A krsnik (female: krsnicaNada Kerševan, ''Vəkuli riti v garžet: Zgodbe s Kraškega roba do Brkinov, Sežane in Razdrtega'', 2016,
p.75
/ref>) or kresnik is a type of vampire hunter, a shaman whose spirit wanders from the body in the form of an animal. The ''krsnik'' turns into an animal at night to fight off the ''kudlak'', his evil

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

antithesis, with the ''krsnik'' appearing as a white animal and the ''kudlak'' as a black one. The ''krsnik''s soul leaves the body, either voluntarily or due to a higher power, to fight evil agents and ensure good harvest, health, and happiness. The ''krsnik'' is taught magic by '' Vile'' (fairies), and in traditional medicine has the ability to heal people and cattle. However, due to the undocumented nature of oral tradition, it is difficult to determine with certainty how much of ''kresnik'' folklore originated from Slavic mythology, and how much arose from a separate shamanistic tradition. Some postulate the struggle between the ''kresnik'' and the ''kudlak'' reflects an earlier dualistic tradition inherited from Slavic polytheism; however, a struggle between two tribes of sorcerers over the fate of the harvest is a common

mytheme In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed—a m ...

among peoples of the northern Adriatic regardless of their ethnicity. A similar motif is found among the Romance inhabitants of nearby

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

, who call their equivalent to the Slavic ''kresnici'' the

Benandanti The () were members of an agrarian visionary tradition in the Friuli district of Northeastern Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The claimed to travel out of their bodies while asleep to struggle against malevolent sorcerers (; ) in order ...

. After

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

, the ''kresnik'' instead was claimed to have learned magic at the School of Black Magic in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

, yet retained benevolent traits as a generous and powerful friend of the poor. The origin of the name may be from the word ''krst'', which means "cross", and which in Serbia is the word for a stone sign denoting village boundaries. It may also be derived from the same root as the Slav word for "resurrection," so that the word itself means something approximating "resurrector." Similar beliefs circulated among the Italian

cult.

In popular culture

* In the novel, anime, and manga series ''

Trinity Blood is a series of Japanese light novels written by Sunao Yoshida with illustrations by Thores Shibamoto and originally serialized in ''The Sneaker''. Set 900 years after an apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, the series focuses on the ...

'', a "Crusnik" is a

that feeds on the blood of other vampires. ''Lilith Sahl, Cain, Seth, and Abel Nightroad'' are

Crusnik A krsnik (female: krsnicaNada Kerševan, ''Vəkuli riti v garžet: Zgodbe s Kraškega roba do Brkinov, Sežane in Razdrtega'', 2016, p.75/ref>) or kresnik is a type of vampire hunter, a shaman whose spirit wanders from the body in the form of an ...

who are much more powerful than regular vampires, who have the bacillus kudlak. They all take different forms: Cain appears as an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

with white wings, even though he is the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ic with black wings and red eyes, while being the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

. Kudlak also appears in the series as a bacillus that is responsible for the creation of "normal" vampires. * ''Kresnik'' and ''Kudlak'' are recurring characters in the ''

Shin Megami Tensei ''Megami Tensei'', marketed internationally as ''Shin Megami Tensei'' (formerly ''Revelations''), is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji Okada, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed ...

'' series of video games. * ''Kresnik'' is the name of a mythological hero in ''

Tales of Xillia is an action role-playing game released exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It is the twenty-second main installment of the Tales (video game series), ''Tales'' series and is developed by Namco Tales Studio with Namco Bandai Games as the publish ...

''. A superweapon bearing the name "Lance of Kresnik" is a plot device. The

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

features one of the hero's descendants, named Ludger Will Kresnik. A plot-significant machine named ''Kudlak'' is also present. * The main villain in ''Darkness Hunts'' by

Keri Arthur Keri Arthur (born 4 December 1967) is a writer of fantasy, horror fiction, and romance novels from Melbourne, Australia. Her books have received many nominations and prizes, including nods from the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards and P ...

is a male serial killer who believes he is a kresnik hunting down supposed kudlaks and murdering them. * ''Kudlak'' appears as a card in the online

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...

Shadowverse ''Shadowverse'' is a digital collectible card game developed and published by Cygames. It was released free-to-play for iOS and Android devices in June 2016. macOS and Windows versions were released in October 2016. ''Shadowverse'' employs an an ...

. The mechanics of the card allow copies of Kudlak to be placed in the player’s deck after his defeat, which mirrors the theme of Kudlak’s recurring return.

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading