2 8          S t u d i a  M Y T H O L O G I C A  S l a v i c a         2 0 2 5
143 – 162 |  h t tps: / /doi .org/10.3986/SMS20252807 |  CC BY 4.0
Forest Spirits and Their Functions 
in the Traditions of Estonians, 
Estonian Russians and Belarusians
Mare Kõiva, Elena Boganeva, Ilya Butov
This article gives a comparative analysis of data on forest spirits, including their names 
(terminology), functions, interactions with humans and how they protect people and animals. 
It examines the similarities and differences in the mythological narratives and practices 
of Finno-Ugric peoples (Estonians) and Slavic groups (the Russian minority in Estonia 
and Belarusians in Belarus). The available data reveals a wide variety of terminology and 
appearances: anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, phytomorphic and fantastical beings. One 
of the main functions of forest spirits was to lead people astray. The explanations given 
by narrators remain cognitively interesting to this day: while the causes are attributed to 
mythical beings, they are mostly related to general oral norms and values.
KEYWORDS: forest spirit, guardian spirit, leading astray, path of the spirits, mythology
Članek primerjalno analizira podatke o gozdnih duhovih, njihovih imenih (terminologiji), 
funkcijah in delovanju v odnosu do ljudi ter o tem, kako ščitijo ljudi in živali, ter preučuje, 
kako podobne ali različne so mitske pripovedi in prakse ugrofinskega ljudstva (Estoncev) 
in Slovanov (ruske manjšine v Estoniji in Belorusov v Belorusiji). Razpoložljivi podatki 
kažejo na veliko raznolikost terminologije in pojavnosti: antropomorfna, zoomorfna, fito-
morfna ali fantastična bitja. Ena glavnih funkcij gozdnih duhov je bila, da človeka speljejo 
s poti, argumenti pripovedovalcev so spoznavno zanimivi še danes: vzroki so povezani z 
mitskimi bitji, večinoma pa so povezani s splošnimi ustnopravnimi normami in vrednotami.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: gozdni duh, duh varuh, zapeljevanje s poti, pot duhov, mitologija
INTRODUCTION
This article analyses and summarises the beliefs related to forest spirits among the Baltic 
Finnic and Slavic populations in Estonia and Belarus. It describes the common structures 
associated with terminology, functions and interactions with humans, as well as protective 
ritual practices. Comparisons are also made with the Finno-Ugric and Slavic traditions, 
primarily those of the eastern and northern Slavic regions.
The longue durée approach offers the possibility to make hypotheses on the historical 
origins of mythical characters and enables an investigation into how they have evolved 
over extended periods of time. It is common knowledge that language and belief systems 
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV144 
change over time (Blommaert, 2015; Pomeranceva, 1975), and interactions between cultures 
concern all levels, including mythology – changing names, character traits, characteristics, 
associated motifs and practices. As Descola (2014: 272) notes, such transformations are 
“important to explain the diversity of humans’ perceptions of their environment”. Many 
earlier studies have demonstrated that seemingly fantastical and arbitrary tales often 
exhibit striking similarities across cultures. In our research, the physical landscape also 
plays an important role, as both Estonia and Belarus are forest-rich European countries. 
Over half of Estonia’s territory is covered by forests, while in Belarus the figure stands 
at 40 %, which means that forests also play an important role as subsistence areas.
Although folklore texts are mental constructions of reality – and only some are char-
acterized by a realistic narrative style – changing social and economic circumstances 
cannot be overlooked when interpreting these phenomena, as they affect belief systems, 
ways of thinking, attitudes, and even possibilities for self-fulfilment. Relations with the 
forest were deeply influenced by socio-economic relations, as well as climate changes. 
For centuries, serfdom influenced life in the Estonian territory – from the early modern 
period until its abolition in 1816 in Estonia, and in 1819 in Livonia. Estonia was among 
the regions with the most entrenched forms of serf dependence in Eastern Europe (Kahk, 
1992). During the Soviet period the forest belonged to the state and all forest-related 
activities were regulated. Belarus belonged to the Russian Empire from the 17th century, 
and was under the Soviet regime from 1920 to 1991.
C. Lévi-Strauss (1955) proposed in his paper study “The Structural Study of Myth” 
that myths were manifestations of fundamental units called mythemes, which represent 
relationships between functions and subjects. His famous thesis is based on the recognition 
of oppositions – elements that either contradict or mediate each other (Lévi-Strauss, 1955: 
224). According to Lévi-Strauss, forest fairies are related to death and hunting, which 
stand in opposition to life and the non-hunting, agricultural environment. In this system 
the human experience and its representation are left aside. From the 1970s onwards, 
folklore texts were analysed using various approaches, including the methodology of 
Lévi-Strauss (Laagus, 1990). Philippe Descola’s neo-structuralist classification represents 
a form of objectification and includes four subcategories: animism, totemism, naturalism 
and analogism. All of these were known and used in cultural analysis prior to Descola 
(2009), but his postulates help categorise human experience.1 We usually prefer to use the 
works of the phenomenological school (Arbmann, 1926–1927; Hultkantz, 1953; Paulson, 
1958; 1961; 1964), which also considers the social aspect of beliefs. Ivar Paulson, for 
example, investigated the wider Eurasian area.
A different explanation arises from the triadic categorizations of space and studies on 
everyday life by Henry Lefebvre (1991 [1974]), as well as from the human and non-hu-
man relations described by social anthropologist Tim Ingold (2015: 152). According to 
Ingold, three elements are important: “/…/ in my triad, intention is replaced by attention, 
1 Marshall Sahlins’ (2014) article is an alternative reading of Philippe Descola’s ontological scheme, arguing 
that animism, totemism and analogism are but three forms of animism, namely communal, segmentary and 
hierarchical, often found in various degrees of salience in the same society, and they all are versions of 
anthropomorphism.
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 145 
the subject by the verb, and human agency by the doing-in-undergoing of humanifying. 
Together, these three components add up to what I call correspondence.” All these aspects, 
especially the notion of humanifying (as opposed to anthropomorphism), are valuable 
for analysing the data.
METHODOLOGY
We employed a mixed methodology that combined academic folklore studies (incl. local 
Estonian and Belarusian schools – mapping motifs and terminology, typology, descriptions 
of actions in narratives, etc.) with comparative studies, ethnolinguistics and universal 
explanatory models such as animism.
The article is based on archival data and field materials, including data from the folklore 
archives of the Estonian Literary Museum (ELM; Skriptoorium), where searches using 
the terms “mets(haldjas)” and “eksitaja, eksitamine, eksimine” yielded approximately 
3,500 Estonian texts and 108 Russian texts, dating from the 19th to the 21st centuries. 
Belarusian folklore sources include the BFELA, ABPA (Alena Boganeva’s personal 
archive), expedition records collected by Belarusian folklorists from 1998 to 2020, and 
the BREST digital folklore archive and database (each comprising around 300 texts), as 
well as earlier publications.
COMPARISON OF ESTONIAN, ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN AND 
BELARUSIAN FOREST SPIRITS BASED ON THEIR NAMES
The semantics of the depictions of forest spirits and spirits wandering among different 
peoples are predetermined by the attitudes of rural people towards the forest. On the one 
hand, the forest provides various benefits for households and people, significantly diver-
sifying the diet, providing pasture for livestock and construction material for objects and 
buildings, etc. On the other hand, a common belief among various rural cultures is that the 
forest is a place inhabited by forces hostile to humans, or the location of hell, where evil 
creatures dwell, or that the path to the realm of the dead passes through it (Ivanov, 1992: 
49–50). Nionel Krinichnaya identifies oppositions in the spatial structure of the forest based 
on Slavic folklore: “here, ours, domestic, sometimes the right side” versus “other/another, 
not here, opposite, left side, woods” (Krinichnaya, 2011: 111–112). She concludes that 
the forest is not merely a place of oppositions, or an unfamiliar, poorly developed space, 
but another, parallel realm, in the literal sense – the other world (ibid.: 112).
Folklore studies have repeatedly emphasised that the traditional worldview, when in 
interaction with people, perceives the world as a subject of communication rather than as 
an object. This fully applies to certain spatial loci, such as embodied spaces and places. 
