I can just picture them trading parts of the forest and the animals in them. Imagine if cryptids that lived in their forests were like rare trading cards. "I'll give you 10 bears for your bigfoot." "Nah! You'll have to give me your mothman! Then you get the bigfoot!"
Fascinating that the Slavs believed in not whistling while in the forest in order to show the leshy respect. Some Native American tribes had the exact same idea in regards to the Dogman spirit which dwelled in the forests and towards nature in general.
A year later, I know, but. But. From childhood, I was taught a lot of similar superstitions. Connected to the forest: never make too much noise, never step on sticks step over them, if you are tired sit on a stump not a log, never go through three close-growing trees (like a triangle). There are more but my memory is a bit rusty.
Interestingly, I've always wondered if there was a physical connection. A lot of the things that the Leshy does/can do remind me of stories about Sasquatch in America specifically. Wouldn't that be wild if the Leshy was the Slavic Bigfoot equivalent? 😄 Specifically border disputes, falling boulders, mimicry, and shapechanging come to mind, but there was one story I remember that said that the Leshy was able to change size from 'the tallest tree in the forest to the shortest blade of grass in the field' and to me nowadays, that really makes me think of Sasquatch. *shrug*
Sure, thinking that forests are inhabited by magical creatures which control the nature is "creative" and not "superstitious". People created these entities not because they needed something to scare their children, but because they needed an explanation for how everything in the world works and they needed something to believe in.
A game released this year called "Inscryption" starts with you gambling your life in a card game with a Leshy in a woodland cabin. It's cool to see what he was inspired by
My great grandmother told me stories about Lesnik (serbo-croatian for Leshy) when I was just a little girl. She said he is a good spirit who protects forest and if anyone hurts an animal or cuts a very old tree, he is gonna make this person lose its way and wander the forest forever until they die. I remember going out into the forest with my two dogs with a hope I might meet him, but sadly that never happened.
I find it interesting that early slavic folklore is so hard to research. As someone with deep slavic roots I would definitely enjoy seeing more slavic mythical creatures and myths. Love the channel, keep it up!
Slavic folclor is super easy to resarch you only need Google translator and search for info in slavic langues. If someone wants to play in translator. You have a list of Slavic gods and demons in Polish from XIX century. bc.wbp.lublin.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=3663
@@ВиноградныйДень-л1ф why so many ass in one sentence. I learn about it in University in Zagreb. And...you are russian and dont know about it...well, that is your problem, not mine. Live long and prosper, my friend...it is a great book. Perun Vedas. :* historum.com/threads/russian-vedas-vs-vedic-sanskritic-vedas-of-hinduism.127786/
Actually, that's quite accurate! Thank you for representing Slavic culture, which is mostly unknown to the wider auditory. We have much more to tell about! Domovoi (a spirit that guards the house) , Bannik (Russian sauna spirit) , Kikimora (kidnapper) and Rusalka ( another kind of mermaid). Can't wait to see some of them here 😁
I know this comment's from awhile ago, but my favorite parts in Katherine Arden's book "The Bear and The Nightingale" (the author she interviewed here), were about the Bannik. 😊 I can't wait to see more Slavic folklore here too.
When ever I'm out fossil hunting I always say " Thank You " when I find something ! When hiking in the woods I always tell the trees they look so nice & I say thank you when I leave. I've always had good luck doing this ! Simple : Be nice to nature and nature will be nice to you ! Peace
I love this series, not just because it is filled with the origin stories of unheard and bizarre monsterous beings that doesn't have an enormous place in popular culture -unlike vampires or werewolfes though a detailed research of werewolfes shows that they are more than just attractive people with ripped off jeans and hot abbs- but it also teaches about the cultural structures of people and communities those entities first started to appear. I feel inspired and facinated by the tales and origins of these creatures and the your comments abouth the symbolism of their powers and abilities even more. This episode is a favourite of mine since I love forest spirits and creatures . Thanks for another great lesson about the mysteries of the Slavic folklore.
Okay the animation starting at 3:34 is my new favourite thing. There's something about all the Leshy sitting around enjoying parlour games and being "civilized" that cracks me up!
In South American traditions there is a race of short red-skinned dwarves called Caipora who are supposed to protect the amazon jungles and the animals who reside in it.
@@jindrichdolejs623 A magical forestdwelling creature known as a "Leshen" is a strong monster in the game Witcher 3, that is based on the mythological creature Leshy in the real world.
4:28 In my native country, there is a superstition that some people still follow and is a form of respect by saying: "just passing through, please" or something similar when passing through any place like the woods or anywhere unfamiliar. It gives respect to whoever might be around that the passersby is not trying to intrude.
mine are a bit different, the spirits are residing on trees instead of 1 spirit rule the whole forest, there's only 2 things we must remember is never sleep under a big tree and never piss or even waste our poop near a tree.
My grandma would always tell me about different creatures from our folklore (I'm from Poland) and apparently when the Christianity entered the country, churches would burn our books with Slavic Mythology since being a Pogan was viewed as something outdated and people would get in trouble for their believes. It's a shame, but now that the Poles are becoming less influenced by the Church, more and more people are looking back into our beautiful Slavic culture, trying to restore what's left of it.
