Alpab
Lezgin · numen · Lezgin traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Alpab is the Lezgin demon of childbirth, her name compounding al, the Caucasian childbirth-demon Al, with pab, 'woman.' She appears as a fearsome female who steals into the birth-chamber to seize the lungs, liver and spleen of a woman in labour, carrying the entrails to mountain springs to wash, fry and devour them. She is dangerous only to women in childbed; against her the household strewed millet on the floor, laid scissors or a knife beneath the labouring woman's pillow, beat copper vessels and fired guns to drive her off. Alpab is the Lezgin form of the Al or Albasty known across the Caucasus, Iran and Armenia.
Domains
- childbirth demon
Powers
- attacks women in childbirth and devours their entrails
Sources
- Alpab is the Lezgin childbirth demon, a malignant female being who penetrates a woman in labour to steal her lungs, liver and spleen, washes the entrails in mountain springs and eats them; she is a danger only to women in childbed and is repelled by iron, millet, noise and gunfire.: 'Kavkazskaya demonologiya', etokavkaz.ru (secondary); R.I. Seferbekov, Mifologicheskie personazhi traditsionnykh verovaniy narodov Dagestana (secondary)
- Alpab belongs to the wider Caucasian, Iranian and Armenian family of the childbirth-demon Al (Albasty).: 'Al (folklore)', English Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org (tertiary)