Witches, Wise People, and Werewolves


Witches, Wise People and Werewolves 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

1 

ARTICLES 

Witches, Wise People, and Werewolves: Traditional Supernatural Powers 
and Popular Attitudes Toward Their Bearers Among Carpatho-Rusyns in 

Ukraine 

Elena Boudovskaia 
Georgetown University 

Washington, USA 

Abstract 

This article explores the attitudes of the inhabitants of one village in the 
Zakarpats’ka Oblast’ of Ukraine towards the bearers of supernatural powers. On 
the basis of my own fieldwork, I describe several supernatural powers known to 
people in the village: milk-stealing, performed by women; self-protection against 
attacks; and turning husbands into wolves. Attitudes are shaped by one core value: 
fairness; the villagers strongly resent unfair usage of supernatural powers against 
those who cannot protect themselves. However, story characters who use such 
powers responsibly in self-defense and restore the status quo to punish aggressors 
are exonerated from blame by story-tellers and their audiences. In daily life, 
people do not like to be associated with supernatural forces for fear of being 
accused of using them unfairly. 

Introduction 

While folklore is a window into the worldview of a culture, analysis depends 
on the nature of the collected text. For example, texts published in collections of 
Carpatho-Rusyn tales often represent the literary standards of the collector rather 
than the actual performance, which would include the reactions of performers and 
listeners. (1) Capturing these elements allows one to understand much more about 
the culture, its attitudes and values. (2) This paper attempts to describe the 
attitudes and values of Carpatho-Rusyn village culture conveyed in performances 
of stories about people with supernatural powers. 

Rusyns, or Carpatho-Rusyns, are a recognized minority in Slovakia, Serbia, 
and some other countries of Eastern Europe; in Ukraine their status is dubious. 
Their language belongs to the East Slavic group (3), and a number of regional 
varieties exist. (4) The recordings that form the basis of this article were made in 
in the village of Novoselycja, Zakarpattja region, Mižhir’ja district, Ukraine. 
Some were recorded in 1987 and others between 2011-2016. Most stories and 
motifs that I have recorded are known in the Carpathian area and elsewhere. (5) I 
recorded not only stories, but entire sessions and, therefore, I have a vast 
collection of performers’ and listeners’ comments on texts and character 
behaviors. Analyzing this material is similar to reading the comments section of 
a newspaper article published online; a comment and its replies resemble a 



 

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conversation, and the attitudes of the community members are revealed. Of 
course, attitudes strongly depend on individual people’s personalities; 
nevertheless, certain patterns can be found. 

The attitudes of people encountering supernatural forces reveal a great deal 
about their understanding of themselves and the world. Stories about people with 
supernatural powers center on the idea of fairness; magical properties serve to 
punish and prevent unfair use of power by other members of the social group (6), 
while the unfair usage of magic to the disadvantage of non-magical people is 
controlled by gossip. If an offense happens, the ideal outcome is for offenders, 
threatened by magic on the one hand and guided by the society on the other, and 
given an opportunity to repair the damage done, cede their unfair gains and 
apologize to victims. This is the ultimate goal for dealing with both non-magical 
and magical offense as expressed in these stories. Interestingly, that goal, known 
also to other cultures without a state-supported justice system, has recently been 
introduced as an alternative to Western criminal justice system under the name of 
“restorative justice” (see below for discussion). 

Types of characters: Witches and milk 

Below is the text of a story told in 2012 by a man in his late 80s. I also heard 
it from several other people in the village. The story is about one of the most 
common types of supernatural activities: stealing milk from other people’s cows 
by using magic. The speaker told two such stories without pausing; I chose to 
present only one of them in the interest of space. 

1. Girl milking a rope (7) 
 
2-
07 

| дру́га бы́ла при́чта | бы́в 
чôлôві́к ві́н уже́ уме́р давно́ і 
сêмья́ його́ поумира́ла | чôлôві́к 
бы́в | сам | но тай сêмья́ у но́го 
бы́ла яка́сь | тре́ба бы́ло 
слу́жниці допомо́гы | 
 

There was another incident. There 
was a man, he died already a long 
time ago, and his family died since. 
He was there, and he had a family, so 
he needed a female servant,  

02-
08 

обы гна́ла коро́вы па́сти ци 
шчốсь обы жôні́ помочи́ | і 
пішốв ная́в сôбі́ дếсь туды́ в 
за́вицьці ци в ті́тківци ци у 
при́слôпі ді́вочку | віддани́чку | 
помага́ти за слу́жницю су́хыр | 
... | | тай прийшốв тай привью́в 
| пішла́ тота́ дойи́ти коро́вы 
уже́ 

so that she could herd his cows or 
help his wife. And he went and hired 
himself somewhere in Zavydka or 
Titkovec’ or in Pryslip, a girl of a 
marriageable age, to help as a 
servant. Suxŷr was his name. [...] So 
he brought her home. She went to 
milk cows, 



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02-
09 

не бде́ йти́ хôзя́йка дойи́ти 
кôрốв[у] бо є́ ́слу́жниця ді́вочка 
така́ пітхôдя́шча шчо за 
коро́вы зна́є дойи́ти тай до́бре 
знає дойи́ти пішла́ дойи́ти 
коро́вы | айбо она́ надойи́ла 
бі́льше | тоты́ коро́вы ни́ґда 
ті́лько молока́ не дава́ли гі она́ 
роздойи́ла | йốй гốй | чу́дуют ся 
шчо́ то́то хôзяі́н уже́ і тота́ 
хôзя́йка шчо́ то тако́є мо́же 
бы́ти чôму́ тото́…мы́ не 
додо́йовали коро́вы ци шчо́ | ге 
| ка́жут ї я́к тото́ ка́жут ты́ 
бі́льше молока́ надойи́ла гі я́ 
надо́йовала | пішла́ тота́ 
дойи́ти | уже́ не слу́жниця ай 
пішла́ сама́ хôзя́йка дойи́ти | 
та де́ | тото́ молоко́ шчо і 
бы́ло у нêї́ | того́ ниє́ ́шчо ді́вка 
заноси́ла | на́чали сьліткова́ти 
за тốв | ді́вкôв | як пішла́ 
коро́вы дойи́ти | захốдят са́мо 
тако́ | кра́цьці диви́т | а она́ 
са́мо ож мôтузо́к через 
ґеренду́ пове́рла в ста́йни тай 
пітста́вила відро́ тай | до́йит | 
молоко́ тече́ |  

The wife won’t milk cows already if 
there is a servant, a good girl that 
knows how to milk cows. But she 
[the girl] got more milk, the cows 
never gave so much milk as she got 
from them. The man and his wife are 
surprised, how could it be, maybe we 
did not milk cows well enough, or 
what. Well, they tell her, how come 
you got more milk than I used to get? 
She went to milk the cows, already 
not this servant girl, but the wife - 
there is again only the amount of 
milk that she used to get, and that is 
less than the girl got. So, they started 
to watch after the girl. When she 
went to milk cows, they come to the 
shed, secretly, and they see - she 
threw a rope over the main beam and 
put a bucket under it, and milks the 
rope! And the milk flows!  

02-
10 

зане́сла до хы́жи но небо́го | 
льльи го ка́же ци свиня́м ци 
быко́ви | і забира́й ся та йди́ 
сôбі ́дôмці́ з бо́гом | мêні́ такы́х 
слу́жниць не тре́ба | обы́ 
мôтузо́к шчо молоко́ з ньо́го 
тече́ |  

She brought it into the house, and 
[he] says - hey, pour it to the pigs or 
to the bull, and go home, I don’t need 
a servant like you that milks a rope. 

 
Milk from one’s own cow has long been a major food staple in the Rusyn 

culture. If a cow starts giving less milk, or the milk contains less fat than before, 
people often blame a witch who is stealing milk by magic. It is clear for any bearer 
of the village culture that milk (magically) flowing from a rope does not come 
from nowhere; it must come from someone else’s cow. Stories like this one are 
very common; they are a large part of many storytellers’ repertoires, including 



 

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this storyteller who told two of them in sequence. Stealing milk is the main harm 
brought about by a witch, bosorkan’a, a female carrier of supernatural powers. 
Stealing milk by magic is always considered bad, because it robs someone else of 
sustenance and dooms them to poverty and hunger while the witch profits. In and 
of itself, this practice goes against the grain of the peasant “subsistence ethic” 
[Scott 1976], which considers it moral to ensure the right to enough food for 
survival to all members of the community. This community share is ensured 
through an elaborate network of technical and social arrangements. 

Stealing food is a grievous offense in village life. Furthermore, depriving 
people of subsistence by magic is especially unfair, because people without magic 
abilities cannot protect themselves. In this story, the head of the household 
displays a common attitude towards magical milk stealing: he could have 
benefitted from getting more milk from his cow, but he does not want to associate 
with a wielder of these forces. Indignation and disgust are common attitudes 
shared by everybody in the village who mentioned milk stealing. The only thing 
people can say in favor of a person accused of milk stealing is “maybe it is 
someone else, not her.” On the contrary, expressions of negative attitudes are 
widespread and various. When a victim goes for help to a wise person (see below) 
to discover who the witch was, the wise person can offer the victim choices: 
damage to or even the death of the witch, harm to the witch’s cattle, or simply 
identification of the witch. The gravity of the options are a clear indication of how 
people feel towards a person who steals their milk. My interlocutors reported that 
they chose to identify the witch, but not everybody might be so generous. 

The identity of a witch may be discovered unintentionally. For example, 
villagers might maim a toad or a dog who had strayed into their cowshed. The 
next day when a woman is found dead or with similar injuries, people might then 
believe that she was actually a witch. I heard many such stories in Novoselycja 
(they are generally common in the East Slavic tradition and elsewhere), and 
neither story-tellers nor listeners have ever shown sympathy for the injured 
woman. If they commented at all, they would state that she got her just desserts. 

