US-BIRÆG AND THE WITCH HUNT, OR WHAT IS COMMON BETWEEN THE OSSETIAN LEGEND AND THE PHENOMENON OF THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE


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Home Editorial board Publication ethics Information Current Archive Rules for authors Contacts	DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2024.25.18.004 US-BIRÆG AND THE WITCH HUNT, OR WHAT IS COMMON BETWEEN THE OSSETIAN LEGEND AND THE PHENOMENON OF THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE Legoeva, Ruslana R. Kavkaz Forum. 2024. Issue 18. Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of Ossetian folklore about us-biræg (witches associated with she-wolves) and its connection with witch hunts as a phenomenon of the European Renaissance. The reasons for the emergence and development of the phenomenon of “witch hunts” are analysed through medieval historical sources, processes and psychology. The phenomenon of auto-da-fé is examined through medieval literature and the Bible, as well as cases of the use of similar methods of execution before the inquisition processes. Based on the case of burning of us-biræg in the territory of North and South Ossetia, first recorded by D.V. Sokayeva, our own field research was carried out and a new case of the murder of a female wolf was identified in the village Cora-Ursdon using a firearm. The image of the wolf in various religious traditions (Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Scandinavian paganism) was analysed, and it was suggested that Alan culture was synthesized in the course of historical interaction with representatives of these religions in different regions of Europe. Suggestions have been made about a Zoroastrian trace in the plot of the legend about a girl-sorceress (recorded by J. Shanaev in 1869), who was tried to be burned using thorns. During the study, it turns out that the Alans became acquainted with the image of the wolf, which existed in the culture of the Germanic tribes, during the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. The idea is introduced into scientific circulation that the Alans learned about the Inquisition through the Yases, who lived in Hungary during the reign of the Habsburgs, which saw a high level of activity in anti-witchcraft processes. The undertaken research helps to reveal new aspects of the interaction of Alans with Western European culture. Keywords: us-biræg, witch hunt, “Hammer of the Witches”, Renaissance, Alans. Download the full text For citation: Legoeva, R.R. Us-biræg and the Witch Hunt, or what is Common Between the Ossetian Legend and the Phenomenon of the European Renaissance. KAVKAZ-FORUM. 2024, iss. 18(25). pp. 66-77. (In Russian). DOI 10.46698/VNC.2024.25.18.004 + References 1. Gurevich, A.Ya. Srednevekov’e kak tip kul’tury [The Middle Ages as a Type of Culture]. Antropologiya kul’tury [Anthropology of Culture]. Iss. 1. Moscow, OGI, 2002, pp. 39–55. 2. Shprenger, Ya., Institoris, G. Molot ved’m [The Hammer of Witches]. Moscow, Prosvet, 1992. 384 p. 3. Mishle, Zh. Ved’ma [The Witch]. Friche, V. (ed.). Translated from French. Kiev, Ukraїna, 1994. 271 p. 4. Myushemble, R. Ocherki po istorii d’yavola: XII–XX vv. [Essays on the History of the Devil: 12th–20th Centuries]. Translated from French by E.V. Morozova. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2005. 584 p. 5. Sokaeva, D.V. Obraz zhenshchiny-volchitsy (us-biræg“) osetinskoi neskazochnoi prozy v kontekste fol’klora indoevropeiskikh narodov [The Image of the Wolf Woman (us-birægъ) in Ossetian Non-Fairy-Tale Prose in the Context of the Folklore of Indo-European Peoples]. Izvestiya SOIGSI [Proceedings of the North Ossetian Institute for Humanitarian and Social Studies]. 2007, iss. 1(40), pp. 201–222. 6. Tuallagov, A.A. Mech i fandyr (Arturiana i Nartovskii epos osetin) [Sword and Fandyr (Arturiana and the Nart Epic of the Ossetians)]. Vladikavkaz, Ir, 2011. 271 p. 7. Avesta [Avesta]. Adapted translation, research and commentary by E.V. Rtveladze, A.Kh. Saidova, E.V. Abdullaeva. St. Petersburg, Polytechnic University, 2008. 303 p. 8. Mitchel, P. Roth. Crime and Punishment: A History of the Criminal Justice System. 2nd edition. Belmont, Wadsworth Publishing, 448 p. 9. Mamedov, A.A., Orishev, A.B., Shipovskaya, L.P. Zoroastrizm: formirovanie religioznogo soznaniya [Zoroastrianism: Formation of Religious Consciousness]. Fundamental’nye issledovaniya [Fundamental research]. 2014, no. 9, part 5, pp. 1140–1143. 10. Sharikova, L.A. Kontseptual’nye smysly izomorfnogo obraza-simvola volka v germanskom mifomire [Conceptual Meanings of the Isomorphic Image- Symbol of the Wolf in the Germanic Mythoworld]. Vestnik KemGU [Bulletin of Kemerovo State University]. 2012, no. 4(52), vol. 4, pp. 215–220. 11. Chibirov, A.L, Sanakoev, I.B. Alanskii kod Evropy (po sledam B. Bakhrakha) [Alanian Code of Europe (in the Footsteps of B. Bakhrakh)]. Vestnik VNTs [Vestnik of Vladikavkaz Scientific Centre]. 2016, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2–7. 12. Kuznetsov, V.A. Yasy i kuny Vengrii [Yasses and Kuns of Hungary]. Vladikavkaz, Proekt-Press, 2015. 96 p. ← Contents of issue


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