Habitats of the white-eyed chudi in the Urals. Chud White-Eyed. Mythological dwarfs. Ural Chud - where does it come from?

One of the main postulates of opponents of the location of the ancient ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans in the Russian North is the assumption of its original Finno-Ugric population. An indication of the absence of such in the White Sea basin is met with an objection in the form of the presence of the Finno-Ugric people Chud in ancient times. Despite the numerous materials of legends about Chud collected over the past 200 years, this issue has not been examined ethnographically, although the materials have also been found and published long ago.

Priest A. Grandilevsky, narrating in 1910 about the homeland of M.V. Lomonosov, cites legends about the sanctuary of the “wonderful idol of the god Iomalli or Yumala,” known from descriptions of the 11th century, in connection with the city of Burmia, located on the banks of the Dvina and shopping center the edges. The legend says that in the middle of a rich cemetery “stood an idol of the god Iomalla or Yumalla, made very skillfully from the best wood: the idol was decorated with gold and precious stones... A golden crown with twelve rare stones shone on Yumalla’s head, his necklace was valued at 300 marks (150 pounds) of gold. On his knees stood a golden cup filled with gold coins - a cup so large that four people could drink their fill from it. His clothes were worth more than the cargo of the richest ships.” The Icelandic chronicler Shturlezon, as noted by A. Grandilevsky, “describes the same thing, mentions a silver cup; the scientist Kostren confirms the story presented by folk legends about the treasures of the glorious people.

One of these legends, recorded in the memorial book of the Kurostrovskaya Church (for 1887, page 4), reads: “The idol of Yumala was cast from silver and attached to the largest tree.” The very name Yumala, Iomalla or Yamal, is surprisingly close to the name Vedic god death of Yama (Yima); The possibility of such parallels is confirmed by the presence of the idol in the cemetery and the fact that it was “attached to the largest tree.” Here it is probably appropriate to recall the words of one of the texts of the Rig Veda, namely “A boy’s conversation with his dead father:

I. Where, under the wondrous-leaved tree, Yamanash, the parent, the head of the clan, drinks with all the gods, passes the road of his ancestors7. We honor this monastery of Yama with the dwelling of the gods, blowing a reed pipe with songs of praise.” (RV. X.13)

And since “the temple of Yumala was considered the “dwelling of the gods,” it is not surprising that “the Chud, when she came to pray, donated silver and gold into the bowl” and that “it was impossible to steal either money or an idol, because the Chud tightly guarded her God, there were always sentries standing near it, and so that they would not let any thieves through, springs were placed near the idol itself; whoever touched the idol, even with one finger, now the springs would play, ring all sorts of bells, and then you would not go anywhere...”

Note that the Chud in the legends about her is constantly called “white-eyed,” which does not at all indicate the classic Finno-Ugric character of her appearance, but, on the contrary, emphasizes the specific, exceptional light-eyedness inherent in northern Caucasians.

A. Grandilevsky notes that in the memorial book of the Kurostrovskaya Church it is written: “Even recently, this spruce forest was the subject of many superstitions... people were afraid to drive past the spruce forest, especially at night, and the schismatics considered it a sacred grove and until 1840 they buried it there dead people." Thus, the spruce forest was considered sacred until 1840. among the Old Believers, which is generally not characteristic of specifically Finno-Ugric sanctuaries.

It must be said that A. Grandilevsky, nevertheless, makes the following conclusion: “Culturally, the ancient Zavolotsk Chud, when it became historically known, was hardly much different from the Kyiv or Novgorod Slavs, it could hardly be in the category of semi-savages, in the strictest sense of the word, because its development was far ahead of all other tribesmen... lived sedentary life, having a capital... fortress suburbs, churchyards and large settlements... its own religious ritual... had princes, for protection from enemies it erected quite good city or fortress embankments... from prehistoric times time had a very wide trade with the Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons, with all the Chud and Finnish peoples... Already Shturleson, the Spanish chronicler, wrote about the fabulous riches of Yumalla, the Norwegians were even interested in agriculture, which was instilled in the life of the Zavolotsk Chud, and talked about it as a subject , worthy of special attention... Dvina Zavolochye was the center of general attention and it remained so exclusively until the first quarter of the 11th century.”

A. Grandilevsky derives from the “Chudsky native dialect” such names as Dvina, Pechora, Kholmogory, Ranula, Kurya, Kurostrov, Nalyostrov, etc. But today we know that such hydronyms as Dvina and Pechora - Indo-European origin; Rakula - finds parallels in Sanskrit, where - Ra - possessing, promoting, and kúla - herd, clan, flock, crowd, multitude, family, noble family, noble family, union, household, dwelling, house. As for Kurya, Kur-island and Nal-island, their names are close to the names of the ancestors of the “northern Kurus” of the “Mahabharata” - Nal and Kuru.

Here it makes sense to quote the text of A. Grandilevsky, who admiringly described these lands: “And so, one legend says, to the area where now the city of Kholmogory and its suburbs came, a semi-wild man, a miracle named Kur, came with him his mother, and, probably, his wife and some of his relatives or fellow tribesmen. The aliens really liked the delightful terrain of the future Kholmogory; everything here could not have been better for them. A whole network of straits from and to the Dvina, wonderful high dry forests on the hills with open views in the surrounding area, many lakes, magnificent spruce groves and impenetrable wilds of black forest, gloomy wooded ravines, grassy islands provided the most convenient places for animal hunting, and for fishing, and for hunting birds, and for peaceful household work, and for protection from the enemy . Here, both in summer and winter, the expanse of water opened up beautiful paths to anywhere; in a word, whatever the half-wild son of nature wished for himself, ready supplies were opened up for him everywhere. Huge herds of wild elk and deer ran here; Bears, wolves, foxes, ferrets, martens, stoats, arctic foxes, lynxes, wolverines, squirrels, hares, in countless numbers, constantly lived here; ducks, geese, swans, hazel grouse, cranes, partridges, etc. did not hatch from here; the rivers and lakes were teeming with fish; An immense variety of mushrooms and berries were born. In deep hollows there could be natural and convenient enclosures for catching animals, for baiting elk and deer. In countless lake reservoirs, in straits and creeks there were magnificent places for catching fish with wattles, tops and simply for silencing with anything, and catching a water or forest bird with a snare naturally suggested itself to the hands of any savage, as the easiest occupation... The brave Kur was not horrified by his loneliness; he liked the new area so much that he decided to stay here forever, without inviting anyone except his few companions. And so he occupied a high round hill in the bend of the Dvina Strait, which from then on, together with the hill, received his name. Kur lived with his mother and others until his own family grew up; then the children remained with their father, and their grandmother and those who came with him earlier moved to the west to the high hills beyond the Bystrokurka River, which is how folk legend explains the origin of the Matigorsk region... Thanks to the special amenities of life, and moreover, the Chud tribe here never was not subjected to extermination, as happened in neighboring regions, it was never forced out of here by anyone, did not wage wars, maintained a sedentary working life - the future Kholmogory district was quickly filled with a population that grew into a whole independent powerful semi-wild people - Chud Zavolotskaya.