Witches’ magic abilities are also said to interfere with the normal transition 
from life to death. Women who steal milk are reported not to be able to die until 
they transfer their powers to someone else. When they finally die, they cannot 
take the stolen milk with them, so that it pours out of their eyes, nose, and ears. 
When the transition to the other world finally happens, witches receive 
punishment there. In one story I collected in Novoselycja in 2012, told by a female 
teller in her 70s, a woman has been asked by her daughter why she has a lot of 
butter, but the daughter has little. The woman throws a piece of her butter in a 
river, where frogs and snakes consume it. The mother tells the daughter devils in 
hell will tear apart her soul in the same way, because she gets her butter through 
witchcraft. The woman could have taught her daughter to magically increase the 
fat content of her cows’ milk too, but she chose not to, protecting her daughter’s 
soul from suffering in the afterlife. The connection between milk stealing and 
suffering in hell is clear, as demonstrated for the naive daughter, but it is common 
knowledge in the village, as these stories (and others I have collected) 



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demonstrate. Negative attitudes to milk stealing are so pervasive in the culture 
that even children become frightened when they believe they have witnessed 
witchcraft. Below is a vivid childhood memory of a woman born in 1936, 
recorded in 2012, some seventy years after the actual encounter, and her 
comments: 

2. Children see a woman doing witchcraft 
 
| а я́ рас скота́рила невели́ка я бы́ла 
шчế дітвако́м | та то́же на сяко́є 
ся́то | мы скота́рили | тай ви́диме | 
йде́ жона́ | зави́та у вила́х | та́к 
шчо ї́ не ви́тко ге́т вила́х до | до 
то́го | іде́ та усе́ | усе́ схы́лить_ ся 
та де́ коро́ва ста́ла та сь_ сліда́ 
бере́ | гли́ны | та ду́маю сôбі́ 
го́споди а мы́ ті́чеме бо мы́ ся боіме́ 
| ді́ты | а тêпếрь си ду́маю о́споди 
ко бы́ла тото́ | мні́ ннếсь та та́к 
была м ї іма́ла та та́к бы́ла я бы́ла ї 
подиви́ла шчо тото́ за она́ |  

And once I herded cattle, I was little, 
still a child, and [it was] also on a 
holiday, we herded cattle, and [we] 
see, there goes a woman wrapped in a 
homemade cloth, so that one cannot 
see her at all, the cloth is up to... 
there... [she] walking and all the time 
[she] bending where a cow stood and, 
from the footprint, [she] takes clay. 
And [I] think to myself ‘Oh, my 
God.’ And we run away because we 
are scared, children. (8) And now I 
think – ‘Oh, my God, if I were... had I 
met her today, I would have caught 
her and I would have seen who she 
was.  

 
This excerpt demonstrates the range of feelings, both as a child and as an 

adult, at witnessing activities associated with milk stealing: children get scared, 
while a more powerful adult woman feels indignation and is ready to expose, and 
possibly punish, the witch. 

Another thing witches can do is transfer disorders such as plač (persistent 
night-time crying) from their own babies or children to other people’s children. 
To transfer plač, witches bring bathwater used on their own child and pour it onto 
the patch of ground lit by a light from the window of a house where another baby 
lives. Here again, they do magic for selfish gain, while subjecting unsuspecting 
people without magic powers to harm. Even worse, the spell is directed toward 
babies. People might know who has harmed their child (especially if the suspect 
had a child of her own who reportedly had been crying previously), but sometimes 
they have no clue. However, usually knowledge of who the offender is does not 
help to cure the condition. Even though sometimes people ask the suspected witch 
to take the plač back, she typically denies the accusation. Curing plač is 
painstaking business involving a number of possible remedies (such as washing 
the child with water where a certain number of live coals have been extinguished, 
or washing the child with rainwater that drips from the roof, etc. - all with 
appropriate spells), and it does not always work. Therefore, attitudes toward 



 

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witches who make others’ children sick are no better than attitudes toward those 
who steal milk from cows; in fact, these witches are particularly resented. 

Despite the dismay associated with witchcraft in general, there are also grey 
areas. Most people agree there are women (and even men), who bring bad luck if 
they cross one’s path—they are called nedọbri na perexid ‘bad for crossing.’ Not 
all agree whether this is an innate quality or the result of some event, e.g., some 
say that if a person has been weaned twice, s/he might acquire this trait. There is 
also disagreement about intention: perhaps a person just cannot prevent the bad 
luck or perhaps people curse others out of spite. The term ‘witch’ (bosorkan’a) is 
usually not applied to these people. If a person with specific powers, or even 
without any recognizable powers, looks at someone with malevolence or envy, 
they might inadvertently jinx that person. One can take preventative measures 
against a curse, such as putting a safety pin in child’s clothes or wearing 
something red, but even if one suspects someone, one cannot tell whether they 
were jinxed purposefully or not. Stealing milk or transferring plač, on the other 
hand, cannot happen involuntarily; both require ill will and a series of intentional 
acts. Thus, a witch is evil; she does these two things with a distinct intent to harm. 
In addition, her magical abilities give her an unfair advantage over others. Evil 
intent and unfair advantage are why these activities, and the people who perform 
them, invoke such distinct, strong, negative feelings. 

Wise people 

Luckily, there are other types of people with supernatural abilities: the wise 
men or women [mudri l’ude / žonŷ]. Below is a story recorded in 2014, co-
performed by two people, a 89-year old woman (HK) and her 54-year old adopted 
son (IS). It is from the repertoire of the deceased dido [old man], HK’s husband 
and IS’ adoptive father, who was known a good story-teller. 

3. “The Old Man and the Builders” 
 
21-
1:42 

ГК і ді́до наш | е славу́ників | 
славу́ник | 

HK: And our old man [told us], 
[there was this one,] from the 
family of Slavunyk. 

21-
1:43 

коли́ на рôпу́ ходи́ли | но тай йшли́ | 
на рôпу́ | он туды́ гет за ху́ст | на 
рôпу́ давно́ з бочка́ми сякы́ми 
ходи́ли та | 

ІС у соло́твино | 

ГК ісь_ кін́ьми | а 

ІС у соло́твино 

Once he went to get the brine, 
they were riding there, beyond 
Khust. Long ago, when they 
went to get brine, they took 
barrels like these. 

IS: To Solotvyno. 
HK: In horse-drawn carts. 

IS: To Solotvyno. 



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ГК но та йшли́ ві́тты | а будова́ли 
| хы́жу лю́́де | но тай ішли́ тай | 
ра́с кốні ста́ли | і кốні не піду́т | 
ІС на мі́сьці ся тốпчут | 
ГК на мі́сьці ся то́пчут і | віш́та 
ві́шта ві́шта ай кốні не піду́т | на 
мі́сьці ся то́пчут | а якы́сь там 
бы́в | ка́же а ну́ | ка́же іди́ та 
принеси́ ми ка́же | тріс́ку | ві́тты з 
будо́вы | но | тай па́к | ді́дови тôту́ 
трі́ску тот приніс́ | но тай ді́до 
шчốсь я́ не зна́ю шчо там уже́ 
роби́в | і | ді́до | ві́шта | і кốні 
пішли́ | і | ді́до іде́ | 

HK: So, they went from there, 
and people were building a 
house, and they were passing by 
this house, and there, the horses 
stopped and wouldn’t go on. 
IS: They were stamping their 
feet, but not moving, stamping 
in place. 

HK: They were stamping their 
feet, but not moving, stamping 
in place. [people said:] ‘Gee! 
but the horses wouldn’t go, they 
were stamping their feet in 
place.’ And there was this man 
there [in the cart with the brine 
party], and he says, ‘Go and 
bring me a sliver. From there, 
from the building site.’ And he 
brought the old man that sliver, 
and the old man did something, 
I don’t know what he was doing 
there, and then he said: ‘Gee!’ 
and the horses started moving. 
And the old man is riding, 

21-
1:44 

ту́й | гốйкают із за́ду | чека́йте 
чека́йте чека́... а ді́до шчи́ май кốні 
| ру́шат | о́бы | кốні | ішли́ | ага́ | но 
та па́к | 
ІС ди́вит ай чôлôвіќ біжи́т із за́ду | 
ГК чôлôвіќ біжи́т біжи́т дога́нят 
| но́ тай | ді́до уже́ ма́ло хốтів | і 
пôмуштрова́ти то́го | ты́х | тай | 
ді́до уже́ ста́в | а шчо́ є шчо́ | ді́до 
такы́й му | шчо́ є шчо́ | йốй ка́же 
бі́йте ся бо́[га] | ка́же | чôлôві́к 
ка́же | ци пôруба́в ся ци уми́(і)рат | 
шчốсь тако́є | ага́ | но ка́же но іди́ 
іди́ ка́же | ни́ч му ка́же не бде́ 
ка́же | но обы́ сьте ка́же бі́льш 
ка́же тако́є не роби́ли ка́же | ді́до 
пôві́в | тай ді́до шчốзь_ зна́в і | 

and here someone is yelling 
from behind “Wait, wait, wait!’ 
And the old man makes his 
horses run faster, so that they 
run. And then... 

IS: They look, and a man is 
running towards them from 
behind. 
HK: A man is running after 
them, and catches up with them. 
The old man wanted to teach 
them a lesson. So, the old man 
stopped his horses: ‘What is it?’ 
that’s what the old man asks 
him: ‘What?’ ‘Oh,’ he says, 
‘What are you doing, don’t you 
fear God?’ he says, ‘A man 
back there, either he cut himself 



 

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ІС но | але якы́сь то́же зна́в | іс 
ты́х | 
ГК і та́м зна́в і ді́до знав | 
відверну́ти | та́м зна́в то́т 
іспе́рти фу́ру | 

badly, either he is dying, 
something like that.’ ‘Aha. 
Well,’ the old man says, ‘Go 
now, nothing bad will happen to 
him, but you guys don’t do that 
again,’ he says. That’s what the 
old man said. The old man knew 
something. 

IS: Yes. But someone out of 
these guys also knew 
something. 

HK: There, a guy knew 
something, and the old man 
knew how to undo it. The guy 
there knew how to stop the cart,  

21-
1:45 

а ді́до зна́в то́же шчốс | но | а хто́ 
його́ зна́є шчо́ він | но тай шчо́ він 
роби́в | на ті́ трі́сьці | де ôни́ 
будова́ли | 

and the old man also knew 
something. And who knows 
what he... and what he did with 
this sliver from the building site. 

 
This story belongs to another common type in my collection: stories of 

contests between two people with supernatural powers (most often men) or stories 
of attack and retribution. In these stories, a person who is knowledgeable about 
magic attacks the main character, thinking him to be a non-magical person. 
However, the main character has supernatural powers too. He can both repair the 
damage and mete out retribution. The attacker is punished for using supernatural 
powers against a supposedly non-magical opponent. In these situations, people 
usually consider use of magic by the main character justifiable. The main 
character who uses his powers in self-defense usually has the sympathies of both 
the teller and the audience. In this story, both tellers mention the fear and haste of 
the builder after the old man caused another builder to hurt himself; neither teller 
expressed any sympathy for the builders. Remarkably, the builder running after 
the cart asks if the old man has the fear of God, i.e., blames the old man for using 
magic to cause harm (and also for the seriousness of the harm), but in his 
desperation, he forgets that it was the builders who started the magical attack. The 
old man, on the other hand, is shown in a positive light, as powerful but generous. 
Oftentimes, as in this story, the main character forgives the offender when the 
later demonstrates his pitiful state and/or asks for help, and may revoke the 
punishment. As the story-teller in this story notices, the old man just wanted to 
teach the builders a lesson. 

