Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Bal ...

, a vidmak ( be, вядзьмак, вядзьмар; bg, вещер; hr, vještac; cz, vědmák; mk, вештер; pl, wiedźmak; russian: ведьмак; sr, вештац; uk, відьмак) is a warlock or male

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

, the female equivalent (witch) being ''vedma'', but unlike the latter, the vedmak may also possess positive qualities. For example, they treat people and animals. On the other hand, they are thought to be people connected to the devil, and are capable of bringing harm by sending illnesses, killing cattle, spoiling a harvest, etc.Yefimova's Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian language, 2000. The word was also used as an insult. A vedmak can turn into any animal or any object. ''Vedmak'' stems from Proto-Slavic *vědět ("to know") and

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

вѣдь ("knowledge; witchcraft", compare the use of the term "

cunning Cunning may refer to: * Cunning (owarai), a Japanese comedy group * Cunning folk Cunning folk, also known as folk healers or wise folk, were practitioners of folk medicine, helpful folk magic and divination in Europe from the Middle Ages until ...

" in English folklore). Under the influence of '' The Witcher'' fantasy saga by Andrzej Sapkowski, the term ''vedmak'' is sometimes also rendered as "witcher" in English in certain contexts. The word used for "witcher" in the original Polish version of the novels, "wiedźmin", was coined by Sapkowski himself as a

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

, while the word "wiedźmak" (

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...

of "vedmak") is used in the books only as a derogatory term for witchers. "Ведьмак" is also the word used to translate "wiedźmin" in the Russian translation of the books.Stworzyłem wiedźmina
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References

Slavic legendary creatures Ukrainian mythology Russian mythology Shapeshifting European witchcraft {{Mythology-stub

See also

References