It should be noted that further A. Grandilevsky describes this “semi-wild” people in such a way that this definition becomes completely irrelevant. He writes: “He so distinguished himself among his fellow tribesmen by his separate way of life, and by a noticeable increase in mental development, and by his prominent authority in the field of religious worship, that without any struggle he took a significant leading place and, spreading his borders along the entire Dvina coast from the lower reaches to Vagoi River, was such an impressive force that even the wild Ugra, which was countless at that time, did not dare to measure itself against it.”

So characteristic of the authors of the beginning of our century is the desire to show Zavolotskaya Chud as a semi-wild Finnish tribe, assimilated then by those standing on a higher cultural level the Dnieper and Novgorod Slavs, quite often leads to blatant contradictions. So Grandilevsky writes that according to legend, the descendants of the Kura (Kuru) were a powerful people (“representing an impressive force”) and at the same time, speaking about stone arrows, knives and axes found in the area of ​​Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory, he concludes that a miracle “had nothing but stone tools.”

For us today, these stone tools indicate that man (“in the initial stage of development of Zavolotskaya Chud” according to A. Grandilevsky) inhabited these regions back in the Stone Age, and an educated Orthodox priest in 1910, he believed that: “Perhaps it was not this helplessness (among the people with whom their neighbors did not dare to measure their strength?) that Zavolotskaya Chud developed that amazing cunning about which all sorts of stories circulate among the masses; was it not this need that prompted the small tribe ("spread - its borders throughout the Dvina from the lower reaches and ending with the Vaga River") to live, straining their strength in the struggle for self-preservation, didn’t it temper their body into such a powerful nature that among the people they are still amazed at the stories about Zavolotskaya’s heroic strength Chud, and these stories, one must assume, have some truth.”

And further: “... legends point to heroic growth and strength ancient Chudi and they credit her with the ability to talk to each other over enormous distances; from Kurostrov to Matigory, to Ukht-Ostrov, from there to Chukhchenema.”

We must pay tribute to A. Grandilevsky, he was somewhat puzzled by the fact that the description of Chudi’s heroic appearance did not correspond to what he saw among the Kholmogory peasants - “dark brown eyes, black hair, sometimes pitch-black, dark complexion and, moreover, usually short stature.” . One can agree with him that “the Finnish origin of the Chud tribes does not speak in favor of powerful growth at all,” but it is difficult to imagine that “the Chud Zavolotskaya itself could have fallen as an accidental exception into special conditions, which, however, were not included into a positive law for posterity."

Indeed, the advances of the Early Iron Age, when in the second half of the 1st century AD. The climate of the North of Eastern Europe has changed sharply and is replaced by broad-leaved and mixed forests dark coniferous taiga and tundra come, the composition of the population has somewhat changed, and newcomers from beyond the Urals - Finno-Ugric tribes - are more intensively included in the process of ethnogenesis.

“The Finns, as it should be assumed, came from Asia: even in the time of Cyrus they lived along the eastern side of the Ural Mountains to the Caspian Sea; then some time before Christ. they crossed the Urals, into Europe, to the banks of the Volga and Kama. From there, little by little, they moved north and west, and finally, in the 4th century after R.H. stopped in those countries where their descendants still exist, i.e. in the Grand Duchy of Finland, in the provinces of Estland, Livonia, Courland, Arkhangelsk, Olonets, Vologda, Tver, Moscow and some other places" (V. Vereshchagin. Essays on the Arkhangelsk province. St. Petersburg. 1847, pp. 104-105). This description coincides with the modern description of the settlement of Sarmatian tribes in Eastern Europe.

But one cannot say that in the Russian North (and especially among the Pomors) one rarely encounters the same type of “lotus-blue-eyed, reed-haired, fair-haired” heroes, glorified by the “Mahabharata” or “golden-haired, blue-eyed Arimaspians of the ancient Greeks, which is so close to the descriptions of the mighty “ white-eyed" Chudi Zavolotskaya Russian chronicles and folk legends. “Chud” (wonderful, wonderful, miracle) - nothing in this name speaks of the Finno-Ugric affiliation of this people, it only indicates that they aroused surprise among their neighbors, seemed to them “wonderful” or “wonderful.” A. Grandilevsky writes further: “There are no direct indications of the mental power of the prehistoric miracle in popular rumor; for this, more solid dates than legends can suffice to say that the Zavolotsk Chud initially declared itself through human idol sacrifices, ferocious cruelty towards enemies, and the inability to invent more the best adaptations for home life and work, but on the other hand, it is nowhere visible that she had sympathy for a wandering life, or did not allow open relations with other peoples, or did not have the inclinations to quickly assimilate the principles of cultures, it is not visible in her aggressive aspirations, but there is evidence hinting at her special aspirations for better public improvement, which later gave her extreme stability and wide popularity.”

Richard James, in the 17th century, wrote that in Kholmogory “there used to be a Chud, and she spoke a language different from the language of the Lapps and Samoyeds, but now she is no longer there.” The Kurostrovsky branch of the Dvina near the village of Kur is famous; near Kholmogory there is the Kuropolka River. In the old days, the settlement itself and the settlement of Kholmogory were called Kuropol. In the 19th century he was considered a miracle.

In the Arkhangelsk province according to the calculation of 1850. There were no miracles, although 25 gypsies, 1186 Germans and 570 Jews were noted.

According to the lists of populated places in the Arkhangelsk province in 1861. (information from parish lists) the Chud lived with the Russians in Arkhangelsk, Kholmogory and Pinega districts.

In the Arkhangelsk district in the villages - Bobrovskaya (Bobrovo), Emelyanovskaya (Arkhangelsko), Stepanovskaya (Kumovskaya, Kukoma), Savinskaya (Zarechka), Tsinovetskaya (Tsenovets), Filimonovskaya (Abramovshina), Uvarovskaya (Uarovskaya), Samyshevskaya (Boloto), Petrushevskaya ( Peshkovo), Durasovskaya 1 (Malgina Gora), Durasovskaya 2, Chukharevskaya (Chukarenskaya), Kondratyevskaya, Aleksandrovskaya, Eletsovskaya, Ustlyyadovskoye (Amosovo), Nefedyevskaya, Burmachevskaya, Olodovskaya (Gorka), Mitrofanovskaya, Chukhchinskaya, Patrakievskaya, Ivaylovskaya.

In the Kholmogory district in the villages of Annina Gora (Vavchugskaya, White Mountain), Rogachevskaya (Surovo), Tikhanovskaya (Tikhnovskoye, Shubino), Matveevskaya (Neverovo), Marikovskaya (Marilov Pogost), Perkhurovskaya (Pergurovskaya, Shagino), Petrovskaya (Petrovo), Danilovskaya (Churkino), Kosnovskaya (Pugins), Trekhnovskaya (Kuchin navolok), Boyarskaya, Andriyanovskaya (Tyshkunovo), Verkhnemategorsk-Emetsky, Shiltsova (Shaltsova), Kozhevskaya Gora (Kozhina Gora), Khvosty, Korchovskaya, Yursobitskaya, Goroncharovskaya (Goroncharovo), Sukhareva, Zapolye, Oseredskaya, Andreyanovskaya,

Bereznik, Zaozerskaya, Filippovskaya, Perdunovskaya (Chasovenskaya-Kuznetsovka), Karzevskaya, Terebikha, Oshchepova (Yakimovskaya), Gorka (Zinovyevskaya), Terentyeva, Nizhny Konets (Polumovskaya), Brosachevskaya (Brosachikha), Kulminovskaya, Kyazmezhskaya (Kyazlish) (along the Boyar rivers -Kurya, Kurostrovka, Emtsa, Dvina, Vaimuga, Lake Kulmino).

