Myth and folktales

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Divji lovec, see wild hunter 
Divji mož, see wild man 
Divja žena, see wild woman 
Dragon, zmaj, zmij, zmin, drak, íza, víza, 
prémog, líntver, líntvurm, pozój. A mythical 
animal with bird, snake, and lizard char-
acteristics. Generally depicted with several 
fire-spouting heads, the dragon is the symbol 
of the ruling and life forces and is connected 
with thunder and fertility. The dragon may 
function as a mythical ancestor, a giver, a 
guardian of hidden treasures (see snake) and, 
in ancient myths, the guardian of the Golden 
Fleece. It is believed that the dragon appears 
at the beginning and at the end of the world. 
In Christianity, the dragon was an allegory of 
the devil. Swimming in a lake or in the sea, 
the dragon may cause terrible accidents by 
flicking its tail (see Faronika). Its movement 
underground or in mountain interiors causes 
landslides, flash floods, and earthquakes. 
When a dragon leaves its hiding place and 
soars in the air, a heavy storm ensues. The 
dragon can be chased away, or summoned 
from a swamp, by the sorcerer’s apprentice 
(see črnošolec). The dragon requires an of-
fering such as cattle or people, usually young 
women. A girl abducted by the dragon is 
saved by the hero. According to the apoc-
rypha, St. George is the most noted dragon 
slayer. In folklore, the dragon may evolve 
from a crab or from a snake. When it is one 
hundred years old, the snake grows wings, 
paws, and a tail. It was once widely believed 
that the dragon is hatched from an egg laid 
by a seven-year-old black or multi-coloured 
rooster (see basilisk); this belief was linked 
by Grafenauer to the lore on the mythical 
rooster’s egg from which gushed seven rivers.
Lit.: I. Grafenauer: 
Zmaj iz petelinjega jajca (The Dragon 
from the Rooster’s Egg). Razprave SAZU II. razr. 2, Lju-
bljana 1956; G. Makarovič: 
Notions of Dragons and Their 
Significance in Slovenia. Traditiones 30/2, 2001.
Drak, see dragon
Duh, see ghost 
Duhovin, dahovina. In the lore of Istria 
and the Karst, a child born in the form of a 
snake was called the duhovin. According to 
Matičetov, its origin is in the tradition of the 
Čiči living in Čičerija in Primorska, which 
indicates the area of its distribution. As in 
folktale types about a hero with the body of 
a snake, hedgehog, raven, etc. (ATU 400), 
the snake form of the duhovin represents its 
supernatural character. Born as a mythical 
ancestor, the duhovin is the chosen one with 
special abilities and qualities. According to 
reports by Baučer (1689) and Valvasor (1689), 
immediately after its birth the
 
snake was per-
suaded, by way of certain actions and words, 
to change into a child. The duhovin gradually 
acquired the meaning of a bewitched child 
who could be saved by striking him or her 
with a hazel switch; by baptizing him or her; 
or simply by letting the child drink milk 
without being driven away from the house. 
Giving birth to a snake was also believed 
to be a form of punishment for an unjust 
or quarrelsome wife, or an explanation for 
pathological pregnancy. Slovenian authors 
used the term duhovin to designate an evil 
spirit; the devil (Levstik, Pregelj); a witch 
(Debeljak); and an unfortunate person who 
was carried by nine girls and was the son of 
the last one (Lovrenčič).
Lit.: M. Matičetov: 
Duhovin v Brkinih (The Duhovin in 
Brkini). Traditiones 2, 1973.
Dujačesa, see wild woman
Dujak, see wild man
Dujina, see dusk
Dusk, mrak, mračnik, mračnják, mračnína, 
sómrak, divjína, dujína. A supernatural be-
ing generally appearing as a large woman or 

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man, with a rotting face and large fiery eyes, 
bringing disease mostly to children. A person 
stepping into a house from the dusk could be 
the dusk. A child with gripes or green stool, 
who cannot sleep and wails through the 
night, allegedly has the dusk. In Bela Krajina, 
the dusk was a large, black, and hairy man 
with a wide-brimmed hat that vexed a person 
night after night, and could even take them 
with him. To ward him off, people threw at 
him a slipper that was turned inside out. A 
child burdened with the dusk was exposed 
to the fumes of the burned dusk grass. The 
dusk was also “burned”. After lighting three 
chips of wood, the mother thrice shifted the 
troubled child over them, each time repeat-
ing: I am burning the dusk. The child was 
then carried to bed and the chips thrown 
into the fire.
Dwarf, palček, palečnjak, ninek, nendljek, 
malič. A supernatural being similar to a 
sprite but with a more pleasant disposition. 
The thumb-sized young boy features in in-
ternational tale types, one of which is The 
Adventures of Tom Thumb ATU 700 (Thum-
bling). Dwarfs who dig for gold and jewels 
appear in the fairy tale ATU 709 (Snow White 
and the Seven Dwarfs). Contrary to the gen-
erally unkind sprites or goblins, dwarfs have 
a milder disposition and at night often help 
people with their chores. Folk prophecies 
predict that in the future, people will be no 
taller than dwarfs. While our ancestors were 
the giants, we will be succeeded by people no 
larger than our thumbs.
Džiler, see meraš
Enc, see goblin
Fairy, vila, nymph, bela žena (white lady), 
častitka, častitljiva žena, sveta žena (holy 
lady). A supernatural being with long fair 
hair. Fairies are believed to live in trees, 
crevices, and rocky mountain caves, or near 
sources of water, in springs, wells, lakes, and 
rivers. Nymphs in particular allegedly gather 
in clear nights among the reeds on river 
banks, bathe, sing, and dance in circles on 
meadows. According to tales, people would 
leave for them in fields and pastures offerings 
such as milk, dumplings, and other foods. In 
return, fairies took over their chores; took 
care of their cattle; presented them with 
yarn that had no end until someone actu-
ally mentioned the word “end”. Fairies kept 
cattle as well. Sometimes they would abduct 
a young boy who would become a shepherd 
but was able to escape if he climbed through a 
forked branch. Those who did a good deed for 
a fairy, such as untangle her hair or provide 
shade for her child, were rewarded. In some 
tales, a fairy grants a young man’s wish and 
takes him for her husband. As a seer, she al-
lows to live only those of her children whom 
she perceives to be honest in the future. Con-
jugal happiness with a fairy lasts until her 
husband breaks the taboo (Melusine). Fairies 
may also be disguised as enchantresses, as 
phantoms leading to ruin, like Fata Morgana.
Farca, see krivopeta, see witch
Faronika, a mythical animal, a fish swim-
ming in water. When it moves the earth 
shakes to produce floods, geographical dis-
asters, the end of the world. The name of the 
fish is possibly linked with the belief that 
upon being swallowed by the Red Sea, the 
pharaoh’s warriors turned into fish that at 
a particular moment assume human form. 
Folk narrative and folk songs depicting the 
“fish that carries the world”, or a pair of 
fish, reflect ancient cosmological notions 
of numerous peoples. According to Stele, 
“Faronika” has become a term for mermaid 
in Slovenian art history. In Slovenia, the lore 
about Faronika amalgamated with the tradi-
tion on Veronika the bewitched girl.
Lit.: K. Štrekelj: Zum Volksglaube, daß die Erde auf einem Fisch 
ruhe. Archiv für slavische Philologie 12, 1890; I. Grafenauer: 

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