Myth and folktales



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The malavar is similar to a mythical fiery salamander, which is in Tyrol called 
Tattermandl (Petzoldt 1995). 
MOČERAD, MEGLENŠČAK, MODRAS 
In Slovenian lore, the mythical animal močerad (salamander) is also called 
meglenščak, modras or salamander. It was allegedly hatched out of a snake’s egg. It is 
short and has stout body covered with short and slightly brown fur. The meglenščak 
is so poisonous that there is no cure for its bite. People who lived near Mala Nedelja in 
eastern Slovenia believed that when it was angry, the salamander whistled loudly to 
summon other salamanders. When it was enraged, it could become so wild that it peeled 
the bark off the tree. It liked to stay in swamps and marshes, which were covered with 
bushes and grass. The salamander could kill a man instantly if it only touches him. It 
was said to have been hatched out of a snake and thus lived like a snake (Pajek 1884: 66). 
MODRAS (VIPER)
People from the Karst Plateau told stories that the viper evolves from an adder, 
whose head had not been crushed but merely severed from its body. The new head 
was believed to be similar to that of a cat. They also said that the vipers lived in all 
the cold springs and prevented the water from being warm. 
The vipers live in every cold spring and they prevent the water from becoming warm. 
If the spring does not have a viper, then it will not be cold. But when they climb into 
water, they leave the poison on some rock, which is why the vipers do not bite in water.
78
 
Anton Pegan, from 
the Soča/Isonzo Valley, reports that if the spring does not 
have a viper, then it will not he cold. In the vicinity of Bohinj, the name modras was 
also a common name for any snake.
In Rezija/Resia Valley, the salamander was called wodnek or žabarok and was 
believed to be a very dangerous and highly venomous animal. And when it attacks 
a man, nobody can remove it. The attacked man can only warm up milk, and the 
animal will leave him after it smells the hot milk (Dapit, Kropej 2004: 10). 
An animal similar to the salamander us the skok, a mythical animal that evolved 
from a snake. Its tail was cut and afterward it grew paws. The skok is allegedly strong 
enough to tear down the sturdiest door.
78 
Manuscript of A. Pegan, Archive ISN ZRC SAZU: ŠZ 8/63; published Pegan Černigoj 2007: 186.


118
VIZA
The viza or iza is a dragon monster, which destroyed the old square in Podsreda 
in Kozjansko, which once stood further south-east from where it stands today. Josip 
Vidic sent his records of this folktale to Karl Štrekelj in 1891.
79
 Janko Orožen pub-
lished an abridged version of this story (Orožen 1936: 210–211). The story is that the 
Viza was hatched in a mouldy beech tree wood and fed on it. When it ran out of it, 
she stormed in on the town square and destroyed the town.
MytholoGiCal Birds
Among the birds with mythological connotation, the eagle occupies the highest 
position. The eagle was the bird of ancient Zeus and also of the Slavic god Perun. The 
eagle belongs to the supreme thunder-making deity. According to folktales a human 
girl Nasta, who was taken in heaven, as the bride of the Sun, also turned into a bird 
named Lasta – a swallow (lastovka = swallow).
80
ROOSTER
The rooster, and not only the eagle, is also the companion of the celestial deity 
in numerous myths. Because of this it symbolizes the sun. The cosmogonic myths 
often describe an egg of a rooster out of which gushed seven rivers, which soak the 
dry land and make it fertile. The story about the rooster and its egg was published by 
writer Janez Trdina as a myth from Mengeš which is about God’s rooster. This tale 
was remade in literary form, but it still has its basis in folk tradition.
The rooster is a popular metaphor or a symbol of fertility. It is often used as a 
Shrovetide mask, for example piceke (chickens) from Ptujsko polje in Štajerska, and 
the mask of a rooster in Mersin, a village above Matajur in Slavia Veneta/Venetian 
Slovenia, where the mask of the rooster is the most prominent one. It is a few meters 
tall and is accompanied by a chicken. The masks include many animal images, such 
as a hind, a goat, rusa (animal mask in a form of a horse) or a horse, and a bear. The 
oldest image, which is 20,000 years old, or even more, is of a čarovnik (magician), 
painted on a rocky wall in the Pyrenees. It represents a man with a mask of a made-up 
79 
The manuscript of Josip Vidic in Archive ISN ZRC SAZU: ŠZ 7/158.
80 
Matija Valjavec, Pripovedka o soncu in Nasti. Slovenski glasnik 1867: 93; Kropej, Dapit 2011: 14–15.


119
animal with the antlers of a deer and the tail of a wild horse. Animal masks serve as 
a proof of the existence of old religious beliefs, which have been kept up to this very 
day in various stories about mythical animals.
BIRD OF PARADISE AND THE GOLDEN BIRD
A golden colour is used to denote 
the bird of paradise or the Golden Bird, 
which can either sing beautifully or its 
feathers have magical power. Listening 
to the bird of the paradise in the other 
world makes the time fly by. This motif 
is widely spread in folk narrative ATU 
471 A “The Priest and the Bird” and also 
in folk songs “The Monk and the Bird of 
Paradise” (SLP I/1970, no. 55). The tale 
about the magic singing of the golden 
bird was published by Ivan Tomšič, who 
heard about it in Tržič in Gorenjska. The 
content of the story is the same to the 
folk song about the bird of Paradise and 
the monk.
81
 
The Monk and the Bird of Paradise
In a monastery there once lived a very pious and scholarly monk. Deep in 
thought one morning, he ventured into the nearby woods to which he often 
withdrew to embrace the peace and quiet of nature. It was springtime and the 
trees were blossoming. Everything was still and quiet in the forest. The monk 
thought, “Oh; how beautiful, how gorgeous is spring. After spring comes the 
hot summer and soon thereafter the cool autumn. A man would have to be 
completely insensitive if such a magnificent and beautiful change of nature 
would not make him happy. And Eternity? It is unchanging. How can man 
tolerate such monotony after his death? Surely he can experience no greater 
joy than this.”
As he pondered this, he walked deeper and deeper into the woods and lo and 
behold, how strange! Even as he watched, the forest changed. All the familiar 
images were disappearing right in front of his eyes. Oak and spruce trees were 
81 
The tale was first published: Ivan Tomšič, Večnost. Vrtec 3/1 (1. 1. 1873), 8–9.
The Golden Bird, Zvonko Čoh (Dapit, Kropej 
2004)


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