A woman-headed bird, who sings so beautifully, it is said that whoever hears her, forgets everything and never desires anything else again. She lives in the underworld with Sirin, another women-headed bird. Folk tales tell of Sirin crying in an apple orchard during the day of the Apple Feast of the Saviour. In the afternoon, Alkonost joins her and begins to laugh. It is said that when she brushes off the dew from her wings, she gives healing powers to the fruit on the trees.
One of the more infamous of Slavic creatures, bearing the form of an elderly woman who lives in a house that walks through the forest on chicken legs. She is also known to fly around in a mortar and pestle (17). Associated with death because of her tendency to eat children, she was known as somewhat benevolent by some who saw her as a guide and mentor as they wandered through the forest on quests of their own.
A bathhouse spirit which has the ability to predict the future. You would contact him by standing in a half-open door of a bathhouse with your back on show. If your fate was positive, the Bannik would stroke your back, but if not, he would leave claw marks.
A forest demoness, who liked to lead humans astray so that they would die of starvation or be killed by wild forest fauna. She appeared as a young, beautiful girl, and the only way to get rid of her was to cast strong spells or sacrifice something.
A changeling which showed itself as a child replaced by the demoness boginka-mamuna. It could be differentiated from human children by its lack of movement and appetite when in someone's presence. If solitary, it would eat everything in its presence and consume copious amounts of alcohol. If the Bobak reached adolescence and/or adulthood, it was not very trusting of others, however most of the time this would not happen since Bobaks would often die during infancy.
A male swamp spirit that likes to lure people into swamps before drowning them. He would imitate noises of ducks, cows and cockrels or simply scream. In some legends, the Bolotnik has no wife or children, but in some, the Bolotnica is his wife and the mistress of the swamp. He is usually described as an old man with a beard and scaly skin, frog-like eyes, and covered in dirt.
The mistress of the swamp, and wife of the Bolotnik in some legends. She is sometimes known as a Rusalka or a Rusalka's sister. A girl who had died and been carried away by an unclean spirit, or died drowning in a swamp could become a Bolotnica. She was usually depicted as a beautiful young fair-skinned woman sporting goose legs, or as an old hag. By pretending she was drowning, she would lure humans to the swamp before drowning them.
An anthropomorphic demon of total evil, possessing hooves, horns and a skinny tail. Czort is the son of Czernobog and Marzanna (1), and considered Satan's minion according to Christianity. In Czech folk tales, Czort is most often a trickster would would trick greedy and selfish humans into selling their sould in exchange for something which would later be revealed as useless, and the humans would then be carried into hell. In other tales, a hero gets his soul back and Czort is tricked to build castle walls in a day, dig river banks or create mountains.
Creatures created as a result of the union between a human and a vampire. If born of a male vampire and female human, Dhampirs could see invisible vampires and practice sorcery, and often started a familial career of vampire hunting. (2) In the Balkans it was believed that male vampires craved women, while in Bulgarian tales vampires were said to deflower virgins (3).
(Polish: Dziadek Mróz, English: Grandfather Frost). A figure very similar to Santa Claus, who delivers presents to well-behaved children on New Year's Eve. He predated Christianity and is seen as a Slavic wizard of winter. He wears a fur coat down to his toes, a fur hat and has a magic staff (4).
A female swamp demon that lives near rivers, streams and lakes. She is depicted as an old, hair women with long hair and breasts so enormous she uses them to wash her clothes. She kidnaps babies and replaces them with changelings, often recognised by their misshapen and sickly appearance. To prevent kidnapping, mothers tie a red ribbon around the baby's hand, and put a red hat on its head to protect it from the moonlight. It is exceptionally important to never wash its nappies after sundown or turn your head away from the baby when t is asleep. However, if the baby has already been taken, the human mother can whip the child with a birch twig, and pour water from eggshells over it, at the same time shouting for the demoness to take her child back. This usually works since the demoness feels sorry for her changeling child. (5)
Lady Midday (also known as the Noon Witch) is a demon that appears at the hottest point of the day in summer,is dressed in white and carries a scythe. She asks workers in the fields hard questions and beheads them if they cannot answer. Poludnica personifies sun stroke (6).
