concept
Mirror-Devil Folklore
devil in the mirror
also: чёрт в зеркале
A Russian folk belief that mirrors, especially old ones, could house or admit a devil (chyort) and served as portals for divination and haunting. The narrator invokes this superstition to explain his great-grandmother's obsessive attachment to her mirror.
Reading notes
- The Crooked Mirror §10 a devil sits inside the mirror
Russian folk belief held that mirrors, especially old ones, could house or admit a devil (chyort) and served as portals for divination and haunting; the narrator invokes this superstition to explain the mirror's uncanny hold over his great-grandmother.