Myth and folktales

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FOLKTALES ABOUT KURENT
Kurent has also acquired a role in folktales and fairy tales that are spread 
throughout the world. 
“The Blacksmith and the Devil” (ATU 330)
Janez Bilc wrote that in the valley of Ilirska Bistrica people tell a story about 
Kurent not being able to gain admittance to heaven. He immediately threw his coat 
behind the door, sat upon it, and said: “I’m sitting in my own spot now, so nobody can 
meddle with me.” Kurent is now sitting in the moon, constantly operating a bellows.
14
 
A similar legend was published by Fran Podkrajšek in Bčela.
15
 These motifs are often 
an integral part of the fairy tale “The Blacksmith and the Devil” (ATU 330). In its 
Slovenian variants, the main character is frequently Kurent, who tricks the devil, or 
death, by fastening them onto a magical tree or a chair in order to stay alive. When 
he gets tired of life, Kurent goes to heaven or to the moon. In its own way, this fairy 
tale tradition confirms the premise that Kurent is associated also with the moon, 
and therefore a lunar deity.
The dark spots on the lunar surface were often perceived as the primordial father, 
someone who has helped to restore the human race (as he did after the Flood) and 
is responsible for its crops. Some people perceived in the moon the blacksmith, the 
shoemaker, the musician, the plowman, the manure spreader, the logger (Šmitek 
2000: 11–12, no. 4). The manure spreader, for example, was transplanted to the moon 
because he was carting manure on the night of Quarter Day (Ember Day) Friday 
(ATU 751 E*). When he came to his field, the cart overturned, and the man started 
to swear profusely. The moon immediately pulled the man, together with the cart, 
to its surface. 
In addition to the ones already mentioned, there were also other characters 
inhabiting the moon, for example spinners, St. George, St. Martin, and St. Florian. 
There were also animals such as the rabbit, the fox, the frog or the toad, and even 
objects, for instance the beehive stump. Such characters explained, according to 
people’s imagination, the dark spots on the lunar surface. 
“Dance in the Thorns” (ATU 592)
Kurent was soon associated with jokes and pranks. As such,  he was mentioned 
by Jožef Hašnik, a poet from the vicinity of Vuzenica, who published the following 
story in Novice in 1848:
14 
Bilc, Novice, 5. 8. 1857: 247.
15 
Merovčkov Prostoslav (Fran Podkrajšek), Kurent in človek. Bčela 1874: 9. 

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kurent has a Magical fiddle
Ancient Slovenes believed that Kurent was the father of many jokes, and told 
numerous funny stories about him. The most noteworthy fable is the one about 
his fiddle. Whenever Kurent played his strange fiddle everyone had to dance. 
Nobody heard anything else, but the tune that Kurent played, and all had to 
swirl around as long as he played.
Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan, who collected folktales in Gorenjska in the mid-19
th
 
century, also wrote down the tale about the crafty Kurent the musician. As often occurs 
in variants, this tale differs slightly from the previous one, and Kurent lands in heaven 
and not on the moon. On the basis of this tale, Ravnikar-Poženčan carried out a com-
parison with the Roman god Bacchus and the etymology of the term korent. He interprets 
the term in the sense of the Greek kora, which denotes a girl, a whore, and lists similar 
terms, namely kuriz, kuriza, and kuza. It is clear that this hypothesis is no longer valid.
korent
Korent, Kurent, the god Bacchus. People say that he had a fiddle to which, 
when played by Korent, everyone, regardless of where they might be, had to 
dance. When Korent tried to go to heaven, he was dismissed from the gates, 
so he went to hell instead. As soon as Lucifer saw him, he locked hell and 
held the iron gates so firmly that his claws appeared through them. So Korent 
riveted the gates, and Lucifer was unable to move away. Korent then headed 
back to heaven and was dismissed again. He asked for the gates to open at 
least a little bit so that he could peek inside. When his wish was granted he 
immediately threw his bag through the door, and asked permission to retrieve 
it. When that was granted as well he entered and sat down on the bag. Having 
thus acquired his own seat, he could no longer be banished from heaven.
16
As we can see, the tale about “Kurent in the Moon” is frequently associated with 
the fairy tale “Dance in the Thorns” (ATU 592). It tells about the hero who receives 
magical gifts, for example a magical gun that hits every target; a bag into which each 
person has to jump even if they do not wish to do so; and a magical fiddle to whose 
tune everybody has to dance as soon as its owner starts playing, and can stop only 
when the music stops. With the aid of these gifts, Kurent fools Lucifer. He also tricks 
the devils, and even manages to thrash them when they are trapped in a bag placed 
upon the anvil so that they no longer dare to show themselves, let alone take him 
to hell. His magic fiddle forces a man that had gone to retrieve a bird from a thorny 
bush to dance; the fiddle also saves Kurent from the gallows. Kurent also uses a trick 
16 
Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan, Manuscript in the Archive NUK: MS 483, XI.

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to get into heaven. He furtively tosses his coat or his hat inside, and St. Peter can no 
longer prevent him from claiming his seat on his own property. In some variants of 
this tale, Kurent prefers to obtain a place in the moon.
“The Man in the Moon” (ATU 751 E*)
In Slovenian folktale Voznik gnoja v luni (The Man Carting Manure on the Moon) 
that was recorded by Števan Kühar, the person is banished to the moon for his wrong-
doings, for example due to theft, avarice, hardheartedness, or because such a person 
had violated a commandment, for instance the one that prohibits work on a Sunday. 
Kurent appears, for example, in the tale about Kurent the scoundrel. In order to 
punish him, Christ and St. Peter transform him into a bullock, take him to a village, 
and leave him there for a few years to serve people. Kurent does an excellent job, and 
brings great abundance to the villagers. After serving his sentence, he is collected by 
the two holy men and restored to his human form. From then on, each year at the 
same time Kurent returns to the village, bringing a copious harvest; in return, the 
villagers celebrate him every year around the same time. 
kurent transformed into a Bullock
The Lord and St. Peter once travelled around the world. They arrived at a 
village, and the Lord told Peter to buy a rope. “Why are we going to need a 
rope?” asked Peter. “You will see”, answered the Lord. So Peter bought a rope 
and they proceed to the woods. There lived a terrible brigand by the name of 
Kurent or Kurat. He had the figure of the giant. He seized every person who 
was passing through the woods, robbed them, and beat them, to boot. The 
Lord and St. Peter entered the woods. As soon as Kurent beheld them from 
afar he went to meet them. He started yelling at them so loudly that it was 
like a storm rushing to the wood, and all the trees were ashiver. “Give me all 
you’ve got!” Kurent screamed. The Lord said to Peter: Throw the rope on him!” 
Peter swiftly obeyed, and the brigand transformed into a bullock. Peter drove 
it with them. Upon arriving at another village, they went to one of the villag-
ers, and the Lord offered him the bullock completely for free. The man happily 
accepted the animal. The Lord said: “In seven years we shall return to collect 
it. During this period, you are not to give it away nor strike or slaughter it. If 
you keep this promise for seven years, you will have bountiful crops, but on 
the seventh year the crops will be so abundant that not one of you have ever 
seen anything like it. On Shrovetide,  we will collect the bullock.”
It all came to be just as the Lord promised. Every year was fertile. There was 
so much produce that there were no more poor people. There was no money 
either, for people gave everything away for free. The entire village knew the 

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