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#slavic folktales
asyayordanova · 1 year
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deadrys · 20 days
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One of my favorite illustrations from the children's picture book I wrote and illustrated: Klokić
Art by me, 2021
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victusinveritas · 7 months
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“The Water Tsar dances” by Frank Cheyne Pape from Russian Tales
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piroshky · 1 year
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The Ukrainian folktale Kyrylo the Tanner, illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko.
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wdillustration · 3 months
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I've been wanting to post this for months now but here it is just to be sure, "The Twelve Months" is a specified Slovak folktale that intrigues me into it's wintery plot. It follows the story of a young girl who sent out in the middle of winter by her wicked stepmother to retrieve something that doesn't involve with the correct season, luckily enough it wouldn't be possible to find if it wasn't for twelve magical men who had the ability to control the season in each month the year. PS it even featured an anime film in 1980 called 森は生きている (Mori wa Ikiteiru).
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bestiarium · 2 years
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The Poterchata [Ukrainian mythology]
Small, supernatural flames or lights that float over swamps and marshes are a commonly reoccurring theme in myths and beliefs from around the world. Today, such sightings are usually attributed to swamp gases but in the past they were often thought to be ghosts, spirits or undead souls.
The Poterchata are one version of that story, they originate from Ukrainian legends. These ghosts are the souls of unbaptized children (usually under 8), which also includes babies who died during childbirth. Unable to pass on to the afterlife, they were doomed to wander the Earth.
These are dangerous spirits and would manifest as floating lights to lead curious or lost travellers into the water, where they would drown. They could also be heard laughing and crying in deep forests. There are also accounts of Poterchata tickling a victim to death, or just trying to scare travellers in the dark. But they were not entirely evil, as these spirits could be saved.
They fly around at night, and are considered related to the Ukrainian Mavka, spirits of young girls who were associated with water. They inhabit lakes and rivers.
In one version, the Poterchata take the form of birds, and they remain like that for 7 years after the death of their human body. In Podolsk (Ukraine) and Belarus, they turn into mermaids (note the recurring association with water or water spirits). In this form, they still resembled children, but had a blueish skin. In literature and fiction, Poterchata were sometimes depicted as corporeal, humanoid creatures with monstrous characteristics like fangs and claws.
It is considered polite and customary to give a piece of cloth to these spirits if you happened to encounter one. This is related to an Ukrainian custom where the godparents of a newly born child gift a towel to the parents, to wrap and hold the baby. One should also leave a small crucifix for the spirit.
In some versions, the spirits are nameless because a child only ‘officially’ receives their name when they are baptized. Hence, they were buried in a nameless grave, and it is said that you could hear wailing or crying if you held your ear next to their gravestone. I am uncertain what time period or region this statement comes from.
Hanna Barvinok, (the pseudonym of) a 19th century Ukrainian writer and folklorist, wrote in her story about mermaids that unbaptized children were often buried underneath the house of their parents. Sometimes you could hear their voice, complaining that their mother buried them. It was also common to bury the child close to the fireplace, as the fireplace of the house was a culturally important spot where the spirits of the family’s ancestors were thought to dwell. The reasoning here is by burying the infant here, it would be left in the care of its ancestors, who would protect it against evil spirits. In some places in Russia, unbaptized children and infants would be buried underneath a tree instead.
Sources: Романова, O. M., 2018, ДИТЯЧИЙ ОБРАЗ ЛІСОВОЇ ДЕМОНОЛОГІЇ В ТРАДИЦІЙНИХ ВІРУВАННЯХ. ПОТЕРЧАТА, in: ІСТОРИЧНІ НАУКИ, 23, p76-81 (The child’s image of forest demonology in traditional reliabilities: Poterchata, in: Historical Sciences) Fody, G. D., 1963, A survey of the mythology of Kievan Rus’ and its survivals in the folklore of the eastern Slavs, thesis submitted to the faculty of graduate studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts, University of Alberta. Riazantseva, T., 2020, Slavic folktale characters in Serhiy Oksenyk’s fantasy trilogy: walking, flying, floating, САВРЕМЕНА СРПСКА ФОЛКЛОРИСТИКА, C.381-388. (image source 1: Daria Zhuk on Artstation) (image source 2: Olha Nazarets on Artstation)
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bigfootboyband · 6 months
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Vasilisa the Wise
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novaspree · 9 months
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foodandfolklore · 5 months
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Godmother Death
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Since it's Almost the 31st of October, I've been poking around for old Fables and fairytales that fit the season. Sure there's Halloween and spooky season which allows many people to dress up and embrace the fun. And I love that! But some spiritual and Cultural paths believe this time of the year is when the veil of the living and the dead thins, allowing for those who have passed to come and pay us a visit. Personally, I kinda like the idea of that.
