Polish Mermaid Mythology Archives

The Myth

In the marshlands and river regions of eastern Polesia, it is said that not only girls become rusalki after death. Sometimes a boy may share their fate.

If a child dies before baptism, his soul cannot rest. Such a boy may return as a wandering spirit, bound to the waters and the fields. One such spirit is known as Maupun.

Maupun was once an unbaptized boy. After death he did not pass into the world of the dead, but instead came to dwell among the rusalki—the restless spirits of girls who died before receiving baptism. Over time, he became their leader and chief, ruling over them as they wandered the wetlands and meadows.

The rusalki under Maupun’s command are said to appear as pale girls with bright, shining eyes and wild, shaggy hair. During Trinity Week they leave the waters and roam the rye fields and grassy places, laughing loudly, singing, and playing together beneath the open sky.

But their laughter is dangerous. Anyone who encounters them must flee at once. If they catch a person, they will tickle and clutch them until they die.

And it is Maupun who leads them—
the boy who never received baptism,
now lord of the wandering mermaids of the marsh.

Tradition / Region: Polish Mythology
Alternate Names: Mara, Nocnica
Category: Mermaid

The Myth

Among the Slavs it was said that not all restless spirits wander by day. Some belong to the deep hours of night, when the world is quiet and the living are most vulnerable. One such being was the Północnica — the Midnight Woman.

She was believed to be born from the soul of someone who had lived in great sin, or from a person who had suffered terrible wrongs in life. Such a soul, unable to find peace after death, might return as a malicious spirit. Some said a person could even become such a being while still alive, if their heart was consumed by powerful hatred, grief, or bitterness.

There were darker whispers too. It was said that if, during baptism or on a deathbed, the words of prayer were spoken wrongly, the mistake could doom a soul. A slip of the tongue might bind it to wander as a Północnica.

She was a creature of midnight. When the hour was deepest and the world lay still, she would move unseen through houses and villages. Her nature was not always murderous, but she was spiteful and fond of mischief. She troubled sleepers, stirred unease, and spread fear in the dark hours when no one wished to meet what walked outside.

Thus people spoke her name carefully, knowing that some spirits belong not to the grave, but to the hour when the night is at its blackest.

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Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Północnica. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%B3%C5%82nocnica

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