Myth and folktales

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THE FIGHT IN THE LAKE
One of the most famous folktales about the fight between two water sprites in 
Slovenia is the story about the fight between the Water Sprite from Lake Bohinj and 
the Water Sprite from Lake Bled. This story was published in 1860 in Novice. The 
Water Sprite from Lake Bohinj wanted to get back his wife, who was kidnapped by 
the Water Sprite from the Lake Bled. There was a fight in the water and red foam 
appeared on the surface, which indicated that the Water Sprite from Bled had won.
 
The Water sprites from lakes Bohinj and Bled 
One day a man called Žlinder was on his way from Bohinj, returning home 
to his farmhouse at Mlino near Lake Bled. On the loneliest and most tedious 
part of the journey, he was approached by a stranger who seemed unusual. 
The stranger accompanied Žlinder and they began to speak of this and that. 
Žlinder, who was initially very much surprised to see a stranger beside him, 
gathered up his courage and asked the stranger where he was headed. The 
stranger replied, “I am the Water Sprite from Lake Bohinj and I am going to 
fetch my wife, whom the sprite from Lake Bled carried off while I was away.”
Žlinder had heard stories accusing the Water Sprite of many terrible deeds, 
so you can imagine how he began to tremble at these words. But on this occa-
sion the Water Sprite seemed quite amiable. Thus, chatting as they walked, 
they reached the lake. Before they parted, the Water Sprite said, “Come watch 
the lake. When the fight for my abducted wife begins you will know how I 
am doing by the foam which comes up. If the foam floating on the surface 
is bloody, you will know that I am not doing well. If, however, you see white 
foam, you’ll know I am winning.”
With these words the sprite hurled himself noisily into the depths of the lake 
and the battle began. Then lo and behold: bloody foam rose to the surface. 
The winner was clearly the sprite from Bled who had abducted the Bohinj 
sprite’s wife and taken her to his crystal palace at the bottom of the lake. The 
Bohinj sprite was never seen again.
It is also said that the Bled Water Sprite used to come every morning to a 
farmer called Orav and buy a penny’s worth of bread. He always paid with a 
shiny new coin but instead of being handed the bread directly, it was placed 
on the window sill where he left his coin in exchange. They say that the Water 
Sprite himself warned Orav’s wife when he first came to get the bread, “Don’t 
hand me the bread directly. I have not been baptized and would tear out your 
arm.” Thus he always collected the bread from the window sill.
112
112 
Novice 18, no. 10 (7. 3. 1860), 76. Kropej, Šmitek, Dapit 2010: 63.

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163
Another variant about the water sprite from Lake Bled, tells about the fight 
between the podlesni mož (wild forest man) and the water sprite from Lake Bled:
about the 
Podlesnjak 
(Wild forest Man) 
and Water sprite from 
Bohinj
The charcoal burner living next to the lake is visited by Podlesnjak, who 
eats all his buckwheat mush (žganci). He promises happiness and wealth in 
return, but he first needs to beat the Water Sprite. If white foam appears on 
the surface of the lake it means that the Water Sprite is dead and if the foam 
is red, that Podlesnjak died in the fight. Red foam appeared, the lake started 
to rise and the charcoal burner was barely able to escape.
113
Marija Stanonik and Niko Jež published the notes made by Emil Korytko in 
1837, which describe the fight between the Povodnjak (Water Sprite from Bled) and 
the Water Sprite in the brook Slap, whose wife was stolen by the first (Stanonik, Jež 
1985: 120–121). Much later, in 1960, Milko Matičetov also recorded the variant of 
this folktale in Bled (Matičetov 1985: 25).
A similar folktale was recorded by Ivan Tušek in Jelovica in Gorenjska which 
narrates about the fight between the Water Sprite from the lake in Praprotno and 
the Water Sprite from Črno Jezero (Black Lake) in Jelovica.
114
DIFFERENT WATER SPIRITS 
Salmsonar
People living in the vicinity of Gorica/Gorizia imagined a special water spirit 
called salmsonar. Anton Pegan heard people talking about them near Gorizia in 
1868 and recorded a story about them. They were said to live in the water; during 
the day, they stayed in its depths and came on the surface in the night. The people 
they found in the water were taken with them to the bottom of the water, where 
they are buried or kept, for they could later also turn into a salmsonar (Pegan/
Černigoj 2007: 153).
Gestrin
In the River Drava, Gestrin sometimes showed himself in the middle of the night 
and was often joined by the sea or water girls. He was said to be a slightly smaller 
water sprite with fins instead of legs but with a bad temper. He whirled people about 
or threw them off a cliff. The ferrymen and the fishermen had a habit of throwing 
113 
Vrtec 3, no. 7 (1. 7. 1873), 124–125; compare Mencinger 1961 (I): 310.
114 
Tušek, Novice 1857: 139–140. 

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him a ring wrapped in a napkin when they left the shore in order to be assured of 
his kindness and benevolence.
115
 
Water Sprite in the River Mur
The water sprite in the River Mur was as dangerous Gestrin was, but he was able 
to flatter others with gifts. He was especially angry when a person who had done 
something wrong or committed a sin, was using in a boat on the water, as the folktale 
published by Janez Majciger recounts:
The Water sprite in the river Mur needs to be Given offerings
A girl who was quite insolent was travelling on a boat to a feast in 
Prekmurje. The Water Sprite quickly realized what kind of a girl was among 
the people and started to make terrifying waves in order for the boat to 
tip over. There was a great danger that all of them would die. Suddenly, a 
man on a boat remembered that the girl should throw in the water some-
thing that is dearest to her or else the water sprite will not rest in peace. 
The poor girl throws her new shoes with beautiful heels into the turbulent 
water and saves the people on the boat from drowning (Majciger 1883: 
558–561, no. 23). 
Vancaš
In Štajerska, people believed that those looking for the water could find it if they 
gave the vancaš an offering. When people were digging for a spring, but were not 
able to find it for a long time, they had the habit of saying: “Vancaš should be given 
an ofer (offering).”
In Štajerska, the verb vancati allegedly denoted to look for water (Pajek 1884, 
Kelemina 1930: 392, no. 160/II).
Muk
A water sprite who was said to live in a pool where the brook Pišenca flows into 
the river Sava was called muk. He has a crystal castle in the bottom of the pool. But 
a man who bends to the surface of the water in order to see the castle is grabbed 
by the water sprite and taken in the whirlpool. On moonlit nights, the water sprite 
sits on a rock and longs after his son Muk, a beautiful boy, who was kidnapped by a 
traveller (Vendot 1908: 173–174).
Janez Majciger recorded a different description of Muk, according to folk tradi-
tion from Štajerska: 
115 
Davorin Trstenjak, Slovenski glasnik IV, 1860, 170; Kelemina 1930, no. 160/I.

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