So I found a Slavic folk tale written by A.H Wratislaw in 1889. It is about death taking on a Godchild. There are many things I find interesting in this story. The first and most obvious thing being that Death is not something to fear. Death is a kind and fairly pretty Woman. It goes against a lot of how death has been built up in Christian stories. Which brings me to interesting point number 2, Death and Religion seem to be separate. Which I like. Yes death seems to be Religious, but they don't claim to be part of a higher power or chain of command. They haven't been re-written to be an angel. Just....Death. And finally the third thing I found interesting was the Fact Death was not only a Woman, but a Woman with knowledge about medicine and healing. During this time period in England (Where the author is from) and many other parts of the world, Women were fighting to be allowed to be Doctors. But there was massive push back on this as anyone who has skimmed women's rights history can imagine. So I wonder if the author had an opinion about this, and tried to use old folk tales to communicate a point. Perhaps he felt women were capable of being just as good of doctors as men?
This is a slightly more awkward read. So I wanted to give a few key notes on word meanings to help people like me who were thrown off. Gossip: It means Good friend or buddy Sexton: A church care taker Taper: Candle. Like the tall, skinny kinds.
There was a man, very poor in this world’s goods, whose wife presented him with a baby boy. No one was willing to stand sponsor, because he was so very poor. The father said to himself: ‘Dear Lord, I am so poor that no one is willing to be at my service in this matter; I’ll take the baby, I’ll go, and I’ll ask the first person I meet to act as sponsor, and if I don’t meet anybody, perhaps the sexton will help me.’
He went and met Death, but didn’t know what manner of person she was; she was a handsome woman, like any other woman. He asked her to be godmother. She didn’t make any excuse, and immediately saluted him as parent of her godchild, took the baby in her arms, and carried him to church. The little lad was properly christened. When they came out of church, the child’s father took the godmother to an inn, and wanted to give her a little treat as godmother. But she said to him, ‘Gossip, leave this alone, and come with me to my abode.’
She took him with her to her apartment, which was very handsomely furnished. Afterwards she conducted him into great vaults, and through these vaults they went right into the underworld in the dark. There tapers were burning of three sizes–small, large, and middle-sized; and those which were not yet alight were very large. The godmother said to the godchild’s father: ‘Look, Gossip, here I have the duration of everybody’s life.’ The child’s father gazed thereat, found there a tiny taper close to the very ground, and asked her: ‘But, Gossip, I pray you, whose is this little taper close to the ground?’ She said to him: ‘That is yours! When any taper whatsoever burns down, I must go for that man.’
He said to her: ‘Gossip, I pray you, give me somewhat additional.’ She said to him: ‘Gossip, I cannot do that!’ Afterwards she went and lighted a large new taper for the baby boy whom they had had christened. Meanwhile, while the godmother was not looking, the child’s father took for himself a large new taper, lit it, and placed it where his tiny taper was burning down.
The godmother looked round at him and said: ‘Gossip, you ought not to have done that to me; but if you have given yourself additional lifetime, you have done so and possess it. Let us go hence, and we’ll go to your wife.’
She took a present, and went with the child’s father and the child to the mother. She arrived, and placed the boy on his mother’s bed, and asked her how she was, and whether she had any pain anywhere. The mother confided her griefs to her, and the father sent for some beer, and wanted to entertain her in his cottage, as godmother, in order to gratify her and show his gratitude. They drank and feasted together. Afterwards the godmother said to her godchild’s father: ‘Gossip, you are so poor that no one but myself would be at your service in this matter; but never mind, you shall bear me in memory! I will go to the houses of various respectable people and make them ill, and you shall physic and cure them. I will tell you all the remedies. I possess them all, and everybody will be glad to recompense you well, only observe this: When I stand at anyone’s feet, you can be of assistance to every such person; but if I stand at anybody’s head, don’t attempt to aid him.’
It came to pass. The child’s father went from patient to patient, where the god-mother caused illness, and benefited every one. All at once he became a distinguished physician. A prince was dying–nay, he had breathed his last–nevertheless, they sent for the physician. He came, he began to anoint him with salves and give him his powders, and did him good. When he had restored him to health, they paid him well, without asking how much they were indebted. Again, a count was dying. They sent for the physician again. The physician came.