Antsiferovskaya, Vakhromeevskaya, Raskhodovskaya (Khodchegory), Berezninskaya, Obukhovskaya, Nizhnematigorskaya (Borisoglebskaya, Demidovskoe), Demidovskaya (Pogostskaya), Tyumshenskaya 1 (Tyushmenevskaya, Davydovskaya) and Tyumshenskaya 2 (Belogorskaya) along the Boyar-K river were considered purely Chud villages in Kholmogory district urya . Even then, attention was paid to the fact that the areas inhabited only by Chudya bore exclusively Russian names.

In the Pinega district, Chud lived with the Russians in the villages of Verkhnekonskaya and Valtegorskaya (Valteva) (along the Nemnyuga, Ezhuga and Pinega rivers).

In Shenkursky district, Chud villages were not distinguished, but in the 14th century its entire territory with Verkhovazhye was considered Chud. Chud in Shenkursk was recorded until the 16th century.

It should be noted that the Chud stood out together with settlers from Novgorod. In areas where there were no Novgorodians, Russians are indicated instead of Chud. In Arkhangelsk, Russian Old Believers were considered a miracle.

At the mouth of the Pechora, in Pustozersk and villages according to descriptions by Lepekhin in 1774. There were 632 inhabitants who came from Chud. According to other sources, the entire population of Pustozersk were Russian Old Believers. Similarly, the origin of the Komi-Izhemtsy was associated with the miracle. Now they are considered Russian assimilated Komi-Zyryans.

List of populated places in the Vologda province in 1859. indicates the presence of Chuds as an ethnic group in the province, different from the Russians and Komi-Zyryans. Although the capital's scholars considered it Finnish, and in the parish lists it was partly Belarusian.

According to parish lists, there were Chud in Nikolsky, Solvychegodsky and Ustsysolsky districts in neighboring areas in 62 villages (4234 people).

In Nikolsky district (1630 people): Vymol, Lychenitsa, Pogudino, Seno, Kurilovo, Alferova Gora, Myateneyeva Gora, Zavachug, Sushniki, Kayuk, Kobylino-Ilinskoye, Spitsino, Ploskaya, Kobylkino, Navolok, Gorka, Gorbunovskaya, Pavlovo, Zavrazhye , Manshino (along the rivers Sherduga, Zhidovatka, Berezovaya, Zavachuga, Ishenga, Kokoshikha, Imzyuga, Yug).

In Solvychegodsk district (2938 people): Astafieva Gora, Pozharishche, Zmanovsky repair (Zmanovo), Mishutino, Leunino, Eremina Gora (Okolotok), Fox Mountain, Kuryanovo, Yaruny (Yartsevo), Goncharovo (Gondyukhins), Mishutino Verkh (Gusikha) , Potanin Pochinok (Prislon), Pozdeev Pochinok (Omelyanikha), Naked Hill, Bull, Goryachevo, Konishchevo, Vyatkina Gora, Verkholalsky Pogost, Knyazha, Stroykovo, Popova Exhibition (Navel), Tokarevo Zholtikovo, Pryanovskaya (Byzovs), Vasilievskaya, Frolovskaya ( Zuikha), Tregubovskaya, Varzaksa, Novikovskaya (Kuliga), Grishanovskaya (Balushkiny), Rychkovo, Konstantinovskaya (Fedyakovo), Fedyakovo, Teshilova Gora (Kushikha), Novoselova Gora (Novoselka), Kochurinskaya (Zaruchevye), Grigorievskaya (Kalinino), Gorka, Makarovskaya (Komarovo), Ustye, Selivanovskaya (Isakovs), Nechaevskaya (Mezhnik), Ryabovo, Koneshevskaya (Butoryana), Sludka, Deshlevskaya (Koshary), Matyukovskaya (Balashovs), Chernyshevskaya (Artemyevshina), Prilitsa, Zadorikha, Bereznik (along the Lale rivers , Varzaks, Tornovka, Osokorovo, Chakulka, Mezhnik, Podovina, Dorovitsa, Vychegda).

In Ustsysolsky district (749 people): Mishinskaya (Podkiberye), Spirinskaya (Zanyulye), Rakinskaya (Bor), Shilovskaya (Zarodovo), Garevskaya (Trofimovskaya), Bor-Nadbolotomskaya (Keros), Urnyshevskaya (Upper End), Matveevskaya (Spas Porub), Karpovskaya (Gavrilova), Kulizhskaya (Chinicheva), Raevskaya (Ostashevskaya), Podsosnovskaya

(Lobanova), Nelitsovskaya (Shmotina), Trofimovskaya (Poryasyanova) (along the rivers Nevla, Nyula, Shora, Luza, Poruba, Buba).

In the Kargopol district, the Chud population was noted in 1316. along Lekshmozer (Chelmogora) 53 km. from Kargopol. In 1349 The Roman Lazar noted the presence of chudi and lopi in Obonezhye near the Murmansk monastery.

In the Olonets province, according to information from 1873. Chuds were considered to be 26,172 people (the Russified Chuds were 7,699 people). Finns were counted separately from it - 3775 people, Lapps - 3882 people, Karelians - 48568 people. Chud was located in Lodeynopolsky district (7447 people), Olonetsky district (1705 people), Vytegorsky district (6701 people), Petrozavodsk district (10319 people).

But most of the ethnic group in the Olonets province had a different self-name. The name Chud was attributed to him because of Academician Sjögren (1832) who pointed out the residence in the Belozersky and Tikhvin districts of the Novgorod province of people who, under the influence of the Novgorodians, called themselves “Zjudi (Juudi)”. The Novgorodians also identified groups of Kolbyags (Tikhvin) and Varangians (Ilmen). Why St. Petersburg scientists decided that the “Jews” who called themselves “Ljudi (Lyudi)” were Chud, and for example not the descendants of the Novgorod “Judaizers,” is not entirely clear. Most likely there was an error. The handwritten L looks similar to the handwritten capital Z; when the manuscript was published in German, it was read as Z, and then when Sjögren’s work was republished in Russian, the name of the people was read as Chud. And under the authority of the academician, who did not write this at all, they began to call the Vepsian people a miracle. After 1920 this people began to be called by the self-name of most of them Vepsians, and then they recorded a significant part of them as Karelians.

The Russified Chud lived separately from the rest of the Olonets Chud (Vepsians) in the east in the Vytegorsky district along the border with the Kirillovsky and Kargopol districts. The population of these places does not, in itself or by any of the ethnographers, belong to the Russified Vepsians.

