Jak kamień piorunowy stał się belemnitem, a fulguryt kamieniem piorunowym

Abstract

The theme of the present article is the historically changing conceptualisation of the name “kamień piorunowy”. I n the article the author wonders why this expression was used to refer to belemnites i.e. extinct cephalopods; why they were identified with lightning, and – in a secondary manner – with G od’s anger. By means of the cultural representations preserved in love songs, written records of beliefs and descriptions of magical practices the author made an attempt to reconstruct the linguistic image of the world of past centuries. The article opens with the explanation of the name and a description of the synonyms and synonymous expressions of the “kamień piorunowy” with reference to the etymology and the mythology of the S lavs. T he author also considers the problem how this name changed across centuries, what it means to us today and what it meant five centuries ago. A t this stage of the work dictionaries proved useful and the semantic changes of the word were observed in reference to the changes of folk beliefs.