Mythical creatures in Slavic mythology. Slavic myths - fabulous creatures
Mermaids, goblin, mermen - they are all familiar to us from childhood and make us remember fairy tales.
When it comes to magical monsters, we often think of zombies or dragons, although there are such ancient creatures in our mythology, compared to which monsters can seem like petty dirty tricks.
The history of Slavic fairy-tale creatures may be the envy of another European monster. The age of pagan legends is impressive: according to some estimates, it reaches 3000 years, and its roots go back to the Neolithic or even the Mesolithic - that is, about 9000 BC.
There was no common Slavic fairy-tale "menagerie" - in different places they spoke about completely different creatures. The Slavs did not have sea or mountain monsters, but forest and river evil spirits were abundant.
Some wonderful creatures appeared among the Slavs relatively late, during the period of their Christianization - most often they were borrowed from Greek legends and introduced into national mythology, thus creating a bizarre mixture of beliefs.
ALKONOST
Alkonost - In Byzantine and Russian medieval legends, a wonderful bird living in Iria - a Slavic paradise.
According to the ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keikos, having learned about the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her alcyone (kingfisher). The word “Alkonost” entered the Russian language as a result of a distortion of the old saying “Alcyone is a bird”.
Bird Alkonost. Splint
Slavic Alkonost is a bird of paradise with a surprisingly sweet, euphonious voice. She lays her eggs on the seashore, then plunges them into the sea - and the waves calm down for a week. When the chicks hatch from the eggs, a storm begins.
In the Orthodox tradition, Alkonost is considered a divine messenger - she lives in heaven and descends to convey the highest will to people.
Slavic witch, popular folklore character. Usually depicted as a nasty old woman with disheveled hair, a hooked nose, a "bone leg", long claws and several teeth in her mouth. Baba Yaga is an ambiguous character. Most often, she performs the functions of a pest, with pronounced inclinations towards cannibalism, however, on occasion, this witch can voluntarily help a brave hero by questioning him, steaming in a bathhouse and bestowing magical gifts (or providing valuable information).
Baba Yaga, bone leg. Witch, Ogre, and First Woman Pilot
It is known that Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest. There stands her hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls. It was sometimes said that instead of constipation, there were hands on the gate to Yagi's house, and a small toothy mouth served as a keyhole. The house of Baba Yaga is bewitched - you can enter it only by saying: “Hut, hut, turn to me in front, and back to the forest.”
A forest hut on chicken legs, where there are no windows or doors, is not fiction. This is how the hunters of the Urals, Siberia and the Finno-Ugric tribes built temporary dwellings. Houses with blank walls and an entrance through a hatch in the floor, raised 2-3 meters above the ground, protected both from rodents eager for supplies and from large predators.
The spirit living in the baths was usually represented as a little old man with a long beard. Like all Slavic spirits, mischievous. If people in the bath slip, get burned, faint from the heat, scald with boiling water, hear the crackling of stones in the oven or knocking on the wall - all these are the tricks of the bannik.
In a big way, a bannik rarely harms, only when people behave incorrectly (wash themselves on holidays or late at night). Most of the time he helps them. Among the Slavs, the bath was associated with mystical, life-giving forces - they often took birth or guessed here (it was believed that the bannik could predict the future).
Baths were in Rome and in Turkey. But the bannik is only among the Slavs
There was also a female variety of a bannik - a bannitsa, or obderiha. Shishiga also lived in the baths - an evil spirit that appears only to those who go to the bath without praying. Shishiga takes the form of a friend or relative, calls a person to bathe with her and can steam to death
BASH CHELIK (man of steel)
A popular character in Serbian folklore, a demon or evil sorcerer. According to legend, the king bequeathed to his three sons to give their sisters to the one who first asks for their hand. One night, someone with a thunderous voice came to the palace and demanded the younger princess as his wife. The sons fulfilled the will of their father, and soon lost their middle and older sisters in this way.
Soon the brothers came to their senses and went in search of them. The younger brother met a beautiful princess and took her as his wife. Looking out of curiosity into the forbidden room, the prince saw a man in chains. He introduced himself as Bash Chelik and asked for three glasses of water. The naive young man gave the stranger a drink, he regained his strength, broke the chains, released his wings, grabbed the princess and flew away. Saddened, the prince went in search. He found out that the thunderous voices that his sisters demanded as wives belonged to the lords of dragons, falcons and eagles. They agreed to help him, and together they defeated the evil Bash Chelik.
