Charlyok - is a mysterious creature resembling an enormous lizard or crocodile. According to local elders' stories, these creatures once inhabited and still inhabit the swamps of Belarus.
Reconstruction of the creatures: A – Belarusian 'lizard', B – 'charlyok'.
Description[]
According to local residents, in addition to well-know animal species, lizard-like creatures inhabited the swamp. People called them charlyoks ("чарлёкi") or charnukhs ("чарнухi") because of their dark skin color. Local residents who saw the creature claimed that these were bloodthirsty dark-colored lizards that lived deep within the swamp long ago. Their heads resemble those of ordinary lizards, only much larger, but the nostrils were not on top of the mouth as usual, but underneath, on the lower jaw. Their eyes were like those of a frog and protruded above the top of the head. In their mouths, there were two rows of dense, sharp fangs. Their bodies resembled snakes, but thicker and all were black, covered with some kind of scales. From the tail to the withers, there stretched a powerful, semi-bony fin, like that of a fish. They were said to be as large as a sheep, but despite their relatively small size, they did not hesitate to attack much larger animals and even humans. It was believed that these lizards could tear apart elk, boars, and even bears into small pieces in a split second using their fangs. They would only eat a small portion of their prey, leaving the rest behind. As a result, the spot where a charlyok had killed its victim would attract animals from all around, eager to feast on the leftovers. Despite their ferocity, the lizards did not interfere with others enjoying their prey; they would lie motionless nearby with their eyes closed, resembling a log, only occasionally shaking off bothersome crows from their bodies.
Sightings[]
An intriguing account by the well-known Belarusian archaeologist V. Z. Zavitenievich (1853–1927) pertains to the capture of a strange large lizard in Minsk: "Last summer [1885] in the very provincial city of Minsk, in the so-called Tatar neighborhood, a gentleman killed a monstrous-sized crocodile-like lizard, with sharp teeth like those of a pike, covered in shell-like scales. The audacity of this creature was such that it attacked the aforementioned gentleman and was killed with several strikes of a stick. Naturalists could explain the appearance of such phenomenal types in the area." One might even doubt whether the archaeologist was actually reporting a real fact or merely passing on a rumor, if not for his remark that he personally examined this reptile at the real school, to which it was brought after its death. There is also a testimony from another Belarusian archaeologist — G. V. Shtykhov (1927–2018) — who in 1974 wrote that the stuffed specimen of this "lizard" remained in the office of the director of the Minsk Real School for a long time.
An eyewitness account recorded in the town of Lyntupy from Alexander Georgievich Mazuho, born in 1963. The incident took place in the early 1970s, approximately 1974–1975, in the vicinity of the village of Vincentovo, Postavsky district (now an abandoned village). At that time, the informant was grazing cows and decided to rest on a pile of straw. He sat down on the straw heap and suddenly jumped up in surprise when the straw beneath him started to move unexpectedly. He recalls:
"There was this... grayish color — a monitor lizard. [But monitor lizards don't live in Belarus...] I understand that they don't naturally occur here, but I still have this image of a monitor lizard in my mind. It was gray, quite large, healthy-looking, probably about a meter, maybe a bit more. But it wasn't just a lizard..."
A. G. Mazuho believes that the creature was basking, as the pile of dry straw was extremely hot. According to him, the animal was lying motionless, but he decided not to risk disturbing it. Later, in the village, he learned that no one else had seen this "monitor lizard" since then.
In 1990, the well-known local historian from Lyntupy, A. Garbul, documented a legend from Yan Rutkovsky, a resident of Sarnchany village (born in 1928), about unknown creatures resembling a giant lizard or crocodile.
In the early 2000s, an unusual encounter occurred on the Vileyka–Smorgon border area when a local woman saw a huge lizard, "about the size of a dog," basking in the sun. At home, the woman learned from an elderly relative that in these parts, such a creature is called a Khaptus. The story ended with a warning from the relative: she had to run away, not look at this creature.
According to Viktor Demyančik, an employee of the Polesie Problems Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, in 2002 he heard a story from fishermen in the Stolyn district who "saw a huge creature, about five meters long, crawling out onto the bank of the Pripyat River at night." This happened near the confluence of the Sluch River into the Pripyat, between the town of Mikashievichy in the Luninets district and the village of Olshany in the Stolyn district of Brest region. The zoologist suggested that it could have been a catfish, which in critical situations can come out of the water and crawl along the shore.
Similar stories have been reliably recorded over several years in the eastern part of Gomel region. They were documented in the Buda-Koshelyevsky district with the following interpretation from the witness: "We were resting. In the river, we saw a huge creature in the water that jumped out onto the bank."
Mikhail Lavrov, a tourist from Minsk, recounted that a few years earlier he and his friend visited the village of Sarnchany and encountered an intoxicated man. The man believed the young men were heading for cranberries and tried to dissuade them, claiming that his grandfather had told him there were "alligators" living in the swamp.
Explanations[]
Belarusian local historians, folklorists, and specialists in folk culture are very skeptical about the existence of such creatures. This legend could be a synthesis of various pieces of information that the storyteller heard. In particular, the diplomat Sigismund von Herberstein mentioned "Givuoites" — creatures described in folk tales.
On the other hand, based on the record by A. A. Genyuš, it can be suggested that the legend might have been influenced by stories about domestic spirits, known to have previously lived in some Belarusian towns — in houses, barns, or less frequently in haylofts. Such spirits were believed to hunt mice.
Thus, it is possible that the basis or elements of the legend about Сharlyok from the Purviny swamp were derived from Herberstein's accounts, which had already entered Belarusian and Polish literature of the 19th century, combined with notions of domestic spirits, which were widespread throughout Belarus. The informant could have heard something similar, embellished and romanticized the legend, and later it might have been shaped further through literary processing by a local historian. Therefore, it is most likely a secondary myth, and these legends can serve as evidence of the high level of literacy among the population of Belarusian borderlands in the 1990s.
Based on the descriptions provided, some cryptozoologists speculated that the unknown "creature" resembles an Ichthyostega or Koolasuchus . However, they went extinct millions of years ago.
It could also be sightings of misidentified sand lizards or slow worms that are common in Belarus.
Some cryptozoologists speculate that Charlyok is a surviving Icthyostega.
Gallery[]
Belarus stamp featuring a sand lizard.