The Russified Chud lived in 118 villages of Vytegorsky district: Pesok, Venyukova, Vasilievskaya (Ishukova), Bobrova, Nikiforova, Zaparina, Ukhotsky Pogost (Ilyina), Klimovskaya (Tobolkina), Efremova, Popadyina, Niz, Mechevskaya, Eremina, Leontyeva, Ershova, Okulova , Bryukhova, Kobylina, Prokopyeva, Ermolina, Pankratova, Kopytova, Mishutkina, Kozulina, Vasilyeva, Moseevskaya (Chernitsina), Poganina, Yurgina (Yurkina), Ambrosova (Obrosova), Sergeeva, Saustova, Likhaya Shalga (Shalga) (along the Ukhta River) ;

Surminskaya (Teryushina), Emelyanovskaya (Sharapova), Patrovskaya, Filosovskaya, Ignatovskaya (Shilkova), Demidovskaya (Zapole), Duplevskaya (Zapole), Ermakovskaya (Zapole), Budrinskaya (Kromina), Prokopinskoye, Antipinskaya (Gorka), Grigorievskaya (Novoselova) , Tikhmangsky Pogost (Danilovo), Vakhrusheva, Palovsky Pogost (Dudino), Aksenova, Klepikova, Fatyanova, Fedorova, Burtsova, Demina, Rukina, New Selo, Trofimovskaya (Chasovina), Oryushinskaya (Vydrina), Murkhonskaya, Lavrovskaya (Petunina), Dmitrovskaya (Tsanina), Fedotovskaya (Pavshevo), Feofilatovskaya (Rubyshino), Ryabovskaya (Simanova), Mininskaya (Berezhnaya), Kirshevskaya (Kruganova), Dalmatovskaya (Savina), Tretiakovskaya (Manylova), Mukhlovskaya (Knigina), Fertinskaya (Vaneva), Koshkarevskaya (Filina), Iarakhivskaya (Parakeevna, Slasnikova), Sidorovskaya (Davydova), Eltomovskaya (Verkhovye), Mikhalevskoye (Vypolzovo), Guevskaya (Fokino), Manuylovskaya, Zheleznikovskaya (Gurino), Kashinskaya (Verkhovye), Kuromskaya (End), Gorlovskaya ( Malkova), Ilyinskaya Sloboda (along the Tikhmanga River);

Antonovskaya (Baranova), Mokievskaya (Rusanova), Muravyovskaya, Gorbunovskaya (Pustyn), Fominskaya (Gorka), Fedosevskaya (Matyushina), Kuznetsovskaya (Kirilovshchina), Kachalovskaya (Privalova), Vershininskaya Pustyn (Vershinina), Isakovskaya Pustosh, Lukinskaya (Povinki) Aleksinskaya (Gurino) Davydovskaya (Maksimova) (along the Shalgas River);

Perkhina (Antipina), Pashinskaya (Beregovskaya), Antipina (Antipa, Perkhina, Malaya Kherka), Fedorovskaya (Khaluy), Antsiferova (Khaluy) (along the Indomanka River);

Swan Heath (along the Pustynny Stream);

Deminskaya (Dubininskaya), Matveevskaya (Procheva) (along Shey-stream);

Falkova (at Ukhtozer);

Antsiferovskaya (Bereznik, Khaluy), Krechetova (Pankratova), Agafonovskaya (Bolshaya), Rakovskaya (Coal) (near Antsiferovskoye Lake);

Borisova Gora (Mountain), Mitina, Pankratovo (Matveevo, Isaevo), Ivanova (Kiryanova), Blinova (Gorka), Elinskaya (Kropacheva, Novozhilova, Ermolinskaya) (near Lake Isaevskoe);

Antsiferovskaya (Ananina, Puzhmozero), Ermolino (Novozhilovo) (near Puzhmozero).

In 1535 The population of Toldozhsky, Izhersky, Dudrovsky, Zamoshsky, Yegoryevsky, Opoletsky, Kipensky, Zaretsky churchyards in the Novgorod lands was classified as Chud.

Settlement of the Chud in the Novgorod lands in 1535

List of populated places in the St. Petersburg province in 1864. attributed to the miracle, based on the opinion of St. Petersburg scientists, - vod, whose name (vatiya-laizet) was derived from the word “vaddya”, the meaning of which is unknown. These people are closer to Estonians than to Karelians. Vod lived in Peterhof and Yamburg districts. At the same time, in the parish lists, some of its settlements are called Izhora.

In addition, some of the settlements lying in the Russian regions along the Luga River are called Chud - Pulkovo, Sola (Sala), Nadezhdina (Blekigof), Mariengof, Koshkino, Zakhonye, ​​Sveisko, Zhabino, Kalmotka, Verino (Nikolaevo), Kuzmino, Yurkino, Kepi, Gorka, Podoga, Lutskaya, Lutsk.

Official statistics separated the Chud from the Vod and the Estonians. According to the 1897 census. in the Yamburg district (except for Vodi and Estonians) there were 303 people who spoke the Chud language. Veps were not there

Settlement of Chud in 1850

In the 19th century, scientists indiscriminately called Chudya the peoples of the Permian group, the Vods, the Chukhons, the Karelians, and the Estonians. Although at that time it made no sense to talk about the mono-ethnic composition of the population of Estonia. There was a merger of several nationalities (including the Krivichi Slavs and the Germans-Danes) into one Estonian people. Considering mass reduction population of the Novgorod regions in the late 16th century and early 18th century, as well as resettlement from Finland, Estland and Livonia in the 17th century, one can assume assimilation by settlers local population. Therefore, it can be assumed that the name Chudi was given to the Finnoized part of the local population by the Novgorodians, and from them by the St. Petersburg scientists. In other areas, the presence of the Finno-Ugric composition of the Chud has not been recorded. There were no Estonian miracles on the territory of the Novgorod and Pskov lands up to Lake Peipsi.

The Vyatka chronicler mentioned the Chud and Ostyak peoples on Cheptse. According to legend, in these places there were Chud settlements, and it is here that bronze objects are found, united by the name “Perm animal style”. Experts have always recognized the Iranian influence on the art of the “Perm animal style”.

The Sami, who knew the Chud well, did not confuse them with the Karelians. According to the legends of the Karelians and Sami, chud - “fierce murderers”, came from the mountains every summer and killed many people. Sami “chute, miracle” – “pursuer, robber, enemy.”

The Sami legends indicate that in ancient times the white-eyed monster came to their lands. She wore iron armor over her clothes and iron horned helmets on her heads. Their faces were covered with iron nets. The enemies were terrible, they slaughtered everyone. A similar form of Scandinavian Vikings only occurred from the 13th century.

The Finno-Ugric peoples have always talked about the Chud as about some other people. The Komi-Zyryans and Permians distinguished themselves from the “real miracle”. The reason was in the neighborhood, they knew the miracle. For the Komi-Permyaks and Udmurts, Chud is an ethnic group completely alien to them in language, which, like the Novgorodians and Vyatchans, took part in inter-tribal feuds and wars.

