Publication details
"A ohyzdnost plula do bezedné propasti." Exorcismus idolů v tekoucích řekách na Rusi a v blízkém ugrofinském prostoru
| Title in English | "And the abomination sailed into the bottomless abyss." The exorcism of idols in flowing rivers in Rus' and in the nearby Finno-Ugric area |
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | According to preserved historical sources, Pagan cult idols of the Slavs were during Christianization torn down and then chopped up and burned in fire. The same process of destruction is described among the Russians between Kiev and Novgorod, but with the difference that the most important of the idols were, after ritual degradation, thrown into local rivers, with careful attention to their sailing out of the political territory. Religious studies scholars usually analyse this ritual exorcism in the context of the still practised folklore rituals of the drowning of artificial figurines representing winter or other negative forces, which are attested in many areas of Europe. The aim of this conference lecture is to enrich these analyses by pointing out parallels in the Pagan traditions of the Finno-Ugrians from areas near medieval Russian territories. In this context, it will also attempt to answer the question of why the river course was used for exorcising the great Pagan gods of the Rus' and how this practice related to contemporary cosmological ideas. |