Bies

 

Bies, also called Bes and Biesy, was a type of demon from Slavic mythology and paganism. They were known throughout eastern Europe. Bies had no consistent appearance other than it was beast like. Often depicted as either an anthropomorphic or beastial mish-mash of different animals, combining hoofed animals and predators together. It was a primeval nature spirit. Even in paganism it was considered a demon, personifying chaos, evil and everything uncontrolled in nature. Bies demons lived in mountain ranges, untouched forests and swamps, anywhere that human habitation had not encroached on nature.

Beis's name means fury or rage, and was used as a euphonious for insanity, as it would cause this condition in it's victims. When a human enters the bies's home it can hypnotize and take control of the human, driving them mad and filling them with panic. If the human some how staves off such attacks and meets the bies face to face the bies will attack with more ferocity than any mortal animal. The reason a human would dare venture into the bies's territory is that they were believed to guard a wealth of treasure in underground layers. Parallels can be seen with the Greek god Pan, who was the god of animals and wilderness, and would cause panic in people, lending his name to the word. Although bies had none of the redeeming qualities of Pan or lustfulness of satyrs.

Beis were sometimes known to leave their wilderness homes and attack random people at crossroads. If someone witnessed animals making strange sounds, such as a cat crowing or a rooster barking it was a sign that a bies was in the area.

As Christianity moved into the region and displaced pagan beliefs bies became a word for the Christian concept of the devil, or any demon in general. Under Christianity the name bies also became synonymous with chort, which was a different kind of demon who brought bad luck to a household.