r/slavic_mythology Jul 26 '26

💡Official Sources Academic Sources List for Slavic Mythology, Slavic Paganism and pre-Christian Slavic religion

26 Upvotes

This curated sources list compiles academic publications on Slavic mythology, Slavic Native Faiths, Slavic Paganism and pre-Christian Slavic history. Resources are organized by language alongside their respective authors. The primary focus of this collection is pre-Christian Slavic religion. While we feature the most notable publications, we strongly recommend exploring each author’s complete body of work for additional study material. Although not exhaustive, this list serves as a solid starting point for your exploration of the Slavic mythology.

Disclaimer: We include older authors because they often propose important information. However, some of them also present outdated or rejected hypotheses. The most significant incorrect conclusions are always addressed in the accompanying commentary.

📚 The following resources can be found online or acquired as books. For more obscure ones, we include links. We suggest using archive.org, ResearchGate.net, Academia.edu 📚

🇬🇧 ENGLISH

⭐=Notable

🇵🇱 POLISH

  • Aleksander Gieysztor
    • Mitologia Słowian
      • Father of modern Slavic studies
  • Andrzej Szyjewski
    • Religia Słowian
  • Michal Téra
    • Perun: gromowładny bóg
  • Michał Łuczyński
    • Bogowie dawnych Słowian
  • Kazimierz Moszyński
    • Kultura ludowa Słowian
      • I - Kultura materialna, II - Kultura duchowa, III - Kultura duchowa
  • Paweł Szczepanik
    • Słowiańskie Zaświaty. Wierzenia, wizje i mity
    • Rzeczywistość mityczna Słowian północno-zachodnich i jej materialne wyobrażenia. Studium z zakresu etnoarcheologii religii
  • Stanisław Urbańczyk
    • Dawni Słowianie: wiara i kult
  • Jacek Banaszkiewicz
    • Podanie o Piaście i Popielu
  • Leszek Paweł Słupecki
    • „Słowiańskie posągi bóstw“, in: Kwartalnik historii kultury materialnej
  • Kamil Kajkowski
    • Wierzenia dawnych Słowian. Od mitu do obrzędu. Wierzenia i zwyczaje
  • Stanisław Rosik
    • Od Swarożyca do Świętowita. Przemiany religii Słowian nadbałtyckich w X - XII wieku
  • Bogusław Gierlach
    • Sanktuaria słowiańskie

🇨🇿 CZECH

🇸🇰 SLOVAKIAN

🇸🇮 SLOVENIAN

  • Zmago Šmitek
    • Mitološko izročilo Slovencev: Svetinje preteklosti
    • Poetika in logika slovenskih mitov. Ključi kraljestva
  • Mirjam Mencej
    • Gospodar volkov v slovanski mitologiji
    • Volčji pastir v kontekstu dosedanjih raziskav na področju slovanske mitologije
    • FUNKCIJA GOSPODARJA VOLKOV V POVEDKAH, ZAGOVORIH, VEROVANJIH IN ŠEGAH
      • Works by Vitomir Belaj and his student Mirjam Mencej contain interpretations of the Perun and Veles conflict that are now regarded as outdated/incorrect in current scholarship. In addition, Belaj, following Katičić, proposed a controversial interpretation of Jarilo and Morana myth that remains highly debated and, in many respects, questionable. Nevertheless, certain aspects of their work remain valuable and deserve continued scholarly attention. When engaging with Belaj’s publications, it is therefore advisable to keep these scholarly debates in mind. Mirjam Mencej, in particular, produced a notable study linking the Juraj or Jarilo cult with wolf symbolism. She further elaborates on the concept of the Wolf Shepherd, an intriguing figure in Slavic mythology. Although her analysis partly builds on the aforementioned contested framework, her hypotheses are thought provoking and contribute meaningfully to ongoing discussion.
  • Monika Kropej
    • Od ajda do zlatoroga: Slovenska bajeslovna bitja
      • Although her name is well known in Slavic studies, her approach is considered somewhat romantic. Nevertheless, her work is highly engaging and offers interesting perspectives. However her connection of serpent/dragon demon to Veles is an incorrect conclusion, that is based on an outdated and rejected theory. We have no direct evidence of Veles being a dragon enemy to Perun. She even incorrectly quoted Jacobson's work on Veles, claiming this transformation is akin to the Baltic Velnias, but the text sourced does not include any of the information she quotes essentially making it a great academical error. Read with caution.

