GYMNASIJA № 7 NAMED AFTER
V.M.VORONTSOV
SCHOOL RESEARCH
PAPER
“MYTHS
AND LEGENDS OF SCANDINAVIAN AND SLAVIC PEOPLES”
Prepared by
Zheltikova Julia, 9В
Supervisor of studies Romanova T.M
Voronezh
2015
Contents
1) Entry………………………………………………………………….3
2) Myths
and legends affecting different spheres of social life…………5
3) Myths
and legends affecting poetry………………………………….7
4) Myths
and legends affecting art:
Carving……………………………………..…………………………9
Embroidery……………………………………...……………………11
Storytelling…………………………………………………………...13
Jewelry……………………………………………………….……….13
5) Research
work……………………………………………….….……20
6) Literature
list………………………………………………….……....24
“History is something that happens, that
is, crossing time, destroying it in contact with the eternal...”-
Jaspers Karl Theodor
Entry
Myths and legends are an integral part of any culture,
which can help people to understand mentality and traditions of other representatives
of humanity and to be more tolerant towards them. Of course, they are also an
undeniable part of people’s history, its’ base, its’ cradle, which never shall
be forgotten.
Myths and legends’ structure depend on different
factors, such as:
• Environmental conditions - there
cannot be legends about sea maidens
or undines in African tribes just because there is not enough water even
for people in some of them;
• Time of appearance - ancient myths are very
different from the medieval ones because of many reasons: development of
science, new discoveries in medicine, other mentalities, appearing of novel religions,
etc.;
• People’s customs in specified area – even cuisine can
vary depending on traditions or region.
Certainly, myths and legends cannot be separated from
the religion: they are intertwined with each other in such a tough way, so
sometimes it is hard to say, where the legend finishes and the religion starts.
In this work I want to compare the legends and
religions of Slavic and Scandinavian peoples to see, how different or similar
they can be.
As a matter of fact, these two peoples are quite close
to each other in geographical, cultural and historical way: the above mentioned peoples have appeared in the era of collapse
of the primitive communal system and the formation of feudal society and early
medieval states. This was the
era of the birth and activity of new social forces, tearing the narrow confines
of primitive tribal groups and accumulating in social associations - early
urban trade and handicraft centers, military guards, merchants and craft
organizations. The general thrust of social processes required close
relationship of new forms of social organization, which was clearly reflected
in the economy and culture.
Discoveries of recent
decades, such as the study of numerous Slavic early medieval monuments on the
southern coast of the Baltic Sea, in what is now the German Democratic Republic
and the Polish Pomerania, the study of Slavic cities, medieval predecessors of
Hansa - Volin, Szczecin, Gdansk, Lübeck and other monumental excavations of
ancient Rus Novgorod; systematic researches in the northern "vikah"
Scandinavian trade and craft centers, which did not survive the rough and
bright "Viking Age" (IX-XI centuries), primarily Birka in Sweden and
Hedeby in Denmark; excavations of early-state "royal fortress" and
ordinary rural settlements, pagan cemeteries and shrines, craft workshops and
port facilities have provided very high quality and new material against
which a new meaning and a textbook, long known to science monuments has been
taken: the famous "royal burial mounds" with Norman burials in ships,
treasures of gold and silver and works of Old Norse art.
Generalization of these
findings, comparing them with the data of written sources – chronicles, the
heroic legends and sagas - represent a problem, on the solution of which
scientists are working in different countries and scientific organizations in
Northern Europe. Research centers are the Academy of Sciences of the USSR,
Poland and the GDR, Research Center and Museum in Kiel in Schleswig (Germany),
the National Museum in Copenhagen and the National Museum in Aarhus (Denmark),
the Historical Museum in Stockholm (Sweden), the National Museum in Helsinki
(Finland) and many university departments, museums and research institutions.
Features of the present
stage of the study of culture of the Baltic states are in urgent need to move
from local studies to create the fullest possible picture of historical
relationships of peoples and cultures of the Baltic states in the eventful,
bright, though distant period, which begins the history of modern states and
peoples of the Baltic region.
