Slavic fairies

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Rusałkas (1877), by Witold Pruszkowski

Fairies in Slavic mythology come in several forms and their names are spelled differently based on the specific language.

1 Wila
2 Vila
3 Wili
4 Rusałka
5 Vodianoi
6 Sky Women
7 Slavic Fairies in Modern Fiction
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Wila

In Polish mythology, the Wila (VEE-lah) are believed to be female fairy-like spirits who live in the wilderness and sometimes clouds. They were believed to be the spirits of women who had been frivolous in their lifetimes and now floated between here and the afterlife. They sometimes appear as the swans, snakes, horses, falcons, or wolves that they can shapeshift into but usually appear as beautiful maidens, naked or dressed in white with long flowing hair.

It is said that if even one of these hairs is plucked, the Wila will die, or be forced to change back to her true shape. A human may gain the control of a Wila by stealing feathers from her wings. Once she gets them back, however, she will disappear. (Compare Swan maiden.)

The voices of the Wila are as beautiful as the rest of them, and one who hears them loses all thoughts of food, drink or sleep, sometimes for days. Despite their feminine charms, however, the Wila are fierce warriors. The earth is said to shake when they do battle. They have healing and prophetic powers and are sometimes willing to help human beings. At other times they lure young men to dance with them, which according to their mood can be a very good or very bad thing for the lad. They ride on horses or deer when they hunt with their bows and arrows and will kill any man who defies them or breaks his word. Fairy rings of deep thick grass are left where they have danced which should never be trod upon (bad luck).

Offerings for Wila consist of round cakes, ribbons, fresh fruits and vegetables or flowers left at sacred trees and wells and at fairy caves.

[edit] 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.

The Vilia is the Celtic version of this woodland spirit. She enjoys 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".

[edit] 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 Konversationslexikon 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.

[edit] Rusałka

Image:Rusałka.jpg

Rusałka (1968) by K. Vasiliev.

Main article: Rusalka

In Slavic mythology, a Rusałka was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a lake. She was considered a being of the unclean force or нечистая сила (nechistaya sila). The ghostly version 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 Rusałka is not invariably malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged. In most versions, the Rusałka is an unquiet dead being. According to Zelenin, people who die violently and before their time, such as young women who commit suicide because they have been jilted by their lovers, or unmarried women who are pregnant out of wedlock, must live out their designated time on earth (срок, srok) as a spirit. Another theory is that rusalki are the female spirits of the unclean dead; this includes suicides, unbaptized babies, and those who die without last rites. (Under this theory male unclean dead were said to become vodianoi).

[edit] Vodianoi

Main article: Vodyanoy

The vodianoi is a male water spirit of Slavic origin. He is viewed to be particularly malevolent, existing almost exclusively to drown swimmers who have angered him by their boldness. Reports of his appearance vary; some tales define him as a naked old man, bloated and hairy, covered in slime, covered in scales, or simply as an old peasant with a red shirt and beard. He is also reported to have the ability to transform into a fish.

The vodianoi lives in deep pools, often by a mill, and is said to be the spirit of unclean male dead (this definition includes those who have committed suicide, unbaptized children, and those who die without last rites). As previously stated, the vodianoi would drown those who angered him with boasts or insults. However, this was no certain protection, as the spirit was particularly capricious. Peasants feared the vodianoi and would often attempt to get rid of the spirit or, failing that, appease him.

The only people who were generally safe from the vodianoi's anger were millers and fishermen. Millers in particular were viewed to be so close to the vodianoi that they often became seen as sorcerous figures. This may be influenced by the belief that millers yearly drown a drunk passerby as an offering to the vodianoi. Fishermen were somewhat less suspect, offering only the first of their catch with an incantation. If a vodianoi favored a fisherman he would herd fish into the nets. ^[1]

The Czech and Slovak equivalent is called a vodník. A similar figure appears in German mythology as a Wasserman or nix.

[edit] 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. One 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 a 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.

[edit] Slavic Fairies in Modern Fiction

In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the Veela are stunningly beautiful and magically captivating women who put men into a trance when singing or dancing and can turn into hideous bird-like creatures capable of throwing balls of fire when angered. They first appear in book 4 of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which they accompany the Bulgarian quidditch team to the quidditch World Cup.^[2] One of the characters, Fleur Delacour, is part Veela and appears to have a magically enhanced charismatic effect on men. In the Harry Potter series, we meet three part-veela in person: Fleur Delacour, who is a Triwizard Tournement champion from France's elite magic school, Beauxbatons; her younger sister, Gabrielle; and their mother, Madam Delacour.

It's also believed by a few that Vila inspired the Viera, from the games Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XII, seeing that both Vila and Viera are not only female, but native to the woods.

C. J. Cherryh has written several novels set in a world inspired by Russian folktales, including one called Rusałka.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Ivanits, Linda. Russian Folk Belief. M.E. Sharpe, Inc: New York, 1989.
^ David Colbert, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p 187-8, ISBN 0-9708442-0-4

Linda Ivanits, Russian Folk Belief. Armonk, N.Y. and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1989.
Власова, М. Новая абевега русских суеверий. Иллюстрированный словарь. Санкт Петербург: Северо-Запад. 1995
Wilkinson, Philip Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology (1998)
Зеленин, Дмитрий Константинович. Очерки русской мифологии: Умершие неестественною смертью и русалки. Москва: Индрик. 1995.