Also known as: Leszy, Leshii
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The spirit of the forest who protects the woods and its creatures. He can appear as a peasant, a bear, or a towering giant. He leads travelers astray but can be appeased with offerings. He plays cards with fellow spirits.
The Leshy (also spelled Leszy, Leshii, or Leshen) is the master spirit of the Slavic forest. Every woodland has its own Leshy who commands the trees, animals, and all living things within his domain. He is neither good nor evil—he simply is, ancient and powerful, demanding respect from any who enter his realm.
The Leshy's appearance is never fixed. He might appear as a tall peasant with glowing green eyes and a long beard of lichen and leaves. He can grow to tower above the treetops or shrink smaller than a mouse. He often takes the form of a bear, wolf, or owl. When walking among humans, he might appear as an old forester—but his shadow points the wrong way, and he casts no reflection.
While not inherently malicious, the Leshy is capricious and easily offended. He leads disrespectful travelers in circles until they die of exhaustion or madness. Hunters who kill more than they need or who harm animals without prayer anger him. Yet he also protects lost children, guides honest woodsmen to game, and drives wolves from flocks when properly appeased.
Slavic peoples learned to live alongside the Leshy. Hunters would leave the first kill of the season for him. Shepherds made pacts, offering milk and eggs in exchange for protecting their flocks. Some legends tell of people who sold their souls to the Leshy for woodcraft or hunting prowess—though such bargains always carried a price.
The Leshy is not solitary. He has a wife (the Leshachikha) and children (Leshonki). He plays cards with the Vodyanoy (water spirit) and the Polevoy (field spirit), and the stakes are the creatures of their domains—which is why fish sometimes appear in forests and deer wander into fields.
In The Witcher games and series, the Leshy appears as the "Leshen"—a terrifying antlered figure made of wood and darkness. This interpretation emphasizes the creature's more sinister aspects, showing it as an ancient and primal force that commands crows, wolves, and roots as extensions of its will. Entire villages live in fear of their local Leshen, making offerings to avoid its wrath.
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