I am Bulgarian who really loved to read about mythology around the world and i must say our Balkan/Slavic Mythology feels like the origin of many Western stories.
I am Bosnian and besides the Screamer or Drekavac i have never heared of any other creature being tied to Slavic mythology. As you said, closly tied to western stories. Weird that he did not mention baba Yaga, Vampires, Jinns.
@@lmao1660 така е, но в нашите митове и легенди са представени по-различно. Има много интересна интерпретация за много видове същества. Имах някъде книга за българската митология и като дете много обичах да си я чета.
In Slavic mythology, people born with two souls are believed to always possess a second heart and second pair of teeth. Meaning that listing them alongside two souls with "or" isn't quite accurate, as they're mutually inclusive.
Slav here: Strzyga: Two hearts, two souls and two rows of teeth are all mutually inclusive. Other signs like being born with teeth, excessive hairyness or other physical anomalies were regionaly added. Leszy and Dobrochoczy: those are two different forrest creatures and here they are mixed together. Leszy was far more dangerous, but not malicious. He was protecting his domain from people who want to harm forrest and mainly animals living there, but was also known for saving those who asked for help (or paid for it). There are legends that if child was casted out by their guardians Leshy would lead child to safety. Also Leszy not only could speak but also was able to mimic sounds. His ability to shapeshift were so good that people who asked for help when lost in the forest met him in form of young forester weren't able distinguish him from real human - until he did not vanish into thin air at the tree border. But some could notice that under his cap antlers where hidden. He can also take form of any large animal living in the forest but also could change into wind. Dobrochoczy on the other hand was base for Tolkien's Ent. Called shepherd of the forest creature that looked like tree trunk with eyes and beard made of moss and could change into any tree. It protected plants more than animals within his domain. He was also much more good natured and more prone to helping people. Wodnik: There are a lot of different local subspecies of it but commonly known are two "castes" of them, Lords - Wodniki and Servants - Utopce. Utopiec was animated corpse of man drowned by Wodnik. And not only they can roam land freely - they were known for "sunbathing" in moonshine near bridges and piers. But no matter how far they roamed away from watter they were always soaking wet. They were afraid of sharp, pointy objects like needles. And not only in the night they were dangerous! There was belief that one can safely bathe in lakes and rivers only between 20th of June to 15th of September! Bieda: was also known as Licho. Only way to get rid of her was to find item and give it to someone who you doesn't like. It was because if you just thrown away it will come back to you! Some accounts even mentions families so desperate to get rid of Licho they will burn they own homes and move away! Dragons: Wawel is pronounced "vavel" as W in Polish is always pronounced as V in English. Ł in Polish is pronounced like English W instead You also missed my favourites: Południca and Cicha. Południca (noon maiden) was roaming fields at noon and hunt those who were outside the shadow. She was looking like undead, tall woman with sickle who was mercilesly decapitating her victims. Cicha (quiet one) was more insidious. She took form of little girl with black hair and eyes, very pale skin and unhealthy look. She was wearing poppy wreath made of dried flowers and had short, black stick (wand) in her hand. She was called "quiet one" as she never spoke. She was living nearby cemeteries, feeding on recently passed away. She took a liking especially into meat of children. If there was not enough food for her or she craved her treat she wandered away from her usual place into closeness of human homeseads. There she would show up to children and without word she will touch them with stick. Within few days child will fell sick and die. And then, few days after burial when decomposition already started, Cicha will have her feast. There was no way to protect oneself from her other than avoiding being touched and running away
YAS! So. Much. YAS! Slavic myth AND dragons at the end! Two of my favorites combined! For me personally: When first observing some of the photos of the Strzyga, I almost thought it was the Slavic version of a harpy. Just got shivers after I typed that. The Bieda seemed most disturbing to me, appearance wise at least. Yet I'm still fascinated by it, in the sense of learning in general. "She nourishes herself on human happiness-" reminds me a bit of the dementors from Harry Potter. Wonderful video! I look forward to another chance sometime, of more Slavic myth videos! Thank you for your hard work, and helping us to learn about myth's from all over the world.
Great video. One correction: drekavac is pronounced drekavaTS, not drekavaK. My friend's mother claims that she saw drekavac when she was a child, after sneaking under the tree from which the cry was heard and illuminating the creature with a torchlight. She described it as a cat-like creature, larger than a domestic cat and with more fur. My theory is that the drekavac is the European wildcat, and cries are cat's mating calls, which sound much like a child's cry.
Great video! If I may add my two cents: A male strzyga is called strzygoń The word "bieda" in Polish language means "poverty", so the demon was literally a personification of poverty
Man thank you for making a video of Slavic mythology! Its so underrepresented and underrated outside of eastern Europe, but its just as influential, complex and varried like any other set of myths. Being Russian I always reveled in folk tales and myth from my country and sister countries, so much content and mystery and I'm glad people are starting to recognize it from around the world, definitely earned a sub from me!
A little note - when mentioning Slavic mythology do add southern Europe. Slavic mythology is not only Russia and eastern Europe. Creatures mentioned inhebit both in Bosnia and Serbia for example. If I may suggest it would be intresting to hear a bit on Slavic afterlife and Kaline bridge. According to the some rescources it's in Russia, but for, example in Serbia, you can't find it. But many heroes went to search it to attain glory.
Very impressive and nice to see Slavic Mythology coverage however I'm a little disappointed that the Krusnik/Krsnik wasn't covered. I hope to see an eventual vid on them or a part 2 of this vid with them mentioned and covered.
Really appreciate you covering creatures of Slavic myth! However, referring to the Leschiy and Vodianoy as monsters isn't exactly correct. They are "place spirits" - spirits tied to a specific location. And while they are absolutely considered dangerous and must be approached with wariness and caution, but are seen as absolutely necessary to those environments. They are not monsters - merely dangerous protectors.
Tbf, those two things aren’t necce mutually exclusive. For a more fictional example, one only need to look to Man-Thing from marvel comics, for example.
Well, they are demons, really. So they're sorta True-neutral as a whole. From Household demons who might've helped those who bribe them, to demons that are personifications of disease, death and hunger... Or just, nature, such as lakes. Water giveth and taketh away aftar all
NIce work, I enjoyed it. Just something I would add about Vodyanoy. The second name you mentioned - Vodník, is how we call him in western slavic countries, and this version typically isnt naked, but wears green tailcoat with tophat in green or red color. When on ground, he usually walks either barefoot or in high, red boots. Just like Vodyanoy, he ocasionaly drowns people - and here is bit that was not mentioned in video - he stores the souls of his victims in pottery cups. Brave hero can dare to sneak into his lair and try to free those souls by releasing them from said cups, but of course risk of joining them instead is ussually enough to dicourage such attempts.
