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# Ever heard the story of the leshy who took a fancy to a village girl and came courting her in the guise of a wealthy merchant, and her parents gave her to him as a wife?
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/slyshali-kogda-nibud-istoriiu-o-tom-kak-leshii-obliuboval-derevenskuiu-devushku-i-priekhal-k-nei-svatatsia-v-obraze-bogatogo-kuptsa-a-roditeli-i-otdali-ee-v-emu-zheny/
- Published: 2025-05-29T13:02:35.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:29:56.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Pop Culture, Ethnography

Ever heard the story of the leshy who took a fancy to a village girl and came courting her in the guise of a wealthy merchant, and her parents gave her to him as a wife? After a while the girl came back to return her cross to her father, saying that life there was good, but that she was not allowed to pray.

> A most intriguing plot from an ethnographic expedition, shared on the podcast «Gloomy Tales» by the Terminvox studio (@terminvox) by the folklorist Nadya Rychkova. Together with Mitya Lebedev, she explores the traditional culture, folklore and everyday life of our forebears. Each episode is devoted to a single tale or superstition in all its aspects, from how it lived among the people and its variants to its meaning, its folkloric kinships and its unique details.

Thus the episode on the Leshy reports that in some regions the master of the forest has not only a name but a patronymic too: Terenty Terentyevich, Leonty Leontyevich, and even Vikhr Vikhrevich («Whirlwind, son of Whirlwind»). And since every forest has its own leshy, the variants of his name (which, incidentally, he prefers not to have spoken) and of his appearance are innumerable. Often, though, foresters have neither eyebrows nor a back, so he appears with his cap pulled down to the eyes and never turns his back. The faces of these creatures, who dwell in snags, uprooted trees and ancient pines, are in any case hard to remember. They cast no shadow and leave no tracks, and they can «put a man on the circle», that is, lead him round and round the forest, which is why they are sometimes called Vodila («the Leader»). This goes on until the man swears in foul language, prays, turns his clothes inside out or asks, in the proper manner, to be let go.

The podcast has existed for a very long time; [the team is now recording its eighth season](https://clc.to/ynP%5F7g/?erid=2W5zFGRkkV6&ref=theparnassian.com)[,](https://clc.to/ynP%5F7g/?erid=2W5zFGRkkV6&ref=theparnassian.com) and I suspect that genuine lovers of the mystical and of folklore have heard of it more than once. I recommend it unreservedly to anyone who wishes to understand how fairy tales reflected the fears, beliefs and worldview of people in the past.

As for leshies, in Polesia they are held to appear on St George's Day and vanish at the Exaltation of the Cross, taking their flock with them: reptiles, snakes and sundry unclean spirits. So until 14 September, do not go wandering too much in the woods!

🪆 **You can listen to all the episodes** [on any podcast platform](https://clc.to/ynP%5F7g/?erid=2W5zFGRkkV6&ref=theparnassian.com) **or** [on the Terminvox studio's YouTube channel!](https://clc.to/brIOfg/?erid=2W5zFGRkkV6&ref=theparnassian.com)