Foudation in slavic legends
The Old Slavic myth
The longshanks (zherday)
from a "zherd" (pole) , he is very long and pretty, sometimes he wanders through the streets at night, looks into windows, warms his hands in a pipe and scares people. This is some kind of pathetic wobbler who has been condemned to wander around the world for a century without any sense or position... It is difficult to question the meaning of it; but it is hardly a belief that is not related to Kashchei the immortal, who may have been honored here or there. To get rid of all these unclean things, people resort to fasting and prayer, to the epiphany water, to a candle taken on Friday from the passion, with which they smoke the cross on the lintel in the doorway.; It is also generally believed that one should not set the gates at midnight, facing north, otherwise any devilry will survive from home.
Vladimir Dahl "On the beliefs, superstitions and prejudices of the Russian people", 1880
Here are the words describing Vladimir Dahl.
However, Vladimir Ivanovich did not tell everything. Like any other unclean spirit from Russian mythology, Longshanks also have a favorite pastime. A longshanks is a kind of observer of the world of the living, the world of people. Walking through villages at night and looking into the windows of huts, he willy-nilly frightens the locals with his appearance, which earned the dislike of the people. But the strange thing is, being just an observer, he no longer performs any other functions or actions. Maybe this is just an understatement of folklore, the history of which has been pretty battered by time, or maybe there is some sacred meaning in this. Maybe Longshanks is just an observer. But whose is it? Judge for yourself.
It was believed that a Longshanks entered the human world through a gate facing North, when it was believed that this was a sure way to lure all kinds of evil spirits into his house and an even easier way to kill the whole family. It was believed that Longshanks was jealous of people because they had jobs and spent their lives usefully, as he himself, being immortal, was doomed to wander around the world without any business or meaning, for which he messed with people.
"Go, you will rest on the way back" — "And you will walk forever, and you will have neither rest nor death"; or "I will go, but you will also go and wait for Me."
Ahasuerus.
Returning to our troubled friend, I would like to note that the origin of this evil spirit and its intentions are not known for certain, as well as how dangerous it is to humans. However, there is information that a Longshanks can attack a person at night and can even enter a house unprotected by amulets. According to this, meetings with him usually end in death. He either strangles his victim or wrings her neck. He also knows how to look away and confuse people. But according to other sources, this spirit is absolutely harmless, except that it scares people and warms their hands in the pipe. Longshanks lived in dense forests and marshy swamps.
Protection from the evil spirit, in Christian times, was a simple prayer, sprinkling of door and window openings with holy water, and with the fire of a candle brought from the church on Good Friday, they smoked the inscription on the door lintel.
Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl believed that Longshanks could well later form the basis of such a character in Russian folklore as Koshchei the Immortal. Both characters are very thin, consumed by an unquenchable "hunger" of envy, malice, and doomed to eternal life.