Leshy (master of the forest, forest spirit, leshak, forest spirit, grandfather of the forest) is a spirit, master of the forest in the mythological beliefs of the Slavic peoples.
This is the main master of the forest, ensuring that no one harms his property. He treats good people well, helping them find their way out of the forest, but he treats the less-than-good ones poorly: he confuses them, makes them wander in circles. He sings wordlessly, claps his hands, whistles, hoots, laughs, and cries.
The Leshy can appear in various plant, animal, human, and mixed forms, and can be invisible. Most often, he appears as a solitary creature. He leaves the forest for the winter, disappearing underground. As its master, he cares for and protects the forest and is the patron of forest animals. Many forest sounds, especially those caused by the wind, are attributed to the Leshy.
The folk attitude toward the leshy was ambivalent: he was simultaneously an evil spirit and a just spirit. Leshys don't so much intentionally harm people as they play pranks and jokes, but they do so in a harsh and malicious manner: they frighten people with laughter and clapping, lead them astray, hide objects, and so on. The leshy can punish people for inappropriate behavior. Success in hunting and the safe grazing of livestock depended on the leshy; to achieve this, hunters and shepherds had to make a pact with him. The leshy can kidnap livestock and people. He can predict the future. Sometimes, the leshy accepted help from humans.
The most common word used in Russian for this character, leshy, means forest, wooded (for example, “woodland”). This is also the source of other names for the leshy, common in different regions: leshak, lesovik, forester, lesun / lisun (polisun), lesnoy, and even les, and in polite addresses to him, such as the righteous forest, the honest forest, the forest grandfather, the forest uncle, the forest dweller, and the forest master. Female leshys are called leshachikhas, leshikhas, lesinki / lisunki, lesovki, and lesovikhi. The children of leshys are lesheviks and leshachata.
In many places, leshy are considered and called “wild men” (wild ones) and “ticklers,” the latter referring to the fact that leshy can tickle people to death. In this, they are similar to mermaids, i.e., hostages of the dead.
Concepts regarding the origin of leshy are vague. A common belief is that leshy are cursed people, those who died unbaptized, or children exchanged by evil spirits. In folk Christianity, leshy were viewed as forest devils—creatures of the devil—or as Adam's children who were not presented to God.
The Vologda version of the legend describes the leshy as the spawn of the devil:
There was only God and the devil on earth. God created man, and the devil tried to create him, but he created not man, but a devil. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he worked, he still couldn't create man; all he created were devils. God saw that the devil had already created several devils, became angry with him, and commanded Archangel Gabriel to cast Satan and all evil spirits out of heaven. Gabriel cast them out. Those who fell into the forest became leshy, those who fell into the water became vodyanoy, those who fell into a house became domovoi. That's why they have different names. But they are all the same demons.
— Dilaktorsky P. From the traditions and legends of the Kadnikovsky district of the Vologda province // Ethnographic review. Moscow, 1899. No. 3
The Belarusian version derives leshies from the “twelve pairs of children” of Adam and Eve. When God came to see their children, the parents showed him six pairs and hid the other six under an oak tree. From the six pairs presented to God, humans emerged, and from the others, evil spirits, no less numerous than them.
One Mansi legend says that the gods used clay and larch to create man. The larch-formed people scattered through the forests at incredible speed and were nicknamed “menkvas” (wood spirits) for their strength and water-drifting abilities. The slow-moving clay creatures, however, became ordinary people whose lives were short-lived: “If a person falls into water, he drowns; if it gets hot, water comes out of him.”
External signs
The leshy's appearance indicates his otherworldly nature and connection to the forest. As a personification of the forest, he can assume a wide variety of forest-related forms. The concept of him is syncretic: he is simultaneously a multifaceted spirit, an animal, a plant, and a human.
According to some beliefs, the leshy's height varies depending on the surrounding vegetation: in the forest, it's as tall as the tallest trees, while in a clearing, it's level with the grass. However, the leshy can be either taller or shorter than the forest at will. The leshy was often depicted as a giant, capable of striding across rivers. In the Russian North, it was believed that leshy were classified by size into forest lemurs, boletus lemurs, and moss lemurs.