Another thing, in modern fairy tales(mostly from Zdenek Troška) he is often kind heart helping people while a little competing with Čert(devil) wich is also kind heart, in some(Láska rohatá) even fall in love with human and become human
i deeply appreciate the mention of cracow’s wawel dragon, i’m a proud citizen of that city and i find it comforting that even abroad we’re know for him
Ya know, the symbolism & thematic significance of these figures of lore & mythos, portend our human progress, as we abide by their various, parabolic imports, & learn to do better in life, as a result of their lessons, through the various stories we learn of them! Thanks for letting us know more of these all, through your delightfully engaging content! Brilliantly done, as always!👍🤟😎🔥🌹💜🌍
I wish someone popularized Spanish mythology. No one knows about it, even in Spain, and there are some pretty cool creatures. I've got a long list of them.
@@danielkubicek1323 It's hard to find them on the internet even in spanish, the best way to learn about them is through books, although they are probably not translated, here are some of the creatures from my list: Cuélebre: a dragon that had the shape of a giant snake with bat-like wings. It kept treasures and could kidnap a young woman to watch over them. Bú: a black humanoid owl with big red eyes that paralyzed people with fear. It was believed it came from one of the gates to hell. Cocollona: a nun that was imprisoned, accused of not being devoted enough. As time passes she transformed into some kind of crocodile, but thanks to her holiness a pair of butterfly's wings grew on her back. Urco: a big dog with horns dragging chains, it appeared at night, coming from the sea. It came from another world through the bottom of the ocean. Roblón: a tree that, through a magic mutation, absorbed the life of a young woman that seek shelter from the rain and everything around it, transforming into a giant with the form of a tree. Basajaun: a giant, also known as the Lord of the forests, with a characteristic hair that covered it's entire body. Caballucos del Diablo: Seven creatures that were half horse and half dragonfly. They left a trace of smoke, ash and embers. Quarantamaula: an evil creature, half man/witch and half chicken. It lived in the swamps and, at night, walked the streets and climbed to the roofs. It could transformed into harmless animals like a snail or a cat, meaning the danger and evil could come from anywhere. Aatxe: an evil spirit that usually took the form of a red bull on fire. Gailán: a big cat with a humanoid face and a powerful tail it could use as a whip. Tarasca: a dragon that, instead of wings, had a turtle-like shell, six legs and a poisonous breath. Machu Lanú: a humanoid goat, with a cavernous voice. It appeared out of nowhere, always preceded by a strong wind. Very dark and mysterious. Mono careto: an evil creature, similar to a monkey, that lived in the mountains, it provoked avalanches to kill people. Simiot: half monkey and half goat, provoked avalanches and storms and kidnapped children. Mano negra: meaning "black hand". A spectral black hand that lived in the darkest and most horrible places, waiting to drag it's victim to it's nest. Entiznáu: a huge man that carried a drum that was easily angered and could provoke fierce storms. Nubero: an evil djinn of the weather that lived in the clouds and threw lightning. Loberno: a creature similar to a wolf, red and with spots. It was deaf but could see through walls. Chancalaera: a creature similar to a woman, with supernatural physical abilities, a huntress, she took men to her cave, had sex with them and then killed them. Gruño: a demonic and humanoid creature, with dark clothes, if someone exchanged glances with it they would turn into a taciturn, bitter, moody and violent person. Nitus: really small creatures that entered the brain and ate the memory, making the person fall into a deep slumber. Colacho: a demonic creature, humanoid, covered by hair, with a beak instead of a mouth, legs of a bird, no arms, it could turn invisible and it's horrible screaming could bewitch a person and attract them. It waited, hanging from a tree, for it's prey. Magoria: an animal that lives underground during the day, it's tail, the only part of it's body that remains on the surface, looks like mistletoe. If you feed it you will get good luck, bur you need to feed it each day and each time more, or you will get bad luck. Osuñón: a man that could turn into a monstruos bear of 3 meters tall. Santos finaos: ghosts that dragged chains, they were dead relatives that appeared to say goodbye or make a person keep their promise. Saetón: a small dragon, 140 cm long, that jumped a lot and when it flew it's head inflated. It had gills behind it's eyes and could hypnotize and had a poisonous bite. Carramoña: a giant spider Llobu cerval: like a werewolf, but instead of a wolf they could transform into a hybrid of a lynx and a human.
Thank you for this- I enjoyed learning more of these mythical beings, especially as I have been trying to learn more of my maternal heritage and have an interest in the stories of Eastern Europe. :)
About dragons, Ljubljana the capitol of Slovenia in EU, has a "dragon bridge" (on of the main city centre bridges), has a dragon in the city crest, and several statues around the city. Great video ❤
@@LAZARUS-ks7oy what does that even mean lol. Every nation and person has history and they decide how far back they want to go when picking symbols that they think will represent their place the most. Just because the republic itself is young, that doesn't mean the people have no history
I don't know where you got your information from, but Leshy's size is mostly said to be related to what kind of vegetation surrounds them. They are huge among trees and small in the area where there's only grass
Slav here: You made a mistake talking about dragons. We have 2 types of dragons: 1. Zmaj (serbian variation) and 2. Ala or Aždaja... Zmaj is a noble beast, always good... Ala or Aždaja on the other hand, are evil dragons... ;)
2:42 - sounds like my wife 4:11 - sounds like my wife 4:34 - sounds like my wife 6:44 - sounds like my wife 8:23 - i think that's actually my wife 12:51 - sounds like my wife 14:23 - sounds like my wife 15:22 - sounds like my brothers wife 16:03 - sounds like my wife 17:28 - sounds like my wife
Great video! Thank you! Just a small detail. The correct pronunciation of the last letter in "drekavac" is "ts". C is never pronounced as a k in Slavic languages.
@@silantro.9219 It's Polish then thanks. I was wondering where it belongs, as we have similar word "bijeda" in Serbian but I have never heard of its visual representation. Otherwise, bijeda would mean poverty, bad luck, sudden misfortune, etc. Maybe the word has Polish origin... interesting 🙂
It's old praslavic word, most likely the character as well as the word misery itself was known to slavic people before the migrations of the 5-6th century and split into west, south and east slavs.
I'm a first generation Canadian, both my parents born in Italy and landed in Halifax the mid 1950's. Over two years ago, my mother did some research into my fathers heritage. It is highly hypothesized that my ancestors may have been Slavic gypsies. I know very little of Slavic culture or mythology and I find this extremely fascinating.
Were they slavic or gipsies? Because those are different ethnic groups, it's like saying my ancerstors were English Italians. I guess you mean gypsies from slavic countries. Btw. gypsies have some their own mythological characters.
@@albertdittel8898 you got my there Albert as I am not 100% certain. I really appreciate the info, unfortunately my mother passed away 18 months ago so I’m solo from this point on. Both my grandparents surnames, on my mothers side and my grandmother’s maiden name on my dad’s side, date back as far as mid 1600’s Italy. My grandfather’s surname, on my dad’s side, goes back to early 1800’s Italy, it is here that the Slavic suspicion begins. My sister did the DNA ancestry test and found 9% German within the results.
