LINO KANČIOS MOTYVAI LIETUVIŲ MĮSLĖSE IR KITUOSE TAUTOSAKOS ŽANRUOSE
MOTIVES OF THE FLAX SUFFERING IN LITHUANIAN RIDDLES AND OTHER FOLKLORE GENRES

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article comprises riddles, interconnected by the flax theme in the broad sense of the word (i.e. starting from initial stock processing and ending with linen), as well as other genres of Lithuanian folklore, characterized by the presence of similar motives, named as flax suffering (e.g. traditional work songs, tales of the stupid ogre, proverbs and sayings). The data on flax from other folklore genres is discussed in the article with special focus on the motives that are also common in riddles, or in a certain way dispute with the riddle information, supporting, supplementing or challenging it. The so-called motive of the flax suffering or its reflections can be found in various genres of Lithuanian folklore. In work songs or the sung insertions into the fairy tales, i.e. pieces belonging to the genres characterized by rhymes and melody, and therefore likely to preserve stability for longer periods of time, no instances of suggestive perception of that suffering could be spotted. The most suggestive and detailed descriptions of the personified flax sufferings are presented in some recordings of the folktale “The Flax Sufferings” (AT 1199A), namely, in those where the story of this suffering is told by the flax itself or where it is endured by the devil. The type in question may well comprise two genetically different tale groups, i.e. the texts in which the so-called flax suffering is recited as means of protection, and the legend-like tales depicting the devil enduring the suffering of the flax. The author of the article proposes an assumption that the operational and magical text, recited to accompany the flax processing, may initially have not been perceived as flax suffering. The vivid metaphors describing tortures may have primarily emerged in the tales of the suffering devil, thereon transferring themselves into the texts of the personified flax, and thereafter the term flax suffering became a common denomination for all the texts related to flax processing. Thus, the old sacral value of the text could have been renewed.

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