Slavic Mythology – Rusalka
Rusalka, in Slavic mythology, is the lake-dwelling soul of a child who died unbaptized or of a virgin who drowned. They appear in different forms depending on the region in which they dwell. Around the Danube River, where they are called vila, rusalki are beautiful, charming girls, dressed always in light robes of mist, singing sweet, bewitching songs to the passersby. The rusalki of northern Russia are ugly, unkempt, wicked, invariably naked, and always eager to ambush humans. All rusalki love to entice men—the vile to enchant them and the northern rusalki to torture them.