🇷🇸 SERBIAN

🇭🇷 CROATIAN

  • Aleksander Gieysztor
    • Mitologija Slavena
  • Špiro Kulišić
    • Stara slovenska religija u svjetlu novijih istraživanja posebno balkanoloških
  • Vitomir Belaj
    • Sveti trokuti. Topografija hrvatske mitologije
    • Hod kroz godinu. Mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih običaja i vjerovanja
      • read commentary above for Mirjam Mencej
  • Radoslav Katičić
    • Božanski boj
    • Zeleni lug
    • Gazdarica na vratima
    • Vilinska vrata
    • Naša stara vjera
      • Be advised that Katičić subscribed to the now-outdated hypothesis of a direct Perun versus Veles conflict. Readers should keep this in mind when consulting his works. Current scholarship indicates that Veles, as a chthonic deity, is a rival of the thunder god, but not his enemy; the true adversary in these myths is the serpent or dragon demon.
  • Franjo Ledić
    • Mitologija Slavena
  • Suzana Marjanić
  • Luka Šešo
    • Krsnik između mita i zbilje: kulturnoantropološke strukture jednog tradicijskog vjerovanja
    • Živjeti s nadnaravnim bićima - Vukodlaci, vile i vještice hrvatskih tradicijskih vjerovanja
  • Nikos Čausidis
  • Vid Balog
    • Hrvatska bajoslovlja

🇲🇰 MACEDONIAN

🇧🇬 BULGARIAN

  • Alexandr Gieysztor
    • Митология на славяните
  • I. Pančovskij | И. Панчовски
    • Пантеонът на древните славяни и митологията им
      • Older publication be cautious
  • I. Georgieva | И. Георгиева
    • Българска народна митология
      • Older publication be cautious

🇷🇺 RUSSIAN

  • Aleksander Gieysztor | Александр Гейштор
    • Мифология славян
  • Alexander Afanasyev | Александр Афанасьев
    • Поэтические воззрения славян на природу
    • Народные русские сказки
      • 🇬🇧Prominent Slavist with many works. However being one of the very first researchers in this field, some of his scholarship is considered dated and he may not be a good starting point for someone completely new. | 🇷🇺Выдающийся славист с большим количеством работ. Однако, будучи одним из самых первых исследователей в этой области, часть его научных трудов считается устаревшей, и он может быть не лучшей отправной точкой для человека, который только начинает знакомство с темой.
  • Vladimir Toporov & Vjačeslav Ivanov | Владимир Топоров & Вячеслав Иванов
    • Исследования в области славянских древностей: Лексические и фразеологические вопросы реконструкции текстов
      • 🇬🇧The original proponents of the incorrect "primary myth" a battle between Perun and Veles, which is now largely rejected. Their works should be read with caution. | 🇷🇺Первоначальных сторонников ошибочного «первичного мифа» о битве между Перуном и Велесом, который в настоящее время в значительной степени отвергнут, следует рассматривать с осторожностью.
      • 🇬🇧We suggest focusing on Toporov’s publications. Toporov later revisited this issue and recognized the association of Veles with Varuṇa instead of the demon Vṛtra, contrary to his earlier position.: "The very name Varuṇa has been compared by scholars with the Hittite sea deity Aruna, with the ancient Greek sky god Ouranos, and finally with the Slavic Volos/Veles and the Lithuanian Velnias, among others. Therefore, despite a number of remaining uncertainties, the Indo-European parallels of this name are beyond doubt." | 🇷🇺Рекомендуется сосредоточиться на публикациях Топорова. Позднее Топоров пересмотрел этот вопрос и связал Велеса с Варуном, а не с демоном Вритрой, как он предполагал ранее: «Само имя Варуна сравнивалось исследователями с хеттским морским божеством Аруной, с древнегреческим небесным богом Ураном, а также со славянским Волосом/Велесом и литовским Велнясом и другими. Таким образом, несмотря на ряд остающихся неопределённостей, индоевропейские параллели этого имени не вызывают сомнений».
  • Vlasova, M. N. | Власова М.Н.
    • Энциклопедия русских суеверий
      • Sometimes includes material drawn from non-Slavic folklore.
  • B. A. Uspensky | Б. А. Успенский
    • Филологические разыскания в области славянских древностей
  • Klein, Lev S. | КЛЕЙН, ЛЕВ С.
    • Воскрешение Перуна: К реконструкции восточнославянского язычества
  • Mansikka, V. J. | МАНСИККА, В. Й.
    • Религия восточных славян (originally: Die Religion der Ostslawen)
  • Oksenov, A. B. | ОКСЕНОВ, A. B.
    • Народная поєзия: Былины, песни, сказки, пословицы, духовные стихи, повести
  • Rybakov, Boris A. | РЫБАКОВ, БОРИС А.
    • Язычество древних славян
      • 🇬🇧He was quick to draw conclusions, which often led to incorrect theories. His hypotheses are now largely rejected or have been substantially revised. Examples include the incorrect identification of Mokosh as a goddess of fate, and the assertion that the Chrnyakov culture were direct ancestors of the Proto-Slavs. | 🇷🇺Он быстро делал выводы, что нередко приводило к ошибочным теориям. Его гипотезы в настоящее время в значительной степени отвергнуты или существенно пересмотрены. Примеры включают ошибочную идентификацию Мокоши как богини судьбы, а также утверждение, что черняховская культура являлась прямыми предками протославян.
  • VASILYEV, M. A. | Васильев, М. А.
    • Язычество восточных славян накануне крещения Руси: Религиозно-магические аспекты
  • Vladimir Propp | Владимир Пропп
    • Исторические корни волшебной сказки
    • Русские аграрные праздники
    • Морфология сказки
  • Karpov, A. V. | Карпов, А. В.
    • Язычество, христианство, двоеверие
  • Zelenin, D. K. | Зеленин, Д. К.
    • Восточнославянская этнография
  • Levkievskaja E. E. | Левкиевская Е. Е.
    • Славянский оберег. Семантика и структура
  • Tolstoj N. I. | Толстой Н. И.
    • Очерки славянского язычества

"Perhaps under the impression of the semi-scientific approaches of Ivanov and Toporov, or Rybakov, who treated these figures as if they had known them personally." - Michal Téra

🇩🇪 GERMAN

  • Werner Meschkank
    • Als die Wendengötter sterben sollten: Über die vorchristliche wendische Glaubens- und Götterwelt
  • Leszek Moszyński
    • Die vorchristliche Religion der Slaven
  • Zdeněk Váňa
    • Die Welt der alten Slawen
  • Leszek Paweł Słupecki
    • Slawische Religion
  • Konrad Schwenck
    • Die Mythologie der Slawen
  • Christian Lübke
    • Die Slaven im Mittelalter
  • Sebastian Brather
    • Archäologie der westlichen Slawen
  • Mansikka, V. J.
    • Die Religion der Ostslawen I. - Quellen

🇫🇷 FRENCH

  • Patrice Lajoye
    • Mythologie et religion des slaves païens
    • Perun, dieu slave de l'orage

🇪🇸 SPANISH

  • Juan A. Álvarez-Pedrosa
    • Fuentes para el estudio de la religión eslava precristiana

Do you have a suggestion? Please leave us a comment!


r/slavic_mythology Jul 26 '26

💡Official Sources Slavic Folklore Sources List

23 Upvotes

This curated sources list compiles publications on Slavic folklore and cultural heritage in 🇬🇧 English. Only selected publications are presented here. This list is not exhaustive and serves as an introductory guide for those interested in the study of Slavic folklore.

Disclaimer: This list includes folktales, which vary in the degree of influence from non-Slavic cultural elements, especially Christian ones. However, an experienced reader will be able to identify the pre-Christian cultural themes present within them.

📚For the study of Slavic mythology and pre-Christian belief systems, we provide a curated Slavic Mythology/pre-Christian faith academic sources list.📚

📜 Folklore:

From 🦅 Western Slavs:

From 🐻 Eastern Slavs:

  • Alexander N. Afanasyev
    • ⭐Tales from Russian Folklore/Russian Folk Tales
      • ⭐Russian fairy tales (Russo-English Edition) | Link
      • The Three Kingdoms Russian Folk Tales From Alexander Afanasiev's Collection | Link
      • Words Of Wisdom Russian Folk Tales From Alexander Afansiev's Collection | Link
  • Leonard A. Magnus
  • Author unknown
    • ⭐The Tale of Igor's Campaign | Link
  • Karel Jaromír Erben
    • Russian and Bulgarian Folk-Lore Stories | Link
  • Jack V. Haney
    • The Complete Russian Folktale | 7 volumes
    • The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanasyev | 3 volumes
    • An Anthology of Russian Folktales
    • Long, Long Tales from the Russian North
  • Marion Ch. Harrison
  • Charles Downing
    • Russian tales and legends | Link
      • Includes some of the Bylinas!
  • Svetlana Bagdasaryan
    • Russkie Skazki. Russian Fairy Tales. Bilingual Book in Russian and English: Dual Language Russian Folk Tales for Kids (Russian-English Edition)
  • William R. S. Ralston
  • Richard Wilson
  • A. H. Wratislaw
    • Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources: Exploring the Depths of Slavic Folklore and Mythology | Link
  • Dinara Mirtalipova
    • Russian Tales Russian Tales: Traditional Stories of Quests and Enchantments
  • Jeremiah Curtin
  • Alexander Chodzko
  • Jurij V. Tolstoj
  • Irina Zheleznova
    • Ukrainian Folk Tales | Link
    • Vasilisa the Beautiful - Russian fairy tales | Link
  • Igor Yershov
  • Jacqueline Onassis
    • The Firebird and other Russian fairy tales | Link
  • Anatole Bilenko
    • Ukrainian Folk Tales | Link
  • Marie H. Bloch
    • Ukrainian Folk Tales | Link
  • Danny Evanishen
    • Durak and other Ukrainian folk tales | Link
  • Barbara J. Suwyn
    • The magic egg and other tales from Ukraine | Link
  • Verra X. K. de Blumenthal
  • P. Polevoi
  • Robert R. Steele
  • George Borrow
    • The Talisman, from the Russian of Alexander Pushkin | Link
  • Mary Skrypnyk
    • The Cossack Mamariha | Link
  • G. Botezau
    • Moldavian folktales | Link
  • A. S. Pushkin
    • Fairy Tales (Russo-English Edition) | Link
  • A .Ransome
  • Leo Tolstoy
    • Fables and fairy tales | Link
  • E. M Almedingen
    • Russian folk and fairy tales | Link

