# The Mythology of All Races/Volume 3/Slavic/Part 1/Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV
GENII OF FATE
INTERESTING evidence of fatalism is recorded by the Greek historian Procopius, who asserts that the Slavs knew nothing about fate and denied that it had any sort of influence on man; when threatened by death or overcome by illness, or when preparing for war, they vowed to offer a sacrifice to the gods, should the peril be luckily passed.
This evidence may be considered as proof that the Slavs were not blind fatalists, but believed in a higher being who dealt out life and death, and whose favour might be won by sacrifices. Many reports about these beings have been preserved.
Among the ancient Russian deities written tradition makes mention of Rod and Rožanice, to whom the ancient Slavs offered bread, cheese, and honey. This worship of Rod and Rožanice points to the fact that, in the belief of the ancient Slavs, the fate of man depended, first of all, on his descent, viz. his male forefathers and ancestors and on his mother (rožanice). The function of the ancestors as the dispensers of fate having gradually disappeared from the belief of the people, the Rožanices alone kept their place, this being easily explained by the fact that the connexion between a new-born child and its mother is much more intimate and apparent than that with the whole line of ancestors. Similarly the Roman Junones (protectors of women) were originally souls of the dead, while the Dísirs of Scandinavian mythology are spirits of deceased mothers that have become dispensers of fate.
Among the Croatians and Slovenians the original appellations ​of Rodjenice, Rojenice (from roditi, "to give birth") are still much in vogue. As they were believed to predestine the fate of new-born children, they were also called Sudice ("Givers of Fate"), Sudjenice, Sujenice (Croatian), Sojenice, Sujenice (Slovenian), Sudženici (Bulgarian), or Sudicky (Bohemian).
The Bulgarians have their own name for them, viz. Narŭčnici (narok, "destiny") or they call them Orisnici, Urisnici, Uresici (from the Greek ὁρίζοντες, "establishing, determining"); and in northern Russia they go by the name of Udělnicy, i. e. "Dispensers (of Destiny)."
These genii of fate are usually regarded as pretty lasses or as good-natured old women. The Southern Slavs speak of them as being beautiful like fairies, with white, round cheeks, and attired in white garments; their heads are covered with a white cloth, their necks are adorned with gold and silver trinkets and with jewellery, and in their hands they hold burning candles, so that on moonlit nights their ethereal figures may easily be seen. The Czechs entertain similar ideas: the goddesses of destiny appear like white maidens or old women; they are tall in stature, and their bodies are well-nigh transparent; their cheeks are pale, but their eyes sparkle and may bewitch people. Their garments are white, and their heads are covered with white kerchiefs, although sometimes their whole faces are shrouded with a white veil. According to other traditions they wear a glistening robe, and their hair is adorned with precious stones; yet, on the other hand, they are also described as being very plainly attired with only a wreath of silvan flowers on their heads. The Bulgarian Narŭčnici wear a white dress.
Although definite forms are thus ascribed to the fate-spirits, they are very seldom visible. Whoever catches a glimpse of them will be stupified with horror and will be unable to move a single step. The members of a family very rarely see them, this experience usually being reserved for a visitor or a beggar.
The Bohemians believe that after sending deep sleep upon ​a woman lying in childbed, the Destinies put the infant upon the table and decide his or her fate. Usually three Destinies appear, the third and oldest being the most powerful; but mention is also made of one, four, five, seven, or nine, with a queen at their head. Their decisions often thwart one another, but what the last says is decisive and will be fulfilled. The chief matters which they determine are how long the child will live, whether it will be rich or poor, and what will be the manner of its death. According to a wide-spread belief, the first spins, the second measures, and the third cuts off the thread whose length signifies the duration of life of the new-born mortal.
It is generally held that the Destinies may be induced to give a favourable verdict by means of presents and sacrifices; and on the night after the birth the Croatians and Slovenians are in the habit of placing wax candles, wine, bread, and salt upon the table of the room where the woman lies; should this be omitted, an evil fate would be in store for the child. The Slovenians of Istria bring bread to the caves where the Rodjenices live and put it under stones near the entrance; while in Bulgaria a supper is prepared for the Oresnicis, and the relations are invited to partake of it. In Bohemia a table covered with a white cloth was made ready for them, chairs were placed around it, and on it were laid bread, salt, and butter, with the occasional addition of cheese and beer; and at the christening feast, in similar fashion, remnants of the meal were left on the table in order to propitiate the spirits of destiny.
Russian tradition personifies the fate bestowed upon a man at his birth as a supernatural being called Dolya, who is described as a poorly dressed woman capable of transforming herself into various shapes. She usually lives behind the oven and is either good or evil. The good Dolya protects her favourite by day and by night and serves him faithfully from his birth to his death. She takes care of his children, waters his fields and meadows with dew, works for him, drives fish into his ​nets and swarms of bees into his hives, protects him against wild beasts, guards his flocks, gets purchasers for his goods, increases the price of his crops, selects good, full ears from other people's sheaves for him, and bestows good health upon him. No one will succeed unless she helps him, and without her assistance all his efforts will be in vain. Woe to him who gets an evil Dolya (Nedolya, Licho) for his share! All his toil and all his endeavours will be of no avail; his evil Dolya does nothing but sleep or dress herself or make merry, never thinking of offering him any aid. Her power has no limits, so that a proverb says, "Not even your horse will get you away from your Dolya," i.e. it is impossible to get rid of her; all attempts to sell her, or make her lose herself in woods, or drown her in the sea are bound to fail.
The Russian Dolya has a Serbian counterpart In the Sreča, her relation to the Dolya being the same as that of the Latin fors to fortuna and of sors to fatum. She is described as a beautiful girl spinning a golden thread, and she bestows welfare upon the mortal to whom she is assigned, caring for his fields and grazing his flocks. In national songs and traditions the Sreča frequently occurs as an independent being by the side of God.
The Sreča is, however, not only good, but also evil, in which latter case she is misfortune personified and may be called Nesreča. In this aspect she is represented as an old woman with bloodshot eyes, always sleeping and taking no notice of her master's affairs, although she is also said to be engaged in spinning. Unlike the Dolya, a man may get rid of her and drive her away.
* ↑ De bello Gothico, iii. 14.
* ↑ Cf. Leger, Mythologie, pp. 164–65, and the passages collected by Krek, Einleitung, pp. 384, note i, 407–08.
* ↑ See, however, Mythology of All Races, Boston, 1916, i. 291.