Korochun
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Koročun or Kračun (see other variants below) is one of the names for Christmas in several Slavic languages such as Pannonian Rusyn, as well as the common name for the holiday in Romania and Hungary, derived from an analogous Slavic winter solstice holiday more commonly known as Koliada.
Names and etymology
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Max Vasmer derived the name of the holiday from the Proto-Slavic *korčunŭ, which is in turn derived from the verb *korčati, meaning to step forward.[1] Gustav Weigand, Alexandru Cihac [ro] and Alexandru Philippide offer a similar Slavic etymology, based on kratŭkŭ (curt, short) or kračati (to make steps).[2] The etymology of steps is usually favored, as it shows a liminal or transitional quality to the holiday as the solstice approached and a new solar cycle began.
On the other hand, Hugo Schuchardt, Vatroslav Jagić, and Luka Pintar [sl] proposed a Romanian origin of the word,[3][4][5] as does also the Romanian Etymological Dictionary,[2] tracing its roots back to the Latin creatio,-nis. However, most probably the Romanian word, as well as the Hungarian, are loanwords with Slavic roots.[6]
Religious and mythological significance
[edit]Koročun or Kračun was a pre-Christian Slavic holiday. It was considered the day when the progenitor deity (usually Veles) and other spirits associated with darkness were most potent. The first recorded usage of the term was in 1143, when the author of the Novgorod First Chronicle referred to the winter solstice as "Koročun".[1][3]
It was celebrated by Slavs around December 20/21[citation needed], the longest night of the year and the night of the winter solstice. On this night, the old sun becomes smaller and dies as the days become shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, and is said in Christianized traditions to die on December 24. On December 21 or 25, the sun is resurrected and becomes the young god, usually associated with Svarozhits or Dazhbog[citation needed].
Modern scholars tend to associate this holiday with ancestor worship[citation needed]. On this day, Western Slavs lit fires at cemeteries to keep their loved ones warm, and organized feasts to honor the dead and keep them fed. They also lit wooden logs at local crossroads. In some Slavic languages, the word came to denote unexpected death of a young person and the evil spirit that shortens life.[1][3][5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Max Vasmer, Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language, Корочун.
- ^ a b Romanian Etymological Dictionary, Crăciun
- ^ a b c Archiv für Slavische Philologie, 1886, Vol XI, pp. 526–7.
- ^ Archiv für Slavische Philologie, Vol II, p. 610.
- ^ a b Archiv für Slavische Philologie, 1912, Vol XXXIII, pp. 618-22.
- ^ Nay, Alain Du; Nay, André Du; Kosztin, Árpád (1997). Transylvania and the Rumanians, Alain Du Nay, André Du Nay, Árpád Kosztin, Matthias Corvinus Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1882785096, p. 204. ISBN 9781882785094.