Bestiary

Gods, demons, spirits and heroes from the books in the library, with every chapter where they appear.

Chinese

A Zi Named fox spirit
A vixen who takes the form of a pretty woman and lures a soldier into an empty tomb; foxes are said to call themselves by her name.
Boqiu Named fox spirit
A thousand-year-old fox released by Governor Chen Fei, who warns him of every danger and saves his life before ascending to Heaven.
Charm pearl Magic object
A pearl said to lie in a fox's mouth; whoever owns it is loved by everyone.
Fox bodhisattva Impostor
A recurring disguise: foxes posing as bodhisattvas and Buddhas to win worship, offerings, or a household's daughters.
Fox dragon Transformed fox
A white fox of Mount Li that mates with a female dragon, becomes a white dragon, and dies three years later.
Fox spirit Shape-shifter
In Chinese tales, a fox that gains the power to take human form with age, and bewitches, seduces or serves people.
Heavenly Fox Divine fox
A fox of a thousand years that communicates with Heaven; it can be driven away but not killed, because it serves the Celestial Bureaus. 1 tale
Hu Gangzi Fox immortal
A fox immortal of thirty thousand years who punishes a Daoist for killing one of his descendants.
Huang Jue Dog spirit
A tailless old granary dog who is secretly a god; he frees a captive fox king and later becomes an oracle for the official who spared him.
Luo Gongyuan Exorcist
A Daoist wonder-worker of Emperor Xuanzong's court who fights the fox Liu Cheng and banishes him to Silla.
Miss Ren Fox wife
The fox heroine of Shen Jiji's Story of Miss Ren (781): faithful to a poor man, defiant of a rich one, killed by a hunting dog on the road west.
Nine-tailed fox Divine beast
A red, four-footed, nine-tailed beast from the land of Qingqiu, with a voice like an infant's; eating it protects against evil vapours and gu poison.
Wang the Eighth Heavenly Fox
A fox over eight chi tall that bewitches a beauty in the house of Zhangsun Wuji and defeats the household gods.
Ye Fashan Exorcist
A Tang Daoist master whose talismans break the spells of Heavenly Foxes.

Slavic

Baba Yaga Witch
The witch of Russian tales, who whose hut turns on hen's legs, who flies in an iron mortar and guards the water of healing.
Dolya Spirit of fate
A person's own fate as a living being: she works for the lucky man and sleeps for the poor one, and can be met, fed or beaten.
Domovoy House spirit
The Russian house spirit, keeper of the hearth and of the household's welfare, who guards the master's goods.
Fever sisters Disease demons
The fevers as twelve sisters, daughters of Herod, who shake their victims; charms name each one and send them away.
Kaukai House spirits
Lithuanian house dwarfs, bearded and a palm high, for whom food was set out in the granary at night.
Kikimora House spirit
A small female house spirit of Russian belief who spins at night, tangles yarn and throttles hens.
Kolyada Winter solstice deity
The Slavic midwinter festival and its personification, greeted with carols (kolyadki), sowing of grain and the Yule log.
Kupala Midsummer deity
The personified midsummer festival of the Slavs, with its bonfires, fern flower and herb-gathering, whose figure was drowned or burned.
Lada Goddess of spring and love
The Slavic goddess of spring, dawn and love, the counterpart of Freyja and Holda; Lyalya is another form of her name.
Lauma Maiden of fate
A Lithuanian spirit who spins and weaves, tends the newborn and decrees fate, and in other tales steals children.
Likho Spirit of misfortune
Evil fortune as a one-eyed being of the Russian tales, which should not be woken while it sleeps.
Ludki Dwarfs
The little people of Lusatian legend, dwarfs whom Afanasyev counts among the souls of the dead and compares with the Roman manes.
Mokosh Goddess
A Slavic goddess named in the old church sermons among the pagan deities to whom offerings were still made.
Mora Night spirit
A night spirit that sits on the breast of a sleeping person and presses or chokes them; often the soul of a witch.
Morana Goddess of death and winter
The Slavic goddess of winter and death, whose straw figure was carried out of the village, burned or drowned in spring.
Nav' Souls of the dead
The Old Russian name for the dead and their world; the Ukrainian navky and mavky are the souls of children who died unbaptized.
Nedolya Spirit of fate
Ill fortune as a living being who clings to an unlucky person; only when she falls asleep does life grow easier.
Noon-woman Field spirit
A woman in white who appears in the fields at midday in summer and punishes those who work or wander there at the hour of noon.
Orisnitsy Maidens of fate
The Bulgarian maidens of fate, who decree the destiny of a newborn and hide in the green cornfields.
Ovsen' New Year deity
A dim mythical figure of Great Russian New Year songs, whose coming marks the turn of the year.
Perun God
The Slavic god of thunder, whose club or arrows split the storm clouds; in folk belief his place was later taken by the Prophet Elijah.
Plague Maiden Disease demon
The plague in the form of a woman, who walks through a village waving a red kerchief through windows and doors and so spreads death.
Rozhanitsy Maidens of fate
The Slavic birth goddesses who decree a child's fate at its birth, honoured with Rod at birth feasts and condemned in the old church texts.
Rusalka Water and forest spirit
A water and forest maiden of Slavic belief, often the soul of a drowned girl or unbaptized child, who tickles travellers to death.
Samovila Cloud maiden
The Bulgarian form of the vila, a winged maiden of the mountains and clouds, good or evil like the German elves.
Sreća Spirit of fate
In Serbian belief, a person's luck as a maiden spinning golden thread for the lucky, and a grey old woman asleep for the unlucky.
Sudička Maidens of fate
The Czech and Slovak maidens of fate, three women in white who come to a newborn child at night and decree its destiny.
Upyr Vampire
The Slavic vampire, a dead sorcerer or witch who rises from the grave at night to suck the blood of the living.
Usud God of fate
In a Serbian tale, the power that fixes each newborn's lot, rich and merry one day and poor the next, as its own fortune turns.
Vila Cloud maiden
A winged maiden of the South Slavs, who lives in the mountains and clouds, shoots arrows, heals with herbs, and can become a hero's sister.
Viy Demon
A demon of Ukrainian legend whose eyelids reach the ground; once they are lifted, his glance kills.
Vovkulak Werewolf
The Slavic werewolf, a sorcerer who turns himself, or a person he has bewitched, into a wolf; in the south he is also a vampire.
Yarilo God of spring and fertility
The Slavic god of spring heat and fertility, whose figure was buried at the end of his summer festival.
Zhiva Goddess
The Slavic goddess of summer and life, set against Morana, the goddess of winter and death.