The Witcher universe is full of deadly villains and creepy creatures. The adaptation of this saga caused some of those monsters to be slain by the show’s hero Geralt of Rivia. Fans have watched Henry Cavill coming across many beasts during his time on the show, considering his character was made in the first place to slay them and save the world from their havoc. So the incarnation of the iconic mutant took down those terrifying monsters that threatened the existence of humans on the Continent.

But among all those countless powerful enemies, there was one that gave tough competition to the White Wolf. Known as Striga, this beast has been an important part of the storyline because of its connection to mythology.

What do you need to know about the source of Striga in The Witcher?

The Witcher season 1 depicted Striga in episode 3 when Geralt was called in Temeria to eliminate a beast. In the show, this beast was King Foltest’s presumedly deceased daughter Adda, who was a cursed fetus at birth. After her mother died during childbirth, people buried both of them in the same tomb. However, this fetus continued to grow, devouring her mother’s corpse and transforming into a striga.

Though many fans only saw this monster in the fantasy drama, it has connections to Eastern European mythology. It is presumably a blend of various types of mythical creatures from folklore. In different religions, it has names like strzyga, shtriga and strigoi, which is a vampiric demon spirit.

According to the Polish Folk Tale Dictionary, the stzryga “is a phantom, although there are messages confirming that sometimes the wraith and the striga were distinguished as two separate demonic beings”. Besides this, there is another Polish myth that closely describes this creature in The Witcher universe.

Striga is also known as poroneic and Scandinavian myling

The Polish myth gives the name poroneics and mylings to the babies who die before they’re baptized. So they turn into demons who haunt the homes of people close to them, yearning for the life they lost. In fact, the video game The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt depicted poroneic in their main quest where players have to kill it.

As for the show, it gave a new angle to the existence of this monster, filling it with the hope that the curse could be broken. At the conclusion of season 1, fans saw Geralt turn the monster back into a human, keeping it away from its crypt until the morning. It turned out that the place forces a baby to become a monster can also free it from pain and suffering.

What do you think about this link of a fantasy monster to myth? Drop your comments below!