Leshy

The hunter entered the forest and took only what he needed. He respected the trees, animals, and paths. The leshy watched him. The forest spirit was its master and guardian. It could appear as a peasant, grow as tall as the trees, or shrink to the size of a blade of grass. It could also take the form of an animal, a change in the weather, or another thing found in the forest.

Because the hunter followed the forest's rules, the leshy allowed him to find abundant game. The animals remained in the forest. The hunter took what he could carry and left the rest unharmed. The leshy did not trouble him. The spirit could also protect people who depended on the forest. Herdsmen sought its protection for their cattle, and an agreement with the leshy could guard livestock from predators.

If the hunter took more than he needed or damaged the forest, the leshy turned against him. It could imitate animal or human voices, send sounds deeper into the trees, alter the ground, raise gusts of wind, and close familiar paths. It could make the forest seem larger and lead the hunter in circles. He might wander until he became lost and starved. His body could remain undiscovered, apart from the plants and animals that fed on it.

The leshy could also mislead a person for no clear reason. It was said to confuse humans for amusement. A traveller might be led from the road to a strange clearing or fail to find something close at hand. The hunter's safety depended on his conduct, the leshy's judgement, and the spirit's changeable humour.

The leshii carried a young girl into the forest. In another telling, he took a woman who lived unhappily with her husband. He summoned a peasant woman to serve as a nanny or midwife. Some girls and women became his wives. He lived with a wife, children, and sometimes his mother and father. His household resembled a peasant household. His family lived in a house, kept dogs, and raised livestock. His wife, the lesovikha, appeared as an ugly creature with huge breasts, a naked girl, or a woman in a white or patterned sarafan as tall as the trees.

An old woman lost her way while gathering berries. A man found her, led her through the forest, and brought her to a large house. She stayed there for three years. She grew homesick, and the peasant's wife felt sorry for her. The wife told her to refuse the household's food and say that she could not eat it. After the old woman went without food for three days, the wife complained that she was a useless nanny and asked her husband to take her home.

The leshii lifted the old woman onto his shoulders and carried her away. He dropped her near her own yard. Her sarafan was torn, and the old man barely recognised her. She said that life with the leshii had been comfortable and that there had been enough of everything. She found it boring because there was only one household.

Mothers prayed after the leshii took their children. He also took children whom their parents had cursed or whom they had accidentally smothered during sleep. Women and children thus entered the leshii's household or served him there.

God or the Devil made the leshy and sent him into the forest. There he became a wild spirit, inhabiting the woodland and ruling over it. The accounts differ over which of these two powers created him. They agree that the leshy belonged to the forest and exercised authority there.

The leshy was counted among the nature spirits. He was sometimes placed close to the Devil within the broad category of the unclean force. Like the Devil and other harmful spirits, he could lead travellers astray and abduct children. This overlap left the boundary between the forest spirit and the Devil unclear in some popular beliefs. The Devil could also appear as a ruler over lesser demons, while the leshy remained connected with the forest.

Other accounts give the leshy a different origin. One informant from Vladimir Province reported the leshy saying that he was human like other people, but had no cross on him because his mother had cursed him. Reports also suggest a possible connection between the leshy and the unclean dead, though this connection remains uncertain. Similar claims link other nature spirits with people who died in particular conditions, but no firm conclusion is given for the leshy.

The creation accounts therefore differ. Some present the leshy as a forest ruler made by God or the Devil. Others describe him as a cursed human or as a spirit connected with the dead.

The woodcutter entered the forest and cut trees carelessly. He behaved noisily in the leshy's territory and showed no respect for the forest master. The leshy made its presence known through laughter, handclapping, and the sounds of trees, grass, birds, beasts, and wind. In some accounts, the spirit could sing without words. The woodcutter heard these sounds around him but could not tell where they came from.

The leshy then called to him in a familiar voice. It might sound like the voice of a family member or a neighbour. Trusting the call, the woodcutter followed it into a deep thicket or towards a ravine. The forest paths became unfamiliar, and he lost his way. The leshy was believed to play this trick on peasants who entered its territory, especially when their conduct angered it.

The woodcutter searched for the way out, but the forest master did not let him leave. The leshy could frighten a trespasser, lead him further astray, or torment him after he became lost. Some accounts say that the spirit tickled its victim to death. The woodcutter's careless cutting and disrespect had brought him under the leshy's power, and he remained lost in the forest.