Myths and religion
affecting different spheres of social life.
Works of art and culture, which have come down to us
from the distant era of Vikings, are distinguished by a deep and close
relationship between the functional form of the object (whether it is a
weapon’s clasp or clothes brooch, buckle detail of horse harness, tool or
household item, up to the dining room and kitchen dishes), and it’s rich
decorations, which had reflected the specific features of people’s thinking and
worldview at that time. Rationalistic ideas about the nature, production
processes and public relations had intertwined, and sometimes merged with
fantastic views, in which the world, the fate of the people and things were
ruled by terrible, powerful and diverse forces.
Mythology and pagan beliefs of people of the Baltic
Sea region is not fully come down to us. In essence, these views are not very
different in various tribes; deities and other sacred forces of Slavs and
Scandinavians, Balts and Finns are quite comparable.
Individual tribes have had their
great gods who sometimes have formed even the whole family.
Scandinavians’ Odin was the father and leader of the Aces. He is a sage and shaman, a
connoisseur of runes and tales (sagas), the king-priest, prince (konung)-magus,
but at the same time, the god of war and victory, the patron of the military
aristocracy, the owner and master of Valhall and Valkyries’ lord. According to the
myths, on the day of Ragnarok he will be killed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir.
Freya was his divine wife, an embodiment of fertility.
In some West Slavic tribes Sventovit
played the same role: Odin and Sventovit were riders, who had a squad and
demanded the bloody sacrifices. Odin drove an octopus stallion Sleipnihr, and for Sventovit
priests took care of the wonderful white horse in the hoofprints of which the
will of God can be read.
Scandinavians’ Thor was a great
Thunderer, symbolized by the hammer Mjölnir (the lightning). "Thor
hammers" are common in variety among jewelry made of gold, silver, bronze,
iron or amber.
Eastern Slavs and Balts matched
Perun (Perkūnas) The Great Thunderer to Scandinavians’ Thor. Wiltz-Lutici
revered Svarozhich, the sun god, patron of blacksmiths and fire.
In the Uppsala temple next to the
image of Odin and Thor stood the idol of Freyr. His character as a god of
fertility was fallos.
In some places, such as Hafelsberg and Wolgast, Slavs
worshiped the god in the form of a spear, Gerevit. Both the eastern and western
Slavs had a cult of the god of cattle and wealth - Volos (Veles).
Images of gods embodied in idols made in human growth
and even more, but along with it, small figures existed too. These
"portable" gods, often carved out of wood, are known among the
Germans and Slavs; perhaps they date back to the bronze statuette, appeared in
the first centuries of our era. Related, apparently, to the cult of ancestors,
these early bronze images for some formal features can be associated with
similar miniature sculptures of the Romans. From the first century A.D. this
type of images appeared in the Baltic region, where they are modified, and
finally become an integral part of the local artistic imagery.
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1.
Carved
ship decoration from Gokstad, Norway, IX century.
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2.
Silver
pendant treasure, X century, found in 1868 in the cluster near Smolensk.
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This was a piece of generalized information and now
I’m going to observe it in more details.
Myths and religion affecting poetry.
As I am a kind of a
poet and poetry venerator, the first item I will speak about more amply is
Scandinavian poetry, which was affected by myths, legends and pagan beliefs.
The fundamental
phenomenon of Scandinavian folk literature is the elder Edda, the sung Edda – a
collection of songs about Old Norse gods and heroes of Norse mythology and stories.
Legends’ authorship attributes to the Icelandic scientists Sæmundr fróði.
However, there is no doubt that the songs arose much earlier in the course of
centuries passed on in the oral tradition. Some of them date back to the South
German prototypes. Evidence of their archaic is that the songs are not deployed
in a wide epic, as in case with the works of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic epic. No
doubt that we heard not all the songs, and the one that have been preserved have
appeared in different periods of history, and later some of them have
experienced the Christian influence.
