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51-768: He may appear to be a naked man with a pot belly (and bald-headed) wearing a hat and belt of reeds and rushes , conflicting with other accounts ascribing him green hair and a long green beard. The varying look has been attributed in commentary to his shape-shifting ability. When angered, the vodyanoy breaks dams, washes down water mills, and drowns people and animals. Consequently, fishermen, millers, and also bee-keepers make sacrifices to appease him. The vodyanoy would sometimes drag people down to his underwater dwelling to serve him as slaves. The vodník in Czechia or Slovakia were said to use colored ribbons (sometimes impersonating peddlers, but also tying them to grass, etc., as lures in

102-464: A bolotnyanik ( Болотняник ). His usual appearance is that of a naked old man with a fat paunch of a belly and swollen face according to the Russian folklore collector, but a later English commentary using similar phraseology insisted the creature was not nude but bald, and concatenates additional commentary from the Russian source which says he is seen naked but covered in slime（ тина ), wearing

153-473: A Bohemian version of the butcher tale, a man from Předměřice was really a vodník, regularly shopping from a butcher at Tuřice , but the out-of-town man's habit of pointing the finger at the piece of meat he wanted annoyed the butcher into cutting a finger off one day. But two days later, he was taking the valley path along the Iser ( Jizera ) and encountered a huge frog which the curious butcher, but it turned into

204-739: A Summer ), heavy rainfall, storms , floods , or drought , or by slow, cumulative effects of soil degradation , too-high soil salinity , erosion , desertification , usually as results of drainage , overdrafting (for irrigation ), overfertilization , or overexploitation . In history, crop failures and subsequent famines have triggered human migration , rural exodus , etc. The proliferation of industrial monocultures , with their reduction in crop diversity and dependence on heavy use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides , has led to overexploited soils that are nearly incapable of regeneration . Over years, unsustainable farming of land degrades soil fertility and diminishes crop yield . With

255-500: A dripping wet coat. He is known as the "green man" at the market, appearing like an ordinary man wearing a green coat, with the left coat-tip ( šos ) always wet, and also missing the thumb on his left hand. The merchants welcome him because when he makes purchases, business does well. The vodník lures people into the water to drown them, and those who bathe after hours are especially vulnerable, but he can only drown those who were fated to die that way. Fishermen were afraid of saving

306-424: A drowning man from the clutches of a vodník, because they would come in a bad way and wind up being drowned themselves. In one version the water demon spans a fine invisible net across the river to trap people. But he sits in the grass mending his nets on Friday, his day off from man-snatching. The peddler vodník displays some sort of trinkets hanging on a rack in order to lure his prey into water. Most especially

357-411: A high boyar hat  [ ru ] ) made of green " club-rush " (or other sedges ) and a green belt of that same "grass". He is also described as an old man with green hair and (long) green beard The green beard turns white with when the moon wanes, as the immortal Vodyanoy ages or rejuvenates with the phases of the moon . Or, rather than wearing plant-based clothing, a different source states he

408-469: A high price it forewarns spike in market price, i.e., crop failure . But if he buys at low price, the bread will remain cheap. The vodyanik "owns" all the fish and aquatic creatures, and his control over them explains his ability to deliver fish. The vodyanik selects in particular the sheatfish ( сом ; Silurus glanis , aka "wels catfish") as his mount to ride on. But he will catch the farmers' cattle or horses (in water) and ride them till they drop dead in

459-442: A magic wand. The vodník's wife instructs the woman to sweep and take home the sweepings (which later turn out to be gold and silver), but not to touch the covered pots. The godmother disobeys and overturns a pot revealing a soul had been captured inside. Then in a double pot she finds the soul of her two drowned children, who tells her they were thus captured by the vodník and could not ascend to heaven. She takes her childrens' souls in

