Bolotnik

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In Slavic mythology, bolotnik (Russian: болотник, pronounced [bɐˈɫotʲnʲɪk]; from boloto, "swamp"), balotnik (Belarusian: балотнiк), bolotianyk (Ukrainian: болотяник) or błotnik (Polish; [ˈbwɔtnik]; "mud" or "puddle") is a male swamp spirit. There are many descriptions of bolotnik. Usually he was portrayed as a man or an old man who has big, frog-like eyes, a green beard and long hair. His body is covered with dirt, algae and fish scales. The legends from the Vitebsk Governorate of Russia said that bolotnik is a dirty, fat, eyeless creature that motionlessly sits at the bottom of the swamp. In some accounts bolotnik is also said to have long arms and a tail. Just like the majority of Slavic water spirits, he would lure and drag people into the water if they got close to the edge. It is believed that bolotnik has neither wife nor children; in the other legends he is married to bolotnitsa, a female swamp spirit. Bolotniki (plural) are rarely found in folklore, and the swamp-dwelling spirit was often thought of as a kind of vodyanoy, leshy or chort. The image of a bolotnitsa was mixed with those of a rusalka, a vodyaniha, a leshachikha, a «wild hag» and a swamp kikimora.