Horpyna is a fictional character in the novel With Fire and Sword

With Fire and Sword

With Fire and Sword is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as the Trilogy, followed by The Deluge and Fire in the Steppe , also translated as Colonel Wolodyjowski...

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...

. She is a witch living in the Devil's Valley. Her brother, Doniec, is a Cossack colonel. Horpyna is Bohun's

Bohun (fictional)

Jur Bohun is the main antagonist in the novel With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz. He is a famous Cossack colonel of unknown origin, and originally a friend of the Kurcewicz family. He falls in love with Helena Kurcewiczówna and wants to marry her...

 friend.

In 1999 film

With Fire and Sword (film)

With Fire and Sword is the English title of the Polish film Ogniem i Mieczem, a historical drama directed by Jerzy Hoffman, released in 1999...

 she is portrayed by Ruslana Pysanka

Ruslana Pysanka

Ruslana Pysanka , born Ruslana Ihorivna Pysanko on 17 November 1965 in Kiev, is a Ukrainian actress, showwoman and cinematographer, the only obese celebrity in the country....

.

Story

When Horpyna first appeared in the novel, she visited wounded Bohun who was treated by Rzędzian

Rzedzian

Rzędzian is a fictional character created by Henryk Sienkiewicz. He appears as the secondary character in With Fire and Sword and in The Deluge. He is a poor Polish nobleman who serves Jan Skrzetuski. He's cunning and greedy but always loyal to his master. He helps to free Helena Kurcewiczówna from...

. After capturing Bar

Bar, Ukraine

Bar is a city located on the Rov River in the Vinnytsia Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Barskyi Raion , and is part of the historic region of Podolia. The current estimated population is 17,200 .-History:The city was a small trade outpost named Row...

, Bohun took Helena Kurcewiczówna

Helena Kurcewiczówna

Helena Kurcewicz is a fictional character appearing in the novel With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz as the main female protagonist. She is also mentioned in The Deluge and in Colonel Wolodyjowski.Helena is a beautiful orphaned princess living with her aunt and cousins in Rozłogi...

 to Horpyna's house, the Devil's Valley. Horpyna took care of the wounded girl and told Bohun's fortune. She foretold that Bohun will marry Helena, become a hetman

Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks

Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks as a title was not officially recognized internationally until the creation of the Ukrainian Hetmanate. With the creation of Registered Cossacks units their leaders were unofficially referred to as hetmans, however officially the title was known as the "Senior of His...

 and be betrayed by one of his friends. She also foretold her brother's death and the atrocities of the war in Ukraine. All predictions showed up to be true except for Bohun and Helena's marriage. Horpyna misinterpreted the vision of a hawk above Helena's head - she thought it symbolized Bohun but the hawk was an animal in Jan Skrzetuski's

Jan Skrzetuski

Jan Skrzetuski is a fictional character created by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz in the novel With Fire and Sword. He is a man of honour, always faithful to his master, duke Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. He loves Helena Kurcewiczówna, who was kidnapped by the Ukrainian Cossack Bohun, who is also in...

 coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

. When Bohun left for war, she was to keep Helena in her care until his return. She was shot by Rzędzian

Rzedzian

Rzędzian is a fictional character created by Henryk Sienkiewicz. He appears as the secondary character in With Fire and Sword and in The Deluge. He is a poor Polish nobleman who serves Jan Skrzetuski. He's cunning and greedy but always loyal to his master. He helps to free Helena Kurcewiczówna from...

 who came with Zagłoba and Wołodyjowski to free Helena.

Description

She is a brazen−faced giantess who is in friendship with devils, but she is a good−looking woman. When she laughs you would swear that a mare was neighing in the meadow. She has white teeth so strong that she might chew up a breastplate. When she walks the ground trembles.