When i was a little and i made some mistake a acted mischevous my Grandmother always told me this phrase "Beda tobe" which means "Bieda to you" or something like that. It meant that i should hope that my parents will not find out about my bad behaviour or else there will be punishment.
Thank U sir \o/ Just a little tiny correction- in Balkans we say drekava-TZ, not C or K,because we pronounce C as TZ Greetings from the banks of Danube
Kind a tells you how fucking scared people of the past were of nature. It could completely fuck you over in a heartbeat. When you consider this, it kind a makes sense that deforestation and the taming of nature done in the last hundred years was seen as a good thing. It was mankind finally overcoming its worst fears.
In my part of Balkan, strzyga (štrtga) is when a witch( pagan) woman dies, a woman that can predict the future..., she comes back alive like ghost but more alive, and yet not completely alive,... it is said that they transform into white cats,... it is sad that they transform in white cats, so if you see one following you... you can summon them by tosing goat (or bull ) horn over a church. Also, today word is used in sted of the word witch.
"Zmey" literally translates as "wyrm". Gotta add my 5 cents about Veles: the name means "hair" in old russian, because he was created by couple of other gods, Morana and Chernobog, from the "hair of unfaithfull woman and a snake's egg" - those dark gods are afraid of the sun and needed a minion to do their bidding during daytime. However, Veles had powerfully affinity to nature and soon dark gods found out they can't really control him, he did whatever he felt like, which usually included food and sex. He didn't mind helping people, but Morana taught him to always ask "what's in it for me", so people payed him for his druidic services - like making cattle fat, raising the crops faster and so on, payed with gold or gems - and he liked shinies. At some point he began to covet gold, like a proper western dragon. When his services weren't needed, he didn't mind to use that gold to buy some sheep, or seduce some girl (hence the other dragons were born, probably). When he was rejected, btw, he just moved on to the next one, or shape shifted into an animal and had fun with some bear. No raping, despite that he totally could, what a Chad. His down to earth attitude made him very popular, since he's probably the only powerfully being who actually takes requests and does them. He didn't care about light side gods, but they did have complicated relationships with Peroon, resulting in their battle, which was a draw. Peroon did overpower Veles, but was unable to kill him for good because of his insane hydra-like regeneration.
It is normal, because Slavic culture is pretty old just yet unknown for westerns. They where too focused on themselves and totally ignore that world doesn't starts with them..
The fact that the popular/folksy name for owls in romanian is "striga", shows how much these words have diffused in the entire region of central/eastern Europe, even if romanian is not a slavic language.
Striga is not very Slavic. The word itself is from Latin, Strix is simply an owl and comes from Greek. There are variations od Striga from all of the Balkans and outside, with the same or similar name but varying from undead witch to demon to vampiric bird monster and so on. The Romanian Strigoi might be closer to the original than the Slavic version. even in Italy strega means witch. Basically it's a Roman thing.
@Richard Aubrecht I did not know that, but it does seem to make sense. Language evolution is never a simple thing, with words being loaned back and forth and changing over and over. The funniest thing is that in romanian, the word "striga" is actually mostly used as the infinitive form of "to shout" ("a striga"). So for me the connection with owls was initially that thier hoots sound like shouting, so that's why we used the same word to describe them. However, today the most commonly used word for owl is "bufnita", and that one I have no ideea where it comes from
@@borzmir9326 Last time I checked Poland is not in the Balkans. And striga is from the Balkans. Polish word for an owl does not matter, same as Czech word for it (sova, kdybys nevěděl). Or do you think the Albanians, Romanians and even Italians adopted a Polish word? That Romans adopted it, before Poles even existed?
My I ad the Kurent of Slovenia. A large demon with thick white fur, large horns and tusks, feathers on the side of his head, a large tung and mace covered in a hedgehogs pelt. Chained with cowbells he was restrained by his smaller counter part the Hudiček who owned Kurents like large brutes. Kurents would beat at winter and fight the snow away every year by coming from hell. The only thing controling them were their Hudiček masteres. Often people would dress as them and do duels. Now thier duels are just dances but once grown men would beat each other to death while dreased as kurents.
Only mythological creature that rang a bell for me on this list is vodník. But his description is quite different from the one in this video. Cue to Rusalka's father from the famous opera by Antonín Dvořák, Karel Jaromír Erben's famous horror poem Vodník or the Josef Lada's paintings. I'm familiar with the word striga only because popular culture - Powerwolf metal band and TV series Supernatural. It shows just how different Slavic mythology is from region to region. Very interesting video.
@@AdamIsailovic I lived in Slovenia where those names were used. Finding out how the Slavic cultures branched out in different and similar ways was fascinating to me. I forget the name of the people/special spirits who can change or control the weather, but I met several Balkan friends who swear that the weather changers are real and still active on old farms. That was cool. Also still little references to keep the Domovoj happy.
man!!!! as if i'm replaying the PC game "Black Book" the russian slavic witch life simulator! i finished the game 100% spoiler free. the game being visual novel and cards battler mix, with a unique art style is very addictive! i met all these creatures in the game if not even more! after all role playing literally as a witch, you meet all kinds of mystical things! again the game's name is "Black Book" for the PC. part visual novel, part cards battler, very great game! by chance do you have a video about babayaga?
Zmaj is not only in Serbia,alsou are in Croatia and Slovenia and Bosnia what is true is true but are you knowing what is Vukojarac and winged panther with one wings of hawk and other from something like bats:)!!!!we loves you and your great channel hy from Croatia from Ivan ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
Kikimora, Rusalka, Domovoi, Drekavac, Bolotnik, Vodyanoi, Zirnitra, Zmey, Bubak, Bukavac, Ovinnik, Poludnica, Likho, Topielec, Skrzak, Cmuch, Arzhevennik, I think those are all the slavic monsters I use in my project
@@mokkorista well...I grown-up on stories from the books where Rusalka is mostly water nymph, but from my grandmother stories she is more like a demon. Seducer. She seats at night on the edge of the lake or swamp and trying to lure trespassers close to water to attack and kill them. And yes. Rusalka is always a Woman.
Funny enough, vodnik/vodyanoys appearances are different in Eastern and Western Slav nations. In the western nations, they ale sometimes called the little green men. They look human, but are clad head to toe in green. Green skin, green hair, green clothes, except for the colorful ribbons decorating their hat. They sometimes wear red leather shoes. They have webbed hands, rather than paws, but no scales or a fishtail. They store souls of those whom they drowned in jars. To make them lose their power, you need to make the tails of his coat .
