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Chud (chud beloglazaya, Russian:чудь белогла́зая) are an ancient mythical people, characters inRussian[3] andFinno-Ugric[4] (in particularKomi[5] andSámi[4][6])folklore.
Similar legends are known among theSiberian Tatars andMansi about theSabirs/Savirs, among theAltai people about theBuruts, and among theNenets about theSikhirtya.
Legends describe the Chud as white-eyed, short-statured people[7] who were incredibly wealthy.
In Komi myths, they live "like animals" in the forests, eatinggame and wearinganimal skins. However, whenStephen of Perm came to them wanting to baptize them and theRussian tsar demanded tax from them, the Chud went into hiding underground with all their enormous wealth.
Another Komi description of the Chud people are as black anthropomorphic creatures: shaggy, with pig legs.[8] They lived in a universe where the distance from the earth to the sky could be measured by an outstretched arm of a woman. This compression of space conditioned the small size of the people and the world (i.e. the grass was like a forest forest - they could hide themselves underneath the teeth of a harrow). During these times, crops grew by themselves, people did not suffer from famine, children walked and spoke from birth, and death was non-existent. This perfect world became our imperfect world due to the erratic and offensive behavior of these people (e.g. digging pits on arable land, mowing grass with chisels, chopping trees with knives, and wiping the sky with dirty cloths). These actions angered the sky God, and so the sky rose high, the crops were less prosperous and the Chud people were replaced with humans. Unlike the Chud, Humans became taller and whiter. They could not walk and speak from birth, but gained the ability to think and use logic. Unable to adapt and bear this new world, the Chud people buried themselves in a pit, which appeared to be death by suicide. The remaining Chud people were transformed into what we now know as Demons.
Presumably, the legends are based on ancient Finno-Ugric stories about the departure of the indigenous population or the death of the first generation of people. There are two versions of the plot in folklore: a heroic one about idealized ancient times and an anecdotal one about a stupid people who are unlike modern people. These plots coexist in different proportions: among the Komi and Mordvins, the Chud are identified with the ancestral people, while among the Russians and Sami, anecdotes about fools come to the fore.[4]
The historical people, previously referred to as the Zavoloch Chud, have now been completely assimilated among theVepsians,Russians, andKomi, but the Russian population of Zavolochye (historical region in the basin of theNorthern Dvina andOnega, part ofArkhangelsk Oblast) has preserved the memory of the Chud who used to live in these areas. Among the surviving legends about the Chud in Verkhokamye (historical and cultural region in the upperKama river area, covering parts ofPerm Krai andUdmurtia), common themes about resistance to Slavic invaders andChristianization are repeated. The forest is called its habitat, and dugouts are its dwelling. For defense, the Chud built earthen fortresses, defended themselves fiercely, and if unsuccessful, fled deeper into the forests or killed themselves; only a few remained in their former places of residence.
A legend was recorded about how the Chud "went underground" - they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and buried themselves, cutting down the pillars. D. V. Bubrih in his bookThe Origin of theKarelian People suggested that the ethnic composition of the historical Zavoloch Chud was heterogeneous; it was formed by representatives of theVes ("white-eyed Chud") andMeryans ("black Chud"). In the upper reaches of theMoloma and inKarelia, there were stories about the "white-eyed Chud".[9][10] The legends about the Chud were brought to the Urals by settlers from theRussian North.[11]
The dictionary ofVladimir Dal states:
A savage people who lived, according to legend, in Siberia and left behind only a memory of themselves in the mounds (kurgans, graves); frightened byYermak and by the whitebirch that suddenly appeared with him, a sign of the power of theWhite tsar, the Chud dug tunnels, went there with all their goods, cut the supports and perished.
— V. I. Dal, Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language
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