Slavic fairies: Encyclopedia - Slavic fairies

Slavic fairies

Fairies in Slavic mythology come in several forms and their names are spelled differently based on the specific language. J.K. Rowling, in her Harry Potter books, refers to Veela, which are thought to be similar (see below).

Slavic fairies - Wila

In Polish mythology, the Wila (Wiła) are reputed in Poland and Lithuania to be the shape-shifting souls of the dead that were believed to visit the homes of their families. Peasants would lay flowers in the entrances to caves where they believed the Wila resided. Offerings for the Wila consist of ribbons, round cakes, vegetables, fresh fruit or other flowers left at sacred trees, fairy caves and wells. They are the female spirits that lived in the mountains, woods, and clouds that could shape-shift into horses, falcons, or swans also.

Slavic fairies - Vila

The Vila, or Willi or Veela, are the Slavic versions of nymphs, who have power over storms, which they delight in sending down on lonely travelers. They are known to live in meadows, ponds, oceans, trees, and clouds (cf. Leimakids, Limnades, Oceanids, Dryads, Nephele). They can appear as swans, horses, wolves, or, of course, beautiful women.

In the fictional Harry Potter series, Veela appear as astoundingly beautiful, magically captivating women who transform into hideous bird-like creatures when angered, notably in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the Quidditch World Cup, where they were the mascots for the Bulgarian Quidditch team. The character Fleur Delacour is part-Veela, and is described as being so breath-taking that men and boys are almost dumbfounded in her presence. Oddly enough, the core of Fleur's wand is a strand of her Veela grandmother's hair.

The Vilia is the Celtic version of this woodland spirit. She enjoys taking captivating passing men with her beauty, but then abandoning them. In a love song titled Vilia, from "The Merry Widow" by Lehar and Ross, a hunter pines for Vilia, "the witch of the wood".

Slavic fairies - Wili

Among the Slavic creatures of folklore, for the English-speaking world the wilis are indelibly connected with the Romantic ballet Giselle, first danced in Paris in 1840, with its spectral wilis, young girls who have died on their wedding days, who almost snatch away the hero's life-breath, but must disappear at the break of dawn.

These wilis have been adapted from a poem of Heinrich Heine, who claimed to be using a Slavic legend. Meyer's Konverationslexikon defines Wiles or Wilis as female vampires, the spirits of betrothed girls who die before their wedding night. According to Heine, wilis are unable to rest in their graves because they could not satisfy their passion for dancing when they were alive. They therefore gather on the highway at midnight to lure young men and dance them to their death. In Serbia they were maidens cursed by God; in Bulgaria they were known as samovily, girls who died before they were baptized; and in Poland they are beautiful young girls floating in the air atoning for frivolous past lives.

The first opera completed by Giacomo Puccini, Le Villi, makes free use of the same thematic material. It had its debut in May 1884 at the Teatro dal Verme, Milan, and was revised for a more successful reception at the Royal Theater, Turin, that December.

Slavic fairies - Południca

Południca (Polish; Polednice in Czech, Polednica in Slovak, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Bulgarian) was a Slavic noon demon. She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds. She assailed folk working at noon causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck. Sometimes she even caused madness. Południca in Polish mythology is the whirlwind named "Lady Midday," who makes herself more evident in the middle of hot summer days. She takes the form of whirling dust clouds and carries a scythe. She will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them with illness. She may appear as an old hag or beautiful woman, or a 12 year old girl; and she was useful in scaring children away from valuable crops. She is only seen on the hottest part of the day and is a personification of a sun-stroke.

Slavic fairies - Rusalka

In Slavic mythology, a rusalka was a female ghost, water nymph or succubus-like demon that dwelled in a lake. Her eyes shone like green fire. Men who were seduced by her died in her arms, and in some versions her laugh could also cause death (compare with the Irish banshee). She corresponds to the Scandinavian and German Nix.

The ghostly version of the succubus is the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a lake (many of these rusalki had been murdered by lovers) and came to haunt that lake; this undead rusalka is not particularly malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged.

The rusalka was the main character in Antonín Dvořák's opera Rusalka.

In Polish mythology, rusalki are spirits that dwell in the waters from fall to spring; in some traditions, they reside in the waters from summer to fall. In other tales, they become Sky Women when they return from the waters. They are called Queen of Fairies, and it is said that only witches dare to swim with rusalki. A belief has it that the thunder and lightning of springtime are brought on by Sky Women mating with the thunder gods; hence spring festivals included celebration of the return of the rusalki from the waters with the placing of wreaths on the waters, and with circle dances and fire festivals. Rusalki brought moisture to field and forest.

Slavic fairies - Sky Women

In Polish mythology, sky women were the warm-weather incarnations of the rusalki. Slavic women would go out in the first snowfall and build snow women to honor them, as snow is believed to be brought by the sky women.

See also

• Slavic mythology

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Slavic fairies", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki