Lyudka or lyutki ( v. Puddles. Ludki, lutki , German: Luttchen ) are fabulous creatures in Serboluzhitsky mythology, which are identified with the souls of their ancestors or brownies. In their mythology, they are similar to the Polish and Belorussian red-humans or the West European gnomes .
Humans are tiny creatures with a beard dressed in red or white clothes. Previously, people lived in rural areas in burrows. People cannot stand the sound of church bells. After the advent of Christianity in Ludza, people moved to caves of small hills, which are popularly called Ludkowa gora. People are friendly to people and sometimes visit human homes. They like to mess around the house. To prevent this from happening, a small amount of food was left to them in gratitude so that they could taste it. In the Upper Puddle they were left small jugs of food. In the Serboluzhitsky oral folk literary tradition, there are various versions of fairy tales about people.
Literature
- Lausizische Monatsschrift , 2. Heft . 1797. S. 753—754
- Karl Benjamin Preusker, Sage in den oberlaus.-wend. Gegenden von den Ludki, den kleinen Erdmännchen , Blicke in die vaterländische Vorzeit. Zweites Bändchen, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1843, S. 59-60
- Karl Benjamin Preusker, Anmerkung V , Blicke in die vaterländische Vorzeit. Drittes Bändchen, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1843, S. 176-177
- Carl Joachim Thomas Haupt, Die Ludki , Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, Band 4, 1859, S. 211-224.
- Carl Joachim Thomas Haupt, Die Ludki , Sagenbuch der Lausitz. 2. Bde. Leipzig, Engelmann 1862/63, S. 45-46
- Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, Zwergsagen in der Gegend um Zittau , Der Sagenschatz des Königreichs Sachsen. Zweite verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage, Band 2. Schönfeld: Dresden 1874. S. 258-265
- Edmund Veckenstedt, Die Ludki , Wendische Sagen, Märchen und abergläubische Gebräuche. Leuschner & Lubensky: Graz 1880. S. 157-182
- Lutchen , Meyers Konversationslexikon. Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig und Wien, Vierte Auflage, 1885-1892, S. 1021