Myth and folktales

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Prakulturne bajke pri Slovencih (Cosmological Belief Tales
 
among Slovenes). Etnolog 14, 1942; L. Kretzenbacher: 
Ein Fisch trägt die Erde. Neue Chronik zur Geschichte und 
Volkskunde der innenoesterreichischen Alpenlaender, 1954; 
E. Cevc: Veronika z malega gradu (Veronika from Mali Grad). 
Kamniški zbornik 4, 1958; Z. Šmitek: Slovenian Mythological 
Tradition. Svetinje preteklosti. Ljubljana 2004.
Fate, rojnica, rajnica, sojenica, jesenica. The 
future of a baby lying in a cradle was pre-
dicted by three slim, beautiful women. Clotho 
spun the thread of life from her distaff onto 
her spindle, Lachesis measured and spun 
the thread, and Atropos cut it when death 
approached. Their characteristic attributes 
were the distaff, the spinning wheel, and the 
thread. In order to elicit a propitious life for 
their child, people placed food and bever-
ages upon a festively set table to appease the 
fates. The fates’ prediction is irrevocable and 
can be altered solely by an advice of those 
initiated into cosmic secrets, for example the 
desetnik, a soothsayer, or a hermit. In the 6
th
 
century, Procopius reported that the Slavs did 
not believe that the Fates could determine a 
human’s fate. Nevertheless, it seems that the 
Slavic belief in the Parcae, the Moirae, or 
the Norns blended with the notions of Old 
Slavic deities of birth and a person’s destiny, 
Rod and Roždenicy. In literary folklore, the 
lore about the fates became frequently con-
taminated with the lore about other female 
mythical beings such as fairies, the white 
women, nymphs, etc. 
Lit.: V. F. Klun: 
Rojenice. Die Schicksalsgöttinnen der 
Slowenen. Österr. Blätter für Literatur und Kunst, Wien 
1857; M. Valjavec: 
O Rojenicah (On the Fates). Novice 
16, 1858; I. Grafenauer: 
Slovensko-kajkavske bajke o 
Rojenicah-Sojenicah (Slovenian and Kaj-Croatian Belief 
Tales about the Fates). Etnolog 17, 1944; R. W. Brednich: 
Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksals-
frauen. FF Communications 193, Helsinki 1964.
Fear, see Berbara, Bauc, Kosobrin, Brbuč, 
Sumper, Teleba, zlati škorenjci, ghost
Forest man (gozdni mož), see wild man
Garbus, see wind 
Gejd, see giant
Gestrin, see water sprite
Ghost, duh, špiritavi, apparition, phantom. 
A bodiless creature generally assuming hu-
man form; a white ethereal appearance; or 
the appearance of a deceased person. Ghosts 
allegedly appear as light or as small lights 
floating through the air, mostly at noon or 
midnight. Their resemblance to the dead 
indicates that the concept of ghosts partly 
evolved from notions about those who return 
from the dead or about the restless dead (the 
impure dead) such as the dead aligned in a 
procession, or the punished souls; on the 
other hand, their origin may be found in 
animistic beliefs. Tales about ghosts, haunted 
places, and spirit rapping are among the most 
frequent themes of modern story-telling 
and urban legends. Many ghosts have been 
invented to scare children away, among them: 
Berbera, Kosobrin, Brbuč, Sumper, Teleba and 
the “straw eyes”.
Lit.: C. Lecouteux: Geschichte der Gespenster und Wie-
dergänger im Mittelalter. Köln, Wien 1987.
Giant,  velikán,  orják,  orjáš,  oger,  hrust, 
dóvjež, stramór. A clumsy supernatural be-
ing of superhuman size that lives in rocky 
caves on mountaintops and hilltops. It is 
believed that giants build castles by break-
ing up rocks and uprooting trees, and throw 
tools to each other across hilltops. Originally 
indigenous only on the Golden Mountain, 
they gradually settled other mountaintops. 
They may be kind to people, teach them 
numerous skills, and help them with ar-
duous work, particularly with ploughing, 
cutting timber, and construction. Yet they 
may also be troublesome, and people often 
try to get rid of them, which could be done 
only by trickery. Slovenian oral tradition 
contains international narrative types, for 