The Leshy may appear as a phytoanthropomorphic being, with a preponderance of traits in each manifestation. Sometimes it is a completely plant-like object—a tree (venerated trees include pine, spruce, birch, oak, aspen, which indicates demonic properties, etc.), a bush, a stump, a leaf, moss, etc. Later, human characteristics begin to emerge: shape, branches like hair. Alternatively, anthropomorphism may dominate, and the connection with vegetation may be evident in significant details: long, tousled green hair like tree or bush branches, a lichen-covered beard, moss-covered clothing the color and texture of wood, a moss-covered face, and skin as thick as bark. Finally, plant-like features may be reduced to attributes: green twigs woven into the Leshy's hair, a club or whip in their hands, a green beard, and green eyes. The association with the forest is complemented by the ability of the wood goblin to whip a person with rods, make noise, hum, and crack trees.
The Leshy can also appear as a zooanthropomorphic creature, again with varying degrees of characteristics. It can be an animal, both wild—a bear, wolf, crow, magpie, etc.—and domestic—a dog, black cat, horse, black goat, etc. The Leshy often appears as half-man, half-goat (like the devil): black fur all over the body, small, curled horns (the Leshy kings have golden horns), hooves, long hair on the head, and a long beard. Or it can be a human with animal characteristics: hairiness, clothing made of animal skin, animal sounds, claws on the hands and feet, hooves, a tail, wings, horse bridles, etc. The Leshy can be accompanied by an animal: a small black dog, a black goat.
The anthropomorphic image of the leshy predominates. It can be either a giant or an ordinary-looking person. Often, the leshy appears as a relative, neighbor, or acquaintance, with the deception only revealed upon returning home, when it becomes clear the person encountered was in a completely different place. The leshy can also take the form of a deceased person. A common image of the leshy is as an old man with long, gray, tousled hair (or parted to the left), a long gray (sometimes green) beard, and green eyes (either unnaturally pale, even white, or leaden-blue, or sparkling). The human form of the Leshy is characterized by a desire to hide its face, an unwillingness to look into the eyes of its interlocutor, the absence of eyebrows and eyelashes, and sometimes nostrils or the right ear, or one eye (either bulging eyes, or the right eye always motionless and larger than the left, or eyes larger than human eyes), blue blood and, as a result, blue skin (sometimes the blue color is transferred to clothing), the absence of shadow, and when sitting, the Leshy crosses its left leg over its right. According to some northern tales collected by P. N. Rybnikov, the Leshy's blood is dark, not light, like that of humans, which is why it is also called “blue-like” (“blue” in ancient times meant “dark”). Belarusians believed that the Leshy had a flattened, edge-first, long face, a long wedge-shaped beard, one eye, and one leg, with the heel forward.
If the Leshy is wearing clothing, it's turned inside out, wrapped left over right, his shoes are mixed up, and he's usually unbelted: “The Leshy runs through his forests like mad, quickly, barely noticeable, and always hatless,” often wielding a huge club. He's described as having a pointed, wedge-shaped head and shaggy hair, with his hair combed to the left. He's tenacious, but can be killed with a gun. Other sources describe him as an ordinary old man, small, stooped, with a white beard. Novgorodians claimed that this old man wears white clothes and a large hat, and when he sits down, he crosses his left leg over his right.
The Leshy dresses like an ordinary person. He often appears in the uniform of a forester or soldier. Typically, he wears a Siberian coat, an armyak, a gray homespun woolen caftan, or leather or fur clothing. However, the Leshy's most characteristic clothing is white, resembling a robe or cassock, with wide sleeves and a wide, white hat. According to some versions, he is always belted, while according to others, he is always beltless. His typical footwear is bast shoes, sometimes enormous; he is often caught weaving them or tinkering with them while sitting on a tree stump in the moonlight. Sometimes he wears clothing untypical of the forest, such as a black suit. The left side of his robe is wrapped over the right, like a woman's, although the right side may be tucked in, and his shoes are mixed up—put on the wrong feet. In later folk tales, the Leshy is dressed in modern clothing: a cap, boots or shoes, etc. The Leshy usually holds a whip, a rod, a club, or a small bag. The Leshy is often seen naked.
The Leshya also appears in various guises. She may appear as an ordinary woman, but in tattered clothing and with loose hair woven with green twigs. Or she may appear as a tall, decrepit old woman, leaning on a stick and swaying as if in a daze. Afanasyev, in his work “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature,” also cites information about Leshya: “The popular imagination endows them with such enormous and long breasts that they are forced to throw them over their shoulders and only then can they walk and run freely.” And the imp sitting on her back, suckling, is hidden and warmed by the Leshya's long hair. These women are overgrown, shaggy, and have matted hair.
