A molfar ( uk, мольфа́р) is a person with purported magical abilities in
Hutsul
The Hutsuls (sometimes the spelling variant: Gutsuls; uk, Гуцули, translit=Hutsuly; pl, Huculi, Hucułowie; ro, huțuli) are an ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). The ...
culture. Their abilities focus around
herbalism
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedie ...
and other folk magic.
The origin of the word is uncertain. It may originate from
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...
, e.g., Italian ''
malfare'' 'to do evil'.
Molfar culture was popularised by
Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky
Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky ( uk, Михайло Михайлович Коцюбинський), (September 17, 1864 – April 25, 1913) was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th centu ...
's book ''
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
''Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors'', alternatively translated into English as ''Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors'' or ''Shadows of Our Ancestors'' ( uk, Тіні забутих предків, Tini zabutykh predkiv), also known in English under ...
'', published in 1911, and a subsequent film made in 1964.
A prominent
Carpathian
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...
molfar was
Mykhailo Nechay, who lived in Verkhniy Yaseniv and was killed in 2011.
[У Верхньому Ясенові живе останній мольфар… - ]UNIAN
The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...
Карпатського знахаря Михайла Нечая вбив божевільний львів'янин.
18 липня 2011 року.[ TSN]
На Прикарпатті зарізали останнього гуцульського чаклуна.
15 липня 2011 року.
References
Literature
* ''Войтович В.'' Мольфар // Українська міфологія — К.: Либідь, 2005. — С. 321.
* ''Килимник С.'' Український рік у народних звичаях в історичному висвітленні. — К.: Обереги, 1994. — Кн. 2. Т. IV. — С. 445.
* ''Михайлов Н. А.'' Укр. мольфар, слвн. malavar и др. Демонологическая параллель // Балканские чтения 9. Terra balcanica. Terra slavica. К юбилею Татьяны Владимировны Цивьян. — М.: Институт славяноведения РАН, 2007. — С. 93-97.
* Мольфар // Етимологічний словник української мови. — К.: Наукова думка, 1989. — С. 506.
* ''Шевчук В.'' Мисленне дерево. — К.: Молодь, 1989. — С. 178.
External links
Carpathian Molfars
{{Slavic mythology
Hutsuls
Witchcraft in Ukraine