Names for the Custom of Killing the Elderly among the Slavs

Abstract

The paper deals with the topic of killing the elderly, which, based on the records of some ancient authors, was discussed in his work by Veselin Čajkanović. The meaning and motivation of names that, in Slavic folklore, denote the custom of killing the elderly, which is believed to have once existed, is analyzed. Based on dozens of such traditions, recorded from the middle of the 19th century until our days, it is established that such names exist among Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians. Their meanings are motivated by two main actions in changing the social status of older men (fathers) at a certain age, which in tradition are depicted as killing. One procedure is hitting, usually with a blunt wooden object, which is where the names come from: among Serbs - лапот, бупе-лупе, пустенковање; Macedonians - колење; Ukrainians - лопањина; Belarus - лоповштина; and others – pulling, taking away [вучење, одвожење] (on sledges) among Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians – put old people on a sled/take them to a sled [сажать на лубок/на лубку вывозыть/на лубке отвозить/спускать стариков на санках]. The Russian regional name red death has no parallels in other Slavic languages and is probably taken from the traditions of the northern peoples.