A Boy in Red in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine and Beyond

• In Event: Folklore and Tradition: Small Encounters, Broader Meanings

Abstract

Among the stories I recorded in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, several told about, or touched upon, a boy wearing red clothes who teased and lured people, especially children, into dangerous places. In one story he was the devil himself, and just talking to him made a little girl sick, so that a ritual of cleansing became necessary. In this paper, I will analyze the Carpathian stories about the boy in red and trace the connections of this mythological character in the folklore of several Slavic and non-Slavic neighboring traditions.

Author

• Elena E Boudovskaia, Georgetown U