"Elder Edda"
is one of the forms of the ancient epic. The songs outline the fate of gods and
heroes, their words and deeds. In terms of genre songs are divinations,
sayings, mythological actions and pure narratives. Some of these stories are
repeating each other, or refer to the items that are being developed in other
songs. Therefore, the isolated reading of one of them is sometimes difficult to
be understood by the modern reader. Meanwhile, the language of the
"Edda" is more simple than fancy.
English
translators are not consistent on the translations of the names of the Eddic
poems or on how the Old Norse forms should be rendered in English.
Mythological Poems.
Songs about the gods:
·
Völuspá (Wise-woman's prophecy, The Prophecy of
the Seeress, The Seeress's Prophecy);
·
Hávamál (The Ballad of the High One, The Sayings
of Hár, Sayings of the High One);
·
Vafþrúðnismál (The Ballad of Vafthrúdnir, The Lay of
Vafthrúdnir, Vafthrúdnir's Sayings);
·
Grímnismál (The Ballad of Grímnir, The Lay of
Grímnir, Grímnir's Sayings);
·
Skírnismál (The Ballad of Skírnir, The Lay of
Skírnir, Skírnir's Journey);
·
Hárbarðsljóð (The Poem of Hárbard, The Lay of Hárbard,
Hárbard's Song);
·
Hymiskviða (The Lay of Hymir, Hymir's Poem);
·
Lokasenna (Loki's Wrangling, The Flyting of Loki, Loki's Quarrel);
·
Þrymskviða (The Lay of Thrym, Thrym's Poem);
·
Völundarkviða (The Lay of Völund);
·
Alvíssmál (The Ballad of Alvís, The Lay of Alvís,
All-Wise's Sayings);
Eddic songs:
·
Baldrs draumar (Baldr's
Dreams);
·
Gróttasöngr (The Mill's Song, The Song of Grotti);
·
Rígsþula (The Song of Ríg, The Lay of Ríg, The List
of Ríg);
·
Hyndluljóð (The Poem of Hyndla, The Lay of Hyndla,
The Song of Hyndla);
• Völuspá in skamma (The short Völuspá, The Short Seeress'
Prophecy, Short Prophecy of the Seeress);
• Svipdagsmál (The Ballad of Svipdag, The Lay of Svipdag);
• Grógaldr (Gróa's Spell, The Spell of Gróa);
• Fjölsvinnsmál (Ballad of Fjölsvid, The Lay of Fjölsvid);
·
Hrafnagaldr Óðins (Odins's Raven Song, Odin's Raven Chant).
Slavic analogue of Edda.
Informal, or historically not proven Slavic Edda analogue is the Veles
book. It is a falsification written in the XIX or (more likely) XX century
which primitively imitates Proto-Slavic language. Veles Book’s text was first
published in 1950 by Russian emigrants Mirolyubov and Kurenkov in San
Francisco. The most likely author of the falsification is considered to be Myrolyubov.
According the author, Veles book was written off from woodblocks created around
the IX century which were lost during the war and supposedly contain stories,
prayers, legends and stories about ancient Slavic history from about VII
century BC. to the IX century BC.
Most researchers - both historians and linguists – are convinced
in the spuriousness of the Veles book and do not consider it as a reliable source,
so I won’t speak about it any longer.
Myths and legends affecting art.
Both Slavs and Scandinavians had a complicated art
which had a big religious influence. Though we’re speaking about Viking era, the
word “art” means carving, stone carving, embroidery, storytelling and primitive
by modern standards, but filigree enough for those times jewelry art .
Carving.
Scandinavians.
Carvers and stone carvers worked on temples, idols and
other religious objects. The greatest example of Scandinavian cavers’ work is
the Urnes Church.
Urnes Stave Church, Norway is the oldest surviving
kirk, built in about 1130. It is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The church is known by carved panels
which are preserved from 1050, demonstrating urness last flowering species of
widespread in Scandinavia "animalistic style".
The
characteristic feature of this style is asymmetric and undulating ornament. It
is not immediately possible to catch the main story - like creature is not the
lion, not the dog, entangled serpents on reindeer legs. There are many theories
about the plot, which the author wanted to portray with this urness thread.
