Myth and folktales

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throwing themselves in the right wheel rut 
on a road, or by stepping aside and remain-
ing motionless. The Hunt may also throw 
an axe into a passerby, pulling it out in the 
same location a year later, thus delivering the 
sufferer from pain and feebleness. A roasted 
shoulder of a Fate would come flying at those 
who dared to mimic the rushing sounds of 
the wild hunt, as if to say: If you hunted with 
us you may as well feast with us! This folklore 
is based on the belief in the souls of the dead 
who were led either by the wild hunter or by 
Pehtra Baba, a female mythical being. 
Wild hunter, divji lovec, jager, divji jager, 
nočni lovec, nočni jager, črni lovec, ponočni 
mož, šent. A mythical being condemned to 
hunt eternally for breaking the ban on hunt-
ing on the first Sunday after the new moon 
and during Ember weeks; or for shooting at 
a crucifix. In the lore of Koroška, the ponočni 
mož (midnight man) is large enough to step 
over mountains. In Gorenjska, a large pack of 
dogs is followed by a limping man carrying 
an axe. In southwest Pohorje, the lame devil 
(šent) comes to his farm and leads his serv-
ants away. After they have swum across the 
water dividing the world of the living and the 
world of the dead, he turns them into wolves. 
According to some legends, the wild hunter 
pursues a Fate and the wild man; if his vic-
tims are captured, he kills them. He throws 
a part of the killed victim at those who deign 
to mimic the wild hunt. Similar stories are 
known from literature, the most famous be-
ing Boccaccio’s adaptation in the form of a 
short story. Comparison can be traced also to 
classical Greek astro-mythology with Orion a 
giant hunter who pursued the Pleiades. 
Wild man, dujak, gozdni mož (forest man), 
hostnik, silvan, pogorni mož, podlesni mož, 
podlesnjak, lesnik, vilenjak. A mythical being 
who is knowledgeable about earthly rich-
es, animal and plant worlds. It can control 
weather and other natural phenomena. May 
be kind and benevolent to people, offering his 
advice (i.e. on when to plant fava beans) but 
also hostile and harmful. The wild man, who 
likes bread and milk, has a huge stature cov-
ered in hair or moss. If people give him food 
he repays their kindness but punishes their 
stinginess when food is denied. He helps with 
fieldwork; offers advice on when and what to 
sow and plant; brings back any lost animals 
to shepherds and game to hunters; teaches 
people how to make cheese; shows them the 
location of ore. Yet he never discloses all 
his secrets. In some stories, he figures as a 
kidnapper so he is hunted down, tied with 
grape vines twisted in a wrong manner, and 
sometimes killed, for example with an axe 
with an inverted blade. 
Lit.: I. Grafenauer: 
Slovenska pripovedka o ujetem divjem 
možu (A SlovenianTale of the Captured Wild Man). Zgo-
dovinski časopis 6–7, 1952–53; I. Grafenauer: 
Dostavek 
k ‘Slovenskim pripovedkam o ujetem divjem možu’ (An 
Appendix to “SlovenianLegends about the Captured 
Wild Man”). Zgodovinski časopis 8. 1954; I. Grafenauer: 
Zveza slovenskih ljudskih pripovedk z retijskimi (The 
Connection between SlovenianFolktales with Tales from 
Rhaetia) IV-B: 
Divji mož sirar – ujeti divji mož (Wild Man 
the Cheesemaker – the Captured Wild Man). Slovenski 
etnograf 11, 1958; L. Röhrich: 
Europäische Wildgeistersa-
gen, Sage und Märchen, Erzählforschung heute. Freiburg, 
Basel, Wien 1976.
Wild woman, divja žena, divja baba, divja 
dekla, divjačesa, dujačesa, pogorna žena, črna 
žena (black woman), krivopeta. 1) Companion 
of the wild man; 2) A mythical creature simi-
lar to fairies and the Fates. Knowledgeable 
about natural phenomena that could either 
benefit or harm farming life, she could advise 
on when to plant and when to reap. A seer, 
favourably disposed to those who left food 
for her to find, she would protect their homes 
and children, help with chores, and offer 
advice. She could also cause damage, replace 
people’s children with her own, and so on. In 
some stories, the wild women lure a person to 
perform chores for them. In doing this, that 
person would learn certain secrets but woe to 
those who would dare disclose them.