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example about a giant competing with the 
hero in stone throwing, stone squeezing, or 
in consuming as much food as possible. The 
Man from Krim, the Giant from Lubnik, and 
the Hulk from Šmarna Gora, among others, 
have all been preserved in Slovenian lore. A 
giant was also called the pagan, the Greek, the 
Hungarian, the Roman girl, ajd, all of which 
signify a member of the indigenous popula-
tion (see ajd).
Goblin, škrat, škret, škrátelj, škrátljec, škráčec, 
škrábec, škrétle, škarífić, šetek, kápič, bérk-
mandeljc (mountain dwarf), pérkmandelj, 
skúbәrl,  gospodárček,  kránjček,  blagonič, 
lesník, polesnjak, gugljáj, laber, labus. A di-
minutive supernatural being with an old-
looking face, a long white beard, and a pointy 
red hat (called kapa in Slovene). It is because 
of this hat that in Goriško/the surroundings 
of Gorizia the goblin is called kapič. Living 
in caves and digging for ore, goblins were 
believed to be guardians of earthly treasures. 
Valvasor speaks of the bergmandeljci who 
lived in the mine of Idrija, and mentions that 
the local miners were leaving food and little 
red coats for them in the mine. In Rož na 
Koroškem/Rosental in Koroška people called 
mountain dwarf skúbәrl. A mountain goblin 
had allegedly been leading a miner along a 
shaft for three hundred years. Stories from 
eastern Slovenia and Notranjska mention wa-
ter goblins. The lesniki were tree spirits that 
lived in trees and forbade people to cut down 
their tree. In Dolenjska, they were called the 
gugljaji. The people of Rož told stories about a 
goblin who was watching over wild animals: 
šqrat. A goblin could also be a house spirit, 
in Slovenian lore, called the gospodarček (the 
guardian of the house). As Kobold, a Teutonic 
house spirit, the goblin was believed to bring 
money to people provided that they made a 
contract with him. He would come flying in 
the form of a glowing broom, or would offer 
his services as a black cat.
God, Bog. The creator of everything, and 
the almighty eternal being. The origin of the 
Pre-Slavic *bogь is the same as of the Persian 
baγ and the Old-Indian bhaga in the sense of 
god who distributes wealth and destiny. The 
term Bog is also derived from the root of bo-
gat (one who has many parts, rich) and ubog
 
(one who has no parts, poor). Based on this 
etymology, Grafenauer defined the supreme 
Slavic deity as God the Immolator, the Giver, 
and determined his primary role principally 
from cosmological myths. According to him, 
Perun, Svarog, and Dažbog are younger per-
sonifications of the supreme God. In the 6
th
 
century, Procopius noted in his History of 
Gothic Wars that Slavs and Antes believed 
in one God – the master of lightning and 
the creator of the whole world – and offered 
him cattle and other offerings. Veneration 
of the thunder god among the Slavs was also 
confirmed by Russian semioticians Ivanov 
and Toporov. They have reconstructed the 
principal Slavic myth in which Perun, the 
god of thunder, defeats his adversary Veles; 
the third pole of the tri-partite ideological 
system is represented by a female character, 
presumably named Mokoš.
Lit.: I. Grafenauer: 
Bog-daritelj, praslovansko najvišje bitje 
v slovenskih kosmoloških bajkah (God the Immolator. The 
Supreme Pre-Slavic Being in Slovenian Cosmological 
Belief Tales). Bogoslovni vestnik 24, 1944, pp. 57–97; V. V. 
Ivanov, V. N. Toporov, 
Issledovanije v oblasti slavjanskih 
drevnosti, Moscow 1974. 
Godovčičaci, see time
Golden boots, zlati škorenjci, škornjce. A 
spooky apparition. According to the people 
of Bohinj, phantom boots roam around by 
themselves, frightening people much like 
the bloody leg. 
Lit.: M. Cvetek, 
Naš voča so včas zapodval (Our Father 
Used to Tell Us Stories), Ljubljana (
Glasovi Book Collec-
tion) 1993.
Golden calf, (zlato tele). A fearsome su-
pernatural being from Slavia Veneta, par-

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