Świerk, drzewo proste
Loading...
Date
2013
Authors
Advisor
Editor
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wydawnictwo „Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne” i Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk
Title alternative
The Spruce, a Straight Tree
Abstract
The article discusses the place of the spruce in Slavic and Baltic customs, folk
medicine, chants, and superstitions. The research has demonstrated that the tree has
many meanings in Slavic culture (it is treated there as a female tree, which is suggested
by its name in East Slavic languages), and although it seems to be straight and simple
(because it is the way it grows) it has turned out to be a liminal tree of borderlands,
connecting life with death, and allowing for a reconciliation with inevitability of passing,
facilitating the passage of a dead person’s soul to the other dimension of eternal
life. The spruce combines the joy of wedding (because it is included in the wedding
tree) with the threat of infertility (if it is planted too close to home). Additionally, it
protects cattle from witches and evil spirits (for the first pasture outing, cattle was
driven with a spruce twig, or a tree was laid before the building from which the animals
were driven out). Its blades, twigs, and cones were widely used as designates in
folk medicine chants, and for infusions, extracts, and ointments used externally and
internally as medicines.
Description
Sponsor
Keywords
Slavs, chants, ethnolinguistics, beliefs, spruce, Balts
Citation
„Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne. Seria Językoznawcza”, t. 20, z. 2, 2013, s. 183-193.
ISBN
978-83-61573-56-2
978-83-7654-214-0
978-83-7654-214-0