The Leshy possesses immense strength. He can be so heavy that a horse cannot pull a cart he's mounted on; his arm is also heavy. The Leshy can be invisible to humans, and he can suddenly or gradually disappear. A strong wind accompanies both the Leshy and the Leshy, and its direction can be used to determine his destination. This wind obscures the Leshy's tracks, so, according to one version, no one has seen them (though in other stories, the Leshy leaves tracks).
Lifestyle
Some leshy live alone, while others have families, building spacious homes in the forests where their wives manage and their children grow up. A leshy's home is a log hut in a dense spruce forest far from human settlements. In some places, leshy are believed to inhabit entire villages. Sometimes, two or three leshy live in large forests, sometimes squabbling over the division of forest plots (Arkhangelsk Province). These quarrels escalate to fights, with leshy beating each other with century-old trees, which they uproot, and with hundred-pound stones, broken from cliffs. They throw stones and tree trunks for 50 miles or more. Battles between leshy and water spirits, primarily at night, are also common.
Leshys can be found throughout the forest. But they live in forest dens, in the heart of the forest. The leshy's lair is protected from human visitation by impenetrable forest and deadwood, and by swamps that never freeze even in winter. Animals and birds live with their “master.” Forest creatures come there before they die. Leshys can also live in old, dead trees (spruce, willow), in hollows, hummocks, in the roots of uprooted trees, in snags, in forest huts, occasionally in a secret cave, and even underground. A person will inevitably get lost near a leshy's lair. Most often, a leshy appears as a solitary creature, with only one leshy in each forest (large forests can be divided into sections, each with its own leshy). But in a number of mythological tales, wood leshies can gather together, living in families and even villages similar to human ones: wood leshies' homes are covered with skin, guarded by dogs, and livestock are kept on the farm; there are stories of wood leshies having voivodes and kings (in Russian incantations, the head of the wood leshies was called Musail-les, and in the Russian North, Honest Forest).
As the master, the leshy cares for and protects the forest. The leshy is the shepherd of all forest dwellers, and is therefore depicted as an old man with a whip. He herds the animals, provides them with food, protects them from hunters, and saves them from fires. The leshy treats the animals under his control as his own property; for example, he might lose them in a card game to another leshy—this served as a mystical explanation for the mass migrations of animals such as squirrels, hares, and others. However, the leshy is often represented as the patron of only one or a few species of wild animals, most often bears and especially wolves in Russian tradition (in the latter case, the leshy may be embodied as a white wolf—the leader).
The Leshy is credited with all the phenomena caused by gusts of wind in the forest: howling, cracking trees, rustling leaves—the Leshy whistles, claps his hands, laughs, sings, and makes animal sounds. The Leshy often repeats spoken words, like an echo, which in the forest is considered the Leshy's response. The Leshy loves to hang and swing from tree branches, which is why in some places he is nicknamed the “cradle” (a cradle is a cradle). He often sits on a tree or stump, weaving bast shoes or making wooden crafts. In some regions, hurricane-force winds that blow down trees and tear off roofs were associated with Leshy weddings. Leshy can be at odds with each other (there are stories of Leshy fighting each other, using trees and boulders as weapons), and with devils, water spirits, field spirits, and house spirits.
The Leshy, at will, drives squirrels, arctic foxes, hares, and field mice from one forest to another. According to Ukrainian legend, the polisun, or forest spirit, drives hungry wolves with a whip to where they can find food. According to folk tales, Leshys enjoy card games where squirrels and hares are the bets. Thus, the mass migrations of these animals, for which it is difficult to find a rational explanation, actually turn out to be the payment of a gambling debt. According to N. E. Onchukov's “Northern Tales,” the Leshy's food consists of “hare and squirrel beef.” Wild apple trees are also called “leshovkas,” suggesting that the Leshy cultivates these apple trees for himself. A horse senses the Leshy before its rider or driver and may suddenly stop or dart away in fear. The Leshy is hostile to dogs domesticated by humans, although he sometimes has his own small, colorful puppies.
Leshys also really like to sing, sometimes for a long time and at the top of their lungs (like a storm), accompanying themselves by clapping their hands.
According to Polish legend, the Leshy likes to perch on old, dead trees in the form of an owl, which is why peasants are wary of cutting down such trees. According to Russian legend, the Leshy also likes to hide in the hollows of such trees. There's a saying about this: “From an empty hollow comes either an owl, or an owl, or Satan himself.” Leshy spend most of their time in trees; swinging and “fooling around” is their favorite pastime, which is why in some provinces they're called “zybochnik” (from the word “cradle” or “cradle”).