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247
Wind, veter, véternik, vétrnik, vetróvnik, 
vétrih, vijar, krívec, rogátec, rogájšek, rarášek, 
górjek, górnjek, zagórščak, zgórec, spódnjek, 
zdólec, škrátec, svínsek, jug, tóplek, séver, 
gárbus. Personified wind; a whirlwind; a 
being that rules, and causes, strong winds 
and hurricanes. The people of Vipavsko 
imagined it as a raggedy, scratched man. 
Whenever the old woman/mother of the 
winds becomes enraged she lets the winds 
out of a hole. Rarašek, the servant of Pehtra 
Baba, keeps the winds imprisoned in a bar-
rel. It was believed in Bela Krajina that every 
time a storm breaks out this means that the 
giants are howling. Above Čemšenik, the 
vetrniki (whirlwinds) emerge from holes 
with the same name. In Goriško, the veter-
nik is a human, born at a certain time, who 
is lifted in the air by gale and transported 
around the underground. In Ptujsko Polje, 
a goblin named škratec or svinšek dances 
in the whirlwind. In Resia, whirlwinds were 
personified by the vijarji. In Brežice, the 
southern wind allegedly comes from Turkey 
and the northern one from the North Pole 
from where it drags its mother, the winter. In 
Štajersko, the southern wind was called the 
toplek (warm) while the northern wind was 
named the garbus. Although brothers, the 
winds quarrel so fiercely that St. Elias has to 
intervene occasionally. 
Lit.: M. Matičetov: 
Pitanje vetra pri Slovencih, Narodno 
stvaralaštvo folklor 15/16, Beograd 1965; Tanja Petrovič: 
Vetrovi kao mitološka bića u predstavama južnih Slovena 
u istočnom delu Balkana. Studia mythologica Slavica 
7, 2004.
Witch,  čarovnica, cóprnica, véšča, veša, 
vráčnica, štríga, bajánca, klékarca, svéta 
bába, bosarúna, bába vída, švíla prerokvíla, 
lámia, fúria. 1) A demon with magical eyes 
such as a spirit, a fairy, or an incubus; 2) a 
woman who can perform magic, a skill that 
is either innate or acquired. The magic is 
done by way of apotropaic acts, medicinal 
herbs, potions, spells, incantations, prayers, 
books on black magic,
 
a wand (inhabited by 
an ancestor spirit), a bell, holy water, and also 
spirits. Witches, whose spirits were believed 
to be able to leave their body and roam the 
underworld where they came into contact 
with the ghosts and the souls of the dead, 
could also fly. Gathering on Sabbath days, 
witches headed to certain mountains (Grin-
tovec, Rogaška Gora, Klek, Slivnica) to dance 
in the magic circle. To ward them off, people 
used blessed gunpowder, salt, holy water, 
clothes that had been turned inside out; or 
stick, linden or birch branches in windows 
and doors, particularly on Pentecost and 
Corpus Christi Day, and Midsummer flow-
ers on Midsummer Day. In Ziljska Dolina/
Gailtal in Koroška/Kärnten, the crime com-
mitted by a woman accused of witchcraft was 
called the crime of Péhtra bába.
Lit.: M. Mencej: 
Coprnice so me nosile. Raziskave vaškega 
čarovništva v vzhodni Sloveniji na prelomu tisočletja (I 
was Possessed by Hags. A Study of Village Witchcraft 
in Eastern Slovenia at the Turn of the Millennium), Lju-
bljana 2006.
Witch doctor,  vrač,  vráčnik,  vráčarica, 
uróčen, báli, bájavec, bógovec, bogínja (god-
dess), šamán (shaman), léčnik (healer), lékar, 
árcat, pádar, bukovnik. A person with ac-
quired knowledge and innate skills that 
exceed the realm of reality. A healer of people 
and animals, the witch doctor employs me-
dicinal herbs, potions, enchantments, and 
magic. People believed in the magical power 
of blessed salt, water, bread, herbs, amulets, 
and of apotropaic objects such as glass or 
crystals. This knowledge was also handed 
down to the next generation by means of 
books on magic and on medicinal plants.
Wizard, (čaróvnik, čárnik, čaróvniški mójster, 
črni gospód, mag, vrač, štrigón, štregón, stru-
penják, vilenják, vilovnják, védomec, védavec, 
vidovína, zduháč, mésečnik, morlak). 1) A 
supernatural creature like the kresnik and 
the vedomec. 2) A person whose ability to 

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