Vila (fairy)

Lore & Background

According to folkloric accounts, there are three kinds of vile: those living on land and in forests (zagorkinje, pozemne vile), water nymphs (brodarice, povodne vile), and cloud or air nymphs (vile oblakinje, zračne vile). They appear as swans, falcons, horses, or wolves; cloud nymphs appear as a whirlwind. At night, they roam the clouds emitting a terrible noise of pipes and drums. Anyone who calls them becomes stiff and moves only with difficulty, stricken by disease and dying within a year or two. Vile like to ride horses or stags, go hunting, dance in a circle dance, and seek the love of handsome strong men, assisting them against enemies. Their fondness for fighting is reminiscent of the Valkyrie, though not unique in Slavic mythology—other female spirits like rusalki also display combative traits. They possess supernatural powers and are able in healing, build splendid castles at the edges of clouds, confuse men's spirits with arrows, steal children and substitute them with changelings. In Slovak tradition, vily are nature spirits, not ghosts of deceased girls; the 'wilis' of Polish and Western Slavic folklore are the ones described as restless souls who lure young men into a deadly circle dance.

Reader's Guide

The vila holds significance in South Slavic epic poetry, where many heroes have a vila as an elective or blood sister (posestrima). The best known is Ravijojla, a name probably derived from Raphael. Girls can also have vile as blood sisters and may ask them to improve beauty or protect a distant lover. Vilas are prominent in Bosniak epic poetry, guiding warriors or nourishing them when injured. Folk tales of a vila raising the Hrnjica brothers are well known, where one brother gains strength from the vila and the other his beauty. Other tales mention vilas helping in the defense of towns. Vile are usually friendly to people but can take horrible revenge on those who insult them, disregard their orders, or approach their circle dances uninvited. Their general amiability distinguishes them from rusalki. The folk venerated them by placing flowers, food, and drink before caves where they were believed to have lived. The word vila also appears in Serbian and Croatian words vilovnjak, vilenjak, vilenica, vilaš, referring to a type of 'fairy magician' given powers by the vilas.

Did You Know?

• The etymology of vila is unclear; possible origins include the verb viti 'to wind' or Church Slavonic vichъrь 'whirlwind', or from Sanskrit vāyú- 'air'.
• In Croatian and Serbian epic poetry, the best-known vila is Ravijojla, a name probably derived from Raphael.
• In the Czech tradition, víly are almost always malicious unless respected and avoided, and are said to entrance men with their looks and voices.
• The wilis appear in Adolphe Adam's Romantic ballet Giselle (1841) as ghosts of betrayed young girls who dance men to death.