Folklore and mythological images in J. August’s Arlo Finch trilogy

   The article analyzes folklore and mythological images in J. August’s Arlo Finch trilogy. The author himself refers his trilogy to the fantasy genre. The origins of the genre date back to English children’s literature of the early 19^th century, which preached compassion and humanity. Once, in a small town located in the mountains of Colorado, the protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy, immerses into the folklore pagan element of the ancient spirits of water, air and fire. He encounters inexplicable phenomena: will-o’-the-wisps, jacklopes and a sorceress, turning into a tree. When he gets into the mystical world of the Long Woods, he encounters an impassable border between the possible and the impossible. The book is distinguished by moral and humanistic pathos, since the protagonist is called upon to save the surrounding world from the evil. The article proves that John August in his Arlo Finch trilogy (2018-2020) makes extensive use of literary allusions and reminiscences, materials of medieval legends, images and motifs of mythology. The author refers to the “lower mythology” – people’s ideas of various nature spirits – a forest, a mountain, a river, a sea, of spirits associated with vegetation and agriculture. This “lower mythology”, in V. Tokarev’s terminology, is considered to be more crude and direct, but stable in folklore and beliefs. Written in praise of the scouts, reminding us of fortitude, endurance, perseverance and group solidarity, the trilogy is filled with intense drama, as during a sports game, teenagers fall into the world of the Long Woods, the world of death, understood as a transgressive transition to another world. The magical world serves as a means of testing the protagonist and his initiation. The book is open to the latest spiritual trends. The article proves that the interference of the unknown supernatural forces in the characters’ fates is interpreted as something hidden, not yet known.

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