Auka in Slavic legends and beliefs is a forest spirit that never sleeps and is always willing to play a trick on a passer-by or a misguided mushroom picker.
At first glance, the auk looks quite harmless: it is a small forest creature of small size with a round, bulging abdomen. Auka's favorite pastime has always been jokes and practical jokes - in winter he fools a person lost in the forest, responds with hawking from several sides at once and can imperceptibly lure him into a real wilderness, from where it will be very difficult to get out.
In order not to get into such a situation, you should listen carefully and distinguish a familiar person from the forest evil spirits by voice.
However, despite this characteristic, Auka is very good-natured. If you re-read the old Russian legends, this is easy to see. In the hut of the forest spirit, which is usually located in a dense thicket, it is warm even in the most severe frost. Auka not only leads people off the road (he confuses the tracks and takes a person far away from the road) - he loves to joke, joke, but can often scare.
ghouls
Vurdalak- (Vrykolak, Vurkolak and Vukod lak) (Russia, Bohemia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro) - deceased vampire, werewolf in Slavic mythology, a human werewolf with the supernatural ability to turn into wild animals, often trades in sucking blood from his victims like a vampire.
"Ghoul"
Poor Vanya was a coward:
Since he is late at times,
Covered in sweat, pale with fear,
Walked home through the cemetery
Poor Vanya is barely breathing,
Stumbling, wandering a little
over the graves; suddenly he hears
Someone's bone, grumbling, gnaws
Vanya became; - can't move.
"God!" - the poor man thinks, -
That's right, it gnaws at the bones
Red-lipped ghoul.
Woe! small I am not strong;
The ghoul will eat me completely,
If the earth itself is a grave
I won't eat with prayer."
What? Instead of a ghoul -
(Imagine Vanya's anger!)
In the darkness before him is a dog
A bone gnaws at the grave.
A.S. Pushkin
Like Alkonost, a divine bird woman whose main function is the fulfillment of predictions. The proverb “Gamayun is a prophetic bird” is well known. She also knew how to control the weather. It was believed that when Gamayun flies from the direction of sunrise, a storm comes after her.
In the most generalized view - a domestic spirit, the patron of the hearth, a little old man with a beard (or all covered with hair). It was believed that every house has its own brownie. If people established normal relations with him, fed him (left a saucer with milk, bread and salt on the floor) and considered him a member of their family, then the brownie helped them do minor housework, watched the cattle, guarded the household, warned of danger
Brownie. In the houses they were rarely called "brownies", preferring the affectionate "grandfather"
On the other hand, an angry brownie could be very dangerous - at night he pinched people to bruises, strangled them, killed horses and cows, made noise, broke dishes and even set fire to the house. It was believed that the brownie lived behind the stove or in the stable.
The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He was presented as a little old man, similar in face to the head of the family. By his liking, he is an eternal troublemaker, grouchy, but caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with Domovoi, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped keep the house in order and warned of impending misfortune. Moving from house to house, Domovoy was always invited to move with his family with the help of a conspiracy.
FIREBIRD
An image familiar to us from childhood, a beautiful bird with bright, dazzling fiery feathers (“like a fire burns”). The traditional test for fairytale heroes- get a feather from the tail of this feathered one. For the Slavs, the firebird was more of a metaphor than a real being. She personified fire, light, the sun, perhaps knowledge. Its closest relative is the medieval Phoenix bird, known both in the West and in Russia.
Firebird - a symbol of fire and fulfillment of desires
KIKIMORA (shishimora, mara)
Kikimora swamp - in Slavic mythology - Evil, swamp spirit. A close friend of the goblin. Lives in a swamp. He likes to dress up in moss furs and weave forest and marsh plants into his hair. But she rarely shows herself to people, because she prefers to be invisible and only screams from the swamp in a loud voice. A little woman steals little children, drags careless travelers into a quagmire, where she can torture them to death.
An evil spirit (sometimes the brownie's wife), appearing in the form of a little ugly old woman. If a kikimora lives in a house behind a stove or in an attic, then he constantly harms people: he makes noise, knocks on walls, interferes with sleep, tears yarn, breaks dishes, poisons livestock. It was sometimes believed that infants who died without baptism became kikimora, or evil carpenters or stove-makers could let the kikimora into the house under construction.
