The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit
Southwest Finnish folklore recorded in the early twentieth century contains a wealth of legends about local spirits, residing and acting both in the wilderness and on farm premises. They belong to belief systems that express social norms and regulations. Many of the legends contain enough informatio...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Finnish Society for the Study of Religion
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | Temenos |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/95379 |
| _version_ | 1818893163606048768 |
|---|---|
| author | John Björkman |
| author_facet | John Björkman |
| author_sort | John Björkman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Southwest Finnish folklore recorded in the early twentieth century contains a wealth of legends about local spirits, residing and acting both in the wilderness and on farm premises. They belong to belief systems that express social norms and regulations. Many of the legends contain enough information to allow us to locate exactly where local spirits are said to appear or interact with people. In this paper I study these locations and their place in the structure of village society, using historical village maps. The results shed new light on the nature of borders and boundaries in folklore and vernacular belief, as well as on the view of the social meaning of local spirits. Borders and border zones are common ground between several societies, lacking a clearly defined master. In places of uncertain mastery local spirits, endowed with taboos and the authority of the surrounding societies, play a social role in regulating the activities of people on such common ground. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T18:08:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-32b5a03c449f44c7a1fd80be642cacd0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2342-7256 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T18:08:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Finnish Society for the Study of Religion |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Temenos |
| spelling | doaj.art-32b5a03c449f44c7a1fd80be642cacd02022-12-21T20:11:23ZengFinnish Society for the Study of ReligionTemenos2342-72562021-12-0157210.33356/temenos.95379The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the SpiritJohn Björkman0Åbo Akademi UniversitySouthwest Finnish folklore recorded in the early twentieth century contains a wealth of legends about local spirits, residing and acting both in the wilderness and on farm premises. They belong to belief systems that express social norms and regulations. Many of the legends contain enough information to allow us to locate exactly where local spirits are said to appear or interact with people. In this paper I study these locations and their place in the structure of village society, using historical village maps. The results shed new light on the nature of borders and boundaries in folklore and vernacular belief, as well as on the view of the social meaning of local spirits. Borders and border zones are common ground between several societies, lacking a clearly defined master. In places of uncertain mastery local spirits, endowed with taboos and the authority of the surrounding societies, play a social role in regulating the activities of people on such common ground.https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/95379local spiritsbordersliminalityfolklorethe sacredvernacular belief |
| spellingShingle | John Björkman The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit Temenos local spirits borders liminality folklore the sacred vernacular belief |
| title | The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit |
| title_full | The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit |
| title_fullStr | The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit |
| title_short | The Spirit of the Place and the Place of the Spirit |
| title_sort | spirit of the place and the place of the spirit |
| topic | local spirits borders liminality folklore the sacred vernacular belief |
| url | https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/95379 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johnbjorkman thespiritoftheplaceandtheplaceofthespirit AT johnbjorkman spiritoftheplaceandtheplaceofthespirit |