Maailma esimesed inimesed – Valgevene ja Eesti etioloogiad
The first people in the world: Belarusian and Estonian aetiologies

Summary/Abstract: Belarusian and Estonian mythological and legendary narratives, especially aetiologies, share a number of similar motifs and characters, despite the fact that Estonian and Belarusian belong to different language families and share no common borders. However, some matches in the motifs are so complete and expressive that they, we believe, cannot be explained by typology or universals. Since the topic of ties between Estonian-Belarusian folklore is relatively unexplored, along with their historical contacts, the aim of this article is to point out the similarities in the motifs of Estonian and Belarusian legends regarding the first people in the context of Slavic and Finno-Ugric legends, as well as to represent some of the original Estonian and Belarusian aetiologies. The motives under examination are the recreation of humans, the skin of the nails, creation of a woman, the death of the first people, the motifs of the snake, eel, and weather loach, the cross of Christ, and others.

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