Drekavac
Drekavac /drɛkaʋaʦ/ (literally "the yeller"), also called drek and drekalo is a mythical creature in south Slavic mythology. Belief in drekavac was widespread in Bosnia, western Serbia, Šumadija and in Kosovo. [1] Also belief in Drekavac and similar creatures (Bukavac) was well spread in Vojvodina and Slavonia.
Original beliefs
Drekavac comes from the soul of a dead unbaptised child[2].
The creature is not consistently described. One description is that its body is dappled, elongated and thin as a spindle, with disproportionately large head[2]; yet another is that it is some kind of bird[3]; a modern find of supposed drekavac body looked like a dog or a fox, but with hind legs similar to those of kangaroo[4]. It may also appear in the form of a child[2] and call for people passing near the cemetery to baptise it. The one feature everyone agrees about is its horrifying yell.
Some describe Drekavac as being similar to strepsirrhine Aye-aye, only more than twice as large, stronger stature and more sinister in appearance.
Drekavac could be seen at night, especially during the twelve days of Christmas (called unbaptised days in Serbian) and in early spring, in time where other demons appear most often[2]. In the form of the child it predicts someone's death, but in the form of the animal, it predicts cattle disease[2]. Drekavac rarely bothers its parents, as it is afraid of dogs[2].
Drekavac is often used as a child scare, in a similar way a bogeyman is in the West. It is probably more useful than bogeymen in rural areas, as children will surely sometimes hear a sound of some animal and attribute it to drekavac, thus becoming convinced that it really exists; which would then probably prevent them from wandering far from home. In the cities, however, belief in it has faded, and Baba Roga, which more closely resembles western bogeyman, is much more used.
Other believed attributes
 |
- Some believe that there are variant types of Drekavac (different regions having different breeds). Consistently though, its size is said to be one meter or more (on four legs), but never less. According to some stories Drekavac can live in packs, in caves and tunnels.
- Generally it is believed that Drekavac can not be killed or pass on until its soul finds its peace (or through baptism).
- In some parts of Serbia and Balkans it is believed that one must first have a dream about Drekavac to actually encounter one. Also Drekavac can strangle people while they are sleeping, if they did something bad to it in life.
- It is believed that when a Drekavac screams all night long someone from the house that heard it will die.
- Also, it is believed that if the shadow of Drekavac falls upon some person that that person will turn sick and die.
- In some places it is believed that Drekavac's cry is due to his long fur, on which it steps often, and then yells in pain.
- It is also believed that the Drekavac are afraid of light to some extent
- Drekavac likes to move in ares that are covered in fog, according to some sources.
- While the word "Drekavac" can mean "the yeller", a more correct meaning is "One that cries while yelling" taken from noun "Drečati" (commonly means baby cry). This is due to belief that Drekavac is a soul of unbaptised child.
Similar creatures
- Bukavac, recorded in Srem, a six-legged monster with gnarled horns which lives in water, coming out of it during the night making big noise, strangling people and animals[5].
- Jaud, similar to drekavac, from a vampirised premature baby[6].
- Nava
- Nekrštenac
- Plakavac, recorded in Herzegovina, is a small vampire, a newborn strangled by its mother, which will rise from its grave at night, return to its house and scream around it, but otherwise can't do any harm[7].
- Svirac
Modern sightings
Though the creature is used as a scare tactic for children, there are adults who do believe in its existence. According to the guide of a reporter of Duga magazine, numerous villagers on the mountain of Zlatibor report seeing it, and almost everyone reports hearing it[8]. In 1992, it was reported that in the Krvavicka River the villagers had found remains of an animal which didn't look like any known, and claimed that it was drekavac; it looked like a dog or fox, but with hind legs similar to those of kangaroo[4]. A more recent encounter is from 2003; in the village of Tometino Polje near Divcibare, a series of attacks on sheep took place, not unlike those which are in other parts of the world attributed to chupacabras, and some villagers have concluded that they must have been perpetrated by a drekavac. Others have concluded that it could not have been a drekavac because they have only heard the yells during the night, and the sheep were mutilated during the day[3].
In Fiction
Belief in Drekavac is sometimes described in modern fiction. An example is a short story by Branko Ćopić Brave Mita and drekavac from the pond in which superstitious fishermen hear yells in the pond they fish in and, believing that they hear a drekavac, stop fishing which leads to hunger in the village; the protagonist, a courageous boy from the village called Mita decides to investigate and captures the drekavac, which turns out to be a Great Bittern, a bird very rare for the area[9]. Drekavac is also mentioned in Ćopić's book Eagles Fly Early[10]. A more recent and much more popular example comes from the movie Pretty Village, Pretty Flame where (lack of) belief in the drekavac is present in one of the central points of the movie:
- Halil (Bosnian Muslim): "Who torched my house?"
- Milan (Bosnian Serb): "And who slaughtered my mother?"
- Halil: "I haven't slaughtered your mother."
- Milan: "And I haven't torched your house."
- Halil: "Then who did, Milan? Maybe it was drekavac from the tunnel?"
Drekavac is rarely depicted in video and roleplaying games. An exception is the Magic: The Gathering card from the Dissension set.[11]. Serbian trading card game Izvori Magije also has a drekavac card, named Drekavac iz vira (meaning "Drekavac from the whirlpool"). Here, the creature is described as: Big-headed and with long thin necks, drekavacs often jump out of whirpools to attack people who are returning home from watermills.[12]
References
- ^ Svetlana M. Tolstoy. (ed.). "Дрекавац". Словенска митологија: енциклопедијски речник (in Serbian). Belgrade: Zepter Book World. ISBN 86-7494-025-0.
- ^ a b c d e f Š. Kulišić. "Дрекавац". Српски митолошки речник (in Serbian). Belgrade: Nolit. p. 110.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Z. Šaponjić (2003-10-20). "I drekavac sumnjiv". Glas Javnosti (in Serbian).
{{cite news}}: Text "accessdate:2006-09-22" ignored (help) - ^ a b "Gimnastika na poledici".
- ^ Š. Kulišić. "Букавац". Српски митолошки речник (in Serbian). Belgrade: Nolit. p. 48.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Š. Kulišić. "Јауд". Српски митолошки речник (in Serbian). Belgrade: Nolit. p. 157.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Š. Kulišić. "Плакавац". Српски митолошки речник (in Serbian). Belgrade: Nolit. p. 236.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Ljudi i vreme".
- ^ Ćopić, Branko. "Hrabri Mita i drekavac iz rita". U svijetu medvjeda i leptirova.
{{cite book}}: External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|retrieved=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Ćopić, Branko. "I". Orlovi rano lete.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|retrieved=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Dissension Sortable Spoiler". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
- ^ "Drekavac iz vira". Izvorimagije.com. Retrieved 2007-05-01.