Old kikimora. In everyday life - an ugly, evil woman
Kikimora in the house portend trouble); hostile to men.
Here is a small conspiracy: from Kikimora
Harness the firewood at exactly noon, but don’t look at what’s happening. Bring firewood to the hallway, spread a fur coat on them with fur up. Take an old broom and sweep the hut with it, on the ceiling, under the roof and say up to 3 times: “Honest house, holy corners! night, at any hour, at any time, for endless years, from now to eternity.
Throw a handful of earth three times over the shoulder at the entrance to the firewood, and spit three times; after that, bring firewood, and a fur coat into the forest.
KASHCHEI IMMORTAL (Kashchey)
One of the old Slavic negative characters well known to us, usually represented as a thin, skeletal old man with a repulsive appearance. Aggressive, vindictive, greedy and stingy. It is difficult to say whether he was the personification of the external enemies of the Slavs, an evil spirit, a powerful wizard, or a unique kind of undead.
Georgy Millyar is the best performer of Koshchei in Soviet movie fairy tales.
Immortality, and far from absolute, was Koshchei's "brand" feature. As we all probably remember, on the magical island of Buyan (capable of suddenly disappearing and appearing in front of travelers) there is a large old oak tree on which a chest hangs. There is a hare in the chest, a duck in the hare, an egg in the duck, and a magic needle in the egg, where Koshchei's death is hidden. He can be killed by breaking this needle (according to some versions, by breaking an egg on Koshchei's head).
Forest spirit, protector of animals. Appears as a tall man with a long beard and hair all over his body. In fact, not evil - he walks through the forest, protects him from people, occasionally shows himself in front of his eyes, for which he can take on any appearance - a plant, a mushroom (a giant talking fly agaric), an animal or even a person. Leshy can be distinguished from other people by two signs - his eyes burn with magical fire, and his shoes are worn backwards.
famously one-eyed
The spirit of evil, failure, a symbol of grief. There is no certainty about Likh's appearance - it is either a one-eyed giant, or a tall, thin woman with one eye in the middle of her forehead. Famously, they are often compared with the Cyclopes, although apart from one eye and high growth, they have nothing in common.
Famously - in the traditions and legends of the Eastern Slavs, this creature symbolizes an evil fate.
Likha's appearance is frightening - most often it is a thin, crooked, one-eyed woman of great stature or a one-eyed giant.
Lives in a large hut that stands in a dense and dark forest. Often also settles in an old abandoned mill. Instead of a bed, he has a large pile of human bones: according to some reports, this creature does not disdain cannibalism and is able to devour any creature tucked under his arm.
The proverb has come down to our time: “Do not wake Likho while it is quiet.” In the literal and allegorical sense, Likho meant trouble - it became attached to a person, sat on his neck (in some legends, the unfortunate tried to drown Likho by throwing himself into the water and drowned himself) and prevented him from living.
Likha, however, could be disposed of - deceived, driven away by willpower, or, as it is occasionally mentioned, transferred to another person along with some kind of gift. According to very gloomy prejudices, Likho could come and devour you.
In Slavic mythology, mermaids are a kind of mischievous evil spirits. They were drowned women, girls who died near a reservoir, or people bathing at inopportune hours. Mermaids were sometimes identified with "mavki" - from the Old Slavonic "nav", dead man) - children who died without baptism or were strangled by their mothers.
Some beliefs called mermaids the lower spirits of nature (for example, good “shores”), which have nothing to do with drowned people and willingly save drowning people.
The “tree mermaids” living in the branches of trees also differed. Some researchers rank as mermaids middays (in Poland - lakanits) - lower spirits, taking the form of girls in transparent white clothes, living in the fields and helping the field.
The latter is also a nature spirit - it is believed that he looks like a little old man with a white beard. Polevoi lives in cultivated fields and usually patronizes peasants - except when they work at noon. For this, he sends noondays to the peasants so that they will deprive them of their minds with their magic.
DREKAVAK (drekavats)
A half-forgotten creature from the folklore of the southern Slavs. Its exact description does not exist - some consider it an animal, others a bird, and in central Serbia there is a belief that the drekavak is soul of the dead unbaptized baby. They only agree on one thing - the drekavak can scream terribly.
