Ալը հայ ժողովրդական սնահավատական զրույցներում

Аннотация

This article presents one of the spirits named al, who appears in the Armenian folk superstitiousstories and beliefs. He harms women in childbirth and newborn children. Al was endowed with all qualities, characteristic of evil spirits. In folk stories he acts as a personified spirit, has a certain description of appearance, gender, occupation etc. Al’s belief has ancient roots and was widespread not only in all ethnographical regions of Armenia but also in the beliefs of many Christian and Muslim people (Iran, Middle Asia, Caucasus, Russia etc.) The description of appearance and functions of that spirit as well as the methods and ways of caution or protection from him are identical everywhere, or extremely similar.