Myth and folktales

197
WereWolf
People that are born the wrong way, i.e. with their feet appearing first, can trans-
form into a wolf at will. Like wolves, they can cause damage by eating herds. Such a 
person only needs to roll over a molehill and immediately he transforms into a wolf.
152
Like the vedomec, the werewolf can cause a solar eclipse. In Štajersko, this 
phenomenon is called sonce jedeno (eaten sun) People believed that the solar eclipse 
occurs when two werewolves, in the form of wolves or ferocious dogs, fight and bite 
each other. 
Werewolves appear mostly in winter, usually around Christmastime, during the 
twelve nights called the wolf nights. This makes them similar to the Wolf Shepherd, 
the third character contaminated by the werewolf. A number of motifs from the tradi-
tion of the Wolf Shepherd have penetrated and mixed with the lore on the werewolves. 
The transformation into werewolves around Christmastime is reminiscent of the 
Polish Wilkolaci, people who transform into werewolves twice a year, on Christmas 
and on Midsummer Day. These wolf-people were mentioned by Herodotus, who 
reported on the Neurim, the people who turn into wolves. 
As mentioned before, the werewolf can be born from the union of woman and 
wolf. A werewolf can also be born if a pregnant woman beholds a wolf after moonset 
(Wiesthaler 1883).
People frequently attempted to redeem werewolves. According to a widespread 
belief, the new-born werewolf who was born still in his placenta can be delivered from 
this state by sewing a piece of his placenta in his shoulder. If the werewolf was a breech 
baby, delivered with the feet appearing first, he could be saved if he was turned at birth.
A cursed werewolf can also be saved by throwing him some bread to be con-
sumed, in the name of the God. In a tale from Dolenja Vas pri Ribnici, a driver’s wife 
saved the werewolf that was following her husband to his home by presented him 
with a piece of bread in the name of God (Levec 1883: 772; Kelemina 1930: no. 67). 
Similarly, a farmer saved some roaming werewolves by pulling a thorn from the paw 
of one of them and by breaking a piece of bread and distributing it between them 
(Kelemina 1930: no 68).
The person who has transformed into a wolf could be saved by tearing apart his 
skin after he has taken it off. This happened in a tale from Savinjska Dolina, where a 
man tore the coat off a wolf after the animal had rushed into the church, and quickly 
tore the coat apart. However, the werewolf in this story was a musician who had put 
on a wolf coat on the wedding feast, but in the same time a curious woman opened 
the door, and this caused him becoming a werewolf (Kelemina 1930: no. 66).
152 
Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan, manuscript, NUK: MS 483, XI, no. 18.

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198
Among the South Slavs, the presence of wolves and the summoning of wolves to 
the wedding feast were recorded in sources dating back to the 15
th
 century. As stated 
by Veselin Čajkanović (1973), it shows the important role of wolves in ancestor cults. 
People also reported that a wizard turned all wedding guests into werewolves. In a 
wedding custom still preserved in Bosnia, a group of young men called vuki (wolves) 
enacts a fictitious attack upon the groom’s house.
Like the tradition regarding vampires, the lore on werewolves is spread through-
out Europe. The werewolf is called Werewolf in the British Isles, among the Germanic 
nations it is referred to as Wolf-man (Wodan), and the French named it Loupgarou.
vedoMeC
The supernatural being named vedomec has different meanings in the Slovene 
tradition. It may appear as:
 - A mythical creature that may assumes human or half-human form;
 - A person with magical abilities that rushes about during Christmastime, 
Midsummer Day, or quarter weeks; 
 - The soul of an unbaptized deceased child appearing as a small light;
 - A dwarf.
As supernatural being representing the opponent of the Slavic god Perun, 
the vedomec or vidovina (Šašelj 1909: 215–216) can allegedly be the opponent of 
Kresnik.
153
 However, with the increasing profanation of mythology it assumed in 
the Slovene folk tradition, the role of the wizard, and this is the role that will be 
examined in more detail in this text. The vedavci in Pivka were mentioned by Janez 
Vajkard Valvasor, who described them as malevolent creatures that drink the blood 
of children (Valvasor 1689, XI: 456).
Vedomec, also known as vedamec, vedavec, vedanc, bedanec, vedunec, vidovina, 
vedavk, veda, veša, vešča (the moth), balavantar, and as banandant in Slavia Veneta, 
allegedly differed from ordinary people in certain physical characteristics, for example 
in hairlessness, baldness, in having no moustache, dim eyes, bushy black or yellow 
eyebrows, or an unusual tooth. Koroškans believed that children born during quarter 
weeks were the vedomci who, once they reached adulthood, gathered at crossroads 
and butted into each other as goat bucks do (Kelemina 1930: 92, no. 37).
As reported by Matevž Ravnikar-Poženčan, the vedamec could allegedly assume 
human or half-human and half-animal form as well as grow or shrink at will.
153 
More about this see in the chapter “Kresnik”.

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199
Vedamec
Assuming different appearances, the vedamec usually torments and teases 
people. In some places it is known as veša (moth), and as such he usually appears in 
numbers (Ravnikar-Poženčan/Stanonik 2005: 76, no. 52).
In this case, the vedamec becomes similar to witches, the incubus, or the night-
mare. Similar to this, in folk narrative collected by Valentin Vodnik, the vejdamec 
is related to the orko and the podlegaj.
Vejdamec
Half man and half bear, it can stretch, grow, or shrink at will. In order to find 
out the most hidden secrets it can transform into various animals. Some people 
subjugate it to learn secrets from him.
154
Like wizards and the kresniks, the vedomci could move with special speed. 
Neither mountains nor precipices constituted a barrier for them. Some were able to 
change into vapour or haze; thus invisible, they could discover secrets with greater 
ease.
It was believed that not unlike the kresniks, the vedomci were carried in their 
mother’s womb for seven or nine years. But unlike the kresniks, they were evil and 
could destroy an entire family.
When the vedomec turned seven, his older peers came for him in the evening. 
Together they went to fight with poles at crossroads. They butted into each other like 
goats. They also fought under an old oak or walnut tree, transformed into a red or 
a black ox, hog, lion, stag, bear, or half bear. They were believed to fight each night; 
on Midsummer Day; or during quarter weeks. Those who beheld them were torn to 
pieces. The vedomci pelted each other with the victim’s bones, which is a well-known 
narrative motif in the lore on witches and wizards (The Wooden Rib, mot. N 452) and 
finally put together the victim, replacing the lost rib with the wooden one (Matičetov 
1956). Those who betrayed them were equally torn to pieces.
Transformed into giants, the vedomci or the false kresniks uprooted old trees. Like 
the kresniks, they walked very far at night and returned very tired in the morning.
Well known are the stories of two farmhands fighting each other, transformed 
into a white and a black dog, at the crossroads at nighttime. The master comes to 
help his farmhand with his sword. Sometimes it is one of the farmhands who helped 
his master by striking his opponent (Šašelj 1906: 216). But he can strike only once or 
else the hostile vedomec would regain his power. If the false kresnik wins the fight, 
he carries the entire harvest with him (Kelemina 1930: no. 2, 3).
As atmospheric and weather elements, the vedomci were believed to cause solar 
eclipses (Kelemina 1930: no. 35) and whirlwinds, and move clouds.
154 
Valentin Vodnik, manuscript, NUK: MS 540, no. 12/2.

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