Usually drekavak is the hero of children's horror stories, but in remote areas (for example, mountainous Zlatibor in Serbia), even adults believe in this creature. Residents of the village of Tometino Polie from time to time report strange attacks on their livestock - it is difficult to determine what kind of predator it was by the nature of the injuries. The villagers claim to have heard eerie screams, so the drekavak must have been involved.
Another creature with the head of a woman and the body of an owl (owl), which has a charming voice. Unlike Alkonost and Gamayun, Sirin is not a messenger from above, but a direct threat to life. It is believed that these birds live in “Indian lands near paradise”, or on the Euphrates River, and sing such songs for the saints in heaven, upon hearing which, people completely lose their memory and will, and their ships are wrecked.
Sirin bird on a grape tree. Drawing on a chest, 1710
It is not difficult to guess that Sirin is a mythological adaptation of the Greek sirens. However, unlike them, the Sirin bird is not a negative character, but rather a metaphor for the temptation of a person by all sorts of temptations.
It is very difficult to list all the fabulous creatures of the Slavs: most of them have been studied very poorly and are local varieties of spirits - forest, water or domestic, and some of them were very similar to each other. In general, the abundance of non-material beings is very different from the Slavic bestiary from the more “mundane” collections of monsters from other cultures.
Among the Slavic "monsters" there are very few monsters as such. The ancestors of the Slavs led a calm, measured life, and therefore the creatures that they invented for themselves were associated with elemental elements that were neutral in nature. If they resisted people, then, for the most part, only protecting mother nature and tribal traditions.
The mythology of the Slavs is colorful and varied. Ancient Russia included many tribes, and each of them had "their own" mythical neighboring peoples: all kinds of banniks, ovinniks, anchutkas and others. The Rus endowed heavenly bodies and natural phenomena, mountains, trees and reservoirs with supernatural abilities. Ancient mythical creatures accompanied our ancestors everywhere: at home, in the field, in the stable, on the road, on the hunt...
Goblin
Goblin appeared as a tall, shaggy old man. The Slavs believed that he kept the forest and all its inhabitants, protecting trees and animals from uninvited guests. Goblin loves to play pranks - to confuse the traveler by showing him the cherished mushrooms. But if you seriously piss him off, he will get angry, lure him into the wilderness!
Some researchers believe that the image of Leshy was reborn from the image of the ancient - the patron of pastures and cattle, the steppe and the giver of hunting luck.
Brownie
In each hut, Domovoi certainly lived - the keeper of the hearth, who cares about the well-being and prosperity of the whole family, guarding livestock and crops, helping to find the lost. Perhaps Brownies are the most numerous mythical creatures. Pictures with their images, various sayings and proverbs, fairy tales and songs speak of people's love for little owners.
It was customary to feed the good-natured Brownie, leaving all sorts of goodies in the kitchen for the night. Especially loves Brownie porridge seasoned with butter. Everyone tried to live in harmony with the house keepers, not to anger them. And it’s easy to get angry, by the way: it’s enough to run the house, not to take care of order, to offend household members and animals. Then blame yourself! Oh, and the good grandfather Domovoy will take revenge for such a disgrace!
kikimora
If you think that in Slavic mythology the most terrible were Baba Yaga and the Serpent Gorynych, constantly appearing in fairy tales, then you are clearly not familiar with ancient Russian folklore. In the mythology of our ancestors, there were truly terrible and evil creatures that you would hardly want to meet. Here are 10 of the most creepy and interesting monsters of Slavic mythology.
1. Asp.
A winged snake with two trunks and a bird's beak. He lives high in the mountains and periodically makes devastating raids on villages. It gravitates towards rocks so much that it cannot even sit on damp ground - only on a stone. Asp is invulnerable to conventional weapons, it cannot be killed with a sword or arrow, but can only be burned. However, the kite never flies up to the fire, and it does not sit on the ground either. Only a trumpet sound can infuriate an asp, in this state he rushes at everything that makes this sound, therefore Asp can only be defeated by luring him into a fiery trap with the help of pipes.
2. Volot.
Volots - a small race of mighty giants that inhabited the territory of ancient Russia. Volots were once one of the most common races, but by the beginning of the historical era they had practically died out, forced out by people. Giants are considered the ancestors of the Slavs, which is confirmed by the appearance of heroes in the human race. Volots try not to contact or interfere with people, settling in hard-to-reach places, preferring to choose high-altitude areas or hard-to-reach forest thickets for housing, much less often they settle in the steppe regions.