Can you guys refer me to a good resource on this? I am a Slavic person myself but the amount of details here I have not heard about is bugging me :D Thank you
I am actually from Bosnia and 4 years ago when i ran away from home I was in a woods with friend and out of sudden in the middle of the night we heard like a little grild or baby crying.My first tought whas thats a little child(girl) then my mind was what would child do in the middle of the field surrounded by forest.Then i tought and convinced myself that was a jackal but ive heard them before and its not even similar to it. That was like literally childs cry.I also had a techer who told he heard the drekavac years ago.In village near buy theres a blace like a little bridge were long agoo really long was a women who "done abortion" women will come to her to get abortion or with unwanted child and she would kill the baybeys and throw their corpses from the other side of that bridge. So he was one nught passing by that place and hear exactly like a little girl or baby crying. I can explain it to you but it is exactly rhe same if u hear 5 year old girl cry like a baby.Also the screm is actually described by a lot of people as a baby or child crying.But yea thats all im not saying drekavac is real but neather can i explain what i had heard that night and im not imagining it cuz i asked my fredid did you heard it too and he just looked at me like yep i did. Not kidding it was probably past midnight in middle of fucking nowhere few kilometers of just woods and fields and it sounded close like it was 20 metars away
As a man that originates from slavic paganism these folk tales, stories, and monsters were always terrifying these велика́н (pronounced velikán) my babushka always told me stories of the леший (leshiy) and the водяной (vodyanoy) and I always heard distorted cries in the story I was always out during daytime. Дрекавок was the one that always scared me. Glad I'm in america now
Poland 🇵🇱 here. We are Central Europe. Slavs you referred as Eastern. A friendly fix, I love content and it’s visual beauty. Beside I’m from Cracow. “Smok Wawelski” made me smile. 🙏🏻👊🏻
Really interesting video I like it, especially me being from Serbia, you got a new subscriber! Just a tip, you are not saying some names correct. For example in Drekavac, the last syllable is not K but C. Serbian is a specific language with one tone one letter and read as you speak. For example Zmey or Zmaj (j and y read the same) is read as Z(zebra)m(mouse)e(as you say it)y/j (dont know how to represent this letter) xD but amazing video!!!
As a kid i was kinda fascinated by rivers and bogs and the vodawoy creatures. And with the domavoi, house spirits/protectors who dwell in our households and protect and warn the families living there.
'C' is not pronounced as 'k' but 'ts'. So, drekavac would be /dre-kavats/. I believe most of Slavs would pronounce zmey as /z-/ instead of /zh-/, which is Polish.
You know it was a fun place to live in when folk tales and children stories from that region will give you nightmares..
Thank you for finally covering legends and myth from Slavic lands, I hope for part 2 due to there being many more monsters, creatures, gods...etc.
Japanese, North American, African and Mexican people: "Our country's lore is so in depth!"
Slavic people: "hold my vodka!"
Correction... Hold my Rakia only snowflakes drink vodka :D
@@lustinlis413Balkans are barely Slavs....
@@lustinlis413 I disagree with you, my people drink vodka
@@lustinlis413 are you охуел там?:)
I am Bulgarian who really loved to read about mythology around the world and i must say our Balkan/Slavic Mythology feels like the origin of many Western stories.
Still they missed rusalka, samodiva, talasum and much more (from Bulgaria too) :)
@@nagatouzumaki8198 emi rusalki i talasumi sa prisushti i za mnogo zapadni folklorni istorii, tui che ne se uchudvam
I am Bosnian and besides the Screamer or Drekavac i have never heared of any other creature being tied to Slavic mythology. As you said, closly tied to western stories. Weird that he did not mention baba Yaga, Vampires, Jinns.
@@lmao1660 така е, но в нашите митове и легенди са представени по-различно. Има много интересна интерпретация за много видове същества. Имах някъде книга за българската митология и като дете много обичах да си я чета.
Greetings from Russia, I wish you peaceful skies and prosperity
Wonderful video! Slavic mythology is highly fascinating stuff.
Favorite episode of the year so far. Do more European folklore please. Excellent job as usual
Excellent video, as always. I'd be very happy to see more of these Slavic myths
In Slavic mythology, people born with two souls are believed to always possess a second heart and second pair of teeth. Meaning that listing them alongside two souls with "or" isn't quite accurate, as they're mutually inclusive.
Huh
18:09 18:09 18:09 18:09 18:09
So like a Malignant type situation? 😬
Slav here:
Strzyga: Two hearts, two souls and two rows of teeth are all mutually inclusive. Other signs like being born with teeth, excessive hairyness or other physical anomalies were regionaly added.
Leszy and Dobrochoczy: those are two different forrest creatures and here they are mixed together. Leszy was far more dangerous, but not malicious. He was protecting his domain from people who want to harm forrest and mainly animals living there, but was also known for saving those who asked for help (or paid for it). There are legends that if child was casted out by their guardians Leshy would lead child to safety. Also Leszy not only could speak but also was able to mimic sounds. His ability to shapeshift were so good that people who asked for help when lost in the forest met him in form of young forester weren't able distinguish him from real human - until he did not vanish into thin air at the tree border. But some could notice that under his cap antlers where hidden. He can also take form of any large animal living in the forest but also could change into wind.
Dobrochoczy on the other hand was base for Tolkien's Ent. Called shepherd of the forest creature that looked like tree trunk with eyes and beard made of moss and could change into any tree. It protected plants more than animals within his domain. He was also much more good natured and more prone to helping people.
Wodnik: There are a lot of different local subspecies of it but commonly known are two "castes" of them, Lords - Wodniki and Servants - Utopce. Utopiec was animated corpse of man drowned by Wodnik. And not only they can roam land freely - they were known for "sunbathing" in moonshine near bridges and piers. But no matter how far they roamed away from watter they were always soaking wet. They were afraid of sharp, pointy objects like needles. And not only in the night they were dangerous! There was belief that one can safely bathe in lakes and rivers only between 20th of June to 15th of September!
Bieda: was also known as Licho. Only way to get rid of her was to find item and give it to someone who you doesn't like. It was because if you just thrown away it will come back to you! Some accounts even mentions families so desperate to get rid of Licho they will burn they own homes and move away!
Dragons: Wawel is pronounced "vavel" as W in Polish is always pronounced as V in English. Ł in Polish is pronounced like English W instead
You also missed my favourites: Południca and Cicha.
Południca (noon maiden) was roaming fields at noon and hunt those who were outside the shadow. She was looking like undead, tall woman with sickle who was mercilesly decapitating her victims.
Cicha (quiet one) was more insidious. She took form of little girl with black hair and eyes, very pale skin and unhealthy look. She was wearing poppy wreath made of dried flowers and had short, black stick (wand) in her hand. She was called "quiet one" as she never spoke. She was living nearby cemeteries, feeding on recently passed away. She took a liking especially into meat of children. If there was not enough food for her or she craved her treat she wandered away from her usual place into closeness of human homeseads. There she would show up to children and without word she will touch them with stick. Within few days child will fell sick and die. And then, few days after burial when decomposition already started, Cicha will have her feast. There was no way to protect oneself from her other than avoiding being touched and running away
If there is Poludnica, there must be a Polunochnica:) And Rusalki. And Volkodlacks and Upiers of course.
