Onfim: “I am a beast”
The beast has introduced itself. Can you guess what is on the other side?
Meet the beast
A curled tail. Legs planted wide. Beside the creature, a declaration: “I am a beast.” The artist was Onfim, a boy from Novgorod. His birch-bark document no. 199 is dated to 1240–1260.
This is a tracing of the marks on the ancient object. Inside the little rectangular frame is a greeting from Onfim to Danilo. The beast has someone to write to.
What is on the other side?
Choose a guess. Answers can also be opened below without JavaScript.
Answers and explanations
- A spell against monsters: A good story, but this side contains no such spell.
- The alphabet and syllable drills: Yes. The drawing shares the bark with letters and syllable exercises.
- A map of the way to Danilo: The greeting to Danilo is real. A route map on the reverse is not.
Answers and explanations
- A spell against monsters: A good story, but this side contains no such spell.
- The alphabet and syllable drills: Yes. The drawing shares the bark with letters and syllable exercises.
- A map of the way to Danilo: The greeting to Danilo is real. A route map on the reverse is not.
Now turn it over
On the inner side: the alphabet and syllable drills. Rows of letters, then combinations such as ba, va, ga, da. On the outside: a creature with a tail.
An exercise and an imaginary creature share the same piece of bark.
In another episode: a horseman
On document no. 200, a rider strikes a fallen opponent. Onfim’s name stands beside the figure; the beginning of the alphabet is above it. Look for both inscriptions in this photograph of the actual bark.
No grown-up ending
These pieces of bark tell us nothing about Onfim’s adult life.
What remains is smaller and better: someone nearly eight centuries away wrote his name, sent a greeting and announced that he was a beast.
In the exercises, he was learning his letters. Beside them, he already had something to say.