Descriptions of the Komi speak of the unusually large growth of Chud representatives. In addition to the giant miracles, the Komi-Permyaks distinguish another people vertically challenged- miracles

Associated with legends about miracles are legends about the Sirtya (Sikhirtya, Sirchi) people, who lived in the tundra before the arrival of the Nenets. According to legend, the Sirtya were small in stature, spoke with a slight stutter, and wore beautiful clothes with metal pendants. They had white eyes. The Sirtya's homes were high sandy hills, they rode dogs and grazed mammoths. Just like the Chud, the Sirtya were considered skilled blacksmiths and good warriors. There are references to military clashes between the Nenets and Sirtya. There are known cases of Nenets marrying Sirtya women. The Nenets distinguished the Sirtya from themselves, the Khanty and the Komi.

Academician I. Lepekhin wrote in 1805: “The entire Samoyed land in the Mezen district is filled with desolate dwellings of the once ancient people. They are found in many places: near lakes, on the tundra, in forests, near rivers, made in mountains and hills like caves with openings like doors. In these caves they find ovens and find fragments of iron, copper and clay household items.”

For the first time, Nenets legends about the Sirtya, who spoke a language other than Nenets, were recorded by A. Shrenk in 1837. in the Bolshezemelskaya tundra. The Nenets were convinced that the last Sirtya were found in Yamal 5 generations before the 19th century, and then completely disappeared.

The original meaning of the word chud is assumed to be “Germans”, from the Gothic “Tsiuda” - “people”. How this corresponds to the Finno-Ugric ethnic group is unclear. But Chud (Thiudos) is mentioned among other peoples who were annexed to the Gothic power of the 4th century and therefore were not German. Jordanes wrote: “Germanaric, the noblest of the Amals, who conquered many very warlike northern tribes and forced them to obey his laws. Many ancient writers compared him in dignity to Alexander the Great. He conquered the tribes: Goltescythians, Chiud, Inunx, Vasinobronk, Meren, Morden, Imniskar, Rogas, Tazan, Ataul, Navego, Bubegen, Kold. (Golthescytha, Thiudos, Ina unxis, Vas ina broncas, Merens, Mordens, Imnisscaris, Rogas, Tadzans, Athaul, Navego, Bubegenas, Coldas).”

The Puranas indicate the peoples of Kurus and Chedyas next to Vatsa; in the Mahabharata the name of the Chedi people is used.

Thus, the image of a people grows - powerful, rich, independent, distinguished by a heroic physique, possessing sacred knowledge and amazing abilities. Part of it gave rise to the country of Rusia Alba (White Rus'), and part went to new lands, and not only in the north. In Pomorie (in Kemi) it was believed that the Chud had red skin and left here to live in New Earth. It is appropriate to remember that the inhabitants of ancient Egypt (whose self-name was the Country of Kemi) considered themselves red-skinned immigrants from the country of Upper Kemi.

The Chud tribe is one of the most mysterious phenomena on the territory of our country. Its history has long been overgrown with secrets, epics and even rumors, both quite plausible and completely fantastic. Not much is known about this tribe to judge from this information the complete history of its representatives, but quite enough to give rise to the most incredible legends. Scientists and researchers have tried and are trying to unearth evidence of that era, to decipher that amazing world, full of mysteries, which the Chud tribe gave us.

The Chud tribe is sometimes compared to the Mayan tribe of American Indians. Both those and others suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only memories. In official history, the term "Chud" is considered Old Russian name several Finno-Ugric tribes. The very name of the tribe Chud"is also not entirely clear. It is popularly believed that representatives of these tribes were named this way because of their incomprehensible language, which they spoke and which other tribes did not understand. There is an assumption that the tribe was originally Germanic or Gothic, which is why they were called Chud. In those days, “Chud” and “Alien” were not only of the same root, but also had the same meaning. However, in some Finno-Ugric languages, the name Chud was used to name one of the mythological characters, which also cannot be discounted.

This tribe, which suddenly disappeared, is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, where the chronicler directly narrates: " ...Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on Chud, Ilmen Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi..."However, not everything is so simple here either. For example, the historian S.M. Solovyov made the assumption that in the Tale of Bygone Years the inhabitants of the Vodskaya Valley of Pyatina were called Chudya Novgorod Land- Water. Another mention dates back to 882 and refers to Oleg’s campaign: “ ...went on a campaign and took with him many warriors: Varangians, Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, all, Chud and came to Smolensk and took the city...".

Yaroslav the Wise undertook a victorious campaign against Chud in 1030: “and he defeated them and established the city of Yuryev.” Subsequently it turned out that the miracle was called whole line tribes, such as: Esta, Setu (Chud Pskov), Vod, Izhora, Korely, Zavolochye (Chud Zavolochskaya). In Novgorod there is Chudintseva Street, where noble representatives of this tribe previously lived, and in Kyiv there is Chudin Dvor. It is also believed that the names were formed on behalf of these tribes: the city of Chudovo, Lake Peipus, and the Chud River. In the Vologda region there are villages with the names: Front Chudi, Middle Chudi and Back Chudi. Currently, Chudi’s descendants live in the Penezhsky district of the Arkhangelsk region. In 2002, Chud was included in the register of independent nationalities.

Of particular interest, in addition to the historical, is folklore, in which the tribe appears as the White-Eyed Chud. Strange epithet " White-eyed", with which representatives of the Chud were dubbed, is also a mystery. Some believe that the white-eyed Chud is because it lives underground, where there is no sunlight, while others believe that in the old days, gray-eyed or blue-eyed people were called white-eyed. White-eyed Chud, as mythological character, found in the folklore of the Komi and Sami, as well as the Mansi, Siberian Tatars, Altaians and Nenets. To explain it in a nutshell, the white-eyed miracle is a vanished civilization. Following these beliefs, the legendary white-eyed Chud lived in the north of the European part of Russia and the Urals. Descriptions of this tribe include descriptions of short people who live in caves and deep underground. In addition, chud, chud, shud - a monster, and meant a giant, often a cannibal giant with white eyes. People who, with the adoption of Christianity in Rus', did not accept the new religion and went underground are often called miracles. Thus, it turns out that the white-eyed Chud is a demonized tribe that did not accept Christianity and is therefore considered unclean.

One of the legends, which was recorded in the village of Afanasyevo, Kirov region, says: " And when other people began to appear along the Kama, this miracle did not want to communicate with them. They dug a large hole, and then cut down the pillars and buried themselves. This place is called - Peipus Coast". The mistress of the copper mountain, the tale of which was told to us by the Russian writer P.P. Bazhov, is considered by many to be one of that same Chudi.

Judging by the legends, a meeting with representatives of the white-eyed miracle, who sometimes appeared out of nowhere, came out of caves, appeared in the fog, could bring good luck to some and misfortune to others. They live underground, where they ride dogs and herd mammoths or earthen deer. The mythical representatives of the white-eyed miracle are considered to be good and skilled blacksmiths, metallurgists and excellent warriors, which can be compared with the belief of the Scandinavian tribes in gnomes, who are also short in stature, are good warriors and skilled blacksmiths. Chud white-eyed (they are also Sirtya, Sikhirtya) can steal a child, cause damage, and scare a person. They know how to suddenly appear and disappear just as suddenly.