The Leshy's favorite saying is: “I went, I found, I lost.” Misleading and confusing people is a common trick of the spirit. If the Leshy overtakes a person, the traveler will suddenly lose their way and may “get lost in three pines.” Ways to dispel the Leshy's spell: the person being led away should eat nothing or carry a linden branch (a lytovka) stripped of bark. You can also put all your clothes on inside out or change your shoes—put your left shoe on your right foot and vice versa, turning the insoles upside down—then the traveler will be able to find his way out of the forest. This spirit also loves to scream and whistle in a terrifying voice, frightening people. The Novgorod Collection for 1865 reports that “forest spirits… love to sing songs, clap their hands, laugh, and yelp.” According to information from the Arkhangelsk province, the leshy “cries in various voices: like a child, like a woman, like a peasant, and even like a horse.” He also “crows like a rooster, like a hen, like a cat, like a small child.” However, according to folk belief, only the leshy whistles in the forest, and it is dangerous for humans to whistle, as the leshy will be offended. When the Mansi sing about menkvs (leshys), they make strong movements, whistling and stamping, “as forest deities usually do.” It is believed that the Russian “svistoplyaska” (whistle-dance), which the Orthodox Church opposed in ancient times, originates from the imitation of Slavic forest deities in pagan times.
Leshy and man
A figurine of a Leshy (a wood goblin) from the Zaslavye Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve in Belarus. Peasants' lives were closely connected to the forest and depended on it. The entire agricultural cycle (with slash-and-burn agriculture still in use) took place in the forest. Livestock were grazed there, wood was harvested for construction and heating, people hunted and fished, mushrooms and berries were gathered. Forest industries included tar and resin distillation, charcoal burning, roads ran through the forest, and finally, various pagan rituals were performed in the forest. But although the forest was actively used by humans, adjacent to the space they had already developed, it nevertheless remained beyond their control. It was perceived as an alien and dangerous territory, a gathering place of evil spirits, another world.
Hence, the folk attitude toward the leshy, as the master of the forest, was ambivalent. On the one hand, he was considered a dangerous evil spirit hostile to humans. On the other, he was often contrasted with “real” devils: his negative actions were not motivated by the intrinsic goal of killing people, but by a desire to punish (even with death) for inappropriate behavior in the forest (and sometimes even against the rules of human society). According to folk beliefs, leshys don't so much intentionally harm people as they play pranks and jokes, but they do so in a rude and malicious manner: they frighten people with laughter and clapping, lead them astray, hide hats and baskets, discreetly put people to sleep on anthills, force them to climb trees, offer them a pine cone under the guise of a glass of vodka, remove wheels from carts, and so on. However, the leshy was also perceived as a kind and just spirit who would not harm a person without reason; he can help gather mushrooms or berries, show the way if asked, and take care of a lost child. Success in hunting and the safe grazing of livestock depend on the leshy. Many mythological stories tell of the struggle between man and the leshy, and the search for a compromise between them.
According to folk etiquette, before entering the forest, one had to pray and ask permission to enter from the “master.” The Leshy's consent was also required for any activity in the forest. When entering the forest, one should not say that one is going for a short time—this is the Leshy's decision, not the person's. It is very dangerous to receive a curse from a relative before entering the forest—the Leshy believed that cursed people were promised to him. The Leshy dislikes cursing, noise, and especially whistling in the forest—this is his prerogative; he may take offense and hasten to respond with his own destructive whistle. One should not mimic echoes or respond to an unfamiliar voice—it could be the Leshy. Protecting the forest, the Leshy can interfere with people cutting down trees (hiding axes, scattering logs), much less mutilate them unnecessarily, or hunt (diverting shots, depriving them of aim and the ability to shoot, luring them into impassable places). A leshy will try to frighten a person who spends the night in a forest hut without asking (“Let me in, master, not to live forever, but just to spend one night”) with noise, the cries of animals and birds, throwing open doors, and so on, and drive them out, or even kill them. Sleeping on a path is forbidden, as a leshy or a whole wedding of leshys walking along it could crush them. A leshy likes to warm himself by a human fire, but if enraged, he can also scatter or trample it. A leshy could frighten a person who behaves badly in the forest to the point of death, bewitch them with visions, or make them sick.