Death was standing behind the bed at his head. The physician cried: ‘It’s a bad case, but we’ll have a try.’ He summoned the servants, and ordered them to turn the bed round with the patient’s feet towards Death, and began to anoint him with salves and administer powders into his mouth, and did him good. The count paid him in return as much as he could carry away, without ever asking how much he was indebted; he was only too glad that he had restored him to health. When Death met the physician, she said to him: ‘Gossip, if this occurs to you again, don’t play me that trick any more. True, you have done him good, but only for a while; I must, none the less, take him off whither he is due.’ The child’s father went on in this way for some years; he was now very old. But at last he was wearied out, and asked Death herself to take him. Death was unable to take him, because he had given himself a long additional taper; she was obliged to wait till it burned out. One day he drove to a certain patient to restore him to health, and did so.
Afterwards Death revealed herself to him, and rode with him in his carriage. She began to tickle and play with him, and tap him with a green twig under the throat; he threw himself into her lap, and went off into the last sleep. Death laid him in the carriage, and took herself off. They found the physician lying dead in his carriage, and conveyed him home. The whole town and all the villages lamented: ‘That physician is much to be regretted. What a good doctor he was! He was of great assistance; there will never be his like again!’ His son remained after him, but had not the same skill.
The son went one day into church, and his godmother met him. She asked him: ‘My dear son, how are you?’ He said to her: ‘Not all alike; so long as I have what my dad saved up for me, it is well with me, but after that the Lord God knows how it will be with me.’ His godmother said: ‘Well, my son, fear nought. I am your christening mamma; I helped your father to what he had, and will give you, too, a livelihood. You shall go to a physician as a pupil, and you shall be more skilful than he, only behave nicely.’
After this she anointed him with salve over the ears, and conducted him to a physician. The physician didn’t know what manner of lady it was, and what sort of son she brought him for instruction. The lady enjoined her son to behave nicely, and requested the physician to instruct him well, and bring him into a good position. Then she took leave of him and departed. The physician and the lad went together to gather herbs, and each herb cried out to the pupil what remedial virtue it had, and the pupil gathered it. The physician also gathered herbs, but knew not, with regard to any herb, what remedial virtue it possessed. The pupil’s herbs were beneficial in every disease. The physician said to the pupil: ‘You are cleverer than I, for I diagnose no one that comes to me; but you know herbs counter to every disease. Do you know what? Let us join partnership. I will give my doctor’s diploma up to you, and will be your assistant, and am willing to be with you till death.’
The lad was successful in doctoring and curing till his taper burned out in limbo.
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scholarlyhobbit · 2 years
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Illustration for "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights," by Vyacheslav Nazaruk (1996)
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katriniac · 4 months
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OMG you are in folk fairytales and legend Please can you tell me some of the cuteer ones you found even better if involving bears ? I loved interact with your OC too thanks fir joining and pls relax too from time to time and do not rush in answering me either 🙏🙏 I wish you a wonderful day 🤗🤗😘😘
Yesssss, I love them! Since a very young age I have been an avid reader/student of folklore, fairy tales, myths, and legends. 
Below I talk more about my personal history/feelings on the topic, and end with my three favorite fairy tales. I hope they are “cute” enough for you!
But first I wanted to answer your question about stories featuring bears.
I tried to think of one in my memory where a bear played a prominent part, but turned up empty. I mean, yes, there is the standard “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, but I assumed you wanted to hear about something off the beaten path. 
So I dug around and found this one for you:
"The Bear in the Forest Hut". 
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It is a Slavic folk tale about a prince who was cursed to take the shape of a bear, and the brave and kind woman who helped him out of that curse. She had the typical misfortune to have a stupid father and an ‘evil stepmother’ who tries to stop anything good from happening to the heroine. 
I liked this one because there is plenty of detail about the trials and tests the girl goes through in order to earn the bear’s trust and break his curse. Even more unique is how the story doesn’t just end right when the curse is broken (like so many folk tales). Instead, it goes on at length about how the two get married, travel over his kingdom, and what happens to the stepmother and stepsister.
@queengiuliettafirstlady What are some of your favorite fairy tales and myths?
How did I come to love fairy tales so much?
I think I can trace it back to my godmother, who was an amazing storyteller. She was Irish, so most of the tales she told me came from the British Isles and dated back to the 12th Century or earlier. The stories I most vividly remember her telling me were about the 3rd Century charismatic (but slightly foolish) folk hero Finn MacCool (or Fionn mac Cumhaill) and his very very clever wife Sadhbh. 
As I entered my preteen years (1990s, pre-internet era) a library was built within a 15 minute drive from our rural town. I had never had such a frequent exposure to books before that, except our small school library. My mom would take me to the new public library often and I devoured every book they had on fairy tales and legends.
