Rusalka (rus. русалка, the etymology is controversial), plur. “rusalki” (русалки) — female spirits associated with the water areas in slavic demonology, perhaps, one of the most well-known and complex сharacters in slavic folklore.
Theoretically, there is a huge group of slavic female mythological characters, which could be called “rusalka”, but in this description I have concentrated on the most famous “classic” version. Even though legends and theories on rusalki’s provenance and entity are numerous and controversial, most of the sources categorizes them as “unholy dead”, noting, however, their origin from much more ancient beliefs in kind water spirits. Being reborn as unholy dead (in this case, from the girls, who died before getting married, from drowned ones and suicidals), rusalki are known for their hostile attitude towards people, as much as for their playful and exuberant temper. It was believed, that walking nearby their territory all alone could be really dangerous — rusalki loved tickling to the death and drowning unfortunate strangers, collecting in this manner young girls and kidnapping lads they liked. Moreover, unlike most of the characters in slavic mythology, rusalki are known to be very sociable and live in groups, which makes it even harder to escape their treachery.
Those facts, however, did not prevent people from practicing numerous divinations involving rusalka. Besides, it was believed that certain herbs would scare of rusalki, along with other evil spirits.
Despite the common misapprehension (created by western culture influence), rusalki did not have a fish tail. They could be only spotted by their fairness, partial incorporeality of a spirit and, most importantly, long unbraided hair, sometimes with a strong green color (in slavic culture wearing loose hair had sacral meaning and was unacceptable in everyday life).
