B33D. The old woman of winter. .14.-.17.27.-.31.33.
Theold woman embodies winter, is associated with snow, and/or on the border of winter and spring (autumn) there are several very cold days associated with an old woman.
Kabiles, Catalans, Portuguese, Germans (Hessen, Westphalia, Grimms), French, Flemish, Bretons, Welsh, Albanians, Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Poles, Kashubians, Czechs, Ingush, Avars, Andians, Dargins, Laks, Lezgins, Rutultsy, Tsakhurs, Turks, Tajiks, Mountain Tajiks, Yagnobs, Yagnobs, Yazgulyam, Ishkashim, Shugnans, Uzbeks of Khorezm, Kyrgyz.
North Africa. Kabila [first plants, stones, earth, water talked, people understood their speech; the first mother of the world brought all the troubles to him; she had a farm with sheep, cows, goats; ran out relatively January (Inäjer), a snowball fell; the first mother of the world told the lamb not to be afraid, the month is over and will not do anything wrong to him; January was offended, asked for a day from cold February (Fó rar), he gave 7 days and promised more, if necessary; on the fourth day of frost and snowfall, the herds and the mother of the world herself turned into stones; January still brings misfortune to old women; during the borrowed days they get sick and die]: Frobenius 1921a, No. 12:81-83
Southern Europe. Catalans: Amades 1930 [After the first warm days in April, there are cold days called loan days or old woman's days; the old woman had lots of sheep; fearing that in March they might to freeze, the old woman kept the sheep in the pen when March came to an end, began to mock him ("blow it in my ass because you can't face"); it took 3 days in April, not the first days, but later, so take the old woman by surprise; the old woman took the herd to the pasture, the whole herd died]: 105-106; Kustova 1987 [after surviving the winter, the old woman scolds Mart that he was late, tells him to leave faster, brags that she saved in winter, the whole herd of sheep; insulted Mart begged April to lend him 3 days; all the sheep died from the cold, the old woman died of grief; these days are called old women or borrowed]: 25-30; Portuguese [ hoarfrost {apparently, rime on the ground}: A velha esta noit peneirou ("An old woman sowed this night"); if hoarfrost is abundant, she "sowed well"; "when snow flakes fall, an old woman sows it"; functional the old woman's deputy may be the Lord God, who "blows oats, and all the dust that has fallen is snow"]: Kabakova 1994:216-217.
Western Europe. Germans: Grimm, Grimm 1987, No. 24 [Frau Holle {stories about Frau Holle from Thuringia; in Brandenburg, at the confluence of Havel with the Elbe, it corresponds to Frau Harke, although it is more noticeable characteristics of an animal mistress like Artemis's; Schwartz 1862:72-73}; the widow loves an ugly lazy daughter, she is beautiful and hard-working; she rubbed her hands to blood, went to the well to wash the spindle, dropped it, the widow tells me to get it, the girl jumps into the well, finds herself in the meadow; asks the bread to take it out of the oven, the apple tree to detach it, comes to Mrs. Metelitsa, works well, whips it a feather bed, then it's snowing on the ground; Metelitsa showers her with gold, sends her home; a lazy daughter deliberately scratches her hands, drops a spindle, does not take out her bread, does not shake off an apple tree, is lazy to whip a feather bed, drenched with resin, could not wash it off for the rest of my life]: 88-91 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987:84-86; =Shustova 1994:326-329); Tolstov 1931 [snow comes from Bertha knocking out a feather bed]: 341; Germans (Westphalia) [when it goes snow, "old women are spinning a tow", "old women are flying" - Hedenweiber fliegen]: Kuhn 1859b, No. 286:92; Germans (Hessen) [in which village they don't say during a snowfall: Frau Holle shakes the bed; until recently, she was talked about as a supreme being loved and feared by people; FH lives in her lake in the mountains; at noon you can see her swimming; sometimes she is a beautiful young woman, sometimes she invisible, and from below you can hear the sound of bells and noise; under water, vegetables and flowers grow in her sunny gardens; she gives them to those she likes; women who go down to her spring become healthy and prolific; She gives happy children to the good, substitutions to the evil; girls who go to fetch water early in the morning find gold coins in buckets; she confuses threads and sets fire to yarn for the diligent ones; and she spins for the diligent ones at night; She gives good children apples and nuts for Christmas, gets bad ones with a rod; fog or clouds in the mountains - smoke from her fire; it can scare people when crazy troops rush forward; if there is a knot in her hair, it's Hollerkopf] : Lyncker 1854, No. 19:15-18; French: Kabakova 1994 (Franche-Comte) [Aunt Ari tears her shirt and it's snowing; =Sébillot 1902b: 102]: 216; Sébillot 1902 (Forez, Auvergne) [Jeanna Paou - this is her voice when the north wind whistles in the chimney in winter]: 84; Flemish [it's snowing because Marie-aux-Blé makes a nest for herself]: Kabakova 1994:216; (cf. Bretons? [old woman responsible for cold, frost and wind]: Rohlps, p. 19ff in García Mouton 1984:84; Bretons (Haute-Brittany) [Fleur de neige ("Snowflower") shakes her white coat]: Sébillot 1904:86-87 in Kabakov 1994:216; Welsh [snowfall - an old woman plucks her geese; Mother Goose sheds; a goose mother showers her nest with feathers; if the snow falls before Christmas, it is said that Mother -Christmas began plucking her (goose) herd early; if after Christmas, Mother Christmas went to the fair (is after the fair)]: Trevelyan 1909:119.