510-554: A non-agricultural sense, the word "harvesting" is an economic principle which is known as an exit event or liquidity event . For example, if a person or business was to cash out of an ownership position in a company or eliminate their investment in a product, it is known as a harvest strategy. Harvesting or Domestic Harvesting in Canada refers to hunting, fishing, and plant gathering by First Nations , Métis , and Inuit in discussions of aboriginal or treaty rights . For example, in

561-451: A peasant encounters a waterman (from a lake in Kriváň (village) ) pursuing another waterman who stole his wife, guiding him to the lake of the perpetrator. The peasant watches as an underwater fight ensues, culminating in bubbling froth turning red, signaling a bad outcome, and the peasant flees as forewarned. Slovakian folklore also speak of the vodník's pot ( vodníkove hrnce ), attested in

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612-413: A pinch of tobacco in the water and saying, "Here's your tobacco, Lord Vodník, now give me a fish." The Bohemian male water demon came to be called vodník or Hastermann , but their ancient names have not been found in older sources. It dwells in every river, stream, or pond. Though several may share a body of water, they keep themselves apart since they are antagonistic towards each other. Sometimes

663-458: A poor day-laborer woman's eldest daughter becomes the Hastermann's servant, and when she sweeps, the dust she collects is gold. She liberates a soul from a noisy jar, which turns out to be her brother. She is forgiven, but after serving many years, homesickness hardens her decision to flee, and she frees all the souls on departure. The hastrmann pursues but she returns home to her siblings. In

714-463: A relative of the vodyanoy and the leshy . There are many descriptions of him, but most often he was imagined as an old man with long green beard and his body covered in fish scales and algae. The bolotnik is dangerous, and he would pose an especially huge threat to those who play shepherd's pipe at night. In order to lure the person to the swamp, he would parody the sounds of various animals, create wandering lights and grow intoxicating plants. This spirit

765-474: A steadily-increasing world population and local overpopulation , even slightly diminishing yields are already the equivalent to a partial harvest failure. Fertilizers obviate the need for soil regeneration in the first place, and international trade prevents local crop failures from developing into famines. Harvesting commonly refers to grain and produce, but also has other uses: fishing and logging are also referred to as harvesting. The term harvest

816-416: A tale and a legend concerning the hastermann or vodnik living near mills. The net-casting vodník (cf. § Man-snatching below) is described as a green man, and comes out of the water combing his green hair on a day he does not hunt drowning victims. But in several accounts he manifests himself as an ordinary human being (cf. § As frogs ), or the peddler by the pond north of Přeštice , wearing

867-463: A vodník can be identified because the left side of his coat ( kabát ) is always dripping wet. Some ascribe long flowing hair, or blazing eyes as large as dishes ( tanier ). It allegedly appeared out of the stream in the form of a "little green boy", according to one witness. The boatmen on the Váh claim to have witnessed the vodník looking like a man with the head of a black ram, though another that

918-503: Is a compound word, from kalamos (cane) + aulos (flute). At the time, the best cane for flutes came from the banks of river Kephissos, in Attica, Greece. Several kalamaulos tuned differently and tied together, made a syrinx or Panpipes . A. donax is still the principal source material of reed makers for clarinets , saxophones , oboes , bassoons , bagpipes , and other woodwind instruments. The Var country in southern France contains

969-436: Is also used in reference to harvesting grapes for wine . Wild harvesting refers to the collection of plants and other edible supplies which have not been cultivated. Within the context of irrigation , water harvesting refers to the collection and run-off of rainwater for agricultural or domestic uses. Instead of harvest , the term exploit is also used, as in exploiting fisheries or water resources. Energy harvesting

1020-588: Is an absent or greatly diminished crop yield relative to expectation, caused by the plants being damaged, killed, or destroyed, or affected in some way that they fail to form edible fruit, seeds, or leaves in their expected abundance. Crop failures can be caused by catastrophic events such as plant disease outbreaks (such as the Great Famine in Ireland ), volcanic eruptions (such as the Year Without

