Northern Landscapes
The Dead Noid (From Sámi Folklore)
There once lived in Notozero a noid named Riz. He harmed many people, and helped many as well. At last, in his old age, he himself fell ill. Everyone thought he would recover, but it turned out otherwise. After some ti...
How to Get Rid of a Walking Corpse
If you ever happen to meet a walking corpse—or, worse still, if one has taken to visiting you—and conversation with the deceased is not part of your plans, there are many ways to get rid of it. Here and now, we shall t...
Memory as Sacrifice
In the work Superstitions of the Russian People by the old Russian ethnographer Zabylin, there is the following curious little episode: “About 7 versts from Vologda, along the old Arkhangelsk road, there is the grave o...
Kuzomen: Landscapes
If you want to visit a real northern desert—go to Kuzomen. It is a very unusual village, founded in the second half of the 16th century as a fishing tonya, standing quite literally at the edge of the world on the Kola ...
Levusozero
Oh, what a luxury it was: three days without electricity, signal, or comforts—in a relict northern forest, in a miller’s hut beside a watermill 😈. Snow was knee-deep, and in places thigh-deep, so that moving on forest ...
Kegrin Päivä: the Krampus of the Karelian Forests
In olden times, in late autumn—at the beginning of November, when the days grow colder and shorter—the Karelians celebrated Kegrin päivä, a now-forgotten feast connected with the coming of the god Kegri—the Krampus of ...
