Neonila Krinichnaya as a researcher of Karelian runes

The article addresses the contribution of Neonila Krinichnaya, one of the most prominent researchers of Russian folklore and mythology, to the study of Karelian epic runes. The author analyzes reports and articles dealing with the semantics of the image of the Salmon Maiden in the Karelian and Finnish national epic, the mythologeme of characters' reincarnation and the magic of words in Karelian epic runes, the Russian-Karelian parallels, and the Christian transformation of the mythologeme of the creation of the world. The paper focuses on Neonila Krinichnaya's reviews of her Karelian colleagues' papers and on her supervision of dissertations on various aspects of Karelian epic poems. The author emphasizes the importance of Krinichnaya's contribution to the study of some images, themes and motifs of Karelian runes and to ensuring the continuity of studying Karelian runic poetry within the walls of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article was based of the report presented in June 2020 at the All-Russian Conference “The World of Folklore Images: In Memory of Neonila Artyomovna Krinichnaya” in Petrozavodsk, and is aimed at everyone who is interested in the spiritual culture of the Karelian people. The relevance of the article is due to the increased interest in folk runic poetry in connection with the announcement of the Year of Karelian Runosongs in the Republic of Karelia.