Oh gosh.... When i was walking in the woods once. I heard a laugh that came from no where. Reasonable, I turned back around and started power-walking back to my car... But I got lost and to make myself feel better I started singing a song I made up on the spot. Found my way back to my car and drove off. Watching these videos and experiencing things like this; makes you understand why legends like this get started and stay alive through the centuries. Am I saying I encountered a Leshy? Well to avoid the mental ward; I'll only use this story as a fun, but cautionary tale of walking in the woods alone.
The Leshy makes me think of the Ents in "The Lord of the Rings. I also can't help but think of cryptids, Slavic versions of Bigfoot and the Yeti. I enjoy these videos because I've always been interested in creatures be they cryptids or mythological, and you always present fascinating facts I've never encountered before now.
@Chris Goody Said the image as CGI so he wouldn't spark a panic? That's intriguing. I write fiction as a hobby and his caution could make for an interesting scenario.
Thank you for this one! My grandmother told me stories of the Leshy. The Leshy, Baba Yaga these were stories I remember from those days long gone. Thank you for giving me a moment to remember those days. Thanks for another wonderful video and another walk down memory lane.
The Wolf Pack Human imagination is vast but predictable. Strange minds think alike and all that. Forests are powerful and intimidating things, and very important for humans. It's only natural different cultures would independently personify them and assign them guardian spirits
Hey, @Storied as a representative of the Slavic community I want to thank you for taping into the Slavic folklore and would like to express a wish to see more in the future!
Oh yeah I've been waiting for a Leshen video! Never heard of them before until I ran into one in the Witcher 3 when I was a very low level. It was walking away from me while watching me over it's shoulder. While looking at me, it walked behind a tree, disappeared, re-appeared behind me and killed me instantly! ALL of my hair stood up, and since that day Leshen have been my favourite monster myth.
When walking through a forest especially during twilight hours, every branch and a twig can look like it's Leshy's hand reaching out towards you. The very ambiguous shape of him is what makes him the fear itself when in the forest.
good point, i would add also when they say its shapeshifter it means its myth than comes from multiple diferent animals/nature events etc, one seen bear on two legs, other seen moose (that is often as big as big horse) with those huge horns/antlers stuck with branches or mosses , it cool look super scary at night, those noises at night in forests are something unique too, ppl have no idea who creepy some animals sound. this leshy clearly is forest manifestation in their mind by our ancestors
Finally, you came to Slavic mythology, there are a bunch of interesting monsters worthy of becoming a topic for video, a ghoul, for example, or kikimora. Alas, my level of English is bad and I understand almost nothing, but it’s obvious that the video is very cool, if there is such an opportunity I would like to add subtitles in Russian, I think there are a lot of viewers in the Russian-speaking segment of TH-cam who will like this content, I will be grateful if you pay attention to my a comment
I love Leshy! The message of respecting nature hits close, I often walk in forest during summer months, going around observing the birds and other animals, hugging trees and smelling flowers.
I'd like to think that when witchers refer to monsters they call them by pet names Lambert: Hey Geralt, what was your last contract? Geralt: Killed a Leshy for 350 gold
Witcher has bugger-all to do with Slavic mythology. Only the video games take some inspiration from Slavic folklore - the books take no more from it than from any other mythology.
@@samuelrodriguez9801 Actually they call them Leszy, because that's polish name. "Leshy" is kind of how you would write it in English to pronounce it same way. Kind of as English doesn't have sound we use for "y" I believe.
He sounds like Cernnunos, or the Green man, or a combination of both. Even the forest spirit from "Princess Mononoke" seems to share his traits. Not a fan of the "Christianity trumps traditional belief" side to things but the animistic view of forests and their inhabitants is always appealing.
I grew up with Slavic culture and as far as I see it was very accurate 😊 Actually, the Leshy is just one of many spirits in Slavic folklore, like the Domovoi (house spirit) or the Vodyanoi (water spirit) But an interesting sidenote. Finno-Ugric peoples also have similar spirits and specially the Udmurts have stories about conflicts between the forest spirits (Nyulesmurt) and the water spirits (Vumurt)
Monster Hunter World had a crossover with Witcher III and they made Leshen and Ancient Leshen the collaboration monsters Edit: also both of their themes are awesome
В игре он не верно представлен. Леший меняет облик и будет примет такую форму, чтобы не испугать. Да кстати, мы до сих пор верим, что лешего в лесу можно встретить 🤣
I do think that Slavic Mythology is underrated and does not get the attention it deserves (Full disclosure: I'm Bulgarian so this might be а prejudiced opinion). Great video and an awesome dress! You could do dedicated series for the different pantheons, that would be awesome as well.
Aw man, before I even watch the video, I just want to say this is exactly what my day needed. I've been going through a lot lately with seasonal depression and big changes in my life and today was a bit of a low point in all that. But I finally was able to get things in order today, calm down, and take a second just to chill out and go on youtube. What do I see but one of my favorite new content creators talking about one of my all-time favorite mythical creatures! You're the best, Monstrum. Endless love and gratitude
You're killin' me, Smalls. Yup, the good Doctor has brought it again. I love this series - it's probably my favorite of all the PBS TH-cam stuff. The Leshy - and Slavic folklore in general - is fascinating!
Hearing about the 'whistling' part is very interesting - in Thailand, one wasn't to whistle in their home, especially at night time - something about attracting spirits or smthn. Love seeing themes n ideas carried on different cultures
Hi, awesome work on the video. Love it. I live in Western Ukraine near Carpathian mountains which is almost untouched by civilisation, so we go for hiking there quite often and I can tell that I dont know anyone who beliews in Leshy (or more likely known here as a "lisoviy" meaning the one from the forest) as a being, but there is a tradition shared around of respecting the forest and nature itself. You are not supposed to scream or curse, no loud music and no littering, so perhaps the idea stayed without imbodiment of some wood spirit.
