Following on the theme of protectors after last week’s Dworowy (Dvorovoi) post, this Slavic Saturday we’re looking at perhaps the most well-known protector in all of Slavic mythology: the Leszy (Leshy or Lisovyk).
(June 2021 Updated) Note: If you enjoy Slavic mythology, check out A Dagger in the Winds, the first book in my Slavic fantasy series called The Frostmarked Chronicles. You can also join my monthly newsletter for updates and free novellas (such as the prequel, The Rider in the Night) set in the world of the series.
It’s impossible when talking about Slavic myths to not encounter the Leszy, also known as the “Old Man of the Forest.” As the woods were everywhere around the early Slavs, their protector was an important part of folklore. Hunters, warriors, woodsmen, and travelers alike could be led astray or confused by noises in the forests, and the Leszy became a culmination of many of those stories.
The tutelary deity’s appearance was as variable as the trees themselves, likely because he was considered to be a shapeshifter. Ranging from a tall old man with a long beard to wolves and bears or even a giant moving tree. He could take the form of the winds and use voices other than his own. No matter the form, though, his eyes were a bright green and a pair of horns protruded from his head (similar to the god Weles/Veles). When he stepped from the forest into the fields, he shrank from a giant to the size of a blade of grass.
A Leszy’s mood was as variable as his appearance. Many of them were known to lure lost people, especially children, deeper into the woods using the voices of their loved ones. They were tricksters and laughed as the poor lost soul wandered among the trees. Some stories say these children became part of the forest people along with his wife, Leszachka (or Leshachikha). He was not known to be friendly to loggers or hunters and would lure them away or attack if he believed they had threatened too much of his land. This also meant two Leszy could fight each other if they believed another was encroaching of their forest.
This might sound savage, but like many spirits, this seems to be stories that helped people explain to themselves why people never came home. With so few roads and trails through the forests in early Slavic times, many people got lost. It was easier to say that the child was taken away to live with the forest people than to live with the horror they’re gone forever. Considering the many sounds in a forest too, a Leszy’s voice on the winds helped explain obscure animal noises or the variety of noises trees make in the breeze.
Despite this trickster nature, Leszy were considered a more neutral spirit towards people. People who were kind to the forest and gave offerings of their flock were helped along their way by the Leszy or sometimes given gifts in response. Beyond his desire to protect the woods, he wanted to enjoy himself, so those who wronged the Leszy could escape danger by taking off their clothes, wearing them backward, and putting on their shoes the wrong way. It was said that the Leszy would laugh and let them go. Finally, some stories also tell of the spirits’ moods changing with the seasons: waking and causing trouble in spring, playing tricks in the summer, becoming more combative in the autumn, and hibernating in the winter.
The Leszy was so popular that entire cults were made around him. Some considered there to be one Leszy that was a god, others thought they were tutelary deities over their own forests, and some stories even claim there were many of them running amok in the woods. Regardless, people worshiped their Leszy in groves and gave those offerings in hopes of appeasing him. On September 27th, there was a feast day for him as well.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of the Leszy, and that’s why in the first book of my Slavic fantasy series, A Dagger in the Winds, he makes an early and prominent appearance. As spirits of nature, they are connected with the gods and their cycle of fighting for power. WacÅ‚aw (one of the protagonists) had been warned by his mom many times not to follow the Leszy’s voices, but when he stumbles into a trap laid by the spirit, his whole world will change.
That’s all for this week’s Slavic Saturday. Be sure to keep a lookout for more posts next week, and if you haven’t seen the full series of posts, be sure to check them out.
*As always just a quick disclaimer. Slavic mythology is broad and not written in many if any primary sources, so there’s a variety of interpretations. The interpretations I’m using here are from the sources I’ve found to be reliable and as well as some creative freedom for my book series.