There are also stories where a non-magical offender, (male or female), 
causes harm to a wise man in a natural way (stealing something from him, 
detaining his horse for trespassing on his land, etc.). The wise man would respond 



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FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

9 

using supernatural powers (e.g., send snakes to the offender’s house; make the 
offender’s mouth droop; have the offender bring back the stolen goods and stand 
with them on his shoulders until forgiven), but often he would revoke the 
punishment if the offender came to him with apologies. In a similar story type, 
wise men or wise women can repair magical damage caused to others. They 
usually find and punish the witch who stole a cows’ milk. All these types of stories 
evoke the feeling of rightful retribution; attackers, whether natural or 
supernatural, are punished or warned, at the very least. Apparently, using 
supernatural powers for self-defense and protection of one’s well-being is not 
perceived negatively nor as a threat to the wielder, since it is employed explicitly 
to counteract unjust acts. The same idea of just retribution underpins the above 
mentioned stories where a witch goes to a cowshed as a toad to steal milk. After 
the toad gets maimed or killed, the next day a woman in the neighborhood turns 
out to be injured. The only difference between them is that the antagonist here is 
a good person with no supernatural powers who triumphs over an evil magical 
person. 

Female self-defense: Two wolf stories (9) 

Below are two stories I recorded in 1987 from a skillful female story-teller 
born in 1920. She talks about two cases of a rare supernatural power: transforming 
from a human into a wolf. These stories are particularly interesting in the light of 
the conclusions above about justified retribution. They discuss the fairness of 
using supernatural power in more complicated cases, comparing and balancing 
the advantages of magic with more earthly societal powers and privileges. 

4. Two stories about a husband turning into a wolf 
 
4-
50 

|...| я зна́ю я́к тото́ шчи́ і мêні́ 
была́(!) і не чу[д]жа́ | шчо была́ 
чôлôві́ка пусти́ла у вôвкуны́ | 
та́к было уже́ | пюбра́ли ся 
мôлôді ́| пюбра́ли ся ай | а він́ 
йêіі́ збыткова́в | все́ він на нь(/)у 
збыткова́в та ка́же | я́ тебе́ 
нау́чу ... я́ тôбі ́ука́жу |  

I know how it was, [she] also was 
my kin, the one who made her 
husband into a wolf [lit.: 
werewolf]. It was like this. A 
couple got married, they got 
married, but... but he beat her, he 
constantly beat her, and she says: ‘I 
will teach you, I will show you,’ 

4-
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та́й тогды́ піде́ у ха́шчу | і 
при́йде вốвк | ід жôні ́| і 
ты́рмат | йшли́ у по́ле роби́ти 
сі́но | я́ уже́ ссе́ ка́жу шчо як 
сі́но пішли роби́ти | шли 
навпе́ред сін́о роби́ти | та́ то 
уже на пốслітку | ні́т на упе́рет 
| і пішли́ у по́ле сін́о роби́ти но і 

and then he goes to the forest, and a 
wolf comes back, to the woman, 
and he pulls her... they went to the 
field to make hay. I will tell it how 
it was. They went to make hay. 
First, they went to make hay... no, 
that was later... no, it was first. So, 
they went to the field to make hay, 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

10 

ві́н пішốв у ха́шчу і ві́тты 
прихо́дит вốвк і лю́́де відби́ли і 
ле́двы зби́ли бо вốвк ге́т на ні́й 
пі́вку пірва́в і | но й ві́н ві́тты 
пішốв у ха́шчу наза́т ві́н ся уже́ 
розроби́в | прийшốв | шчо́ ты 
туй пишча́ла шчо́ тото́ бы́ло 
тай шчо́ | та вốвк ка́же 
чôлôві́че бо́жый туй бы́в | та 
ка́же ма́ло ня не ізьзі́в тай шчо́ 
| но́ тай і они́ уже́ по ... сі́ли 
пôôбі́да ... попôлу́дновали | тай 
сі́ли тай | уже́ і́сти | хốтят | 
пôпôі́ли | тай ві́н ї ка́же | шчобы 
му поди́вила у гốлôв | поди́вила | 
і она́ йôму́ ди́вит у гốлôв диви́ти 
ї в зу́бы  

and he went to the woods, and from 
there, a wolf comes, and people 
beat it and barely chased it away, 
because that wolf, it totally tore her 
skirt. And he came back from the 
forest, he already turned back [into 
a man]. He came: ‘Why did you 
cry, what was it, what?’ ‘But there 
was a wolf,’ she says, ‘Hey, man 
[lit: God’s man], it was here,’ and, 
she says, ‘It very nearly ate me.’ 
So, what then... And they already... 
sat down, ate lun... ate lunch, and 
they sat down, they wanted to eat, 
they had a lunch, and he says to 
her: ‘Check my head for lice, check 
it.’ And she looks at his head, she 
looks at the teeth, 

4-
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а то то́чно ниткы́ | з йêї́ 
пі́(ю)вкы | но уже́ лицю́́є пі́вку | 
а у зуба́х ізь_ йếї пі́вкы | ниткы́ | 
ка́же она́ ты слу́хай ка́же | 
васи́лю | слу́хай ка́же та ты́ 
ка́же | та ты́ ка́же ма́єш із 
мо́єї пі́вкы | у те́бе у зуба́х 
ниткы́ | а ві́н каже ее а́йбо 
ка́же ци напу́дила сь ся | йốй я́к 
я ся ка́же напу́дила | я́ ся 
напу́дила | а ві́н ка́же ты кьêть 
хо́чеш ка́же ви́діти но я́к ты 
тото́ зро́биш но она́ йôму́ 
зачала́ но я́к ты ста́неш чôлôвіќ 
у вốвка ста́неш | і ты́ вốвком 
на́рас при́йдеш вốвком | і ты́ 
чôлôві́к но коси́в | йốй ка́же я́ ся 
ка́же бốю я́ бим ти ка́же указа́в 
| айбо .... ти ся тілько дурны́й 
быв бо шчо пôві́в лише оби сь 
ка́же не пôві́ла скамêні́в би сь | 
я́ ка́же піду́ 

and exactly there were the exact 
threads from her skirt, that one 
makes a skirt with (?), in his teeth 
there were threads from her skirt. 
She says: ‘Listen,’ she says, 
‘Vasyl’, listen, but you,’ she says, 
‘but you have, from my skirt, there 
are threads between you teeth.’ And 
he says, ‘Ah, did you get scared?’ 
‘Oh how I got scared,’ she says, ‘I 
got scared.’ And he says, ‘If you 
want,’ he says, ‘to see...’ ‘But how 
will you do that?’ she started saying 
to him, ‘but how you will become, 
you are a man, and you will 
become a wolf? and you will 
immediately come back as a wolf? 
And you are a man?’ ‘See,’ he 
mowed the hay. ‘Oh,’ he says, ‘I 
am afraid, I would tell you,’ he 
says, ‘but you...’ He must have 
been stupid (?), because he said: 
‘Only don’t say I wish you become 
a rock.’ He says: ‘I will go...’  

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і він́ ôна́ уже́ підмета́в копи́цю 
выoсо́ко ма́й | бо она́ ся бôя́ла | 

and he... she... he already made the 
haystack a little higher, because she 



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FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

11 

га́дат сôбі́ закля́т би сь кêдь ты́ 
такы́й йếсь та я́ тя уже і нê 
хốчу ка́жеш шчо обы не пôві́ла 
скамêні́в бись а ге а она́ уже́ | 
тай тогды́ він́ ся она́ ôбви́діла 
ві́н ся перекоти́в так три́ ра́с | 
настоя́шчий вốвк | ві́ткыс у 
ньо́го і сếрсьть і всьо́ і | і вốвк 
тай | настоя́шчий вốвк | а она́ 
уже́ пôві́ла а він́ ся зача́в 
роска́човати | айбо ôна́ пôві́ла 
скамêні́в бись | прийшло́ ві́н 
зача́в зава́йдав копи́цю | він́ бы 
бы́в ї там заі́в | уже́ | і ві́н на 
суд бо́жый пішốв | пішốв 
наохте́ма у вôвкы́ | і тогды́ 
прийшло́ она́ зача́ла там 
пишча́ти | на ті ́... на ті́ е онде́ | 
на тім́ | зача́ла пишча́ти йốй 
мене́ каже вốвк ісьць | мене́ | 
лю́́де | 

was afraid. She thinks to herself: 
‘Damn you, if you are like this, I 
don’t want you; you say that I 
should not say I wish you become a 
rock,’ and there, and she already... 
and then he... she saw (?) he rolled 
[or: did a somersault] like that three 
times, and he became a real wolf. 
From where did he get wolf’s hair, 
everything – a wolf, a real wolf. 
And she already said... he started 
rolling back, but she said I wish you 
become a rock, and it happened... 
he started jumping onto the stack 
(?), he would have eaten her 
already. And he went away forever, 
he became a wolf forever. And 
then, she started crying there, on 
that... there... on that... she started 
crying – ‘Oh,’ she says, ‘A wolf is 
eating me. Me... people...’ 

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та пишчи́т но тай лю́́де ви́дят 
круго́м | і лю́́де ся збі́(г)ли хто з 
ви́лами хто з кôсốв | хто ш 
шчи́м | тай уті́к | но | та сесе́ 
єнна́ та́к | ци тото́ говори́т 
туй | но | та я́ шчи і шче́ 
дока́жу | а дру́га жона́ пібра́ла 
ся пібра́ла уже́ ма́ли четве́ро 
дітếй | все́ він збыткова́в і 
збыткова́в ї і тогды́ він ка́же я́ 
йду́ на сьвя́тый вếчір на 
смêрі́чку | а она́ га́дат сôбі́ а 
йди́ | я́ тебе́ пу́шчу у вôвкуны́ | і 
він пішốв і она́ пусти́ла його́ у 
вôвкуны́ | то́ бы́ло неда́леко о́де 
у рекі́тах | і то все́ мо́я ма́ма 
при... та́то прика́зовав | і 
пусти́ла у вôвкуны́ | його́ ниє́ ́і 
ниє́ ́| ра́но на сьвяты́й вêчір о 
уже́ | зра́на ві́н пьюшốв зра́на і 
на вếчір прихо́дит | вốвком | д 
хы́жи | 

and she cries, and people around 
see that, and people came, one with 
a pitchfork, another with a scythe, 
everyone brought something, and 
[the wolf] fled. Well. And this 
one... Does this thing speak here? 
[=does this recorder here record 
what I say?] Well. Then I will tell 
this one too. And another wife, she 
got married, got married, they 
already had four children, and he 
[the husband] beat and beat her. 
And then he says, ‘I am going to 
get a Christmas tree for the 
Christmas Eve.’ And she thinks to 
herself, ‘Go, I will turn you into a 
wolf [lit.: werewolf].’ And he 
went... she made him into a wolf 
[lit.: werewolf]. That was not far 
from here, there in Rekyty. My 
Mom always... my Dad used to tell. 
So she turned him into a wolf [lit.: 
werewolf]. He is not coming back, 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

12 

and he is not coming back. In the 
morning on Christmas Eve... He 
went in the morning, in the 
morning, and in the evening, he 
came as a wolf, to the house.  

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а ді́ти на тье́ тье тье́ та хлі́ба 
ме́чут | шчо | дают а вна | іди́ 
ка́же загốйкала ку́ме іди́ о́де 
вốвка убếй | но вốвк прийшốв 
вốвк та́й | жили они́ жи́ли | они́ 
уже́ відби́ли то́го ку́м стрі́лів 
айбо не устрі́лів у ньо́го ай | 
якốйсь так бо́г догада́в шчо 
пішло́ у лю́́фт | пішốв він | і 
ка́же но може́ бы́ла она́ вже 
до́вго жи́ла сімдê... уже́ ма́ла 
ві́сімдêсят рốків жи́ла рокы́ | і 
прийшло́ кона́ти | айбо ба́ба не 
мо́же скона́ти | пôспôві́дать_ 
ся жо́ны д ні прихốдят ты́ 
якы́йсь грі́х ма́єш ты́ якы́йсь 
грі́х учини́ла | нага́дуй ся якы́й 
ты грі́х учини́ла она́ уже́ про 
ньо́го й забы́ла | а аж не забы́ла 
айбо не хốтіла вы́явити | она́ 
до́ты скона́ти не могла́ | тогды́ 
ка́же | 

And the children go, ‘Here, here,’ 
they throw... they give it bread, and 
she says, ‘Come,’ she called, 
‘Come, kum [godfather of her 
child/ren], come here, kill the 
wolf.’ Well, it was a wolf who 
came, a real wolf. So they lived and 
lived... They already ... The 
godfather shot, but did not hit him, 
but somehow God made it so that 
the bullet missed. It [=the wolf] 
went... And they say, maybe she 
lived long, maybe seventy years... 
she was already eighty years old, 
she lived a long life. And it was 
time for her to die. But the old 
woman cannot die. She has 
confessed her sins to a priest, and 
women come to her, ‘You must 
have some sin, you committed 
some sin, go ahead, remember what 
sin you committed,’ and she 
already forgot about it, and, if she 
hasn’t forgotten, she was not 
willing to tell. And she could not 
die. Then she says... 

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она́ пішла́ пак цу́рья зобра́ла 
тото́ ай де́ він лиши́в цу́рья 
розобра́в ся та лиши́в | она́ то 
цу́рья забра́ла та покла́ла у 
ста́нôв | піт? ста́нôв давно́ 
старьйо́ у да́вні хыжі ́та́ 
покла́ла та́м піт ста́нôв | і 
ка́же | но́ та вы́вêзіт ми ка́же 
попа́ | буду́ ся спôвіда́ти | 
нагада́ла ся жо́ны кумы́ 
прийшли́ | жо́но уже́ дêся́та 
доба́ ты́ уже́ ге́т іско́нат уже́ 
ско́нат | уже́ і не ды́хат | 

she went and took the clothes, 
where he had left the clothes, he 
had gotten undressed and left the 
clothes, and she had taken those 
clothes and put them into the barrel 
... under the barrel, as old things are 
put in old houses, and she put it 
under the them. And she says, 
‘Well, call the priest to me, I will 
confess, I remembered.’ Women 
came, her children’s godmothers. 
You know, it is the tenth day 
already, and she cannot die, she is 



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FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

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пришло́ уже́ ї | і ко́нат і ко́нат і 
не мо́же скона́ти | і они́ тогды́ 
она́ ся дорахова́ла тай шчо́ тай 
ка́же бері́т ка́же цу́рья ка́же | 
а| тай попо́ви уже́ с попо́м ся 
спôвіда́ла а пі́п ка́же я́к я мốжу 
тôбі́ розріше́ниє да́ти | я́ тогды́ 
тôбі мốжу розріше́ниє да́ти 
кêдь ві́н при́йде дôмі ́| твій́ грі́х 
тôбі ́отпу́стит | а я́ тôбі́ 
розріше́ниє не мốжу да́ти | 

not breathing already, and dying, 
and dying, and cannot die. And 
they... she thought it over, and she 
says, ‘Take [his old] clothes and...’ 
and to the priest... she already 
confessed to the priest, and the 
priest says, ‘How I can give you an 
absolution, only then can I give you 
an absolution when he comes 
home, and forgives you that sin, but 
I cannot give you an absolution 

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за сякы́й вели́кый грі́х | а она́ 
ка́же бері́т ка́же бы́ли у нếї і 
ді́ти бері́т ка́же та́м є | 
вітьцьо́во цу́рья | піт тốв 
ста́нôвльôв та́м ка́же 
переверта́йте тôту́ ста́нôвь_ і 
та́м є цу́рья | і бері́т і несі́д_ го 
ка́же та́м у свина́рькы та́м мы́ 
роби́ли все́ та гада́ю сôбі́ | мы́ 
быва́ло хо́диме та гада́єме ци на 
ôті́ бôрôзьді́ тото́ | скака́в та 
чини́в ся і учини́в ся вốвк ци на 
ôті́ та мыo прига́дуєме сôбі ́| бо 
та́то там уже́ коси́в тай 
быва́ло то прика́зує та ка́же ге 
ту́йкы пішốв | мій у́йчаник ка́же 
у вôвкуны́ | жона́ го пусти́ла | 
но ай ка́же но ни́ч | они́ уже́ 
тогды́ | пішли́ поне́сли | чека́ют 
| а то не мож ... | поне́сли они́ 
там цу́рья | поне́сли они́ та́м 
цу́рья | айбо тото́ дếнь айбо 
тото́ два́ | тай ниє́ ́| тай три́ |  

for such a huge sin.’ And she says: 
‘Take...’ (she had children), she 
says: ‘take your father’s clothes, 
there, under that barrel,’ she says, 
‘Turn over that barrel, and there are 
clothes there, and take and carry 
them,’ she says, ‘to Svynar’ky.’ We 
used to work there, and I used to 
think... We used to walk and think, 
if it was on that furrow he was 
running and turning... and was 
turned into a wolf, or on this 
furrow, we were trying to guess, 
because my father used to mow hay 
there, and he was telling this story, 
and he would say ‘Right there he 
went, my cousin became a wolf, his 
wife turned him [into a wolf].’ OK, 
and they then... went and carried 
[the clothes.] They are waiting, and 
it is so hard... They went and 
brought there the clothes, they 
brought there the clothes, and then 
a day passed, and two days passed, 
and he did not come, and three 
days... 

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га́дат сôбі́ уже́ жо́ны гôвôря́т | 
но бêзі́вно як ві́н | дếзь го уби́ли | 
у вôвка́х | уби́ли го | тай вже́ і 
она́ вісімдêся́т рốків ма́є а ві́н 
êшчê ста́ршый бы́в | та бêзі́вно 
не жи́є | но ни́ґда не умре́ та не 
мож диви́ти на му́ку | ді́ти ім 

She thinks, and the women already 
are saying, ‘He is most probably 
dead, he got killed somewhere, 
while a wolf, he got killed. She was 
eighty years old, and he was still 
older, so he is dead for sure.’ And 
she cannot die, one cannot watch 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

14 

су́т | ви́дят в яку́ му́ку ма́ма 
за́йде? | і прийшло́ | дêвя́тôї 
дôбы́ прихо́дит | дêвя́тôї добы́ | 
прийшốв | ру́кы пôôбби́вані 
обрốсьлі | сюды́ обро́слый | так 
як настоа́шчий вốвк лиш цу́рья 
на ся узя́в | такы́й страшны́й 
шчо ра́з | і ка́же | прийшốв і 
поклони́в ся | і ка́же | дя́кую я 
тôбі́ жо́но | шчо ты́ мене́ шче 
наверну́ла на сво́є обы́сьця | та 
ка́же | уши́тко ти инґеду́ю 

how she suffers. And there are 
children, they see how their mother 
suffers. And then, the ninth day, he 
comes. The ninth day, he came. His 
hands were scarred, covered with 
hair, and here, he was covered with 
hair... like a real wolf, only he had 
put on his clothes. He was so scary. 
And he says... he came and greeted 
her, and said: ‘Thank you, my wife, 
that you returned me to my 
household.’ And he says, ‘I forgive 
you everything,’  

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і прийшốв і пôцюльова́в ї | 
вши́тко ти инґеду́ю | і я́ недо́бре 
роби́в зача́в ві́н і свốї(е) гріхы́ 
каза́ти | і я́ недо́бре роби́в бо я́ 
тебе́ зада́рь не ра́з би́в | 
збыткова́в | ни́шчив | та ка́же я́ 
тôбі́ вши́тко инґедую лиш ти 
тото́ не инґеду́ю шчо на 
сьвяты́й вếчір ді́ти мені ́не́сли 
хлі́ба | та мета́ли | а ты́ 
гốйкала ку́ме ку́ме пốй уби́ти | а 
я́ сôбі ́гада́ю го́ссподи та коби́ м 
пожи́в я́ уже́ бы́в в вôвкуна́х | 
та коби́ м пожи́в | ві́н сôбі ́та́к 
поду́мав тогды́ | і ка́же мêні́ ты́ 
ся ка́же сни́ла | шчо ты́ 
стра́шно ся му́чиш | ты́ ви́сиш 
на мôтузі та не мо́жеш ни до 
зêмлі ́до... | прихыли́ти ся | ни на́ 
вêрьх | а все́ ожи́єш та ожи́єш | 
та фу́рт ис ми ся сни́ла в вôвка́х 
| но а та я́к ты туды́ жи́в та я́к 
бы́в | 

and he came, and he kissed her, ‘I 
forgive you everything, I also did 
bad things,’ he started to confess 
his sins, ‘I also did bad things 
because I beat you often for 
nothing, beat you... and,’ he says, ‘I 
forgive you everything, only that I 
cannot forgive that on Christmas 
Eve children were giving me bread, 
they were throwing it to me, and 
you said ‘Kum, come and kill it.’ 
And I think to myself, ‘Oh, my 
God, if I lived... I was already a 
wolf... if I lived...’ that is what he 
thought to himself. ‘And,’ he said, 
‘I dreamed of you, that you 
suffered a lot, that you were 
hanging on a rope and you couldn’t 
either touch the ground, or go up, 
and you kept getting alive... and I 
dreamed about you all the time 
when I was a wolf.’ ‘And how did 
you live there, how were you?’ 

