The historian told the legend about the "mortgaged" dead on Trinity Week

Dukhov Day, which falls on June 1 in 2026, opens Trinity Week, which in folk tradition "overlapped" with Rusalia — this period in folklore was associated with the return of ancestral souls to the world of the living and the activity of various mythological creatures, a popular science historian, author of the book "Not Bedtime Stories" told Izvestia.. Gloomy inhabitants of the Slavic world" by Artem Fuganov.

"It was believed that it was during this period that mermaids appeared — characters of Slavic mythology, who were often associated with the "mortgaged" dead," he noted.

"Mortgaged" dead were people who died an "irregular" or unnatural death. The term was introduced into scientific use at the beginning of the 20th century by ethnographer Dmitry Zelenin, borrowing it from the Vyatka dialect.

"The most ancient ideas about natural and unnatural death, apparently, were associated with the idea of a man's share. If a person died of old age, it was believed that he had lived his term and passed into the category of ancestors. If death occurred prematurely, the person did not have time to "use up" his life force and could not completely leave the world of the living," the Izvestia interlocutor explained.

The "wrong" dead also included suicides, drowned people, burned people, unbaptized babies, people who died as a result of drunkenness, and those who were suspected of being associated with evil spirits.

According to popular beliefs, such dead were considered potentially dangerous for both the living and the deceased with a "proper" death. That is why, according to beliefs, they were not buried in a common cemetery, but were buried in special places — often in a natural location. Their graves were usually laid with stones and branches.

At the same time, the historian emphasized that the belief about the "mortgaged" dead was not exclusively associated with Trinity Week or Holy Day: it was believed that a person who died an "incorrect" death or was not buried according to the rite could become restless and appear alive at any time.

Read the details in the materials of Izvestia:

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