Vila
Also called Vile, Vily, Samovila, Samodiva.
In South Slavic folklore, the Vila is a beautiful, shape-shifting nature spirit of forests, mountains, and waters, capable of great kindness or lethal vengeance depending on how she is treated.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Slavic folklore
- Region
- Forests (unspecified) (habitat)Mountainous Regions (unspecified) (habitat)
- Trait family
- The Justice Beasts
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Swan is The swan denotes a union of air and water, opposites, solar life, purity, poetry, fertility, and spiritual breath; heraldry uses it decoratively.
why
Vile are consistently described as skilled shape-shifters, able to take the form of a swan, a horse, a wolf, a falcon, or a whirlwind, and some tellings hold that a Vila can be captured or bound by stealing her wings, veil, or a lock of her hair while she bathes or dances, a motif shared with swan-maiden tales found elsewhere in Europe.
- Veil bears image-domain The veil denotes what conceals and thereby marks as sacred, guarding a face, a truth or a deity, and figuring appearance that hides the real.
why
Vile are consistently described as skilled shape-shifters, able to take the form of a swan, a horse, a wolf, a falcon, or a whirlwind, and some tellings hold that a Vila can be captured or bound by stealing her wings, veil, or a lock of her hair while she bathes or dances, a motif shared with swan-maiden tales found elsewhere in Europe.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Shapeshifts human animal
why
Vile are consistently described as skilled shape-shifters, able to take the form of a swan, a horse, a wolf, a falcon, or a whirlwind
Behaviour
- Captured by stealing wings veil or hair
why
some tellings hold that a Vila can be captured or bound by stealing her wings, veil, or a lock of her hair while she bathes or dances, a motif shared with swan-maiden tales found elsewhere in Europe.
- Circular night dance lures or exhausts mortals
why
mortals who stumble upon a Vila's dance are, in various tellings, invited to join, driven mad, or worn to death by being forced to dance without pause.
- Befriended becomes powerful ally
why
a Vila frequently appears as a helper-figure to heroes, offering counsel, healing wounds, or acting as a sworn "posestrima" (blood-sister) to a favored warrior.
- Retribution for trespass on dancing ground
why
Trespassing on her dancing ground, spying on her while bathing, or breaking a promise made to her are said in various tellings to bring swift retribution, from lameness and blindness to death; some accounts describe her shooting invisible arrows at those who offend her.
Offensive powers
- Archery prowess
why
Vile are also credited with archery and healing skill, guarding herbs and springs with curative properties
Utility powers
- Shapeshifting
why
Vile are consistently described as skilled shape-shifters, able to take the form of a swan, a horse, a wolf, a falcon, or a whirlwind
- Healing
why
Vile are also credited with archery and healing skill, guarding herbs and springs with curative properties
Curses
- Curse infliction
why
some accounts describe her shooting invisible arrows at those who offend her.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Anima carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Vila."
- Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology.
- Trickster carries
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Vila."
- Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology.
- Death meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Vila."
- Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology.
- Hero meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Vila."
- Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology.