Vadatais

Madatais is a variant of the name Vadatais ("the one who leads back and forth"), which leads the forest spirit of Latvian mythology astray, literally "the one who misleads". ​​‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ​​‌‌‌​ ​​‌​‌​ ​‌​​​‌ ​​‌​

In Latvian folklore, a forest spirit in the form of a man or a dark shadow-like figure, leading a traveler astray and often leading him into a thicket or swamp. He is probably a pawned dead man, but his appearance is usually not described (at most, an unknown traveling companion is described as a "black man").

In most stories, a specific time point is indicated from which a person's wanderings begin — 12 o'clock in the afternoon or night (it is believed that this is a "transitional" time, a kind of border between the world of the living and the world of the dead, when most demonological creatures appeared).