C32A. Nails (hair) will be needed by the soul in the next world
(.26.28.31.32.35.)
You will need your nails in the next world to escape (climb a steep mountain, climb the sky, build a bridge, etc.).
Ukrainians (Volyn, Podolia, Voronezh), Belarusians, (Russians), Karelians, Komi, Mansi, Nenets (Yamal).
China - Korea. The Chinese [will take them to heaven for cropped nails and hair]: Moshkov 1901:49.
Central Europe. Ukrainians: Belova 2004a, No. 535 (Volyn) [nails must be collected in order to climb the mountain with their help after death]: 240; Lepkiy 1888 (Rudetsky, Samborsky, Ravsky, Zhovkovsky y.) [In the middle of the sea, a huge golden (sometimes chalk) mountain rises, along which the souls of the dead must travel to the next world. Which soul on earth did not honor its nails and, cutting them off, did not hide them in her bosom, will not climb that high mountain so soon]: 142; Fedorov 1903 (Voronezhskaya, Zemlyansky u., pp. Eater, Latanoe, Shumeiki) [Cut off nails are placed in a shirt (in the bosom) so that the next world has something to hold on to the mountain when you have to climb it]: 265; Sheykovsky 1860 (Podolia) [When he dies a child, a woman (midwife) dresses him and girds him. The mother of the child asks the woman to knit a few knots, because as many knots she will have more children. If a child's fingernails have already been cut off, they're placed in the sinus because in the next world they'll ask, "Where are your nails?" Whoever threw them on the ground and didn't hide them in their bosom will be sent to collect them. They say that in the next world you will have to fight on a glass mountain: that's what big nails are for]: 24; Belarusians: Moshkov 1901 [nail trimmings must be stored, they will have to be made of them in the next world stairs for climbing to heaven]: 49; Romanov 1912 [trimmed nails must be kept; old and old women carry them in their bosom; after death they will all grow back and with their help it will be easy to climb on some kind of glass mountain; and whoever throws his nails anywhere will fall into the hell]: 31; (cf. Russians [the same as about Belarusians, but without reference to the source and without specifying the place of recording)]: Moshkov 1901:49).
Baltoscandia. Karelians: Mikhailovskaya 1925 [you must put your trimmed nails in your bosom; if you die, you will stay in heaven with them]: 622; Punzhina 2001, No. 68 (Tver Karelians) [the deceased was not cut off nails; in the next world, everyone will be forced to climb a mountain; nails are easier to cling to; when nails are cut, they are placed in the sinus to reach them when they die when they need to climb the mountain]: 150; Haavio 1952 (Salmi, West Karelia) [nails are cut after the bath when they soften and put them in a shirt pocket near the neck; they can be used to climb the mountain, otherwise you will fall into the Tuonela River full of snakes]: 95.
Volga - Perm. Komi: Nalimov 1907:14-15 [trimmed nails are put in a coffin - you will have to climb a steep iron mountain]; Ulyashev 2011 [healers did not throw away their teeth, hair and trimmed nails - on the way to that light will come in handy]: 286.
Western Siberia. Mansi: Gondatti in Munk√°csi 1905 [on the way to the afterlife, the soul crosses a fiery river, climbs a steep mountain; therefore, a person keeps his cropped or fallen nails and hair; after his death, they are burned in the spring to reach the deceased; with new nails he will climb the mountain, fly across the river in his hair]: 112-113; Karjalainen 1921 [in the world of the dead, souls climb the mountain, they cross the river of fire; the bridge over it is built from nails and hair cut off during their lifetime]: 187-188.