Mythical creature in South Slavic mythology
Drekavac, (literally "the screamer" or "the screecher"[1]), also calleddrekalo,krekavac,zdrekavac orzrikavac, is a mythical creature inSouth Slavicmythology. The name is derived from the verb "drečati" ("to screech").
In South Slavic mythology and folk tales this creature has been variously described:
- In some folk tales it is depicted as an undead man who emerges from his grave by night to haunt the living.[2]
- In others therevenant is portrayed as unbaptised child which rises from its grave at night to haunt its parents and can also sometimes be heard entreating people passing cemeteries to baptise it and thus end its misery.[2]
- InEastern Serbia it has been depicted in the form of a humanoid canine creature that walks on its back legs.
- In the vicinity ofMaglaj it has been depicted in the form of ghosts of soldiers that wander around during night time, scaring people.[2]
- In the vicinity ofKozarska Dubica it has been depicted as a vampire-like undead man that rises out of the grave during night time, and wanders around scaring people.[2]
- In the vicinity ofArilje it has been depicted in form of a long-necked long-legged creature with a cat-like head.[2]
- InSredačka župa it has been depicted in the form of a one-legged humanoid creature with glowing eyes that wanders around during night time and scares people.[2]
- In the vicinity ofPrijepolje,Lešak and Dragačevo it has been depicted as an apparition that can be seen in form of a dappled foal, dog, cat, or bird.[2]
- In the vicinity ofGruža it has been depicted in the form of a creature having a dappled, elongated andspindle-thin body with a disproportionately large head. This creature can't fly and it is believed to be the soul of a dead child.[2]
A modern description of a supposed drekavac describes it as a canine creature similar to adog[3] or some kind of bird.[4]
The drekavac was originally thought to have come from thesouls of sinful men, or from children who diedunbaptised.[2]
It was popularly believed to be visible only at night, especially during thetwelve days of Christmas (calledunbaptised days inSerbo-Croatian) and in earlyspring, when other demons and mythical creatures were believed to be more active.[2] When assuming the form of a child, it predicts someone'sdeath, while in its animal form, it predicts cattle disease.[2] The drekavac is believed to avoid dogs and bright light.[2] Also, it is believed that if the shadow of drekavac falls upon some person then that person will turn sick and die.[2]
Although the creature is mostly used incautionary tales for children, there are also some adults who still believe in its existence. According to the guide of a reporter ofDuga magazine, numerous villagers on the mountain ofZlatibor report seeing it, and many inhabitants claim to have heard it.[5]
Some modern sightings happened:
- In 1992, it was reported that in theKrvavica, the villagers found remains of an animal unlike any known from the area, and claimed it was a drekavac. It was described as looking like a dog, but with a "snake-like" head and hind legs "similar" to those of akangaroo.[3] Later, it was revealed to be just a rotten carcass of a fox;
- In 2003, in the village ofTometino Polje nearDivcibare, a series of attacks onsheep occurred, with some villagers concluding that they had been perpetrated by a drekavac. Other villagers disagreed, seeing as the attacks took place in the daytime, as opposed to night, when the drekavac is supposedly more active.[4]
Appearances and references in fiction
[edit]- Drekavac is mentioned in a short story byBranko Ćopić, "Brave Mita and drekavac from the pond" (Cyrillic: "Храбри Мита и дрекавац из рита") in which a group ofsuperstitiousfishermen stop fishing because they hear mysterious yells in the pond, where they were usually fishing, and start believing that they hear a drekavac, which leads to hunger in the village. Theprotagonist of the story, a courageous village boy named Mita, investigates this mystery and captures the "drekavac", which turns out to be agreat bittern, a bird very rare for the area.[6]
- Drekavac is also mentioned in Ćopić's bookEagles Fly Early.[7]
- Drekavac is a character inLarry Correia's novelMonster Hunter Bloodlines.[8]
- In theMagic: The Gathering has a card of drekavac from theDissension set.[9]
- InEVE Online, the Drekavac battlecruiser is a class of spaceship, flown by the Triglavian Collective.
- The Serbiantrading card gameIzvori Magije has numerous cards of drekavac type creatures, one of them namedDrekavac iz vira (meaning "Drekavac from the whirlpool"). This creature is described as: "Big-headed and with long thin necks, drekavac often jump out of whirlpools to attack people who are returning home from watermills."[10]
- InDmC: Devil May Cry, a demon named Drekavac appears as a recurrent enemy. It is not named as such until player's final encounter with it. Rather than claws, it possesses long thin swords.
Similar mythical creatures
[edit]- Bukavac – recorded inSyrmia, a six-legged monster with gnarledhorns, slimy skin and long tail, that lives in water (rivers, swamps and creeks) and comes out of it during the night. It is known that it makes loud noises, and it will try to strangle people and animals that it encounters;[11]
- Jaud (pronounced[jaud]) – a vampirisedpremature baby;[12]
- Myling – from Scandinavian folklore, a phantasmal incarnations of the souls of unbaptized children that had been forced to roam the earth;
- Nav – the soul of dead child that died before its third age;
- Plakavac – recorded inHerzegovina, is a newborn strangled by its mother, which will rise from its grave at night as small vampire-like creature, return to its house and scream around it, but otherwise can't do any harm;[13]
- Poroniec – a hostile and malicious demon from Slavic mythology. They were believed to come into existence from stillborn fetuses, but also from improperly buried remains of children who had died during infancy.
