Rusalka
Rusalka is the female water spirit of Slavic origin who occupies a central place in Ukrainian folklore distinct from the forest-dwelling Mavka. She is the soul of a young woman who drowned, either by suicide after a broken heart or by accident, or of an unbaptized child. Rusalki appear as beautiful pale maidens with long, loose green or brown hair, disproportionately long arms, and translucent skin. They are always depicted barefoot with their hair unbound — a sign of unclean spirits in Slavic tradition. In northern and central Ukraine, particularly in Chernihiv Oblast, they are sometimes desc