Witches, it was believed, went unbelted.

[kleenexwoman]

Lookin' up Russian folklore and fairy tales, particularly death folklore. I love Baba Yaga stories, but I realized I haven't read that many, and I conflate Baba Yaga with the fairytale function of witches in general, which naturally has been highly informed by Grimm's fairytales. Russian folklore is amazing. I wish I still had Gail around so I could ask her stuff.

This is proving to be very useful.

Comments

[dfordoom.livejournal.com]

If you're interested in folklore about death you might enjoy Paul Barber's Vampires, Burial and Death. It has quite a bit about the origins of peasant beliefs in vampires, ghouls, etc. And he talks about the medical explanations as well as the folklore. Maybe not quite along the lines you're interested in, but it's a fascinating book.

[beetle-breath.livejournal.com]

My friend thought I was nuts because I told her stories about Baba Yaga. What's crazy about a witch who lives in a house on chicken legs??

[sir-dave.livejournal.com]

The variety of Orkney folklore, given the tiny size of the area, is quite incredible.

Folk

[hronop-i-fam.livejournal.com]

Maybe I can help you, I am russian student, phylologist.

Userpick

[hronop-i-fam.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, just looked at your userpick =) I'm from Siberia, Omsk. +20 C is a bit too cold for may, I agree =))))

[josephwaldman.livejournal.com]

Why on earth Lenin ever thought communism and official atheism could be implemented in a country so backward and superstitious, I'll never know.

I took a semester of Russian in college, and I had the same problem with it I had with Hebrew: my brain absolutely refuses to process any other alphabets than the one I grew up with. Languages I can understand just fine, but having to start off with a whole new set of letters before I got to grammar and vocab just destroyed me. I was two weeks behind everyone else because no matter what I tried -- flashcards, A/V, osmosis -- I could never get the goddamn alphabet to sink in.

[pphi.livejournal.com]

I was always fascinated by the dichotomy between Baba-Jaga as the witch in Hansel und Gretel, and as a kind of Frau Holle.
I've been reading Vladimir Propp on this subject: the books "The Russian Fairytale" and "Historical Origins of Fairytales" were very interesting.
Unfortunately, I only have them in Italian translation (and in Russian, but that's not very helpful either).
If you wish I can look up some quotes.