The diverse natural conditions and spheres of human activity in Virumaa as a region are reflected in folklore which is just as diverse. Traditional place narratives constitute a significant and remarkable part of this. Each place has its own narratives related to local water bodies, hillocks, structures, roads, boulders, forests, and mires, as well as relationships, lines of power, and spheres of influence. Even if legends mediate the same content, concrete places and people make up a unique complex of local idiosyncrasy, narratives, and reality, which in turn creates and influences local identity. Supported by the materials in the Estonian Folklore Archives, the article about Virumaa place narratives gives an overview of the places adorned with place lore and their stories: Kalevipoeg’s grave in Kivinõmme, Kunda hillfort, Ebavere hill, Vaivara hills, Lüganuse stronghold, Vasavere village graveyard, and Jõuga heath, Kuremäe, Sarapuu hill in Rakvere, Tarumaa iron-melting site, St Mary’s chapel in Viru-Nigula, churches at Jõhvi, Haljala, Simuna, and elsewhere, as well as Luussaare bog, Äntu and Kurtna lakes, Uljaste and Tudu lakes, Hoard hill at Tammiku, and Purtse stronghold.
The article is based on materials collected during fieldwork focusing on mapping place lore objects, including natural holy places, as well as the author’s personal experience. The main focus lies on so-called silent places with scant data in the archives, and also the places difficult to identify in today’s landscape without a local guide. The oldest lore narratives were written down about one and a half centuries ago. Since then landscapes have been extensively rearranged, which has brought about changes in people’s way of life, their recollections of place lore narratives, and the appearance of lore places, sometimes also in their names. Northern and western Estonian hiis (holy grove) lore, for example, manifests fragmentariness and fast fading during the Soviet period. Researchers fulfilling their primary assignment within fieldwork can find themselves in rather wild conditions and therefore the romance that is perceived while reading older holy place lore tends to fade away quickly in reality. The article emphasises that meaningful places speak, first and foremost, through people; most regions have had their own key persons with a sense of mission, thanks to whom we have archival data in the first place. The author highlights the problems of today’s fieldwork, for example, difficulties in finding a well-informed guide, as consistent lore information with its carriers has often shifted away from the vicinity of the historical object and has to be searched for somewhere else. It is not seldom that links between narratives and places cannot be established anymore, as the object has been destroyed, the initial data are too scarce, or the connecting link or the person who has information is missing. So a stone, a hillock, or a spring remains silent until new people come to create new connections. On the other hand, if we interpret archival lore and old maps sensibly and competently, these silent places can sometimes be turned into eloquent ones again. But do today’s people still understand what they are saying? In any case, fieldwork results can be interesting both for guides and those establishing local identity.
This article gives a brief review about some of the most characteristic sacred natural places in Karksi parish based on place lore. These are: cemeteries/barrows, sandstone outcrops (so-called “Hells”) and places connected with Pell – a being of folk belief in Karksi parish (Mulgimaa). Vanapagan (“The Old Heathen”, also known as “The Old Devil”) can be seen as very popular supernatural being in Karksi’s oral tradition, which has historically been connected with many places in Karksi. Karksi parish can be seen as a centre of Pell tradition as most accounts of belief and customs that are referring to vernacular cult originate from Karksi. Unfortunately, most of its special sacrificial sites have been destroyed – like many other sacred places in Karksi. Both landscape and folklore can be seen as dynamic phenomenons connected and dependent on each other. Changes in landscape make changes in place lore. Natural sacred places preserve the values of the present and the past. They are essential phenomenons from the perspectives of historical memory, folklore, popular religion, and archaeology. Oral tradition can be significant and, even more, primary prerequisite considering protection of and both – physical and cultural – continuity of these kind of places.
The article provides an overview of the dynamics of local lore in Hargla parish, its importance and meaning, as well as the influencing factors in the cultural space of a parish nowadays. The article is based on the fieldwork carried out in Hargla parish during the summer of 2012, with an aim to inventory the natural sacred sites, archaeological monuments and collection of oral heritage concerning those sites.
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