The Balkans. Albanians [the winter was harsh and it got warmer at the end of March, three old women drove their sheep to the mountain; one said that if she met Marta, she would fart him in the face; the other advised her to keep quiet - March will hear; March froze the first old woman, and it's so warm in the afternoon that her corpse is covered with worms; March 30, 31 and April 1 are called old women, one of these days it is very cold]: Pedersen 1898:112; Montenegrins (bilingual Slavic-Albanian communities in the Mrkovichi region in southern Montenegro) [examples from the speech of residents of the village. Velya-Gorana: tru š kaju se babi (letters. 'old women are shaking', from alb. shkunden plakat 'heavy snowfall at the end of March, when the weather deteriorates for a few days'); "Winter asked God to borrow three days. Three days on loan to freeze an old woman with everything she had. And God gave her three days of winter..."]: Sobolev et al. 2018:31-32; Serbs: Afanasiev 2008 [without reference to the source; If cold weather comes with snow and hail at the end of March, the Serbs are so harsh and rainy the time is called "babes ukovi"]: 347; Kabakova 1994 [changeable weather with snow in March - Baba Marta, baba injections]: 215; Romanians: Golant 2013 (Banat) [Once upon a time there was an old woman, and she had a daughter-in-law. And the old woman told her daughter-in-law to make the black coat white. At that time, Lord (X) ristos and Saint Peter were walking on the ground, and they saw a young woman washing her hair and crying for an old woman. And the old woman was a merchant, she kept goats, and she also had an old man. And Christ and Saint Peter brought a bunch (s) of flowers and gave them to a young woman who was crying, and told her to give the old woman flowers and say that (already) there were flowers and enough grass. And the old woman was angry - how can you sit (here) with goats when there are already enough flowers in the forest, in the mountains. And then she said she would go to the mountains with goats, took an old man and put on twelve covers. And so bad weather began that she threw off all the covers because they were wet, and she got wet, naked, naked, naked. And then she asked the Lord to turn it into stone, and he turned it into stone. They heard that they saw goats with an old man and an old woman petrified somewhere. This is where (name) Baba Dokia came from. And the days from her day are called twelve days of bad weather. When we see that the weather is bad in spring, we say that they are women (old women) - "babili". When women pass by, we are happy that the weather has improved]: 150-151; Kabakova 1994:215-216 [babele - March frosts; babura - big raindrops, rain and hail; for designation unstable spring weather: baba scutura cojoace, "woman shakes off her covers"], 216 (Bukovina) [the eldest daughter drops a skein of yarn into the well; in search of it she finds Baba Dokia; she asks shake her 12 pillows - 12 covers; the girl shakes the pillows, snow falls out of them, for which the DB gives her gold; the younger sister shakes the blankets from which clouds with zippers fly out; as a reward receives iron clothing smeared in resin]; Golant 2013, No. 1.1.7. (Moldova) [March 1-12 is the days of Docia, 6 are good and 6 bad; if the former are good, then the last are bad, and vice versa; if it snows these days, "Baba shakes her covers out"]: 211; Macedonians [ babini j arishta - small grains of frozen snow]: Kabakova 1994:215; Bulgarians: Kabakova 1994:215 (Pazarzhishko) [February drank wine from Baba Marta for being {and not different month} did not pay him back the days he borrowed; so she {not the month} changes her mood all the time], 216 [hail - "babino millet"]; Slovenes [grad - babje pšeno, babja jeza ("woman's anger") ]: Kabakova, 1994:216.