These locations are obviously important for the community because they are imagined 
as places where powerful spirits live. The mental selection of these places determines 
their humanification, endowing them with spirits that govern a given place and oversee 
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV146 
the observance of unwritten laws, rules, norms and prescriptions. It was forbidden to 
speak loudly in the forest, to whistle, to shout or to call someone’s name. For example, 
animals and people in the forest were called together by the sound of a shepherd’s horn, 
herding songs with meaningless words, or only by voice (Est. helletamine, the screams 
of shepherds). Besides their acoustic properties, these may also have held a magical 
meaning. Swearing, cursing, using bad words, fighting and stealing were all prohibited 
in the forest. Meanwhile, hunting and fishing were prohibited at times when church 
services were in progress. Similar data exists on the Karelians (see Ivanova, 2012: 143, 
181–182), the Livs (see Loorits, 1926: 78), the Estonians (see Paulson, 1971: 70; Laagus, 
1990: 123), the Russians (Bayburin, 1993: 153; Novik, 1994: 110–163; Adon'eva, 2004: 
72–84; Stepanov, Saifieva, 2006) and the Belarusians (Volodina, 2019: 319).
As a rule, the names of mythical beings speak of their linguistic and cultural contacts, 
their place in mythology, and their historical and axiological aspects. The names given 
by Estonians, Estonian Russians and Belarusians to forest spirits also demonstrate the 
humanification of the forest as well as the endowment of spirits with quite specific prop-
erties, which vary according to local cultural context. We also think that names help to 
solve the problems of origin.
In the Baltic-Finnic languages, there exists an older, likely more archaic, general 
term – metsarahvas (“forest people”), as well as metsa-inimene (“forest man”). Both 
expressions (forest people and haldjas) fit the belief system and the conceptualisation of 
the forest as a home and space for others where one must behave politely.
In contemporary Estonian society the common term for all the spirits that live in the 
forest is metshaldjas. The word haldjas is a common term in all the Baltic-Finnic lan-
guages (including Votian, Estonian, Finnish, Izhorian and Karelian), and probably comes 
from the Old Scandinavian haldija, meaning “owner” or “protective spirit”. Clarifications 
(whether the spirit or fairy is associated with land, home, forest, water or other domains) 
are formed by means of compound words, where the first element indicates the field of 
activity (e.g. metshaldjas “forest spirit” or “forest fairy”; vetehaldjas “water spirit”). 
If the domain is evident from the context then such qualifiers are usually omitted. In 
Estonia, the term haldjas was traditionally known in northern and central regions, and 
on the western islands.
In southern Estonia, kinship terms are used instead of haldjas, a practice common in 
Finno-Ugric belief systems (Harva, 1948; Konakov, 1999; Kuznetsov, 2005; Limerov, 
2019; Devjatkina, 2008; Ivanova, 2012). In addition to family and kinship terms (such 
as father, mother, son, daughter), there are also names that refer to a higher status, such 
as Lord, Queen, Master, Mistress and King. Examples include metsaisa (“father of the 
forest”), mõtsa-piiga (“forest maiden”), metsa-vana (“old man of the forest”), metsa-vaim 
(“forest spirit or ghost”), metsa-oidije (“guardian of the forest”), metsataat (“forest 
grandfather”), mõtsa-kuningas (“forest king”), metsaisand (“forest master”), metsaemand 
(“forest mistress”), mõtsa-jumal (“forest god”), metsa-peremees (“master of the forest”) 
and metsa-poisid (“forest boys”). A small number of terms refer to evil spirits, such as 
metsa-kurat (“forest devil”), metsa pagan (“forest pagan”), metsa-hirmutus (“forest 
monster”) (Saareste, 1997, s.v. (mets)haldjas).
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 147 
In southern Estonia, spirits believed to cause people to lose their way are known as 
eksitaja or essütaj (“misleader”) (Loorits, 1951: 162–184). The same phenomenon is 
known under different names and belief systems in northern Estonia.
The whole related system is much wider. Respect for certain trees, wild animals 
and birds also affects the system of protective spirits (Karelia: Ivanova, 2012: 143–165; 
Veps: Salve, 1995; Vinokurova, 2006; Livs: Loorits, 1926: 78). For example, for the 
Livs, certain trees, shrubs, foliage and berries, as well as swamps, have their own spirits 
or fairies. Loorits (1926: 86 ff.) indicates that, for example, in Liv folklore the juniper 
has a mother while bushes and trees have a mother and a father (Loorits, 1926: 78). The 
same system exists in Estonia (Loorits, 1949).
If we address the materials of Estonian Russians, the most common names for the 
forest spirit are leshy (“forest goblin”),2 lesovik (“forest man”), lesnoi ded (“forest grand-
father”), lesnoi tsar (“forest king”), but also lesnoi duh (“forest spirit”). The naming 
system is similar to that of Estonian, especially the southern Estonian, Baltic-Finnic and 
Finno-Ugric systems (cf. Mordva: Devjatkina, 1997; Udmurts: Panina, Vladykina, 20213), 
where terms such as forest people and kinship terms, as well as forest spirits with a higher 
status, are central. The general term lesnoi duh (Rus. “forest spirit”) is also used, along 
with loanwords from the Estonian language such as mets(h)aldias (“forest spirit”), and 
(h)aldias (“spirit”) (Kõiva, Boganeva, 2025).
The most common name for a forest spirit among Belarusians is lesavik (“forest 
man”) (cf. Romanov, 1891: 93, 215; Сzаrnowskа, 1817: 407–408; Nasovich, 1983: 
135). Other known names include lyasny dzed (“forest grandfather”), lyasny khazyain 
(“master of the forest”), lyasnaya khazyayka (“forest mistress”) and verasovy dzyadok 
(“grandfather”). The figure known as dabrahot,4 dabrahochy or vadun, meaning among 
other things “forest man”, “misleader”, “demon”, “devil” or “evil spirit”, shares charac-
teristics with the forest man who helps people in the forest (Lobach, 2011: 275; ABPA 
and BREST). Other known terms include khokhlik (“devilish creature, demon, the evil 
spirit”) (Dahl, 1882: 580), and charti lesaviya, lyasny chertsі (“forest devil”). This data 
comes from Western Belarus, end of the 19th century (Federowski, 1897: 17; Kibort, 
1899). Аs for the names lesnoy khozyain (“master of the forest”) or lesnaya khozyayka 
(“forest mistress”), they are typical mainly for the Belarusian-Russian or, more precisely, 
Mogilev-Smolensk borderland (Eastern Belarus). In general, in the Mogilev-Smolensk 
borderland, the situation with terminology regarding local spirits, including forest ones, 
looks somewhat atypical compared to other Belarusian regions. Often here, all the spirits 
2 This is the same word that is used among Russians in the northern Pskov and Novgorod regions (Pskov, 
2020).
3 The nyulesmurt (“forest man”) is unambiguously considered the main mythological being who acts as the 
keeper and warden of the woodland. Depending on local traditions, this figure is also known by other names, 
such as chachchamurt (“forest man”), njulesnjunja (“forest father/uncle”), bydz’zym njunja (“great father/
uncle”), njuleskuz’e/chachchakozjain (“forest master”), and leshak (a borrowing from Russian representing 
one of the variants of leshy) (Panina, Vladykina, 2021).
4 Also known as invisible bogatyrs, invisible people and blind people, i.e. they are independent mythological 
characters (Lopatin, 2005: 34–37; 2008: 183–217; Boganeva, 2009a: 14–16; 2017: 16–20; Dorokhova, 2016: 
36–40).
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV148 
of nature and the economy are called by one word khozyayeva (“owners”) or domovye 
(“house spirits”) (ABPA).
In Estonia we find more forest dwellers, such as the külmking (the “cold shoe” or 
restless spirit) on Saaremaa, and mardus/margus (a doppelgänger who forecasts death) 
in northern Estonia, along with many other creatures that live in the forest.