3. Sinister.
Sinister - an evil spirit that brings poverty to the house in which he settled. These spirits are subordinate to the Navi. Sinister is invisible, but you can hear him, sometimes he even talks to the people in whose house he settled. It is difficult for an evil spirit to get into the house, since the brownie does not let him in, but if he managed to slip into the dwelling, then it is very difficult to get rid of him. If the evildoer made his way into the house, then he is very active, in addition to talking, the spirit can climb on the inhabitants of the house and ride on them. Sinisters often settle in groups, so there can be up to 12 creatures in one house. Sinisters prefer to settle in human houses behind the stove, in chests or cabinets. Sometimes, if they cannot find a suitable home for themselves, they settle in the forest near a reservoir, where they wait until a suitable person passes by in order to follow him and get to the traveler's home.
4. Ghoul.
A ghoul is a living dead that has risen from the grave. Outwardly, ghouls practically do not differ from humans, their only difference is their sharp teeth, so all the teeth of a ghoul are pointed and more reminiscent of a shark's mouth than a human's. Usually, sorcerers and werewolves turn into ghouls after death, but a living person who has become a victim of a curse can also become a living dead. Usually the living dead settle in cemeteries and do not go far from their graves, but sometimes in search of food or fleeing from their pursuers, ghouls can settle in the forest or even in villages, where they choose dark places for housing where sunlight does not penetrate.
5. Volkolak.
Volkolak - a person who can turn into a wolf (bear). You can become a wolfman voluntarily and against your will. Sorcerers often transform themselves into werewolves in order to gain the power of the beast. They are able to transform into a wolf and back into a human at will. To do this, it is enough for the sorcerer to roll over a stump, or 12 knives stuck into the ground with a point, and if during the time that the magician was in the guise of an animal, someone takes out at least one knife from the ground, then the sorcerer will no longer be able to return back to human form. A person can turn into a werewolf even after a curse, then the damned one is not able to regain his human appearance. However, he can be helped: in order to remove the curse from a person, he must be fed with consecrated food and a robe woven from nettles should be thrown over him, while the werewolf will resist this rite in every possible way.
6. Anchutka.
Anchutka is a small evil spirit. Anchutkas are only a few centimeters tall, their bodies are covered with hair and are black in color, and the heads of these evil spirits are bald. A characteristic feature of the anchutka is the absence of heels. It is believed that it is impossible to pronounce the name of this evil spirit aloud, since the anchutka will immediately respond to it and will be right in front of the one who said it. Anchutka can live almost everywhere: most often the spirit can be found in a field, in a bathhouse or in a pond, he also prefers to settle closer to people, but avoids meeting with stronger creatures. However, different environment habitation imposes features on the appearance and behavior of evil spirits, so three main subspecies of anchutes can be distinguished: bath, field, water or swamp. Field anchuts are the most peaceful, they do not appear to people if they themselves do not call them. Bath and swamp anchutkas love to play pranks, but their jokes are evil and dangerous, often leading to the death of a person, for example, a swamp anchutka can grab a swimmer by the leg and drag him to the bottom. Bath anchutes often frighten people with moans, appear to them in various forms, and can simply make a person fall asleep or lose consciousness.
7. famously.
Likho - an evil humanoid creature, there are both male and female individuals. He is distinguished by famously tall stature and a lean physique, he has only one eye, so he sees in a narrow range. It famously feeds on the flesh and suffering of people and animals, usually it tries not to appear in large settlements, and most of its life it lives in the forest, feeding on local animals and birds, which often angers the goblin. But if a lone person or a small group of people famously comes across, then it will not miss its chance. Having attached to one person, it plunges him into despondency and feeds on negative emotions. Such a diet makes the creature even stronger, and the more negative emotions the “carrier” experiences, the more famously. If he fails to cope with the will of a person, then the creature will prefer to eat the victim than to let go. When a group of people comes across, he famously chooses one for himself, and kills the rest right before his eyes, again to break the will of a person. If famously took possession of a person, then it is almost impossible to get rid of him. It will follow the victim everywhere, simultaneously attacking those who are close to the "carrier" and so on until the unfortunate person dies, which, in principle, comes pretty soon, after which he will famously start looking for a new victim.
