From Northern Folklore to the Mediterranean

In my earlier article Mediterranean Chud — From Russians to Arabs, From Chud to “Palestinians”, I used the old word Chud as a metaphor. The term has long appeared in Russian and Scandinavian sources, referring to various Finno-Ugric peoples living to the north and west of early Slavic lands.

But the word did not remain a simple ethnographic label. Over centuries it migrated into folklore, myth, and storytelling, where it acquired a wide range of meanings — sometimes historical, sometimes symbolic, and sometimes completely fantastical.

Understanding these layers helps illuminate how names evolve and how societies reinterpret the past.

In medieval chronicles, including the Primary Chronicle, the name Chud referred broadly to Finno-Ugric populations around the Baltic and the forests of northern Eastern Europe.

Importantly, the term was rarely a self-designation. It was an external label applied by neighboring peoples whose languages and cultures differed.

In other words, “Chud” originally meant something like “those other people over there.”

This vagueness later made the word fertile ground for folklore.

One of the most famous legends is that of the “White-Eyed Chud” (Чудь Белоглазая).

In Russian folklore this mysterious people once inhabited large parts of the northern forests. When new populations arrived and their independence was threatened, the Chud supposedly chose a dramatic fate.

According to the legend, they dug deep pits and underground tunnels, entered them with their families and possessions, and then collapsed the structures above them rather than submit.

Other versions claim that the Chud did not perish at all. Instead they retreated underground, continuing to live beneath the earth. Strange lights in forests, unusual sounds beneath hills, and ancient mounds were sometimes attributed to these hidden Chud settlements.

Such stories transformed a historical name into a mythical vanished people.

Chud as Raiders in Northern Folklore

In some northern traditions — particularly in Sámi and Scandinavian storytelling — the Chud (sometimes called tjuder) appear in a very different role.

Here they are remembered as raiders or hostile outsiders.

One tale describes a band of violent Chud attackers pursuing a group of Sámi. They capture a young boy and force him to guide them to the rest of his people.

The boy leads them down a steep mountainside where the men must tie themselves together with ropes to descend safely. At a critical moment, the boy frees himself and cuts the rope, causing the raiders to pull each other down the slope to their deaths.

Whether historically grounded or not, such stories reflect a common folklore pattern: a smaller community surviving through cleverness and knowledge of the land rather than brute strength.

From Ethnonym to Archetype

These different legends show how the word Chud gradually moved from history into mythology.

Depending on the story, the Chud may appear as:

mysterious inhabitants

underground tunnel dwellers

The original ethnic reference becomes almost secondary. What remains is a symbolic category.

Names sometimes evolve this way. Over time, they detach from their precise historical meaning and become part of cultural storytelling.

The Mediterranean Echo

This transformation of a name into a symbolic category was precisely the theme explored in Mediterranean Chud (Чудь Средиземноморская).

In that article the word was used metaphorically to describe a phenomenon that appears far from the forests of Northern Europe — in the eastern Mediterranean.

Just as “Chud” once served as a flexible label for various neighboring peoples, modern political language has created the collective identity of “Palestinians” for UNRWA clientele—an identity whose meaning shifts with narrative and context.

The details differ. The geography is different. The politics are certainly different.

But the underlying mechanism is surprisingly similar: a name emerges, spreads, accumulates stories, and eventually takes on a life of its own.

Names, Narratives, and Memory

History is full of such examples.

Names begin as practical labels. Over time they acquire emotional, political, and mythological weight.

The story of the Chud — from historical ethnonym to folklore legend — is a reminder that names are rarely neutral. They can be twisted, repurposed, and weaponized, becoming tools for fear, control, or political agendas far removed from their original meaning.

And once that happens, understanding the name requires understanding the narratives built around it.

Arabs Are Those Who Forgot Their Roots

Arabs Are Those Who Forgot Their Roots

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