"Do not wake Liho, while it's quiet" - every child knows this proverb. But not every adult will answer why our ancestors were so afraid of this being, and why it is mentioned with caution even in the 21st century. Is it a fairy-tale character or an evil spirit over which time does not dominate? Is it possible to destroy Liho? Tales and studies are telling about this today.
Who is Likho?
There are several interpretations that explain the nature of this being. Famously is:
- The personification of an evil share, which, if clung to a person, it will never let go.
- A creature that resembles a person is found in both male and female forms.
Earnestly eats both the body and the suffering of living beings, lives in the forest, destroying the inhabitants, which irritates the devil. Instead of a bed, he sleeps on a pile of human bones. Gaining strength, feeding on negative feelings of people, the more of them, the stronger the creature. In some legends it is mentioned that this creature is stealing joyful memories from people and hiding in its amulet. It is dangerous that, when attached to a person, he leads him to death with continuous setbacks in his affairs. If Liho will meet the company, then he will choose one victim, the rest can kill to enslave the captive's will.
What does Liho look like?
In regard to the name Leah researchers put forward two versions:
- It seems like from the word "deprivation", in many tales this image is associated with the character of Grief.
- The name of the being is from the adjective "superfluous". In favor of the latest version is the assertion that people with six fingers and a large number of teeth were once called superfluous. They considered such a failure.
Isolated in the tales of Liho male and female:
- in female form - the evil giantess or the old woman who lives in an abandoned mill and commands the evil creatures;
- in the male - a giant with one eye, possessing extraordinary strength. For that, he got the nickname "One-eyed".
Likho-Slavic mythology
The mythology of the Slavs famously explains this. Our ancestors considered him the twin of the giant Verlionka, the spirit of misfortunes and troubles. The creature is extremely vindictive, can take revenge not only on the one who offended it, but on the whole family. If another evil spirit could be deceived, then Liho - almost never, it could rush to any person, rich or poor, villain or righteous. It was also told that this creature is the master of the wicked - poverty, and sends them to the person he needs. Escape from such a creation is impossible, it moves very fast, has an excellent nose and hearing.
How to kill Liho?
It was believed that Likho was still living in abandoned villages and swamps, so the swamp Liho was especially dangerous, which could lure the traveler into the quagmire. In fairy tales it is said that it is impossible to kill this creature, but to deprive it of its strength is entirely. There are 3 ways:
- Replace bad emotions with positive emotions, then quickly lose interest.
- Find the amulet where this creation hid the light feelings of the victim, and smash the artifact. Then the emotions will return to their owner.
- Puncture the impure force of the eyes, being blind, she will not be able to catch up with her prey.
Likho from Odyssey
A being that lives in more often is the most formidable. Especially it is worth to be woken up by Likho, a sleepy creature can attack even a group of people. The same behavior is typical of the creatures that encountered the hero of the Trojan War Odysseus on the island of the Cyclops. If you compare the heroes of Russian fairy tales, defeating Liho, with the giant Polyphemus, it is immediately noticeable that people overpower this creature if they manage to blind them. There are two more nominees for those who could become the prototype of Leah:
- Depe-Goes is a giant with one eye, who is deprived of the vision of the heroes of Turkic tales.
- Arimaspi is a fictitious people, once living in the north. Judging by the legends of Herodotus, they all had one eye, and the second lost in fights with vultures, in which they sought to take away gold.
Another version, Liho Forest willingly catches lonely travelers, guessing complex riddles. The writer Belyanin proposed a hypothesis according to which, Ancient God Odin became the Likhom, leaving one eye in payment for the great wisdom to the sacred tree. And when Rognerok passed, Odin managed to stay in the world of the living, but already in an invisible appearance. Hence the desire to always avenge more fortunate inhabitants, testing for wisdom and knowledge.