222
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
223
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: