklore of these countries the nominative island is equated with the nomination «other» world. In some plots this world is likened to paradise or, conversely, to the habitat of all the devilish, hostile to man. Inheriting the tradition of world folklore, the oral folk art of the Scandinavians turns also often the island into a place of exile for threatening human beings: for both humans and the population of the «other» world. Mythologeme of the island is also realized through the image of the mountain, but in Swedish folklore this image often has a negative connotation as a place used for sabbath. The author finds out that the traditional supernatural beings of the Scandinavian islands are the vittras (underground inhabitants). However in the Swedish Gotland dwells a special creature, named Büsen, a gray-clad little old man who performs the functions of the forest keeper, and Biaru – the female analogue of Büsen, the homunculus produced from birch twigs for the purpose of stealing milk.



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