Russian 0090: Russian Fairy Tales
Glossary of Russian Terms
The following is a glossary of Russian terms used in Linda J. Ivanits, Russian Folk
Belief, Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1989. Transcription is according to the Library of Congress transliteration system, with the stressed vowel of
each word is indicated by bold type. Numbers in parentheses refer to pages in
Ivanits’s book.
See separate lists of Russian saints, Russian pagan gods, and minor Russian spirits.
B | C | D | E | G | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | S | T | V | Z
- bandura
- Ukrainian folk instrument, similar to a lute (129)
- bania
- bathhouse, home of the
bannik
(59)
- beard of Il′ia (alternatively: Nicholas, Egor,
Volos, Christ, or a billy goat)
- patch of field left unharvested (12)
- bes
- demon (39)
- bliny
- pancakes, commonly eaten during Shrovetide (7)
- bogi
- “Gods,” sometimes used to refer to icons (23)
- bogumerzskaia baba
- “woman repugnant to God,” a euphemism for sorceresses (86)
- boloto
- swamp (64)
- brachina
- see
skladchina
- bylichka
- ‘memorate,’ the simplest of the types of supernatural tale (129)
- byval′shchina
- ‘fabulate,’ a supernatural tale, thought to be true, more complex than a
bylichka
(127)
- charodei
- sorcerer (bookish) (85)
- charodeika
- witch (85)
- chernoknizhnik
- sorcerer (bookish) (85)
- chërnyi
- “black one,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- chërt
- devil (39)
- chërtu baran
- “devil’s mount,” a suicide whom the devil rides like a horse (48)
- cherta
- line (39)
- chertovka
- she-devil, an alternative name for
rusalka
(77)
- chudotvorets
- “wonderworker,” epithet commonly applied to St. Nicholas (26)
- chur
- magic line or circle that unclean forces cannot cross (39)
- dedko
- “grandfather,” a common way to address a
domovoi
, also dedushka (52)
- dedushka
- “grandfather,” a common way to address a
domovoi
, also dedko (52)
- diavol
- “devil,” in a biblical, rather than folk, sense (39)
- d′iavol
- “devil,” in a biblical, rather than folk, sense (39)
- dobrokhot
- “well-wisher,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- dom
- house, home; residence of the
domovoi
(51)
-
dozhinochnyi
- last sheaf of the harvest (12)
- drugaia polovina
- “other half,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- dukhovnye stikhi
- “spiritual songs,” refers to popular Christian songs, often with traces of pre-Christian
beliefs (20)
- dvoeverie
- “double faith,” refers to the continuation of pagan beliefs and customs among the Russians
long after their acceptance of Christianity (4)
- dvor
- (court)yard, residence of the
dvorovoi
(58)
- erestun
- regional term for a dying person who is reanimated by being possessed by a sorcerer or
witch (122)
- ereticheskie is′ma
- “heretical writing,” a term for magical charms (92)
- ereticheskie rechi
- “heretical speeches,” a term for magical charms (92)
- eretik
- (male) heretic, a northern Russian term referring to a deceased sorcerer who continues to
plague the living (85)
- eretitsa
- (female) heretic, a northern Russian term referring to a deceased sorcerer who continues
to plague the living (85)
- eretnik
- (male) heretic, a northern Russian term referring to a deceased sorcerer who continues to
plague the living (85)
- eretnitsa
- (female) heretic, a northern Russian term referring to a deceased sorcerer who continues
to plague the living (85)
- Gogol′
- a type of diving bird thought to represent Satan (41)
- gromovoi znak
- thunder sign, represented as a six-petaled rose inside a circle, associated with
Rod (17)
- gumno
- threshing floor (219)
- gusli
- Russian folk instrument similar to a zither (189)
- Iarilo
- effigy destroyed at ritual funeral (11)
- kaftan
- long, belted peasant shirt (98)
- kasha
- porridge (170)
- khitka
- abductor, an alternative name for
rusalka
(78)
- khorovody
- circle dances, often around a decorated tree (cf. Maypole) (10)
-
kladovik
- evil spirit who guards buried treasure, also kladovoi (44)
- khoziain
- “master,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- klad′
- small bundle of magic substances sewn into the pillow of a bride as a form of spoiling
(116)
- kladovoi
- evil spirit who guards buried treasure, also kladovik (44)
- klikusha
- woman suffering from klikushestvo (106)
- klikushestvo
- shrieking illness, a hysteria thought to be caused by demonic possession (106–08)
- kniaz′ t′my
- “prince of darkness,” a reference to Satan, the biblical devil (39)
- koldun
- sorcerer (85)
- koldun′ia
- witch (85)
- koliada
- Yuletide as a personification of the season, also sviatki
(6)
- koliadki
- ritual Yuletide songs (6)
- kornoukhii
- lop-eared (considered a feature of the
leshii
) (66)
- korovki
- small pastries shaped like cattle and given to carolers (6)
- kostochka-nevidimka
- a small bone, the possession of which rendered the owner invisible (113)
- kostroma
- effigy destroyed at ritual funeral (11)
- kozuli
- small pastries shaped like goats and given to carolers (6)
- kudeiar
- regional term for
kladovik
(45)
- kudesnik
- pagan priest or sorcerer (85)
- kukla
- twist (tangle) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling (109)
- kulich
- sweet bread traditionally eaten at Easter (9)
- kurinyi bog
- “chicken god,” a magic talisman that protects chickens (57)
- kut′ia
- Yuletide porridge made of whole grains with pork, also commonly served at wakes (6)
- kuznia
- “smithy”; the sound similarity may have led to the identification of Cosmas and Damian with forging (33)
- lapti
- bast (woven grass) shoes (54)
- lechebnik
- book of magical charms (114)
- les
