On the Borderline of the Worlds: Swamps in the mythopoetic world picture of the peoples of Russia

Shima. 2022. Vol. 16. No. 2. P. 62–82.

Olga Lavrenova

This article analyzes ethnic and linguistic world picture of the peoples of Russia with the aim of revealing the most representative mythologemes connected with the swamp and defining their meaning and place in the cultural landscape. Swamps are dangerous areas for humans, and at the same time they are also a source of food and biological diversity. In the boreal and circumpolar areas, swamps are seen a separate world which is perceived as Chaos that exists beyond the control of a human being. The range of meanings of swamps manifests itself in the archaic pagan world picture as primordial space. Swamps can be seen as chthonic or liminal space on the threshold of the upper and lower worlds providing connection between them. In the Christian and partly in the Muslim world pictures, swamp is infernal space where the deities of the ancient world live disguised as devils. The city dwellers who travel to the countryside to pick berries and mushrooms or to go hunting reveal an archaic tendency to depersonalize swamp spirits and other natural forces by avoiding names and precise definitions.

Keywords: культурный ландшафт, cultural landscape, swamp, болото