A Belarusian newcomer is vadun (a misleader, the one who leads you astray), which 
was found in texts from 2005 to 2020 (ABPA, s.v. vadun). It is an invisible force, or 
a character. According to Western Slavic beliefs, many forest and swamp spirits were 
believed to mislead travellers, including the Polish leśne rusawki (“forest mermaid”), 
czerwona Pani (“red lady”), baba jagodowa (“berry woman”), borowiec (“forest man”), 
wierzbicki, łożiński, rokicki (“devil from willow”), diabel błotny (“swamp devil”), and 
the Czech divý muž (“wild man”) and divá žena (“wild woman”). In addition, Western 
Slavic mythology includes a large group of spirits known as misleaders (e.g. Polish bląd 
“misleader”, blędnik “mischievous gnome from Łużyce”, blędny ognik “white light”). We 
can find the same types of spirits in Slovak and Czech folklore. They typically appeared 
at night – most often on Advent nights, on Christmas Eve, but also in spring or autumn – 
taking the form of people, animals, little people, or remaining invisible (Budovskaya, 
1995: 197–199). In Baltic-Finnic, Estonian-Russian and Belarusian folklore, we can find 
names and creatures with similar semantics. The same features seem to exist in Western 
Slavic folklore, but there is not enough data to support broader generalisations.
THE BEHAVIOUR OF FOREST SPIRITS TOWARDS PEOPLE
If we consider the appearances of forest fairies, the folklore of all three peoples shows 
certain coinciding features. Forest fairies have distinct voices, vocalizations and cries. 
Their forms include phytomorphic elements and each variation also displays richly 
imaginative traits.
The main figures are as follows (according to Laagus, 1990; Kõiva, Boganeva, 2025; 
BFELA, BREST, Skriptoorium):
1. phytomorphic forms such as a haystack, an alder bush or alder leaf; a pillar with a 
wooden hat; a spirit’s dress made of spruce bark; a grey beard made of pine bark; 
or three large spruce trees that later transform into men;
2. zoomorphic representations of a forest spirit include: two white calves, a dog, a 
white dog, a white bull, a great blue forest bull, a furry, dog-like beast, a cat-like 
creature, a pig without bristles and a rooster;
3. anthropomorphic representations of forest spirits are the most frequent, with 
various human figures – mostly men of various ages – described as follows: a 
man in grey clothes wearing a large, broad grey hat; a naked man with a broom 
between his legs; a man or a boy; a man with red shins or knee-length black pants, 
a grey sweater or a white shirt with money jingling in it, etc. In Karelia, female 
forest spirits are rare (Ivanova, 2012);
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 149 
4. multiform, half-human appearances have the following features: goat’s legs; one 
horse leg and the other human; a tail; a hoof; a long beak; a human leg;
5. mythical creatures: werewolves.
Forest spirits can be either visible or invisible to humans. The multiformity of spirits 
is well summarized in a record from the Brest region of Belarus, and it is also true for 
all other regions:
Like all other forest spirits, the forest master is invisible, but you can hear 
him. And he loves to make noises. One can hear whistles, clicks, shouts 
in different voices, claps, mumbling sounds from the river. The wood 
goblin loves to perform pranks. He turns into a pine tree, then becomes a 
stump or a hump, or lures a mushroom picker or a hunter off the path. It 
is difficult to describe him because everyone sees him differently: some 
with long hair and a long beard, others all covered with moss, still others 
say he looks like a person. (BREST 1)
While nudity is very rare in forest fairy traditions,5 clothing often features striking 
elements. In Estonian folklore, for example, we find the following features:
1. grey clothing – either entirely or in part (e.g. a grey sweater, grey fur coat); black 
knee-length trousers, a Russian caftan, white clothes, a red hat, a pink dress, a 
jacket and trousers that look like birch bark;
2. a strange body – long and thin like Goliath, with a large head, a grey beard, rags, 
or loose hair;
3. voice – often described as loud or frightening;
4. other features – sometimes something strange is held in the hands.
We see a combination of the unconventional and the ordinary, with highly variable 
exterior forms. In addition to the gentlemanly forms, these spirits are often portrayed as 
wild, messy and different from the ordinary, although ordinary shapes also occur.
In the corpus of Estonian Russian folklore (Kõiva, Boganeva, 2025), we encounter a 
similar division, with additional associations between real and supernatural animals – such 
as wolves, owls and dogs (often described as black, soft and shaggy) with werewolves. 
The forest spirit is said to live in a wooden house and to harm cattle. Explanations for the 
origin of such beings are also rich in imagination and frequently associated with forest 
people (beings of the wild): “Forest beings are people who fled from their parents to the 
forest when they were little. They grew up completely wild, lived in trenches, robbed 
and killed” (ERA, Russian 15, 624 (12)).
Mythical beings living in the same realm are presumed to have common features 
regarding their habitat, way of life, time of appearance and activity. While narrators 
speak of the same elements, the forms that convey this content are highly individual and 
varied (Laagus, 1990).
5 Water spirits are also rarely naked in Estonia (Kõiva, 2023).
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV150 
Legends have a common structure: the action begins when a person enters a place 
outside the domestic sphere – typically a forest, though sometimes a pasture, field or 
overgrown cemetery – and meets a forest fairy. The introductory part usually highlights 
the action that triggers the appearance of the forest fairy, followed by a description of the 
fictional human character’s behaviour during the encounter. Sometimes action is taken 
against the forest fairy. The story usually provides details about the time and place of the 
event. These are universal elements that frame the unfolding action.
The following groups of narratives occur in the folklore of all three cultures:
1. Human actions associated with the forest – A person enters the forest to hunt, gather 
firewood, mushrooms or berries, to graze cattle or simply to pass through. These 
actions provoke the appearance of a forest spirit. The spirit may also be triggered 
when a person violates prohibitions associated with the forest, such as making a 
fire and lying beside it, sleeping on a trail used by a forest spirit, or performing 
any other prohibited activities. Tales belonging to this category emphasize that the 
forest fairy appears to protect animals or birds, or their own home. The narrators’ 
comments on what not to do in the forest resemble the norms of social etiquette 
expected in another person’s home (including prohibitions on making noise, getting 
drunk, etc.): “[y]ou just need to be gentle” (Volodina, 2019: 317–349). “A forest 
spirit presents himself as an extremely tall person or ‘tree-tall’, wearing bast shoes, 
and with a long whip in his hand. He is a shepherd of animals, and is always an 
enemy of hunters in every possible way, leading them away from wild fowl and 
making them lose their way” (Romanov, 1912: 258).
The most frequent victims are half-drunk individuals. A forest spirit may lure 
them into water, shove them into a retting pond (a depression in the ground, pit, 
etc., for retting flax or hemp), or place them on a stone in a bog – a motif common 
in all three nations. However, such pranks never end in the person’s death. Those 
who use foul language may also find themselves wandering aimlessly: “There is 
a master everywhere. But avoid cursing. One must not curse” (BFELA 7).
In Estonia the motif of finding an unknown child (the child of a forest spirit) 
and taking them in one’s arms ends with the arrival of an upset forest fairy and 
the human contracts an incurable skin disease (Eisen, 1893: 15). Meanwhile, 
in 21st century Belarus a person can be rewarded for showing mercy towards a 
child in the forest, who later turns out to be the child of a lesovik or dobrohozhyi 
(Boganeva, 2013: 676–680).
2. People see a forest spirit and what it is doing. No taboo is violated, a person 
simply sees a spirit walking (meeting them on the way, passing by, going ahead), 
swinging on a tree branch, sitting on a stone and breastfeeding a child, hanging 
upside down from a tree, standing still, sometimes leaving the forest with a lot of 
noise, running, dancing, knitting a stocking, singing, walking around a fire and 
muttering, whistling, crying, calling out or coming to a fire to warm up.
3. A forest spirit reveals itself through various actions: а) the encounter has negative 
consequences – for example, a person falls ill or the forest spirit frightens berry 
pickers; b) the encounter has positive consequences – the spirit leads someone to 
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 151 
the right path, gives a fir cone that turns to gold, teaches hunters the language of 
animals, indicates the location of a lost horse, or comforts an orphan.