8. Viy.
Viy is a character from the underworld, whose gaze kills. His eyes are usually covered by huge eyelids and eyelashes, which he cannot raise unaided. In appearance, this is a terrible, ugly old man, very tall and powerfully built. His eyes are very large, they are covered with even larger eyelids with long eyelashes. Viy is all overgrown with tree roots and moss, but this creature’s gaze is considered the most terrible, if someone helps him open his eyelids, then with his gaze he can kill not only a person, but also burn entire villages. Viy's voice is very scary and nasty, his lingering monotonous sound can drive any person crazy.
9. Alkonost.
Alkonost is a half-bird, half-human. The body of the Alkonost is birdlike, with beautiful iridescent plumage. His head is human, often wearing a crown or a wreath, and Alkonost also has human hands. Being patronized slavic god Horse. The alkonost spends almost all its life in Iria, and only the alkonost girls descend to the ground once a year to lay eggs, therefore in mythology the alkonost are depicted with a female face. Alkonost lays eggs in the water to the very bottom, most often chooses the seashore, but is also suitable major rivers. At the bottom, the eggs stay for 7 days, after which they float and hatch. All this time, the weather around the nesting place is clear, windless, and the mother alkonost sings her wonderful songs, being nearby, hiding in the forest thicket. When the chicks hatch, the alkonost takes them and stays with the offspring on the ground for another 7 days, until the young are strong enough to fly to Iriy. There is no clear indication at what time of the year the alkonosts leave Iriy and descend to earth: some sources indicate the period of the winter solstice, others indicate the autumn months.
By its nature, the alkonost is not aggressive and does not pose a direct danger to a person, but, nevertheless, it can accidentally harm him if he comes too close to the nest, or is nearby when the bird sings its song. Protecting itself or its chicks, the half-bird-half-human is able to plunge everyone around into unconsciousness.
10. Kikimora.
Kikimora is an evil spirit that sends nightmares to a person. In appearance, the kikimora is very thin and small: her head is the size of a thimble, and her body is as thin as a reed, she does not wear shoes or clothes and remains invisible most of the time. During the day, kikimors are inactive, and at night they begin to play pranks. For the most part, they do not cause serious harm to a person, basically they only arrange small pranks: either they knock with something at night, or they begin to creak. But if the kikimora disliked one of the family members, then the pranks will become much more serious: the spirit will begin to break furniture, break dishes, and harass livestock. Kikimora's favorite pastime is to spin yarn: sometimes he sits in a corner at night and starts working, and so on until the morning, but there is no sense in this work, he only confuses the threads and breaks the yarn.
Kikimoras prefer human houses as a habitat, choosing secluded places for living: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind the chest, in the corner. Often kikimors are taken as wives by brownies. Sometimes kikimoras are shown to people's eyes, foreshadowing imminent misfortunes: so if she cries, then trouble will happen soon, and if she spins, it means that soon one of the inhabitants of the house will die. The prediction can be clarified by asking a kikimora, then she will definitely answer, but only with a knock.
In the culture of every nation there are mythical creatures with both positive and negative qualities.
Some of them are known all over the world. Others, on the contrary, are familiar only to a specific ethnic group.
In this article, we present a popular list of mythical creatures with pictures. What's more, you'll get to know their origins as well as those related to them.
Homunculus
Faust with HomunculusTo do this, it was necessary to comply with many different conditions, with the obligatory use of mandrakes. The alchemists were sure that such a little man was able to protect his master from harm.
Brownie
This is one of the most popular mythical creatures in Slavic folklore. Most people know about him from fairy tales. Until now, some believe that Brownie can influence the life of the owner of the house.
According to the myth, in order for him not to harm any of the owners, he must be coaxed with various treats. However, this often backfires.
Babai
In Slavic mythology, this is a night spirit. Usually they scare naughty children. And although Babai does not have any specific image, they often talk about him as an old man with a bag in which he puts harmful children.
Nephilim
The Nephilim lived in pre-Flood times and are even mentioned in the Bible. These beings are fallen angels who once were seduced by the beauty of earthly women and entered into sexual relations with them.
As a result of these connections, the Nephilim began to be born. Literally, the word means "those who cause others to fall." They were very large in stature, and also distinguished by incredible strength and cruelty. The Nephilim attacked the people and caused great destruction.
