Pavel Šidlák
The Water Spirit, the ‘Prince of Death and Darkness’
Th?e study shows the relationship between the demonic world and the categories "darkness" and "light". As a representative of the demonic world the water spirit has been chosen, a figure that is firmly rooted in the Czech mythological system and is in many respects a specific one. Th?e intuitive connection between the demonic world and the area of "darkness" is demonstrated, but at the same time this connection is exposed as a retrospective interpretation of the world of Christian thought and is qualified by the ability of demonic figures, as portrayed in art, to participate in both the "dark" and the "light" chronotope. ?e true "darkness" of this figure , thanks to which the water spirit and the demonic world in general are still such attractive themes for art today, is to be seen in the fact that it is not human, not recognizable, and cannot be grasped.
Key words: folklore - mythology - water goblin
design by Bedřich Vémola
