Legends of Lake Imandra

Lake Imandra is the largest lake on the Kola Peninsula — more than 100 km in length. The shores of the lake are so winding and rugged that it looks like blue lace on the map. Such a complex shape was created by glaciers in the distant past. More than 140 islands are scattered across the water surface. The largest is considered to be the Epm.

An old Sami legend says that "Imandra" is the name of a girl, the daughter of a hunter who once lived on the shore of a small lake. Like the father, the daughter hunted, was fast, beautiful, and her laughter woke the sleepy mountains. One day, a young hunter who lived on the other side of the mountains heard her joyous laughter. He followed the laughter and saw Imandra.

Fascinated by her beauty, the young man forgot that he was walking on the mountains, but he could not take his eyes off the girl. So he stumbled and fell into a deep gorge. Imandra began to ask the gods to revive the young man, but the gods were silent. She often came to the gorge and wept, but one day she saw that one of the rocks was transformed into the face of her lover, but it remained stone. Then, in desperation, Imandra threw herself into the lake, which parted and became huge.

The second legend tells about the similarity of Imandra and its neighbor-Umbozer. Umbozero is the second largest in the region. Visitors to the city do not even suspect that the indigenous inhabitants of the region tried to behave here as quietly as possible. Once upon a time, a spirit lived on one of the islands of Imandra. He loved the quiet and the gifts of deer antlers brought to him by the locals. Once he punished an old man and an old woman for daring to sail past his island at night. The old man took his revenge by throwing the horns that had been accumulating on the island for years into the water. The spirit grew angry at this audacity and went to look for a quieter place. He settled on a large lake in the Khibiny Mountains.

The third legend will tell us not only a love story, but also a tale about the Khibiny. One evil sorcerer, Hebe, had a beautiful daughter, Andra. Andra's father was strict and would not let her out of the house. Andra was very unhappy and languished in the lack of freedom. Once a young man named Im passed by the area. He heard Andra's sad song and felt sorry for her. When night fell on the lake, im helped the girl to escape. The sorcerer gave chase, but the forces of nature prevented him from catching up with the fugitive. A strong wind, a cold downpour — the sorcerer stopped, but promised to take revenge on the lovers. He turned a young man and a girl into water that spilled on the Kola Peninsula, forming Lake Imandra. And the sorcerer himself turned into the mighty mountains of Khibiny.

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