4-
1:00 

тай ка́же не инґеду́ю тай ка́же 
зна́єш ка́же як мы́ туды́ 
бідова́ли | мы бідова́ли ду́же | 
бо ка́же | коли́ нам бо́х па́лицьов 
пока́же | де йти́ | і мы́ там 
пі́деме і ду́же сме бы́ли гôлốньні 
| бо́г нам пак па́лицьôв показа́в 
до єнно́го ґазды́ | і мы́ прийшли́ 

And he says: ‘I don’t forgive... You 
know,’ he said, ‘Oh, how we 
suffered there. We suffered a lot, 
because,’ he says, ‘every time when 
God pointed with a stick where to 
go, we would go there, and we 
were very hungry. Once God 
pointed to one peasant’s yard, and 



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FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

15 

бо мо́ж бы́ло ку́чу розломи́ти | 
та бо́г нам лише́ вêлі́в по єнно́му 
ярча́ти взя́ти та зьзіс́ти а | а 
не́ усьо́ трати́ти а они́ тогды́ 
ста́ли страти́ли | та за мі́рный 
рік ни́ч не і́ли | ли́ш шчо пи́ли 
вốду та гли́ну і́ли | та траву́ | а 
и́нче ни́ч ім не слốбьюдно бы́ло 
взя́ти | ім ро́т заклине́ный | і 
они́ і́сти не могли́ ни́ч | та ка́же 
вши́тко ти ка́же инґеду́ю лише 
тото́ ти не инґеду́ю | но́ тай як 
за́к не пôві́в ї шчобы она́ 
спочива́ла з бо́гом до́ты она́ не 
спочи́ла | і ка́же но́ спочива́й з 
бо́гом | 

we came, because we could break 
into a shed there. And God only 
told us to take and eat one lamb 
each, and not to slaugter 
everything, but we slaughtered 
everything, so after that for an 
entire year we didn’t eat anything, 
we only drank water and ate clay, 
and grass, and nothing else, we 
could not take.’ They [=we] had 
cursed their mouth, and they could 
not eat anything. ‘And,’ he says, ‘I 
forgive you everything, but I cannot 
forgive you this.’ And until he told 
her to repose with God, she did not 
die. So, he says, ‘Repose with God,  

4-
1:01 

я́ сво́є перебы́в | може я́ ся 
спôкута́в | та то́ я пôку́ты свốї 
прия́в то я тебе́ збыткова́в 
тебе́ ни́шчив | но тай я́ недо́бре 
роби́в а ты́ з бо́гом спочива́й і 
тогды́ она́ скона́ла | а я́ ка́же 
ты́ ми не инґеду́й я такы́й ма́ла 
дурны́й рôзу́м шчо _а тебе́ у 
тото́ пусти́ла я́ не ра́з жалі́ла 
айбо я́ уже́ не мо́гла | шчо была́ 
м те[бе́] наверну́ла | ты́ бы быв 
| мене́ збыткова́в і шчế май 
ду́же ни́шчив | я не мо́гла | бо я́ 
ся уже́ ісь_ сьві́та ганьби́ла | 
та я́ за то́ ті́лько пôкута́ла 
дốвго ка́же | пôкута́ла і я́ 
скона́ти не мо́гла | а не мо́гла м 
тот грі́х вы́явити | но тай 
му́сіла го вы́явити бо до́ты не 
могла́ скона́ти | 

I got my due. Maybe I already had 
my penance, I had my penance, 
because I had beaten you, well, I 
did wrong, and you repose now 
with God.’ And then she died. ‘And 
me,’ she said, ‘you forgive me, I 
had such a stupid mind that I turned 
you into a wolf, I regretted that 
many times, but I couldn’t 
already... had I gotten you back, 
you would have beaten me again, 
maybe even more than before, so I 
couldn’t, because I had been 
already very much ashamed. So, I 
had my penance for that for a long 
time, that I could not die. I couldn’t 
tell about that sin.’ But she had to 
tell it, because otherwise she could 
not die. 

 
The first story (beginning at 4 minutes, 40 seconds) reports how a woman’s 

husband went to the forest, returned as a wolf, attacked his wife, disappeared in 
the forest, and returned as a man; later the woman recognizes him by the threads 
from her skirt sticking between his teeth. Having discovered this fact, the woman 
ensures that her husband is trapped in wolf form for the foreseeable future. (10) 
The teller also describes the wife’s motivation. The woman turns her husband into 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

16 

a wolf because she does not want to live with a werewolf, and also because, as 
she said at the beginning of the story, she wants to keep him from beating her. 
Wife-beating is a recognized element of life in Novoselycja. The woman in the 
story, like many other women past and present, is under the total control of her 
husband and has no socially recognized means to defend herself. In other cultures, 
a defenseless party in a desperate situation is known to recourse to magic for self-
protection. Kivelson [2013], researching early modern Russian witch trials, 
notices that for the people of 17th-century Russia witchcraft was a tool for the 
weak to protect themselves from the abuse of the powerful when they acted in 
unjust and unbearable ways. Kivelson [2013: 8] states that: 

 Ideas about witchcraft grew, in large measure, out of a consensual 
understanding of where the limits to abuse resided, where violence or 
physical torment or exploitation was acceptable, and where it strayed into 
excess. Magic ... erupted at precisely those points of trespass. In its latent 
or active threat, witchcraft served to patrol those norms and obligations, 
to mitigate the harshness. 

This story presents a parallel case. The female teller despicts the husband as 
having an unfair advantage over the wife by having the right to beat her. By using 
magic, the wife nullifies his advantage and stops the abuse, thus ensuring fair 
treatment. 

However, the abuse the husband might perform as a wolf is even more unjust 
than the abuse he performed as a man. As we have seen, using supernatural powers 
against an average person is considered evil in Novoselycja, because the victim 
does not have similar powers and cannot defend themselves. In the story, the 
woman wants to prevent her husband from attacking her in the shape of a wolf, 
i.e., from harming her using his unfair advantage. Remarkably, the wife has no 
supernatural powers herself (she is only saying the magic words her husband told 
her not to use). It is a case of self-defense on two counts at the same time: a 
powerless female defending herself against a powerful male, and a non-magical 
person defending herself against a magical one. On both counts, turning her 
husband into a wolf presents an elegant solution to the problem and thus cannot 
be judged too harshly. The woman is justified, as a defendant in a court of law 
might be acquitted if she used an offender’s gun against him in self-defense.. 

In the second story (beginning at 4 minutes, 54 seconds), which the teller 
told immediately after the first one, only stopping to check if the recorder was 
working, the initial situation is the same: the wife is abused by her husband. 
However, unlike the woman in the first story, this woman is a bearer of 
supernatural powers, and she wants to turn her husband into a wolf from the 
outset. She uses her supernatural powers for self-defense to prevent her husband 
from beating her; however, when her life comes to an end, she cannot die. This 
fact, coupled with the prolonged suffering before death, is in Novoselycja a sure 
sign of a grievous offense committed by the dying person, usually stealing milk 



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17 

or other manner of using magical gifts for an evil cause against non-magical 
people. Nevertheless, her use of supernatural powers against her husband is 
eventually forgiven by the victim, and her deed is thus presented as excusable. 
Her reversal of the transformation is the primary reason for this attitude. Neither 
the repentance alone, nor the confession to a priest could bring relief. 

Moreover, the priest in the story explained unequivocally that the sin of 
using magical transformation against a non-magical person needed to be undone, 
and that it is only the offended person could forgive this sin. This argument does 
not reflect official doctrine; in the Orthodox and Greek Catholic church practices, 
(11) sins are commonly confessed by the perpetrator and then absolved by the 
priest, perhaps after giving the sinner penance. However, in the story, the priest 
says this sin is especially grievous, and, therefore, it is beyond his powers. The 
only solution is to reverse the spell. Remarkably, after the woman does that and 
her husband becomes a human again, he forgives her immediately. After coming 
back, her husband’s first words are thanking his wife for returning him home and 
forgiving her for turning him into a wolf. He grants her his permission to die 
peacefully on the spot. Moreover, before dying she has a lengthy conversation 
with him, asking him about his experiences while a wolf and telling him why she 
did not return him earlier. During this entire exchange, the husband does not 
demonstrate any animosity towards her, which indicates that his forgiveness is 
genuine. 

An important detail in the story is that, unlike the transformation from a 
human into a wolf, which remained secret from the community, the process 
leading to her husband’s reverse transformation unfolds openly and is undertaken 
with the community’s guidance. The transformation into a wolf was not described 
in the story; such omissions are common in Novoselycja whenever an application 
of supernatural powers is to be mentioned. (12) However, later, when the woman 
in the story is nearing the end of her life, she is constantly surrounded by people: 
other women that remind her to confess and to remember a sin she must have 
committed; the priest who tells her to reverse the transformation; her children who 
go and take the husband’s clothes into the woods and who watch her suffering 
until their father comes back and forgives her. All these people converse with her, 
advise her, commiserate with her, and eventually help her on her way to undoing 
the sin and restoring her husband to his human form. The actual reverse 
transformation itself occurs in the woods far from people’s eyes, but all the steps 
leading to it, such as getting the man’s old clothes from under the barrel and 
carrying them into the woods for him to put on, and even waiting with anticipation 
for the transformation to occur, are carried out by other people and in full view. 
These actions are not secret; they do not need to be hidden, because they are not 
considered evil. The woman herself functions within the net of social connections. 
She listens to and eventually follows the advice of the community, thereby 
adhering to societal norms. While milk stealers are a- and anti-social, she, at this 
point, is not; she is re-united with the community and its values. By presenting 
the woman’s actions in plain view, under the influence and with the help of the 
community, the teller indicates her approval of the woman’s actions. The 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

18 

community leads her through the correction of her transgression, and once she 
completes it, the victim also forgives her. 

