Demonology of the Urals and Volga Region. Malicious creatures, spirit-keremets, and bathhouse elders

“They said about this place: “This is Keremet, or the grove of Keremet, if in Russian, then ‘keremetishche’. I remember it well, there were trees growing, dark and dense. We were warned – do not go to the grove of Keremet, people disappeared there, some sounds were constantly heard. The most important thing – you couldn’t take anything from there, neither berries, nor branches, nor coins. All who did this then suffered from illnesses…” This vivid book by ethnologist and folklorist Herman Ustyanzev invites you to take an exciting plunge into the lower mythology of the peoples of the Urals and Volga region: Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Udmurts, and Mari. You will find out why the Chuvash leshy Arzyuri shouldn’t be shown teeth, how, according to Bashkir beliefs, one should correctly visit the bath to avoid angering the bathhouse master, what the “graveyard chief” does, and whether there is a place for a domovoy in a modern apartment. This unique publication is based on the works of renowned folklorists, archival materials, and the author’s own field research, supplemented with legends, beliefs, traditions, and descriptions of rituals related to notions of evil spirits. Moreover, the word is given not only to scholars and collectors of folklore but also to its direct bearers – the indigenous inhabitants of the cities, towns, and villages of the Ural-Volga region. In their stories, carefully collected during ethnographic expeditions, and the magical illustrations by contemporary artist PETUCHINO, legends and beliefs about ancient giants and villages that have sunk underwater, about the angel of death Azyrina and the demon Keremet, about the wedding procession of the deceased and spirits of illness come to life.