Loved the trilogy written by Katherine Arden. I’d never really read or studied Slavic legends before, so it was very interesting. I highly recommend them. Great video, as always!
Now I have it in my mind that Groot accidentally gets transported to another world/dimension which is the Witcher world and Geralt stumbles upon him thinking he's a Leshy and Geralt starts to ask him to play Gwent with him and all Groot could say to him is "I am Groot" and Geralt becoming a little frustrated trying to communicate with Groot.
Leshy in Slavic Mythology: Protector of Nature and Forest. Leshy in Christianity: Demonic figure and evil deities. Damn Christianity, everything must be demonized.
not the first time either. Hiisi used to be a placed of worship and sacrifice in old Finnish religion, then christianity came around and turned it into a devil. they of course want to wipe out and corrupt the old religions, how else would they gain power in peoples minds.
MALAY SUBTITLES Part 3 of 3 09:06 Tetapi saya rasa, saya rasa lebih banyak orang bersedia mempercayai kekuatan alam. 09:11 Oleh itu, saya rasa percaya bahawa hutan mempunyai kehadiran dan kehidupan dan ketuhanan, saya rasa 09:19 pastinya nyata dan masih hidup di Rusia sekarang. 09:24 Baik baik atau jahat, pembentuk tempat tinggal hutan ini menakutkan kerana mungkin 09:29 mengintai di setiap sudut. 09:30 Leshy mewakili rasa hormat yang mendalam terhadap hutan dan mengakui bahaya manusia 09:35 dijumpai di sana, terutama ketika sebahagian besarnya tidak dijinakkan. 09:38 Itu adalah sesuatu yang hanya dapat dihindari dengan hati-hati, kesadaran, dan penghargaan yang tulus 09:44 persekitaran anda. 09:45 Akhlak cerita? 09:46 Bersikap baik terhadap alam semula jadi. 09:48 Anda tidak pernah tahu bila semangat hutan gergasi akan datang untuk anda.
Never heard of the Leshy until I was looking up Witcher lore and saw the Leshen, which is based off it. Thanks for brining attention to these lesser known myths and legends. I like the Leshy, it's one that I wish was real.
Happened across this video after watching the playthrough of a game called Inscryption and Leshy`s in it. Didn`t know he was based off of real life mythology so this was really cool to watch, thankyou!🍃🍃
One of my favorite beings in folklore! They and their purported ways and traits remind me of both the Sasquatch and the Scottish forest guardian the Ghillie Dhu. Many of the qualities of the Leshy are similar to what little we know of the old Slavic deity Veles, a shifty bearded forest god and lord of beasts who was apparently called on to protect cattle and for safe passage through forests.
I feel like these kinds of trickster forest spirit...the Leshy, Pan, Cernunnos...harken back to the very earliest humans that lived in temporate forests. Maybe even Neanderthals believed in forest spirits. There's just something so incredibly primal about them.
Good morning from the Philippines. Glad you're back with a video "somewhat" related to one of my interests back in highschool. The Wiedźmin really piqued my interest and got me into Slavic mythology. I'm glad it's getting the recognition it does now, though I'm not very fond of the Netflix show quite frankly. 😅 Back on topic: I always saw the leshy/leshen as the Slavic equivalent of our Kapre here in the Philippines. Looking forward to seeing more Filipino and Slavic mythology from you in the future. 🙂
Guardian spirits of the forest are a common staple of mythologies around the world, but this one reminded me a lot of the Curupira from indigenous Brazilian tradition. You should look into it, that would be an interesting episode.
Fun fact: in Poland, the most recent “encounter” with Lyeshy was documented in the 19th century, during the January Uprising, when a Polish soldier who took part in the uprising, was saved by the Lyeshy from death.
The Leshy has a huge resemblance with a Filipino Folktale creature called Kapre Guardian of the forest:✔️ Enormous:✔️ Can be friendly or mischievous:✔️ Makes a person lost in the forest:✔️ Turning clothes inside out to not get lost:✔️ Somehow branded as a Demon or devil's children:✔️
from what i know most of them are tikbalang. woodland creature that can be good or mischievous, if you get lost because of them, wear your clothes inside out
I happened upon the Monstrum series whilst in the midst of reading the 2nd book of Katherine Arden's Winternight series, The Girl in The Tower. Your interview with Katherine for this episode was such a happy surprise! Keep up the good work! Thank you, Dr. Emily!
I am from Slovenia and have never heard of this creature. I do try to keep myself as informed about any kind of mythology and I do find it disheartning how there is so little about our own legends. :(
So interesting to listen about the folklore of my country and learn new stuff 👍❤ Ural Mountains is where I live, I had no idea we once had a squirrel migration problem 😃
One of my favorite mythological creatures ever. Gotta thank The Witcher games for introducing them to me and inspiring me to read up on them(and other Slavic mythological beings). I'd love to see more videos on monsters from this area!
Whenever I hear about the Leshy, I always remember the Leshy from Quest For Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness, an old point and click adventure title on PC. It had a lot of other old slavic or close to it mythical figures and spirits. Rusalka, Baba Yaga, Domovoi; it was my first exposure to this sort of mythology.