4. There are two main reasons for getting lost in the forest: first, a person can unwit-
tingly follow the tracks of a forest spirit; second, the spirit can deliberately lead 
people astray (Eisen, 1909: 21).
MAGICAL TRAILS
Leading a human into the forest is considered the most common type of action attributed 
to a forest spirit. According to Saareste’s dictionary (1997) and ETÜ (Metsmägi et al., 
2012), the Estonian verb eksima (“to wander”) is defined as “to accidentally deviate from 
the right path”, “to ride a dead horse”, “to end up somewhere accidentally”, or “to make 
a mistake”. It is related to eksitama (“to lead astray”), which means “to deviate” or “to 
distort”. Semantically related meanings also include “to go into the forest”, “to lie down”, 
“to deviate” and “to lead” (Saareste, 1997).
Wandering and straying can occur even close to home, though the person’s condition 
is depicted as changed: “a veil covered my eyes”, “my eyes faded with fear”, “my mind 
was misty”, or “he forgot his name and no longer knew who he was”. There are also 
descriptions of people going around in circles: “suddenly a large forest appeared before 
him and there was no escape from there” or “he walked around several times, but kept 
returning to the same spot” (Scriptorium, s.v. forest). The descriptions resemble those 
of a mental disorder. Uno Harva indicates that a lost person comes into contact with 
“another world, where everything is different from here, where the course of time is not 
perceived, where ‘right’ is replaced by ‘left’, etc.” (Holmberg (Harva), 1923: 18–27). 
Similar changes in time and space, as well as deformations of perception, are characterized 
by the common motif of different paces of time in the world of the dead and that of the 
living, as well as in the worlds of gods, saints and demons (Loorits, 1946: 437; Jason, 
1977; Kaasik, 2013; Kõiva, Boganeva, 2023).
In her monograph, Aino Laagus (1990: 32 ff.) identifies three forms of spatial trans-
formation associated with straying: a space may become closed, excessively open, or 
a once-familiar place may become alien. A person cannot escape a closed space in any 
way – the forest keeps them within its bounds and refuses to release them from its sphere 
of influence. In an open space, the person is unable to find a way out and may wander 
for several days until they find themselves far from home (Laagus, 1990: 135). In her 
monograph, Laagus also refers to V. Propp, who argues that in fairy tales the forest serves 
as a barrier: “The forest in which the hero finds himself is impenetrable. It is a kind of 
net that catches outsiders” (Propp, 1946: 45). In the case of legends, this barrier works 
with certain story types.
The trail with magical properties exists in the mythology of the Finns, Livs, Veps, 
Estonians, Finnish Swedes, Russians and Belarusians (Harva, 1948: 293; Ivanova, 2012: 
212–213; Vinokurova, 2015: 312–313; Paulson, 1964; Volodina, 2019; Lobach, 2010: 
190; San'ko, 2011: 274–275; Boganeva, 2017: 16–20; Laagus, 1990; Kõiva, 2020). 
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV152 
Ordinary people cannot see the trail. A person may become lost by stepping onto the 
path of a forest fairy or other being, mentioned earlier among the Belarusian, Polish and 
Slovak traditions. Even more common sites of disorientation are the trails of underground 
spirits (Kõiva, 2020). A person may be misled by the path of a house spirit, the devil, or 
a creature called hüüp or hüübjas (Botaurus stellaris). Places where people (including 
soldiers) have died, the place where a murdered child was killed or buried, or even snakes’ 
trails and mushroom rings, may also lead people astray (cf. Jürgenson, 1996, 1997). In 
addition, abandoned or unkempt cemeteries or burial places also lead people astray, as 
illustrated in the story recorded by linguist Paul Ariste in 1934 concerning the old burial 
site of the Rõngu landlords near the city of Tartu.
There is a German cemetery in Rõngu where people become disorientated. Whoever 
goes there cannot get out and becomes lost. One day my aunt went there with her children, 
and they crossed the cemetery several times because they couldn’t get out. The children 
were already crying with fear. They were able to leave the cemetery when they approached 
a rain puddle but ended up in a different place. (ERA I 7, 36 (20))
In folk narratives, a person may become lost either before meeting the forest fairy or 
during the meeting itself, although this state of wandering is often associated with the 
person’s own behaviour in the forest, which triggers the subsequent events. However, 
there is another possibility – the person is misled by the forest fairy’s invisible trail, which 
causes them to experience the above-mentioned mental confusion or cognitive perception 
disorder, including a change in the perception of time and space.
In Belarus, especially in the central and western regions, it is forbidden to step over 
a tree that has been knocked down by a whirlwind (vyvaratsen). This is due to the belief 
that such whirlwinds are the weddings or revelries of evil spirits (see Boganeva, 2006/2: 
519–520; Boganeva, 2009: 575–578; Boganeva, 2011: 522–524).
The connection between wedding rituals and the motif of wandering becomes clearer 
when you consider that the bride’s departure from her father’s house is regarded as death. 
In wedding songs, the bride’s departure from home is depicted as a tragic moment in her 
life. The groom is depicted as a dangerous figure, associated with forces alien to the bride. 
Her journey to the new home usually leads through the forest. Meanwhile, the groom and 
his house are threatened by the bride. The holding back of horses and other delays in the 
wedding ceremony reflect ideas about the difficulties involved in transitioning from one 
socio-emotional state to another (Honko, 1964; Laagus, 1990: 140).
Let us take a closer look at one particular figure, a unique form of the forest spirit 
known for its terrifying voice. In the western and northern coastal areas of Estonia, people 
believe that the voice of an animal or bird is made by a forest fairy that leads people astray. 
For example, hunters may go in the direction of a call they think is an animal or bird, 
only to become lost. Similarly, mushroom-pickers might hear the roar of a bull, follow 
the sound and lose their way. The sound, reminiscent of a bull’s roar, is characteristic of 
a bird known as the hüüp or (h)üübjas (Botaurus stellaris). This elusive member of the 
heron family nests in the reed beds of Estonia’s western coast and islands, as well as on 
lakes. Its eerie call is part of the misleading motifs based on the mythical creature hüüp 
(Eisen, 1909; Jürgenson, 1996, 1997; Hiiemäe, 2016: 53–58).
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 153 
PROTECTION AGAINST FOREST SPIRITS
The appearance of one episode in the narrative triggers the next, creating an interconnected 
chain of events. The mythology of the Baltic Finns, Estonian Russians and Belarusians 
offers numerous stories about becoming lost and remedies against it. You can lose your 
way both near home and far from it. Those who are lost no longer know where they are 
and cannot reach a familiar path. They may meet a being known as a forest spirit, and 
usually will not find their way home until they have performed a certain action. Numerous 
cases and methods of resolution may be grouped into specific subcategories.
The following measures are commonly used to avoid getting lost:
1. Reversal – turning the world back around, freeing oneself from an enchantment, 
restoring the former order to which one belongs.
a) Turning the world upside down by standing on one’s head, rolling over, or 
bending down and looking between the legs;
b) Turning outer clothing such as an apron, skirt, socks or stockings inside out, or 
swapping shoes (putting the left shoe on the right foot and vice versa). In the 
Mogilev and Gomel regions of Belarus, a widespread belief associated with 
the forest master dobrohozhyi holds that you must swap your shoes and turn 
your clothes inside out (Boganeva, 2014: 12).
2. Achieving balance with the soul substance by breathing or spitting. One common 
method is spitting into one’s fist. Many traditional healing and control techniques 
involve symbolic (or real) spitting (Paulson, 1971; Loorits, 1949; Ivanova, 2012).
3. Prayers or incantations accompanied by ritual actions, such as stepping backwards 
three times or reading the lines of the Lord’s Prayer in reverse, are characteristic of 
all three peoples (Kõiva, 2011; Novik, 1994; Kõiva, Boganeva, 2025; Boganeva, 
2014: 12–13; Volodina 2010: 190; Volodina, 2019: 317–349).
Here are some examples from various Belarusian archives that belong to the 
same group: In the region of Brest Polesye and Grodno Ponemanye, a short prayer 
or phrase is often used for protection: “My mother used to tell me that when you 
enter a forest for the first time, you must say, ‘Christ is risen!’ Do that three times” 
(Boganeva, 2009: 578). Another version is “‘Go away Evil One, Jesus Christ 
was born here, go up an aspen tree, on which Judas choked [hanged himself].’ 
