Thread: Russian folklore/fairy-tale creatures

Meet the most popular characters in Russian/Slavic mythology. The materials are taken from Wikipedia.

Baba-Yaga/Баба-Яга

(a drawing by Viktor Vasnetsov)


(as envisaged by Bilibin)


(Vasilisa the Beautiful at the hut of Baba-Yaga, by Bilibin)

Baba Yaga (also: Baba Jaga) is a witch-like character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant mortar or broomstick, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a house which stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on occasion to offer guidance to lost souls, although this is seen as rare.

Koschei the Immortal or Koschei the Deathless/Кощей Бессмертный

(by Vasnetsov)

In Russian folklore, Koschei is an evil person of ugly senile appearance, menacing principally young women. The spelling in Russian and other Slavic languages suggests that his name may be derived from the word "kost'" - bone, thus suggesting a skeleton-like appearance.

Koschei cannot be killed by conventional means targeting his body. His soul is hidden separate from his body inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest (sometimes the chest is crystal and/or gold), which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean. As long as his soul is safe, he cannot die. If the chest is dug up and opened, the hare will bolt away. If it is killed, the duck will emerge and try to fly off. Anyone possessing the egg has Koschei in their power. He begins to weaken, becomes sick and immediately loses the use of his magic. If the egg is tossed about, he likewise is flung around against his will. If the egg or needle is broken (in some tales this must be done by specifically breaking it against Koschei's forehead), Koschei will die.

Vodyanoy/Водяной

(from the "Flying Ship/Летучий корабль" cartoon)

from http://img1.liveinternet.ru/images/a...7_vodyanoy.gif


from http://myfhology.narod.ru/monsters/vodyanik.jpg

In Slavic mythology, vodyanoy is a male water spirit. Vodník in Czech fairy tales is the same creature as the Wassermann or nix of German fairy tales.
He is said to appear as a naked old man with a greenish beard and long hair, with his body covered in algae and muck, usually covered in black fish scales. He has webbed paws instead of hands, a fish's tail, eyes that burn like red-hot coals. He usually rides along his river on a half-sunk log, making loud splashes. Local drownings are said to be the work of the vodyanoy (or rusalkas).
When angered, the vodyanoy breaks dams, washed down water mills, drowns people and animals. (Consequently, fishermen, millers, and also bee-keepers make sacrifices to appease him.) He would drag down people to his underwater dwelling to serve him as slaves.

Rusalka/Русалка

(Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom, by Repin)


(by Bilibin)


(by Makovsky)

In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki) was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.

According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerise them, then lead the person away to the river floor to live with them. The stories about rusalki have parallels with those of Hylas and the Nymphs, the Germanic Nix, the Irish Banshee, the Scottish Bean Nighe and the Romanian Iele. See Slavic fairies for similar creatures.

Leshy/Леший




from http://img1.liveinternet.ru/images/f...f_14642455.jpg

The Leshy or Lesovik is a male woodland spirit in Slavic mythology who protects wild animals and forests. He is roughly analogous to the Woodwose of Western Europe and the Basajaun of the Basque Country.

A leshy usually appears as a tall man, but he is able to change his size from that of a blade of grass to a very tall tree. He has hair and a beard made from living grass and vines, and is sometimes depicted with a tail, hooves, and horns. He has pale white skin that contrasts with his bright green eyes. A leshy has a close bond with the gray wolf, and is often seen in the company of bears as well. He is the Forest Lord and carries a club to express that he is the master of the wood.

He is said to have the ability to shapeshift into any form, animal or plant. When he is in human form, he looks like a common peasant, except that his eyes glow and his shoes are on backwards. In some tales, he appears to visitors as a large talking mushroom.[citation needed] He can also vary in size, shrinking himself to the height of a blade of grass when moving through open fields, or growing to the size of the tallest trees when in the forest

If a person befriends a leshy, the latter will teach them the secrets of magic. Farmers and shepherds would make pacts with the leshy to protect their crops and sheep. The leshy has many tricks, including leading peasants astray, making them sick, or tickling them to death. They are also known to hide the axes of woodcutters.

Leshies are terribly mischievous beings: they have horrible cries, and can imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers and lure them back to their caves, where the leshies will tickle them to death; they also remove signs from their posts. Leshies aren't always evil: though they enjoy misguiding humans & kidnapping young women, they are also known to keep grazing cattle from wandering too far into his forests and getting lost. Sometimes cow herders will make pacts with a leshy by handing him their crosses from around their necks and sharing communion with him after Christian church gatherings; these pacts are said to give the cowherds special powers.

