Hey, my post may be a bit longer. First, for my slavic ear sounds weird calling them demons... As same as calling them evil. They are much more just a spirit (nature spirit). There was a big 19th century folklore collector Karel Jaromir Erben, and he has discovered, that one of the common topics in these folklore ballads is, that you are OK until you cross "a rule" - in various tales it is not going of the path in a marsh, don't dance with Vilas, dont go here or there, or if there is a relationship with som e vila, it is always having some rule like (dont look at me between midnight and sunset), etd, and these rules are always broken, and it always end up bad. So it is usually not evil, but more sort of that crossing the rules, habits, principles and taboos is always punished. And a contact with Rusalka, originally usually not ment bad by neither side, is one of such no-nos. Just a side note - part of Slavic culture in general is silent and unspoken expectation of succumbing to the habbits and customs, to common consensus and to the autority of elders. "Go your own way" and individualsm is not really a thing in here... Peoples lives are driven in both daily things and live choices driven by parents, elders, and general expectations, and get out of that "railroad" is not always easy, which is exactly the motive in the slavic ballads - crossing the rules and ending up bad. Another interesting thing is in all vílas-rusalkas and such, the combination of some naïvity, compassion, childish curiousness and harm caused by mere not thinking of consequences, with sometimes coldhearted uncaring, up to killing just for fun ... But still - even that I would not call evil, as for vials it is combination of curiosity, fun, dancing, love, killing, all in one big whirlpool... Like that kind of girl who causes problems and broken hearts wherever she goes, wihtout wanting to, and without really caring of the impacts. And regarding references in culture - in generation of Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana was also inspired by folklore a lot, and in his symphonic poen "My country", part 2 - Vltava, he is describing a river Vltava as it goes thru the changing countryside, and there is a section where the river goes slowly thru the marches, where vilas are dancing on th meadows .. for example here - th-cam.com/video/uI8iTETiSqU/w-d-xo.html some 5:20 - 7:20 section.
Interesting! I could be wrong about that, then, but I have read before about mermaids (with the tails) being different than Rusalkas. Maybe a translation thing or perhaps they are the same, but thank you for the comment! It adds helpful context.
Nope, it's not the same. For the lack of better word it's translated as a mermaid. Mermaids posses tails and it be rather 'syrenka' than 'rusałka'. Check the difference.
In Czech and Slovak, "mermaid" is translated as "morská víla" = "sea víla" and "víla" is considered a different entity than Rusalka as víla´s can live in different elements/live in different habitats, be it forest = les = lesná víla/lesní víla. Rusalka´s are kind of more specific. They may sometimes collaborate with Vodník ´s, who are male entities living in ponds and mostly stable water bodies and drowning people and keeping their souls underwater, mostly in jugs/jars, or very seldom as air bubbles. Rusalka´s are mostly understood as keeping the female body form, but more green and blueish possibility, when under water, sometimes even outside of the water, sometimes, when they aren´t careful enough, people can spot them near a stable water body, outside, still with some water reed on their clothes or in their hair for example. Since there is no sea in the area of what is now Czechia and Slovakia, the concept of "mermaid" is mostly imported and most closely understood as morská víla/sea víla.
Just discovered your channel and I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn more about slavic mythology and culture,which fascinates me solely.
Hey, my post may be a bit longer. First, for my slavic ear sounds weird calling them demons... As same as calling them evil. They are much more just a spirit (nature spirit). There was a big 19th century folklore collector Karel Jaromir Erben, and he has discovered, that one of the common topics in these folklore ballads is, that you are OK until you cross "a rule" - in various tales it is not going of the path in a marsh, don't dance with Vilas, dont go here or there, or if there is a relationship with som e vila, it is always having some rule like (dont look at me between midnight and sunset), etd, and these rules are always broken, and it always end up bad. So it is usually not evil, but more sort of that crossing the rules, habits, principles and taboos is always punished. And a contact with Rusalka, originally usually not ment bad by neither side, is one of such no-nos. Just a side note - part of Slavic culture in general is silent and unspoken expectation of succumbing to the habbits and customs, to common consensus and to the autority of elders. "Go your own way" and individualsm is not really a thing in here... Peoples lives are driven in both daily things and live choices driven by parents, elders, and general expectations, and get out of that "railroad" is not always easy, which is exactly the motive in the slavic ballads - crossing the rules and ending up bad. Another interesting thing is in all vílas-rusalkas and such, the combination of some naïvity, compassion, childish curiousness and harm caused by mere not thinking of consequences, with sometimes coldhearted uncaring, up to killing just for fun ... But still - even that I would not call evil, as for vials it is combination of curiosity, fun, dancing, love, killing, all in one big whirlpool... Like that kind of girl who causes problems and broken hearts wherever she goes, wihtout wanting to, and without really caring of the impacts. And regarding references in culture - in generation of Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana was also inspired by folklore a lot, and in his symphonic poen "My country", part 2 - Vltava, he is describing a river Vltava as it goes thru the changing countryside, and there is a section where the river goes slowly thru the marches, where vilas are dancing on th meadows .. for example here - th-cam.com/video/uI8iTETiSqU/w-d-xo.html some 5:20 - 7:20 section.
Very true and I agree with you about Slavic culture and its 'rules'...
How about the Netflix show Kleo now? It was the first time I ever heard it. And I’m glad.
Interesting, english "mermaid" is translated into russian as "rusalka", so I can`t agree that they are absolutly different.
Interesting! I could be wrong about that, then, but I have read before about mermaids (with the tails) being different than Rusalkas. Maybe a translation thing or perhaps they are the same, but thank you for the comment! It adds helpful context.
@@brendannobleauthor3251 I guess they can shape-shift, as almost all other slavic creatures.
@@brendannobleauthor3251 They different, the translators of the time were just using a familiar word instead of inventing new one.
Nope, it's not the same. For the lack of better word it's translated as a mermaid. Mermaids posses tails and it be rather 'syrenka' than 'rusałka'. Check the difference.
In Czech and Slovak, "mermaid" is translated as "morská víla" = "sea víla" and "víla" is considered a different entity than Rusalka as víla´s can live in different elements/live in different habitats, be it forest = les = lesná víla/lesní víla. Rusalka´s are kind of more specific. They may sometimes collaborate with Vodník ´s, who are male entities living in ponds and mostly stable water bodies and drowning people and keeping their souls underwater, mostly in jugs/jars, or very seldom as air bubbles. Rusalka´s are mostly understood as keeping the female body form, but more green and blueish possibility, when under water, sometimes even outside of the water, sometimes, when they aren´t careful enough, people can spot them near a stable water body, outside, still with some water reed on their clothes or in their hair for example. Since there is no sea in the area of what is now Czechia and Slovakia, the concept of "mermaid" is mostly imported and most closely understood as morská víla/sea víla.
First of all Rusalka is a polish legend not all slavic.
Well ,as a serb I damn well know we have them too,so no,not just polish
Indeed, as Mutti eh said, it is not just Polish. In Serbia we have legends of Rusalka and I am pretty sure it is present in other Slavic nations
Russians have it as well. It is definitely not just Polish.
I can tell we are all Slav af. Being fiercly loyal to our own tribes even to this day.