The prayer is so short. When you go to the forest, you must recite it” (Boganeva, 
2009: 578). In Luninyets District, the Ascension is referred to – when entering the 
forest, one was supposed to say, “Ascension is always on Thursday” (Boganeva, 
2009: 579–580). According to Aino Laagus, connections with important calendar 
holidays are not significant in Estonian legends (Laagus, 1990).
4. Carrying frightening objects, foods, etc., that the mythical being cannot tolerate, 
such as holy bread or a boar’s/pig’s snout into the forest (Boganeva, 2009: 578).
An account recorded from Russians in Estonia describes a ritual in which one must 
say three times: “I have a pig snout at home.” According to the legend, this declaration 
prevents the forest man from leading you astray. Another record from the village of Nina in 
Kodavere Parish recounts that when a pig is slaughtered, its snout should be cut off, dried, 
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV154 
put on a stick and attached under a ceiling beam. If someone becomes lost in the forest, 
they must say, “Pig snout, where are you?” The words must be repeated three times and 
you will come out of the forest (Kõiva, Boganeva, 2025). A similar motif of a protective 
action was recorded in Belarus by V. Dobrovolsky: if you get lost, you must remember 
that a pig’s head is traditionally cooked on New Year’s Eve (Dobrovolsky, 1908: 4–5; for 
more details, see Dobrovolsky, 1891; Antropov, 2014: 16–24; Tsykhun, 2012: 188–196).
DISCUSSION
We propose models inspired by the Ingoldian, Lefebrian and animistic perspectives, for 
understanding different approaches to forest spirits and systems of protection against 
becoming lost, as the functioning system of communication with the surroundings. The 
animistic view of nature and belief in the soul form the basis of beliefs about forest spirits 
and shape attitudes towards local spirits and nature. Paulson argues that these beliefs 
are universally pluralistic, indicating the existence of multiple spirits or life principles 
(Paulson, 1958). Natural phenomena had “force” or “power”, which appeared in the 
form of both certain objects and places, but also through the embodiment or appearance 
of a specific being – whether in zoomorphic or anthropomorphic form, or as items or 
objects. According to records, there were a number of different mythical creatures living 
in the forest, known by various names, some of which are genetically linked to other 
subtypes or categories of beings. Narratives with highly variable exterior forms (across 
six subdomains) differ in subtle details of content and axiology. There are four to five 
different narrative subtypes, and a comparable number of magical protective techniques, 
common to all the examined cultures.
The character of forest fairies is seen as ambiguous, and their names are chosen de-
pending on whether their benevolent or malevolent aspects dominate in a given context. 
The devilish nature of spirits is expressed not only through their direct attacks on human 
beings, but also through their fear of the sign of the cross and Christian formulae (Salve, 
1995: 414), their smell, and their ability to invert human perception. In Belarusian tra-
dition (San'ko, 2011: 274–275), and among Estonians and other Baltic Finnic peoples, 
the forest is seen as good, or at least not inherently dangerous. A trip to the forest will 
be successful if one strictly adheres to prohibitions and regulations.
Interestingly, in Belarusian (Romanov, 1912: 289), Votic (Arukask, 2000), Seto and 
Estonian tradition (Kärner, 1996; Jürgenson, 1996, 1997), the echo is attributed to the 
devil or the forest devil. According to these beliefs, devils send an echo as the only answer 
to people who are lost and calling for help. Echoes are the voices of devils.
In stories about forest spirits, the main character – the experiencer – is often a man (a 
hunter) whose success may depend on the forest spirit. Based on the practice of offering 
sacrifices to forest spirits (see Paulson, 1958; Salve, 1995), it can be inferred that these 
spirits were once the guardians of animals and birds. Their function was to protect, that is 
to regulate and sanction human behaviour – an idea that became a broader universal prin-
ciple. Paulson writes: “Forest spirits were, in any case, guards, protectors, guardians of the 
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 155 
forest and forest birds” (Paulson, 1966: 65–66). The idea of a protective spirit associated 
with a certain territory (genii loci) or wild species (genii speciei) also coincides with the 
idea of a protective spirit of an individual animal or an entire species (cf. Mencej, 2001).
Reports about forest spirits are individual and variable in form, although they draw on 
specific categories found in belief narratives, such as the spirit’s appearance, its activities, 
experiences of getting lost, and the actions and rituals used to protect humans from both 
the spirit and getting lost.
At the beginning of the 20th century, folklorist M. J. Eisen hypothesized that percep-
tions of the forest spirit predate the linguistic terms used to denote it – terms that may 
have changed over time (Eisen, 1919: 69), yet seem to be still valid. Among the three 
groups examined (and in some other ethnic groups), the use of terms such as “forest 
people” and kinship terms suggest an older layer of belief. All the data point to close 
cultural connections, which resulted in the borrowing of the term haldjas into Estonian, 
and subsequently into the traditions of Russians living in Estonia. The names vary, as do 
the main themes, such as those concerned with the spirits that cause people to become 
lost in the forest.
Among the topics of interest is the origin of forest spirits. According to legend, the 
Archangel Michael, together with the angels who defied God, was cast down to Earth 
and became benevolent or evil forest spirits. In folk texts, there are rare reports of forest 
fairies rising from the dead, yet scientists at the beginning of the 20th century and even 
in the 21st century claim this was very popular. In their opinion, the prerequisite for the 
emergence of fairies and spirits was the cult of the dead. Looking at the thematic divisions, 
this connection does not seem to be true, as the connection with demonic forces is not 
exclusive but rather reflects different functions and experiences. Also noteworthy is the 
fact that, in transcripts from the 19th to 21st centuries, encounters with the forest fairy 
are experienced by different groups: hunters (men), berry-pickers (especially women and 
children), forest workers (mostly men), those who take horses to night pasture (young 
people, particularly young men) and those who spend time in or pass through the forest.
SOURCES6
ABPA – Alena Boganeva’s personal archive.
BFELA – Database of Belorusian folklore and ethnolinguistics, Centre for Belarusian Culture, 
Language and Literature Research, National Academy of Sciences, Minsk.
BREST – Database of Belorussian folklore and mythology, National Academy of Sciences, Centre 
for Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research in Brest, Belorusia.
H, E, ERA, ERA, Vene, RKM – manuscript collections of ERA (Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv; Estonian 
Folklore Archive), located in the Estonian Literature Museum (ELM, Eesti Kirjandus-
muuseum) in Tartu, Estonia. ERA Vene contains 17 volumes or 10.656 pages of records 
made from 1927 to 1944.
Skriptoorium, Estonian Literary Museum, Department of Folkloristics, digital archive and tool.
6 Detailed metadata for this article are stored in the repository at www.folklore.ee/repo/metshaldjas.
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV156 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adon'eva, Svetlana. 2004. Прагматика фольклора. СПб: Изд-во С.-Петерб. ун-та; ЗАО ТИД 
«Амфора». [Pragmatika fol'klora. Sankt Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo S.-Peterburgskogo uni-
versiteta, Amfora.]
Antropov, Nikolaj. 2014. К истории научного обоснования белорусско-русского диалектного 
пограничья: запад – восток. In Діалекти в синхронії та діахронії: загальнослов'янський 
контекст, ред П. Ю. Гриценка, 16–24. Київ: Національна академія наук України. 
Інститут української мови. [K istorii nauchnogo obosnovanija belorussko-russkogo dialek-
tnogo pogranich'ja: zapad – vostok. In Dіalekti v sinhronії ta dіahronії: zagal'noslov'jans'kij 
kontekst, ed. P. Y. Grincenka, 16–24. Kiev: Institut ukarinskoi movi.]
Arbman, Ernst. 1926–1927. Untersuchungen zur primitiven Seelenvorstellung mit besonderer 
Rücksicht auf Indien. Le Monde Oriental 20: 85–222; 21: 1–185.