The Screecher. It takes many forms, some of which are as follows: an undead man, an undead unbaptised child, a ghost of a soldier, a vampire-like undead man and a one-legged humanoid creature. It haunts those around him depending on what version of himself he appears as. Originally, it was thought to appear from souls of unbaptised children and unholy men. (7) The Drekavac is said to be more active during the night, as opposed to the day. Moden sightings have happened in 1992 and 2003, but were met with some disagreement, or were disproved.
A magical bird who is thought to be prophetic, and if captured, brings doom to those holding it. It possesses glowing feathers which do not stop glowing if removed from the Firebird, and one is enough to light a whole room. One must exercise caution around it, as while it is beautiful, it is not kind and highly dangerous.
A prophetic bird, similar in appearance to the Alkonost or the Sirin, that lives close to Paradise. She is all-knowing, and is a teller of prophecies. Normally depicted as a large bird with a woman's head.
A male spirit who causes rain and hail. This can be both positive and negative; beneficial for agriculture, or harmful like a flood or drought. His effigy would be buried by a river or would float down it in a casket, while young women would lament it. This was thought to help end droughts, and if there was too much rainfall, the effigy would be dug up again. (8)
A golden duck, once a princess, bewitched by an evil sorcerer. It lives under Ostrogski Castle (home of the Fryderyk Chopin Museum), in Warsaw. The duck can be turned back into a princess by a man who is able to spend 100 gold ducats a day by himself for three recurring days. The tale has two endings: a shoemaker's apprentice is unable to spend the money in the allotted timeframe and gives the rest to a beggar. The duck disappears along with Ostrogski Castle and its treasures, while the shoemaker goes on to live a plentiful and fulfilling life. In another tale, a soldier is close to spending all the ducats, but gives a beggar his last penny, making the duck disappear, along with the castle it resides in. (9)
A female house spirit taking on the form of a small woman, often deformed with bird feet. If you heard creaking, scratching, the banging of pots and pans, or mice at night, it was suspected you had a Kikimora in your home. In Russian folklore, Kikimory were the first explanation for sleep paralysis.
A benevolent creature that lives among vine bushes. It is described as having one eye, a long beard and holding a long whip. Belarusian people say that when the Lazavik walks through land surrounding marshes, his eye shines like a torch. (10) The Lazavik is a guardian of Belarussian marshes and it is believed that if a marsh is drained, the Lazavik dies along with it.
A usually neutrally-aligned deity of the forest. Leshy often appears in the humanoid form of an adult male, however his ability to disguise himself lets him appear as anyone or anything he wishes (16). He is mostly benevolent or neutral to humans, however he can be known as a trickster god, having been known to lead people astray and abducting babies that have not been baptised. The closest well-known equivalent of Leshy would be most likely be considered the Greek god Pan.
An entity present in both Slavic and Germanic folklore that rides on people's chests while they sleep and gives them nightmares (11). This can be seen portrayed in the painting "The Nightmare", by Henry Fuseli, 1781. It was believed to ride horses, leaving them beyond exhausted, and able to tangle hair of sleeping humans, giving them "marelocks". Trees with twisted branches were also thought to have been ridden by the Mare.
A Russian mythical crown-wearing creature with the head of a woman, the mixed body of a snake and a fish, and the tail of a dragon, known as the deity of deception (12). Her home was said to be in the ocean-sea near the Ethiopian abyss or in the West Ocean. The snake mouths that Meduza contained dragon poison, according to belief.
A malevolent female entity, often found dwelling in lakes or other bodies of water. Often believed to be the soul of drowned maidens or dead unbaptized children. Known to entice men by luring them into the water to their deaths with beautifully sung songs that bewitched passers-by.