Testimonies from missionaries, researchers and travelers have been preserved about the earthen settlements of Chud. For the first time, A. Shrenk spoke about orphans in 1837, who discovered Chud caves with the remains of a certain culture in the lower reaches of the Korotaikha River. Missionary Benjamin wrote: " The Korotaikha River is remarkable for its abundance of fisheries and Chud earthen caves, in which, according to Samoyed legends, Chud once lived in ancient times. These caves are ten miles from the mouth, on the right bank, on a slope, which from ancient times was called Sirte-sya in Samoyed - “Chudskaya Mountain”". I. Lepekhin wrote in 1805: " The entire Samoyed land in the Mezen district is filled with desolate dwellings of the once ancient people. They are found in many places: near lakes, on the tundra, in forests, near rivers, made in mountains and hills like caves with openings like doors. In these caves they found ovens and found fragments of iron, copper and clay household items.". This same question was once puzzled by V.N. Chernetsov, who wrote about the Chud in his reports of 1935-1957, where he collected many legends. In addition, he discovered monuments of the Sirtya in Yamal. Thus, the existence of a tribe that really once existed in these places, it is documented. The Nenets, whose ancestors witnessed the existence of a mysterious tribe in these places, claim that it went underground (into the hills), but did not disappear. And to this day you can meet people of small stature and with. with white eyes, and this meeting most often does not bode well.

After the Chud went underground, after other tribes came to their lands, whose descendants live here to this day, they left many treasures. These treasures are enchanted and, according to legend, only the descendants of the miracle itself can find them. These treasures are guarded by miracle spirits, who appear in a variety of guises, for example, a hero on a horse, a bear, a hare and others. Due to the fact that many would like to penetrate the secrets underground inhabitants and take possession of untold riches, some are still taking various steps to find these caches full of gold and jewelry. There are legends, tales and tales about daredevils who decided to search for miracle treasures. great amount. All, or most of them, end, alas, in tears for the main characters. Some of them die, others remain crippled, others go crazy, and others go missing in a dungeon or caves.

He also writes about the legendary miracle Roerich in his book "Heart of Asia". There he describes his meeting with an Old Believer in Altai. This man took them to a rocky hill where there were stone circles of ancient burials and, showing them to the Roerich family, told the following story: " This is where Chud went underground. When the White Tsar came to Altai to fight and how it bloomed White birch in our land, Chud did not want to stay under the White Tsar. Chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones. You can see their former entrances yourself. But Chud is not gone forever. When the happy time returns and people from Belovodye come and give great science to all the people, then Chud will come again, with all the treasures obtained". A year earlier (1913) of these events, Nicholas Roerich, being an excellent artist, painted the painting “The Chud went underground.” Be that as it may, the mystery of the Chud tribe still remains open. The official history in the person of archaeologists, ethnographers, and local historians believe Chud are ordinary tribes, for example, Ugrians, Khanty, Mansi, who were not different in anything special and left their habitats due to the arrival of other tribes on their lands. Others consider the White-Eyed Chud to be a great people who have the gift of magic and magic, who live deeply. in caves and underground cities, which from time to time appear on the surface to warn people, warn, punish or protect their treasures, the hunters for which will never decrease.

"“But somewhere to this day,” says Vasily, “the Lapps believe not in Christ, but in “chud.” There is a high mountain from where they throw deer as sacrifices to the god. There is a mountain where a noid (sorcerer) lives, and deer are brought there to him. There they cut them with wooden knives, and hang the skin on poles. The wind shakes her, her legs move. And if there is moss or sand below, then the deer seems to be walking. Vasily has met such a deer more than once in the mountains. Just like alive! It's scary to watch. And it can be even more terrible when in winter a fire sparkles in the sky and the abysses of the earth open, and monsters begin to emerge from the graves."

"White-eyed Chud", or "polar people" - a people of albinos who have had since childhood White hair and characterized by the complete absence of the irises of the eyes, on the whites of which only the black dots of the pupils are visible.

An eerie sight. Exactly for this East Slavs and they called them “white-eyed monsters,” and only them. And this is their purely Slavic name. And, in contrast to the “authoritative” statements that attribute Chud to the Finno-Ugric peoples, those Slavs called them not Chud, but Chukhons, from the word chuhatsya (itch).

In nature, as an exception to the general rule, albinos are born and are genetically devoid of pigment coloring. This is where, for example, such a common noun as “white crows” arose, that is, “not like everyone else.” But there are also entire types of genetic albinos, the complete absence of pigment dyes in which is inherited. Such, for example, as polar bears, owls, foxes, arctic foxes, ermines, who turned their natural genetic defect into their advantage over others, allowing them to camouflage against a white snowy background, as well as white mice, rats, or carrier pigeons bred a person on purpose.

But it turns out that the human species also did not escape similar genetic metamorphoses, as a result of which a tribe of “polar people” - albinos - appeared.

“White-Eyed Chud” does not belong to the Finno-Ugric, Scandinavian, Slavic, Turkic, or Siberian peoples, having once populated the lands in northern Europe, the Urals and Siberia - much earlier than them.
At the same time, they communicated with the Finno-Ugric languages ​​in Finno-Ugric languages, with Turkic peoples- in Turkic languages, with the Slavs - in Slavic, with the Scandinavians - in their Scandinavian dialects. In what language they communicated with each other, again, contrary to the established “authoritative opinion,” no one still knows.

It is believed that the White-Eyed Chud came from the now sunken northern continent, Hyperborea, in underground caves, heated by the thermal waters of which she lived throughout the entire ice age which began about 50,000 years ago. And that is why, genetically, I lost natural pigments - as unnecessary.
By the way, it is believed that Hyperborea was also inhabited by the ancestors of the Aryans, who were the ancestors of the Etruscans, who were the ancestors of the Slavs. Therefore, it is quite possible to assume that it was the Chudins who were the distant ancestors of the Slavic, Scandinavian and Turkic peoples.

Contrary to many fairy tales and legends, miracles were usually short and thin, with the physique of a teenager, and even a child of an ordinary person. At the same time, they had a European appearance, and as many noted, they were very beautiful in face and figure. However, it was extremely rare to meet them. The Chudins diligently avoided contact with local peoples and tribes. And, at the slightest danger, they hid in their underground caves and galleries, equipped with ingenious death traps.

At the same time, they possessed certain telepathic and hypnotic abilities, which they used to hunt game and scare away strangers from their habitats.

It was meetings with them that gave rise to many European fairy tales about elves, gnomes, trolls, and Nibelungs.
At the same time, their extremely high level technical development, perceived at that time as a kind of miracle or witchcraft. And, for their initially gray hair and beards, they were all considered very old people. Since then, sorcerers and wizards in European fairy tales have been portrayed as gray-bearded dwarfs in wide-brimmed hats, with which they protect themselves from the sun, and nothing else.

In Rus', the Chud people were found in the deep northern forests, where they lived in their underground cities. At the same time, their hunters usually lived on the surface and led a semi-nomadic lifestyle, making cyclical seasonal transitions - from one of their hunting grounds - to others, and living in collapsible tents, like the Finno-Ugric peoples.
By the way, the fabulous log “hut on chicken legs” that we know is nothing more than a forest storage room for storing their prey and supplies - Chud and Finno-Ugric nomadic hunters, in which they sometimes spent the night or waited out bad weather. And which of them began to use such “huts” earlier is still unknown.