Arukask, Madis. 2000. Eksimine vadja ja setu rahvakultuuris ning folkloorse etteantuse osa selles. 
SATOR 2: 96–112.
Bayburin, Albert. 1993. Ритуал в традиционной культуре Структурно-семантический 
анализ восточнославянских обрядов. СПб.: Наука. [Ritual v tradicionnoj kul'ture. 
Strukturno-semanticheskij analiz vostochnoslavjanskikh obrjadov. Sankt Petersburg: Nauka.]
Blommaert, Jan. 2015. Commentary: ‘culture’ and superdiversity. Journal of Multicultural Dis-
courses 10 (1): 1–3. DOI: 10.1080/17447143.2015.1020810.
Boganeva, Alena. 2006. Tрадыцыйная мастацкая культура беларусаў. Т. III: 2. Гродзенскае 
Панямонне. Мінск: Вышая школа. [Tradycyjnaja mastackaja kul'tura belarusaў. T. III: 2. 
Grodzenskae Panjamonne. Minsk: Vyshaja shkola.]
Boganeva, Alena. 2009. Tрадыцыйная мастацкая культура беларусаў. Т. IV: 2. Брэсцкае 
Палессе. Мінск: Вышая школа. [Tradycyjnaja mastackaja kul'tura belarusaў. T. IV: 2. 
Brestskae Palesse. Minsk: Vyshaja shkola.]
Boganeva, Alena. 2009a. “Харошыя были люди, толька их не видел нихто”. Живая старина 
[“Haroshyja byli ljudi, tol'ka ih ne videl nihto”. Zhivaja starina] 4: 14–16.
Boganeva, Alena. 2011. Tрадыцыйная мастацкая культура беларусаў. T. V: 2. Центральная 
Беларусь. Мінск: Вышая школа. [Tradycyjnaja mastackaja kul'tura belarusaў. T. V: 2. 
Tsentral'naja Belarus'. Minsk: Vyshaja shkola.]
Boganeva, Alena. 2013. Tрадыцыйная мастацкая культура беларусаў. T. VI: 2. Гомельскае 
Палессе і Падняпроўе. [Tradycyjnaja mastackaja kul'tura belarusaў. T. VI: 2. Gomel'skae 
Palesse і Padnjaproўe. Minsk: Vyshaja shkola.]
Boganeva, Alena. 2014. Мифологические нарративы белорусско-русского пограничья: 
традиционные мотивы и персонажи. Живая старина [Mifologicheskie narrativy be-
lorussko-russkogo pogranich'ja: tradicionnye motivy i personazhi. Zhivaja starina] 3: 10–13.
Boganeva, Alena. 2017. “Невидимцы”: сыужетныые версии (белорусскиые деревни Неглыубка 
и Курбаки). Живая старина [“Nevidimtsy”: syuzhetnyye versii (belorusskiye derevni 
Neglyubka i Kurbaki). Zhivaja starina] 4: 16–20.
Boganeva, Elena and Mare Kõiva. 2023. Между мирами и жанрами: сказки сюжетных типов 
ATU / СУС 470 в фольклоре белорусов, русских и эстонцев. In Народная религиозность 
в свете фольклора, ред. Людмила Федеева и Й. Шеваренкова, 118–152. Москва: 
Государственный институт исскуствознанияnm. [Mezhdu mirami i zhanrami: skazki 
sjuzhetnykh tipov ATU / СУС 470 v fol'klore belorusov, russkih i estontsev. In Narod-
naja religioznost' v svete fol'klora, eds. Ljudmila Fadeeva and J. Shevarenkova, 118–152. 
Moskva: Gosudarstvennyi institut isskustvoznaniia.]
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 157 
Boganeva, Elena and Mare Kõiva. 2025. Мифологические тексты русского архива ЕЛМ в 
записыакх 20–40-кх гг. ХХ в. Тарту: ЕЛМ Сколарли Пресс. [Mifologicheskiye teksty 
russkogo arkhiva ELM v zapisyakh 20–40-kh gg. XX в. Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.]
Budovskaja, E. 1995. Блуждать. In Славянские древности. Этнолингвистический словарь. 
1: А–Г, ред. Никита Толстой, 197–199. Мосцоw: Международные отношения. [Bluždat'. 
In Slavjanskie drevnosti. Etnolingvisticheskij slovar'. 1: A–G, ed. Nikita Tolstoi, 197–199. 
Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija.]
Dal', Vladimir. 1882. Tолковый словарь живого великорусского языка. IV: Р–В. Ст. Петерсбург: 
М. О. Вольф. [Tolkovyj slovar' zhivogo velikorusskogo jazyka. IV: R–V. St. Petersburg: 
M. O. Volʹf.]
Descola, Philippe. 2009. Human natures. Social Anthropology 17 (2): 145–157. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-
8676.2009.00063.x.
Descola, Philippe. 2014. Modes of being and forms of predication. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic 
Theory 4 (1): 271–280. DOI: 10.14318/hau4.1.012.
Devjatkina, Tatiana. 2008. Mordva mütoloogia. Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
Dobrovol'skij, Vladimir. 1891. Смоленский етнографический сборник. Ст. Петерсбург: 
Е. Евдокимов. [Smolenskij etnograficheskij sbornik. St. Petersburg: E. Evdokimov].
Dobrovol'skij, Vladimir. 1908. Нечистая сила в народных верованиях (по данным Смоленской 
губ). Живая старина [Nechistaja sila v narodnyh verovanijah (po dannym Smolenskoj 
gub). Zhivaja starina] 17: 3–16.
Dorokhova, Elena. 2016. „Скрытые люди” русско-белорусского пограничьиа. Живая старинa 
[„Skrytye ljudi” russko-belorusskogo pogranich'ia. Zhivaja starina] 1: 36–40.
Eisen, Matthias Johann. 1909. Äraeksimine. Eesti Kirjandus 4: 19–27.
Eisen, Matthias Johann. 1919. Eesti mütoloogia. Tartu: Eestimaa Kooliõpetajate Vastastiku Abi-
andmise Seltsi raamatukaupluse kirjastus.
Federowski, Michal. 1897. Lud białoruski na Rusi Litewskiej. Materiały do etnografii słowiańskiej 
zgromadzone w latach 1877–1905. 1: Wiara, wierzenia i przesądy ludu z okolic Wołkowys-
ka, Słonima, Lidy i Sokółki. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Komisji Antropologicznej Akademii 
Umiejętności.
Harva, Uno. 1948. Suomalaisten muinaisusko. Helsinki: SKS.
Hiiemäe, Mall. 2016. Väike linnuraamat rahvapärimusest. Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
Holmberg (Harva), Uno. 1923. Metsän peitossa. Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 3: 16–60.
Honko, Lauri. 1964. Memorates and the Study of Folk Beliefs. Journal of the Folklore Institute 
1 (1-2): 5–19.
Hultkranz, Åke. 1953. Conceptions of the Soul Among North American Indians. Stockholm: The 
Ethnographical Museum of Sweden.
Ingold, Tim. 2015. Life in Lines. London: Routlegde. DOI: 10.4324/9781315727240.
Ivanov, Viacheslav. 1992. Лесь. In Мифы народов мира. T. 2: К – Я, ред. С. Токарев, 49–50. 
Москва: Советская ентсиклопедия, 49–50. [Les'. In Mify narodov mira. 2: K–Ja, ed. S. 
Tokarev, 49–50. Moscow: Sovetskaja entsiklopedija.]
Ivanova, Liudmila. 2012. Персонажи карельской мифологической прозы. Исследования и тексты 
быличек, бывальщин, поверий и верований карелов. Петрозаводск: Петрозаводский гос. 
Университет. [Personazhi karel'skoj mifologicheskoj prozy. Issledovanija i teksty bylichek, 
byval'schin, poverij i verovanij karelov. Petrozavodsk: Petrozavodskij gos. universitet.]
Jason, Heda. 1977. Ethnopoetry – Form, Content, Function. Bonn: Linguistica Biblica.
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV158 
Jürgenson, Aivar. 1996. Eksitaja fenomenist eesti traditsioonis. Pro Folkloristica 3. https://www.
folklore.ee/era/nt/PF3/3Jurgenson.htm (accessed 28.4.2024).
