Народни представи за бродещи нощем свръхестествени същества
Folk Beliefs about Nightly Haunting Supernatural Beings

Summary/Abstract: The article draws the attention upon supernatural beings with common and constant features: a time of action (night); a direct contact with the victims; a lack of preference for the victims; an ability to turn into various animals being the same for those considered here. They are called karakondzhul (=bugbear), talasam (=hobgoblin) and vampir (=vampire), but a lot of variants of these names are also known. The specific features of these beings are outlined on the basis of materials from published sources and from archives collected from all over Bulgaria. They are distinguished into separate groups according to their origin: I) Supernatural beings – monsters from unknown worlds; 2) Supernatural beings – spirits of dead persons and animals; 3) Supernatural beings originating from the transformations of a treasure bound by an oath. The creatures pertaining to the first group are connected with a definite time of the year, whereas the remaining ones may appear throughout the whole year. The three kinds of supernatural beings are also characterized by unity of the time of action; unity of the place of action (with reference to each type separately); actions based on evil purpose. The author reveals also the folk beliefs about the circumstances under which these supernatural beings might spring up.

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