Oh yeah! Finally a slavic creature! Living in Russia, i grew up listening and reading fairytales about Leshy and others. In the future you should do videos about other slavic spirits, like Domovoy (spirit of house and house-keeping, wich is pretty unique) or Vodyanoy (the water spirit, who can lure people in to his underwear realm).
i must say, as a pagan enthusiast i am glad to see that this is not another witcher inspired fantasy talk, but accurate depiction, especially thing about "we have nothing written, so". By the way, other names (those which i know) of similar demons are dobrochoczy (dobrohochy), puszczawik (pushchavik) or lasowik (lasovik), there are even totally local ones like one leshy/mountain demon Rzepiór/liczyrzepa (zhepiur/lichyzhepa)
Siberian Leshy: I'm all in, I bet All my squirrels!
European Leshy: Full house
Siberian Leshy: Noooooo! My squirrels!
Alex Wixom 😂
XD
Meanwhile: Krampus, Baba Yaga, Anwe, Geralt, Leprechaun, & Banshee laugh at the Gwent Table.
LMAO.
I can just picture them trading parts of the forest and the animals in them. Imagine if cryptids that lived in their forests were like rare trading cards.
"I'll give you 10 bears for your bigfoot."
"Nah! You'll have to give me your mothman! Then you get the bigfoot!"
Fascinating that the Slavs believed in not whistling while in the forest in order to show the leshy respect. Some Native American tribes had the exact same idea in regards to the Dogman spirit which dwelled in the forests and towards nature in general.
A year later, I know, but. But. From childhood, I was taught a lot of similar superstitions. Connected to the forest: never make too much noise, never step on sticks step over them, if you are tired sit on a stump not a log, never go through three close-growing trees (like a triangle). There are more but my memory is a bit rusty.
Interestingly, I've always wondered if there was a physical connection. A lot of the things that the Leshy does/can do remind me of stories about Sasquatch in America specifically. Wouldn't that be wild if the Leshy was the Slavic Bigfoot equivalent? 😄
Specifically border disputes, falling boulders, mimicry, and shapechanging come to mind, but there was one story I remember that said that the Leshy was able to change size from 'the tallest tree in the forest to the shortest blade of grass in the field' and to me nowadays, that really makes me think of Sasquatch. *shrug*
Well, it does make sense to be quiet - you may attract attention of animals, bears, wolves...
@@connection7405 we're lions and tigers oh my...
dogman? you are mixing bullshit with native myths. but yea whistling in woods is bad anywhere
"We never hunt in these woods. Never. Even if it means the whole village starves"
Who are you quoting?
@@danielb3573 a sidequest in witcher 3, on Skellige
@@gonzalogutierrez510 well you've done your research
Then where do they hunt?
Gonzalo Gutierrez 👍 Aight checks out.
3:35
Geralt: "I would like to play Gwent."
Leshy: *Nods menacingly*
Wouldn't mind a few rounds of cards gwent specifically
I bet that bastard plays monsters deck
I love these morally ambiguous creatures. So much more interesting than a simple "monster". Our ancestors were so creative.
True
Definitely ripe for literary use to add more drama.
Unlike us.
Sure, thinking that forests are inhabited by magical creatures which control the nature is "creative" and not "superstitious". People created these entities not because they needed something to scare their children, but because they needed an explanation for how everything in the world works and they needed something to believe in.
@@helgenlane doesn't make them any less creative. Unlike us, in the Age of Remakes and Reboots.
A game released this year called "Inscryption" starts with you gambling your life in a card game with a Leshy in a woodland cabin. It's cool to see what he was inspired by
Yeah, I was going to comment about it but you beat me to it.
We are here for a reason lol
3:34 Imagine walking through the forest and suddenly seeing 4 Leshys playing Poker. XD
Or gwent.
I'd love to see that.
huh. welp I better stop smoking that good stuff now I guess...
@@tom_foolery93 and Geralt is at the table playing with them.
@@tom_foolery93 I see you're a man of culture
My great grandmother told me stories about Lesnik (serbo-croatian for Leshy) when I was just a little girl.
She said he is a good spirit who protects forest and if anyone hurts an animal or cuts a very old tree, he is gonna make this person lose its way and wander the forest forever until they die.
I remember going out into the forest with my two dogs with a hope I might meet him, but sadly that never happened.
Serbo-croatian doesn’t exist, its either croatian or serbian
@@Pollicina_dbtheir grandmother told them the story so maybe for her there wasn't a distiction between those two languages
I find it interesting that early slavic folklore is so hard to research. As someone with deep slavic roots I would definitely enjoy seeing more slavic mythical creatures and myths. Love the channel, keep it up!
Finnish legends are super interesting, but the swedes erased most of our history
Slavic folclor is super easy to resarch you only need Google translator and search for info in slavic langues.
If someone wants to play in translator. You have a list of Slavic gods and demons in Polish from XIX century.
bc.wbp.lublin.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=3663
@@marsjanskimaszynista4626 true. We have Slavic Vedas translated in almost all slavic languages. :) It is a big saga about slavic gods.
@@ninabeeyogi Какие в жопу веды? Источники этих ваших вед пожалуйста в студию
@@ВиноградныйДень-л1ф why so many ass in one sentence. I learn about it in University in Zagreb. And...you are russian and dont know about it...well, that is your problem, not mine. Live long and prosper, my friend...it is a great book. Perun Vedas. :* historum.com/threads/russian-vedas-vs-vedic-sanskritic-vedas-of-hinduism.127786/
Actually, that's quite accurate! Thank you for representing Slavic culture, which is mostly unknown to the wider auditory.
We have much more to tell about!
Domovoi (a spirit that guards the house) , Bannik (Russian sauna spirit) , Kikimora (kidnapper) and Rusalka ( another kind of mermaid).
Can't wait to see some of them here 😁
I know this comment's from awhile ago, but my favorite parts in Katherine Arden's book "The Bear and The Nightingale" (the author she interviewed here), were about the Bannik. 😊 I can't wait to see more Slavic folklore here too.
And now the Kikimora is more well known in the west thanks to the Owl House character
Oh it’s baba yagas ex husband and she got the house
😂👍
Karen got the kids and the house smh
oh my god
Well... he must have been too smart to try and take it from her.
I need a book on Baba Yaga and her ex husband Leshy.
When ever I'm out fossil hunting I always say " Thank You " when I find something ! When hiking in the woods I always tell the trees they look so nice & I say thank you when I leave. I've always had good luck doing this ! Simple : Be nice to nature and nature will be nice to you ! Peace
Sometimes nature has a sense of humour though, and it’s not always completely appreciated as per my last wander in the woods.
You’ll probably come to find out that your ways will not help you
I love this series, not just because it is filled with the origin stories of unheard and bizarre monsterous beings that doesn't have an enormous place in popular culture -unlike vampires or werewolfes though a detailed research of werewolfes shows that they are more than just attractive people with ripped off jeans and hot abbs- but it also teaches about the cultural structures of people and communities those entities first started to appear. I feel inspired and facinated by the tales and origins of these creatures and the your comments abouth the symbolism of their powers and abilities even more. This episode is a favourite of mine since I love forest spirits and creatures . Thanks for another great lesson about the mysteries of the Slavic folklore.
Okay the animation starting at 3:34 is my new favourite thing. There's something about all the Leshy sitting around enjoying parlour games and being "civilized" that cracks me up!
Well now is the time to toss a coin to a Witcher then.
Now we just need more Videos about Monsters from the Witcher 3 (with are nearly all based on east European folklore) @Monstrum
🎶Toss a coin to your Witcher. Oh valley of plenty. Oohhh!🎶
Toss a coin to your Witcher, a friend of humanity🎶
how do you like that silver ?
@@mythgravenn Slavic Chant Intensifies
Leshy from inscryption really went off the deep end after the divorce…
The Amazon needs an army of Leshys right now.
Yes.
For proof that no monsters exist in the world, look only to how successful mankind is in destroying it.
Too true
In South American traditions there is a race of short red-skinned dwarves called Caipora who are supposed to protect the amazon jungles and the animals who reside in it.
Totally.
Leshys would make good workers for their fulfillment centers.
Monstrum: talks about the Leshy.
Anyone who played the Witcher: Allow us to introduce ourselves.
what? You playing a game makes you an expert in mythology?
@@jindrichdolejs623
Maybe not expert but there are some fun mythological parts!
ASZ - The MoonWalker for example in Assassin Creed Oddessy you would encounter a Sphinx that introduces itself to you
@@jindrichdolejs623 A magical forestdwelling creature known as a "Leshen" is a strong monster in the game Witcher 3, that is based on the mythological creature Leshy in the real world.
@@Mukation And..?
4:28 In my native country, there is a superstition that some people still follow and is a form of respect by saying: "just passing through, please" or something similar when passing through any place like the woods or anywhere unfamiliar. It gives respect to whoever might be around that the passersby is not trying to intrude.
Tabi tabi po
mine are a bit different, the spirits are residing on trees instead of 1 spirit rule the whole forest, there's only 2 things we must remember is never sleep under a big tree and never piss or even waste our poop near a tree.
as a person who grew up on Russian folklore, I always imagined Leshy to be a regular grandpa who lives in a forest and is super wise...
My grandma would always tell me about different creatures from our folklore (I'm from Poland) and apparently when the Christianity entered the country, churches would burn our books with Slavic Mythology since being a Pogan was viewed as something outdated and people would get in trouble for their believes. It's a shame, but now that the Poles are becoming less influenced by the Church, more and more people are looking back into our beautiful Slavic culture, trying to restore what's left of it.
Oh gosh.... When i was walking in the woods once. I heard a laugh that came from no where. Reasonable, I turned back around and started power-walking back to my car... But I got lost and to make myself feel better I started singing a song I made up on the spot. Found my way back to my car and drove off. Watching these videos and experiencing things like this; makes you understand why legends like this get started and stay alive through the centuries.
Am I saying I encountered a Leshy? Well to avoid the mental ward; I'll only use this story as a fun, but cautionary tale of walking in the woods alone.
The Leshy makes me think of the Ents in "The Lord of the Rings. I also can't help but think of cryptids, Slavic versions of Bigfoot and the Yeti. I enjoy these videos because I've always been interested in creatures be they cryptids or mythological, and you always present fascinating facts I've never encountered before now.
Well, the Almasty is around that area and it's a cryptid, so maybe it chills with the Leshy from time to time?
@@samuelrodriguez9801 Yes, I think the Almasty and Leshy could be the same entity.
@Chris Goody There's video? I'll have to try looking that up.
@@TheKulu42 I like to leave room for possibility of various paranormal creatures, whether they be supernatural creatures, cryptids or aliens.
