After a couple unusual weeks in my Slavic Saturday series, I’m continuing the trend by doing this post on Sunday. An out of town wedding took up my Saturday, but I’m excited to be talking about another demon in Slavic mythology this week, the utopiec (or topielec). This creature plays an important role in the first book of my series, so make sure you’re paying attention!
(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.
The utopiec is a fairly well-known creature in Slavic myth because of the Witcher series, in which they are called “drowners” in English. Their depiction in the games at least shows a fairly similar idea to the myths surrounding the utopiec, but there can be many confusing aspects around swamp demons. A large part of that is the sheer number of swamp and water demons in Slavic myth. Between the utopiec, wodnik (vodyanoy), błotnik (bolotnik), dziwożona (boginka), rusałka (rusalka), and others, there are a large amount of these demons, and each of these creatures have folktales and differences between them. Obviously, the Slavs saw swampy waters as a dangerous place to be.
While some of the other water demons can have positive stories related to them, the utopiec definitely does not. The utopiec itself is considered to be usually a male demon. They are the spirits of those who drowned in the swamp, and when people pass by, they will attempt to ensure those travelers suffer the same fate.
Their time in the swamp has turned the creature into an ugly beast. Often they have bulging, clouded eyes and mangled black hair (if they have any hair at all). Their skin is slimy and green, oozing with the gases of the swamp. Overall, their appearance is somewhere between that of a person and the classical lizard-man, as they take on characteristics of reptiles in their cursed after life.
If you’ve played the Witcher games, you’re familiar with their ferociousness. A utopiec does not die (again) easily, and you’ll have to fight them in their own territory to survive. They are well known to attack with claws. If you hold your own on your feet, though, they will try to pull you under so you can drown like them.
As I hinted at before, the utopiec makes an important appearance in book 1 of my Slavic fantasy series. Swamps are common in the lowlands of Dwie Rzeki, the home village of protagonists Wacław and Otylia, so adventuring deeper into the woods means these demons are bound to show up. And once they find one, there’s no avoiding a fight.
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.