Perhaps,
as on some runic stones, Panel shows one of the battles of "Twilight of
the Gods" - Ragnarok, opposition of serpent Jörmungand and reincarnated
god of thunder and lightning Thor. Another interpretation of relief is based on
Norse mythology. Some see him as a deer, gnawing the roots of the World Ash
Yggdrasil. Probably, the closest to the truth hypothesis is recognizable
Christian symbol in the battle of lion (Christianity) with the dragon
(paganism).
There were
analogies to this style in Russia in the XV century, but there it did not take
root, and soon died.
Portal in Urnes Church cannot fully
be called portal. It's more of an artistic frame of the doorway, made in the
form of the runic stone.
Church in Urnes is the only
well-preserved monument that can give an idea of how architecture could look
like in pre-Christian Scandinavia. The nature of the execution of some
woodworks suggests that originally the art was focused on the work of metal or
stone.
Meeting with urness style outside the
context of this monument can be in the case of the study of jewelry pieces and
runic stones. Runic stones may be attributed to the small forms of
architecture, where the artist had certain compositional tasks associated
primarily with the closed form.
Decoration of facades confronted artists
to the problem of a new character, which was successfully accomplished. It
seems that the Urnes carvers could not refuse from the former artistic device
and pasted runic stone in the wall of the building, surrounding it with
additional ornament fields.
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3.
Urnes stave church.
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4.
Carved portal of the
church.
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Slavs.
Craft of woodcarving
applied and in Russ too. Unfortunately, only a few samples of Slavic works
reached our time. This happened because of their low cost and frailness of their
composing material.
Carvers and ordinary
people produced figures of animals, birds, various amulets, which are handed
down from generation to generation. People of that time believed that the tree
is the link between the sun and a man.
But very often the wooden
products were purely practical or were cult objects used by the whole family.
Wood carving decorated furniture, dishes, toys and
other products because at that time the tree was very screwed material. Wood
carving was widely used in wooden architecture of that time, giving us a lot of
architectural monuments. Masters of wood carving in ancient Russ possessed vast
knowledge in the field of art, a great sense of beauty and a rich imagination.
All of this allowed them to create true works of art both among the wooden toys
and among the architectural structures.
The proofs are artifacts
found in Novgorod during archaeological excavations. A fragment of a wooden
column which modern scientists date by the XI century AD is the most
interesting among them. It is decorated by pattern over its entire length, but
this pattern is not repeated throughout it.
Pattern lines are boldly curved in all the directions,
the equilibrium is disturbed consciously, the general shapes are bizarre. These
are characteristic signs of Novgorod style in the applied arts.
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5.
The column (upper stamp). Image of griffin.
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6.
The column (lower stamp). Image of centaur.
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Embroidery
Scandinavians.
In the south-western
Norway there is a Hardanger town which gave the name to the embroidery fabric
and style itself. Hardanger is traditionally embroidered with linen or cotton
thread of pastel colors on the rough canvas of similar color. However,
currently there are no such restrictions, and each needlewoman selects a color
palette, fabric or yarn. Initially, patterns on aprons in the Norwegian
national costume were embroidered in the Hardanger style but in the XIX century
this embroidery decorated home textiles.
It is believed that the ancestor of Hardanger
embroidery was originated in Persia. From Persia it penetrated into Europe.
7.
Hardanger
embroidery in Scandinavian national costume.
Slavs.
Slavic
embroidery is a kind of arts and crafts of the Slavs, comprising in applying an
ornament on the fabric using sewing. It usually decorated shirts, tablecloths
and towels. Characteristic color is red pattern on white canvas. Originally
embroidery was like a magic talisman. It decorated the parts of the suit,
through which, on presentation of our ancestors, the evil forces could
penetrate the human body. Hence, the basic meaning of embroidery in ancient
times - protective. Protective pattern was embroidered on gates, cuffs, hem and
neck incision.
Embroidered
subjects were diamonds, broken and straight lines, dots and crosses. In
addition to these abstract images often associated with the sun, earth, water
and grain, the motives of embroidery included schematics of flowers, trees,
birds, horses, dogs and Alcon.
