Poludnitsa (from: Poludnie or Poluden, 'half-day'[1] or 'midday'[2]) is a mythical character common to the various Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. She is referred to as Południca in Polish, Полудниця in Ukrainian, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian, Polednice in Czech, Poludnica in Slovak, Připołdnica in Upper Sorbian, and Полознича (Poloznicha) in Komi, Chirtel Ma in Yiddish. The plural form of this word is poludnitsy (or poludnici). Poludnitsa is a noon demon in Slavic mythology. She can be referred to in English as "Lady Midday", "Noonwraith" or "Noon Witch". She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds.[3] She assailed folk working at noon, causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck; sometimes she even caused madness.

In some accounts, she symbolizes the midday star, thereby being the sister of Zarya-Zarenitsa (the morning star; also called Utrenica), Vechorka (the evening star; also called Wieczornica/Vechernitsa) and Kupalnitsa (the night star; also called Nocnica/Nochnitsa); Poludnitsa is the second youngest among the sisters, with Zarya-Zarenitsa being the youngest and Kupalnitsa being the oldest.[4]

Legend

Poludnitsa, who makes herself evident in the middle of hot summer days, takes the form of whirling dust clouds and carries a scythe, sickle or shears; most likely the shears would be of an older style, not akin to modern scissors. She will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them with illness. She may appear as an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a 12-year-old girl, and she was useful in scaring children away from valuable crops. She is only seen on the hottest part of the day and is a personification of a sun-stroke.[5]

Slavonic spirits and deities remained a popular element of rural Polish folklore at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, as shown by Władysław Reymont in his Nobel Prize-winning novel Chłopi (The Peasants). Its story takes place during the 1880s in Congress Poland and follows the everyday life of the peasantry in a Polish village of the period. In the tenth chapter of book two, some of the characters gather together to exchange stories and legends, in one of which the Południca is mentioned twice alongside other traditionally Slavic beings.[8]



According to some northern Russian regions, Poludnitsa has a giant frying pan in her hands, with which she either blocks the rye from the scorching sun's rays, or burns the rye along with the herbs during the flowering period.[6] She may also appear at midnight and show a person how to find a flower that can make them invisible. Poludnitsa, according to beliefs, loves to dance. If she sees a girl lying down to rest in the field, she will wake her up and begin to persuade her to dance. If the girl agrees, she will be forced to dance until the «evening dawn». Poludnitsa cannot be beaten in dancing; however, if such a girl is found, the noon spirit will present her with a rich dowry.[7]

Slavonic spirits and deities remained a popular element of rural Polish folklore at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, as shown by Władysław Reymont in his Nobel Prize-winning novel Chłopi (The Peasants). Its story takes place during the 1880s in Congress Poland and follows the everyday life of the peasantry in a Polish village of the period. In the tenth chapter of book two, some of the characters gather together to exchange stories and legends, in one of which the południca is mentioned twice alongside other traditionally Slavic beings.[8]

Other mythology

In Wendish mythology, Přezpołdnica (in Lower Sorbian, Připołdnica in Upper Sorbian) is known as Mittagsfrau ("Lady Midday") among German speakers of Eastern Germany's Lusatia (Sorbian Łužica, German Lausitz) and in the now only German-speaking parts of what used to be the larger region of Old Lusatia. Farther north and west in formerly predominantly Slavic-speaking areas of Germany, especially in the state of Brandenburg (Low Saxon Branneborg, Sorbian Braniborska), a related mythological spirit appears to be the Roggenmuhme ("lady of the rye") that makes children disappear when they search for flowers in among the tall grain plants on hot summer days. In the Altmark, it is the Regenmöhme "with her heat" that will abduct ill-behaved children, and in the formerly Polabian-speaking heath region around Lunenburg (German Lüneburg) in Lower Saxony, the Low Saxon (Low German) name of this bugbear is Kornwief (formerly spelled Kornwyf, meaning «woman of the corn» or «lady of the grain plants»).