Central Europe. Poles (Greater Poland) [say "to baba peżyn rossupala" about snowfall, baby, baboki about large snowflakes]: Kabakova 1994:216; Kashubas [a snowstorm causes an old woman who I was angry that she could not get married, and therefore began to tear her bed and sprinkle feathers in anger; and the rain is an "old woman"]: Kabakova 1994:216; Czechs [wind and storms cause Ježi baba ]: Azim-zade 1979:125, 128 in Kabakov 1994:216.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. The Ingush [Bashlam (Kazbek) was created when God created the land; Darza-Nana settled on this mountain; she had 7 sons; they went to heaven, promising to return after three dinners; they did not return; every evening, while preparing dinner, D. will repeat "three dinners, three dinners"; on the mountain there are large skeins of white wool, which D. combs; there is also a place where she spread her laundry; her sons have become 7 stars]: Dakhkilgov 2003:110; Avars ["Ajuzhal", Andians - "bardol azizol" ("controversial days")]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Chamala residents ["yagyudaldie milabe" ("women's days") ": Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Lezgins ["karidikaar" ("old women's days")]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Rutultsy ["karinene" ("grandmother's days")]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Tsakhury ["kari yigbyr" ("Old Woman's Days")]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Dargins ["Rukhanala Burkhini" ("Old Woman's Days"), "Urekhila BurKhini" ("Days of Fear"), "Illagyila BurKhini" ("days of difficulties"), "rukhanala dag" ("old woman's winds"); Dargin residents of some villages (Dibgashi, etc.) set aside a period of 18-20 cold days between winter and spring, which was called "branch days" (" Tsiilkala Barkhii"). Avars, Godoberins, Andeans, Karatins and partly Dargins singled out a period in mid-spring when young grass appeared (early to mid-April), which was dangerous for humans. It was believed that at this time in the evening, and in many villages, even during the day, it was dangerous to go outside the village and especially take children there: you can get diseases caused by evil spirits (such as mental illness was considered), especially increasing at this time. Even during the day, the old Dargin residents did not allow children to throw stones where the young grass appeared, scaring them with evil spirits; the 6-7-day period, when the weather changes dramatically, strong winds blow, and tried save livestock feed so that it was enough for these days, as it was the time for sheep lambing, and lack of feed, combined with cold weather, was dangerous for weakened ewes and newborn lambs; "Winter and summer is at war" ("Gara Hiebra Durgule Garden", p. Tsudakhar); Dargin shepherds: "gyadil hanra-dulganra" ("feeding - destroying")]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Tsudakharians (Dargin subgroup) [seven days before the beginning of spring day equinoxes - "huhhula berme" ("grandmother's days"); were considered the coldest; the grandmother gave these days to her son's wife, and the rest were given warmer days to her granddaughter after March 22; these days were "Gyazhu Zhittinna Berme" ("{grandmother's days} Gyazhu Zhittinn")}: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Laktsy ["Ajuzhal Gyantri" ("days of Ajuzhi"), "karil dyarku" ("cold old woman"); Laks associated this period with the image of evil, absurd, sometimes just stupid old woman Ajuzha, who, despite her decrepitude, did not want to die. The most common legend in various forms among many peoples of Dagestan is: an old woman who had sheep spent food for them and fuel for herself uneconomically and by the beginning of April was left without it and the other. In one Dargin version of the legend, the old woman has two bulls and is happy that they have survived the harsh winter, but then frosts hit again so much that the bulls cracked their horns. According to another version, the frosts these days were so severe that the old woman, who left home for her own needs, froze and died]: Seferbekov, Israpilova 2013:161-162; Turks (Erzerum Governorate) [ the old woman insults Allah, who saved her from the blizzard: she promised to make 4 victims, but instead caught and crushed four fleas; the spring cold is "the hatred of the old woman", the spring storm is "old woman"]: Gordlevsky 1968 (4): 116-117 in Kabakov 1994:211, 215.
Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks [almost everywhere among Tajiks, the seven-day period (even shorter in some places) before Nauruz's offensive is called "Old Woman Ojiz's Days"; this time is considered windy and cold; there is an expression among Tajiks that indicates the origin of snow from the "grandmother's" fur coat being knocked out]: Tolstov 1931:340-341; mountain Tajiks (Khovaling) [the period before spring The equinox is called Kampir Gift of the Mountains - "The Old Woman in the Cave"; this is due to the fact that the old woman's knees froze and climbed into the cave; or the old woman was driven into the cave by a cold wind]: Andreev 1927c: 23-24; Yagnobs: Andreev 1927c [Tajiks Khshartobs (who no longer speak Yagnob) call Ojuz (7 cold days and 8 nights on the border between winter and spring) Kur-i Momó Ojuz ("Blind Grandma Ojuz"); she is blind in one eye, she does not have a husband, she kills children; at this time, children are not allowed to go out or let them go to the side of the fire; according to the Yagnobs from the upper Varzob Valley, the Ojuz period lasts 20 days]: 24; Tolstov 1931 [the cause of the cold weather is that the body of the freshly deceased Hol-Joon remains unburied; as soon as it is buried, it is warm]: 341; Yazgulyam [old woman has a "magpie cauldron" (an attribute of Baba Yaga), represents winter cold and dies in spring; people in Novruz rejoice that the old woman died]: Andreev 1927c: 25 Ishkashim [cold period on the border winter and spring are explained by the fact that the "grandmother" in the sky threw a large burnt log out of her hearth and the result is a cold wind and unbaked bread from the "grandmother" herself]: Tolstov 1931:340-341; Shugnans [if the rain or snow has charged for too long, children make a doll out of rags and put them in the smoke hole, singing a special song; this is considered a reminder to "grandmother" that because of such heavy rainfall, they froze to the lake. Shiva is her children there]: Tolstov 1931:341; the Uzbeks of Khorezm [al-Biruni (973-1048) about the month of Shubat: the "old woman's days" fall on him, the first of them on the 26th, seven in a row, then it will become warm; an old woman decided that it was hot, took off her clothes, died of the cold; the name of the 15th day of the winter month means "Mina's night"; Mina was one of the Khorezmi queens or noble women, went out to drunk with silk clothes from the palace, fell asleep, died of cold; modern Uzbeks in Khorezm have "six days colder than the whole winter"; in some places the legend of an old widow mistress has been preserved in fragments cold weather, which these days gave hot tea to people who came to her while digging a canal]: Snesarev 1969:183-185.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [Daina: "Mother of the Snow, shake soon/All your down jackets, /For snow to cover the ground, /For your brothers to go to the forest"]: Abyzov 1984, No. 15:14 (Russian translation), 15 (Latvian original).
Turkestan. Kyrgyz [winter is toxon ("ninety" is the name of the three winter months), child the name of the forty coldest and forty hottest days of the year, has passed from Persian), besh togool ("fifth meeting, fifth combination" is the name of the spring month according to the ancient Kyrgyz calendar, based on the mutual position of the Moon and the Pleiades constellation, the fifth meeting means that this month the Moon and the Pleiades are combined on the fifth day after the new moon), kempir suuk ("old woman of cold", "old woman cold" is the name of the spring frost period), zhalama ayran (" lick ayran", "ayran on the bottom" is the name of the spring period); in winter, the hunter went to the mountains, came across a door at the foot of the cliff, sees a girl come out the door, and when she saw the hunter, she went in back; the hunter came in; there is a white-bearded old man in the house, a black-haired man and a five-year-old boy nearby; the house is warm; the old man explains that they are the masters of winter; he himself is Toxon (three months of winter), the horseman is his son Childe (40 days of freezing frosts), the boy is another son, they say about him "until Besh Togool passes, they don't ungird, they don't take off their warm clothes"; T.'s wife, old Kempir Suuk (cold old woman), came into the house , she freezes apple trees, apricots and other fruit and berries in spring; the girl is T.'s daughter, Al-Afran, with snowdrops on her head, in a butterfly dress that comes in spring, she is called "zhalama ayran"; T. and his members families do not grow old or younger; T. told his daughter to give ayran to the guest; she served it with a roe deer hollowed out hoof; as soon as the hunter picked up his hoof and was about to sip, he found himself sitting on the ground in in a deserted place, old people and their house disappeared; no matter how much he drank from his hoof, he could not drink; the whole village drank this ayran, but it never ended]: Sabyr uulu 2008:208-209.