no chance of a translation/ similar english book?
>_<
>_<
MONSTERS AND DRAGONS OF POLAND...are there any...?
I'll see if I can find out.
Not all the spirits of Poland and Slavic mythology are evil.
In Karkonosze region resides a spirit called - Liczyrzepa aka Rzepiór aka Rzepolicz. He is a guardian of treasures with heighten sense of fairness and justice. He helps poor and oppressed punishing the greedy. Usually taking on a human form he joins travelers playing harmless mischief and jokes on them. He can also appear as a giant, a dwarf, a monk and even as a wild animal. There are many legends associated with this spirit. One such legend is about a princess that was kidnapped by this spirit. One day she asked him to count rzepe (turnip) growing in the field, while he was performing this task she escaped. He is possibly one of the most written about spirits so I'm sure there has to be something in English language about him.
Another good nature spirit is – Dobrochoczy, a forest spirit often taking on the form of a tree or a shrub in presence of people. Those he deemed to be honest and righteous he reworded with a sackful of gold coins that looked as if some traveler might have lost it, but those that were deemed evil nature by him, offended him and he punished them severely. To those individuals he appeared as a hunter on horseback accompanied by many dogs and trampled them to death with his horse. Sometimes he appeared as a bear, wolf, wiled boar or some other animal form.
One more worthy to mention is – Dola, sort of a guardian angle if you will. It's a female spirit, personification of happiness, good fortune and individual's fate (obverse of misery). She is a gift of gods that will help you overcome any difficulty encountered during ones lifetime. She accompanies an individual from birth to death. When she appears to people she takes on a form of a young maiden, an old woman or even an old beggar lady.
In Karkonosze region resides a spirit called - Liczyrzepa aka Rzepiór aka Rzepolicz. He is a guardian of treasures with heighten sense of fairness and justice. He helps poor and oppressed punishing the greedy. Usually taking on a human form he joins travelers playing harmless mischief and jokes on them. He can also appear as a giant, a dwarf, a monk and even as a wild animal. There are many legends associated with this spirit. One such legend is about a princess that was kidnapped by this spirit. One day she asked him to count rzepe (turnip) growing in the field, while he was performing this task she escaped. He is possibly one of the most written about spirits so I'm sure there has to be something in English language about him.
Another good nature spirit is – Dobrochoczy, a forest spirit often taking on the form of a tree or a shrub in presence of people. Those he deemed to be honest and righteous he reworded with a sackful of gold coins that looked as if some traveler might have lost it, but those that were deemed evil nature by him, offended him and he punished them severely. To those individuals he appeared as a hunter on horseback accompanied by many dogs and trampled them to death with his horse. Sometimes he appeared as a bear, wolf, wiled boar or some other animal form.
One more worthy to mention is – Dola, sort of a guardian angle if you will. It's a female spirit, personification of happiness, good fortune and individual's fate (obverse of misery). She is a gift of gods that will help you overcome any difficulty encountered during ones lifetime. She accompanies an individual from birth to death. When she appears to people she takes on a form of a young maiden, an old woman or even an old beggar lady.
sister act 2 | 88
24 Apr 2009 / #34
That picture you posted looks very familiar......i am sure its my neighbour....
Nope its my mother in law, thats the wicked witch of noth east poland on her way to visit her evil daughters, they hunt down men (especially irish and english men) and bleed them dry please warn your tourist friends,
Warmia has stories of devils. There are several I can think of. One involves the devils building a fake church to try and tempt people away from the real one. The local priest realises what is happeneing when he sees the new 'priest' pulling the bell rope with his tail.
There are also stories of swamp creatures and such.
There are also stories of swamp creatures and such.
Nope its my mother in law, thats the wicked witch of noth east poland on her way to visit her evil daughters, they hunt down men (especially irish and english men) and bleed them dry
I need to meet these witches and disarm them.