1071-551: Is an isolated Czech example of the water-demon being human-like but transforming into frog, but the water-demon's wife being froglike is commonplace . A widely known tale type of vodník or wife hiring a woman as godmother or housekeeper tale is found in Czech and Slovak versions. Czech, Slovenian and Slovak tales have both evil and good watermen (relative to human beings) who do (or don't, respectively) try to drown people when they happen to swim in their territory. Vodníci would store

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1122-551: Is believed that vodyanoys have a ruler: the Tsar Vodyanik, or the Vodyan Tsar. He is described as an old man armed with a club , who can rise to the sky sitting on a black cloud and create new rivers and lakes. The Russian vodyanoy answers to Czech (and Slovak ) vodník , Slovene vodeni mož ("water-man"), and Polish topielec ("Drowner"). These water demons of West and South Slavic lore are similar to

1173-488: Is covered in weeds and slime, and scaly-skinned in his true form. Or rather a figure of giant stature covered in grass and moss. Or be "quite black with enormous red eyes and a nose as long as a fisherman's boot". Or that he is human-faced, but has huge toes, paws instead of hands, long horns, a tail, and eyes that burn like red-hot coals. He has the capability of shape-shifting. and this has been suggested as an explanation of its varied descriptions. He may crawl out of water in

1224-492: Is often said to be a loner, although in some beliefs he has a wife, a bolotnitsa. Vodyanitsa ( Russian : водяница ) is a beautiful green-haired water maiden, and she is often said to be the wife of a vodyanoy. This spirit sometimes appears in the form of a golden-finned fish or a white swan. Vodyanitsy (plural: Russian : водяницы ) prefer forested lakes, mill ponds, wells and (less commonly) seas as their habitat. They are considered harmless spirits, although sometimes they tear

1275-430: Is the process of capturing and storing energy (such as solar power , thermal energy, wind energy , salinity gradients, and kinetic energy ) that would otherwise go unexploited. Body harvesting , or cadaver harvesting , is the process of collecting and preparing cadavers for anatomical study. In a similar sense, organ harvesting is the removal of tissues or organs from a donor for purposes of transplanting. In

1326-486: Is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses for harvest, typically using a scythe , sickle , or reaper . On smaller farms with minimal mechanization , harvesting is the most labor -intensive activity of the growing season. On large mechanized farms, harvesting uses farm machinery , such as

1377-443: The combine harvester . Automation has increased the efficiency of both the seeding and harvesting processes. Specialized harvesting equipment, using conveyor belts for gentle gripping and mass transport, replaces the manual task of removing each seedling by hand. The term "harvesting" in general usage may include immediate postharvest handling, including cleaning, sorting, packing, and cooling. The completion of harvesting marks

1428-730: The order Poales (in the modern, expanded circumscription), and include: Many different cultures have used reeds in construction of buildings of various types for at least thousands of years. One contemporary example is the Marsh Arabs . Phragmites australis , the common reed , is used in many areas for thatching roofs. In the United Kingdom , common reed used for this purpose is known as "Norfolk reed" or "water reed". However, "wheat reed" and "Devon reed" are not reeds but long-stemmed wheat straw. Ancient Greeks used Arundo donax to make flutes known as kalamaulos; this

1479-418: The vodník enters into a loving relationship with a human woman, and will live together with the family he has formed, but otherwise the bachelors are solitary. Those in the pond are considered more feral, living amongst the reeds, but those in the river are believed to live in crystal palaces in a whole expansive world found underwater, where they keep the souls of the drowned dead, inside pots. There are also

1530-609: The East Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, etc.) conception, though there are certain differences. The Czech and Slovak vodníci (plural of vodník ) can also take on an appearance of ordinary humans, but often with water dripping from their clothing, which makes their false identity easily discernable. But their version says the demon, sometimes impersonating peddlers, use colored ribbons to lure humans. Some accounts give them green color, and also long hair or beard in Slovak versions. There