When I started college, the trend of turning ancient folktales into modern, dark retelling had begun to rise in popularity. Not only was my backpack full of those every week, but now I also had access to scholarly papers through our inter-collegiate online system! I could read published research on people all over the world, those who retraced Charles Perrault’s steps, or compared similar narratives, or discovered a new translation of an old work. It was also during my college years that I discovered The Aaarne-Thompson-Uther index, which categorizes the plots and themes of fairy tales. 
When I learned about Perrault and the ATU Index, it changed my self-image.
Of course kids like fairy tales, but we are expected to grow out of those stories as we mature. I still had a deep love of folklore and myths well into my 20s and that made me feel a little silly and childish. But when I discovered that Charles Perreault (a historian in the 17th Century) believed the stories being shared in the oral tradition were important enough to be written down for posterity, that boosted my spirits. And when I stumbled across the ATU Index (begun in 1910, and continues to be updated annually still to this day), which took fairy tales seriously as anthropological artifacts, I was vindicated even more. 
These historical efforts were proof that folk lore, legends, and fairy tales weren't just for children. 
This short article is a MUST-READ for anyone who wants to have their love for storytelling rekindled and get pumped up to talk about fairy tales. It’s all about hope and courage.  I especially appreciated the excerpt from Katherine Rundell when she talks about “the hope that is sharper than teeth”
As I studied more and more obscure stories from around the world, I soon had a list of my top 4 favorites that I came back to:
Katie Crackernuts
The Twelve Dancing Princesses 
Beauty and the Beast 
The Myth of the Selkie
The middle two I have owned a few printed copies of. They are quite common and have many retellings/variations. But Katie Crackernuts was a story I could only read online; I had never seen it in print. 
There are actually similarities between parts of all three stories, which is probably why I love them so much.
I know you asked for ‘cute’ ones, but I don’t know if these really are that adorable. They all have happy endings for the heroines. Does that count? LOL
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Katie Crackernuts (collected by Andrew Lange, first printed 1889)
This is a Scottish story about two sisters, one plain but clever (Katie) and one beautiful but simple (Anne). Despite this difference, they loved and supported one another as much as two sisters could. Through no fault of her own, Anne was cursed (you guessed it, by an evil stepmother) with the head of a sheep (or sometimes a donkey or goat, depending on the version) because the stepmother was jealous of her beauty. Katie put a hood over Anne to disguise her and left the house together, never to return.
They eventually came to the kingdom where there was a sick prince. His parents offered rich rewards for anyone who could heal his mysterious disease. Katie knew there had to be a reason normal medicine wasn’t working. She thought perhaps he was under a curse, too. Yep, he was going out at night in a trance to go under a hill to dance with fairies. So she watched and listened and investigated until she discovered the cure and how to administer it. Turns out the way to lift her sister’s curse was under that hill, as well!
She out-smarted the fairies, collected the items from them, and followed the instructions precisely. He grew well and discovered he loved her during all their time together while she was patiently investigating. When she used the cure on her sister, Anne’s sheep head turned back into a human one and the prince’s brother fell in love with her on the spot (of course he did). It was a lovely double-wedding. 
The Twelve Dancing Princesses (collected by the Brothers Grimm, first printed 1812)
This is about twelve sisters who are constantly tired and ruining their expensive shoes every night, and no one can find out why. The king has offered rich rewards and even marriage to the most beautiful of his daughters, but any man who steps up to the challenge either dies, fails the task, or is never seen again. Until one clever man (who has been watching this happen over and over) decides to try solving the mystery. The eldest sister (the most intelligent and haughty of the siblings) tries to stop him each time, but he outsmarts her as he follows the princesses into a fairy forest where they dance all night until their shoes fall apart and they drop from exhaustion.
Just like Katie in the story before, he is observant and waits until he has all the information and proof he needs to confront the princesses. He convinces the king, who is angry that his daughters were escaping every night. The man explains they were under a spell that compelled them to sneak out. The king offers him the most beautiful daughter (who is also the youngest and the most silly), but the man opts to marry the eldest because she was the only one who came close to matching wits.
Katie Crackernuts has much in common with The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Both have very strict rules for entering into the world of fairies, and the “wasting sickness” that comes upon a human who spends too much time in that world (which is also a metaphor for other maladies that were rampant during those centuries, such as tuberculosis). I enjoy that theme of “Good luck if you’re beautiful because your looks won’t save you. You need to be wise, patient, and clever in this world.”