There were some pretty high level monsters and dragons to be seen in the Sejm a couple of years ago...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Lepper
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaros%C5%82aw_Kaczy%C5%84ski
and scariest of all... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Giertych
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Lepper
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaros%C5%82aw_Kaczy%C5%84ski
and scariest of all... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Giertych
Mr Grunwald 33 | 2133
27 Apr 2009 / #38
Let's not forget Krasnoludki, the mischievous but charming Polish elves.
they're not elves, they're somewhere between dwarfs, gnomes and maybe smerfs....
definitely not elves
definitely not elves
They are excactly like Norwegian Nisser!
In English language they call em Santas little helpers!
Tho in the Norwegian tales "Nisser" were small little creatures wich had red clothing and lived in stables. They allways took good care of the animals at the farm. They loved to play tricks on humans and if you angered them they did some bad things at the farm, but giving them porege every christmas made them in a happy mood.
Is there anything specific about the Krasnoludek like "Nisser"?
Is there anything specific about the Krasnoludek like "Nisser"?
They have red caps and long beards and they live inside red mushroom with white spots.
Mr Grunwald 33 | 2133
27 Apr 2009 / #40
Live in mushrooms? Funny one :)
Guest
29 Apr 2009 / #41
In another story the warshaw Basilisk is killed but I don't remember who did it.
Basilisk
monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Basilisk
The Obra Water Monster
The Obra Water Monster
Rusalka - Polish / Slavic Tree Spirit
Rusalka - Polish / Slavic Tree Spirit
Basilisk
monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Basilisk
The Obra Water Monster
Loch Ness is not the only lake with a reputation for a Monster. The River Obra, a small offshoot of the River Warta, in the west of what is now Poland, is said to be the home of a similar giant water-based 'monster'.
The Obra Water Monster
Rusalka - Polish / Slavic Tree Spirit
In traditional Pre-Christian folklore the Rusalka or Rusalki, was seen as the most dangerous ghost of all. Polish legends says that Rusalka spirits who girls or women who died an unnatural or violent death. This succubus type spirit seeks to continue to exist by drawing the energy of life from all nearby living things. A nasty and attractive tree-dwelling Polish fairy (faerie)! Like other female nature spirits Rusalka's power comes from her powerful sexual attraction. Rusalka's erotic appearance and sweet song is said to be enough to lure any red-blooded male into the forests and lakes where they would have their spirit sucked from them and die. Although as Rusalka nymphs are said to be affectionate lovers, their victims die happy!
Rusalka - Polish / Slavic Tree Spirit
Harry
29 Apr 2009 / #42
Here's my take on the Bazyliszek:
The dragon in Kraków is more famous and supposedly far bigger but Warsaw’s dragon is like the city: unique, under-rated and impossible to kill. The Old Town was once home to the Bazyliszek a monster with a red-crested head, long serpentine neck, hairy legs and a body covered with black feathers. It was supposedly hatched from an egg laid by a seven-year-old rooster and incubated by a poisonous snake. Its stare turned humans to stone and beast always stayed underground, warning people away with otherworldly howls. But it takes more than a funny glance and weird noises to strike fear into Varsovian hearts, especially when a rumour goes round that the dragon sleeps on a hoard of gold. Various thieves and barbarians ventured in search of it and never returned but that was no concern to the people of Warsaw, just made the city a better place.
But one day three over-bold children decided to steal the dragon’s gold. One of them, Waluś, the ten-year-old son of a poor widow, fell victim to a deadly glare from the creature and his two friends, Maciek and Halszka, were trapped in a cellar by the beast. Eventually a volunteer with a working knowledge of Greek mythology was found and issued with the equipment he requested: a shield made of mirrors and several heroic drafts of vodka. Suitably emboldened our hero crept around the cellars until he lured the Bazyliszek into staring at the mirror. It gave a unearthly shriek of ‘I woulda got away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!’ and vanished. One of the few traces of the Bazyliszek to be found in Warsaw is the Old Town restaurant with that name and a metal statue of the beast outside.
