THE CONCORDANCE

forest

9 records across 7 traditions carry this current.

Africa & the Middle East · 1

SasabonsamWildwood · Ghana · Côte d'IvoireA forest being in Akan lore, often described with iron teeth and a taste for those who enter the deep woods carelessly. Part of a wider West African forest-warning tradition.

Asia & the Isles · 2

TikbalangWildwood · PhilippinesA Philippine forest being, now usually pictured as a tall, bony horse-headed humanoid, that misleads travellers. Early Spanish records call it a mountain phantom; the werehorse face arrived after horses did.TiyanakNight visitor · PhilippinesA Philippine being that mimics an infant’s cry to lure passers-by. Related in name to Malay childbirth spirits, but here the child, not the mother, is the hunter. Origins and forms vary by ethnolinguistic group.

Eastern Europe · 4

Baba YagaWildwood · Eastern EuropeA formidable old woman of Slavic folktales whose hut stands on chicken legs. She can threaten, test, or aid a traveller; no single telling contains her.IeleFae · RomaniaFeminine night dancers of Romanian folklore, known by many polite names, whose hora in woods, meadows, and watersides can bless or ruin those who watch. Related to South Slavic vila, but not the same being.LeshyWildwood · Eastern EuropeA forest being in Slavic tradition, variously imagined as guardian, trickster, or shapeshifter whose domain confuses the unwary.MavkaWildwood · UkraineA forest spirit in Ukrainian tradition, often connected with young women who died before their time. Closely related in some tellings to rusalka lore, but rooted in woodland rather than only water.

The Americas · 2

CurupiraWildwood · BrazilA forest guardian of Brazilian folklore, often recognized by backward-facing feet that confuse hunters and protect the forest.WendigoWoodwalker · Canada · United StatesA gaunt, insatiable being of Algonquian tradition, associated with deep winter, starvation, and the dread of a hunger that consumes the self.