Jürgenson, Aivar. 1997. Eksitajast ja eksimisest eesti usundis. Akadeemia 4: 710−731.
Kaasik, Мairi. 2013. A Mortal Visits the Other World – the Relativity of Time in Estonian Fairy 
Tales. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics 7 (2): 33–47.
Kahk, Juhan. 1992. Eesti talurahva ajalugu I. Tallinn: Olion.
Kärner, Ülle. 1996. Eksitaja. In Palve, vanapatt ja pihlakas. Setomaa 1994. a. kogumisretke tulemusi, 
eds. Heiki Valk and Ergo Västrik, 189–202. Tartu: Ülikool.
Kibort, J. 1899. Wierzenia ludowe w okolicach Krzywicz, w powiecie Wilejskim. Wisła 13: 
321–336, 389–408.
Kõiva, Mare. 2023. Vetehaldjad 1. Vaaraorahvas, merekari, veehobused, kalaisa, kotermann = 
Water spirits 1. Pharao's Warriors, Mer Cattle, Water Horses, Fish Father, Kotermann. 
Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
Kõiva, Mare. 2020. There and back again: Little people in mythology and fiction. In Between 
the Worlds: Magic, Miracles and Mysticism, eds. M. Maeva, Y. Erolova, Pl. Stoyanova, 
M. Hristova and V. Ivanova, 1–17. Sofia: Paradigma.
Kõiva, Mare. 2011. Eesti loitsud. Tallinn: Pegasus.
Konakov, Nikolai D. 1999. Komi Mythology. Encyclopedia of Uralic Mythologies. Budapest: 
Akadémai Kiadó.
Krinichnaja, Nionel. 2011. “Тот дикий лес, дремущий и грозясчий…” К семантике мифологического 
образа. Русская речь [“Tot dikij les, dremučij i grozjaschij…” K semantike mifologich-
eskogo obraza. Russkaja rech'] 4: 110–117.
Kuznetsov, Nikolai. 2005. Komi Folklore. Collected by Paul Ariste. Folklore 29: 191–196. DOI: 
10.7592/FEJF2005.29.komi.
Laagus, Aino. 1990. Struktura i semantika tekstov predanij ob estonskih lesnyh duhah. Dissertation. 
Tallinn: Institut estonskoj literatury i jazyka.
Lefebvre, Henri. 1991 [1974]. The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell.
Levkievskaja, Elena. 2004. Леший. In Славянские древности. Етнолингвистический словарь. 
3: К (Круг) – П (Перепелка), pед. НикитаТолстой, 104–109. Москва: Международные 
отношения. [Lešij. In Slavjanskie drevnosti. Etnolingvisticheskij slovar'. 3: K (Krug) – 
P (Perepelka), ed. Nikita Tolstoi, 104–109. Moskva: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija.]
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1955. The Structural Study of Myth. Journal of American Folklore 68 (270): 
428–444. DOI: 10.2307/536768.
Limerov, Pavel. 2019. Some Motifs in Komi Legends about the Creation of the World. Folklore. 
Electronic Journal of Folklore 76: 29–38. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2019.76.limerov.
Lobach, Uladzimir. 2010. Полацкі этнаграфічны зборнік. Наваполацк: ПДУ. [Polackі ètna-
grafіčny zbornіk. Navapolack: PDU.]
Lobach, Uladzimir. 2011. Лесавік. In Міфалогія беларусаў: энцыкл. слоўн, навук. рэд. І. 
Клімковіч, В. Аўтушка, Т. Валодзіна, С. Санько, 275. Минск: Беларусь. [Lesavik. In 
Mіfalogіja belarusaў. encykl. sloўn, eds. І. Klіmkovіč, V. Aўtuška; T. Valodzіna, S. San'ko, 
275. Minsk: Belarus'.]
Loorits, Oskar. 1926. Liivi rahva usund. I. Tartu: Tartu University Press.
Loorits, Oskar. 1949. Grundzüge des estnischen Volksglaubens. 1. Lund: Carl Bloom.
Loorits, Oskar. 1951. Grundzüge des estnischen Volksglaubens. 2. Lund: Carl Bloom.
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 159 
Lopatin, Grigori. 2005. “Людзей жа нявидзимых стольки, скольки видзимых”. Живая старина 
[“Ljudzej zha njavidzimyh stol'ki, skol'ki vidzimyh”. Zhivaja starina] 3: 34–37.
Lopatin, Grigori. 2008. О народной демонологии белорусско-брянского пограничья. [O nar-
odnoj demonologii belorussko-brjanskogo pogranich'ja.] Palaeoslavica 17 (2): 183–217.
Mencej, Mirjam. 2001. Gospodar volkov v slovanski mitologiji. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta.
Metsmägi et al. 2012. Eesti etümoloogiasõnastik (ETÜ). Tallinn: EKI.
Nasovіch, Іvan. 1983. Слоўнік беларускай мовы. Минск: Беларуская савецкая ентсыклапедыя. 
[Sloўnіk belaruskaj movy. Minsk: Belaruskaja saveckaja entsyklapedyja.]
Novik, Elena. 1994. Архаические верования в свете межличностной коммуникации. In 
Историко-етнографические исследования по фольклору. Сборник статей памяти 
Сергея Александровича Токарева, pед. В. Я. Петрухин, 110–163. Москва: Восточная 
литература. [Arhaicheskie verovanija v svete mezhlichnostnoj kommunikacii. In Istoriko-et-
nograficheskie issledovanija po fol'kloru. Sbornik statej pamjati Sergeja Aleksandroviča 
Tokareva, ed. V. Y. Petrukhin, 110–163. Moscow: Vostochnaja literatura.]
Panina, Tatiana and Tatiana Vladykina. 2021. Forest Spirits in the Udmurt Worldview. SATOR 
22: 167–196. DOI: 10.7592/Sator.2021.22.07.
Paulson, Ivar. 1971. The Old Estonian Folk Religion. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Paulson, Ivar. 1966. Vana eesti rahvausk. Stockholm: Vaba Eesti.
Paulson, Ivar. 1964. The animal guardian: a critical and synthetical review. History of Religions 
3 (2): 202–219.
Paulson, Ivar. 1961. Wald- und Wildgeister im Volksglauben der finnischen Völker. Zeitschrift 
für Volkskunde 57: 1–25.
Paulson, Ivar. 1958. Die primitiven Seelenvorstellungen der nordeurasischen Volker. Eine reli-
gionsethnographische und religionsphanomenologische Untersuchung. Stockholm: The 
Ethnographical Museum of Sweden.
Pomeranceva, Erna. 1975. Мифологические персонажи в русском фольклоре. Москва: Наука. 
[Mifologicheskie personazhi v russkom fol'klore. Moskva: Nauka.]
Propp, Vladimir. 1946. Исторические корни волшебной сказки. Ленинград: Наука. [Istoricheskie 
korni volshebnoi skazki. Leningrad: Nauka.]
Romanov, Evdokim, 1912. Белорусский сборник. 8–9: Быт белоруса. Опыт словаря условных 
языков Белоруссии с параллелями великорусскими, малорусскими и польскими. Вильна: 
Типография А. Г. Сыркина. [Belorusskij sbornik. 8–9: Byt belorusa. Opyt slovarja us-
lovnyh jazykov Belorussii s paralleljami velikorusskimi, malorusskimi i pol'skimi. Vil'na: 
Tipografia A. G. Syrkina.]
Romanov, Evdokim. 1891. Белорусский сборник. 4. Сказки космогонические и культурные. 
Витебск: Типо-литография Г. А. Малкина. [Belorusskij sbornik. 4: Skazki kosmogon-
icheskie i kul'turnye. Vitebsk: Tipo-litografіja G. A. Malkina.]
Saareste, Andrus. 1997. Eesti keele mõisteline sõnaraamat = Dictionnaire analogique de la langue 
estonienne: avec un index pourvu des traductions en francais. Tallinn: Perioodika.
