Myth and folktales

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These souls could be redeemed by prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, by fulfilling their 
requests, or by providing the right answer to their laments by saying “Peace be with 
you!” etc. The use of the holy water, prayer, and the settling of grievances would be 
beneficial as well. In return, the bewitched souls would show their gratitude to those 
who had prayed for them by praying for them in heaven.
According to popular tradition, the pope allegedly exorcized all spirits and 
bewitched souls into mountain rocks, thus preventing them from returning to this 
world and remaining among people.
souls of Children
Souls of stillborn children, or of those who had not been baptized before their 
death, were called navje, mavje, movje, morje. In western regions of Slovenia, people 
named them vedomci. Called žive in the area of Pohorje, they were believed to fly 
around at dusk, wailing sadly. According to some interpretations, the souls of pre-
maturely deceased children may appear also as dwarves or birds.
The apparitions of the dead-children were believed to be either: a) the wonder-
ing souls of the children who were murdered; b) the wandering souls of the children 
who died before having been baptized; or c) the apparitions of the children, wander-
ing after death. Folktales and legends of a predominantly fabulous nature often tell 
stories about the souls sold to the Devil, for example the soul of an unborn child.
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An unbaptized child, or restless soul who keeps returning home because its family 
mourns it too much – as is the case in the folktale “The Child with a Mug of Tears” 
–, is redeemed when its mother stops weeping for it.
Numerous folktales that focus on supra-normality of a dead child (Pentikeinen 
1968: 57) narrate tales about children who either died unbaptized, were murdered 
by their mothers, or have never been born. Under the influence and social norms of 
Christianity, the latter was pronounced the most unforgivable sin of all. 
Unbaptized children were imagined as birds sitting on willow trees by the water 
and waiting to be redeemed by being shaken off their tree. These black birds with a 
strongly curved beak, long furry legs, and glowing brown eyes fly through the night 
air, looking for peace and salvation.
Even more common is the idea that such souls appear as small lights floating in 
the air; as flames trembling in the distance; as the distant light or the reminiscent of 
souls wandering around. They are similar with the Will-O’-the-Wisp in the British 
138 
For instance in the folktales ATU 756B, ATU 811, ATU 812, ATU 1191

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Isles,
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 and small naked children such as the budikići in Slavia Veneta (Ciceri 1992: 
442), or to dwarves – named škarifiči in Val Resia.
The movje, as the souls of unbaptized children were commonly called, emit strange 
noises, whistle, squeak, pipe, and rustle. Allegedly, they do not carry fire or lamps 
because these would remind them of hellfire. They would take revenge upon anybody 
who dared to imitate their whistling and squeaking. If there was still fire on the site of 
a fire place the movje would dig up the fire and then dance on and around it, leaving 
the imprints of tiny children’s feet in the ashes (Kelemina 1930: 140–141, no. 89).
Matija Valjavec heard stories in St. Bolfenk in Slovenske Gorice in Štajerska 
about the movje. According to the stories, these were souls of the children who had 
not been baptized prior to their death did not tolerate fire and flew around at night 
as large black birds. They dug up the fire tended by a farmhand in the pasture, and 
also scratched his head. After seeking advice from a local priest, the farmhand caught 
one of these birds. The priest baptized it, and the bird turned into a white dove and 
rose to the sky (Valjavec 1866: 228–229). 
In Jarenina in Štajersko, the soul of a child who died without having been bap-
tized was called hudournik. At dusk, they would fly through the air in the shape of 
birds, emitting strange sounds akin to whistling. They dug up the fire tended by 
shepherds and scratched out their eyes.
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The movje reward the person who redeems them by baptizing them or by sprin-
kling them with holy water by flying to heaven in the form of a white dove or an 
angel, and by promising that they will pray for that person.
141
 According to popular 
belief, the mavje could also be saved if a shepherd threw his jacket on it and pressed 
it down vigorously (Pajek 1884: 108). 
In Bela Krajina, people told of the souls of unborn children, called movje, which may 
avenge themselves upon their mothers by scratching their heads or even by tearing them 
apart, or by slaughtering them. Since these children have not been baptized they are at the 
mercy of Satan. In dark nights, the movje are believed to rush through the sky, squeaking. 
Each of them knows exactly where their mother resides. According to a story, the movje 
took away Marjeta Senk for having consumed a flower from the mountain Klek where 
witches gather, thus killing her child. Blooming on Mt. Klek, the flower may be picked 
only on the night when the movje are rushing through the air and pointing the way.
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As mentioned before, in some places, particularly in the west of Slovenia and in 
Gorenjska, the soul of the deceased child that had not yet been baptized was called 
vedomec or vedavec. These souls appeared in various shapes, usually as lights. In 
139 
Compare: O’Connor 1991.
140 
Valjavec 1859: 38; Pajek 1884: 108; Kelemina 1930: 141, no. 89/VII.
141 
Torbica jugoslavenske mladosti III, no. 2. (7. 12. 1863) Zagreb, p. 59–60. 
142 
J. Premk, Čudodelna roža (Belokranjska bajka). Slovan IX (1911), 14–15. 

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