Domovoi/Домовой


from http://demon-angel.ucoz.ru/_ph/25/2/417682120.jpg

A domovoi is a house spirit in Slavic folklore. Domovois (the correct plural form is domoviye) are masculine, typically small, and sometimes covered in hair all over. According to some traditions, the domovoi take on the appearance of current or former owners of the house and have a grey beard, sometimes with tails or little horns.
Traditionally, every house is said to have its domovoi. It does not do evil unless angered by a family’s poor keep of the household, profane language or neglect. The domovoi is seen as the home's guardian, and he sometimes helps with household chores and field work.

Kikimora/Кикимора

(by Bilibin)



from http://copypast.ru/uploads/posts/thu...1463_91050.jpg

Kikimora is a female house spirit in Slavic mythology, sometimes said to be married to the Domovoi. Kikimora is said to look after the chickens and the housework if the home is well-kept. If not, she will tickle, whistle, and whine at the children at night. She also comes out at night to spin.[1] It is said that a person who sees Kikimora spinning will soon die. To appease an angry Kikimora, one should wash all the pots and pans with fern tea. She usually lives behind the stove or in the cellar of the house where she haunts. Kikimora can also be found in a swamp or forest.

The Kikimora is the subject of a fairy tale for orchestra by Anatoly Lyadov, who says, as recounted by a Los Angeles Philharmonic program note[2], that she "grows up with a magician in the mountains. From dawn to sunset the magician’s cat regales Kikimora with fantastic tales of ancient times and faraway places, as Kikimora rocks in a cradle made of crystal. It takes her seven years to reach maturity, by which time her head is no larger than a thimble and her body no wider than a strand of straw. Kikimora spins flax from dusk and to dawn, with evil intentions for the world."

Marsh Kikimora (Russian: кикимора болотная) is featured in the animal world - in 1988 Kirill Eskov named a genus from the Linyphiidae spider family discovered by him Kikimora palustris, after this spirit in Slavic mythology.

Wow!!!!
This is sooo fascinating! Thanks so much! I loved that post!!
Awesome pictures!!!

Russia / Slavic countries are WAY ahead of the rest of Europe in this area!
Many more such creatures seem to exist, and they are more interesting too.

Some of them sound familiar to creatures that I know of from Scandinavian folklore. Wasserman (Näcken) and a few others. In our mythology he is naked and plays the violin so beautifully that people can't resist it and jump into the river.....

I lived more or less near a fairly large forest as a child and I didn't fully believe such stories, but I didn't completely disbelieve them either.



There is one particularly spooky creature called "Huldran" who looks like a beautiful woman from the front, but from the back she looks like a rotten tree-trunk... She has very long hair and her objective is to lure men deep into the forest and imprison them in her caves inside the mountains.


Then there are lots of variations of babies being taken by trolls and replaced by a troll-baby... and of friendly creatures who helps people and protect animals...

Is it true that there are people in Russia who never became completely Christian and who still believe in Pagan traditions?

I have heard such stories all my life but I don't know whether they are true or not.. In particular a people called Maries or something like that.. and misc. people in Siberia....

I also heard that there were isolated places in Russia that were ignored completely by the USSR because it was so difficult to reach them.. so those people were left to themselves and lived "subsistence" lifestyle in Siberia...

That's quite fascinating if it's true....

Вагонный.
Just the same as домовой only in train cars (вагон - train car). It is from the film Чародеи.

Originally Posted by Johanna

Is it true that there are people in Russia who never became completely Christian and who still believe in Pagan traditions?
I have heard such stories all my life but I don't know whether they are true or not.. In particular a people called Maries or something like that.. and misc. people in Siberia....

There are about 160 ethnic groups and indigenous people (whatever that means, lol ) in Russia, so yes, I suppose many of them are left more or less to themselves and their beliefs... I'm rather ashamed of my ignorance when it comes to various other peoples living in Russia. They have fascinating cultures of their own and very special fairy-tales, I read some of them as a kid.

Here's a link to some fantastic photos of a festival in Buryatia. http://forum.academ.org/index.php?sh...9&st=0&start=0 Buryats are Mongols, they live in the Irkutsk region (if I'm not mistaken), close to the Lake Baikal.

Originally Posted by Wowik

Вагонный.

LOL. Вагонный. I wanna see that film now! I haven't seen it yet.