Such a hut was precisely on “chicken” and not “chicken” legs, because earlier in the Russian language the word “smoking” meant pecking, or stabbing. Hence the Russian names for chickens that “smoked”, that is, pecked grain, and the trigger of a pistol that delivered a piercing blow to the primer.
That’s why they were called “chicken” - pointed wooden poles driven into the ground, on which such a hut was built above the ground.

And this protected its contents from forest rodents, who could not climb into it along the smooth, bark-free poles of its “chicken legs”, did not allow larger animals, foxes, wolves and wolverines to dig under it, and even protected it from invasion bears who simply did not risk climbing into it along its flimsy thin “chicken legs”, which did not inspire confidence in them.
Well, and of course, the “chicken legs” reliably protected the “hut” installed on them and its contents from getting wet during periods of spring snow melting, floods and prolonged rains.

Turkic nomads, discovering such “huts” in the remote deserted taiga thickets, told their children about them, and told them that mysterious forest spirits lived in them, whom they called “babai-aga”, which translated from Turkic meant “old master” ".
The Slavs, on the other hand, called such spirits - foresters, or goblins, which meant “master of the forest”, and having adopted the name of the mysterious inhabitants of such “huts” from local Turkic tribes, they easily transformed their Turkic name “babai-aga” into the name of a fairy-tale forest witch - "Baba Yaga".

Well, there is a logical explanation for the fact that the Russian fairytale “Baba Yaga”, unlike the European witch, flew not on a broom, but in a mortar.
The fact is that earlier stupas for grinding grain in them were made not in the form of a glass, in which the fairy-tale Baba Yaga is now painted, but in the form of a flat dish or plate. And when, suddenly, a “UFO” flew over the forest, in the form of a typical “flying saucer,” our Slavic ancestors did not bother themselves with questions about the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations at the sight of this celestial phenomenon, as we do now, but explained it extremely clearly and understandably for yourself that it is the same Baba Yaga who lives in a forest hut on chicken legs who is making her next scheduled flight in her mortar.

It must be said that such “huts on chicken legs” were quite common throughout Siberia, and it may very well be that they were the reason that the Turks called it “Tartaria,” which meant in their language “land of boxes.” .
These log huts were very similar to their cross-saddle wooden luggage boxes “tarty”, or “tara” (“tara” - box, Turkic), assembled from thick wooden rods, intertwined with leather straps, and which they hung in pairs the sides of their pack horses.

In one of his early Siberian campaigns of conquest, the famous Mongol commander and emperor Genghis Khan was defeated by the inhabitants of Siberian Tartary and was taken prisoner by them, in which they held him for several years. Then, either he escaped from captivity, or they themselves released him, but returning to Mongolia, Genghis Khan gathered a new army and again attacked Tartary, almost completely slaughtering its entire population in revenge for the years of his humiliating captivity in it.
He appointed one of his sons as the khan of Siberian Tartary, which existed under the strict leadership of the Mongols for some time. And its state flag and coat of arms even found their way into European heraldry.
What kind of people inhabited Siberian Tartaria at that time is now unknown.

The last mention of the Chud is found in the description of the battle of Alexander Nevsky on Lake Peipus (Lake Chud) in 1242, when he hired the local Chud tribes to take part in the battle. It was they, armed with bows and short hunting spears, who formed the core of his army, tightly surrounded by the Novgorod militia, who were instructed not to let the miracles scatter to the sides during the battle.
It was in this living mess of miracles that a blunt-pointed wedge of five mounted Teutonic knights-monks, arranged in a row, and their numerous squires, novices, and simply mercenaries, got stuck, immediately crushing the advanced regiment of the Novgorod squad of Vasily Buslaev. And then, the ice simply couldn’t stand it and the Teutons, together with the miracle, found themselves in a huge hole, teeming with people drowning in it.
Knights were still caught because a good ransom could be obtained for them. And now, almost all of the chud has gone under the ice.
It was rumored that after this treacherous treachery of people, the surviving miracle left them for their underground cities. Since then, there has been almost no miracle left, and only legends and fairy tales have been preserved about it.

Some mentions of the miracle were preserved in the Urals, already at the time of its conquest by Ermak in his Siberian campaign in 1582. But, Ermak’s Cossacks only saw the Chudins from afar, and at the slightest attempt to get closer to them, or to catch one of them, they, according to the Cossacks, committed suicide by jumping into a pit and overturning the poles lined with stones installed along its edges, as a result of which found themselves buried alive in this pit - a pile of stones.

In fact, the pits with poles lined with stones mentioned by the Cossacks were not Chud’s graves at all, but entrances to their underground galleries with a hole disguised by turf.
Fleeing from pursuit, Chudin jumped into this hole, pushed through the side entrance into the gallery, disguised with turf, and once in it, pulled the rope tied to the poles, pulling them out of the ground. The poles fell, and the stones leaning against them filled up the hole.

According to the stories of local residents, the Chud is sometimes found in deserted areas of the northern forests of the Urals and Siberia, even in our time. Sometimes they even suddenly enter the shops of remote taiga villages, buying all sorts of little things, and putting the local saleswomen into a stupor and chilling horror with their white-eyed glances. But, usually, they prefer to make their purchases through trusted representatives from local hunters. Therefore, no one is surprised when one of the residents of the village suddenly sells a whole heap of skins of fur-bearing animals, and with all the proceeds buys sugar, sweets, and condensed milk in completely disproportionate quantities, or all sorts of haberdashery trifles that are unlikely to ever be available to him. came in handy myself.
As in the old days, miracles try not to come into contact with people and, suddenly noticed, almost immediately mysteriously disappear into camouflaged manholes into their underground caves.
They dress in clothes that are modern to us, mass-produced by our industry, preferring to wear the uniform of geologists in protective green, and therefore, if they happen to meet in the forest, from a distance they are no different from other people.
But they have a predilection for homemade fur overalls, like the Chukchi parka with the fur on the outside, which they wear both in winter and summer, apparently feeling comfortable in them in the cool dampness of their underground caves. Because of these fur suits, they are often confused with the local Finno-Ugric peoples, or even with the Bigfoot, the Yeti.

Chud often uses for movement special short stilts made of elastic branches tied with straps, or animal bones (“bone leg”), allowing them to quickly and completely silently move through the forest, without leaving traces, or through deep snow, while imitating the tracks of animals. Because of this, they, despite their slender physique, look unnaturally tall.

Spending the bulk of its life in underground caves, the Chud usually comes to the surface only to hunt and collect berries and mushrooms.
They are also actively engaged in fishing on numerous small taiga rivers, using for this purpose “muzzles”, baskets woven from twigs with a narrow neck, from which the fish that swim into them cannot find a way out.
Knowledgeable hunters, having accidentally discovered such baskets in a remote taiga river, prefer to leave these places as soon as possible, so as not to irritate their mysterious inhabitants with their presence.

Being in the darkness of underground caves for a long time, the Chud cannot stand direct sunlight, from which it can go blind, and therefore prefers to live in dense taiga thickets and lead a nocturnal lifestyle, seeing perfectly in the dark.