@Chris Goody Said the image as CGI so he wouldn't spark a panic? That's intriguing. I write fiction as a hobby and his caution could make for an interesting scenario.
Thank you for this one! My grandmother told me stories of the Leshy. The Leshy, Baba Yaga these were stories I remember from those days long gone. Thank you for giving me a moment to remember those days. Thanks for another wonderful video and another walk down memory lane.
Crazy, we have a very similar thing in Peru called "chullachaqui", nice
👍
The more you look into different mythologies, the more you see how intertwined they all are.
The Wolf Pack Human imagination is vast but predictable. Strange minds think alike and all that.
Forests are powerful and intimidating things, and very important for humans. It's only natural different cultures would independently personify them and assign them guardian spirits
@@Deillum Very true
That's cool
Hey, @Storied as a representative of the Slavic community I want to thank you for taping into the Slavic folklore and would like to express a wish to see more in the future!
Oh yeah I've been waiting for a Leshen video!
Never heard of them before until I ran into one in the Witcher 3 when I was a very low level.
It was walking away from me while watching me over it's shoulder. While looking at me, it walked behind a tree, disappeared, re-appeared behind me and killed me instantly! ALL of my hair stood up, and since that day Leshen have been my favourite monster myth.
This hits different now that he's actually a character in a card playing video game.
"Dr. Zarka" is a perfect name for a "Monsterologist" imo
Is that Polish I wonder.
When walking through a forest especially during twilight hours, every branch and a twig can look like it's Leshy's hand reaching out towards you. The very ambiguous shape of him is what makes him the fear itself when in the forest.
good point, i would add also when they say its shapeshifter it means its myth than comes from multiple diferent animals/nature events etc, one seen bear on two legs, other seen moose (that is often as big as big horse) with those huge horns/antlers stuck with branches or mosses , it cool look super scary at night, those noises at night in forests are something unique too, ppl have no idea who creepy some animals sound. this leshy clearly is forest manifestation in their mind by our ancestors
Finally, you came to Slavic mythology, there are a bunch of interesting monsters worthy of becoming a topic for video, a ghoul, for example, or kikimora. Alas, my level of English is bad and I understand almost nothing, but it’s obvious that the video is very cool, if there is such an opportunity I would like to add subtitles in Russian, I think there are a lot of viewers in the Russian-speaking segment of TH-cam who will like this content, I will be grateful if you pay attention to my a comment
Your English is actually very good. Too bad you never got a response, at least publicly.
I love Leshy! The message of respecting nature hits close, I often walk in forest during summer months, going around observing the birds and other animals, hugging trees and smelling flowers.
YES!!! Finally something of my people's folklore. Awesome guy's! 🍻❤️
@ᚨᚾᛏᛖ ᛃᚢᚱᛁᛚᛃ Where did you get the runic keyboard from?
From which country you are
I’ve seen a lot of videos about the mythology of my ancestors and this is by far the best one. Thank you!
I'd like to think that when witchers refer to monsters they call them by pet names
Lambert: Hey Geralt, what was your last contract?
Geralt: Killed a Leshy for 350 gold
Me
Well, I think in the Witcher universe Leshens are also sometimes called leshy.
samuel rodriguez Seriously I’d had enough frights when playing that game.
Witcher has bugger-all to do with Slavic mythology. Only the video games take some inspiration from Slavic folklore - the books take no more from it than from any other mythology.
@@samuelrodriguez9801 Actually they call them Leszy, because that's polish name. "Leshy" is kind of how you would write it in English to pronounce it same way. Kind of as English doesn't have sound we use for "y" I believe.
The only channel on which I instantly like the video. Guaranteed quality, never disappointed. Thank you for another great, informative video!
Again this channel deserves more attention. It’s hard to find videos with this much quality.
He sounds like Cernnunos, or the Green man, or a combination of both. Even the forest spirit from "Princess Mononoke" seems to share his traits. Not a fan of the "Christianity trumps traditional belief" side to things but the animistic view of forests and their inhabitants is always appealing.
I grew up with Slavic culture and as far as I see it was very accurate 😊
Actually, the Leshy is just one of many spirits in Slavic folklore, like the Domovoi (house spirit) or the Vodyanoi (water spirit)
But an interesting sidenote. Finno-Ugric peoples also have similar spirits and specially the Udmurts have stories about conflicts between the forest spirits (Nyulesmurt) and the water spirits (Vumurt)
I'm glad you guys are keeping these stories alive there's always wonderment in them would be a shame to have forgotten all of our old gods and spirits
Who else was waiting for this xD
Who wasn't lol
Me
Me
Absoloutlty. Hands down favorite beast from the witcher. Love the lore all around it
Thank you for these videos about Slavic folklore
Leshen were my favorite in Witcher, it's really cool to see what they were based off of. Thanks for the vid.
well it makes sense since the author of the books is Polish and there's a ton of Slavic folklore in the books/show/game
Monster Hunter World had a crossover with Witcher III and they made Leshen and Ancient Leshen the collaboration monsters
Edit: also both of their themes are awesome
В игре он не верно представлен. Леший меняет облик и будет примет такую форму, чтобы не испугать. Да кстати, мы до сих пор верим, что лешего в лесу можно встретить 🤣
I do think that Slavic Mythology is underrated and does not get the attention it deserves (Full disclosure: I'm Bulgarian so this might be а prejudiced opinion).
Great video and an awesome dress!