To summon a Leshy, you need to chop down young birch trees, arrange them in a circle with their tops in the center, stand in the circle, remove your cross, and loudly shout, “Grandfather!” You can also chop down a pine tree in the forest with a blunt axe, cutting it down so that when it falls, it knocks down two aspen trees. Stand on them facing north and summon a Leshy. On the night of Ivan Kupala, June 24 (July 7), you can chop down an aspen so that it falls to the east. Stand on the stump facing east, bend over, look between your legs, and say, “Uncle Leshy! Show yourself not as a gray wolf, nor a black raven, nor a fiery spruce, show yourself as I am.” It was believed that a Leshy could also be summoned by saying, “Come tomorrow!” You can see the invisible goblin or his true form by looking through the horse's right ear, or with the help of a harrow or collar.
Success in hunting depends on the Leshy, who distributes the forest's bounty among people. To ensure a successful hunt, one can make a pact with the Leshy: bring him a gift—an Easter egg, bread and salt (or your hair or nails), etc.; or a sacrifice—your blood (from your finger) or your first catch; or write the pact in blood on paper or a leaf. The gift is left at the roots of an uprooted tree or at a forest road intersection. The hunter must remove his belt (amulet) and cross (renunciation of Christianity). The Leshy can himself instruct the hunter how to conclude the pact. The hunter promises to fulfill certain conditions, for example, not to take more game than a certain amount or not to hunt on certain days, etc. A deal with the Leshy meant the hunter surrenders himself to his power and, with the rise of Christianity, was increasingly equated with selling his soul to the devil. A pact with the Leshy must be kept secret. In addition, incantations invoking the Leshy were used to enhance hunting luck. Fulfilling the agreement, the forest lord would bring “herds” of animals to the hunter's gun or drive them into his traps, ensuring that the shot was always accurate. Anyone who violated the agreement or its secret would lose the Leshy's protection and could face severe punishment—illness or even death.
It was believed that the cattle in forested areas were tended not so much by the shepherd as by the wood goblin. To protect the cattle from the wood goblin, the shepherd would perform a ritual “going around” (“letting go”) of the cattle at the beginning of the season—circling the herd three times with magical objects, casting a spell. If the letting go was performed incorrectly, the wood goblin, offended by the use of magic against him, might try to take revenge on people by destroying as many cattle as possible. This is why peasants preferred a pact with the wood goblin to a ritual of letting go. To accomplish the latter, on St. George's Day, April 23 (May 6), or around St. Nicholas' Day, May 9 (22), one had to ritually go around the herd with a cross, drive them into a ravine, and then sit on an aspen stump or fallen birch tree and summon the wood goblin with a magical formula, promising him an offering—an Easter egg, bread and salt, or one or two cows. You don't have to summon the Leshy; you can simply place a gift under a birch tree, which will “look at you.” A cow promised to the Leshy was considered “bequeathed”—it was supposed to disappear into the forest during the season. A contract with the Leshy was concluded using a strictly defined formula-charm, but for various reasons, no one was able to write it down. To secure the contract, the shepherd also left a locked padlock in the forest. It was believed that when the cows were grazing, the Leshy would unlock it, and when they needed to go to the village, he would lock it. After the contract was concluded, the Leshy would faithfully tend the cattle—either himself or by having his assistant or the Leshy woman do so. The shepherd didn't even need to go into the forest with the cows after this—he spent the entire day doing his own chores, interrupted only by the pasture and corralling of the cattle. Moreover, the shepherd could, at his own discretion, sound his trumpet and summon any cattle from the forest. A shepherd who entered into a pact with a wood goblin was subject to certain restrictions: he was forbidden to tend livestock in the forest, beat them, kill wild animals, break trees, pick berries (especially black berries) and mushrooms, swear in the forest, cut his hair and nails, share his trumpet and whip with others, touch others (shake hands, eat from the same bowl, wash together in the bathhouse, sleep with his wife), see dead bodies and newborns. He was also forbidden to sell livestock from the herd during the season, comb the wool of sheep, or disturb the integrity of the fence. Violating these taboos led to the breach of the pact, which resulted in the death of the livestock and sometimes the shepherd.