1581-416: The activity of reaping, gathering, and storing grain and other grown products during the autumn season, and also the grain and other grown products themselves. "Harvest" was also verbified : "To harvest " means to reap, gather, and store the harvest (or the crop). People who harvest and equipment that harvests are harvesters; while they do it, they are harvesting. Crop failure (also known as harvest failure)

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1632-413: The bee-keeper wishing for a bounty of honey would choose the midnight hour of the feast days of Saints Zosimus and Sabbatius and dip a honeycomb into the water by the mill, while pronouncing an incantation. He will also foretell the coming harvest. He comes into the village disguised as human, but the edge of his coat ( балахон ) will be visibly wet, and gives himself away. If he buys corn (grain) at

1683-503: The best-known supply of instrument reeds. Bamboo and, even more commonly, rattan stems are used as "reed sticks" to wick and disperse the scent of essential oils in aroma diffusers. (See Rattan § Food source .) Certain reed species were used in the manufacture of the writing implement, Reed pen s, by scribes of antiquity . The use is still in practice today within the field of Art , specifically Calligraphy . (see Calligraphy § Tools .) Crop failure Harvesting

1734-448: The boon of the vodyanoy, receiving a bountiful harvest in their fishing nets. He may receive this reward after returning a child which was accidentally netted. The fishermen offer sacred libation, especially melted butter or oil ( масло ) into the river. There seems to have been a cult recognizing vodyanoy as a patron saint of bee-keeping , as evidenced by the old custom of bagging the first swarm of bees and sacrificing it in water. And

1785-525: The client he maimed and dragged the butcher into water. Matěj Mikšíček  [ cz ] recorded a tale about the pregnant wife of a vodník ( vodníkova žena ) in frog form, which compelled a housekeeper named Liduška to be its child's godmother, though this tale type has been discussed elsewhere as a widely disseminated piece of Slovak folklore (see § Frog wives under §Slovakia). In this Moravian version (but recorded in Bohemian dialect [?]),

1836-467: The creature's finger-marks on his neck. In Ukraine, children were instructed to chant a certain rhyme before going bathing/swimming. He is known to take on a wife (or wives), and espouses "water-nymphs or drowned and unhappy girls who have been cursed by their fathers or mothers". According to Afanasyev , the "water-nymph" ("water-maiden") is known by various names in Russia, including the rusalka . It

1887-406: The dark of the night and comb his (green) hair on shore, but he can also appear in the form of a naked woman combing her hair. He may be heard all along the shore while he is slapping the water with his palm ( ладонь , or paw ) on moonlit nights. He can appear as a giant moss-covered fish, a log or even a flying tree-trunk with small-wings, skimming over the water's surface. Since he tampers with

1938-710: The end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop, and the social importance of this event makes it the focus of seasonal celebrations such as harvest festivals , found in many cultures and religions. " Harvest ", a noun, came from the Old English word hærf-est (coined before the Angles moved from Angeln to Britain) meaning " autumn " (the season), "harvest-time", or "August". (It continues to mean "autumn" in British dialect, and "season of gathering crops" generally.) "The harvest" came to also mean

1989-430: The former Trencsén County (now Trenčín Region or District ), and anecdotally, in the northwestern village of Boky  [ sk ] (now attached to Budča ) a stream was home to a vodný ("aquatic" man) who purchased pots to trap souls inside. Also according to Boky lore, the vodník had a long beard, and would be naked one moment, then be wearing a blouse ( halena ) dripping water from its side. Some say

2040-470: The guise of a red-haired man wearing green peddled green ribbons to a village woman, but the goods turned into grass when she returned home. The vodník or hastrmann maintains a collection of captured souls inside pots in his underwater palace or mansion, as in the tale localized in Moldautein ( Týn nad Vltavou ), here specified as "earthenware" ( German : irdenen ) pots also filled with water. Here