- forest (64)
- levyi
- “lefty,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- loskotukha
- tickler, an alternative name for
rusalka
(78)
-
lubok
- woodcut print, chapbook (39)
- lug
- meadow (64)
- lukavyi
- “cunning one,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- maslenitsa
- Shrovetide, the eighth week before Easter (e.g., Mardi Gras, the period just before Lent)
(6); also a straw effigy representing the Shrovetide season (7)
- meshchanstvo
- lower middle class (92)
- mikolets
- young bull sacrificed on St. Nicholas’s
winter feast (25)
- milostivaia zhena
- “The Compassionate Woman,” a popular song about the nativity, but with a twist (21)
- milostivyi
- “compassionate,” epithet commonly applied to St. Nicholas (26)
- molitva
- prayer (114)
- nalët
- “swooper,” devil as a force that swoops down on depressed mourners (48)
- nauz
- amulet, a necklace containing magic charms and talismans (89)
- nechistaia sila
- “unclean force,” refers to the devil and to lesser
malevolent spirits (39)
- nechistyi
- “unclean one,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- nechistyi dux
- “unclean spirit,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- nekoshennyi
- “unmown one,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- oboroten′
- changeling, either a general term for magic persons who are able to transform themselves
into animals and otherwise, or, sometimes, a term applied specifically to werewolves
(101)
- on
- “he,” a euphemism for the devil (39) or for a
domovoi
(52)
- opakhivanie
- ploughing a furrow around a village to protect it from evil spirits (48)
- otgadchik
- (male) fortune-teller (85, 111)
- otgadchitsa
- (female) fortune-teller (85, 111)
- otnos
- “carry-off,” a spoiling that misfires, and afflicts someone other than the intended victim
(117)
- otzhinnyi
- see
dozhinochnyi
- ovin
- threshing barn, home of the
ovinnik
(58)
- paskha
- Easter, also a pyramid-shaped cake of dry cottage cheese traditionally eaten at Easter
(9)
- pirog
- stuffed pastry, usually with meat, cabbage, or potato (170)
- polden′
- midday (75)
- pole
- field (64)
- polnoch′
- midnight (49)
- polunochnitsa
- unclean spirit thought to represent children’s nightmares (49)
- porcha
- “spoiling,” refers to a wasting disease or other affliction thought to be caused by
sorcerers and witches (103–24)
- posidel′ki
- evening gatherings associated with various holidays (6)
- prorez
- cut (path of broken sheaves) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling
(109)
- prozhin
- cut (path of broken sheaves) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling
(109)
- sam
- “he, himself,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- samozvanets
- “pretender to the throne,” used particularly during the Time of Troubles (1598-1613)
(88)
- sarafan
- jumper (67)
- Satana
- “Satan,” the biblical, rather than folk, devil (39)
- Satanail
- “Satan,” the biblical, rather than folk, devil (40)
- shchi
- cabbage soup (24)
- shut
- “joker,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- shutovka
- (she-)joker, an alternative name for
rusalka
(78)
-
skladchina
- pot luck village feast, also brachina (25)
- skazka
- folktale, distinguished by Ivanits from legends, fabulates, or memorates (129)
- skotnyi kormilets
- “livestock-nourisher,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- skvoz′ zemlju
- “through the earth,” a reference to the devil’s ability to move through special holes
(40)
- soblaznitel′
- “seducer,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- son presviatoi bogoroditsy
- literally “Dream of the Most Holy Mother of God,” a popular tale and song about Mary’s
vision during her pregnancy of Jesus’s crucifixion (21)
- sviatki
- Yuletide, also koliada (6)
- tot
- “that one,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- tot-to
- “that one,” a common taboo reference to a
domovoi
(52)
- travnik
- book of magical charms (114)
- tsar′ nebesnyi
- literally “heavenly father,” refers to Christ as judge and lawgiver (20)
- tsvetnik
- book of magical charms (114)
- upyr′
- vampire (121–22)
- urozhenets
- born healer, able to remove the spoiling inflicted by born sorcerers and witches
(116)
- vedun
- sorcerer (85)
- vedun′ia
- witch (85)
- ved′ma
- witch (85)
- ved′miak
- sorcerer (85)
- voda
- water (64)
- volshebnik
- sorcerer (bookish) (85)
- volshebnitsa
- witch (85)
- volkhv
- early Russian pagan priest (85–87)
- vorozheia
- fortune-teller (85, 111)
- vrag
- “enemy,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- vstrechnik
- “meeter,” devil as a gust of wind (48)
- zagovor
- charm, an utterance with magical power (89)
- zakrutka
- twist (tangle) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling (109)
- zalom
- twist (tangle) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling (109)
- zalozhnye pokoiniki
- the unclean dead, those who died out of Christian favor (e.g., sinners, drunkards,
suicides, murder victims, the unbaptized), thought to be in the service of the devil
(48)
- zavërtka
- twist (tangle) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling (109)
- zavintok
- twist (tangle) in a field of grain, thought to be caused by spoiling (109)
- zazhinochnyi, zazhinnyi
- first sheaf of the harvest (12)
- zloi dux
- “evil spirit,” a euphemism for the devil (39)
- zmievye valy
- “snake ramparts,” a furrow ploughed by Cosmas and Damian
after harnessing a winged serpent (33)
- znaiushchie liudi
- “knowing people,” a euphemism for sorcerers and witches (85)
- znakhar′
- (male) magic healer, witch doctor (85)
- znakharka
- (female) magic healer, witch doctor (85)