[1] It was written around 1825 by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren and published in 1830 in the first almanac of Krajnska čbelica.
[2] It is a narration about Urška, a flirt from Ljubljana who ended up in the hands of a handsome man who happened to be a vodyanoy (povodni mož).
The poem was based on a story from The Glory of Carniola about a dance at Old Square in Ljubljana in July 1547, when Urška Šefer was enchanted by a vodyanoy and pulled into the Ljubljanica.
[4] The Water Man was put to music several times, e.g. in 1910 by Viktor Parma,[5] and in the 21st century by Miha Renčelj[6] and Vitja Avsec.
[8] In 2022, a pop rock musical based on the ballad and addressing the dangers of social networks was created and performed by popular Slovenian artists.