Povitrulya

Within Ukrainian lower mythology the povitrulya are presented as beings linked to the element of air and to mountain winds; sources describe them as coming from the Carpathian region and call them, in folkloric terms, 'daughters of mountain winds.' They are classed alongside other local female liminal spirits such as rusalki and mavky in a persistent layer of popular belief.

Povitrulya are described as light, able to move in the air without touching the ground, often depicted with wings and dressed in flowers from head to toe. They are mostly fair‑haired beauties but in accounts can change appearance from young to old and back. In literary reworking (V. Pachovsky) they are sometimes pictured as 'airy mermaids with wings,' a poetic hybridization rather than a strict folkloric description.

Folkloric material attributes to povitrulya an elemental affinity with wind and aerial locomotion (flight, movement through the air). Narratives record that they help lovers in love affairs and that shepherds who 'refuse them nothing' may be rewarded (keeping their sheep). Tale motifs show them gathering in groups (sisters, a mother) and forming intimate ties with humans — including marriage and bearing a child — while retaining the ability to return to aerial life by reclaiming their wings. In one tale motif the povitrulya's kin threaten violence (sisters and mother would 'tear you to shreds') if angered; this is reported as a narrative element in that story.