Lady Midday
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Poludnitsa (from: ''Polden'' or ''Poluden'', 'half-day' or 'midday') is a mythical character common to the various Slavic countries of
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. She is referred to as Południca in Polish, Полудниця in Ukrainian, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Serbian, Bulgarian and
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, Polednice in
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
, Poludnica in Slovak, Připołdnica in
Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...
, and Полознича (Poloznicha) in Komi, Chirtel Ma in
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
. The plural form of this word is poludnitsy (or poludnici). Poludnitsa is a
noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...
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 ...
in
Slavic mythology Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and ...
. She can be referred to in English as "Lady Midday", "Noonwraith" or "noon witch". She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds. She assailed folk working at noon, causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck; sometimes she even caused madness. In some accounts, she symbolizes the midday
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
, thereby being the sister of Zarya-Zarenitsa (the morning star; also called Utrenica), Vechorka (the evening star; also called Wieczornica/Vechernitsa) and Kupalnitsa (the night star; also called Nocnica/Nochnitsa); Poludnitsa is the second youngest among the sisters, with Zarya-Zarenitsa being the youngest and Kupalnitsa being the oldest.


Legend

Poludnitsa, who makes herself evident in the middle of hot summer days, takes the form of whirling dust clouds and carries a
scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...
,
sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...
or shears; most likely the shears would be of an older style, not akin to modern scissors. She will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them with illness. She may appear as an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a 12-year-old girl, and she was useful in scaring children away from valuable crops. She is only seen on the hottest part of the day and is a personification of a
sun-stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun-stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...
. According to some northern Russian regions, Poludnitsa has a giant frying pan in her hands, with which she either blocks the rye from the scorching sun's rays, or burns the rye along with the herbs during the flowering period. She may also appear at
midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...
and show a person how to find a flower that can make them invisible, as was believed in the
Arkhangelsk Governorate Arkhangelsk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk. The governorate was located in the north of the Russ ...
. Poludnitsa, according to beliefs, loves to dance. If she sees a girl lying down to rest in the field, she will wake her up and begin to persuade her to dance. If the girl agrees, she will be forced to dance until the «evening dawn». Poludnitsa cannot be beaten in dancing; however, if such a girl is found, the noon spirit will present her with a rich dowry. Slavonic spirits and deities remained a popular element of rural Polish folklore at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, as shown by Władysław Reymont in his Nobel Prize-winning novel ''Chłopi'' (The Peasants). Its story takes place during the 1880s in
Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...
and follows the everyday life of the peasantry in a typical Polish village. In the tenth chapter of book two, some of the characters gather together to exchange stories and legends, in one of which the ''południca'' is mentioned twice alongside other traditionally Slavic beings.


Other mythology

In Wendish mythology, Přezpołdnica (in
Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...
, Připołdnica in
Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...
) is known as ''Mittagsfrau'' ("Lady Midday") among German speakers of Eastern
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
's
Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...
( Sorbian ''Łužica'', German ''Lausitz'') and in the now only German-speaking parts of what used to be the larger region of Old Lusatia. Farther north and west in formerly predominantly Slavic-speaking areas of Germany, especially in the state of
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
(
Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...
''Branneborg'', Sorbian ''Braniborska''), a related mythological spirit appears to be the '' Roggenmuhme'' ("lady of the rye") that makes children disappear when they search for flowers in among the tall grain plants on hot summer days. In the
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The Altmark (; English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Vo ...
, it is the ''Regenmöhme'' "with her heat" that will abduct ill-behaved children, and in the formerly Polabian-speaking heath region around Lunenburg (German ''
Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...
'') in
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
, the
Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...
(Low German) name of this bugbear is ''Kornwief'' (formerly spelled ''Kornwyf'', meaning «woman of the corn» or «lady of the grain plants»). In the vicinity of
Prudnik Prudnik (, , , ) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitant ...
in
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
, people believed in the Cornflower Wraith ( Polish ''Chabernica''), a demon similar to Lady Midday. She was usually pictured as a young slim woman dressed in azure with cornflowers in her hair, that roamed field bounds during midday. She was angered by people who trampled the grain or used sharp tools. Those, who she thought deserved punishment, were put to sleep with her whisper, after which she caused them
headache A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of Depression (mood), depression in those with severe ...
,
paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...
or
low back pain Low back pain or wiktionary:lumbago#Etymology, lumbago is a common musculoskeletal disorders, disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can var ...
. Sometimes she attacked her victims by breaking their arms, legs or neck. To avoid the wrath of the Cornflower Wraith, a worker had to take a break from work during the midday of
Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...
.


See also

* '' The Noon Witch'' * '' The Mid-day Witch'', wikisource * The Noonday Demon


References

{{Authority control Slavic demons Female legendary creatures
Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...