A creature with the body of a bird and the head of a woman wearing a crown, similar to the Alkonost. It resided near the Euphrates River or near Vyraj. She would sing prophetic songs to the saints, and any man who stumbled upon her singing would forget everything and follow her until their death. According to folklore, only happy people could heard Sirin sing, as she symbolizes eternal joy and heavenly happiness. (15)
"A Small One". A guardian of gems, crystals and precious metals which resides in mines. Miners are protected by these guardians thanks to these guardians, but only if they are kind towards it, otherwise the guardian poses a great threat to workers. Actions that a Skarbnik would find offensive are whistling, throwing rocks and covering your head.
(In English: Striga). A female demon similar to a vampire. It has two hearts, two souls and two sets of teeth. It is believed to be able to fly at night and often attacks lost travellers. Newborn children with already developed teeth were thought to be a Strzyga, and proceeded to be chased away from human-inhabited areas. One depiction of the Strzyga can be seen in the Netflix series, "The Witcher", written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapowski.
More widely known as the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. A mountain spirit that came from the told legends of Ural miners and the Mistress of the Ural Mountains of Russia. Described as a beautiful woman with green eyes, wearing a malachite gown, or as a lizard with a crown. Seen as the patron and protector of miners (13). The Malachite Maid is most well-known from Pavel Bazhov's Ural Mountains folktales.
A warlock or male witch, sometimes referred to as a Witcher (from the influence of Andrzej Sapowski's book series "The Witcher"). They are thought to have ties to the devil and can bring plague and spoil harvests. "Vedmak" is usually used as an insult (14) , and the female equivalent would be "Vedma". A Vedmak can transform into any animal or object it pleases.
(1) Bane, Theresa (2012-01-11). Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures. McFarland. ISBN 9780786488940.
(2) Vampires of the Slavs by Jan Louis Perkowski "The practice of sorcery for the destruction of vampires is carried on in the house of Dhampir's descendants from father to son, throughout the generations."
(3) Levkievskaja, E.E. La mythologie slave : problèmes de répartition dialectale (une étude de cas : le vampire). Cahiers slaves n°1 (septembre 1997). Online (French). Archived 2008-01-12 at the Wayback Machine
(4) "Ded Moroz, the Russian Santa: Ded Moroz, or 'Grandfather Frost' is Russia's Santa Claus by Kerry Kubilius". About.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26
(5) Lucjan Siemieński, "Podania i legendy polskie, ruskie i litewskie" (from Univ.gda.pl Archived September 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine)
(6) Manfred Lurker (2004), The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-34018-2
(7) Š. Kulišić; P. Ž. Petrović; N. Pantelić (1970). "Дрекавац". Српски митолошки речник (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Nolit. p. 110.
(8) Janićijević, pages 184-186.
(9) Encyklopedia Polski, p. 791.
(10) Boris Rybakov. Ancient Slavic Paganism. Moscow, 1981.
(11) Bjorvand and Lindeman (2007), pp. 719–720.
(12) Bychkov Andrey Alexandrovich. Encyclopedia of Pagan gods. Myths of Early Slavs.
(13) Levkiyevskaya, Yelena (2004). "Metals". In N. I. Tolstoy (ed.). Slavyanskie drevnosti. Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar Славянские древности: Этнолингвистический словарь [Slavic antiquity. Ethnolinguistic dictionary] (in Russian). 3. The Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheniya. pp. 245–248. ISBN 978-5-7133-1207-7.
(14) Yefimova's Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian language, 2000.
(15) Славянские суеверия (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
(16) Brendan Noble, 2020, Leszy/Leshy/Lisovyk - Slavic Protector of the Forest - Slavic Mythology Saturday, (online), https://brendan-noble.com/leszy-leshy-slavic-protector-of-the-forest, [accessed 09/09/25].
(17) BBC, 2022, Baba Yaga: The greatest "wicked witch" of all?, (online), https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20221118-baba-yaga-the-greatest-wicked-witch-of-all, [accessed 09/09/25].