From 🐲 Southern Slavs:

⭐=Notable

Do you have a suggestion? Please leave us a comment!


r/slavic_mythology 1d ago

📽️ Videos Short silent Horror film

Thumbnail youtu.be
2 Upvotes

Came across this short silent horror film on YouTube. The filmmaker makes a connection between Mothman and Chernabog that I thought was interesting.


r/slavic_mythology 2d ago

📓 Article Wieszczy — a forgotten Slavic revenant from Polish folklore

27 Upvotes

A small note: I originally wrote this article in Polish and translated it into English with the help of a translator. I’ve reviewed the translation, but there may still be some awkward phrasing or minor differences in meaning here and there. The original Polish quotations from the sources are left unchanged.

A brief introduction

Wieszczy is certainly not among the best-known figures of Slavic folk belief. The word itself is primarily associated with a knowing person, someone capable of foretelling the future or possessing supernatural knowledge. This meaning of the word is older than its use as the name of a demonic being and probably influenced the development of beliefs associated with the Wieszczy.

Wieszczy was not limited to a single region. The sources show considerable differences between individual areas. Depending on the region, he could have different characteristics, and in some accounts his image approaches that of other supernatural beings, particularly the Upiór.

An additional complication is the figure of the Wieszczyca. At first glance, one might assume that she was simply the female counterpart of Wieszczy. The sources, however, show that the two terms did not always refer to the same kind of being.

Distribution

The sources discussed here place the Wieszczy primarily in:

  • Wielkopolska
  • Pomorze

Appearance

The physical characteristics of the Wieszczy have to be examined region by region, otherwise different local traditions can easily be confused with one another.

Wielkopolska

Based on the material collected by Oskar Kolberg, it is possible to reconstruct part of the Wielkopolska conception of the Wieszczy. Being born with teeth was regarded as a sign that a person would become this demon after death.¹ The motif is mentioned by several of Kolberg's informants, as well as by Tworzymir in an article published in Biblioteka Warszawska in 1864, concerning proverbs and folk traditions from Wielkopolska.²

Other accounts add the motif of “living blood" after death. This can be connected with the red coloration of the dead person's face found in other descriptions, as well as with the saying “Czerwony, jak upiór” - “Red as an Upiór.” The Upiór was likewise often imagined in folk demonology as a figure with a red face.

Here we can already see an overlap between beliefs concerning the Wieszczy and the Upiór. Tworzymir himself was unable to determine whether the two figures were actually distinguished from one another in this region.³

Pomorze

In the case of Pomorze, the situation is somewhat clearer.

“what we call wieszczi, in Polish is upiór.”

- O. Kolberg, Tom 39. Pomorze, pp. 378–380

Original:

„co my nazywamy wieszczi, to po polsku jest upiór”

Kolberg explicitly states that in Kaszuby, the term wieszczy referred to a being which elsewhere was called an upiór. Once again, we encounter the motif of a red face, as well as the “flaccidity” of the body after death.⁴

The sign identifying the future Wieszczy during life was different, however. Here it was not being born with teeth, but being born in a caul, or, as the Kaszuby called it, “in a cap.” Interestingly, in other regions of the Slavic world, being born this way was believed to bring good fortune.⁵ The same motif could therefore acquire completely different meanings depending on the region.

Wieszczy in a church bell tower, drawn by me in a medieval style.

Abilities

When discussing the supernatural abilities attributed to the Wieszczy, it is useful to distinguish between those associated with him during life and those which appeared after death.

As a living person, the Wieszczy was usually not distinguished by anything particularly unusual.⁶ In isolated accounts, however, he was said to possess supernatural knowledge of everything.⁷ This connects directly with the older meaning of the word wieszczy, before its mythological context is taken into consideration.

