Hartsuki

In Belarusian beliefs, spirits that live in the mountains and are subject to Perun. They turn into birds of prey and with quick flaps of their wings generate storms and hurricanes. The name comes from "prance" – to play, to jump.

Sometimes they are represented as small children with fierce faces. But their stupid running around causes the same destructive consequences as a rapid flight.

From the point of view of modern researchers, Hartsuki belong to the images of the so-called "cabinet mythology". That is, it is not authentic folklore (not a folk fantasy). In fact, the Hartsooks were invented as hobbits, gnolls or driders. The Hartsuki owe their appearance on the pages of folklore collections to P. Drevlyansky (Pavel Mikhailovich Shpilevsky, 1827-1861). However, the real start in life was given to them by A.N.Afanasyev, who transmitted Drevlyansky's text in his famous "Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature". Already from here, the hartsukas have scattered through scientific and fiction literature. Today they can be found in almost any encyclopedia of Belarusian and even Slavic mythology.