This second story is typologically a story of an attack on a person who 
happened to have supernatural powers and who used them for self-defense. As in 
the stories about people who stole from bearers of magical powers, the 
transgressor who attacked a magical person is punished. When the spell is 
reversed, the unfair advantage withdrawn, a state of fairness is restored. Reversing 
the magical harm and asking forgiveness is the acceptable pathway for redemption 
in the eyes of the community, even for a bearer of supernatural powers who 
applied them against non-magical people. These nuanced stories demonstrate that 
even though the use of magic against non-magical person is forbidden, in the eyes 
of a female teller it can be justified or at least is presented as justifiable, if it is 
used to counter a greater evil, such as domestic abuse. In addition, it must be in 
compliance with other socio-cultural norms, namely the need to reverse the action 
to obtain the victim’s forgiveness, the need to be part of the community, and the 
like. 

Magical knowledge: Passing on skills 

Since magical powers are dangerous and must be used with great caution, 
their transmission is also traditionally controlled so as to minimize the potential 
damage. The question then arises: how do people acquire magic powers? Below 
is an excerpt from a conversation between HK, a woman 91 years old at the time, 
L, her daughter-in-law, 53, and B (the author). 

5. How people pass on supernatural knowledge 
 
L но | є́ тако́є | но | я́ зна́ю тêпếрь 
чи хốдяд_ або | коли́сь ходи́ли | 
бы́ла така́ чу́тка | шо ходи́ли 
молоко: ́відбêрали від | дру́гых кôрів 
сôбі ́там я зна́ю шốсь там они́ 
роби́ли там у ни́х там | робо́та 
сво́я | така́ шко́ла шо там тре́ба 
научи́ти тре́ переда́ти хтốсь ма́в 
переда́ти кôму́сь рôзумі́єте та | то 
передава́ло ся іс пôкôлі́ня в пôкôлін́я 
B то́ ся передава́ло ? 
L | тто́ ворожби́тство но | 
B ді́йсно? 
L так та́к | 

L: There are such things. I don’t know 
if they [=witches] go now or not, but 
in the old times they would go, people 
said, they went and took milk from 
others’ cows to themselves, and did 
something else, some kind of their 
work. They would learn it, someone 
would have to transfer the knowledge 
to them, and otherwise it would not 
work. It was passed on from one 
generation to the next. 

B: And that got transmitted? 

L: That sorcery/witchcraft, yes. 
B: Is that so? 

L: Yes! 



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HK так є́ | як я́ зна́ла | та я́ тогды 
ва́с учи́ла | а вы́ да́ле | 
L свốїх дітếй вну́ків | 
HK а́йно | 
L та́к передава́ло ся с пôкôлі́ня хто́ 
зна́в така́ роди́на шчо зна́ла они́ 
тым передава́ли свốїм ді́тям | 
B мгм 
L а да́хто каза́в но | як ка́жут шчо 
| шчо зна́в ба́тько або не переда́в 
никốму бо то́ быв наре́мный то́д_ 
бы біду́ зроби́в вели́ку дру́гôму тôму́ 
не мо́ж да́ти | а такы́й котра́ 
люди́на така́ шчо бы́ла | рôзду́мана 
шчо я́к то роби́ти шо | а то́ є́ такі ́
шо нарếмні та хôть кốму біду́ 
яку́сь .... | тадь батько́ не переда... 

HK: For example, if I know, I will 
teach you, and you will pass it on, 

L: to your children, and grandchildren 
HK: yes 

L: It was passed on from one 
generation [to the next]. You know, 
such a family that knew, they would 
pass it on to their children, you know. 

B: Uh-huh 
L: And some said, well, as they say, 
that a father knew, but he did not pass 
it on, because his son was impulsive, 
he could have caused a large 
misfortune to someone else, he would 
not be given the knowledge to. And 
another [= a son in another family] 
would be more sensible, would think 
how to do and what... But if someone 
was impulsive, thoughtless, he could 
have done bad things to anyone, so 
father would not pass it on to him. 

 
Both L and HK agree that magic knowledge had to be transferred, that is, 

taught and learned. When L wants to elaborate on the topic, she imperceptibly 
switches from talking about the transfer of knowledge among women (which was 
apparently the case in the example her mother-in-law gave) to the transfer 
generally in the family, and then to men passing knowledge on to men (father to 
son). She says that men feel responsible for transferring the knowledge into good 
hands, and this kind of cultural selection weeds out those candidates who do not 
have the right qualities to handle magic power without causing unnecessary harm 
to others. She does not return to the topic of women’s milk stealing, since this 
activity is inherently bad. Instead, she switches the topic to powers of other sort 
that only inflict harm when used by bad or impulsive people. According to other 
narrators’ accounts in my collection, some people are born with magic skills (that 
sometimes comes together with certain physical indicators, such as a tail that a 
witch may be born with). More often, however, a supernatural skill, just like any 
skill, is a type of knowledge which can be passed on in a family or learned from 
someone else. In a different village situated on the other side of the Carpathian 
ridge, but within 30 km from Novoselycja, I heard a story of a person who knew 
how to cure snake bites, but had no other supernatural powers; he learned this skill 
from a woman in America, where he went to work. After returning home, he 
practiced it a great deal and then passed it on to one of his sons, who, in his turn, 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

20 

did not pass it on to anyone. Except for the mention of America, this is a typical 
story of power transmission. The transfer of supernatural knowledge as separate 
skills also explains why men do not steal milk or transfer diseases to children. In 
a traditional culture where each gender has specific labor roles, there are skills 
considered appropriate for one gender, but not the other. This division apparently 
extends to both natural and supernatural skills. (13) The transfer of magic powers 
through learning also explains certain concerns village people have today. The 
teller of the rope-milking story complained to me repeatedly that now that there 
were a lot of magic books around; every woman could pick a book and learn how 
to steal milk. 

“I won’t do that, why do I need that?”: Denial of knowledge 

When I asked people questions about anything to do with the supernatural, 
they were often eager to share stories about other people with supernatural 
powers, or about themselves as victims of them. However, when asked for 
explanations of how the magic was performed, they emphatically denied any 
knowledge both of the mechanisms and the procedures. As we can see in story 
cited above (The Old Man and Builders), the narrator gave a very detailed account 
of how the old man punished the builders, but then added an unsolicited 
explanation that she did not know how he achieved it and what he did with the 
sliver. Another woman , when her cow’s milk became less fatty (“like water”) 
was given advice by her neighbor who knew, but she did not follow it: 

6. Woman did not pour milk on live coals 
 
| тод_ бра́т | йêї ́| мêні ́казав | а я́ 
то | я́ не роби́ла бо я́ ду́маю я́ не 
рốблю бо я́ не зна́ю | кêдь я́ не зна́ю 
до пути́ та на́шчо я́ буду́ шчốзь 
роби́ти | є́вочко ка́же | ты́ сôбі ́
ка́же кôрốву вы́дій | ôгня́ наклади́ 
до́бре в печи́ | та вы́сып тото́ 
молоко́ всьо́ в пі́ч | обы́ му та́к 
се́рце гôрі́ло ги тото́ | ги то́ молоко́ 
кыпы́т | ци рôзуміе́те | та в гра́нь 
вы́сып та зна́єте шчо всьо́ бде́ | я́ 
то не роби́ла я́ бы не ді́ждала мêні ́
аж не каза́ли [?] ся́к бим занімі́ла | 
та його́ уже́ нне ннếсь ниє́ давны́м 
давно́ но він каза́в мені ́| та кêдь бы 
шчốсь не зна́в та бы не ра́див | а я́ 
ду́маю я́ не рốблю на́й да́шчо бде́ 
на́шчо мêні́ то | а́й сôбі ́хто ро́бит 
най сôбі ́ро́бит я | я́ то перебу́ду 

And that brother of hers told me - and 
I didn’t do that, because I thought, ‘I 
did not know how to do that, why 
should I do that?’ He told me, ‘Eva, 
milk the cow, build a fire in the oven 
and pour all that milk in the oven so 
that her [=the witch’s] heart boils just 
as this milk boils. Pour it on the live 
coals...’ I didn’t do that. I would 
rather die... when he told that to me, I 
went numb... He died long ago, but he 
had told me to do that. Had he not 
known, he would not have advised 
me. And I thought ‘I won’t do that, 
what if something happens, why do I 
need that? Let the one who usually 
does it do it, and I will wait, maybe it 
will stop by itself.’ And it all ended 
eventually, and there are no witches, 



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коли́сь ми вже́ і не буде́ тто́ | тай 
пêрêйшло́ та вже́ ниє́ ни бôсôркані́в 
ниє́ тать молоко́ є́ | і смета́на є́ | а 
т... | чôму́ не бы́ло ? | він́ ка́же ? | 
чôму́ не бы́ло | на вôді ́бы бы́ло | 
та́к як вода́ | та якусь кôрốву ты 
де́ржиш | бы́ло | шчо бы́ло то бы́ло  

now I have milk and sour cream. And 
why there had been no sour cream on 
my milk? Did he say? ... [unclear] ... 
the milk was like water. You have a 
cow... It was so, yes, it was so. 

 
The neighbor who gave advice apparently knew some magic, but the woman 

did not want to do as he advised to fix her cow’s milk, even though she was in 
dire need. She had ten children, and the quality of the milk was very important. 
Nevertheless, she decided not to act.  

She also described how she “went numb” at the very suggestion of magic, 
and how horrifying the idea was to her. In the long run, the situation corrected 
itself. She preferred having lower quality food for an indefinite period of time 
rather than resort to using magic. One wonders why would she choose being 
hungry with her children over using magic to defend her sustenance from a magic 
attack. One reason, according to Scott [1976], is the conservative economic 
strategy that minimizes risk and stems from a subsistence culture’s necessity to 
avoid failure rather than increase production. However, there are other cultural 
reasons for her choice. One is likely to be the church’s disapproval of magic rituals 
in general. Since being a good Christian is an important component of villagers’ 
identity, they often explain their distancing from magic in religious terms. This 
same woman pointed out that “God did not make your/one’s mind to do such 
things, but to work and pray.” Another reason the speaker mentioned was the fear 
of the magic act going wrong if done without sufficient knowledge, which could 
lead to unexpected consequences both on earth and in the afterlife. However, she 
did not mention, because it is obvious to her (14),  but which seems at least an 
equally potent fear is being accused of doing magic by one’s neighbors. A 
person’s reputation is an important asset, and people do not want to give others 
food for gossip, which is greatly feared in the village. This reason is especially 
worrisome for people who have been accused of witchcraft before, such as the 
teller of this story. For some reason, she had been targeted by her neighbors, a fact 
that she did not explain to me. Her emphatic and repeated denial of knowing 
anything to do with magic and of not doing magic ever, even in a dire situation, 
is a means to protect herself from nasty rumors and a bad reputation, a stance 
shared by most village inhabitants. 

