Z historii nazw demonów domowych rejestrowanych w dobie staro- i średniopolskiej
From the history of the names of the domestic demons registered in the Old- and Middle Polish periods

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the names of the domestic demons registered in the 15th to 18th centuries. The material, collected from all the accessible lexicographical sources was supplemented with the fragments of the literary works in which the names of these demons occurred. It has turned out that the lexical units which in the late Middle Polish period had the meaning of a ‘protective household spirit’, in the 16th and 17th centuries characterized most frequently a ‘genie’ or a ‘devil’. These beliefs were immensely affected by the Counter Reformation literature. It caused the confusion of the notions of the ancient mythical human allies with the notions of the devil and his helpers. In the early New Polish period the analysed lexical units lost their negative markedness under the influence of the Western culture.

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