Kuradite vägitegudest Äänisjärve idarannikul
Devils’ Exploits on the Eastern Shore of Lake Onega

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the link between rock-carvings of Lake Onega in one of their locations, Cape Besov Nos, and five legends about devils. These are mostly new interpretations of etiological legends. The stories describe the origin of a rock island near the cape and the birth of some petroglyphs (the giant anthropomorphic figure of Cape Besov Nos, and representations resembling sun and staff). The legends discuss the devils’ conflict with Christianity, their flight and perdition. One legend contains the motif of how the devil may crawl into a vessel if it does not have a lid or a cross-sign made on it. The weakening of the association of the local population with petroglyphs and the influence of Christianity led to the identification of the giant anthropomorphic figure with devil and the belief that smaller figures were made by devils. The motif of a devil in a kvass vessel seems to share common elements with the hagiography of the first bishop of Novgorod (12th century), which was probably known also in the areas beyond Lake Onega. The article attempts to refute the chrestomatic view that the cross-sign on the anthropomorphic figure and a swan representation at Cape Besov Nos has been carved by monks of the Saviour Monastery of Murom in the 14th century or later, because the Besov village remained outside the sphere of influence of the said monastery. It is more likely that it was carved in the 16th century or later by the clergy of Shala and Nigizhma.

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