You could do dedicated series for the different pantheons, that would be awesome as well.
This show honestly is one of my favorite PBS shows.
OMG Katherine Arden's books were the reason I got so interested in Slavic folklore 😍
Aw man, before I even watch the video, I just want to say this is exactly what my day needed. I've been going through a lot lately with seasonal depression and big changes in my life and today was a bit of a low point in all that. But I finally was able to get things in order today, calm down, and take a second just to chill out and go on youtube. What do I see but one of my favorite new content creators talking about one of my all-time favorite mythical creatures! You're the best, Monstrum. Endless love and gratitude
So glad we could help brighten your day. Stay strong, and spooky!
@@pbsstoried leshy : russia forest size and height woodland spirit beard attitudes and behaviours abduct children
@@pbsstoried leshy : 🇷🇺 Russia slavic forest giant woodland spirit men abduct children
There's so much in this that is amazingly similar to Scandinavian folklore, like the specific taboos (not whistling in the forest for example)
The Slavic and Norse peoples share a very long history. You can see many similarities in their folklore.
YES! NEW EPISODE!
This made my day!
You're killin' me, Smalls.
Yup, the good Doctor has brought it again. I love this series - it's probably my favorite of all the PBS TH-cam stuff. The Leshy - and Slavic folklore in general - is fascinating!
Yay you’re back. I really love the art style of these videos as well
👍
Hearing about the 'whistling' part is very interesting - in Thailand, one wasn't to whistle in their home, especially at night time - something about attracting spirits or smthn. Love seeing themes n ideas carried on different cultures
Hi, awesome work on the video. Love it. I live in Western Ukraine near Carpathian mountains which is almost untouched by civilisation, so we go for hiking there quite often and I can tell that I dont know anyone who beliews in Leshy (or more likely known here as a "lisoviy" meaning the one from the forest) as a being, but there is a tradition shared around of respecting the forest and nature itself. You are not supposed to scream or curse, no loud music and no littering, so perhaps the idea stayed without imbodiment of some wood spirit.
Loved the trilogy written by Katherine Arden. I’d never really read or studied Slavic legends before, so it was very interesting. I highly recommend them. Great video, as always!
"I am Groot.", said the Leshy.
Now I have it in my mind that Groot accidentally gets transported to another world/dimension which is the Witcher world and Geralt stumbles upon him thinking he's a Leshy and Geralt starts to ask him to play Gwent with him and all Groot could say to him is "I am Groot" and Geralt becoming a little frustrated trying to communicate with Groot.
I am Tree Beard.
Please do more videos about Slavic mythology and folklore, I really appreciate those videos!
Very interesting! Lovely visuals, especially the forest!
I love all the research that goes into all your videos. Thank you
Remember, always keep your phone in the forest so you can show the leshy memes to make them laugh
So happy you're back! 💚
Last time I was this early...okay, I can't think of anything good to put so I'll just say it's great to see you back with a new video! 😁
As a Russian it's really nice to hear about our mythology from a person of different country, and a very accurate information.
Leshy in Slavic Mythology: Protector of Nature and Forest.
Leshy in Christianity: Demonic figure and evil deities.
Damn Christianity, everything must be demonized.
Lol
not the first time either.
Hiisi used to be a placed of worship and sacrifice in old Finnish religion, then christianity came around and turned it into a devil.
they of course want to wipe out and corrupt the old religions, how else would they gain power in peoples minds.
I read 'demonized' as 'demonitized'. 😂 🤣 😅
@Yaroslav L
Friends and family are in shock! This one weird trick is making doctors furious!
@@TheCimbrianBull oh the Age of TH-cam
MALAY SUBTITLES Part 3 of 3
09:06
Tetapi saya rasa, saya rasa lebih banyak orang bersedia mempercayai kekuatan alam.
09:11
Oleh itu, saya rasa percaya bahawa hutan mempunyai kehadiran dan kehidupan dan ketuhanan, saya rasa
09:19
pastinya nyata dan masih hidup di Rusia sekarang.
09:24
Baik baik atau jahat, pembentuk tempat tinggal hutan ini menakutkan kerana mungkin
09:29
mengintai di setiap sudut.
09:30
Leshy mewakili rasa hormat yang mendalam terhadap hutan dan mengakui bahaya manusia
09:35
dijumpai di sana, terutama ketika sebahagian besarnya tidak dijinakkan.
09:38
Itu adalah sesuatu yang hanya dapat dihindari dengan hati-hati, kesadaran, dan penghargaan yang tulus
09:44
persekitaran anda.
09:45
Akhlak cerita?
09:46
Bersikap baik terhadap alam semula jadi.
09:48
Anda tidak pernah tahu bila semangat hutan gergasi akan datang untuk anda.
"...Leshy is both a Guardian and an Avenger."
So Groot then. Gotcha.
wow i never heard of the leshy what an incredible being. excellent video
Never heard of the Leshy until I was looking up Witcher lore and saw the Leshen, which is based off it. Thanks for brining attention to these lesser known myths and legends. I like the Leshy, it's one that I wish was real.
OMG Katherine Arden...!!!! (having a fan moment) Her books are wonderful - so well written and developed. tell her a million Thank yous
Finally a story from my culture.
Nice.
Fantastic job once again, I LOVE THIS CHANNEL
Happened across this video after watching the playthrough of a game called Inscryption and Leshy`s in it. Didn`t know he was based off of real life mythology so this was really cool to watch, thankyou!🍃🍃
Awesome! Monstrum has been away too long, nice to see you back with another video.