The Leshy could steal livestock from people, especially those cursed and sent “to the Leshy.” The Leshy could punish careless behavior toward livestock, leaving it unattended with the promise that it would not go anywhere—after all, it was the Leshy who decided this, not the person. Livestock could disappear if they crossed a path traversed by the Leshy. The Leshy could “tie” livestock to a tree, so that they could not move, even though they had eaten all the grass around them and were starving. He could even “close” (“hide”) an animal, as if placing it in another world, whereby those searching for it could hear a cowbell ringing nearby. The Leshy could also lead the animal to a remote, inaccessible place. The Leshy could also send wild animals—wolves and bears—to attack livestock tended by a bad shepherd. To find lost livestock, peasants not only undertook the usual search but also performed a ritual called “otvedyvaniya” (“turning away”): at night or early in the morning, they would go to a forest crossroads (or send a “knowledgeable” person) and attempt to negotiate with the Leshy. To do this, they would offer him a gift—an egg, bread and salt, etc., wrapped in a clean piece of cloth tied with a red thread. They would pray to him or threaten him with magic (“to cross” all the forest roads, to bind all the trees) or the intercession of saints. If the lost livestock had not been “bequeathed” to the Leshy, it would either soon return on its own, or the Leshy would tell them where they could be found, or would reveal their fate (mauled to death by animals, stolen by someone, or wandering outside the forest). The Leshy could also maim the livestock.
The Leshy is considered the primary cause of human wandering in the forest, which is why it is also called “blud,” “shatun,” “manilo,” and “dilila.” A person cannot find their way because the Leshy has “circled” them, as if encircling them with an invisible circle. Anyone who “crosses the Leshy's trail” will also get lost, finding themselves on its path. The Leshy can obscure the path with an obsessive obstacle: a windfall, a river, etc. It can also obscure the missing person themselves—people hear they are nearby but cannot find them. The Leshy can “tie” a person to the tree in which it lives, in which case the traveler, wandering, continually returns to it. It can falsify signs: pretending to be a landmark by which a person marked the way, or a tree on which moss or short, sparse branches grow not on the north side, as expected, but on the south. A leshy can lead a hunter into the wilderness, disguised as an elusive animal, sometimes a strange one. It can also lure in the voice of a familiar figure, a crying child, or a dying person. A lost person finds themselves in an unfamiliar place, which in everyday life is understood as difficult to access, and in mythology—as another world. A leshy can take the form of a familiar or simply unknown companion and, distracting with conversation or promising to show them places rich in mushrooms or berries, leads them into an impassable place, after which they disappear. Its appearance in such cases is usually due to the person's desire for a companion. Also, disguised as a familiar person, a leshy can loom ahead at a distance, eluding capture and not responding. This companion disappears suddenly, often at the border with the civilized world—when crossing a bridge or fence.
To rid oneself of a Leshy's spell, a lost person must remove all their clothes and put them on in reverse: inside out, backwards, swap shoes, turn the insoles over, etc. While undressing, one must loudly curse and beat the clothes against a tree, and while dressing, recite a prayer (preferably Psalm 90) and recite a spell. Similarly, if one gets lost while riding a cart, one should re-harness the horses the other way around. One could also try to exit the forest backwards, following one's own footsteps. A. N. Afanasyev suggested that by changing clothes in this way, a person would walk not in the direction the Leshy was leading, but in the opposite direction, and would eventually find the road. N. A. Krinichnaya pointed out that such a change of clothes helps one pass from the other world to the diametrically opposite one, that is, the human world. E. L. Madlevskaya pointed out that after changing clothes, the Leshy ceases to see a person. Alternatively, one can simply ask the Leshy to show them the way. To find a missing person in the forest, people performed the same “taste” (“turning away”) ritual as for a missing pet, only the gifts were somewhat more valuable—not just bread and salt, but also pancakes, pies, a pot of porridge, and a piece of lard. If a deal was reached with the leshy, he would show the missing person the way or even lead them out of the forest himself, or “reveal” them to those searching—the missing person might end up in a place where they had already been unsuccessfully searched for. Relatives also sought help against the leshy from the domovoi, appealing to him by “barking” into a trumpet.
Like other demonic characters, the Leshy can abduct people. People of any age and gender can disappear. The most common reason for abduction is a curse, especially a parental one, in the form of a message “to the Leshy.” If the cursed child is successfully baptized, the Leshy waits until they turn seven years old, then lures them into the forest.
