Myth and folktales

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people. It was equally dangerous to fetch yarn 
from the attic in late evening. If a spinner did 
so, the torka could chew her to her bones and 
throw the bones at the spinners spinning in 
her house. According to stories from the area 
of Goriško, the torkas would appear in the 
evening and ask the house maker: Shall we 
garden? (meaning to bleach yarn). If the reply 
was positive, the house maker was thrown into 
a cauldron, boiled, and eaten by the torkas. 
According to popular belief, the torka brings 
to children teeth of iron (see Pehtra Baba). 
Lit.: N. Kuret: 
Mid-Winter Deity among the Slovenes / 
Pehtra Baba, torka. Opuscula selecta, Ljubljana 1997.
Trdoglav, see Veles
Trentarski student, see wizard
Triglav (Troglav, Triglaus, Trigelawus, Trajan, 
Trojan), an ancient Slavic, and particularly 
Baltic, three-headed deity believed to govern 
the earth, the sky, and the underworld. Ac-
cording to sources, its
 
cult was practiced in 
Szczecin, where the middle, and the largest, 
of the three hills that blocked access to the 
town was dedicated to it. Traditional Serbian 
songs mention Triglav as an old deity and as 
the god of war. After the death of the Roman 
Emperor Trajan in 117 A.D., the similarity 
of names Triglav and Trajan resulted in the 
transfer of this tradition that eventually 
amalgamated into the name Trojan.
Trot (trut), a mythical being traditionally ap-
pearing as a hero, a fighter wielding a golden 
axe and driven in a coach pulled by white or 
green horses. While some sources perceive 
him as the brother of Kresnik; others believe 
that Trot is really Perun who used a golden 
axe to fight snakes and dragons. The memory 
of Trot has been preserved in local place 
names such as the hamlets Trot in Koroška 
and Trotkovo in Štajerska.
Lit.: G. Krek: 
The Czech Trut and the Slovenian Trot. Kres 
6, Celovec 1886. 
Trota, see incubus
Trut, see Trot
Truta, see incubus
Tuhinc, an exceptionally strong man who, 
according to the lore of Prekmurje, was able 
to singlehandedly thresh the millet set aside 
for orphans (see giant).
Lit.: Š. Kühar: 
Narodno blágo vogrskij Slovencov (The Lore 
of the People Living in Prekmurje). Časopis za zgodovino 
in narodopisje 8, Maribor 1910.
Ukletnik, see bewitched soul
Unicorn, samorog, enorog, enorožec, monocer-
os. A mythical animal with a pointed, spiralled 
horn and the body of a bull, a horse, or a goat. 
Its first representations, depicted on seals found 
in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in the Indus 
Valley, originated in the 3
rd
 millennium B.C. 
The unicorn is mentioned in the myth about 
the Flood in “Atharva-Veda” and in “Mahab-
harata”. The first to mention the healing powers 
of the unicorn horn in antiquity was Ktesias 
(approx. 410 B.C.). The horn is known in folk 
medicine as a healing substance and a strong 
antidote. “Physiologus” from the 2
nd
 century 
A.D. mentions that this wild, furious animal 
may be captured only by trickery. When a 
virgin is brought to the forest in which the 
unicorn is grazing, the unicorn becomes doc-
ile, runs to the maiden, jumps into her lap, and 
falls asleep. Hunters are then able to capture it 
and take it to the royal palace as a curiosity. In 
medieval mystical texts and in Christian sym-
bolism, the unicorn personifies the incarnation 
of Christ (see mythical animals).
Lit.: J. Glonar: 
“Monoceros” in “Diptamus” (“Monoceros” 
and “Diptamus”). Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje 7, 
Maribor 1910; L. Kretzenbacher: 
Mystische Einhornjagd. 
München 1978.
Vampire, premrl, prilog, ris (lynx). A de-
ceased person whose heavy sins prevent his 
or her corpse from decaying in the grave, i.e. 