@@alexduraev Yeah! We have so many monsters and creatures in our culture :)
@@miramari732 a Pole you are, I’d imagine?:)
@@alexduraev Pole of Kashubian descent :)
Nerd
YAS! So. Much. YAS! Slavic myth AND dragons at the end! Two of my favorites combined!
For me personally: When first observing some of the photos of the Strzyga, I almost thought it was the Slavic version of a harpy. Just got shivers after I typed that.
The Bieda seemed most disturbing to me, appearance wise at least. Yet I'm still fascinated by it, in the sense of learning in general. "She nourishes herself on human happiness-" reminds me a bit of the dementors from Harry Potter.
Wonderful video! I look forward to another chance sometime, of more Slavic myth videos! Thank you for your hard work, and helping us to learn about myth's from all over the world.
I seen the parallel as well, but we refer to a witch as "striga" around here. Like baba Jaga would be a striga.
Coraline.
Great video. One correction: drekavac is pronounced drekavaTS, not drekavaK. My friend's mother claims that she saw drekavac when she was a child, after sneaking under the tree from which the cry was heard and illuminating the creature with a torchlight. She described it as a cat-like creature, larger than a domestic cat and with more fur. My theory is that the drekavac is the European wildcat, and cries are cat's mating calls, which sound much like a child's cry.
your friends mother been smoking too much crack
Great video!
If I may add my two cents:
A male strzyga is called strzygoń
The word "bieda" in Polish language means "poverty", so the demon was literally a personification of poverty
Gargoyle
In Croatian it's Štriga, Bijeda, Drekavac
Thank you.
In Bulgarian beda means trouble.
@@MiroslavBaldzhiev well poverty is troublesome 🤷♂️
Man thank you for making a video of Slavic mythology! Its so underrepresented and underrated outside of eastern Europe, but its just as influential, complex and varried like any other set of myths. Being Russian I always reveled in folk tales and myth from my country and sister countries, so much content and mystery and I'm glad people are starting to recognize it from around the world, definitely earned a sub from me!
A little note - when mentioning Slavic mythology do add southern Europe. Slavic mythology is not only Russia and eastern Europe. Creatures mentioned inhebit both in Bosnia and Serbia for example. If I may suggest it would be intresting to hear a bit on Slavic afterlife and Kaline bridge. According to the some rescources it's in Russia, but for, example in Serbia, you can't find it. But many heroes went to search it to attain glory.
Yep I encountered these in Slovenia also.
Thank you so much for this Video, this really helps me to write my Percy Jackson fanfiction featuring the Slavic Mythology !!
Very impressive and nice to see Slavic Mythology coverage however I'm a little disappointed that the Krusnik/Krsnik wasn't covered. I hope to see an eventual vid on them or a part 2 of this vid with them mentioned and covered.
Really appreciate you covering creatures of Slavic myth! However, referring to the Leschiy and Vodianoy as monsters isn't exactly correct. They are "place spirits" - spirits tied to a specific location. And while they are absolutely considered dangerous and must be approached with wariness and caution, but are seen as absolutely necessary to those environments. They are not monsters - merely dangerous protectors.
Tbf, those two things aren’t necce mutually exclusive. For a more fictional example, one only need to look to Man-Thing from marvel comics, for example.
Sounds like monsters to me.
I believe monsters in this case means non-human/non-natural creatures
They sound as monstrous as Japanese yokai and kami
Well, they are demons, really. So they're sorta True-neutral as a whole. From Household demons who might've helped those who bribe them, to demons that are personifications of disease, death and hunger... Or just, nature, such as lakes. Water giveth and taketh away aftar all
NIce work, I enjoyed it. Just something I would add about Vodyanoy. The second name you mentioned - Vodník, is how we call him in western slavic countries, and this version typically isnt naked, but wears green tailcoat with tophat in green or red color. When on ground, he usually walks either barefoot or in high, red boots. Just like Vodyanoy, he ocasionaly drowns people - and here is bit that was not mentioned in video - he stores the souls of his victims in pottery cups. Brave hero can dare to sneak into his lair and try to free those souls by releasing them from said cups, but of course risk of joining them instead is ussually enough to dicourage such attempts.
Another thing, in modern fairy tales(mostly from Zdenek Troška) he is often kind heart helping people while a little competing with Čert(devil) wich is also kind heart, in some(Láska rohatá) even fall in love with human and become human
i deeply appreciate the mention of cracow’s wawel dragon, i’m a proud citizen of that city and i find it comforting that even abroad we’re know for him
...and for awful poluted air.... and football fans witch matchetes :) nite!
1:24 Strzyga
3:26 Leshy
6:58 Vodyanoy
9:54 Bieda
11:49 Drekavac
14:22 Zmey
your work is appreciated:)
Ya know, the symbolism & thematic significance of these figures of lore & mythos, portend our human progress, as we abide by their various, parabolic imports, & learn to do better in life, as a result of their lessons, through the various stories we learn of them! Thanks for letting us know more of these all, through your delightfully engaging content! Brilliantly done, as always!👍🤟😎🔥🌹💜🌍
I love hearing about myths I've never heard of and you voice is perfect for explaining weird and fantastical beeing and monsters ❤
Thanks for making these videos incredible work
The Bieda could have a long series of movies based off of it and it would never get old
Great video,thanks for taking the time to research our culture.
I'm happy to have found your channel ^-^
I love your "Monsters of" videos! I love how you categorize your vudeos based on location or tyoe like the "Dragons" video too
I wish someone popularized Spanish mythology. No one knows about it, even in Spain, and there are some pretty cool creatures.
I've got a long list of them.
Good point, I don't know any either. Do you have a few that would be a good place for a novice to start learning?
@@danielkubicek1323 It's hard to find them on the internet even in spanish, the best way to learn about them is through books, although they are probably not translated, here are some of the creatures from my list:
Cuélebre: a dragon that had the shape of a giant snake with bat-like wings. It kept treasures and could kidnap a young woman to watch over them.
Bú: a black humanoid owl with big red eyes that paralyzed people with fear. It was believed it came from one of the gates to hell.
Cocollona: a nun that was imprisoned, accused of not being devoted enough. As time passes she transformed into some kind of crocodile, but thanks to her holiness a pair of butterfly's wings grew on her back.
Urco: a big dog with horns dragging chains, it appeared at night, coming from the sea. It came from another world through the bottom of the ocean.
Roblón: a tree that, through a magic mutation, absorbed the life of a young woman that seek shelter from the rain and everything around it, transforming into a giant with the form of a tree.
