The free spirit and the guardian of forests and groves, the goblin received at least fifty names and nicknames among the people, depending on their appearance and occupations. Goblin is the main one in the forest, the lord, the king of vegetation and paths, the eldest between forest inhabitants. Often the goblin embodies the whole thicket - he is huge, "with eyes like stars", walks with the wind, in the direction of which you can find out where he is going. At the same time, it does not leave traces, it boils with water in the river, rustles with trees, whistles, shouts in different voices, as if filling the world around it.
The goblin differs from other creatures in features inherent only to him: if he passes, then his growth equals the tallest trees themselves. Conversely, on a walk, it can look like a small blade of grass, freely hiding under any berry leaf. Leshy is credited with the ability to shape-shift: for example, he can appear in the form of a wild beast - a bear, deer, wild boar and others. At the same time, it is able to inhabit small animals, grasses and trees, even old stumps and driftwood: "The goblin runs through its forests like a madman, quickly, you can barely follow it, and always without a hat, often with a huge club in his hands." In appearance - shaggy, with a wedge-shaped head and combed hair to the left.
According to other sources, this is a simple peasant, only his caftan will be wrapped on the right side and shoes on the wrong foot; the eyes burn with green fire, the hair is long gray-green, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows on the face. In appearance it is similar to that of a human, but all overgrown with wool from head to toe. He tries to appear as an ordinary person to the counter, but it is easy to expose him if you look from behind the horse's right ear. Then he will appear as a decrepit old man or a shaggy monster with goat legs, horns and a beard. You can also see the goblin through the yoke and three harrows. Sometimes he appears before people in what his mother gave birth: overgrown with moss and lichen, sometimes in a long white shirt with wide sleeves.
The wife of the goblin goblin is a slovenly black-haired woman who does not particularly care about her appearance. (Probably, because of the unattractiveness of his wife, the owner of the forest loves to take care of women, persuading them to sinful deeds.) Leshachiha takes food left without blessing from homes, steals children, forcing them to work for himself. Sometimes, having turned into a young woman, she seduces single men, takes travelers who have stayed in forest huts as lovers. It happens that the leshachi women visit the woodcutters under the guise of their wives. For a peasant, such cohabitation rarely ends well: after a while he begins to wither, yearn and soon die, unless he decides to leave people and himself turns into a devil, forever settling in the thicket. To get rid of the goblin, you need to put a cross on her neck or unfasten her with a mountain ash branch.
The children of the goblin and the leshachikha lesavka are little gray men, similar to hedgehogs. They live in last year's foliage and are awake from late summer to mid-autumn. They pick up foliage, rustle tall grass, cover the pedestrians and horsemen with dust, wrap them in cobwebs, and, having worked hard, curl up into shaggy balls and sleep for a long time. Old man Listin and Granny Listin look after the woods. These spirits are quiet - they do not rustle, do not make a row, they sit quietly in a heap of leaves near the stump and command who and when to rustle.
In another version, lesavki are described as pale tall girls with long black hair. In coarse white shirts tied up with sedge, or even completely naked, they run through the dense forests, singing lesavkin songs. They can lure an unwary traveler into an impenetrable thicket of the forest and leave one to perish. A favorite pastime of woodlands is to steal babies, which they take from the cradle at night and feed them to death. If the baby turns out to be an unbaptized girl, they take her to the swamp and raise her like a lumberjack. Usually, to protect against their raids, the witch mothers put open scissors or a knife in the child's bed.
The dwelling of the goblin is a log hut in a dense spruce forest far from human settlements. Sometimes in large forests there are two and three leshy, who constantly quarrel with each other. Often it comes to a fight: the rivals beat each other with hundred-year-old trees and one hundred-year-old stones, beaten off from the rocks. There are also frequent battles between gobies and mermen, mainly at night.
The procession of the goblin is accompanied by the wind, which covers up his tracks. In this way the forest owner resembles the forest elves of Swedish folklore.
