Vodyanoy

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Vodyanoy by Ivan Bilibin, 1934.

In Slavic mythology, vodyanoy (Russian: водяно́й, Ukrainian: водяний, literally "watery"), vodyanoi, Polish wodnik, Czech and Slovak vodník, Bulgarian vodnik (Bulgarian: водник), or Serbian vodenjak (Cyrillic: водењак) is a male water spirit. Vodník in Czech fairy tales is the same creature as the Wassermann or nix of German fairy tales.

He is said to appear as a naked old man with a greenish beard and long hair, with his body covered in algae and muck, usually covered in black fish scales. He has webbed paws instead of hands, a fish's tail, eyes that burn like red-hot coals. He usually rides along his river on a half-sunk log, making loud splashes. Consequently, he is often dubbed "grandfather" or "forefather" by the local people. Local drownings are said to be the work of the vodyanoy (or rusalkas).

When angered, the vodyanoy breaks dams, washed down water mills, drowns people and animals. (Consequently, fishermen, millers, and also bee-keepers make sacrifices to appease him.) He would drag down people to his underwater dwelling to serve him as slaves.

In Czech and Slovak folklore the features of the vodník are markedly different to the East-Slavic conception; he has a completely human body, although his skin is algae-green in colour. His overall dress and appearance is that of a vagrant; patchy shirts and (by modern standards) odd hats - often boaters - are commonplace. His face is unshaven and it is not uncommon for a vodník to have a large, wet, tangled beard.

In Czech and Slovak tales when drowned victims die, the vodník stores their souls in porcelain cups which they consider valuable; except for fish (or perhaps fish spirits) they do not have servants. Fishermen ask the vodník for help by placing a pinch of tobacco in the water and saying, "Here's your tobacco, Lord Vodník, now give me a fish." In Czech and Slovak tales vodníci live in ponds or rivers; there is no mention of a particular dwelling and the 'half-sunken log' is unapparent.

Cultural references

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• Vodyanoy is one of the best known characters of the Soviet cartoons. In the Soviet animated film "The Flying Ship", he performs a song about his loneliness and need to talk with someone.
• David Wiltshire's novel Child of Vodyanoi (adapted into the TV series The Nightmare Man) used the water spirit as a metaphor for a miniature Russian submarine.
• Composer Antonín Dvořák wrote a symphonic poem entitled "Vodník" or The Water Goblin about this creature, who is also a character in his opera Rusalka.
• In China Miéville's Bas-Lag novels, the Vodyanoi are an aquatic people skilled in water magics. In Miéville's Perdido Street Station, striking Vodyanoi dockworkers use their water magic to blockade a shipping route.
• The Bog Roosh of Hellboy lore bears many similarities including storing people's souls in jars and keeping slaves.

See also

• Merman
• Kappa (folklore)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vodyanoy

• Rose, Carol (2001). Giants, Monsters, and Dragons. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 384. ISBN 9780393322118. http://books.google.com/books?id=GKrACS_n86wC&pg=PA384&dq=vodyanoy&client=firefox-a.