Mitmehüljelised

Mitmehüljelised is a term used in Estonian-language folklore studies and contemporary discourse to describe a proposed category of mythic beings or narrative motifs that are characterized by multiplicity and marginal status. The term is not widely standardized; its exact usage varies among scholars and writers. A common reading interprets mitmehüljelised as “the many abandoned ones” or “the many marginalized beings,” combining mitme- (many) with a form linked to abandonment or marginalization.

Definition and scope vary, but mitmehüljelised are generally discussed as phenomena appearing across multiple stories or regions. They are often associated with liminal or borderland spaces—edges of forests, shorelines, twilight hours—where social boundaries blur. In some traditions they are described as solitary wanderers; in others as a loose collective or shapeshifting group that moves between settings rather than fixing a single ground.

Distribution and sources are limited in traditional folklore corpora. The term appears mainly in modern essays, academic commentary, and online discussions about Estonian folklore and memory studies, rather than in classical collected tales. This has led to debate about whether mitmehüljelised reflect an actual, named subset of folk belief or a contemporary analytic construct used to discuss multiplicity, marginal voices, and recurring motifs in folk narratives.

Scholarly interpretation ranges from viewing mitmehüljelised as a descriptive heuristic for certain recurring pattern types to treating them as a nodal concept that invites reflection on liminality, otherness, and the fluid boundaries of folk tradition. See also Estonian folklore, shapeshifters, liminality, and memory studies.