Tradition: Russian Mythology, Turkish Mythology
Alternative Names: Шекә
Category: Dwarf

The Myth

Sheka is a dwarf-like being associated with forests, abandoned houses, and fields. In Turkic tradition, Sheka is said to live among forests or in derelict houses and often appears in strange or comical situations. In Slavic pagan tradition, however, Sheka takes on a much darker form as a field spirit. It appears as a deformed dwarf with differently colored eyes and grass growing in place of hair. It may be dressed entirely in black or entirely in white and is most often encountered around noon or at sunset.

The field Sheka is a dangerous spirit for anyone wandering or working in the countryside. It can deliberately lead travelers astray among the fields, cause illness, and even ride over sleeping people with horses. Peasants working beneath the midday sun must beware of it, for Sheka enjoys sneaking up on them and pulling their hair. Children are especially vulnerable, as the spirit is said to make them lose their way among the tall cornfields.

When Sheka catches a person, it can force its victim to sing for hours without allowing them to stop. Its strange behavior makes it both a frightening and mischievous presence of the fields, turning ordinary places of work and travel into places where a small, deformed spirit might suddenly appear, confuse travelers, torment peasants, or carry away unsuspecting children.

Sources

“Sheka (mythology).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 4, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheka_(mythology)

The Myth

Anshikh Sisva Pyalta is a strange dwarf with incredibly long ears that trail behind him along the ground. He also has a harelip, giving him a peculiar and unsettling appearance.

In the Mansi fairy tale The Son with the Deer Ear, a woman hears someone at the door and finds the little old man standing outside. He has already stepped onto the seventh floor of the house, yet his enormous ears are still lying across the threshold. The Old Man as Long as a Hare sits down at the table, grabs his ears, and throws them onto the bench beside him.

He whispers that the creature is an unclean spirit and asks what kind of being he is. The old man then stretches out one of his ears, telling her to look at its length. He grabs a sharp tooth and sinks it into the upper part of his ear. The ear stretches even farther, reaching two-thirds of the way across the room. He pulls the other ear toward him in the same manner, making it stretch in the opposite direction.

The old man then swallows his head, ears and all, and kicks his legs up from beneath his enormous ears. He jumps and leaps about, shouting and dancing. The strings begin to sound like singing spring birds, while the woman’s head spins and the old man carries her away in a dance.