Sahlins, Marshal. 2014. On the Ontological Scheme of Beyond Nature and Culture. HAU: Journal 
of Ethnographic Theory 4 (1): 281–290. DOI: 10.14318/hau4.1.013.
Salve, Kristi. 1995. Forest Fairies in the Vepsian Folk Tradition. In Folk Belief Today, eds. Mare 
Kõiva and Kai Vassiljeva, 413–434. Tartu: Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Keele ja Kirjanduse 
Instituut & Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum.
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV160 
San'ko, Siarhei. 2011. Лес. In Беларуская міфалогія, рэд. И. Климкович, В. Аутушка, Т. Валодзина, 
С. Санько, 274–275. Мінск: Беларусь Les. [Les. In Belaruskaja mіfalogіja, encykl. sloўn, 
eds. І. Klіmkovіč, V. Aўtuška, T. Valodzіna, S. San'ko, 274–275. Minsk: Belarus'.]
Stepanov, A. and A. Sajfieva. 2006. Леший-черт, отдай мою животину. (Исследование 
демонологии Сямженского района Вологодской области) [Leshij-chërt, otdaj moju 
zhivotinu (Issledovanie demonologii Sjamzhenskogo rajona Vologodskoj oblasti)]. http://
www.folk.ru/Research/stepanov_leshiy.php?rubr%EF%80%BD (accessed 10.5.2023).
Tshykhun, G. 2012. Заметки о говорах и диалектных чертах белорусско-русского пограничья. 
In Выбраныя працы: беларусістыка, славістыка, ареальная лінгвістыка, ед. Г. А. 
Цыхун, 188–196. Мінск: РІВШ. [Zametki o govorah i dialektnyh chertah belorussko-russ-
kogo pogranich'ja. In Vybranyja pracy: belarusіstyka, slavіstyka, areal'naja lіngvіstyka, 
ed. G. A. Tshykhun, 188–196. Mіnsk: RІVSH.]
Varfalameeva, Tatiana. 2004. Т. Б. Варфаламеева, А. М. Боганева, М. А. Козенка (eds.). 
Tрадыцыйная мастацкая культура беларусаў. Т. 2. Віцебскае Падзвінне. Беларуская 
навука. [Tradycyjnaja mastackaja kul'tura belarusaў. II. Vіcebskae Padzvіnne. Minsk: 
Belaruskaja Navuka.]
Vinogradova, Liudmila. 2001. Славянская народная демонология: проблемы сравнительного 
изучения. Диссертация. Москва: РГГУ. [Slavjanskaja narodnaja demonologija: problemy 
sravnitel'nogo izučenija. Disertacija. Moskva: RGGU].
Vinokurova, Irina. 2006. Животные в традиционном мировоззрении вепсов (опыт реконструкции). 
Петрозаводск: Издательство ПетрГУ. [Zhivotnye v tradicionnom mirovozzrenii vepsov 
(opyt rekonstrukcii). Petrozavodsk: Izdatel'stvo PetrGU.]
Vinokurova, Irina. 2015. Мифология вепсов: энциклопедия. Петрозаводск: Издательство 
ПетрГУ. [Mifologiya vepsov: entsiklopedia. Petrozavodsk: Izdatel'stvo PetrGU.]
Volodina, Tatiana. 2019. Люди и хозяева: стратегии и регулирование межмирной кoммуникации 
в предcтавлeниях бeлoруcов Пoднeпрoвья. In Балто-славянские исследования-XX: 
сб. науч. трудов, 317−349. Москва: Институт славяноведения РАН. [Ljudi i hozjaeva: 
strategii i regulirovanie mezhmirnoj kommunikacii v predctavlenijah belorucov Podneprov'ja. 
In Balto-slavjanskie issledovanija XX, 317−349. Moskva: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN.]
Volodina, Tatiana. 2010. Мифологический статус и ритуальные функции леса в народной 
медицине белорусов. In Этноботаника: растения в языке и культуре, pед. Т. В. 
Володина, В. А. Лобач, 190–199. СПб : Наука. [Mifologicheskij status i ritual'nye funktsii 
lesa v narodnoj meditsine belorusov. In Etnobotanika: rastenija v jazyke i kul'ture, ed. T. 
Volodina and V. Lobach, 190–199. St. Petersburg: Nauka.]
FOREST SPIRITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE TRADITIONS OF ESTONIANS, ESTONIAN ... 161 
ЛЕСНЫЕ ДУХИ И ИХ ФУНКЦИИ В ТРАДИЦИЯХ ЭСТОНЦЕВ, 
ЭСТОНСКИХ РУССКИХ И БЕЛОРУСОВ
В этой статье мы рассмотрели верования, связанные с лесным духом, в трех 
этнических группах (эстонской, русской и белорусской) и пришли к выводу, 
что, хотя в лесном хозяйстве участвует больше мужчин, чем женщин, в ска-
заниях отражены встречи людей разного возраста и пола с лесным духом - 
духом-защитником леса.
Названия лесных духов указывают на различных групп: 1) термины 
родства; 2) защитники или покровители леса, также как фигуры более высокого 
статуса (например, господин или госпожа); и 3) демонические существа или 
дьявол. Последние встречаются в основном в славянских преданиях, где 
более заметны вредоносные функции и действия. Обилие названий лесных 
духов отражает жизнеспособность преданий внутри отдельных этнических 
групп. Контактные зоны отличаются переносами и заимствованиями из 
соседних языков.
Примечательно, что связь между лесными духами и мертвыми, или 
представление о лесных духах как персонификациях умерших, в нашем 
материале практически отсутствует. Это, по-видимому, связано с более 
ранними теоретическими попытками объяснить мифологические иерархии 
и персонажи.
Мифологические рассказы эстонцев, русских Эстонии и белорусов 
содержат ряд ярких параллелей в мотивах о причинах гнева лесных духов 
(например, человек слишком шумно ведет себя в лесу, аукает сам и отвечает 
на ауканье лесного духа, наступает на след лесного духа, у белорусов еще 
может нечаянно пересечь переход – невидимую дорогу доброхожих и др.). 
Также имеются типичные совпадения в способах защиты человека от лесного 
духа – чтение молитв/заговоров при входе в лес, выворачивание одежды 
наизнанку, переобувание и др.
В комплексе текстов о блужданиях у рассматриваемых народов отражены 
в большинстве случаев представления о нечистой силе, сбивающей человека 
с дороги, а также запретах и предписаниях, которые человек должен соблю-
дать для безопасного посещения леса.
белорусов и русских Эстонии восходят к общим славянским корням, 
к тому же значительная часть русских пришла в Эстонию из Псковской 
области, которая граничит с белорусским регионом Подвинья.
Примечательно также, что связь между лесными духами и мертвыми 
или представление о лесных духах как персонификациях умерших в нашем 
материале практически отсутствует. Это, по-видимому, связано с более 
ранними теоретическими попытками объяснить мифологическую иерархию 
и персонажей с культом умерших.
MARE KÕIVA, ELENA BOGANEVA, ILYA BUTOV162 
В нарративах часто рассказывается об индивидуальном опыте и событиях, 
и, как правило, в них представлено одинаковые количество действий и табу 
для всех групп. Постоянной темой является важность соблюдения уста-
новленных социальных границ и норм, что объясняет значительное число 
эпизодов, связанных с заблуждениями.
Наши результаты указывают на необходимость пересмотреть данные, 
собранные за длительный период времени, и использовать их для переоценки 
характеров и функций мифологических существ.
Mare Kõiva, PhD, Research Professor, Estonian Literary Museum, Department 
of Folkloristics, Vanemuise 42, EE-51003 Tartu, mare@folklore.ee
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-3878
Elena Boganeva, Centre for Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature 
Research, National Academy of Sciences, Department of Ethnolinguistics 
and Folklore, Surhanava St., 1, Bldg. 2, BY-220072 Minsk, elboganeva@
gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9711-8715
Ilya Butov, PhD, Research Fellow, Centre for Belarusian Culture, Language 
and Literature Research, National Academy of Sciences, Department of 
Ethnolinguistics and Folklore, Surhanava St., 1, Bldg. 2, BY-220072 
Minsk, ufocom@tut.by
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3187-3552