Folk Chrononyms of the Lower Onega River Region

Abstract

The author focuses on a highly localised onymic system of the holidays celebrated in the Onega district of the Arkhangelsk Region (specifically in the lower course of the Onega river). The underpinning linguistic and ethnographic data were largely collected in the course of the 2018 Toponymic expedition of the Ural University which has discovered the calendar vocabulary of the Lower Onega River region to include, besides the names of the all-Russian holidays of the traditional annual cycle, some specific Onega chrononyms previously unrecorded by collectors and thus overlooked in the descriptions. The days they mark are commonly referred to as syezzhiye, i.e. celebrated widely, not only by the local residents but also bringing in the guests from neighbouring villages. Specific Onega chrononyms also appear among the holiday names of the Christmas cycle. The study distinguishes a number of features peculiar to the holiday calendar of the Lower Onega River area such as a large number of holiday names having no direct matches within the Church calendar, e.g. Kuykina Duga, Smolkin Poros, Borovoy, Vertilovka; specific local chrononyms with implicit links to all-Russian holidays, e.g., Malanya Koza and Anisya Utka, which refer to the tradition of celebrating the days of Saint Melania the Younger and Saint Anysia of Salonika; a tradition of worshipping local saints or a local ministry (common to the Russian North on the whole), e.g., Artyomkin den’ (feast day of Artemiy of Verkola), Nicodim (feast day of Nikodemus of Kozheozero), Filip Metropolit Moskovskiy ‘St Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow’. The article cites examples of local sayings and superstitions relating to Onega chrononyms, as well as folk legends which explain the history of the celebrations. It also describes the rites performed to mark the occasion of a particular holiday. Some suggestions on the probable source and motivation of the names in question are provided.

Keywords

• chrononymy
• holiday names
• folk calendar
• festive rite
• ethnography
• Russian folk dialects
• Russian North
• Lower Poonezhye