CHAPTER VI
VILY
THE Greek historian Procoplus16 testifies to the ancient Slavic worship of beings similar to the Greek nymphs, and he also tells us that the Slavs offered sacrifices to them. The most common designation of these beings is "Fairy" (Vila), and they are frequently mentioned in the ancient written traditions of the Russians, the Southern Slavs, and the Czechs, although their worship flourished most among the Southern Slavs, where they were made to unite many features of other fabled beings.
The signification of the word Vila17 (Bulgarian Samovila, Samodiva) has not yet been explained in a satisfactory manner, but it seems to come from the root vel ("perish") and to be cognate with Lithuanian vė̃lės ("spirits of the deceased").
According to popular tradition the fairies are souls of the departed, and Serbian legends declare that originally they were proud maidens who incurred the curse of God. The Bulgarians believe that the Samovily are girls who have died unbaptized, and among the Slovaks there is a wide-spread story that the fairies are souls of brides who died after their betrothal, and finding no rest, are doomed to roam about at night. The Poles think that the Wili are souls of beautiful young girls who are condemned to atone for their frivolous life by floating in the air midway between sky and earth; they do good to those who have favoured them during their lifetime, but evil to those who have offended them.
A close relationship is held to exist between the fairies and the souls of the deceased, as is evidenced by the belief that