Beauty and the Beast
This was one of my favorites long before Disney made their movie. Almost everyone knows how the story goes, so I won’t make this long post even longer by summarizing it here. The bravery and selflessness of the heroine was very inspiring to me, and I loved the idea of being surrounded by talking furniture and not a single human! I was a very introverted kid. And I guess I loved the idea of a sad prince in an unloveable disguise who needed to feel loved.
Another thing I think is neat about that story is there is an actual author: Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, published the story in 1740. Most folklore and fairy tales have a shared origin and no single creator. Not so for Beauty and the Beast. This one has a bonafide author, which makes it unique. Not only that, but the author was a woman! 
What Beauty and the Beast has in common with Katie Crackernuts is charity, mercy, humility, and selflessness.
The heroine not only saves herself, but she saves those who are entrusted to her. Who needs a prince, right?? Katie didn’t have to leave home to take care of her cursed sister, but she did. She didn’t have to agree to help the sick prince, but she did. Belle didn’t have to sacrifice herself in her father’s place in that unreasonable pact, but she did. She could have been disagreeable, rude, and throwing herself a pity party the entire time she was captive in the Beast’s castle, but instead she did her best to keep her spirits up and not hate her captor. (Readers: don’t come at me with the whole “Stockholm Syndrome” comment trying to be witty; it’s an old joke that was never funny in the first place.) Katie also tried hard to make the best of an awful situation, and she was never resentful to Anne or put her on a guilt trip. I was inspired by the important values and virtues portrayed by these two heroines.
The Legend of the Selkie
You asked for ‘cute’ stories, but this last one is anything but cute. The Celtic legend of the Selkie is heartbreaking, and there is hardly ever a happy ending. I heard briefly about it as a kid, but never found a published story to read. The oral tradition of the tale goes back to the 13th Century, but it didn’t make it into many books. Then the movie The Secret of Roan Inish came out in 1995. I was 15 at the time and didn’t have my driver’s license yet, so I begged a family member to bring me to the only theater in the entire state that was showing this independent film, over an hour away. It was magical. I bought the DVD as soon as it was available. It was the only thing I could find at that time (remember, the internet wasn’t really used for entertainment in 1995 like it is now) that displayed the Selkie myth, which is:
There are some special seals in the sea who can shed their seal-skin and turn themselves into human women. They are beautiful, quiet, and hard-working. And therefore they are much sought-after as wives by the lonely fishermen of the islands. The legend says that if you find a Selkie in her human form and take her seal-skin away from her, she is yours for the rest of your life. You can imagine the life of servitude that awaits the poor woman! She is usually desperate to turn the house inside out looking for her seal skin and return to the sea, or if she doesn’t find it she will murder her husband.
Fascinating!
Oof, okay. That post went on really long. Sorry. When I start to talk about fairy tales and folklore, I have a difficult time keeping it short, lol. And I didn't even get into the Greek myths! Yikes.
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skarodzitsa · 1 year
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All sorts of amber (pressed, natural, melted) and coral. Parts of folk costume set.
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deadrys · 20 days
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My personal favorite illustration from the children's picture book I wrote and illustrated: Klokić
Art by me, 2021
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dancingvile · 1 year
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The Vila and the Horse
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In a desolate field that was feared by all villagers, there flowed a mighty river. Many had tried to cross the river, but few returned alive. The villagers spoke of vile that dwelled within the waters, waiting to claim her next victims.
One day, a horse wandered into the field, seeking respite from the heat. The horse came upon the river and decided to drink from the cool waters. But as he leaned down to drink, a dark shadow emerged from the depths of the river. It was the vila.
The vila reached out with her long, slender arms and seized the horse by the reins. She tried dragging him into the water, determined to claim him as her own. The horse struggled and fought, but the vila's grip was too strong.
Just as the horse was about to succumb to the vila's grasp, he summoned all his strength and kicked his legs wildly. In doing so, he inadvertently pulled the vila out of the water with him. As soon as the vila was out of the water, she let out a blood-curdling scream and withered away into nothingness. The horse, having fulfilled his purpose, died on the banks of the river as well.
The villagers came upon the field and saw the horse and the vila lying dead beside the river. They marveled at the sight, for they knew that the horse had bravely fought for his life. They named the field "Field of the Falling Horse," and they vowed to always remember the horse's bravery and his ultimate sacrifice. From that day on, no villager dared to cross the river, for they knew what would happen if you dare to kill a vila..
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fairychamber · 2 years
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Domovoi in Slavic folklore
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wdillustration · 3 months
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Note: A little something that involve on who controlled in what month of season... "The Twelve Months"
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