Basajaun: a giant, also known as the Lord of the forests, with a characteristic hair that covered it's entire body.
Caballucos del Diablo: Seven creatures that were half horse and half dragonfly. They left a trace of smoke, ash and embers.
Quarantamaula: an evil creature, half man/witch and half chicken. It lived in the swamps and, at night, walked the streets and climbed to the roofs. It could transformed into harmless animals like a snail or a cat, meaning the danger and evil could come from anywhere.
Aatxe: an evil spirit that usually took the form of a red bull on fire.
Gailán: a big cat with a humanoid face and a powerful tail it could use as a whip.
Tarasca: a dragon that, instead of wings, had a turtle-like shell, six legs and a poisonous breath.
Machu Lanú: a humanoid goat, with a cavernous voice. It appeared out of nowhere, always preceded by a strong wind. Very dark and mysterious.
Mono careto: an evil creature, similar to a monkey, that lived in the mountains, it provoked avalanches to kill people.
Simiot: half monkey and half goat, provoked avalanches and storms and kidnapped children.
Mano negra: meaning "black hand". A spectral black hand that lived in the darkest and most horrible places, waiting to drag it's victim to it's nest.
Entiznáu: a huge man that carried a drum that was easily angered and could provoke fierce storms.
Nubero: an evil djinn of the weather that lived in the clouds and threw lightning.
Loberno: a creature similar to a wolf, red and with spots. It was deaf but could see through walls.
Chancalaera: a creature similar to a woman, with supernatural physical abilities, a huntress, she took men to her cave, had sex with them and then killed them.
Gruño: a demonic and humanoid creature, with dark clothes, if someone exchanged glances with it they would turn into a taciturn, bitter, moody and violent person.
Nitus: really small creatures that entered the brain and ate the memory, making the person fall into a deep slumber.
Colacho: a demonic creature, humanoid, covered by hair, with a beak instead of a mouth, legs of a bird, no arms, it could turn invisible and it's horrible screaming could bewitch a person and attract them. It waited, hanging from a tree, for it's prey.
Magoria: an animal that lives underground during the day, it's tail, the only part of it's body that remains on the surface, looks like mistletoe. If you feed it you will get good luck, bur you need to feed it each day and each time more, or you will get bad luck.
Osuñón: a man that could turn into a monstruos bear of 3 meters tall.
Santos finaos: ghosts that dragged chains, they were dead relatives that appeared to say goodbye or make a person keep their promise.
Saetón: a small dragon, 140 cm long, that jumped a lot and when it flew it's head inflated. It had gills behind it's eyes and could hypnotize and had a poisonous bite.
Carramoña: a giant spider
Llobu cerval: like a werewolf, but instead of a wolf they could transform into a hybrid of a lynx and a human.
I know its not much but i do know El Cuco. And some others cant remeber at all hiw to write the names so im not even going to try😅
@@DR_REDACTED I'm pretty sure you mean el coco. I've seen "cuco" written before, I don't know why english speakers got it wrong XD
I'd be very interested. I love finding out about creatures and tales of them from different cultures.
Thank you for this- I enjoyed learning more of these mythical beings, especially as I have been trying to learn more of my maternal heritage and have an interest in the stories of Eastern Europe. :)
Great video as always. Very excited to see more Slavic myths,
About dragons, Ljubljana the capitol of Slovenia in EU, has a "dragon bridge" (on of the main city centre bridges), has a dragon in the city crest, and several statues around the city. Great video ❤
Slovenia in particular doesn't have any history to be known of so they adopted dragons from mythology far older than themselves.
@@LAZARUS-ks7oy what does that even mean lol. Every nation and person has history and they decide how far back they want to go when picking symbols that they think will represent their place the most. Just because the republic itself is young, that doesn't mean the people have no history
I don't know where you got your information from, but Leshy's size is mostly said to be related to what kind of vegetation surrounds them. They are huge among trees and small in the area where there's only grass
Slav here: You made a mistake talking about dragons. We have 2 types of dragons: 1. Zmaj (serbian variation) and 2. Ala or Aždaja... Zmaj is a noble beast, always good... Ala or Aždaja on the other hand, are evil dragons... ;)
Are you sure? I just read that Zmaj can be evil too.
excellent compilation
That was fascinating..thank you.. I love learning about lesser known mythology
I love these mythology videos, so much interesting info
2:42 - sounds like my wife
4:11 - sounds like my wife
4:34 - sounds like my wife
6:44 - sounds like my wife
8:23 - i think that's actually my wife
12:51 - sounds like my wife
14:23 - sounds like my wife
15:22 - sounds like my brothers wife
16:03 - sounds like my wife
17:28 - sounds like my wife
Domovoi, Rusalka, Baba-Yaga- 3 main characters I knew from fairy tales as I grew up:)
Great video! Thank you! Just a small detail. The correct pronunciation of the last letter in "drekavac" is "ts". C is never pronounced as a k in Slavic languages.
The Bieda is giving Beldam vibes from the graphic novel/movie Coraline.
Bieda means poverty in Polish
Never knew of it, but sorta feels like wendigo from the description...
@@silantro.9219 It's Polish then thanks. I was wondering where it belongs, as we have similar word "bijeda" in Serbian but I have never heard of its visual representation. Otherwise, bijeda would mean poverty, bad luck, sudden misfortune, etc. Maybe the word has Polish origin... interesting 🙂
It's old praslavic word, most likely the character as well as the word misery itself was known to slavic people before the migrations of the 5-6th century and split into west, south and east slavs.
I'm a first generation Canadian, both my parents born in Italy and landed in Halifax the mid 1950's. Over two years ago, my mother did some research into my fathers heritage. It is highly hypothesized that my ancestors may have been Slavic gypsies. I know very little of Slavic culture or mythology and I find this extremely fascinating.
Were they slavic or gipsies? Because those are different ethnic groups, it's like saying my ancerstors were English Italians. I guess you mean gypsies from slavic countries. Btw. gypsies have some their own mythological characters.
@@albertdittel8898 true
@@alo-bean shut up with your political correctness BS. Gypsies themselves don't give a damn.
@@albertdittel8898 you got my there Albert as I am not 100% certain. I really appreciate the info, unfortunately my mother passed away 18 months ago so I’m solo from this point on. Both my grandparents surnames, on my mothers side and my grandmother’s maiden name on my dad’s side, date back as far as mid 1600’s Italy. My grandfather’s surname, on my dad’s side, goes back to early 1800’s Italy, it is here that the Slavic suspicion begins. My sister did the DNA ancestry test and found 9% German within the results.
