Summary
Boris Andrejevič Uspenski: Philological research of Slovenian antiquities
Remains of polytheism in the East Slavic cult of Nikolay Mirlikiski
In this research, we tried to present Slavic polytheistic representations, which conditioned the peculiarity of the Russian cult of Nicholas (St. Nicholas). The Christian origins of this cult are completely obvious. Nevertheless, on Slavic soil there was a characteristic contamination of Christian and polytheistic beliefs. Contamination caused a significant transformation of the primary image: Christian saints - among them St. Nicholas - they became a substitute for polytheistic gods and, of course, are imbued with a number of traits of polytheistic origin. Hence, the study of folk cults of saints is a valuable source for the reconstruction of polytheistic representations: in fact, by separating everything that was adopted in the process of Christianization of Russia, we get a real linguistic polytheistic cultural layer.
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