A krsnik (female: krsnica[1][2]) or kresnik is a type of vampire hunter, a shaman whose spirit wanders from the body in the form of an animal.
[3] The krsnik's soul leaves the body, either voluntarily or due to a higher power, to fight evil agents and ensure good harvest, health, and happiness.
[4] The krsnik is taught magic by Vile (fairies),[5] and in traditional medicine has the ability to heal people and cattle.
[6] Some[2] postulate the struggle between the kresnik and the kudlak reflects an earlier dualistic tradition inherited from Slavic polytheism; however, a struggle between two tribes of sorcerers over the fate of the harvest is a common mytheme among peoples of the northern Adriatic regardless of their ethnicity.
A similar motif is found among the Romance inhabitants of nearby Friuli, who call their equivalent to the Slavic kresnici the Benandanti.