@@albertdittel8898 they are not different you have a lot of slavic gypsies. Those are people that mixed with gypsies often called white gypsy
"Some of the most terrifying & odd creatures of legend are from Slavic mythology"
Japanese mythology: "Hold my beer"
You need to tale about Kashchey Immortal! It's traditional slavic mythology character! It's classic fantasy lich, but before lichs were created.
th-cam.com/video/ibs_mz68Ltg/w-d-xo.html
I read somewhere that Kaschey had real prototype. Some Germanic konung lived for about ~100 years and his Slavic neighbours detested him.
When i was a little and i made some mistake a acted mischevous my Grandmother always told me this phrase "Beda tobe" which means "Bieda to you" or something like that.
It meant that i should hope that my parents will not find out about my bad behaviour or else there will be punishment.
as someone who is part Slavic, I am glad to have the witcher embody one of my heritage's mythologies, and with Trese I have my Philipino side covered
i was thinking these sound a lot like the monsters from the witcher !
@@glitterbaby666ure, wither was writen by polish author Andrzej Sapkowski
Thank U sir \o/
Just a little tiny correction- in Balkans we say drekava-TZ, not C or K,because we pronounce C as TZ
Greetings from the banks of Danube
Black cat, white cat is one of my favorite movies. Y'all have a brilliant sense of humor over there.
Awesome video. Subbed.
Slavic Mythology Is So Fascinating 🧐 Folklore. Great Work On Making This Video. Can You Please 🙏 Do Japanese Monsters Mythology Next Please 🙏.
Great video keep up the good work
Great video! 🤘
14:19, the mighty Zmey dragon is needed to be appearing in modern media and this dragon is a main inspiration for Ghidorah.
His name was yes but the main inspiration was Tanaka learning about the Lernaean Hydra. And the japanese legends about Yamato no Orochi.
No
Can you do a video about The Monsters of The C'thullu Mythos and of the works of H.P. Lovecraft?
Kind a tells you how fucking scared people of the past were of nature. It could completely fuck you over in a heartbeat.
When you consider this, it kind a makes sense that deforestation and the taming of nature done in the last hundred years was seen as a good thing. It was mankind finally overcoming its worst fears.
In my part of Balkan, strzyga (štrtga) is when a witch( pagan) woman dies, a woman that can predict the future..., she comes back alive like ghost but more alive, and yet not completely alive,... it is said that they transform into white cats,... it is sad that they transform in white cats, so if you see one following you... you can summon them by tosing goat (or bull ) horn over a church. Also, today word is used in sted of the word witch.
Not me comparing traditional Slavic creatures with that of The Witcher
I remember a tale from my Uni teacher, that Vodianoy keep soul of the drown people in pots with leads. This way souls cannot escape water realms.
That's a common theme in the Czech fairy tales when it comes to vodník (vodianoy)
"Zmey" literally translates as "wyrm".
Gotta add my 5 cents about Veles: the name means "hair" in old russian, because he was created by couple of other gods, Morana and Chernobog, from the "hair of unfaithfull woman and a snake's egg" - those dark gods are afraid of the sun and needed a minion to do their bidding during daytime. However, Veles had powerfully affinity to nature and soon dark gods found out they can't really control him, he did whatever he felt like, which usually included food and sex. He didn't mind helping people, but Morana taught him to always ask "what's in it for me", so people payed him for his druidic services - like making cattle fat, raising the crops faster and so on, payed with gold or gems - and he liked shinies. At some point he began to covet gold, like a proper western dragon. When his services weren't needed, he didn't mind to use that gold to buy some sheep, or seduce some girl (hence the other dragons were born, probably). When he was rejected, btw, he just moved on to the next one, or shape shifted into an animal and had fun with some bear. No raping, despite that he totally could, what a Chad. His down to earth attitude made him very popular, since he's probably the only powerfully being who actually takes requests and does them. He didn't care about light side gods, but they did have complicated relationships with Peroon, resulting in their battle, which was a draw. Peroon did overpower Veles, but was unable to kill him for good because of his insane hydra-like regeneration.
And then Orthodoxy came and the angels killed him along with the Holy Martyr. George.
great video, but I must correct you. Drekavac (C like in the word Cyprus, not k).p.s where is the most epic Slavic monster, Baba Yaga?
Surprised there weren't more references to The Witcher besides the Stryga.
15:04 - there's actually two different views on Zmey
Love Slavic mythology! Also, the Vodyanoy remind me of Old Greg 😅
I love Old Greg. :)
Not sure our Slavic myths mention vodyanoy has a mangina... but who knows 😅
So cool. Just found out I'm about 9% eastern Slavic. It ain't much but I'm damn proud of it. Nice to know they have unique monsters of their own.
It is normal, because Slavic culture is pretty old just yet unknown for westerns. They where too focused on themselves and totally ignore that world doesn't starts with them..
In Bulgaria the Vidnik is usually a pale, small, old man with hair and beard of water weeds, riding a big deepwater fish like a catfish.
The fact that the popular/folksy name for owls in romanian is "striga", shows how much these words have diffused in the entire region of central/eastern Europe, even if romanian is not a slavic language.
Striga is not very Slavic. The word itself is from Latin, Strix is simply an owl and comes from Greek. There are variations od Striga from all of the Balkans and outside, with the same or similar name but varying from undead witch to demon to vampiric bird monster and so on. The Romanian Strigoi might be closer to the original than the Slavic version. even in Italy strega means witch. Basically it's a Roman thing.
@Richard Aubrecht I did not know that, but it does seem to make sense. Language evolution is never a simple thing, with words being loaned back and forth and changing over and over. The funniest thing is that in romanian, the word "striga" is actually mostly used as the infinitive form of "to shout" ("a striga"). So for me the connection with owls was initially that thier hoots sound like shouting, so that's why we used the same word to describe them. However, today the most commonly used word for owl is "bufnita", and that one I have no ideea where it comes from
@@richardaubrecht2822 owl in polish is Sowa
@@alin-mihai strzyga in polish is similar to strzyc to cut
@@borzmir9326 Last time I checked Poland is not in the Balkans. And striga is from the Balkans. Polish word for an owl does not matter, same as Czech word for it (sova, kdybys nevěděl). Or do you think the Albanians, Romanians and even Italians adopted a Polish word? That Romans adopted it, before Poles even existed?
I am your new subscriber
Also, "Domovoy" or "Domovoj" represents a classical spirit/ghost which lives in homes.
Amazing 😻! Please do some about 🇷🇴 mythology?
Who the hell wanders into the woods at night?!
Me it's so beautiful at night my son's go camping in them too
2:10 that stzryga reminds me of the demonic nun from conjuring 2-the one where it jumps out at you from the 🖼
My I ad the Kurent of Slovenia. A large demon with thick white fur, large horns and tusks, feathers on the side of his head, a large tung and mace covered in a hedgehogs pelt. Chained with cowbells he was restrained by his smaller counter part the Hudiček who owned Kurents like large brutes. Kurents would beat at winter and fight the snow away every year by coming from hell. The only thing controling them were their Hudiček masteres. Often people would dress as them and do duels. Now thier duels are just dances but once grown men would beat each other to death while dreased as kurents.