Leshys also lure children who are unhappy in their families with kindness, which is why they call the leshy “good uncle.” They can also kidnap infants. In exchange for the kidnapped child, leshys sometimes place a “changeling”—a bundle of straw, a log, or a block of wood—in the cradle. Sometimes they leave behind their own offspring, ugly, stupid, and gluttonous, which takes on the image of the kidnapped child. However, the deformed, malformed changeling is evil, screams a lot, can neither walk nor speak, and shows no signs of intelligence. After a while, it usually dies, or upon reaching 11 years of age, the changeling flees into the forest, and if it remains among humans, it becomes a sorcerer. The leshy raise the abducted children: according to some stories, they gain secret knowledge and become sorcerers and healers, while according to others, they become wild, lose the ability to understand human speech, wear clothes, and become covered in moss and bark. They often become invisible to humans, although they see their relatives, hear their conversations, and experience separation, but are unable to open up. According to N. A. Krinichnaya, they seem to dissolve into nature. The leshy take the abducted girls as their wives and can have children with them. If a leshy gives birth to a woman living in a village, her child soon disappears. The leshy can also kidnap a person to turn them into a slave. According to other stories, “abducted” (lost) people die from exhaustion, hunger, falling into a pit, or getting caught in a quagmire.
You can protect yourself from kidnapping immediately after a curse, using Christian (praying, crossing yourself, remembering God, performing a prayer service) or pagan methods (saying “keep away from me,” casting a spell, performing a “tasting” ritual), or simply catching up with the “carried away” into the forest. There is a chance of returning someone who has already been carried off to the other world, but usually only at a certain moment (prompted by a sorcerer or by chance) after some time has passed since their disappearance. There was a belief that, in order to return home, a person who had been kidnapped had to avoid eating the food of the wood goblins (though in other stories, people feasted on the wood goblins and returned, only to find the food they took with them turned into pine cones, moss, and so on). The wood goblins could bring back someone they had kidnapped long ago if another person helped them. Those who return from the wood goblins change. They avoid people, learn to speak again, and become mentally damaged. Or, conversely, they become focused and serious, acquiring the ability to practice witchcraft, predict their own and others' destinies, and communicate with spirits (leshy, brownies). Those who return are drawn back to the forest. They don't tell the full story of their stay with the leshy, as they could pay with their lives for it. For girls, the effects of the abduction wear off after marriage. They note a connection between abduction and death, and the forest with the realm of the dead.
Prayer, the sign of the cross, and mention of God can help to get rid of a Leshy if it is perceived as an evil spirit. However, if the Leshy is perceived as an ancient deity, swearing is more effective. You can also try to make the Leshy laugh. To end a conversation with the Leshy, you must utter the “last word,” that is, the word that the Leshy (or the person themselves) said first, thus closing the verbal circle. Salt and fire, a circle drawn with a “magic” object, a luboshka (a linden stick stripped of bark), and a firebrand are all considered wards against the Leshy. The Leshy fears dogs with light spots above their eyes (as they supposedly can see evil spirits) and calico cats. The Leshy can be driven away with a backhand blow. It fears firearms, especially those loaded with copper button bullets.
The Leshy could predict the fate of anyone they encountered. It was believed that on Maundy Thursday, one could go into the forest, sit in an old birch tree, and ask the Leshy about the future. A fortune-telling ritual was common, most often performed during Christmastide, at night in the forest, usually at a crossroads. The fortune-teller would draw three circles around themselves with a magical object (a poker, a torch, etc.) or outline an animal skin on which they would sit. They would place a piece of bread and sometimes other objects next to them and ask the Leshy what would happen in the coming year. The answer was various forest sounds, which people “seemed” to have meaning in. It was believed that the Leshy would only agree to answer three questions. Failure to observe the ritual could result in severe punishment.
The Leshy could communicate freely with people: come to a tavern and drink vodka, hire a person as a worker, etc. There are stories about how the Leshy accepts help from a person and generously thanks them: the Leshy asks to be taught to play the accordion; the Leshy asks woodcutters to treat him to pies; a midwife helps a Leshy woman give birth; a hunter frees a Leshy bound by his fellow Leshy, and in gratitude, he goes to war in his place; a woman takes care of a Leshy's naked child lying in the forest, for which the Leshy woman gives her coals, which turn into coins; a person helps the Leshy overcome demons with prayers.
The Leshy is the ruler of forest animals. He loves the bear above all, and when he drinks wine, which he greatly enjoys, he invariably treats the bear as well. The bear watches over the Leshy when he goes to bed drunk, protecting him from attacks by water spirits. According to K. D. Loginovsky, collected in Transbaikalia, “for his services, the Leshy demands payment from people in the form of vodka.”
