It is said that whoever has visited the Bieszczady Mountains will always want to come back. The Bieszczady Mountains, i.e. a group of two mountain ranges in the Carpathian chain, have been attracting tourists hungry for rest and contact with nature for years. Few of the people visiting this place, however, know the legend of the creation of the Bieszczady Mountains - a beautiful land full of forests, mountains, and meadows. Who once inhabited this wilderness? How was the Bieszczady created? Check out two legends about the Bieszczady Mountains - one of the most visited places by Poles.
There are many interesting legends and stories that are passed down from generation to generation around the creation of the Bieszczady Mountains. Of course, it is worth getting acquainted with at least a few of them in order to have any comparison and tell yourself which legend best reflects the origin of the name for the famous mountain ranges. Before we talk about the most famous legend, it is worth getting acquainted with its alternative version known from the times of Operation Bieszczady 40. It was an act of the Polish Scouting Association addressed to the elderly youth. The aim of Operation Bieszczady was to involve scouts in the revival and development of the Bieszczady culturally. Scouts went to the mountains to act socially and at the same time to rest in the mountains.
Operation Bieszczady 40, unfortunately, did not meet with the favor of the inhabitants of Bieszczady, who began to protest loudly against it. In fact, some young representatives of the Bieszczady population deliberately disturbed the scouts by, for example, destroying their work, and even getting into quarrels and fights with the scouts. You can read about one of the legends about the creation of the name Bieszczady in the book Tytus, Romek and A'Tomek by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (Book XII, 1977) - the author known under the pseudonym, Papcio Chmiel.
According to this legend, a long time ago one of the peasants who did not want to do his serfdom fled with his wife from the farmer for whom he worked. He decided to hide from him in the wild mountain areas. He was digging a hiding place to hide in it, when suddenly Bies emerged from the ground - in the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavs it was an evil demon. The peasant started hitting the Devil with a heavy shovel, then tied him up and ordered his wife to guard the devil. Meanwhile, the peasant accidentally dug himself to hell, from which Bies came out. The terrified man began to quickly cover the hole. He surrounded the land, under which hell had emerged, by a ring road - because he did not want the evil to spread.
The imprisoned Bies worked for the peasant for nearly 100 years. People avoided the area occupied by the man, afraid to enter the bypass and end up in a fenced-off hell. However, they envied the peasant that he got rich so quickly thanks to the Devil. People used to say that "the devil works for a peasant" - so a demon from hell that stank of burning (fumes) works for a man. It is said that it was from this combination of words (Bies and czad) that the name Bieszczady was created. Today, a road was built on the site of the beltway, which was surrounded by hell by the peasants. In turn, Hell was flooded with Lake Soliński, on which a dam was erected.
The legend of the Bieszczady Mountains, which many people consider the most accurate and real, is also the story invented by Andrzej Potocki. He described this legend in the Book of Legends and Tales from Bieszczady. You can of course read it, but also listen to it in the video below:
A long time ago, the demon Bies lived in one of the most beautiful parts of Poland - that is, where there were beautiful green forests, mountains, and meadows. His appearance resembled a half-devil and half-demon. He had a human face, and also thick fur, hooves, wings, and great horns. The green land has been closed to people since Bies inhabited it. Because when someone decided to walk in the mountains, they never came back. The devil treated unpolluted areas as his treasure and therefore did not want to let anyone in there. One day the country was visited by a tribe led by San - a wise and strong man. San took a liking to green forests and meadows, so he decided to live there with his entire tribe. Huts were built there in a flash, and many of the green areas were completely devastated by people.
The Bies tried to save the land at all costs. He fought with the tribe to prevent the complete destruction of green forests and meadows. Where people were clearing the forest, he planted young trees. When the fields created by the tribe became crops, Bies and his animal friends destroyed them. But the demon knew well that brave San would not give up so easily. That is why Bies one day conjured up his new helpers, Chady - little malicious creatures, the purpose of which was to make life difficult for the Sana tribe and also destroy their village.
Chad broke down literally everything that made up a tribe. They demolished houses, irritated people, and kept the village from growing. However, a day has come that completely changed the course of events. One day San and his companions were cutting trees in the forest. Suddenly, a strange scream reached their ears. The men followed the sound until they reached the groaning Chad - the creature was lying under a tree, which fell on him during logging and crushed him heavily. Chad begged people to help him get out and spare his life. As San was a fair and good man, he freed Chad. Kreacher admitted that he and his friends do not really want to harm people - they only obey Fiend's orders. Since then, Chadas, noticing good in the tribe of people, stopped disturbing them. In fact, they often guarded their homes and even helped strangers who got lost on the trail.
The Bies got angry with Czad's behavior. So one day he collected them all in one place and gave an ultimatum - they will either obey his orders or he will remove them from the green land. Chad didn't want to tease people again, so decided to ask San what to do. The leader told the creatures that there was only one way to defeat the demon. When the Bies bathed in the river, he always unfastened his wings beforehand, which made him lose his magical powers. San decided to help Chad and on the day when Bies was going to the river, she waited for him. Seeing that the demon unbuckled, San lunged at him, surprising the Fiend. San and Bies fought all day - neither would yield to the other. At one point the demon tried to reach for his wings, which was noticed by Chad, whose life San saved. So Chad kidnapped them and threw them into the water, which took over the magical power of the wings. The river swept the fighting daredevils at once.
What happened to Bies and San? The demon could not swim and therefore drowned. San, in turn, was so tired of the hours of fighting that he fell to the bottom of the river without strength. In honor of the great leader, the tribe named the river San, and the mountains through which the river flows were named Bies-Chadami - to commemorate the evil demon and his magical creatures. Or maybe you will also be interested in this article about the history of Babia Góra?
It cannot be denied that the legend of Bielsa, Czady, and San very effectively presents the genesis of the name Bieszczady. However, scientists do not believe in the legend. They believe that the etymology of the Bieszczady Mountains has nothing to do with this legend. According to scientists, the roots of the name can be much more than the story of Bies, Chad, and Sana. In the past, the Bieszczady was defined as an uninhabited, dangerous, and wild mountain border, as well as a border where all people fleeing the law hid. This could explain the phrase "the world was gathering", which appears frequently in old Polish literature. In today's translation, it would mean something like "the world has become wild."
Whatever the genesis of the Bieszczady Mountains, these areas are still synonymous with freedom, wildness, and freedom. Anyone who has been to the Bieszczady at least once knows that there is some magic in them. Something metaphysical and amazing that attracts people with great force. Anyone who has not been to the Bieszczady Mountains must make up for this loss in order to see the magic of this place with their own eyes. When visiting the Bieszczady Mountains, you can conclude on your own whether the legends about Biesa, Chady, and San are just a figment of human imagination, or whether these characters once… really existed.
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