242
people. It was equally
dangerous to fetch yarn
from the attic in late evening. If a spinner did
so, the torka could chew her to her bones and
throw the bones at the spinners spinning in
her house. According to stories from the area
of Goriško, the torkas would appear in the
evening and ask the house maker: Shall we
garden? (meaning to bleach yarn). If the reply
was positive, the house maker was thrown into
a cauldron, boiled, and eaten by the torkas.
According to popular belief, the torka brings
to children teeth of iron (see Pehtra Baba).
Lit.: N. Kuret:
Mid-Winter Deity among the Slovenes /
Pehtra Baba, torka. Opuscula selecta, Ljubljana 1997.
Trdoglav, see Veles
Trentarski student, see wizard
Triglav (Troglav, Triglaus, Trigelawus, Trajan,
Trojan), an ancient Slavic, and particularly
Baltic, three-headed deity believed to govern
the earth, the sky, and the underworld. Ac-
cording to sources, its
cult was practiced in
Szczecin,
where the middle, and the largest,
of the three hills that blocked access to the
town was dedicated to it. Traditional Serbian
songs mention Triglav as an old deity and as
the god of war. After the death of the Roman
Emperor Trajan in 117 A.D., the similarity
of names Triglav and Trajan resulted in the
transfer of this tradition that eventually
amalgamated into the name Trojan.
Trot (trut), a mythical being traditionally ap-
pearing as a hero, a fighter wielding a golden
axe and driven in a coach pulled by white or
green horses. While some sources perceive
him as the brother of Kresnik; others believe
that Trot is really Perun who used a golden
axe to fight snakes and dragons.
The memory
of Trot has been preserved in local place
names such as the hamlets Trot in Koroška
and Trotkovo in Štajerska.
Lit.: G. Krek:
The Czech Trut and the Slovenian Trot. Kres
6, Celovec 1886.
Trota, see incubus
Trut, see Trot
Truta, see incubus
Tuhinc, an exceptionally strong man who,
according to the lore of Prekmurje, was able
to singlehandedly thresh the millet set aside
for orphans (see giant).
Lit.: Š. Kühar:
Narodno blágo vogrskij Slovencov (The Lore
of the People Living in Prekmurje). Časopis za zgodovino
in narodopisje 8, Maribor 1910.
Ukletnik, see bewitched soul
Unicorn, samorog, enorog, enorožec, monocer-
os. A mythical animal with a pointed, spiralled
horn and the body of a bull, a horse, or a goat.
Its first
representations, depicted on seals found
in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in the Indus
Valley, originated in the 3
rd
millennium B.C.
The unicorn is mentioned in the myth about
the Flood in “Atharva-Veda” and in “Mahab-
harata”. The first to mention the healing powers
of the unicorn horn in antiquity was Ktesias
(approx. 410 B.C.). The horn is known in folk
medicine as a healing substance and a strong
antidote. “Physiologus” from the 2
nd
century
A.D. mentions that this wild, furious animal
may be captured only by trickery. When a
virgin is brought to the forest in which the
unicorn is grazing, the unicorn becomes doc-
ile, runs to the maiden, jumps into her lap, and
falls asleep. Hunters
are then able to capture it
and take it to the royal palace as a curiosity. In
medieval mystical texts and in Christian sym-
bolism, the unicorn personifies the incarnation
of Christ (see mythical animals).
Lit.: J. Glonar:
“Monoceros” in “Diptamus” (“Monoceros”
and “Diptamus”). Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje 7,
Maribor 1910; L. Kretzenbacher:
Mystische Einhornjagd.
München 1978.
Vampire, premrl, prilog, ris (lynx). A de-
ceased person whose heavy sins prevent his
or her corpse from decaying in the grave, i.e.
243
remains premrl (stiff, rigid). At night, the
vampire leaves the grave to disturb the living
and suck their blood. While vampires are par-
ticularly dangerous to the unprotected, they
lose their powers in front of a church, crucifix,
and fire. If a cauldron was left suspended
over the hearth overnight, the vampire could
disgorge the sucked blood into the cauldron
and boil it; the blood
was believed to have the
healing power. Vampires were allegedly guilty
of sexual abuse, and the deceased husband
could continue to visit his wife at night and
father a child. Similar lore has been preserved
in Novigrad, Obrov, and Ložane. In order to
prevent the vampire from retuning, a haw-
thorn stick had to be impaled through its
heart; or its head cut off and placed by its feet;
or the vampire should be burned. Vampires
were buried facing the ground or with a nail
thrust through their body. The belief in vam-
pires was later contaminated with the lore of
werewolves and the vedomci. This
tradition,
which was particularly
widespread in the Bal-
kans and among Slavic peoples, is based on
the belief in the returned dead. It was known
throughout Europe and also among many
non-European peoples.
Lit.: D. Sturm, K. Völker:
Von den Vampiren und Menschen-
säugern, München 1968.
Vancaš, see water sprite
Vedavec, see vedomec
Vedogonja, see Kresnik
Vedomec, védamec, véjdamec, védavec,
védanc, vedúnec, videnc, ujédemec, bédanec,
bédou’nk, benandant, balabántar, vermánte,
vidovina, védavk, véšča. 1) Assuming dif-
ferent forms, this mythical being fights the
kresniks during the nights around Christmas,
Midsummer Day, and Ember Days. 2) The
soul of an unbaptized child that appears as
a small bright light. Carried by his mother
for seven or nine years. People believed that
the vedomec would murder his entire family
after his birth.
He can be recognized by the
absence of hair, dim eyes, a unibrow, an unu-
sual tooth, etc. His peers traditionally come
to fetch him when he is seven. Together they
fight at crossroads and under trees. They can
tear a passer-by apart, throw his or her bones
at each other, and then reassemble the victim.
They can cause solar eclipses. They carry off
harvests. The vedomec gradually assumed the
role of sorcerer. As an incubus, the vedomec
descends upon sleeping persons, throw babies
from their cradles, or smother them in their
sleep.
As a ghostly light, he can lure people
into swamps at night time. In Slovenian
folktales, the vedomec traditionally appears
as the master of souls on the glass mountain.
Lit.: M. Matičetov:
La costola di legno. Alpes Orientales
I, Ljubljana 1956; C. Ginzburg: I Benandanti, Torino 1966;
Franco Nardon:
Benandanti e inquisitori nel Friuli del
seicento, Trst 1999.
Vehtra Baba, see Pehtra Baba
Veles, Vólos, Vólvel, Vóuvel, Bábilon, báron
Bálon, Bés, Črt, Krutoglav, Potoglav, Trdoglav.
A Slavic god of the underworld, cattle, and
riches. While shrines devoted to Perun were
erected on mountains, the ones honouring
Veles, who was the traditional enemy of Pe-
run, were built in valleys. This indicates that
Veles was also venerated as the ruler of the
chthonic after world and may appear also as
a dragon or a snake. According to Slovenian
narrative tradition, the giant Vouvel keeps
hidden in his mountain cattle, treasures, and
other goods that can be accessed by means
of the vouvelica (or kounertnica), grass that
blooms on Midsummer Night between mid-
night and one o’clock. After the advent of
Christianity, the role of Veles, the protector
of cattle, was taken over by St. Blasius.
Lit.: G. Krek:
Beiträge zur slavischen Mythologie I. Veles, Volos
und Blasius, Archiv für slavische Philologie 1, Berlin 1875; R.
Jakobson,
The Slavic God Veles and his Indo-European Cog-
nates. Studi linguistici in onore di Vittore Pisani, Torino 1969.