Chud (folklore)

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Not to be confused with Chud, ancient Russian name for a number of tribes and peoples, usually of the Baltic Finnic group.
Chud white-eyed
The legend of the Chud that went underground inspired Nikolai Roerich to paint two paintings, "The Underground Chud" (1913 and 1929)[1][2]
Creature information
GroupingLegendary tribe
Origin
RegionRussian and Finno-Ugric folklore

Chud (chud beloglazaya) are an ancient mythical people, characters in Russian[3] and Finno-Ugric[4] (in particular Komi[5] and Sámi[4][6]) folklore.

Similar legends are known among the Ural Russians about the div’i people, among the Siberian Tatars and Mansi about the Sabirs/Savirs, among the Altai people about the Buruts, and among the Nenets about the Sikhirtya.

Characteristics

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Legends describe the white-eyed Chud as short-statured people[7], incredibly wealthy. In Komi myths, they lived «like animals» in the forests, eating game and wearing animal skins. However, Stephen of Perm came to them wanting to baptize them, and the people of the Russian tsar demanded tax. After this, the Chud went underground, hiding there with all their enormous wealth.

Presumably, the legends are based on ancient Finno-Ugric stories about the departure of the indigenous population or the death of the first generation of people. There are two versions of the plot in folklore: a heroic one about idealized ancient times and an anecdotal one about a stupid people who are unlike modern people. These plots coexist in different proportions: among the Komi and Mordvins, the Chud are identified with the ancestral people, while among the Russians and Sami, anecdotes about fools come to the fore.[4]

The historical people, previously referred to as the Zavoloch Chud, have now been completely assimilated among the Vepsians, Russians, and Komi, but the Russian population of Zavolochye (historical region in the basin of the Northern Dvina and Onega, part of Arkhangelsk Oblast) has preserved the memory of the Chud who used to live in these areas. Among the surviving legends about the Chud in Verkhokamye (historical and cultural region in the upper Kama river area, covering parts of Perm Krai and Udmurtia), common themes about resistance to Slavic invaders and Christianization are repeated. The forest is called its habitat, and dugouts are its dwelling. For defense, the Chud built earthen fortresses, defended themselves fiercely, and if unsuccessful, fled deeper into the forests or killed themselves; only a few remained in their former places of residence. A legend was recorded about how the Chud "went underground" - they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and buried themselves, cutting down the pillars. D. V. Bubrih in his book The Origin of the Karelian People suggested that the ethnic composition of the historical Zavoloch Chud was heterogeneous; it was formed by representatives of the Ves ("white-eyed Chud") and Meryans ("black Chud"). In the upper reaches of the Moloma and in Karelia, there were stories about the "white-eyed Chud".[8][9]

The legends about the Chud were brought to the Urals by settlers from the Russian North[10].

The dictionary of Vladimir Dal states:

A savage people who lived, according to legend, in Siberia and left behind only a memory of themselves in the mounds (kurgans, graves); frightened by Yermak and by the white birch that suddenly appeared with him, a sign of the power of the White tsar, the Chud dug tunnels, went there with all their goods, cut the supports and perished.

— V. I. Dal, Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language

Divi people

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A similar legend existed in the Urals about the underground "Divi people".

References

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  1. ^ Владислав Белогоров (2011). "Как чудь под землю ушла". Krasnaya Zvezda. old.redstar.ru. Archived from the original on 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  2. ^ Анна Марианис (2018-05-23). Николай Рерих. Мистерия жизни и тайна творчества. Litres. p. 1356. ISBN 978-5-457-95207-2.
  3. ^ Krinichnaya 1991.
  4. ^ a b c Bessonov 2016.
  5. ^ Limerov 2009.
  6. ^ Pimenov 1965.
  7. ^ Petrukhin 2005, p. 207.
  8. ^ Страздынь Ю. Ф. "Чудь заволоцкая (из истории заселения края)". Записки Подосиновского общества изучения родного края Выпуск 2, часть1. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
  9. ^ Yefymenko P. S. "Заволоцкая чудь". Московский журнал. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
  10. ^ Шмидт А. В. Об уральской чуди и её гибели Archived 2017-09-12 at the Wayback Machine // Записки УОЛЕ. Т. XL, вып. 2. 1927.

Sources

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  • Bessonov, I. А. (2016), Мордовский эпос о Тюште и русские и финно-угорские предания о чуди [Mordovian Epic of Tyushta and Russian and Finno-Ugric Legends of the Chud], Традиционная культура (in Russian), no. 4, pp. 54–66
  • Krinichnaya, Neonila Artemovna (1991). Предания Русского Севера [Legends of the Russian North] (in Russian). St. Petersburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Limerov, P. F. (2009). Образ чуди в коми фольклоре [The Image of Chud in Komi Folklore]. News of the Ural State University. Series 2, Humanities (in Russian) (1/2 (63)): 81–90.
  • Petrukhin, Vladimir Yakovlevich (2005). Мифы финно-угров [Myths of the Finno-Ugrians] (PDF). Мифы народов мира (in Russian). Мoscow: Астрель : АСТ : Транзиткнига. ISBN 5-17-019005-0.
  • Pimenov, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1965). Вепсы: Очерк этнической истории и генезиса культуры [Vepsians: An Essay on Ethnic History and Genesis of Culture] (in Russian). Мoscow.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)