Vernyhora

Vernyhora [Вернигора]. A mythical figure in Ukrainian folk tales. Vernyhora is a giant who can level mountains with a push of his shoulder. He usually appears in the role of the protagonist’s ally and helps him to free his fiancée or to defeat a dragon or a witch. Vernyhora is also the name of a legendary figure in the historical novels of the writers of the Ukrainian school in Polish literature (Michał Czajkowski, Juliusz Słowacki, Stanisław Wyspiański, and others), in which he is depicted as a peasant seer of the 18th century who foresaw the future of Poland and Ukraine.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]