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remains premrl (stiff, rigid). At night, the 
vampire leaves the grave to disturb the living 
and suck their blood. While vampires are par-
ticularly dangerous to the unprotected, they 
lose their powers in front of a church, crucifix, 
and fire. If a cauldron was left suspended 
over the hearth overnight, the vampire could 
disgorge the sucked blood into the cauldron 
and boil it; the blood was believed to have the 
healing power. Vampires were allegedly guilty 
of sexual abuse, and the deceased husband 
could continue to visit his wife at night and 
father a child. Similar lore has been preserved 
in Novigrad, Obrov, and Ložane. In order to 
prevent the vampire from retuning, a haw-
thorn stick had to be impaled through its 
heart; or its head cut off and placed by its feet; 
or the vampire should be burned. Vampires 
were buried facing the ground or with a nail 
thrust through their body. The belief in vam-
pires was later contaminated with the lore of 
werewolves and the vedomci. This tradition, 
which was particularly widespread in the Bal-
kans and among Slavic peoples, is based on 
the belief in the returned dead. It was known 
throughout Europe and also among many 
non-European peoples. 
Lit.: D. Sturm, K. Völker: 
Von den Vampiren und Menschen-
säugern, München 1968.
Vancaš, see water sprite 
Vedavec, see vedomec
Vedogonja, see Kresnik
Vedomec,  védamec,  véjdamec,  védavec, 
védanc, vedúnec, videnc, ujédemec, bédanec, 
bédou’nk, benandant, balabántar, vermánte, 
vidovina, védavk, véšča. 1) Assuming dif-
ferent forms, this mythical being fights the 
kresniks during the nights around Christmas, 
Midsummer Day, and Ember Days. 2) The 
soul of an unbaptized child that appears as 
a small bright light. Carried by his mother 
for seven or nine years. People believed that 
the vedomec would murder his entire family 
after his birth. He can be recognized by the 
absence of hair, dim eyes, a unibrow, an unu-
sual tooth, etc. His peers traditionally come 
to fetch him when he is seven. Together they 
fight at crossroads and under trees. They can 
tear a passer-by apart, throw his or her bones 
at each other, and then reassemble the victim. 
They can cause solar eclipses. They carry off 
harvests. The vedomec gradually assumed the 
role of sorcerer. As an incubus, the vedomec 
descends upon sleeping persons, throw babies 
from their cradles, or smother them in their 
sleep. As a ghostly light, he can lure people 
into swamps at night time. In Slovenian 
folktales, the vedomec traditionally appears 
as the master of souls on the glass mountain.
Lit.: M. Matičetov: 
La costola di legno. Alpes Orientales 
I, Ljubljana 1956; C. Ginzburg: I Benandanti, Torino 1966; 
Franco Nardon: 
Benandanti e inquisitori nel Friuli del 
seicento, Trst 1999.
Vehtra Baba, see Pehtra Baba
Veles, Vólos, Vólvel, Vóuvel, Bábilon, báron 
Bálon, Bés, Črt, Krutoglav, Potoglav, Trdoglav. 
A Slavic god of the underworld, cattle, and 
riches. While shrines devoted to Perun were 
erected on mountains, the ones honouring 
Veles, who was the traditional enemy of Pe-
run, were built in valleys. This indicates that 
Veles was also venerated as the ruler of the 
chthonic after world and may appear also as 
a dragon or a snake. According to Slovenian 
narrative tradition, the giant Vouvel keeps 
hidden in his mountain cattle, treasures, and 
other goods that can be accessed by means 
of the vouvelica (or kounertnica), grass that 
blooms on Midsummer Night between mid-
night and one o’clock. After the advent of 
Christianity, the role of Veles, the protector 
of cattle, was taken over by St. Blasius.
Lit.: G. Krek: 
Beiträge zur slavischen Mythologie I. Veles, Volos 
und Blasius, Archiv für slavische Philologie 1, Berlin 1875; R. 
Jakobson, 
The Slavic God Veles and his Indo-European Cog-
nates. Studi linguistici in onore di Vittore Pisani, Torino 1969.

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