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Goblin loves silence, but he can also play pranks: he will climb a tree and start scaring mushroom pickers with a wild cry. Or he will pretend to be the root and substitute the bandwagon for the person. The traveler will fall, bruise his nose, and the goblin laughs and has fun! And the frightened mushroom picker, having lost his way, will wander through the forest for a long time. Satisfied with his joke, the goblin claps his hands, and this will send noise and thunder through the forest, but for the lost all this is not at all a joy.
The favorite time of the devil is twilight, night. But in the twilight of the thicket, on dark roads and paths, he appears both in the morning and in the afternoon. According to widespread beliefs, invisible "devil's roads" run in forests and swamps, and it is dangerous to get on them: the forest ruler can "throw away" a person who gets in his way, cripple, lead away, or even destroy.
Sometimes the goblin take away children with them, after which they run wild, stop understanding human speech and wear clothes. Instead of a kidnapped baby, the goblin sometimes put a bundle of straw or a log in the cradle, but it happens that in return they leave their child - ugly, stupid and gluttonous. Having reached the age of 11, this changeling escapes into the forest, and if he still remains with people, he becomes a sorcerer.
To confuse the traveler in the forest, the goblin intentionally rearranges road signs or pretends to be a tree, which serves as a sign for travelers. Another time he takes the form of a familiar person and, starting a conversation, stealthily takes the oncoming person away from the road. And he can also cry like a child, or groan like a dying man in order to lure a compassionate peasant into the thicket of the forest and tickle him to death.
The goblin also interferes in the household affairs of the villagers. According to the belief recorded in the Olonets province, every shepherd must give the goblin a cow for the summer, otherwise he will get embittered and spoil the whole herd. The hunters also brought him an offering in the form of a crumb of bread or a pancake, laying it out on some stump.
When a woman approaches, the goblin strives to drag her into his hut. To free the captive, it is recommended that a church prayer be served as soon as possible. True, this will only help if the girl has never tasted food during her stay at a party. If the captive fulfilled this condition and church services were held, the goblin takes her out to where he kidnapped her. However, in some areas of the Tula province, they told how the girls themselves ran into the forest, but after a few years they returned to the people, moreover, trained in all kinds of forest wisdom, witchcraft and sorcery, and even with money. Those who did not return became wives of forest spirits.
Favorite saying of the devil: "I walked, I found, I lost." If, as was said, the goblin "bypasses" the traveler, he will certainly lose his way and can literally get lost "in three pines." In order to avoid such adventures, there were sure ways to dispel the haze of the goblin: a person should not eat anything or carry with him a linden twig peeled of bark (lutovka). In addition, you can put on all your clothes inside out, or turn the insoles over and change your shoes - put the left boot on your right foot and vice versa. Only after that it will be possible to find the road out of the forest.
Those who were damned and lost, who could not find their way home or who were not “taken away,” not saved by their relatives, were taken by the forest owner “in oath”. You can escape from it by means of prayer or, on the contrary, swearing, as well as laughing the devil, shouting "sheep's face, sheep's wool."
According to Polish belief, the goblin likes to sit on old branches in the shape of an owl, and, apparently, that is why the peasants are afraid to cut down such trees. There is even a saying: "From an empty hollow, either an owl, or an owl, or Satan himself." Goblin spend most of their time in trees; swinging and having fun for them is their favorite pastime, which is why in some provinces the goblin was given the name "shallow" (from the shackle, cradle).
The Novgorod Collection of 1865 reports that "forest people … often sing songs, clap their hands, laugh and oy loudly." According to information from the Arkhangelsk province, the goblin "shouts at different voices: both childish, and womanish, and manly, neighing and horse-like." He also "sings like a rooster, crows like a hen, a cat, a small child." There is also a warning for travelers: only the "master" can whistle in the forest, but not the man - otherwise he will be offended.
In the folklore month, the Kupala night on July 7 was considered the time when all undead, including the goblin, were activated and mischievous. And on the night of Agathon the Ogumennik (September 4), according to legend, goblin went out of the forest into the field, ran through the villages and villages, scattered sheaves over the threshing floors and generally committed all sorts of atrocities. To guard the gumens, the villagers went out to the countryside, armed with a poker and in sheepskin coats turned inside out. Also, the Exaltation (September 27) was considered a special "urgent day" of the goblin, the day when the "leshaks" drove the forest animals to special places - at these moments it was dangerous to get them on the way.