In the vicinity of Prudnik in Upper Silesia, people believed in the Cornflower Wraith (Polish Chabernica), a demon similar to Lady Midday. She was usually pictured as a young slim woman dressed in azure with cornflowers in her hair, that roamed field bounds during midday.[9] She was angered by people who trampled the grain or used sharp tools. Those, who she thought deserved punishment, were put to sleep with her whisper, after which she caused them headache, paralysis or low back pain. Sometimes she attacked her victims by breaking their arms, legs or neck. To avoid the wrath of the Cornflower Wraith, a worker had to take a break from work during the midday of Angelus.[10]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Ralston, William Ralston Shedden. The songs of the Russian people, as illustrative of Slavonic mythology and Russian social life. London: Ellis & Green. 1872. p. 147.
  2. ↑ Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 227. ISBN 9781576070635.
  3. ↑ Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
  4. ↑ "Полудница" [Poludnitsa]. slavmif.info (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  5. ↑ Manfred Lurker (2004), The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-34018-2
  6. ↑ "Полуденница" [Poludenitsa]. Bestiary.us (in Russian).
  7. ↑ Shaparova Natalya Sergeevna (2001). Краткая энциклопедия славянской мифологии [Short encyclopedia of Slavic mythology] (in Russian). ACT. ISBN 9785170094691.
  8. ↑ Reymont, Władysław (1904). "Book II: Chapter 10". Chłopi. Warszawa: Gebethner i Wolff. Cichość ogarnęła izbę, że jeno wrzeciona warkotały, a czasem ogień trzasnął na kominie albo czyjeś westchnienie zaszemrało - a Rocho powiadał cudeńka różne i historie o królach, o wojnach srogich, o górach, gdzie śpi wojsko zaklęte, czekając jego zatrąbienia, by się zbudzić i paść na nieprzyjacioły, i pobić, i ziemię ze złego oczyścić; o zamkach wielgachnych, gdzie złote izby, gdzie królewny zaklęte w białych gzłach w księżycowe noce lamentują i wybawiciela czekają, gdzie w pustych pokojach co noc brzmi muzyka, zabawy idą, ludzie się schodzą, a niech kur zapieje, wszystko zapada i w groby się kładzie; o krajach, gdzie ludzie kiej drzewa, gdzie mocarze, co górami rzucają, gdzie skarby nieprzebrane, przez smoki one piekielne strzeżone, gdzie ptaki-żary, gdzie Madeje, gdzie kije samobije, a one Lele-Polele, a one południce, upiory, strachy, czary, dziwności ! - a drugie jeszcze, insze a cudne i wprost nie do wiary, że wrzeciona z rąk leciały, a dusze się niesły w zaczarowane światy, oczy gorzały, łzy ciekły z nieopowiedzianej lubości i serca dziw nie wyskoczyły z piersi z utęsknienia i podziwu. [...] Jedna co rzekła, po tej druga, to i trzeciej się przypomniało, i czwartej, a każda co nowego niesła, że snuły się one gadki jako te nici z kądzieli, jako ta miesięczna poświata, grająca farbami na poślepłych, pomarłych wodach, przytajonych w borach - to o topielicy przychodzącej nocami karmić głodne dzieciątko, o upiorach, którym musiano w trumnach serca przebijać osikowymi kołkami, by z ludzi krwi nie wypijały, o południcach duszących po miedzach, o drzewach gadających, o wilkołakach, o zjawach strasznych północnych godzin, strachach, wisielcach, o czarownicach i pokutujących duszach, i o takich dziwnych, przerażających rzeczach, od których słuchania włosy się podnosiły, serca zamierały z trwogi, zimny dreszcz przenikał wszystkich, że milkli naraz oglądając się trwożnie, nasłuchując, bo się wydawało, iż coś chodzi po pułapie, że cosik czai się za oknami, że przez szyby krwawią się jakieś ślepia i w ciemnych kątach kłębią się nierozpoznane cienie... aż niejedna żegnała się prędko, pacierz trzepiąc w cichości dzwoniącymi zębami... ale to rychło przechodziło jak cień, gdy chmurka słońce nakryje, że potem nie wiada nawet, czy był... i znowu powiadali, przędli a motali dalej one gadki nieskończone, którym sam Rocho pilnie się przysłuchiwał i nową historię rzekł o koniu...
  9. ↑ Podgórski, Barbara; Podgórska, Adam (2005). Wielka Księga Demonów Polskich. Leksykon i antologia demonologii ludowej. Katowice: Wydawnictwo KOS. p. 71. ISBN 83-89375-40-0.
  10. ↑ Zych, Paweł; Vargas, Witold (2018). Bestiariusz słowiański. Część pierwsza i druga. Bosz. ISBN 978-83-757-6367-6.
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