Stitches
that compose vintage embroidery are countable. That means that for each
considered stitch fabric yarns are counted. Preliminarily pattern is not
translated on the fabric, but only can be targeted with large stitches on its
place.
8.
Slavic
embroidery in Slavic national costume.
Storytelling.
Scandinavians.
The
most distinctive genre of Old Norse literature is clan saga. Prose clan sagas
that are associated with oral folk tradition are no less important than the
poetic epic. Saga writing began in the second half of the XII and especially
XIII century. Historical basis that sagas reflected is the real life events of
Scandinavians since the end of IX century. The main content of the clan saga is
the family history in the person of its most prominent representatives.
Character of the clan saga is always a real historical person. The main place
in the clan sagas hold inter-clan feuds, accompanied by killings, burning of
houses with the inhabitants, litigation, fights, expulsions, and so on. They
also report detailed information on kinship, marriage, inheritance and
ownership, but the creative reality reworking also existed.
Narration
in clan sagas is extremely lively: dialogue takes a very big place. The
narrator is objective, he does not approve, abuse, or explain. His tone is
reticent, his characteristics are deeply realistic. Despite the reality of the
image, tribal superstition abounds saga. However, these superstitions do not
violate the general credibility of the story. No wonder that sagas were the
favorite reading of Icelanders. The most popular sagas are "The Saga of
Nyala," "Egil's Saga," "The Saga of Gunnlaug." Writers
of clan sagas are unknown.
Slavs.
Jewelry.
Scandinavians.
Scandinavians were good farmers, soldiers, artisans, merchants
and worshiped cruel gods. All this is reflected in their traditional jewelry.
Scandinavians’ religion was one of the strongest movers which
helped with battles and conquests of new lands. Of course, it also influenced
the design of jewelry. Such products are considered to be protective and
sacred.
Odin
was considered the main deity. He was called the "father" and
depicted as two ravens - Hugin and Munin - or wolf. This symbolized memory
(Munin) and thinking (Hugin), as he gave one of his eyes to drink from the
fountain of wisdom.
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9.
Two ravens symbolizing Odin.
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10.
Wolf symbolizing Odin.
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Items like a horn and a bridge are often found in Scandinavian
jewelry. It is connected with the guarding god Heimdall. According to legends,
he was the spirit of connecting the body and soul, he guarded the Bifröst
bridge which guided towards the gods. He had a horn in his hands which,
according to legend, announces Ragnarök.
11.
Heimdall.
The
symbol which is found in Scandinavians’ jewelry quite often is the Thor’s
hammer (Mjolnir).
12.
Mjolnnir.
The fertility goddess Freya was depicted with a special necklace
- Brisingamen. It promised luck in love and granted beauty. The symbol of the
goddess is the falcon. She patronized prosperous fertility and soil fertility.
Freya
had the brother Freyr, who was depicted as a golden boar. He was also the god
of fertility and brought success in business.
The most common symbols met in Scandinavian jewelry are the
World Ash Yggdrasil, runes, pictures of animals and Celtic symbols (because of
close contact with the Celts).
13.
The World Ash Yggdrasil.
Warriors wore screwed bracelets that they received for winning
the battle or carrying out a successful raid.
14.
Warriors’ screwed bracelets.
Some Scandinavians, especially those who lived in the
territory of modern Denmark, found on the seashore amber and inlaid it in their
jewelry.
Slavs.
Ancient Russ’ jewelry
crafting has a long history. It is rooted in the peasant way of life, a life of
ancient Slavic settlements. It is interesting to note that the first jewelers
were women. Among the large number of works on the arrangement and decoration
of life, they are also manufactured jewelry and amulets.
It is curious that each
tribe brought in the same jewelry something of its own, characteristic only for
this area. Illustrative examples are the kolts - temporal jewelry that women
weaved into the hair or attached to headdress.
15.
Slavic kolt.
For example, kolts in the
form of seven-rayed stars are typical for Radimichi and Vyatichi - rays are
extended to the end, in Novgorod - expansion in a diamond, the northerners -
spiral, etc. Later kolts began to be made hollow, most likely, it was possible
to put a cloth impregnated with fragrances inside.