In the Russian North, there is an expression “the goblin stepped” about something that was done poorly.
Leshy in the folk calendar
A Leshy can be encountered at any time of day. It is believed that at midnight, Leshys come out to play, running to the nearest vershok with the first roosters crow, and there they make noise until the second roosters crow, after which they disperse. Like other spirits, Leshys celebrate the arrival of spring and Easter (the best gift for a Leshy is an Easter egg). In the summer, Leshys celebrate weddings with great fanfare.
In the folk calendar, “Kupala Night” on June 24 (July 7) was considered a time when all manner of evil spirits, including the wood spirit, became active and engaged in mischief. And on the eve of “Agathon the Husbandman” on August 22 (September 4) , according to legend, wood spirits emerged from the forest into the fields, ran through villages and hamlets, scattered sheaves across the threshing floors, and generally committed all manner of mischief. To guard the threshing floors, villagers would go to the fences, armed with pokers and sheepskin coats, inside-out clothing, and draw a circle around the sheaves with the poker, as if enclosing them with a fence to prevent them from being scattered in a whirlwind. September 14 (27) (Exaltation of the Cross) was also considered a special “urgent day” for the Leshy, a day when the leshaks drove forest animals to special places, making it dangerous to cross their path. “On Yerofey,” according to peasants, “the Leshy part with the forest.” On this day, October 4 (17), the spirit falls underground (up to seven spans), where it hibernates until spring. Before hibernation, however, the Leshys rage, “playing the fool in the forests”: wandering, shouting, laughing, clapping their hands, breaking trees, driving animals into their burrows, and raging. Superstitious Russian men and women avoided the forest on this day: “The Leshy is not one of us: he will break all your bones no worse than a bear.” However, not all Leshys disappear for the winter; in some areas, winter snowstorms are attributed to them.
On the disappearance of wood goblins
By the second half of the 20th century, the popular belief had developed that wood goblins had become much less common, if not completely disappeared. Nevertheless, the wood goblin remains one of the most popular characters in folk tales.
One of our correspondents, with simplicity and frankness, reported the following – with a guarantee for his entire area: “This filth has now disappeared. Our grandfathers used to say that in those days, when there were more forests and swamps with bogs, it was better not to go into the forest at night: this filth will meet you, and that’s all.”
— Maksimov S.V. Collected Works. St. Petersburg, 1912. Vol. 18. P. 87
Now, according to the assurances of the natives, there are much fewer of them than there were before, which can be explained by the appearance of firearms, which the menkvy (wood goblins), especially those loaded with copper bullets, fear most of all.
— Gondatti N.L. Traces of paganism among the natives of North-Western Siberia – M., 1888. P. 34
Related characters
“A Forest Miracle, Caught in Spring.” An 18th-century popular print. The leshy displays some characteristics of the thunder god Perun: during storms, he fells trees, sings and makes noise, laughs like thunder, and his little leshy run out to play. At times, the leshy is directly depicted as the master of the elements. As the patron saint of shepherds and domestic animals, the leshy may be connected to the “cattle god” Veles (Volos) and the Christian saints to whom the latter's functions were transferred in dual faith.
The leshy is closely related to the spirit master of the fields—the field spirit. The field spirit is believed to have separated from the leshy during the transition from slash-and-burn agriculture (separating the field from the forest) and to have merged with it again during the dissolution of the mythological tradition. The image of the leshy as the patron of wolves is closely linked to the South Slavic character known as the wolf shepherd, the Ukrainian lisun, and the Russian Yegory the Brave. The motif of tickling to death unites leshy and Russian dikin'nik muzhiks—furry creatures that inhabit the forest. Belarusians believed that in addition to the common leshy, there were also pushcheviki, who lived in the virgin forest and killed people who entered it. The aforementioned names for the leshy—blud (Ukrainian), Russian, manilo, etc.—and borovik or borovyk (an old man—the master of mushrooms, living beneath them and feeding on them)—can in some places be considered separate characters. The images of the “evil” goblin and the devil were under mutual influence.
The Russian image of the leshy influenced the images of forest spirits among Russian peoples: the Arzyuri among the Chuvash, the Vorsa among the Komi, the Nyulesmurt among the Udmurts, the Pitsen among the West Siberian Tatars, the Shurale among the Kazan Tatars and Bashkirs, and others. Similar characters in other mythologies include Greek satyrs, Roman fauns, German forest people (Waldleute, Holzleute), and moss (German/Russian) people (Moosleute).
