Legend has it that in 1297 under the guidance of a soothsayer known as Dracosia (a mystic from Genoa) who practiced Stregheris, sometimes referred to as "La Vecchia Religione" (meaning the Old Religion), who had advised François Grimaldi to disguise himself as a monk in order to gain entrance to the Ghibellines fortress, foretelling that this would insure his victory.
Its story is detailed in the instruction booklet: Palutena has a nightmare, which a soothsayer interprets as a foreshadowing of an invasion by the demon Orcos and his minions.
Nearby is a petrifying well which has been a tourist attraction since 1630 due to its association with the legendary soothsayer and prophetess Mother Shipton (c. 1488 - 1561), born Ursula Southeil, wife of Toby Shipton.
Other parts include a tax inspector, Costello The Second, in Alan Bleasdale's The Muscle Market (a Boys from the Blackstuff prequel) and The Soothsayer in Herbert Wise's BBC television adaption of Julius Caesar.
Inspired by the story of the Theban soothsayer Teiresias, the author inverted the myth to produce a provocative interpretation with feminist and pacifist elements.
The first literary reference to a volkhv occurs in the Primary Chronicle under the year 912; there, the priest-soothsayer predicts Prince Oleh's death.