Myth and folktales

95
As mentioned before, Katičić and Belaj see in Zeleni Jurij the tenth brother, who 
had to roam the world. One of essential characteristics of Kresnik as well as Zeleni 
Jurij is the fact that he travels around the world. However, the tenth brother is per-
sonified as a sacrifice or an offering. Marjetica (or Mare), who was abducted by the 
dragon, was equally destined to live in exclusion. Yet the songs which mention the 
sacred marriage do not mention a fight with the monster; this fight is mentioned only 
in Irish fairy tales (see above) in which this heritage is connected with the myth of 
Andromeda and Perseus. The tenth brother in reality personifies the tithe, an offer-
ing; in a symbolic manner. Folk songs about the tenth brother, Zeleni Jurij, a child of 
Perun, who roams the world, and meets his sister (who, in some variants, is also the 
tenth child) are the fragments of a cosmological myth or song sung at a certain time 
of the year in order to invoke fertility in nature. There is, therefore, a close connec-
tion between the tenth brother and the tenth sister with Perun and Mokoš. They are 
the tithe, and are sacrificed to these deities, or else they themselves personify them.

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97
MYTHICAL ANIMALS
Among the mythical animals that occur throughout Slovenian folklore are sev-
eral who personify some natural or supernatural forces and maintain the balance of 
the universe. Thus, for instance, the mythical unicorns, white horses, and the afore-
mentioned Zlatorog (Goldenhorn) often embody celestial deities with their golden 
or white appearance. The horse also has a strong symbolic meaning and is often the 
attribute or personification of a god. In Slovenian mythology, it even personifies the 
incarnations of the supreme god Perun.
63
 
63 
More about this see the chapter “The Central Slavic Myth”. Further reading: Kropej 1998.
The magical garden, Jože Karlovšek, 1955, Archive ISN ZRC SAZU

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98
the uniCorn
The unicorn is a mythical animal with first a bull-like and later a horse- or 
goat-like body, which acquired its name from the long straight horn emerging from 
its forehead. The first representations of a bull with one horn originate from three 
thousand years BC on the seal of the ancient towns of the Indus, Mohenjo-daro 
and Harappa, where it represents one of the dominant revered icons. Hildegard of 
Bingen’s “Physica” did much to spread this myth and the belief in the healing power 
of the unicorn in the 12
th
 century. The symbol of a unicorn was also a key element 
in heraldry, and was used on dynastic as well as on state coats-of-arms. In Slovenian 
tradition, it is mentioned only in folk songs and in some sermons but not in folktales. 
The unicorn is frequently mentioned in European medieval mystical texts and 
depicted in medieval fine art. The motif of “The Maiden and the Unicorn” (Hortus 
Conclusius) was also depicted on frescoes, in miniatures and in ornate initials of 
medieval manuscripts. 
Hortus conclusus: Virgin Mary and the Unicorn. Depicted by Ivan Ranger, 1739–40, Church 
of Assumption of Virgin Mary in Olimje

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99
the White hind
The legend of the origin of the Monastery of the Chartusians in Žiče describes 
Duke Ottokar chasing a white hind of remarkable size that he cannot catch. 
The Monastery in Žiče and the White hind
Once upon a time, Duke Ottokar of Štajerska was on riding on the hunt in 
the forests when he saw a white hind of remarkable size. He chased it for a 
long time but without success. Tired, he fell asleep under a tree. St. John the 
Baptist appeared in his dreams and ordered him to build a monastery at 
the exact place where the hind had disappeared. While he was sleeping, a 
frightened rabbit, which was being chased by the hunters, jumped into the 
lap of the Duke and woke him up. This event inspired the Duke Ottokar to 
name the monastery “Zajec” (Rabbit). Elderly people still refer to the Žiče 
Charterhouse as “Zajcklošter” (Rabbit Monastery) (Stegenšek 1909: 184; 
Dapit, Kropej 2004: no. 5).
 
sea horse and Centaur (Polkonj)
Slovenian folklore does not often speak about sea horse (morski konj). Izidor 
Modic mentions them in the early 20
th
 century after hearing people talking about 
them in the vicinity of Velike Lašče in Dolenjska (Lower Carniola). 
sea horses
There is the church of St. Achatius on the mountain Gora above Turjak. The 
mountain has a hole in it and is hollow and filled with water, which reaches 
its peak at 11 o’clock. Somebody once shouted in that hole and something 
replied from far away:
“Ha-ha-ha!”
Allegedly there were sea horses in that hole.
64
It is interesting that the stories about sea horses have not been kept in Istria and 
Primorska, while the Gorizia region kept only the memory of the water sprites called 
salmsonarji. They were said to live in the water and to drown people. 
64 
Manuscript of Izidor Modic, Archive ISN ZRC SAZU: ŠZ 7/269, 1. Published: Dapit, Kropej 2004, 
no. 9.

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100
Also in Scotland, a supernatural being who drowns people is a water horse 
called Kelpie, in the Czech Republic it is named Utoplec, while in Silesia people call 
it Utopilec or Topilec. Supernatural beings which drown people often look like a horse 
or have horse hooves. 
A part of Slovenian folklore which also preserved the memory about polkonji (cen-
taurs, half-horses) is from Štajerska, Gorenjska and Slavia Veneta/Venetian Slovenia. 
Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan, who recorded old folktales in Gorenjska  in 1950s, 
recorded this description of a centaur in his manuscript:
Polkonj (half-horse, centaur)
People say it is a half man and a half horse. They also talk about many Half-
horses, so-called people who have a human figure joined at the waist to the 
horse’s 
withers
, where the horse’s neck would be (Grošelj 1952: 196–196).
Half-horses are mentioned also in a folk song Kaj se po svetu godi (What is hap-
pening around the world) which was also noted down by Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan 
in Gorenjska. The poem starts like this: 
Oh, a splendid, a splendid castle stands there,
Below the castle are three lime threes
Below the castle are three lime threes.
An honourable assembly sits under the lime trees,
In the middle among them is a splendid master.
He takes a curved horn into his hands,
And whistles so hard that it makes the mountains shake.[…]
He whistles the second time, something rustles,
Another servant is standing there.
“What is happening around the world?
Explain to us, you servant!”
“I come from another land,
Where centaurs live:
For wars they are used,
And are as swift and as terrifying as lightning is,
Pesoglavci (the dog-heads) they defeat,
And know nothing about who people are.” 
65
In this poem, centaurs are chasing “dog-heads”, which are figments of people’s 
imagination about how the dangerous hostile people look like. 
65 
Š I: 107, no. 60. 

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