(Leshen from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
- "The Leshy"
- I liked this story the most out of this unit because I recognized the Leshy creature's relation to the Leshen monster in The Witcher video game and book series.
- A leshy or leshen is a humanoid creature that has both animal and plant-like qualities and is usually male
- animal-like qualities can include antlers like a deer or hooves like a goat
- tree-like qualities can include horns made from tree branches and leaves attached to the hair or skin of the creature.
- in this story, a priests daughter goes missing in the woods for 3 years
- a huntsman and his dog are wandering through the woods and come upon a leshy sitting on a fallen log
- the leshy looks both old and young and the huntsman notes this in his mind but does not say it out loud
- the leshy reads his mind and answers that he is old and calls himself the father of the devil
- the huntsman shoots the leshy in the gut but he does not die immediately
- drags himself back to his hut with the dog and huntsman in pursuit
- the leshy dies in his hut
- in the hut, the huntsman finds a maiden who is upset because the leshy provided for her and now she does not know how she will eat
- the huntsman asks where the maiden comes from and she cannot remember
- the huntsman takes the maiden back to the village where she is recognized by the priest and his wife
- she slowly regains her memories and marries the huntsman
- the huntsman tries to find his way back to the leshy's hut but cannot
- even the marks he left on the trees on the back to the village do not help
- Storytelling ideas: I really liked this story just because I recognized the leshy creature from The Witcher games. I want to write a story that deals with the leshy or leshen. I want to add more detail to the creature and perhaps make the maiden have more agency instead of being a damsel in distress.
- Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
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