The Image of the First Vilamovians in the Narrative of the Wymysorys-Centric Communication Community

Abstract

The legend of exotic (i.e. non-German and non-Polish) roots is an important part of the modern narrative about Vilamovians, and it is present in both academic and journalistic discourse. Linguists and anthropologists have offered many theories about their ethnogenesis. According to most of them, it is the Wymysorys language that should be considered the living proof of Vilamovian origin, but only a few focused on the legends. In this paper, I do not analyze whether these legends are “true” or “false”. Rather, I reconstruct the image of the first settlers which is present in the colloquial narratives of Vilamovians, both in legends as well as in memory-based stories and comments. Considering the legends, the most important research questions are: How did the first settlers look? What language did they speak? Why did they choose to settle in Wymysoü? Who was their leader? Following a presentation of Vilamovian narratives about these issues, I argue that the image of the first settlers is crucial for the identity of young members of this community and their sense of belonging.