Possessing hypnotic abilities, and traditionally living in the northern taiga forests, which are not rich in game, the Chud prefers to feed on its prey without killing it, but only by drinking a little blood from a tiny wound made in it, which does not cause it serious harm. Perhaps in the old days, in a similar way, the Chud used both people and their livestock.
And, it was in this that she served as the prototype of fairy-tale vampires, ghouls, and ghouls.

In addition to the real miracle, there are, or at least once upon a time, quite recently, there were entire villages of those who called themselves a miracle. In fact, these are the descendants of those whom the Chud abducted as infants, and when they grew so large that they could no longer move through the narrow underground galleries, they were returned to the local residents. But their adopted children continued to consider themselves miracles and maintained contact with her.

Door to the kingdom of Chudi

By opening the list of languages ​​and nationalities of the Russian Federation approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia, you can learn a lot of interesting things. For example, the fact that in Russia there are people who consider themselves to be among the mythical people of wizards is a miracle.

Most likely this is a misunderstanding. After all, according to the legends of the north of Russia, these people went to live underground more than a thousand years ago. However, in Karelia and the Urals, even today you can hear eyewitness accounts of a meeting with representatives of the Chud. The famous ethnographer of Karelia, Alexey Popov, told us about one of these meetings.

Alexey, how plausible is the story of the existence of the Chud, this mythical people?

Of course, the miracle really existed, and then went away. But it’s not known exactly where. Ancient legends say that underground. Moreover, surprisingly, there is a mention of this people even in Nestor’s “Tale of Bygone Years”: “... the Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on the Chud, Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi, and the Khazars from the glades, northerners, and Vyatichi took tribute in silver coins and the verite (squirrel) from the smoke.” It is also known from the chronicles that in 1030 Yaroslav the Wise made a campaign against Chud “and defeated them and established the city of Yuryev.” Today it is one of the largest cities in modern Estonia - Tartu. At the same time, on the territory of Russia there is a huge number of toponymic names reminiscent of the people who once lived here. mysterious people, only the people themselves are not there, as if they never existed.

What did the chud look like?

According to most researchers, ethnographers and historians, these were creatures that looked very much like European gnomes. They lived on the territory of Russia until the ancestors of the Slavs and Finno-Ugrians came here. In the modern Urals, for example, there are still legends about unexpected helpers of people - short, white-eyed creatures that appear from nowhere and help travelers lost in the forests of the Perm region.

You said that the chud went underground...

If we summarize numerous legends, it turns out that the miracle descended into dugouts, which it itself dug in the ground, and then blocked all the entrances. True, the dugouts could well have been entrances to caves. This means that it was in the underground caves that this mythical people hid. At the same time, they most likely failed to completely break with the outside world. For example, in the north of the Komi-Permyak Okrug, in the Gain region, according to the stories of researchers and hunters, you can still find unusual bottomless wells filled with water. Local residents believe that these are wells of ancient people leading to the underworld. They never take water from them

Are there any known places where the Chud went underground?

Today no one knows the exact places; only numerous versions are known according to which similar places are located in the north of Russia or in the Urals. It is interesting that the epics of the Komi and the Sami tell the same story about the departure of the “little people” into the dungeons. If you believe ancient legends, then the Chud went to live in earthen pits in the forests, hiding from the Christianization of those places. Until now, both in the north of the country and in the Urals, there are earthen hills and mounds called Chud graves. They supposedly contain treasures “sworn” by miracles.

N.K. Roerich was very interested in the legends of miracles. In his book “The Heart of Asia,” he directly tells how one Old Believer showed him a rocky hill with the words: “This is where the Chud went underground. This happened when the White Tsar came to Altai to fight, but the Chud did not want to live under the White Tsar. The chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones...” However, as N.K. Roerich stated in his book, the chud should return to earth when certain teachers from Belovodye come and bring great science for humanity. Allegedly, then the miracle will emerge from the dungeons along with all its treasures. The great traveler even dedicated the painting “The Miracle Has Gone Under the Ground” to this legend.

Or maybe the Chud meant some other people, whose descendants still live happily in Russia?

There is also such a version. Indeed, legends about the miracle are most popular precisely in the places of settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples, which include the Komi-Permyaks. But! There is one inconsistency here: the descendants of the Finno-Ugric peoples themselves always spoke about the Chud as about some other people.

Legends, just legends... Are there real monuments left by the miracle that you can touch with your hands?

Of course have! This is, for example, the well-known Sekirnaya Mountain (local historians also call it Chudova Gora) on the Solovetsky archipelago. Its very existence is surprising, because the glacier, passing through these places, cut off, like a sharp knife, all the unevenness of the landscape - and there simply cannot be large mountains here! So the 100-meter-high Miracle Mountain looks on this surface as clearly a man-made object of some ancient civilization. At the beginning of the 2000s, scientists who examined the mountain confirmed that it is partly of glacial origin, and partly of artificial origin - the large boulders of which it consists are not laid chaotically, but in a certain order.

And what, the creation of this mountain is attributed to a miracle?

Archaeologists have long established that the Solovetsky archipelago belonged to local residents centuries before the monks came here. In Novgorod they were called Chudya; their neighbors called them “Sikirtya”. The word is curious, because translated from ancient local dialects “shrt” is the name of a large, long, elongated mound. Thus, an elongated haystack is directly called a “stack”. It is obvious that the neighbors also called the ancient people Sikirtya for their life in “mounded hills” - houses built from improvised materials: moss, branches, stones. This version is also confirmed by the ancient Novgorodians - in their chronicles they note that the Sikirtya live in caves and do not know iron.

You mentioned mysterious encounters with miracles in Karelia and the Urals these days. Are they real?

To be honest, I, knowing a lot similar stories, always treated them with a fair amount of skepticism. Until, at the end of the summer of 2012, an incident occurred that made me believe in the real existence of this mythical people in the mountains or underground. Here is how it was. At the end of August, I received a letter with a photograph from an ethnographer who, in the summer months, works part-time as a tour guide on a ship on the Kem-Solovki route. The information was so unexpected that I contacted him. So. The photo showed a rock in which the outline of a large stone door could be discerned. To my question: “What is this?” - the guide told an amazing story. It turns out that in the summer of 2012, he and a group of tourists sailed past one of the islands of the Kuzov archipelago. The ship sailed close to the shore, and people looked at the picturesque rocks with pleasure. The guide at this time told them stories about mysterious encounters with the mythical miracle-sikirtya. Suddenly one of the tourists screamed heart-rendingly, pointing to the shore. The whole group immediately turned their gaze to the rock to which the woman was pointing.

The whole action lasted a few seconds, but the tourists managed to see a huge (three meters by one and a half meters) stone door closing in the rock, hiding the silhouette of a small creature behind it. The guide literally tore the camera from his neck and tried to take a few pictures. Unfortunately, the shutter of his camera clicked when only the silhouette of a stone door remained visible. A second later he disappeared too. This was the first case of mass observation of the entrance to the dungeons of the Chud. After this event, there is no need to doubt the reality of the existence of this legendary people in the rocks and underground!