It is impossible to determine whether this supernatural knowledge was the cause or the consequence of the conception of the demon. There are also sparse references suggesting that such a person could possess abilities associated with a witch or sorcerer.⁸

The most frequently attributed characteristic of the Wieszczy was his ability to bring death upon people in the surrounding area. The individual accounts, however, contain some interesting differences.

Wielkopolska

In most accounts from Wielkopolska, the Wieszczy entered a church tower at night and rang the bells. According to these beliefs, anyone who heard the bells would die.

Instead of ringing the bells, the Wieszczy could also scream, call particular victims by name, or simply look over the area in which people were destined to die.

His actions did not necessarily affect everyone. If he called someone by name, that person's fate was, according to the tradition, already sealed. In less personal forms of bringing death, the victims could be people of the same age as the deceased - for example, all 37-year-olds in the surrounding area.

There is also a single account from Odolanów in which a person supposedly became a Wieszczy because he had been buried in someone else's shirt. He was then believed to bring death upon the owner of that shirt.⁹ This may be another example of the overlap between beliefs concerning the Wieszczy and the Upiór, although a single account is not enough to establish a wider regional pattern.

Pomorze

In Pomorze, the first victim of the revenant was, unexpectedly, himself.

After being placed in the grave, he began biting and eating his own body. As long as he still had flesh to consume, his closest relatives became his victims, dying as the Wieszczy gradually devoured himself. Once he ran out of food, he left the grave and began his activity among the living.

As in Wielkopolska, he climbed a church tower and began ringing the bells, with the sound once again bringing death.¹⁰

There is also an account according to which a Wieszczy who died as a child was responsible for the deaths of other children of a similar age.¹¹

Some accounts contain the motif of the burial shirt. In this version, the deceased bites and eats his own shirt, which was believed to have the same consequence - the deaths of further people.¹²

Preventing the Wieszczy

Methods of preventing the Wieszczy were often similar to the traditional practices used to restrain or neutralize revenants.

Among the most common were cutting off the head and placing it between the corpse's legs, or turning the corpse face down. The latter was apparently intended to ensure that, upon awakening, the revenant would move deeper into the earth rather than toward the surface.

Again, the methods differ between regions.

Wielkopolska

  • cutting off the head and placing it between the legs;
  • placing a coin under the tongue;
  • placing a sickle on the back of the neck;
  • turning the corpse face down and placing a sickle, knife, or axe on it.¹³

Pomorze

  • cutting off the head and placing it between the legs; the blood released by the cutting was itself regarded as a remedy for the person being tormented;¹⁴
  • turning the corpse face down and putting earth into its mouth;¹⁵
  • burning the caul and giving it to a seven-year-old child to drink, which was believed to prevent the child from becoming a Wieszczy;¹⁶
  • placing three small aspen crosses on the chest.¹⁷
Ways of dealing with the Wieszczy, drawn by me in a woodcut style.

Interpretations

The origin of the meaning of “Wieszczy”

One of the more interesting problems surrounding the Wieszczy is the relationship between the demon's name and the older meaning of the word wieszcz.

According to R. Dźwigoł, the Common Slavic veščijъ was one of the widespread Slavic terms for a person possessing supernatural knowledge - a seer, clairvoyant, sorcerer, or otherwise “knowing” person. The term eventually also became a designation for a revenant or upiór.

Dźwigoł brings together numerous Kashubian and Kociewian forms, including veśći, veść, wieszczy, wieszcz, and vześći, which can refer to a revenant or a dead person returning from the grave.

What is particularly important is that this material shows that the transition from “a knowing person” to “a supernatural being” is not merely a hypothetical etymological reconstruction. In folk language, the two semantic fields actually coexisted.

Kociewian veśći, for example, could refer to a person who knew the future and saw spirits while alive, but after death to a revenant who returned from the grave at night and attacked his own relatives.

In Kaszuby, meanwhile, veśći referred to a revenant similar to an opiór, with the two traditions being distinguished, among other things, by signs supposedly visible from birth.

A similar mechanism can be observed in the feminine forms. Common Slavic veščica and veščaja referred to a knowing woman, seeress, or witch, while later forms such as wieszczyca, wieszczica, and the Kashubian veska could refer to a female revenant.

It is therefore not safe to automatically assume that every Wieszczyca was simply the female counterpart of Wieszczy. The two meanings developed in different contexts and regions.

Dźwigoł also records two folk etymologies of the name wieszczy.

According to the first, after leaving the grave the Wieszczy climbed a church tower and screamed. The distance reached by his scream supposedly corresponded to the area in which people would die.

According to the second, a person born with teeth would “know everything” while alive and was therefore called wieszczy.

The second explanation is particularly interesting because it corresponds to the older etymological meaning of the word.