Abaasy
Baavan Shi
In Scottish mythology, it meant a bloodthirsty creature. When a person saw a crow turning into a beautiful girl in a dress, it meant that Baavan shi himself was in front of him.
It was not for nothing that the evil spirit wore a long dress, because under it he could hide his deer hooves. These evil mythical creatures won over men, and then drank all the blood from them.
Baku
Werewolf
One of the most famous mythical creatures found in different peoples peace. A werewolf is a person who can transform into animals.
Most often, werewolves are. Such modifications can occur at the request of the werewolf, or in connection with the lunar cycles.
Viryava
The peoples of the north so called the mistress of the forests. She is usually depicted as beautiful girl. Viryava is served by animals and birds. She is friendly to people, and if necessary, she can help them.
wendigo
Wendigo is an evil ogre. He is an ardent opponent of any excesses in human behavior. He likes to hunt and surprise his victims.
When a traveler finds himself in the forest, this mythical creature begins to make frightening sounds. As a result, a person rushes to his heels, but he fails to escape.
Shikigami
In Japanese myths, these are spirits that the sorcerer Omme-do can summon. Despite their small size, they can possess animals and birds in order to control them later.
It is very dangerous for a magician to manipulate Shikigami, because at any moment they can start attacking him.
Hydra
This mythical creature is described in the work of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. Hydra has a snake body and many heads. If you cut off one of them, two new ones immediately grow in its place.
Destroying the Hydra is almost impossible. She guards the entrance to the realm of the dead and is ready to attack anyone who gets in her way.
Fighting
In English mythology, the water fairies are so named. Turning into wooden saucers slowly floating on the surface of the water, they try to lure women into a trap.
As soon as a woman touches such a saucer, Drak immediately grabs her and drags her to his bottom, where she has to look after his children.
Sinister
These are pagan evil spirits in the myths of the ancient Slavs. They pose a great danger to humans.
Sinister pester people and can even move into them, especially if they are alone. Often these mythical creatures take the form of poor old people.
incubi
In the legends of many European countries, so-called male demons, thirsty for female love.
In some old books, these creatures were represented as fallen angels. They have such a high reproductive rate that entire nations have emerged from them.
Goblin
Most people know that the mythical creature Leshy is the owner of the forest, vigilantly watching all his property. If a person does not do anything bad to him, then he treats him friendly and can even help him find a way out of the thicket.
But bad people he can deliberately cause them to walk in circles around his domain, leading them astray. Leshy can laugh, sing, clap or sob. With the onset of cold weather, he goes underground.
Baba Yaga
One of the most popular characters in Russian fairy tales. Baba Yaga is the mistress of the forest, and all animals and birds obey her.
As a rule, she is presented as a negative character, but sometimes she can come to the aid of different heroes.
Baba Yaga lives in a hut on chicken legs, and also knows how to fly on a mortar. She invites children to come into her abode, so that later they can eat them.
Shishiga
Living in the forest, this mythical creature attacks lost people and then eats them. At night, Shishiga prefers to make noise and wander through the forest.
According to another belief, Shishigi love to mock people who begin to take on any work without first praying. From this follows the popular belief that they accustom people to the correct routine of life.
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Mythology is part of the culture of any society, created in every historical era. As a rule, the farther events lag behind us in time, the less truth remains in the legends. Folk tales, parables and fairy tales differ from the writings of chroniclers in that, in addition to people, mythological creatures act as characters in them, often symbolizing the spiritual principle - both positive and negative. At the same time, each of them has some features of their appearance, albeit an imaginary one, that distinguish them from other legendary characters.
Very, very long time ago
The myths of Ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome, India, China and many other ancient civilizations were most often part of the religious-state doctrine officially adopted at that time. Zeus, Apollo, Atlantes, Sirens and organically participated in the legendary events on a par with people-heroes who acquired god-likeness for their exploits. Ancient mythological creatures, created by the imagination of priests and commoners, as a result of cultural and historical exchange, became the prototypes of the mysterious inhabitants of the gloomy world of European and Russian land in the Middle Ages.
Good fellows lesson
A fairy tale is a special one, which is characterized by the penetration into the plot of characters that have developed over the centuries. They operate among people using their superhuman abilities. These stories are intended for children, and in addition to the people, many outstanding writers had a hand in writing them. What is a fairy tale without magic and who can make them better than mythological creatures? The main thing in them, of course, is not the methods and means, but the goals of actions. For evil characters, they are unkind and insidious, and for positive ones, on the contrary, as in life.