2091-440: The landscape) to attract humans near water in order to snatch them. In Russia, the vodyanoy is sometimes called the dedushka vodyanoy ( Дѣдушка-водяной , "Water-Grandfather") or vodyanik ( водяник ). He is said to dwell in a slough ( омут ), kettle hole ( Котловина ), or a whirlpool of a river, pond or lake, and liked especially to live near a watermill . One that dwells in marshlands may be called

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2142-435: The nets and spoil the millstones; the sea vodyanitsy are more aggressive than freshwater ones and are dangerous to ships. According to some beliefs, the main difference between the vodyanitsa and other water spirits is that she is a baptized drowned girl. The term is often used synonymously for rusalka . Reed (plant) Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-like plants of wetlands . They are all members of

2193-412: The peddler ( kramář ) vodník uses the colorful ribbon ( Czech : stuha , pl. stuhy ; pentle or its dim. pentlička to lure humans, according to numerous accounts. In Podskalí  [ cs ] Quarter of Prague, the vodník was seen on a raft ( vor , pl. locative vorách ) in the evenings, and he hangs a red ribbons over the water to lure children and drag them down. A vodník in

2244-468: The pot and makes an escape; thereafter, the river throws up the children's bodies, and they breathe back to life. This tale type is classed as ATU subtype 476* "In the Frog House", where the type example is a Hungarian folktale, but listing Bulgarian and Polish cognate tales, and Slovene and other comparisons as well. Bolotnik ( Russian : болотник ) is the owner of the swamp. He is often considered

2295-414: The souls of the drowned inside pots, and the liberated souls can ascend to heaven, or even revive. Except for fish (or perhaps fish spirits), they do not have servants. Otherwise, vodníci spend their time running their territory or – in their spare time – playing cards, smoking pipes or just sitting at the water surface (on rocks or willows nearby) and loitering. Fishermen ask the vodník for help by placing

2346-464: The vodník returns from his absence in the guise of a red ribbon ( červené mašle ), attempting to lure and snatch Liduška, just as he is wont to do with girls with rakes haymaking on meadows by the river. But in Jungbunzlau ( Mladá Boleslav ) it was rumored the water demon maintained two castles on the Iser ( Jizera ), one by the mill, and other by the brickhouse. At mill was seen a vodník who

2397-436: The waterwheel, the dikes, or control of water if he is not pleased, an operator of a mill must know how to have a good relationship with him. When a watermill is built, a sacrifice of pig, cattle, sheep, or even human (or a chicken) must be made to appease the vodyanik. There are reported cases of watermills destroyed by him (at Lake Ilmen for instance), and may drown a person as forewarned. The fisherman can also benefit from

2448-408: The wetlands. The farmer fording his livestock will make a sign of cross (emblem of Perun's weapon) over the river as protection from this happening. The vodyanoy also posed risk of attacking people entering bodies of water, hence popular belief was to make the sign of the cross before swimming or bathing in such waters. An anecdote tells about a hunter trying to retrieve his duck, and the attack left

2499-450: Was completely green, and covered with filamentous green algae ; at the other abode was seen the vodník's wife, half maiden, half fish. In Slovakia, the same water demon may be called vodný chlap meaning "water guy" or "waterman". The water spirit may also be called a molek (var. molok ). There is a story of a localized in a lake in the forest of Dolný Kubín in Orava , where

2550-416: Was feasted, then entertained him in her own abode. In a more intricate but widespread tale, the froglike being with a swollen belly is met by a woman washing in the river Hron , who offers to be the godmother of the unborn child. A servant (drowned man) arrives with news a girl was born, and conveys the godmother to the vodník's home, hidden under the stairs beneath river boulder, which the man splits open with

2601-463: Was spotted had green hair and clothing. The vodník are said to employ ribbons to lure humans (as in Czech regions), according to lore found in the Bratislava area and Nitra in western Slovakia. The wife of a vodník ( vodníkova žena ) is said to have the appearance of a frog. There is an anecdote of one that transformed into a frog and went to the home of the plowman ( oráč ) where it

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