Conclusion 

The stories and comments about the bearers of supernatural powers in 
Novoselycja reveal that the essential issue is fairness. It is not fair to use 
supernatural powers against people who do not have such powers, to take 
advantage of them, steal their livelihood and threaten their health, or attack them 



 

FOLKLORICA 2017, Vol. XXI 

22 

in a wolf’s skin. A person who does any of these things is regarded as evil and 
their action as an exceptionally grievous offense. (15) On the other hand, if a 
person with supernatural powers uses them in self-defense in a situation when 
nothing else works (against a thief, an abuser, or against another magical person), 
it may be deemed acceptable practice. However, one must reverse the spell 
eventually, if supernatural powers are to be used only for teaching a lesson, rather 
than for inflicting permanent harm. Even people who do not possess supernatural 
powers may find themselves in a situation when they may use such powers. If it 
is a case of self-defense, they are justified in doing so, and they do not have to 
(and, of course, they cannot) reverse the spell. Supernatural powers thus are 
regarded as something similar to natural powers and abilities. They exist in the 
social world and should not be used for gaining unfair advantage over other 
community members. (16) Fairness is generally regarded as a fundamental human 
value; it underlies law and many other cultural institutions, and it has been the 
subject of much research in moral psychology and ethics. Haidt [2007: 1001] 
suggests that fairness is one of the “five psychological foundations, each with a 
separate evolutionary origin, upon which human cultures construct their moral 
communities.” (17) 

The idea of fairness is prevalent in the stories because community members 
must rely solely on problem-solving mechanisms already present within the 
village social structure. In contemporary Western law the presupposition is that, 
as a result of the social contract, individuals have delegated to the state their right 
to implement justice. Any crime is understood as an offense not only against the 
harmed individual, but also against the state, and thus is responsible for its 
investigation, trial, and punishment. The state allows citizens’ application of 
justice only in rare and strictly defined cases (e.g. self-defense). However, in the 
world of the stories, the state does not play any role, as if it does not exist. (18) 
The procedure and the underlying worldview conforms not with retributive justice 
meted out by the state and based on punishment, but with the recently emerged, 
in Western countries at least, community-based restorative justice that “actively 
involves victims and offenders in the process of reparation and rehabilitation” 
[Van Ness & Heetderks Strong 2010: 22]. In this system, 

 the response to crime [is], not to add to the harm caused by imposing 
further harm on the offender, but to do as much as possible to restore the 
situation. The community offers aid to the victim; the offender is held 
accountable and required to make reparation. Attention [is] given not 
only to the outcome, but also to evolving a process that respected the 
feelings and humanity of both the victim and the offender. [Wright 1991: 
112]  

Moreover, since it is not only the victim who is wronged, but also the community 
whose values have been breached by the offense, a necessary part of the 
restoration of justice is censure in the legal sense of the word, i.e., condemnation 
of an offensive action. This step reaffirms the victim’s and the community’s moral 



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values. In restorative justice, this act is done jointly by the victim, the community, 
and the offender; by participating in the process, the offender accepts and 
reaffirms the values that were violated by his offense [Wenzel et al., 2008: 379-
80]. We see a similar process the story about the builders and especially in the 
second story about the wolf-husband, in which the community is actively involved 
in reversing the damage and ensuring forgiveness. 

The contemporary concept of restorative justice may also include the threat 
of punishment to make the offender more cooperative [Wenzel et al. 2008]. This 
is also the case in the context of Novoselycja stories: if offenders consider 
themselves to be in a position of power and entitled to abuse it, powerful 
mechanisms must come into play to reinforce the restoration of justice. Once a 
person has a choice between magical punishment and restorative procedures, they 
are usually much more willing to choose the latter. Moreover, fear of magic is 
also a powerful deterrent to future offenses. Magic stories from Novoselycja, as 
in Newfoundland and in early modern Russia, where the law-enforcing state is 
remote (and not involved in local affairs) or abusive, can frighten people into 
considering fairer treatment of others. This practice is an especially important 
instrument for the weak in their attempts to “patrol norms and obligations,” 
[Kivelson 2013: 8]. Accounts of magical punishment serve to put the fear of God, 
or rather, of crossing one’s neighbor, into the hearts of powerful and abusive 
husbands, bullies attacking passers-by for the fun of it, and even milk-stealing 
witches who can be detected and punished by “wise people” possessing stronger 
magic. 

On the other hand, magic is too strong a power to be given free rein in 
society. An adversary possessing supernatural abilities will win over a non-
magical person in every case, which is again unfair and enables potential abuses. 
For example, if a person decides to use his/her supernatural abilities out of the 
human failings of greed or spite, s/he will have the upper hand. Thus magic needs 
to be controlled as well. If a magical person does not want to undo the action and 
compensate the victim, if s/he insists on keeping the ill-gotten gain, other 
mechanisms come into play. There are a (super)natural mechanisms to remind 
magical wrongdoers of their transgressions: they cannot die; or when they die, the 
stolen milk will spill out of their eyes and mouth. However, that mechanism only 
works at the end of one’s life. There is another, societal, mechanism which works 
more quickly: gossip. To be associated with the unfair application of magical 
practices and to be accused of witchcraft is bad for one’s reputation. Haidt calls 
traditional communities “reputation-obsessed” [2007: 1000], and rightly so. 
Spoiled reputation is punished by social ostracism, an easy, low-cost, and very 
effective technique to make one miserable [Haidt 2007: 1000]. Although belief in 
magic, which Haidt does not mention, seems to be one of the most powerful 
traditional instruments of social control, gossip and subsequent isolation are also 
extremely effective tools. It punishes, justly or unjustly, those suspected of any 
association with the unfair use of supernatural powers. I venture to suggest that it 
is rather the fear of that isolation than the fear of the supernatural powers as such 



 

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that makes people publicly deny, and possibly avoid altogether, any insider 
knowledge of supernatural skills. I have so far only met two people who did not 
deny that they “knew something:” a female healer and a man who said he could 
bring good luck. Both had a good reputation in the village and therefore were not 
afraid of being accused of witchcraft. 

Thus, knowledge is power, especially if it is magic knowledge. As one of 
the known types of power, it is built into the traditional system of power and 
resistance in a traditional culture of Novoselycja. 

NOTES 

1� The majority of Rusyn folk texts have been published in L’viv or 
Uzhhorod starting at the end of the 19th c., and during the turbulent century that 
has passed since that time, the collecting and publishing norms for Rusyn folklore 
have also undergone changes. According to Britsyna [2006: 60 ff], a ‘literary’ 
model of collecting and publishing folk texts that had developed in Eastern 
Ukraine in the 19th c. (i.e., texts were written down and then edited by folklorists 
according to their understanding of what the text should look like) became 
dominant in Ukraine in the Soviet period; that was also the model brought into 
the Rusyn territory after 1944 (see below). A different model that Britsyna calls 
‘ethnolinguistic’ [Britsyna 2006: 93] developed at the end of the 19th c. in the 
Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia (before WWI, it was represented by 
Verxrats’kyi, Shuxevych, Hnatiuk, Rozdol’s’kyi, after WWI, Pan’kevych, etc.). 
The scholars using this model were interested in language as well as folklore; they 
preserved linguistic and textual features as closely as they could, taking down 
from dictation being their best option without technical possibilities of sound 
recording. However, these techniques were not without fault; dictation dispenses 
with the atmosphere of performance, so that the performers (or folklorists) might 
choose to omit certain parts, e.g., repetitions [Britsyna 2006: 74-5], or certain 
linguistic features that might turn out to be structurally valuable (see Boudovskaia 
[2016: 17] for analysis of one of such features in two tales from the same district 
in Pan’kevych [1938: 460-463]). Nevertheless, scholars from the ‘ethnolinguistic’ 
school published Rusyn texts that held high standing up to the end of the 20th c. 
However, the ‘literary’ model of folklore collection and publication, possibly 
aggravated by the Soviet practices of producing ‘ideologically correct’ fakelore 
[Britsyna 2006: 88], became the main model for Rusyn folk texts in the 
Subcarpathian territory from 1944 on. In the Soviet era, Rusyn folk texts were 
published in literary Ukrainian, i.e., in translation at best, and their syntax and 
style often were distinctly literary (cf., e.g., Lintur and Chendei 1965, Lintur and 
Turianytsia 1979, Lintur et al. 1984, Khlanta 1989, etc.) 

2� The performance-centered approach to folklore puts material into its 
social context, studies the clues that the performance sends to its audience about 
how to interpret its meaning, as well as examines the feedback from the audience 
and the reaction of the performer(s) to this feedback. Hymes [1975: 18] defined 



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performance as “cultural behavior for which a person assumes responsibility to 
an audience.” He [1975: 71-2] concludes that, “1) knowledge of tradition is not 
the same as performance, though they are interwoven; 2) tradition that had been 
the emphasis of previous folkloristics, is only a means, while for the participants, 
performance is the goal, and 3) tradition underpins performance, but performance 
keeps tradition in existence and also makes change possible.” Similarly, Bauman 
[1975, 1984] argues that verbal art is performance, which is a social action; the 
audience evaluates and shapes the performance; and that it is not only the residual 
culture that is worth of studying, but “the totality of human experience.” 

