Author: Borislava Petkova
Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv
Published in Slavyanski dialozi, XXI, 2024, 33.
Abstract: The text focuses on one of the elements of the Devil’s identity in Bulgarian narrative folklore. The research focuses on 31 folklore legends and tales published in the Collection of Folk Thoughts in a period of about 100 years (from vol. I (1889) to vol. LVI (1980)). The text traces the Devil’s personal names, grouped into three categories, depending on their origin, structure, and specifics: names of biblical origin, names of folk origin, and euphemistic names. The Devil’s names belonging to each group are analyzed in terms of their origin and their functions. The influences of the canonical test, the dualistic teaching of the Bogomils, and the apocryphal literature are traced as well.
Keywords: folk legends, folk tales, devil, naming