Only mythological creature that rang a bell for me on this list is vodník. But his description is quite different from the one in this video. Cue to Rusalka's father from the famous opera by Antonín Dvořák, Karel Jaromír Erben's famous horror poem Vodník or the Josef Lada's paintings. I'm familiar with the word striga only because popular culture - Powerwolf metal band and TV series Supernatural.
It shows just how different Slavic mythology is from region to region. Very interesting video.
The one i know and is frequently used is Drekavac. And Zmey, but, we call it Zmaj.
@@AdamIsailovic I lived in Slovenia where those names were used. Finding out how the Slavic cultures branched out in different and similar ways was fascinating to me. I forget the name of the people/special spirits who can change or control the weather, but I met several Balkan friends who swear that the weather changers are real and still active on old farms. That was cool. Also still little references to keep the Domovoj happy.
man!!!! as if i'm replaying the PC game "Black Book" the russian slavic witch life simulator!
i finished the game 100% spoiler free. the game being visual novel and cards battler mix, with a unique art style is very addictive!
i met all these creatures in the game if not even more! after all role playing literally as a witch, you meet all kinds of mystical things!
again the game's name is "Black Book" for the PC. part visual novel, part cards battler, very great game!
by chance do you have a video about babayaga?
th-cam.com/video/wG8obOvsXZ4/w-d-xo.html
Steel for humans
Silver for monsters
Zmaj is not only in Serbia,alsou are in Croatia and Slovenia and Bosnia what is true is true but are you knowing what is Vukojarac and winged panther with one wings of hawk and other from something like bats:)!!!!we loves you and your great channel hy from Croatia from Ivan ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
Kikimora, Rusalka, Domovoi, Drekavac, Bolotnik, Vodyanoi, Zirnitra, Zmey, Bubak, Bukavac, Ovinnik, Poludnica, Likho, Topielec, Skrzak, Cmuch, Arzhevennik, I think those are all the slavic monsters I use in my project
Nocnitsa and Bezkost
Bies, Leshy and Stuhac
Koschei in polish Kościej
Where is Firebird, Kikimora, or Chernobog?
Can you make Philippine mythology? Its really interesting.
I got interested in learning more about Slavic mythology because of the Witcher video games and series 😊
In Poland Vodnik is more known as a Utopiec or Topielec. It's basically spirit of a drowned person. Similar to Rusalka...but it is a different entity.
Rusalka is a female water fairy, vodník is always a male.
@@mokkorista well...I grown-up on stories from the books where Rusalka is mostly water nymph, but from my grandmother stories she is more like a demon. Seducer. She seats at night on the edge of the lake or swamp and trying to lure trespassers close to water to attack and kill them. And yes. Rusalka is always a Woman.
11:00 Holy Sh*t Jerry's a Bieda!
I would love to see one Jamaican folklore
I wish this video was longer.
Hmmm....the moment when you realize that witchers Monsters are based on slavic mythology....😮
Funny enough, vodnik/vodyanoys appearances are different in Eastern and Western Slav nations. In the western nations, they ale sometimes called the little green men. They look human, but are clad head to toe in green. Green skin, green hair, green clothes, except for the colorful ribbons decorating their hat. They sometimes wear red leather shoes. They have webbed hands, rather than paws, but no scales or a fishtail. They store souls of those whom they drowned in jars. To make them lose their power, you need to make the tails of his coat .
Not a word about polednice (noon wraith) or klekánice (evening wraith). There's even půlnočnice (midnight wraith)
Can you guys refer me to a good resource on this? I am a Slavic person myself but the amount of details here I have not heard about is bugging me :D Thank you
I am actually from Bosnia and 4 years ago when i ran away from home I was in a woods with friend and out of sudden in the middle of the night we heard like a little grild or baby crying.My first tought whas thats a little child(girl) then my mind was what would child do in the middle of the field surrounded by forest.Then i tought and convinced myself that was a jackal but ive heard them before and its not even similar to it. That was like literally childs cry.I also had a techer who told he heard the drekavac years ago.In village near buy theres a blace like a little bridge were long agoo really long was a women who "done abortion" women will come to her to get abortion or with unwanted child and she would kill the baybeys and throw their corpses from the other side of that bridge. So he was one nught passing by that place and hear exactly like a little girl or baby crying. I can explain it to you but it is exactly rhe same if u hear 5 year old girl cry like a baby.Also the screm is actually described by a lot of people as a baby or child crying.But yea thats all im not saying drekavac is real but neather can i explain what i had heard that night and im not imagining it cuz i asked my fredid did you heard it too and he just looked at me like yep i did. Not kidding it was probably past midnight in middle of fucking nowhere few kilometers of just woods and fields and it sounded close like it was 20 metars away
Wow! Crazy story! Thanks for sharing.
mating cat sound like a baby cry
As a man that originates from slavic paganism these folk tales, stories, and monsters were always terrifying these велика́н (pronounced velikán) my babushka always told me stories of the леший (leshiy) and the водяной (vodyanoy) and I always heard distorted cries in the story I was always out during daytime. Дрекавок was the one that always scared me. Glad I'm in america now
I would love to see something like this but for Maori legends and myths
SKYRIM BELONGS TO THE NERDS!!! 🤓
For reference I play Skyrim and my glasses are aviator rims, lol.
*mentions the Leshy forest spirit*
Me: le le le le le LE-LE-LE!
Uhh maybe i shouldn’t be watching this before bed.
Poland 🇵🇱 here. We are Central Europe. Slavs you referred as Eastern. A friendly fix, I love content and it’s visual beauty. Beside I’m from Cracow. “Smok Wawelski” made me smile. 🙏🏻👊🏻
Some of these have similar descriptions and displays actions similar to Eastern Native American tribes nature spirits.
Really interesting video I like it, especially me being from Serbia, you got a new subscriber! Just a tip, you are not saying some names correct. For example in Drekavac, the last syllable is not K but C. Serbian is a specific language with one tone one letter and read as you speak. For example Zmey or Zmaj (j and y read the same) is read as Z(zebra)m(mouse)e(as you say it)y/j (dont know how to represent this letter) xD
but amazing video!!!
It's not specific, just phonetic
As a kid i was kinda fascinated by rivers and bogs and the vodawoy creatures. And with the domavoi, house spirits/protectors who dwell in our households and protect and warn the families living there.
'C' is not pronounced as 'k' but 'ts'. So, drekavac would be /dre-kavats/. I believe most of Slavs would pronounce zmey as /z-/ instead of /zh-/, which is Polish.
The story of Beowulf is from a norse mytholigy.
Awesome
Stryzga can also be killed not only when encountering sunrise, but also when encountering Geralt of Rivia.
What about a machine gun?