Ti proteggo, ti punisco. L’agire imprevedibile dei santi e degli spiriti osseti
abstract
Many spirits of the traditional Ossetian religion had a double role: on the one hand they protected, on the other they punished in case of transgression. Unfortunately these spirits were highly unpredictable. In many cases the punishment for a transgression was a disease: in fact, in the mountain villages no one believed that a disease could be transmitted from person to person: the idea of contagion was absent.
Keywords: Wastyrǵi • Wacilla • Ossetians • Nart epos • Alardy