concept
Lesovik (forest spirit)
the forest master/lesovik
also: леший, лесной хозяин, wood-spirit
East Slavic folk forest-spirit, described by the old peasant in Korolenko's "The Forest Rustles" as willow-faced and mistletoe-haired, mischievous but not malicious, who can be seen spinning like a white pillar over the winter forest.
Reading notes
- Poems and Dubia (school-age and disputed juvenilia) §2426 the forest master
The old peasant's folk-belief description of the lesovik (forest spirit): willow-faced, mistletoe-haired, capable of pranks but not real harm -- a benign trickster figure distinct from more overtly malevolent Slavic spirits.