Swamps. Forested wetlands, home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, decaying matter, and the unknown. Areas that are uninhabitable and unusable for humans, unless you are willing to undertake a lot of work to make them so. In Eastern Slavic tradition, the swamp is seen as an unknown, unsafe place, populated with unclean spirits and devils. And today, we are going to get to know a few of them.
These spirits are said to be more active at night, so plan to make your trip after dark. But be careful! Don’t be fooled by pleasing scents, odd lights, or strange noises. And whatever you do, don’t venture too close to the water’s edge. Or you might not live long enough to regret it…
Bolotnik
The Bolotnik (болотник) is a male swamp spirit. He is found in the swamplands of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. He is known by a wide variety of names, other than the common “Bolotnik”. In Russia he may be called bolotnii болотный (swampy), bolotnii dedko болотный дедко (old man of the swamp), shut bolotnii шут болотный (swamp jester), bolotnii chert болотный черт (swamp devil), bolotnii leshii болотный леший (swamp leshii), tsar bolotnii царь болотный (swamp tsar, ruler of the swamp), boloto болото (swamp), antsibal/antsibul/antsibalka/amtsibalit/anchibal/anchibol/ocheretyanik анцибал/анцибул/анцибалка/анцибалит/анчибал/анчибол/очеретяник. In Ukrainian, he is bolotyanik Болотяник. In Belarus, balotnik балотнiк. In Poland, błotnik.
The Bolotnik has been described in a few different ways. Some say that he looks like an old man covered in dirt and algae, with frog-like eyes, long hair, a long green beard, and fish scales on his body. Others say that he is very fat and dirty, with no eyes, and he sits at the bottom of the swamp. Other tales say that he has very long arms, and a twisted or curly tail. Most of the time it is said that the Bolotnik has no wife or children, he is a confirmed old bachelor! In Northern Russia, though, he may have a wife, the Bolotnitsa, who we will be visiting shortly.
The Bolotnik’s favorite pastime is trying to lure humans or animals into his swamp. To do this, he causes wonderful-smelling flowers and stupefying herbs, like rosemary, to grow near his swamp. He will also make noises, imitating a duck quacking, a cow mooing, a black cock gurgling, or even a human screaming. Sometimes he makes swamp lights appear. Anything to attract attention and arouse curiosity. If anyone makes the poor judgement to move closer to the edge, or, even worse, step into the quagmire to investigate, the Bolotnik will grab them by their feet in his iron grip, and slowly, slowly drag them under.
According to some folk legends, the Bolotnik was a fallen angel, cast out of heaven by God. In others, he is the creation of Satan. These stories have much in common with other stories throughout Europe regarding the origins of demons, and also the origins of the fae and other nature spirits. There are two main differences between the Bolotnik and other unclean spirits, however. Unlike the others, the Bolotnik cannot take on a form other than his own. And, he is not afraid of thunderbolts, as they lose their power when they hit the water, and cannot harm him.
That said, the Bolotnik is not immortal. He can be killed if his swamp is drained (usually this was done by farmers so that they could work the land). He can also die if his swamp freezes over in the winter.
Certain regions are home to some very specific beliefs about the Bolotnik. For example, in Cherepovets County, Novgorod Province (Russia), it was believed that you shouldn’t transport logs that were to be used for building a house through a swamp. If you do, the Bolotnik will spoil them. If you persist in building with them anyways, many misfortunes will befall that house.
It is sometimes said that the Bolotnik lives in a large stone house at the bottom of the swamp. In the Voronezh Province of Ukraine, and the Gomel Region of Belarus, it is said that he will invite people who are passing by into his house. He takes them into a beautiful room where there is lovely music playing, they dine and dance together, and he gives them gifts. It all seems to happen as if in a dream. But, when they come back to their senses, instead of a beautiful room, they find themselves sitting in a bog, and instead of wonderful gifts, they have garbage. It was all an illusion of the Bolotnik.
In Belarus they say that there are three varieties of the Bolotnik. The first is called orzhavinik оржавиник. He is named after the orzhavin’ оржавинь in which he lives, a swamp with rusty red patches on the surface of the water, caused by the presence of dissolved iron ore. He is the oldest of the three, and is said to have thin legs, and a fat belly. He is covered with dirty red hair. The second type is the bagnik багник, who lives in the bagno багно, or peat bogs, where no vegetation grows. He is younger than the orzhavinik, and is described as a dirty, motionless, sullen creature who lives alone at the bottom of the peat bog. He likes to grab at the legs of those who pass by, trying to pull them under. You can tell he’s present in a peat bog by the tiny bubbles that appear on the surface of the water, and by the lights that sometimes appear above it. The youngest of the three is simply called Bolotnik. He lives in regular swamps. I could not find any special descriptions of him.
In Poland the Bolotnik is known as błotnik. Although he can be similar to the Bolotnik from other regions, he is also associated with a particularly well-known devil from Polish folklore called Baruta. Baruta is from the town of Łęczyca, and was considered a nobleman. He spends his time corrupting other nobleman. How he came to be identified with a swamp spirit, I really cannot say. Perhaps Łęczyca is situated in a swampy region, as some scholars say that the name is derived from the Old Polish word łęg, which means “swampy plain”.
Bolotnitsa
Now we journey to Northern Russia to meet the Tsaritsa of the Swamp and Tundra, otherwise known as the Bolotnitsa болотница. She is sometimes also called balotnaya baba балотная баба, the old lady of the swamp.
In some legends she was indeed described as an old hag who lives in the swamp. In others, however, she was described as a young and beautiful girl with long hair and pale white skin. Instead of normal legs and feet, she had the legs and feet of a goose. To hide this, she likes to sit on a giant water lily, with her legs bent beneath her.
As I mentioned previously, the Bolotnitsa is sometimes said to be the wife of the Bolotnik. But, she can live just as easily in a swamp where no Bolotnik is present. Some stories say that she is a rusalka, or the sister of a rusalka. This isn’t so surprising, considering that, in certain regions, it was common to bury the body of someone who had committed suicide into the swamp, and a rusalka could be the spirit of a young woman who committed suicide (although they weren’t always). Either way, in Northern Russia it was believed that a girl who died in a swamp, or who was carried away by an unclean spirit, could turn into a Bolotnitsa afterwards.
The Bolotnitsa likes to spend her time sitting on the water lily, singing. However, if a human approaches, she will cry out pitifully for help and act like she is drowning. If the human (usually a man) is charmed by her beauty, and taken in by her cries, he will be moved to help her. When he is close enough, she will pounce on him, and slowly drag him beneath the water to meet his doom.
In addition to singing and luring men to their watery graves, the Bolotnitsa was also said to be able to cause storms, rain and hail.
Swamp Kikimora
Last, but certainly not least, we will visit the kikimora bolotnaya Кикимора болотная, the swamp kikimora. Please note that she is similar to, but not the same as the regular Kikimora, who is a domestic spirit. I will be writing about the House Kikimora in a future post, but today we are only concerned with the Swamp Kikimora.
The Swamp Kikimora is generally described as being very short, approximately 80cm tall (a little over 31 inches). She looks like a very thin, ugly old woman, with long, disheveled shaggy black or gray hair. She may be hunchbacked, and have a long hooked nose, webbed fingers, and a slightly greenish tinge to her pale skin. Sometimes she is toothless or has warts. Sounds lovely, doesn’t she? To complete the look, she wraps herself up in moss as if it were a fur coat, and weaves forest plants and grasses in her hair instead of ribbons. This is the height of Swamp Kikimora fashion!
Unfortunately for you, the Swamp Kikimora is rarely seen by humans, at least in that form, as she can become invisible, and this is how she usually travels. She can also take the form of a frog, a toad, a goose, or a black cat. So, even if you do see her, you may not recognize her.
It was believed that a young girl, usually under seven years of age, who drowned in a swamp (accidentally or otherwise) could become a Swamp Kikimora. A child who dies, or is killed, before being baptized could also turn into one.
Although she loves the swamp best, you can also find the Swamp Kikimora wandering around forests, lakes and rivers. Sometimes she is married to the leshii, but many remain single. She likes to have a proper house, and will build huts out of reeds and other marsh plants.