This concept of performance from the works of Bauman [1975, 1977], Hymes 
[1975], Ben-Amos [1971], Abrahams [1972], Toelken [1969] has become central 
to the discipline. Sawin [2002] takes issue with Bauman’s model, arguing that it 
undertheorizes the audience, leaving out the role of emotions in their perception 
and evaluation of performance. The performance approach by itself is diverse. 
One of the issues is the role of culture in performance: Bauman takes an anti-
cognitivist position, at least in his later work: in 2013 he criticizes Hymes for his 
‘mentalist’ orientation, disapproving of Hymes’ [2003] attitude as “preoccupied 
with what was going on in storytellers’ minds” [Bauman 2013: 36]. He was 
reacting to Hymes’ conclusion [2003: 11] that “to say that stories exist only in 
performance is to say that between performances narrators do not think. That they 
are prisoners of the presence of an audience. That they go about their daily lives, 
encountering nothing that makes them remember a story. That the stories they 
know never pose them problems, from perceived incompetence to contradictions, 
with one another or with their own experience. That, in short, they have very 
limited minds. We should be embarrassed to denigrate them so. To do so seems 
to me intellectually constipated.” In this dispute I side with Hymes’ opinion that 
the culture displayed in folklore pre-exists – and underpins – performance, while 
performance is a means to both maintaining and changing cultural models of 
participants. Similarly, I concur with Toelken [2014: 8] when he asked himself at 
a performance: “What does the [native] audience know that I don’t? What do they 
bring to this dramatic experience that makes the narrative mean something for 
them?” His answer is culture-specific knowledge: “A good story ... makes you 
experience or reexperience something. And that something is an otherwise-
abstract but real idea from your culture, made concrete and experiential through 
the imagination and knowledge | which you bring to the story performance, 
enhanced by the power of the performer” [Toelken 2014: 4-5]. Both Hymes and 
Toelken express the conviction that cultural values are an integral component of 
performance without which it cannot be experienced and understood to a 
meaningful degree. There has been a large body of research dealing with cultural 
values within the performance approach, e.g., Hymes [1975] analyzed the 
performance-based features of a myth and a story based on the same myth, and 
traced the connection of formal features of the two performances and the two sets 
of values: the older values reflected in the myth (validation of the life of the native 
people along the river) vs. contemporary ethic concerns reflected in the story (tall 



 

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stories enforcing the limits of sexual exploit and pretense for men, and cautionary 
stories for women). Among other examples are such diverse works as Foley 
[1991], Limón [1994], Raby [2007], Toelken [2014], etc., and also work done 
with narrative and folklore within the cognitive model school in anthropology, 
such as Hill [1995], Mathews [2005]. Price [1987], etc. However, Rusyn folklore 
has not yet been analyzed from this point of view. 

3� Except for the language of Vojvodina Rusyns, see Pugh [2009]. 
4� For more detailed discussion see Pugh [2009:vii-20]. 
5� There are numerous systemic similarities between the materials recorded 

in Novoselycja and materials from other East Slavic traditions, other Slavic 
traditions, and even neighboring non-Slavic traditions, such as Hungarian and 
Romanian ones. Some sources will be noted below. Nevertheless, I will not 
include a consideration of parallels with other traditions, however tempting it 
might be, because it is beyond the scope of an analysis of attitudes to supernatural 
powers based on the material from one particular village. The Carpatho-Rusyn 
material from the territory south of the Carpathian ridge may be found in 
Bogatyrev [1929/1998], Hnatiuk [1897, 1898, 1900], Lintur & Turianytsia 
[1979], Lintur et al. [1984], Khlanta [1989], Hyriak [1965], etc. Material from the 
Northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains is presented in Rozdol’sk’yj [1899, 
1900]; Hnatiuk [1899, 1902, 1902a, 1904], Franko [1901-1910]; Onyščuk [1909], 
to name a few. Relevant material from Polissia, Eastern Ukraine is systematized 
in Vinogradova & Levkievskaja [2010].; Hungarian material may be found e.g., 
in Dégh [1989]. 

6� The concept of fairness I use to describe the values in Novoselycja is not 
to be confused with the idea of limited good. According to Foster [1965], the idea 
of limited good is a feature of peasant mentality which considers all good things 
in the community to be limited: not only wealth, but also social goods such as 
respect, as well as health, etc. Therefore, if one member of the community 
increases his/her relative well-being in any regard, other members are suffering 
because the corresponding amount of good has been taken from them. Thus, the 
peasant has to either keep the status quo or conceal his advancements from the 
community. However, fairness as I understand it here is something different than 
not getting ahead of others; it allows competition, but demands competing on 
equal footing with other people, using the same means as they do, and not 
employing stronger tools, such as magic, to secure unfair advantages for oneself. 

7� Stories 1, 3, and 4 contain additional information about the number of 
the recording they are transcribed from, as well as the time in hh:mm. Story 1 is 
taken from recording #2 in the collection of 2012, minutes 7 through 10. Story 3 
is taken from recording #21 in the collection of 2014, hour 1, minute 42, through 
hour 1, minute 45. Story 4 is taken from recording #4 in the collection of 1987, 
minute 50, through hour 1, minute 1. 

8� The woman apparently was performing witchcraft. Taking clay from 
cows’ footprints is one of the acts people do when they intend to steal a cow’s 
milk. The facts that the woman was wearing only a sack, and that it happened on 
a holiday, also suggest witchcraft. 



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9� I am very grateful to Professor Vera Bergelson (Rutgers Law School) for 
her invaluable advice on the possibilities and limits of application of 
contemporary legal doctrine to the two werewolf cases. 

10�There are other versions of the same story I recorded in this village, but 
they are shorter. Other tellers ended the story with the recognition, or added that 
after it, the husband turned into a wolf and fled. All versions were recorded from 
female tellers. 

11�Novoselycja was Greek Catholic until the Transcarpathian territory was 
annexed to the USSR in 1944-45; from 1946 on, people were forced to convert to 
Orthodoxy. By 1987 they followed Orthodox rites. However, the two 
denominations share similar practices of confession and absolution. 

12�Speakers may volunteer to provide a description of what they witnessed, 
but they usually are reluctant to talk about how supernatural powers work, 
apparently for fear of being accused of knowing too much about magic, which is 
tantamount to an accusation of actually performing witchcraft. This issue will be 
discussed below. 

13�There is a large body of literature about gender division of labor in 
traditional agricultural societies; such division is considered to be characteristic 
of, and historically, possibly the basis for, patriarchy; see, e.g., the discussion in 
Quinn [in press]; the understanding of such division as normal and morally 
righteous tends to linger in more modern, but in essence still patriarchal societies, 
where a person defines their identity through their (gendered) labor [cf. Paoletti 
& Cavallaro Johnson 2007]. Gender-age groups are known to have distinct roles 
not only in physical labor, but in rituals and in other forms of folklife; e.g., in 
Slavic tradition for traditional Russian culture(s); see Bernshtam [1988] and 
Olson & Adonyeva [2012]. It is not surprising, therefore, that genders in 
Novoselycja have distinct roles in magic activities: men do building magic and 
repel thunderstorms, while women engage in milk stealing and transferring 
diseases. Both genders can magically detect and punish a witch or another 
offender. A more detailed account of gender-based division of supernatural 
activities in Novoselycja merits further investigation. This division seems to exist 
in other Slavic cultures as well. Ostling [2011: 127-8]), basing on material from 
witch trials. states that in Poland, and throughout Europe, “witches were, above 
all, thieves of milk.” This is corroborated by Polish court documents from the 15th 
and 16th centuries, while records of witches harming other household animals are 
almost non-existent. 

14�Silence is often a way of signalling a culturally default point, obvious 
and not worthy of mentioning in the eyes of community members. However, as 
in this case, this point is important and worthy of mention for outsiders to 
understand the culture. As Hill [2005: 180] points out, “one part of finding culture 
in narrative is noticing what speakers do not tell stories about, and what they seem 
to ‘leave out’ as they narrate.” 

15�Supernatural abilities, as mentioned above, can also be used to ensure 
fair treatment of the less powerful and to scare the powerful into a more respectful 
stance towards the powerless; see Kivelson; see also Rieti [2008] describing the 



 

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witch lore of Newfoundland, where the main pattern of witch stories is that a 
woman comes to somebody’s house to ask for food or clothing; the owner of the 
house does not give anything and receives magical retribution. Newfoundland 
witch lore coincides in its ethics with the lore of Novoselycja in several important 
points. Firstly, Rieti [2018: xiv] states that the organizing point of Newfoundland 
witch lore is the idea of reciprocity and fairness. Secondly, Rieti mentions that 
Newfoundland is the poorest part of Canada in terms of per capita income, but it 
is also ‘a national leader in charitable donations, which may indicate that 
Newfoundland inhabitants, practicing subsistence economy until recently, also 
retained the idea of fairness described by Scott [1976], i.e., it is moral that each 
member of the community should have sufficient sustenance. Thirdly, Rieti 
[2008: 24] mentions that ‘witching offered women a voice’ in fishing and other 
areas that were otherwise exclusively male domains, i.e., witchcraft served to 
partially compensate for gendered power imbalance. Finally, according to Rieti 
[2008: xiv] quoting Story [1969: 33], Newfoundland villages had been without 
administration or state-imposed law for a considerable time in the 18th and early 
19th centuries.; instead, people had customs “unenforced by magistrate, constable 
or town council.” See also note 4 [Rieti 2008: 153]. This similarity is striking 
when compared to the world of Novoselycja, where the state as enforcer of justice 
is not mentioned at all and seems not to exist. 

16�Fair treatment should be given even to mythical creatures. In 
Novoselycja I recorded a story about a povitrulja (in other villages of the 
Transcarpathian region and the neighboring Ivano-Frankivsk region it is told 
about perelisnycja - Kira Sadoja, personal communication). The povitrulja (or 
perelisnycja) is a creature who follows an unmarried young man, sleeps with him, 
and does not leave him until he becomes magically sick and dies. In this story, a 
woman starts sweeping the floor in the morning and sees a povitrulja sleeping 
with her son; the povitrulja’s long hair is hanging down onto the floor. The woman 
picks it up and puts it on the bed next to povitrulja, who wakes up and says, ‘You 
have shown respect to my hair, and I will show respect to your son.’ She leaves 
and never comes back. Therefore, even an inherently evil creature responds to fair 
treatment in kind and, after being shown respect, decides to leave the young man 
alone and spares his life. 

17�The other four are: harm/care; loyalty; authority; and purity [Haidt 
2007:1001]. 

18�  I am not specifying the type of social organization of village life that 
this type of ethics might correspond to. One possibility is self-governance, similar 
to the one Svetieva (2005) describes for Macedonian village of Porece with 
traditional punishments for common offences meted out by village head together 
with elected officials. However, my focus is more on the system of ethics than on 
customary law practices. 



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INTERVIEWS 

Story 1. “Girl milking a rope.” Told by M, male, born 1925 in Novoselycja. 
Recorded 21 July 2012. 

Story 2. “Children see a woman doing witchcraft.” Told by A, female, born 1936 
in Novoselycja. Recorded 17 July 2012. 

Story 3. “The Old Man and the Builders.” Told by HK, female, born 1925 in 
Novoselycja and IS, male, born 1960. Recorded 16 August 2014. 

Story 4. “Two stories about husband turning into a wolf.” Told by P, female, born 
1920 in Novoselycja. Recorded in January 1987. 



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33 

Story 5. “How people pass on supernatural knowledge.” Told by HK, female, born 
1925 in Novoselycja and L, female, born 1962. Recorded 7 July 2016. 

Story 6. “Woman did not pour milk on live coals.” Told by E, female, born 1938 
in Novoselycja. Recorded 7 June 2016.  

 
All stories recorded in Novoselycja, Mizhhir’ja district, Zakarpats’ka Oblast’, 
Ukraine.