A curious legend is connected among the people with the day of October 17: on Erofei, the peasants believed, the goblin parted with the forest. It was during this period that they break trees, chase animals through the forest until they sink into the ground. It was not supposed to even look into the forest at this time, because it is scary there: "the goblin is mad." They also said: "Goblin is not his brother, he will break all bones no worse than a bear."
However, it was quite possible to get along with the devil. In order to avoid any trouble, everyone, coming to the forest, must greet him and ask for permission to spend the night or collect forest gifts; it is advisable to leave a treat for the forest owner and other inhabitants under the trees or on a hemp. He will also bestow a kind and intelligent traveler, show all sorts of beauty and miracles. Can help or answer different questions. Likes to talk with a knowledgeable person and guess riddles.
Those who want to call him need to know the saying: "Grandpa devil, do not seem like a gray wolf, not a black raven, not a fire-spruce, seem as I am." After such words, the devil, if he wishes, will appear in human form and it will be possible to talk with him about life.
Most often, the goblin was seen on the Kupala days: during this period he walks through the forest next to people, looks at their games and fun. He rarely enters human settlements, respecting their service spirits - brownies and banniks.
I must say that the devil has a lot of acquaintances, relatives and assistants. Among them are forest growers, field workers, the forest spirit of the auk, flyworms and other entities. Pushchavik, as a rule, lives in an impassable thicket - Pushcha. He has his hands like boughs, with them he clings to the traveler, tears off his clothes, strives to get into his eyes in order to prevent him from entering his possessions. He has a sparkling look, shaggy green hair, he will pretend to be a prickly bush, then a snag, then a branch. In the possession of Pushchevik there is eternal darkness and constant damp coolness even in the midst of the hottest summer. Here every movement stops, every scream scares you to the point of shivering - rarely can anyone get rid of the painful, albeit invisible, presence of a push-driver.
Unlike other undead, the spirit of the forest of auka does not sleep either in winter or in summer. At first glance, it looks rather harmless: small, pot-bellied, with puffy cheeks with a round convex abdomen. Auka lives in the very wilderness of the forest, in a hut, soaked with golden moss. In winter, when the goblin are sleeping, he has expanse! He loves to fool a man's head in a winter forest, to respond at once from all sides. That and look will lead into the wilderness or windbreak. He instills hope for salvation, and he drives himself until the person gets tired and falls asleep in a sweet frosty dream, forgetting about everything in the world. And the auka does this not out of anger, but for his own amusement. And in order not to get into such a situation, one should listen carefully and distinguish a person from the forest evil by his voice.
Another spirit with the affectionate name of pain-boshka prefers to hide in berry places. When meeting people, he appears as a poorly dressed, sad, sharp-nosed old man: all in rags, a sad look, a mournful expression on his face. However, if you look closely, you can see the cunning in his eyes. Pain-boshka, with a deep sigh, informs the counterpart that he has lost his bag and asks and begs for help in finding it. The one who sympathizes and accepts the sorrowful confession at face value will immediately get a headache, in addition, the person will lose the ability to navigate the terrain. But it can be even worse: as soon as a compassionate visitor to the forest responds to the prayer and begins to look for the loss, the pain-boss jumps on his neck and rides on horseback for his own pleasure.
If the terrain is swampy, there is a chance to meet a flywheel disguising itself in green or brown tones - to match the moss in which it lives. This smallest forest spirit can appear to people in the form of a pig or a ram, but if it wants to hide, it turns into a small hummock. By occupation, the flywheel can be attributed to the forest watchmen: it does not allow picking berries at the wrong time. Those who get caught on this, the flywheel begins to drive in circles until it is completely exhausted. And yet, for the sake of justice, it should be noted that, having tormented him pretty well, the flywheel usually lets the disobedient go.
All this small army is commanded by a forester grandfather: his arms and legs are covered with bark, ivy curls in his hair and beard, and a bird's nest on his head. If someone gets lost in the forest, then he must immediately say: "Grandfather the forestry, you are in the forest, but I am used to the house," and he will immediately find the right path.
