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Author
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Comment
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redtriskell
Registered User
(7/17/04 7:55 am)
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leshy, leshy
So I've been reading Russian tales of late and keep coming upon this creature called a leshy. Russian lore is definitely not my strong suit. What the heck is this thing? A witch? A shapechanger? A fey thing? What? It's driving me crazy. In the stories I've seen so far, it seems to have characteristics of all those things. I also can't seem to locate a coherent description anywhere I've looked; or, rather, a description that doesn't assume I already know what a leshy is. The stuff I've located seems to reference stories about the leshy, but not a clear identification of what the creature is or what it can do. I know somebody on this site knows exactly what a leshy is- please enlighten me. Thanks.
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(7/17/04 9:26 am)
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Re: leshy, leshy
Bascially, the lesh'yi is the anthropomorphic spirit of the forest as the domo'voi is the spirit of the house, or the vodanoi the spirit of a river. The name is basically the word for forest, "les," with a possessive ending. They tend to have a reputation for confusing humans with the sounds of the forest (the wind in the trees, the echoes, etc.), and, that done, they tend to either get a kick out of theri wandering around, or they, um, tickle them to death (no idea what that part of the legend signifies...). Size isn't much of an indicators, as they're shape changers: like other forest spirits, occasionally the lesh'yi is reported with goats horns and hooves, or as being covered in leaves
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kristiw
Unregistered User
(7/17/04 10:00 pm)
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leshi
Very little to add to that, but I had to comment since the leshi was one of my favorite aspects of Russian folklore. People tend to leave their forests mad or mute, and standard protections include (of course) wearing your clothes inside out.
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Amal
Registered User
(7/18/04 8:51 pm)
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Rusalki?
Helen, is there any difference between a vodanoi and a rusalki? I know the latter to be water spirits, but are they anything more?
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(7/18/04 11:18 pm)
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Re: Rusalki?
Yep, they're basically the male and female variants of the personifications of the element of water; the vodanoi is typically a jolly, rotund, and somewhat bloodthirsty creature. They're supposed to be more aggresive then the leshyii, causing floods when offended. They look rather like the corpses of the drowned (possibly a factor influenced by their reputaions as heavy drinkers). They go beyond the more typical torment that leshyii inflict on victims, frequently drowning and eating them, and saving their souls in jars. The only ones who have a choice when it comes to dealing with a vodanoi are drowning maidens (particularly maidens drowning by their own hands), who have the option of becoming their brides, and becoming rusalki. Rusalki are generally seen as being beautiful women, with very pale skin, and long sodden hair (should it dry out, they will die); when they comb it, they can cause floods. They have a reputation for riddling with passers-by, and drowning those who fail their tasks. Personally, I've always found it interesting that the masculine characterization is indiginous, and the feminine taken from the local populace; I'm positive that it indicates something significant in the development of the myth.
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Nalo
Registered User
(7/20/04 9:11 am)
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Re: leshy, leshy
Maybe the tickling to death is an exaggerated version of tree branches scraping your skin when you walk through a dense forest?
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kristiw
Unregistered User
(7/20/04 3:59 pm)
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tickling
I always associated the tickling-to-death with Rusalki, and put it in the same category as pulling mortal men into streams to be their lovers, without remembering they wouldn't be able to breathe-- a characteristic careless ignorance of mortality. It puts me in mind of a line from Peter Pan, when an older Wendy tries to talk to Peter about Hook and finds to her astonishment that he has no memory of the episode, telling her easily, "I forget them after I kill them." Peter, like all children, is half fey, and I think Barrie's description of children-- "gay and innocent and heartless"-- suits the Rusalki as well.
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(7/20/04 5:28 pm)
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Re: tickling
Ohhhh, Nalo, good interpretation! I love trying to figure out the etiology-in-reverse of why the leshy tickle, or why Baba Yaga's house has chicken feet, but I hadn't thought of that one. And, Kristi, I think that you're spot on; in some stories, the lesh'yi are disappointed because they've broken their "toys." That careless immortality seems to be a cross-cultural marker for immortal beings (I hate to do the "universal folktale" generalization, but it does pop up fairly frequently).
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CrCeres
Unregistered User
(7/21/04 4:06 pm)
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Rusalki down-under...
This is far off from Russian folklore, but the part about Rusalki--basically sirens, aren't they?--reminded me strongly of Australia's yungamurra, also female water spirits who lure unwitting mortals to drown. The thing that caught my eye was the similarity between the Rusalki drying'n'dying and the yungamurra drying and becoming something like normal women. Which leads us to Selkies, and is it coincidence that 'rusalki' ends in that word?
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redtriskell
Registered User
(7/26/04 12:15 am)
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enlightenment
Thank you! This info certainly clears up my dubious mental picture of the leshy. Would it seem reasonable to compare them to a pooka? Sounds similar- playful, but potentially unpleasant. I'd never heard that rusalki had to keep their hair damp or die. Very interesting. I, in fact, thought they were spirits associated with wells; and, sometimes served the same function as La Llorna- harbinger of death. Is this accurate, or am I mixing my lore?
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Maulbeere
Registered User
(7/26/04 1:18 pm)
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Re: enlightenment
I've read of the Leshy as being comparable to the Italian faun, and similarly the Greek Satyr. Although it seems to me thier description changes some with the change in cultural origin.
www.pantheon.org/articles/l/ljeschi.html
I think the Pooka is different, not a shape changer per se, and more interested in mischief for it's own sake than protecting the forest. People would leave out milk and food on the doorstep for the Pooka, in order for it to leave the house in peace - much like people would leave offerings for other household or barn-dwelling spirits. I haven't heard of Leshies coming out of the forest to bother households in this way.
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