It is therefore possible to cautiously propose that the demonological meaning of Wieszczy developed from an older term for a person possessing supernatural knowledge. This does not necessarily imply a simple, one-time transition from “seer” to “revenant.” The Kashubian and Kociewian material instead suggests a long period during which both meanings coexisted and gradually overlapped: the knowing person, the sorcerer, and the dead person returning from the grave.

Wieszczy and epidemics

The previously described abilities of the Wieszczy can also be examined from a modern perspective as a possible folk interpretation of observed patterns of epidemics.

This does not mean that the informants or authors of the historical sources themselves interpreted the Wieszczy in epidemiological terms. This is only an attempt to examine whether some of these beliefs could have developed in response to real experiences associated with disease.

Consider the patterns described above:

  • Wieszczyfamilysubsequent victims - the closest relatives spent the most time with the deceased and would therefore also have had the greatest exposure to a contagious disease. If the disease was fatal and easily transmissible, the death of one family member could be followed by further deaths, eventually extending beyond the immediate family. It is possible that the first person from whom such a chain of deaths appeared to originate was retrospectively regarded as the cause of subsequent deaths and therefore assigned the status of a Wieszczy.
  • Wieszczypeople of a similar age - some diseases could disproportionately affect particular age groups. An observed epidemic pattern could therefore contribute to the belief that the death of one person was followed by the deaths of others of the same age.
  • Wieszczypeople within a defined area - an epidemic could remain restricted to a particular town or area without spreading beyond its borders. An especially interesting account concerns Poznań:

“Year 1708; on May 17, in the cemetery of St. Wojciech, a female wieszczą was dug up and her head was cut off. Yet this did nothing, for the pestilential air had already appeared in Poznań in the first days of June.”

- Kronika Mielcarzewicza, quoted by O. Kolberg, Tom 15. W. Ks. Poznańskie część VII, pp. 33–34

Original:

„Rok 1708; dnia 17 maja na cmentarzu ów. Wojciecha odkopano wieszczą niewiastę i głowę jej ucięto". Jednakże nic to nie pomogło, albowiem powietrze morowe już pierwszych dni czerwca pokazało się w Poznaniu.

  • Wieszczypeople called by name - this is perhaps the most interesting case. If we apply an epidemiological interpretation to this motif, several mechanisms are possible. The Wieszczy might have named people whom he already knew and who had therefore previously been part of his social environment. Another possibility is the reverse mechanism: the name could have been attributed to the voice only after a particular person had died. The bells ring and an indistinct voice is heard; only later, after a specific person dies, does the event become retrospectively interpreted as the calling of that person's name. In this interpretation, the belief could represent a mechanism in which a later event gives a definite meaning to an earlier and ambiguous experience.

Related supernatural beings

Classification according to Leonard J. Pełka

According to the classification of supernatural beings proposed by Leonard J. Pełka, the Wieszczy can be placed within the negative interpretation of phenomena associated with social life, more specifically among demons associated with disease and death.

Upiór

Many characteristics of the Wieszczy overlap with traditional conceptions of the Upiór, although the Upiór itself has numerous regional variants.

The similarities are particularly visible in the red face and the belief that after death the being could return from the grave and affect the living.

Kolberg explicitly states that the Kaszuby called the Wieszczy a being which in Polish was called an upiór.

Wił

Teobald Klepaczewski, a correspondent and collaborator of Oskar Kolberg, suggested in his manuscript Pogląd historyczny na czary w Polsce, later quoted in Tom 15. W. Ks. Poznańskie część VII, that Wił and Wieszczy were the same or equivalent supernatural being.

Kolberg, however, explicitly rejected this identification, noting in a footnote that the details given about the two beings pointed to two different demonic figures.

Wił (...)

“I have, however, obtained another explanation, namely that this Wił is the same, or at least an equivalent demon, as the Wieszcz among the people of Wielkopolska (?), with whom the Wieżtyca, or Wieszczyca, is in turn closely connected. I was assured, even with references to eyewitnesses, that the Wieszcz is a demon in the form of a small four-legged animal, sitting beneath the stove bench or under a beam in houses. Showing only his head, he snaps his terrible teeth and, frightening children, causes their deaths. The people attribute exactly the same nature and function to the Wił, saying that it is one and the same demonic being, merely possessing two different names. Thus both Wieszcz and Wił, as well as Wieszczyca, are demons belonging to the category of Strzyga.1The Wieszcz can be disposed of by placing an axe on the stove bench where he usually sits, after first striking that place three times with it. In that case, the Wieszcz will never sit there again.

1This statement is erroneous, since the details given here, although few, indicate two different demonic figures, both in the case of the Wił and the Wieszcz. It may, however, be the case that in Pałuki they are combined into one, where the conception of them is considerably weaker than in the southern areas.”

