Polish Legends, Folklore, Myths and Stories

Polish Legend : Rusalka - Polish Tree Spirit

In the folk legends of pre-Christian Poland, Slavic water spirits called Rusalka were thought to inhabit the forests and lakes of western Poland. Rusalka were thought to be the spirits of murdered girls, which seek to exist by drawing the energy of life from nearby living things. At certain times of the year Rusalkas come out of the water and sit in the branches of willlow and birch trees. Rusalka's apparently miss the human world and want to share the company of men asking them for bread, salt, onions, and sexual favours! Men who were seduced by her died in her arms. 

Similar legends of a female tree or water dwelling succubus exist all over the Slavic world; some stories say they are the spirits of brides who died on their wedding night; others that they are the souls of young women who died an unnatural or violent death and now take their revenge on any man they find near the lake or forest they inhabit.

See what a Polish Rusalka might look like here.