Myth and folktales

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Pehtra Baba (Percht), Pehtra, Pehta,  Pehtrna,  
Pjehtrna, Pjerta, Pirta, Pjahtra Baba, Pehta 
krulja, Vehtra Baba, Zlata Baba (golden hag), 
Jaga Baba, Ježi Baba. A female mythical being 
of an ambivalent nature. As a bearer of light, 
Pehtra Baba is a kind and beautiful apparition 
(Old German perahtun = bright, glittering) 
while as the leader of the souls of the dead 
and as the thunder goddess with the iron 
nose and other attributes, she is a terrifying 
creature that causes snow and thunderstorms. 
She was besought for rain. Processions in 
which people masked as Pehta, enacted Pehtra 
Baba on the Eve before the Epiphany (Janu-
ary 6) in time of the “Twelve Nights”, are 
believed to bring fertility to plant and animal 
life. The Pehtas visit people’s houses or they 
chase around the village. In literary folklore, 
Pehtra Baba appears as the leader of the Wild 
Hunt or as a strict guardian of female chores, 
particularly spinning, weaving, and washing 
laundry. During Ember days, she ensures 
strict observation of days dedicated to her. 
According to the studies of Kuret, the mid-
winter deities of Indo-European nations were 
based on the character of Magna Mater, a nu-
men of the female principle believed to have 
originated thousands of years ago in social 
structures dominated by women. Under the 
influence of new social circumstances, the na-
ture of this being was increasingly demonized 
and eventually Christianized (St. Lucia). 
Finally it was secularized and transformed 
into a being from a fairytale.
Lit: L. Kretzenbacher: 
Santa Lucia und die Lutzelfrau, 
Volksglauben und Hochreligion im Spannungsfield 
Mittel- und Südosteuropass. Südeuropäische Arbeiten 
53, München 1959; N. Kuret: 
Maske slovenskih pokrajin 
(Masks of Slovenian Regions), Ljubljana 1984.
Percht, see Pehtra Baba
Perica, see washerwoman 
Perkmandelj, see goblin
Perun, (the Thunder God), Elija, Ilija, Trot. 
The Slavic god of thunder, of lightning, of war, 
the storm god, and the Creator. Mentioned 
in an 11
th
 century manuscript from Kiev. The 
most frequently mentioned deity in folk herit-
age and written sources, Perun is the supreme 
Slavic god. He had been named the Thunder 
God because he used lightning and thunder 
for punishment; according to most etymolo-
gists, the term Perun denotes “the one who 
strikes.” The tree consecrated to Perun, along 
with other Indo-European deities of the thun-
der like Zeus, Jupiter, Thor, Perkun, etc., was 
the oak. Perundan, or Thursday in Polabian, 
was named after Perun. Like the Germanic 
Thor, who was depicted with the Myolnir, the 
golden axe, Perun was depicted with an ax or 
a hammer, the symbol of thunder. The cen-
tral Slavic myth describes the battle between 
Perun, the deity of heavens, and Veles, who 
is a chthonic god; the memory of this myth 
has been preserved in Slovenian lore as well. 
Perun was Christianized into St. Elias or St. 
Matthias. Juniper bush, which is called hous-
eleek (netresk) is also associated with Perun.
Lit.: V. V. Ivanov, V. N. Toporov, 
Issledovanija v oblasti 
slavjanskih drevnostej, Moscow 1974.
Pesjan see pasjeglavec (cynocephalus)
Pes Marko (Marko the Dog). 1) the leader 
of the pasjeglavci (cynocephales), 2) Attila, 
the commander of the ferocious Hun army, 
whom reports from Primorska and Slavia 
Veneta equated to a dog. Like Attila, also 
Marko the Dog was believed to be the child 
of a king’s daughter whose father permitted 
only a dog to keep her company in her castle 
tower. The child was named Prince Marko 
the Dog. When he grew up he fled from his 
home, then returned to his native land as 
the leader of the cynocephali, and ravaged 
it. According to the lore, his name is linked 
with the constellation Canis Major and its 
brightest star Sirius, the Dog Star (kuzljak), 
or the hunter dog of Orion. When looking for 

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235
a parallel in history, Vilfan found two pos-
sible candidates for the nickname Pes Marko: 
Marx Sittich von Ems, a hired commander of 
Austrian archduke Maximilian’s army who 
fought against the Venetians at the end of 
the 15
th
 and the beginning of the 16
th
 centu-
ries; and Marko Klis, who was mentioned in 
historic sources and was killed in Brežice in 
1515 during a peasant revolt.
Lit.: S. Vilfan, 
Pes Marko (Marko the Dog). Slovenski etno-
graf VIII, Ljubljana 1955.
Pesoglavec, see pasjeglavec (cynocephalus)
Petka (Friday), St. Petka, Pantelija, Petkovica. 
A female supernatural being named after 
the day consecrated to her (Friday, petek 
in Slovene). A protector of female chores, 
particularly spinning, she punished women 
who violated the ban on spinning, washing, 
weaving, etc. on a certain time on Fridays. 
She was venerated particularly by South 
Slavs, where some tribes worshipped her as 
their clan’s guardian and built churches of St. 
Parasceve in her honour. Like St. Sabida (Sat-
urday) and St. Domenica (Sunday), St. Petka’s 
origin derives from traditions based on the 
Eurasian deity of the female principle (see 
Mokoš). Through centuries, her character 
was gradually demonized and was ultimately 
transformed into a fairy tale being.
Plague (kuga). Personified notorious disease. 
Believed to appear in yards as a multi-col-
oured calf or in villages, disguised as an old 
woman or a black girl. The villagers of Povirk, 
whose congregation of the local St. Jakob’s 
church also worshipped St. Fabian and St. Se-
bastian (Boštjan), repeatedly saw her standing 
on a hilltop, calling: “Fabjan, Boštjan, you are 
so strong, you prohibit me from entering the 
village of Povirk!” It was also believed that a 
comet appearing in the sky brought famine, 
war, or the plague. Similarly to a folktale 
in which an old woman brings the plague 
to a village, the ferryman of Aškerc’s poem 
Polnočna potnica (Midnight Traveller) ferries 
the plague, disguised as a scary old woman, 
across the river at night time. 
Lit.: I. Grafenauer: 
Neték in “Ponočna potnica” v ljudski 
pripovedki (The Netek and the “Nighttime Traveller” in 
Folktales). Razprave SAZU II. razr. 4, Ljubljana 1958.
Plent, see devil
Podlegaj, vuorek. A mythical being simi-
lar to the orko, preserved in the lore in the 
vicinity of Ilirska Bistrica and appearing in 
the shape of a donkey. If a person mounted 
him, he grew to reach the stars, dropping 
the human off his back but catching him or 
her close to the ground unharmed. Podlegaj 
could be tamed if a person brought with them 
a rope or reigns. 
Podlesnjak, see wild man
Podmenek, see changeling 
Pogorkinja, see wild woman
Pogorni mož, see wild man
Polesnjak, see goblin 
Polkonj, see centaur
Potoglav, see Veles
Povodkinja, see mermaid
Povodni mož, see water sprite
Povratnik, see returning dead
Pozoj, see dragon
Preglavica (trouble), a troublemaking ghost, 
a headless apparition. The people of Štajersko 
believed it assumed the form of a headless 
white or black woman who appeared around 
midday. She blinded those who encountered 

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