Probably, in many popular beliefs, the grandfather-forest man and the goblin are one and the same creature.
Among other subordinates of the woodland goblin are squirrels, arctic foxes, hares, field mice, which he drives from one forest to another. According to Ukrainian belief, the goblin, or polisun, drives hungry wolves with a whip to where they can find food. According to folk stories, goblin adore the card game, where squirrels and hares are at stake. So the massive migrations of these animals, a reasonable explanation for which is difficult to find, turn out to be in fact the payment of a card debt.
According to popular beliefs, the goblin can both let predatory animals on to livestock and guard the herd under an agreement with the peasants. Usually, when the herd went out into the field for the first time in the spring, they were entrusted with the invisible supervision of Saint Egorius, but at the same time the shepherd often concluded (or "renewed") an agreement with the forest owner. A good shepherd, according to the peasants, should have known the conditions for concluding and observing such an agreement (which included a sacrifice to the forest spirit). Shepherds who were familiar with unclean spirits in many regions of Russia were revered as sorcerers. On the shores of the White Sea, locals recently remembered about Pomor shepherds, "strong" sorcerers who managed to "close" the livestock, make it invisible to predators.
Relatively simple, unclassified methods were passed down among the people. In the Arkhangelsk province, and in other regions of the North of Russia, it was believed that the goblin would agree to guard the village herd if milk was offered as payment. To seal this contract, the shepherd utters a conspiracy and throws a castle with a key into the forest; the goblin picks it up and unlocks or locks, depending on the wishes of the shepherd. In this case, it is considered that the cattle walks, that is, grazes, only when the lock is unlocked. According to a story recorded in the Vologda region, a goblin shepherd is elected from among the unclean on Ilyin's day, August 2.
The leshachiha ("tattered woman", a tall decrepit old woman) can also graze cattle. If a person who has entered into a contract with the forest spirits violates at least one of its conditions (for example, he tries to see the forest shepherds), then the invisible helpers disappear, and, being angry, they let wild animals into the herd or take the cows away.
The lost, "taken away" animals were also returned with the help of sacrifices, gifts to forest spirits. On Pinega, when cows went missing, they tied a wheat shanga and a pot of porridge in a kerchief and left them at the Rosstani (crossroads) at midnight. It was believed that if the pot disappeared, the foresters would return the cows. “In order to return the cows stolen by the goblin, previously superstitious people threw bread over the heads of cattle, thereby trying to enter“grandfather's mercy”. In the Olonets province, the goblin was assigned a crust of bread, a pinch of tea, and lumps of sugar, leaving them on the tree. Often, when looking for livestock, they turned to sorcerers, who, in turn, had a connection with forest spirits. In the narrative recorded in Pechora, a sorcerer who knows the devil is looking for the lost animals: he walks through the deep forest, "without a trace", whistles - and a lost horse appears.
The village shepherds also concluded such an agreement with the devil: so that the cattle would not wander into the swamp, so that the forest animals would not touch them, so that the cows would not be killed. Such a guarantee was written on birch bark or on a blackboard as mutual obligations. Then they carried away the "birch bark letter" and a treat to the forest owner to the coveted place.
If there was a misfortune in the forest, then people turned to him for help at the edge of the forest or in the middle of a large clearing; sometimes they wrote in this case "A petition to the forest king" and left it on a large stump or in the hollow of a tree. People have always generously thanked the devil for their help, since they understood that living in peace and friendship with forest dwellers is always better than in a quarrel.
In general, we can say that the image of the goblin in beliefs is as diverse as the forest that surrounded the villagers from birth to death. The many-sided forest owner, causing an ambivalent attitude, in the tales of most regions still does not seem to be an insidious creature, contrary to God and people. Like the forest, it is a necessary participant in being; the goblin is unsafe, but somewhat familiar. Thanks to the belief in a "living" forest, numerous forest dwellers, mysterious spaces turned out to be close to man, and man himself, plants, animals, birds often became not opponents, but relatives, good neighbors and reliable helpers.
Pernatiev Yuri Sergeevich. Brownies, mermaids and other mysterious creatures
