Why this word is great
VODYANOY — [Noun] A malevolent freshwater spirit in Slavic mythology, lord of a specific pond, millrace, or river, often depicted as a green-skinned, pot-bellied creature with a beard of algae. From Russian водяно́й (vodjanój), an adjectival form meaning "watery" or "of the water," derived from вода́ (vodá, "water"). Unlike the rusalka—a spectral, luring maiden of drowned sorrow—or the naiad—a generally beneficent classical nymph—the vodyanoy is a monstrous and choleric patriarch of the murky depths. He is the gurgling drag on a fisherman’s net, the sudden chill in a summer swimming hole, and the cold, webbed hand that pulls a careless child below the mill wheel—a reminder that the oldest territories are not merely uninhabited, but are owned, and the landlord is hungry.