Komi mythology
Komi mythology is the traditional mythology of the Komi peoples of northern Russia.
Gods and spirits
- ' - "Strength". The good creator god, and the enemy of Kul. He took the form of a swan.
- Kul' or ' - "Weakness". A god of water and of the dead, and the evil creator god. He took the form of a grebe.
- Vasa - Another water spirit. Like Kul, he could be malicious and had to be appeased by throwing bread, a stick, cakes or tobacco into the water. He was the friend of millers.
- Olys' or Olysya - A hearth spirit, the equivalent of the Russian domovoi. Under the name Rynyshsa he is a water spirit associated with baths, appearing as a little hunchbacked old man with a white beard.
- ' - "Father" or "Parent". A spirit who protects a specific place. They became enemies of Stephen of Perm.
- Peludi-Aika - "Father Cornflower". A spirit who forbade peasants to leave the house on 20 July. If they disobeyed, their corn was ravaged.
- Pyvsyan'sa - Master of the bath-house, the equivalent of the Russian bannik. He appears as a little man in a red hat with fiery eyes.
- ' - God of the cold north wind and of the night. His name means "North/Midnight Wind".
- - Spirit of the forest, the equivalent of the Russian leshy. Each forest has its own Vörsa. Hunters offered furs, bread and salt or tobacco to him in the hope he would help them catch game.