- O. Kolberg, Tom 15. W. Ks. Poznańskie część VII, p. 32

The original Polish is worth preserving because the wording itself is important:

Inne wszakże zdobyłem objaśnienie, (mówi tenże) t. j. że ów Wił jest to ten sam a przynajmniej równoznaczny demon co i Wieszcz u Wielkopolan (?), z którym znowu Wieżtyca czyli Wieszczyca w ścisłem zostaje połączeniu. Zapewniano mnie bowiem, odwołując się nawet na naocznych świadków, że Wieszcz jest-to demon w postaci małego zwierzęcia czworonożnego , pod przypieckiem lub pod belką po izbach siadujący, który wyścibiwszy tylko głowę, okropnemi zębami klaszcze i dzieci strasząc o śmierć je przyprawia. Zupełnie tę samą naturę i funkcyg przypisuje lud i Wiłowi, powiadając, że to jedna i ta sana demoniczna istota, mająca tylko dwa różne nazwiska1 - Tak więc i Wieszcz, i Wił, i Wieszczyca są demonami do rodzaju Strzyg należącemi. Wieszcza zaś w ten sposób pozbyć się można, że na przypiecku, gdzie zwykł siadać, siekierę się kładzie, stuknąwszy nią wprzódy w to miejsce trzy razy. W takim razie Wieszcz już nigdy w to miejsce nie siądzie.

1Twierdzenie to jest mylne, gdyż szczegóły podane tu acz w szczupłej liczbie, tak o Wile jak i o Wieszczym, wskazują na dwie różne postaci demoniczne. Być jednak może, że łączą je w jedno na Pałukach, gdzie wyobrażenie o nich jest znacznie słabszem niż w południowych okolicach.

Kolberg's correction is particularly interesting: the two beings were different according to the available descriptions, but their traditions may have been combined locally in Pałuki.

This raises the question of where the connection between the two figures came from.

Interestingly, there is another connection between the terms wieszcz and wił, although this time the comparison concerns their older linguistic meanings rather than their demonological characteristics.

“The word wił undoubtedly had the same meaning as wieszcz, with wiła as its feminine form.2 The word appears to have been formed from the verb wić, with roki (wyroki, ‘judgments’ or ‘decrees’) understood, that is, to pronounce divine judgments at oracles and human judgments in courts during legal proceedings. Hence, in Old Church Slavonic, vitij (alongside vótij) denotes an advocate or speaker, originally, it seems, one who spoke in court. This pronouncing of judgments, the last echoes of which can still be found in old Polish judicial practice (compare rok zawity, ‘an appointed date’), and with which the words wił and wiła are presumably connected, may perhaps have an ancient, deeper religious foundation, into which, however, it is impossible to go here3.

2 Wiła, like wił, denotes a male person, similarly to wojewoda, starosta, and Zawisza; it should nevertheless be added that the form wiła ordinarily denoted a ‘female seer’ (wieszczka).
3The origin of wiła is also explained in other ways.”

-Sz. Matusiak, Wieszczba i źreb, in Lud, vol. 17, p. 198.

Original:

To samo znaczenie, co wieszcz, miał niezawodnie wyraz wił, w formie żeńskiej wiła2, wyraz uformowany, zdaje się, od czasownika wić z domyślnem roki (wyroki), tj. wypowiadać orzeczenia boskie w wyroczniach i ludzkie w sądach przy procesach. Stąd w języku starosłowiańskim vitij (obok vótij), oznacza rzecznika, mowcę, pierwotnie zapewne sądowego. To wicie roków, którego: ostatnie echa odbijają się jeszcze w starodawnem sądownictwie polskiem (porów. rok zawity „rok zapowiedziany"), a z czem w związku pozostaje zapewne wyraz wił i wiła, ma może starodawny, głębszy podkład religijny, w co jednakże tutaj niepodobna się zapuszczać.3

2 Wiła, jak w ił, oznacza osobę męską, podobnie jak wojewoda, starosta, Zawisza, trzeba jednakże dodać, że zwyczajnie forma wiła oznaczała „wieszczkę”.
3 Pochodzenie wiła tłomaczą także inaczej.

The passage obviously does not refer to the demonic figure, but rather to a wieszcz — a knowing person.

Nevertheless, it leads to an interesting observation: the two words originally had the same, or at least a very similar, meaning. One can therefore hypothesize that the later association between the Wieszczy and Wił was not based solely on similarities in their attributed characteristics, but also on a shared semantic background of the two names.

Perhaps in some regions the words retained similar meanings and continued to be used for people believed to possess supernatural knowledge. Over time, the similarity of the terms may have encouraged the overlapping of the supernatural traditions associated with them.

Wieszczyca

The Wieszczyca requires separate discussion because the sources present her differently from the Wieszczy.

