A song connected with Christmas door-to-door visits, during which carollers wish households success and are in return rewarded with food or money, or the custom connected with visiting families, usually on Christmas and Easter.
A Christmas decoration consisting of a natural or artificial evergreen tree. It became popular in the Czech lands as early as the 19th century as the focal point of Christmas customs, a symbol of Christmas.
Traditional festivities in which people enjoy diverse and rich food and dances. The Czech word posvícení denotes days full of prosperity, abundance and merriment and is commonly used in the set phrase není každý den posvícení (“not every day is a Kermesse/holiday”), meaning that blissful days do not last forever.
A creature from superstitious beliefs, which visits fields and buildings at noon and punishes those that do not leave the fields and continue working. It is also a bogeyman that parents use to scare children when they misbehave.
Festivities of the pre-Christian type, organised at the end of winter, before the Christian Lent. They feature a masked carnival.
A character nowadays known primarily as an auditory phenomenon created by the passage of wind in the chimney. In Czech folklore, there is a dramatic version of the story in which Melusine is half woman, half fish or snake.
Representation of the Biblical place where Jesus Christ was born, used as a decoration in households and places in towns and cities during the period of Advent and Christmas.
A character from Czech superstitions which prevents people from sleeping peacefully. It has the form of a small object or insect and it sits on a sleeping person, suffocates him or her and causes bad dreams.
Outdoor museums showing visitors what traditional folk culture was like, especially folk architecture.
Folklore character, originally from German countries, which allegedly appeared in December and until Epiphany. Her Czech name was mixed with the name for the White Lady, i.e. for an apparition with origins in the legend about a noble woman from the House of Rožmberk.
A creature of short stature appearing in different forms of folk literature. According to tradition, it was the spirit of mines and met miners there.
A term for a small man who appears in mining legends and different fairy-tales. He can help people, e.g. by bringing the hero treasures that are difficult to reach or by helping him in other ways using spells. Sometimes he is called the pest of fairy tales.
A braided willow stick used for whipping women and girls on Easter Monday. The term also denotes the custom of whipping with such a stick.
Musician and songwriter who combines Moravian and Slovak folk music with elements of rock, blues and jazz. He joined the band AG Flek in the 1980s and is also known for his collaboration with the band Hradišťan and songwriters Jaroslav Samson Lenk and Slávek Janoušek.
Female demonic character with long hair, pale and beautiful. The name for this creature was probably integrated into Czech folklore as secondary.
One of a few still widely celebrated feasts in the Czech Republic. It is a feast during which a person may meet characters dressed as Bishop Nicholas, the devil and angel, even in large cities. They visit small children and either reward them or punish, according to their behaviour during the year.
Female folklore creatures that usually appear in groups of three, approach a new-born baby and determine his or her fate. They not only tell fortune, but they weave every person’s life as a thread.
A boy as tall as a thumb, a fairy-tale character who always finds a way to protect himself from danger in spite of his size. The motif, taken from folklore, was used in literary works and became a commonly used term.
Citizens of Ukrainian ethnicity, who form a numerous and culturally significant ethnic minority on the territory of the Czech Republic. Approximately 200 thousand Ukrainians live in the country and they are often essential in many industries and services.
2016-2020 ABCzech.cz - © Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy
Content from this website may be used without permission only for personal and non-commercial purposes and with the source cited. Any other use is allowed only with the authors' consent.
This web application Sonic.cgi meets GDPR requirements. Current information can be found here.