She's not a monster but she is supernatural: the Syrena!
Back when the seas were unpolluted enough for support them, two mermaid sisters left the Atlantic and headed into the Baltic. The younger of the two decided Copenhagen would be a good home. She’s still there today and the statue of her regularly has bits lopped off it. The older sister headed to Sopot and then decided to swim up the Vistula. When she reached Warsaw she realised this is a great place to live and made her home on the sandy banks of the river, from where she sang beautiful songs every evening. She developed the habit of cutting fishermen’s nets with her sword but the nightly concerts were so wonderful that the locals decided it was a price worth paying. All except an over-zealous priest who could not accept her singing on Sundays. He pestered the fishermen until enough of them were fed up enough to help him capture the mermaid and stop her ungodly song. But the priest made the mistake of leaving his prize catch alone with an impressionable young man who found the voice and beauty of the Syrena (by now she’d started spelling her name the Polish way) so spectacular that he released her into the river. From then on there were no more riverside concerts but the Syrena promised to help the people of Warsaw whenever they needed protection. Varovians always portraying her holding a sword and a shield but she’s never been seen using either in any of the Uprisings or times the city needed defending. Unlike certain mermaids found around Poland, Warsaw's Syrena is proudly silicon free.
The dragon in Kraków is more famous and supposedly far bigger but Warsaw’s dragon is like the city: unique, under-rated and impossible to kill. The Old Town was once home to the Bazyliszek a monster with a red-crested head, long serpentine neck, hairy legs and a body covered with black feathers. It was supposedly hatched from an egg laid by a seven-year-old rooster and incubated by a poisonous snake. Its stare turned humans to stone and beast always stayed underground, warning people away with otherworldly howls. But it takes more than a funny glance and weird noises to strike fear into Varsovian hearts, especially when a rumour goes round that the dragon sleeps on a hoard of gold. Various thieves and barbarians ventured in search of it and never returned but that was no concern to the people of Warsaw, just made the city a better place.
But one day three over-bold children decided to steal the dragon’s gold. One of them, Waluś, the ten-year-old son of a poor widow, fell victim to a deadly glare from the creature and his two friends, Maciek and Halszka, were trapped in a cellar by the beast. Eventually a volunteer with a working knowledge of Greek mythology was found and issued with the equipment he requested: a shield made of mirrors and several heroic drafts of vodka. Suitably emboldened our hero crept around the cellars until he lured the Bazyliszek into staring at the mirror. It gave a unearthly shriek of ‘I woulda got away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!’ and vanished. One of the few traces of the Bazyliszek to be found in Warsaw is the Old Town restaurant with that name and a metal statue of the beast outside.
She's not a monster but she is supernatural: the Syrena!
Back when the seas were unpolluted enough for support them, two mermaid sisters left the Atlantic and headed into the Baltic. The younger of the two decided Copenhagen would be a good home. She’s still there today and the statue of her regularly has bits lopped off it. The older sister headed to Sopot and then decided to swim up the Vistula. When she reached Warsaw she realised this is a great place to live and made her home on the sandy banks of the river, from where she sang beautiful songs every evening. She developed the habit of cutting fishermen’s nets with her sword but the nightly concerts were so wonderful that the locals decided it was a price worth paying. All except an over-zealous priest who could not accept her singing on Sundays. He pestered the fishermen until enough of them were fed up enough to help him capture the mermaid and stop her ungodly song. But the priest made the mistake of leaving his prize catch alone with an impressionable young man who found the voice and beauty of the Syrena (by now she’d started spelling her name the Polish way) so spectacular that he released her into the river. From then on there were no more riverside concerts but the Syrena promised to help the people of Warsaw whenever they needed protection. Varovians always portraying her holding a sword and a shield but she’s never been seen using either in any of the Uprisings or times the city needed defending. Unlike certain mermaids found around Poland, Warsaw's Syrena is proudly silicon free.