The image of the Łęczyca devil in Dole i niedole diabła Boruty by Włodzimierz Piotrowski

Abstract

The image of the devil has changed over the centuries, almost every era has created its own image of Hellraiser. Łęczycki Boruta is one of two historical Polish devils. The image was taken from folk tales, which gained popularity during the Romantic period, thanks to Kazimierz Wójcicki’s collection of klechdas. Romantic artists created the figure of the kontusz devil. This article deals with the image of the Leczyca devil in the work Dole i niedole Diabła Boruta by Włodzimierz Piotrowski. The author used various historical creation motifs of the devil character. In the individual stories, Boruta appears as a folkloric mud devil, a medieval guardian devil, a Renaissance crotchety devil, and a Romantic contortionist devil.