The Slavic field spirit known for misleading people and causing frightening experiences in the countryside is the Polevik.
The Polevik, also called Polevoi or Polevoy in related forms, is a spirit of cultivated fields. Its name is derived from the Slavic word for “field.” Folklore presents it as an ambivalent being: it may protect crops and favor diligent workers, but it can punish laziness, drunkenness, or sleeping in the open field at dangerous times.
Stories describe the Polevik frightening people with noises, shadows, sickness, or pursuit. In some regional traditions it leads travelers astray, much like the forest spirit Leshy. Accounts also connect field spirits with oppressive sleep, nightmares, or attacks on people who fall asleep in the fields, although these motifs vary across Slavic regions.
The main distinction is habitat. The Leshy belongs primarily to the forest, the Vodyanoy to water, and the Domovoi to the household. The Polevik’s setting is the agricultural landscape, especially field boundaries and the spaces between village and woodland.