One of my favorite beings in folklore! They and their purported ways and traits remind me of both the Sasquatch and the Scottish forest guardian the Ghillie Dhu.
Many of the qualities of the Leshy are similar to what little we know of the old Slavic deity Veles, a shifty bearded forest god and lord of beasts who was apparently called on to protect cattle and for safe passage through forests.
Been waiting for y’all to post another amazing video
3:34 WAIT! So you can play Gwent with Leschens????
*grabs Gwent deck and runs into the woods
Win then got monster card Leshen
@@ordhinv.hohenheim5009 LMAO
Man this channel is amazing. Thank you
Everyone: *Talking about Leshy in the Witcher*
Me who played Inscryption: “Amateurs”
I feel like these kinds of trickster forest spirit...the Leshy, Pan, Cernunnos...harken back to the very earliest humans that lived in temporate forests. Maybe even Neanderthals believed in forest spirits. There's just something so incredibly primal about them.
Doc!!
I miss you so much!!❤️
Good morning from the Philippines. Glad you're back with a video "somewhat" related to one of my interests back in highschool.
The Wiedźmin really piqued my interest and got me into Slavic mythology. I'm glad it's getting the recognition it does now, though I'm not very fond of the Netflix show quite frankly. 😅
Back on topic: I always saw the leshy/leshen as the Slavic equivalent of our Kapre here in the Philippines.
Looking forward to seeing more Filipino and Slavic mythology from you in the future. 🙂
Aha! Kapre indeed.
The counter for leshy is similar for enkanto.
@@GinamosWithCherryOnTop there are some overlaps with the folklore for sure.but in the "physical" aspects, kapre is a bit closer.
@LagiNaLangAko23 geralt: (tosses a coin) hmm
So happy to see season 2 come back! And so happy to see this channel grow more and more! Can't wait to see the next monster on the list!
Guardian spirits of the forest are a common staple of mythologies around the world, but this one reminded me a lot of the Curupira from indigenous Brazilian tradition. You should look into it, that would be an interesting episode.
I'm pretty sure these are now my new favorite!
Fun fact: in Poland, the most recent “encounter” with Lyeshy was documented in the 19th century, during the January Uprising, when a Polish soldier who took part in the uprising, was saved by the Lyeshy from death.
Friggin love this channel
The Leshy has a huge resemblance with a Filipino Folktale creature called Kapre
Guardian of the forest:✔️
Enormous:✔️
Can be friendly or mischievous:✔️
Makes a person lost in the forest:✔️
Turning clothes inside out to not get lost:✔️
Somehow branded as a Demon or devil's children:✔️
Yeah but Kapre is addicted to smoking lol
@@bananabreadguy7960 well yeah but the leshy plays card gambling so your point is invalid
Thank you for this. I forgot about this. All I remember is wearing clothes inside out but I forgot for what reason.
from what i know most of them are tikbalang.
woodland creature that can be good or mischievous, if you get lost because of them, wear your clothes inside out
It weird that a slavic lore was bind to a filipino folk lore.. :D ..
I happened upon the Monstrum series whilst in the midst of reading the 2nd book of Katherine Arden's Winternight series, The Girl in The Tower. Your interview with Katherine for this episode was such a happy surprise! Keep up the good work! Thank you, Dr. Emily!
You guys got you a typo around 6:12 ("panganism"). Amazing video as always, though. Love you guys!
...especially the outtakes.
The Letcy is the dark, Slavic version of The Lorax.
"I speak for the trees! Mess with the forest and I will come after you!"
I am from Slovenia and have never heard of this creature. I do try to keep myself as informed about any kind of mythology and I do find it disheartning how there is so little about our own legends. :(
So interesting to listen about the folklore of my country and learn new stuff 👍❤ Ural Mountains is where I live, I had no idea we once had a squirrel migration problem 😃
Role-playing players: ha ha, I’m in danger
One of my favorite mythological creatures ever. Gotta thank The Witcher games for introducing them to me and inspiring me to read up on them(and other Slavic mythological beings). I'd love to see more videos on monsters from this area!
Whenever I hear about the Leshy, I always remember the Leshy from Quest For Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness, an old point and click adventure title on PC. It had a lot of other old slavic or close to it mythical figures and spirits. Rusalka, Baba Yaga, Domovoi; it was my first exposure to this sort of mythology.
Great episode! Probably one of my favorites!
Oh yeah! Finally a slavic creature! Living in Russia, i grew up listening and reading fairytales about Leshy and others. In the future you should do videos about other slavic spirits, like Domovoy (spirit of house and house-keeping, wich is pretty unique) or Vodyanoy (the water spirit, who can lure people in to his underwear realm).
Just found this channel, been loving it so far, keep it up!
In the Caribbean ,we have a similar thing .Its called Papa Bois and the stories of it is found in Trinidad, Guyana etc.
This was really fascinating. Thank you!
i must say, as a pagan enthusiast i am glad to see that this is not another witcher inspired fantasy talk, but accurate depiction, especially thing about "we have nothing written, so".
By the way, other names (those which i know) of similar demons are dobrochoczy (dobrohochy), puszczawik (pushchavik) or lasowik (lasovik), there are even totally local ones like one leshy/mountain demon Rzepiór/liczyrzepa (zhepiur/lichyzhepa)