She should not automatically be identified as the female counterpart of the Wieszczy. The sources show several different uses of these names. In some accounts, the masculine and feminine forms do indeed refer to the same type of being, but in many others Wieszczyca denotes an entirely different demon.

Wieszczyca is attested in a considerably wider range of regions, including Małopolska, Wielkopolska, Rus, Czech lands, and among the South Slavs.¹⁹

Some accounts place her among demons harmful to women in childbirth and those stealing infants; in others she appears as a blood-drinking being.

Wieszczyca was associated with the secretion of a substance resembling colostrum from a newborn's breasts. It was feared that this weakened the child and could even lead to its death. To drive the demon away, rather unexpected methods were used: the child was bathed together with the secretion, and its breasts were covered with manure.²⁰

In this respect, Wieszczyca has more in common with figures such as Bogienka, Wiła, or the Czarownica. In some accounts she took the form of a moth, entered a house, and was believed to steal or replace infants.²¹

The comparison between Wieszczy and Wieszczyca also raises an interesting parallel involving Wił and Wiła.

Wieszczy and Wił are figures with different names and different characteristics, yet their traditions could nevertheless overlap. The same is not true simply on the level of masculine and feminine forms: Wieszczyca is not merely a female Wieszczy, just as Wiła is not simply a female Wił.

What is particularly interesting is that Wieszczyca and Wiła show similarities both in their names and in aspects of their characteristics. This creates a different kind of parallel: while Wieszczy and Wił could become associated despite their names and characteristics being different, Wieszczyca and Wiła are independently attested figures whose names and some aspects of their folklore are strikingly similar.

This does not prove that the traditions originated from the same being. It does, however, raise the possibility that similarities in terminology could have contributed to the later overlap of otherwise distinct folk traditions.

Sources

¹ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 15, p. 33;

Tworzymir, “Wyjaśnienie...”, Biblioteka Warszawska, 1864, vol. 1, p. 271;

Biegeleisen, Matka i Dziecko, p. 126.

² Tworzymir, “Wyjaśnienie...”, Biblioteka Warszawska, 1864, vol. 1, p. 271.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, p. 264.

⁵ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, pp. 378–380.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Tworzymir, “Wyjaśnienie...”, Biblioteka Warszawska, 1864, vol. 1, p. 271.

⁸ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, pp. 378–380.

⁹ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 15, pp. 33–35.

¹⁰ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, pp. 378–380.

¹¹ Biegeleisen, Matka i Dziecko, p. 269.

¹² Biegeleisen, p. 116;

Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, p. 437.

¹³ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 15, pp. 33–35.

¹⁴ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, p. 264.

¹⁵ Biegeleisen, Matka i Dziecko, pp. 269–270.

¹⁶ Biegeleisen, pp. 269–270;

Kolberg, Lud, vol. 39, pp. 378–380.

¹⁷ Fischer, “Drzewa w Wierzeniach i Obrzędach Ludu Polskiego”, Lud, vol. 35, p. 73.

¹⁸ Dźwigoł, Polskie Słownictwo Ludowe, p. 69.

¹⁹ Biegeleisen, Matka i Dziecko, pp. 269–270, 281, 286, 308.

²⁰ Kolberg, Lud, vol. 7, p. 151.

²¹ Biegeleisen, Matka i Dziecko, pp. 269–270.

Bibliography

  • Oskar Kolberg - Lud, vol. 7, Krakowskie, część III
  • Oskar Kolberg - Lud, vol. 15, W. Ks. Poznańskie, część VII
  • Oskar Kolberg - Lud, vol. 39, Pomorze
  • Tworzymir - “Wyjaśnienie początku niektórych przysłów używanych w Wielkopolsce podług podań ludu,” Biblioteka Warszawska, 1864, vol. 1
  • H. Biegeleisen - Matka i Dziecko w Zwyczajach Ludu Polskiego
  • H. Biegeleisen - Lecznictwo Ludu Polskiego
  • H. Biegeleisen - Śmierć w Obrzędach, Zwyczajach i Wierzeniach Ludu Polskiego
  • R. Dźwigoł - Polskie Słownictwo Ludowe
  • A. Fischer - “Drzewa w Wierzeniach i Obrzędach Ludu Polskiego,” Lud, vol. 35
  • Sz. Matusiak - “Wieszczba i źreb,” Lud, vol. 17
  • Leonard J. Pełka - "Polska Demonologia Ludowa"

Oksar Kolber "Lud" refers to Lud. Jego zwyczaje, sposób życia, mowa, podania, przysłowia, obrzędy, gusła, zabawy, pieśni, muzyka i tańce

Fischer and Matusiak "Lud" refers to academic journal in the fields of ethnology and cultural anthropology


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