Slavic water spirits

Rusalkas, a type of minor goddesses, represented by Franciszek Siedlecki.

InSlavic paganismthere are a variety of femaletutelary spiritsassociated with water. They have been compared to the GreekNymphs,and they may be either white (beneficent) or black (maleficent).They may be called 'Navki,Rusalki,andVily.

TheProto-Slavicroot *navь-,which forms one of the names for these beings, means "dead",as these minor goddesses are conceived as the spirits of dead children or young women. They are represented as half-naked beautiful girls with long hair, but in the South Slavic tradition also as birds who soar in the depths of the skies. They live in waters, woods and steppes, and they giggle, sing, play music and clap their hands. They are so beautiful that they bewitch young men and might bring them to death by drawing them into deep water.

Etymology

Navia,spelled in various ways in theSlavic languages,refers to the souls of the dead.NavkaandMavka(pl.NavkiandMavki)are variations with the diminutive suffix -ka.They are also known asLalka(pl.Lalki).The Proto-Slavic root *navь-,means "dead", "deceased" or "corpse".The wordNavis also the name of theunderworld,Vyraj,which is presided by the chthonic godVeles.

The world of the dead is believed to be separated from the world of the living either by a sea or a river located deep underground.In the folk beliefs ofRuthenia,Veles lives in a swamp located at the centre of Nav, sitting on a golden throne at the base of theworld tree,and wielding a sword.Symbolically, the Nav is also described as a huge green plain–pasture, onto which Veles guides the souls.The entrance to Nav is guarded by azmey,a dragon.

According toStanisław Urbańczyk,amongst other scholars,Naviawas a general name for demons arising from the souls of tragic and premature deaths, the killers and the killed, warlocks, and the drowned.They were said to be hostile and unfavourable towards the living, being jealous of life.InBulgarianfolklore there exists the character of twelve Navias who suck the blood out of women giving birth, whereas in thePrimary Chroniclethe Navias are presented as a demonic personification of the 1092 plague inPolotsk.According to folk beliefs, Navias may take the form of birds.

Types of water goddesses

A Rusalka and her daughter, by I. Volkov, 1899.

Rusalka

Main article:Rusalka

According toVladimir Propp,Rusalka(pl.Rusalki) was an appellation used by the early Slavs for tutelary deities of water who favour fertility, and they were not considered evil entities before the nineteenth century. They came out of the water in spring to transfer life-giving moisture to the fields, thus nurturing the crops.

In nineteenth-century descriptions, however, the Rusalka became an unquiet, dangerous,unclean spirit(Nav). According toDmitry Zelenin,young women, who either committed suicide by drowning due to an unhappy marriage (they might have been jilted by their lovers or abused and harassed by their much older husbands) or who were violently drowned against their will (especially after becoming pregnant with unwanted children), must live out their designated time on earth as Rusalkas. Original Slavic lore suggests that not all Rusalkas were linked with death from water.

They appear in the form of beautiful girls, with long hair, generally naked but covered with their long tresses, with wreaths of sedge on their heads. They live in groups in crystal palaces at the bottom of rivers, emerging only in springtime; others live in fields and forests. In springtime, they dance and sing along the riverbanks promoting the growth of rye. After the first thunder, they return to their rivers or rise to the skies.

According toPolishfolklore, they appeared on new moon and lured young men to play with them, killing them with tickles or frenzied dancing.Sometimes they would ask a riddle, and, if given the right answer, they would leave the man alone.They were particularly mean towards young girls.In some regions they were calledmajka(pl.majki); in theTatra Mountains–dziwożona.Other names used to describe this spirit were: water maiden,morianaandwodiana(the last one becametopielicalater). Arusalkawasn't necessarily a water spirit – forest ones existed too, and they appeared as more mature than their water counterparts (they also had black hair instead of golden).

They were worshipped together with ancestors during theRosalia(orRusalye) festival in spring, originally a Roman festival for offeringroses(and other flowers) to gods and ancestors; from the festival derives the termrusalkaitself.Another time associated with the Rusalkas is thegreen week(orRusalnaya nedelja,"week of the Rusalkas" ) in early June; a common feature of this celebration was the ritual banishment or burial of the Rusalka at the end of the week, which remained popular in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine until the 1930s.

Vila

Main article:Vila (fairy)

Vilas (Le Villi,1906) as represented byBartolomeo Giuliano.

Vila(pl.Vily)are another type of minor goddesses, already identified as Nymphs by the Greek historianProcopius;their name comes from the same root as the name of Veles. They are described as beautiful, eternally young, dressed in white, with eyes flashing like thunders, and provided with wings. They live in the clouds, in mountain woods or in the waters. They are well-disposed towards men, and they are able to turn themselves into horses, wolves, snakes, falcons and swans. The cult of the Vilas was still practised among South Slavs in the early twentieth century, with offerings of fruits and flowers in caves, cakes near wells, and ribbons hanged to the branches of trees.

Variations

• Rusałka (Polish);
• Navi, Navjaci (Bulgarian);
• Navje, Mavje (Slovenian);
• Nejka, Majka, Mavka (Ukrainian);
• Nemodlika (Bohemian, Moravian);
• Russalka (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian);
• Vila, Wila;
• Samovila,Samodiva(Bulgarian);

See also

• Vyraj

Gallery of household deities

• 
  The Mermaids,1871, byIvan Kramskoi
• 
  Rusalky,1879, byKonstantin Makovsky
• 
  Rusalka,1928, bySergey Solomko
• 
  Stone representation of spirits inDonetsk

References

Sources

• Ivanits, Linda J. (1989).Russian Folk Belief.M. E. Sharpe.ISBN9780765630889.
• Kempiński, Andrzej (2001).Encyklopedia mitologii ludów indoeuropejskich[Encyclopedia of the Mythology of the Indo-European Peoples] (in Polish). Warszawa: Iskry.ISBN8320716292.
• Máchal, Jan (1918)."Slavic Mythology".InL. H. Gray(ed.).The Mythology of all Races.Vol. III,Celtic and Slavic Mythology.Boston. pp. 217–389.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Mathieu-Colas, Michel (2017)."Dieux slaves et baltes"(PDF).Dictionnaire des noms des divinités(PDF).France: Archive ouverte des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 4 August 2017.Retrieved24 May2017.
• Strzelczyk, Jerzy (2007).Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian[Myths, Legends, and Beliefs of the Early Slavs] (in Polish). Poznań: Rebis.ISBN9788373019737.
• Szyjewski, Andrzej (2004).Religia Słowian[The Religion of the Slavs] (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM. pp. 48, 53, 54, 77–79, 133, 176, 204–207.ISBN8373182055.
• Wayland Barber, Elizabeth(2013).The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance.W. W. Norton.ISBN9780393089219.