16.
Vyatkian seven-rayed kolt.
Jewelers, or rather, at
that time - silver and goldsmiths - met and mastered new techniques and
patterns coming from the east and the north. However, the master’s own style
was always conserved, successfully integrating new knowledge and traditions,
they produced unique crowns and tiaras, bartenders, kolts, hryvnias, bracelets,
buckles, crosses and many more other fascinating items.
17.
Slavic
hryvnia.
The greatest flowering of
the jeweler's art was reached in Russ in XII - XIII centuries. Masters owned
lots of jewelry techniques. A grain technique was widely used. It is soldering
of sets – thousands – of tiny metal beads on a product that creates a wonderful
play of light. The filigree technique is that the pattern is laid or twisted
with golden wires, flattened using a hammer, or gold wire.
18.
Slavic
women’s amulet – “lunnitsa” – crafted in grain technique.
However, the most
well-known techniques of that time were enamels, they were used for decoration
of gold and silver, as well as for books’ registration. Enamels were of two
kinds - notched and partitioned. The last are considered to be the top of
jewelry art of Kievan Russ.
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19.
Slavic
clasp with notched enamel.
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20.
Slavic
cross (after baptism of Rus) with partitioned enamel.
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All the craftsmen’s of that time skill can be
estimated if cite as an example some numerals. In the Russian Museum in St.
Petersburg there are silver kolts in the form of a semi-circular plate with six
silver cones. Each cone has 5,000 tiny ringlets, and on each ringlet are
soldered silver grains. That means that only one kolt has 30,000 grains of
silver soldered on it!
Research work.
On the basis of the above written text I can make the
following conclusion: certainly, Slavic and Scandinavian peoples are unique,
but they have much in common because of their geographical closeness, the
approximate similarity of mentalities and similar pagan religions’ influence.
However, forgetting the Scandinavian peoples, I wonder
how many of the modern Russian citizens know about primordial traditions and
customs of their ancestors that existed before the Rus Baptism?
To answer my question, I conducted several studies,
the results of which are shown below.
▪ The first study was on the topic of paganism. I
asked people on the streets of the city, in my school and in home if they can
name the first religion appeared in Slavic tribes.
There were four options to answer this question:
• Paganism;
• Christianity;
• Atheism;
• It is hard to answer.
The result is:
11 of 20 people said that the first Slavic religion
was paganism, what is absolutely correct;
5 of interviewed people said it was Christianity, what
is at least wrong;
2 people chose atheism, what is weird;
The rest 2 people found it hard to answer this question,
or just did not want to.
21.
Diagram
of the results of my first study.
▪ In
the second study I wanted to see the attitude to paganism, so I asked different categories of people – adults, teenagers
and senior citizens – about their reaction.
So, this study included a question,
which had four options to answer:
1)
What do you think of paganism?
• I treat it negatively, it is idolatry and contrary to the
precepts of Christianity, it is a sin;
• I am neutral, I do not care about this religion/all religions
at all;
• I approve this, I'm a Pagan;
• It is hard to answer.
22.
Diagram for teenagers’ answers.
23.
Diagram for adults’ answers.
24.
Diagram for senior citizens’ answers.
So, as we can see on the diagrams, 4 out of 10 interviewed
teenagers treated paganism negatively, which was really surprisingly to me, 2 were
neutral, 1 approved it and 3 found it hard to answer, whereas in the
adults’ group already 5 people ranked paganism as sin, 3 were neutral, 1
considered to be the pagan – what a suddenness! – and 1 refrained from the
answer. But the less tolerant to paganism group were senior citizens: 8 of
them treated this religion negatively, 1 was neutral, no one was Pagan and 1
did not answer.
According
to the results I can make a conclusion: most people forget that paganism was
the first Slavic religion, and even those who remember rate it as a sin.
Well, in my opinion, results could be better, but in
general they are quite normal, except older generations’ sharp rejection of
their people’s ancestral traditions which had disappeared in the result of
historical events.
Literature list
All the information was found on the unnamed Internet
sources or known previously.
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