She does have a few things in common with her domestic sister. Both can see at great distances, run very fast, cause nightmares, and become invisible. However, only the Swamp Kikimora can cause swamp lights, or make intoxicating plants grow on the surface of the swamp, to lure travelers astray.
The Swamp Kikimora likes to keep busy, and has found many ways of amusing herself. She scares those passing by with terrible sounds, and likes to knock people down so that they fall off the path they were taking. Sometimes she drowns people. She imitates animals, such as ducks quacking, to lure hunters into thickets. She can cause an unnatural darkness to descend over an area, causing people to get lost. She particularly seems to enjoy watching them wander around aimlessly. As you can see, she loves to play tricks on people.
A Swamp Kikimora from the 2017 animated film The Three Heroes and the King of the Sea (три богатыря и морской царь).
Sometimes, though, that just isn’t enough to occupy her time. Particularly at night, when there are fewer people wandering about to entertain her, the Swamp Kikimora can get bored and lonely. When this happens, she might just come to your house for a little visit. You can tell she’s been there by the trail of wet footprints she’ll leave behind in your house. If she sat down anywhere, there will be a wet spot there too. Generally, these nighttime visits are pretty harmless, but, if you have a newborn baby in the house, watch out! She may steal the baby and take it to the swamp with her. There she will drown it, turning it into a Kikimora too. In place of the baby, she’ll leave an enchanted log in the cradle. Not a very good exchange, if you ask me.
So, what can you do to protect your home and baby from the Swamp Kikimora? Luckily, there are a few things that can scare her off. Like many fairies, she doesn’t like iron, especially cast iron. She can also be repelled by silver, fire, holy symbols (like a cross or an icon, for example), and by the crowing of roosters.
Although the Kikimora is generally considered to be an evil spirit, this is not always the case. One story, recorded in Checher District of the Gomel Region in Belarus, claims that the Kikimora is not evil, but more of an avenging spirit. Apparently, a woman was collecting cranberries in a swamp far from the village. She was stepping on some sort of lumps (maybe stones, or vegetation, the text is not clear), and her basket was nearly full. But one of the lumps looked like a head. As soon as the woman noticed this, she began to be pulled under the swamp. She screamed, and attracted the attention of a man nearby in the woods. He ran over to see what was the matter, but it was too late. The woman was gone, only her basket of cranberries remained. Later it was found that this woman had had a child out of wedlock, which was considered sinful and shameful at the time. The woman had killed her baby, hoping that no one would know what she had done. She threw the baby’s body into the river, and the Kikimora knew of it. So, they say that the Kikimora killed this women to avenge the baby’s death.
Swamp Lights
Before we leave the swamp to return the they relative safety of our homes, I’d just like to point out one more thing: the bolotniye ogni болотные огни. Swamp Lights.
Swamp lights are often called will-o’-the-wisp or ignis fatuus (Medieval Latin for “fool’s fire”) in the West. They are tiny lights that float above the swamp. In Russian folklore, they can be seen in swamps, cemeteries and forests, and can indicate the presence of the dead, or an otherworldly spirit. They are usually described as a cold blue flickering light.
In some regions, these lights were said to be the souls of righteous people who accidentally drowned in the swamp. Alternatively, in the Kostroma region, they were believed to be the souls of the dead who would “get you” if you followed them.
In certain areas, these lights were said to indicate the presence of treasure. In this case, they were called ogonyok огонёк (spark, twinkling light), or svechka свечка (little candle). Sometimes these lights indicated that the treasure was free for you to take, and they were considered very lucky. But other times, they were said to indicate that a devil or an unclean spirit was guarding the treasure, and something awful would happen to you if you tried to take it.
Of course, scientists have tried to write these swamp lights off as a completely natural phenomenon, photon emissions caused by the gases produced by organic matter decaying in the swamp. But, after meeting the Bolotnik and the Swamp Kikimora, we know better now, don’t we? 😉
Lukomorye 
Excellent article on “Swamp Things” ❤️🌿🍂🌾 Looking forward to the next post. Love the pics.😻💐🦌
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Thank you! 😊💚✨
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