Myth and folktales

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oppresses, smothers, or sucks on a sleeping 
human or animal. An incubus is allegedly the 
seventh daughter or son born at an ill-starred 
time or ill-fated moment. It was believed 
that the first person who comes to borrow 
something from a house that had been visited 
by the incubus the previous night is the one 
who caused nightmare. At night, the incubus 
creeps in the form of an old woman with 
long talons and fiery eyes; as a shrivelled old 
grandfather; a five-legged cat; a dog, cow, 
chicken, black shadow; etc. There were many 
methods to drive away the incubus. A knife 
was placed in bed or through a keyhole, or a 
knife or a fork could be stuck in a door. An 
“incubus paw” (morina taca) in the form 
of a pentagram was drawn upon a side of a 
cradle or a bed. A sack filled with fern leaves 
was placed underneath the child who was 
repeatedly oppressed by the incubus. The 
child’s shirt was blessed to prevent the mora 
from coming. Children could also receive an 
amulet that was placed around their necks. A 
mirror was fastened on a trough to keep the 
incubus from oppressing animals.
Morlak, see wizard
Morska deklica, see mermaid
Morski konj, see sea horse
Motovilec, see water sprite
Mountain man, see gorni mož
Movje, mávje, mav, mórje, návje, žíve. Souls 
of children who died before being baptized, 
or the souls of stillborn babies. As small 
lights or as black birds with exceedingly 
curved beaks, long hairy legs, and fiery 
brown eyes, they fly around at night, look-
ing for redemption and peace. The term nav 
denoted the departed or the after world in 
Slavic languages. Called the žive in the area 
of Pohorje, they were believed to fly around 
at dusk, wailing sadly. They cannot stand fire 
and lamps, which remind them of hellfire. 
According to the lore in Bela Krajina, they 
may take revenge upon their mothers. If a 
person saves them by baptizing them or by 
sprinkling them with water, the movje thank 
them in the form of a white dove or an angel, 
and then fly to heaven.
Mračina, see dusk
Mrak, see dusk
Muja, see grdina
Muk, see water sprite
Navje, see movje
Nedelja, see St Domenica 
Nendljek, see dwarf 
Netek, naték, maték. Neither human nor 
animal; a tall, heavily built with an aged 
face; an eternally hungry being roaming the 
world and stopping at farms. His appear-
ance either announces, or ends, a period of 
hunger. If he is given enough nourishment 
without expecting anything in return, the 
netek generally does not cause harm and may 
even restore prosperity. But woe to those who 
unwittingly curse him, do not serve him, or 
even boast about their wealth, for the master 
of the house will die of hunger on that very 
day. In Koroška, uttering the words “Thank 
you Lord and St. Janž, today I have finally 
eaten my fill!” drives the netek away. It would 
fall in the form of a fat pig from the ceiling 
and run away through the door. In Štajersko, 
people called cranberry shrubs netečje and in 
Koroška the herb of the devil.
Lit.: I. Grafenauer: 
Netek in »Ponočna potnica« v ljudski 
pripovedki (The Netek and the “Nocturnal Traveller” in 
Folktales). Razprave SAZU II. raz. 4, Ljubljana 1958.

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233
Nymph, see mermaid
Ninek, see dwarf 
Obilnjak, see Kresnik
Ogre, see giant
Orjaš, see giant
Orko, órkul, órkljič, óspel, lórgo, lárgo bórgo. 
A ghost of the wild, a scary creature that 
frightens people in wooded, alpine, and 
solitary places. He lures travellers into un-
known places where they are left to roam 
until they find themselves exactly where 
they had started the previous day. Leaving a 
smelly trace behind, the orko is able to change 
his appearance. Assuming the form of a small 
ball, he positions himself on the footpath, 
and as soon as a traveller steps across it the 
ball instantly grows to the sky. In Resian Stol-
bica/Stolvizza, the orko is known as a small 
man called lorgo, while the people of Bila/
San Giorgio call him largo borgo. In Friuli-
Venezia Giulia, people believe that the orkul 
quenches his thirst in the Soča by stepping 
on Sveta Gora with one foot and on Mount 
Sabotin with the other; the lore from Nadiške 
Doline/Valli del Natisone is quite similar. 
The name spread from the west, across the 
Slovene/Italian border, and to the east. The 
people of Solkan know of the orkljič, and the 
inhabitants of Ilirska Bistrica of vuorek that is 
also called the podlegaj. A fearsome creature, 
the orko is also known in the Karst and in the 
vicinity of Sežana.
Ospel, see orko
Ozin, see incubusž
Ož, gož. Guardian of the home (see snake 
and gospodarček). 
Palček, see dwarf 
Pasjeglavec (cynocephalus, dog-head), pes-
jan, pesoglav, pesoglavec, psajnar, pesajnar, 
pesjanik, peslajnar, pasjedlan. 1) A human 
with a canine head. His eyes are either turned 
toward the floor or one eye is in the front of 
his head and the other on the back. He can 
also have but one leg and a single eye in the 
middle of his forehead; 2) A creature with 
the upper body of a human and the lower of 
a dog. 3) A demonic creature with a canine 
head, human torso, and in some cases also 
goat’s feet. In some places, the lore about the 
cynocephalus has been blended with the lore 
on Attila the Hun and Pes Marko (Marko the 
Dog), thus preserving the memory of the 
Huns, Calvinists, Turks, etc. It is also linked 
with the mythic tradition about the people 
called Gog and Magog, in apocryphal writ-
ings about the end of the world, and about the 
Cyclopes. Dogheads were believed to kill and 
eat people. There are numerous tales about 
escaped captives fleeing from their captur-
ers, for example the tale about a girl who 
beheads her pursuers in her father’s cabin, 
ATU 956 (The Hot Chamber in the House 
of Robbers), like in the novel Mlinarjeva 
Jerica (Miller’s Jerica) by Jurčič. Reports of 
dog-headed people can be traced to ancient 
writings. Representations of dog-heads from 
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have been 
preserved, and St. Christopher was depicted 
with the head of a dog as well. There is likely 
a link between the lore about the dog-heads 
and werewolves.
Lit.: L. Kretzenbacher: 
Kynokephale Dämonen südos-
teuropäischer Volksdichtung. Beiträge zur Kenntnis 
Südosteuropas und des nahen Orients 5, München 
1968; Z. Šmitek: 
Gog, Magog in legenda o kitajskem zidu 
(Gog, Magog, and the Legend about the Chinese Wall). 
Traditiones 21, 1992.
Patolka, see krivopeta
Pedenjčlovek, see dwarf
Pehta, see Pehtra Baba

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