vedmak
{{short description|A Slavic warlock or male witch}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Vedmak
|AKA = Vidmak
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|Folklore = Slavic paganism
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|Country = Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Russia
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In Slavic mythology, a vedmak{{efn|{{langx|be|вядзьмак, вядзьмар}};Слоўнік беларускай мовы. Менск: Беларуская навука, 2012. {{ISBN|978-985-08-1365-7}} {{langx|bg|вещер}} {{IPA|bg|ˈvɛʃtɛr||LL-Q7918 (bul)-Kiril kovachev-вещер.wav}}: {{langx|hr|vještac}}; {{langx|cs|vědmák}}; {{langx|mk|вештер}} {{IPA|mk|ˈvɛʃtɛr|}}; {{langx|pl|wiedźmak}};
{{langx|ru|ведьмак}} {{IPA|ru|vʲɪdʲˈmak||Ru-ведьмак.mp3}}; {{langx|sr|вештац}};{{cite book|title=Aspects of contemporary Ukraine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CudBAAAAYAAJ&q=Vidmak|last = Bilbija|first = Zarko G.|year = 1955| publisher=Human Relations Area Files | isbn=9780598542106 }} {{langx|uk|відьмак}} {{IPA|uk|ʋʲidʲˈmak||Uk-відьмак.ogg}}.}}[https://hrinchenko.com/slovar/znachenie-slova/7503-vidmak.html Словник української мови в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958, том 1, ст. 235 // Dictionary of the Ukrainian language / Ref. with addn. own of material by B. Grinchenko: in 4 volumes — K.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, 1958. Volume 1, Art. 235.]
is a warlock or male witch, the female equivalent (witch) being vedma.{{cite news|last=Wood Besant|first=Annie|date=January 1903|title=Theosophical Review Magazine|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|page=401}} This role greatly focuses on the Shamanic aspects of Slavic paganism.{{cite web |last1=Dworski |first1=Lamus |title=3 'specializations' of spiritual leaders in Slavic Native Faith |url=https://lamusdworski.wordpress.com/2017/03/05/spiritual-leaders/ |website=Wordpress |date=5 March 2017 |publisher=Lamus Dworski |access-date=2023-02-18}}
For example, they treat people and animals.Ushakov's Dictionary On the other hand, they are thought to be people connected to the devil, and are capable of bringing harm by sending illnesses, killing cattle, spoiling a harvest, etc.Yefimova's Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian language, 2000. The word was also used as an insult.
Etymology
Vedmak stems from Proto-Slavic *vědět ("to know") and Old East Slavic вѣдь ("knowledge; witchcraft", compare the use of the term "cunning" in English folklore).{{cite book|last=Fasmer |first=M|title=Dictionary of Russian language in 4 volumes|edition=2|year=1987}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Language ! colspan="5" |Names |
| Belarusian
|вядзьмак |вядзьмар |ведзьмак | colspan="2" |ведзьмар |
| Bulgarian
| colspan="5" |вещер |
| Croatian
| colspan="5" |vještac |
| Czech
| colspan="5" |vědmák |
| Macedonian
| colspan="5" |вештер |
| Polish
|wiedźmak | colspan="4" |wiedźmarz |
| Russian
| colspan="5" |ведьмак |
| Serbian
| colspan="5" |вештац |
| Ukrainian
|Відьма́к |відьма́р |відьма́н |відьма́ч |відьмун |
''The Witcher''
Under the influence of The Witcher fantasy saga by Andrzej Sapkowski, the term vedmak is sometimes also rendered as "witcher" in English in certain contexts. The word used for "witcher" in the original Polish version of the novels, "wiedźmin", was coined by Sapkowski himself as a neologism, and the word "wiedźmak" (cognate of "vedmak") is used in the books only as a derogatory term for witchers. "Ведьмак" is also the word used to translate "wiedźmin" in the Russian translation of the books.[https://sapkowskipl.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/stworzylem-wiedzmina/ Stworzyłem wiedźmina]
See also
Notes
{{notelist}}