Babki-Ezhki, Kashchei and Kikimora
The USSR had its own official mythology, which assumed a materialistic approach when considering all social phenomena, even those that did not actually exist. But in art, mythological creatures were quite allowed, especially in works intended for children. Cartoons and films based on Russian fairy tales are full of, in addition to Alyonushki, Ivanushki, princes and other "human" heroes, such characters as the Serpent-Gorynych, Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, Kikimora, Vodyanoy, and many others. As a rule, Russian mythological creatures borrowed from folklore look completely fearless, sometimes playfully cute, they even carry a certain negative charm in their images, and the artists who play their roles play with inimitable humor. Children, of course, do not need to be scared, but how does this interpretation correspond to the original source?
Yaga
Baba Yaga was an evil old woman, but not a simple one, of which there are many, but special. This is almost the main mythological creature in Russian folklore. Yaga had a certain connection with demonic forces and the ability to move in other words - to fly. Unlike European counterparts, who flew, as a rule, on a broomstick, the domestic Baba Yaga had a more comfortable means of transportation - a stupa, and used a pomelo only as a control device. She dressed simply, even too much - in rags. Initially, it was impossible to see anything funny in this image. Yaga personified evil will and possessed considerable technical capabilities for its implementation.
Gorynych
Some Russian mythological creatures are very similar to their foreign counterparts. The Serpent Gorynych in the past centuries, not without success, frightened children. This is an almost identical analogue of the eastern or European dragon, which has all the features of a modern attack aircraft, namely: the ability to fly, strike at ground targets, as well as high survivability. Killing him was troublesome and almost useless due to his unique regenerative ability, expressed in the growth of heads to replace the lost ones. In some mysterious way, the information contained in the brain was immediately restored and updated. In between aggressive raids, Gorynych hid in an underground slag heap, disguised as a mountain with a cave. There is nothing funny about feuding with such an opponent.
Koschei
Koshchei is usually depicted as a very thin, even skeletal, old man, who nonetheless possesses remarkable strength - both physical and moral. The name of the character comes from the word "kosht", that is, a bone. There is also a common root with the word “blasphemy” (blasphemy, they are also blasphemy), meaning witchcraft actions performed in ancient times on the remains of people. The title "Immortal" is most often added to the main name, expressing the ability to revive many times, even being crushed by someone's heroic power. Other demonic mythological creatures, the meeting with which also cannot please, are inferior to Koshchei in this sense. To neutralize it completely, you should know some secrets (needle, egg, bird, etc.).
Are there good monsters?
Not so well known are many other mythological creatures, the list of which is very extensive. Faced with the unknown, horrified by it and feeling their own helplessness, people from time immemorial attributed their troubles to hostile influences and the intrigues of supernatural monsters. Sometimes some of them took the side of good, but in any case they had to be handled with extreme care so that they did not change mercy for anger. The names of mythological creatures are different for different peoples, but many common features indicate the similarity of perception and the ability to conjecture external signs.
Demons are represented as tailed, goat-legged and horned in almost all ethnic and religious traditions. Foretelling reptiles Basilisks and Asps, Snowman (traditionally fashioned from snow), Werewolf (in the German version Werewolf), Ghoul (in Europe he is called a vampire), even Viy himself, the leader who became the hero of the famous story N.V. Gogol and the Soviet thriller of the same name, far from always become They personify the forces of evil, led by the Prince of the Air.
The origins of chimeric images
Be that as it may, the material embodiment of evil will is impossible without a visible or imaginary physical image. If the good beginning in most traditions is almost identical to human likeness (Buddha, Cherubim, Seraphim, Bogatyr, Giant, Fairy, etc.), then mythological creatures representing the dark side of the immaterial world are more animal-like. Particularly terrible are the images in which there is a combination of animal traits. In some cases, they are so colossal that one can assume the absence of bad intentions. So, Miracle-Yudo (“copied”, obviously, from the most ordinary whale) causes harm simply by negligence, due to its huge size. Chimeras, the statues of which adorn some medieval Gothic cathedrals, are intended, according to the authors, to frighten the demons themselves, they must scare them away with their very appearance.
The terrible appearance of mythological creatures is symbolic. It emphasizes the strength, dexterity, courage and intelligence of good heroes who always win in the end.