Mytholegeme of the island in Scandinavian folklore

Using the material of different genres of Scandinavian folklore (spells, legends, stories and fairy tales of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), the author analyses the mythologeme of the island. For the analysis the researcher uses only stories about a trip to an island (with a possible subsequent return to the mainland), which describe main character's encounters with local residents. It turns out that in the folklore of these countries the denomination “island' is equated with the denomination “other world”. In some plots, this world is associated with paradise or, conversely, with the habitat of all evil and hostile to a man. Inheriting the world folklore tradition, the oral folk art of the Scandinavians also often turns an island into a place of exile for creatures - humans or residents of the other world - who threaten human beings. The mythologeme of the island is also realized through the image of the mountain, but in Swedish folklore this image often has a negative connotation as a place used for a witches' sabbath. The author finds out that the traditional supernatural beings of the Scandinavian islands are vittras (inhabitants of the underground world). However, Swedish Gotland island is a habitat for a special creature named Büsen, a gray-clad little old man who performs the functions of the forest keeper, and Biaru, the female analogue of Büsen, a homunculus made of birch twigs for the purpose of stealing milk.