Originally Posted by Johanna

I lived more or less near a fairly large forest as a child and I didn't fully believe such stories, but I didn't completely disbelieve them either.

Living near a forest is great! I've never been to a village but I've lived in the suburbs of Novosibirsk all my life, in a scientific center of Siberia, the so-called Academgorodok (or just Academ). It is basically built in the forest, so I've got trees all round me. Great gloomy pine forests covered in snow at the moment - it's fantastic. This is how Academ looks, though I live in a slightly different part. http://forum.academ.org/index.php?sh...7&st=0&start=0

Miscellaneous

More Baba-Yaga, by the artist Cygankov/Цыганков



The inimitable and unsurpassable Georgy Millyar/Георгий Францевич Милляр in the roles of Baba-Yaga, Koschei the Immortal and others in "Morozko" and other fairy-tales.


from http://www.cultradio.ru/p/b_7146.jpg

from http://dreamworlds.ru/uploads/posts/...31808_2981.jpg

from http://i60.beon.ru/50/34/753450/54/2...736c39e2c.jpeg

from http://images.ameno.ru/images/articl...jar_kazhey.jpg

from http://eggs.net.ua/files/_Picture_file_path_528.jpg

from http://foto.rambler.ru/public/rabinv...8/24/1-web.jpg

The heroes of Russian folklore:

Ivan Tsarevich - Иван-Царевич
Ivan the Fool - Иван-Дурак, Иванушка-Дурачок
Vasilisa the Beautiful/the Wise - Василиса Прекрасная/Премудрая
Alyonushka and her brother Ivanushka - Алёнушка и ее братец Ивенушка
Frog Tsarevna - Царевна-Лягушка
The Unsmiling Tsarevna - Царевна Несмеяна
Bogatyrs (Knights) - Богатыри

Objects with magical properties:

The flying carpet (ковер-самолет)
Скатерть-самобранка (A table-cloth which, when opened, sets itself magically with all kinds of yummy dishes)
Шапка-невидимка (a hat that makes you invisible when you put it on)
Сапоги-скороходы (boots which, when put on, allow you to travel great distances with just a few paces)

Magical creatures:

Жар-птица (the Firebird; a sort of phoenix)

In Slavic folklore, the Firebird (жар-птица: жар - heat, птица - bird) is a magical glowing bird from a faraway land, which is both a blessing and bringer of doom to its captor.

The Firebird is invariably described as a large bird in majestic plumage that brightly glows in red, orange and yellow light, like a bonfire that is just past the turbulent flame. The feathers do not cease glowing if removed, and one feather can light a large room if not concealed. In later iconography, the form of Firebird is usually as of a smallish peacock of fire colors, complete with a crest on its head and tail feathers with glowing "eyes".

A typical role of the Firebird in fairy tales is an object of difficult quest. The quest is usually initiated by finding a lost tail feather of the Firebird, upon which the hero sets out to find and capture the live bird, sometimes on his own accord, but usually on the bidding of a father or king. The Firebird is a marvel, highly coveted, but the hero, initially charmed by the wonder of the feather, eventually blames it for his troubles.
The Firebird tales follow the classical scheme of fairy tale, with the feather serving as a premonition of hard journey, with magical helpers met on the way, who help in travel and capture of the Bird, and returning from the faraway land with the prize. The most popular version is found in the tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf.

The story of Firebird quest has inspired literary works, including "The Little Humpback Horse" by Pyotr Yershov. Composer Stravinsky achieved an early success with a large-scale ballet score, The Firebird.

The Firebird concept has parallels in the Iranian legends of magical birds, in the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale about The Golden Bird and the related Russian magical birds like Sirin. The story of the quest itself is closely paralleled by Armenian Hazaran Blbul. In the Armenian tale, however, the bird does not glow but rather makes the land bloom through its song. In the Czech folklore, it is called Pták Ohnivák (Bird Fire-like) and appears, for example, in a Karel Jaromír Erben fairy tale, also as an object of difficult quest. Moreover, in the beginning of this fairy tale, the bird steals magical golden apples belonging to a king and is therefore pursued by the king's servants in order to protect the precious apples.

The story of the firebird comes in many different forms. Some folk tales say that the Firebird is a mystical bird that flies around a king’s castle and at night swoops down and eats all the king's golden apples. Others say that the firebird is just a bird that flies around giving hope to those who need it. Some additions to that legend say that when the firebird flies around his eyes sparkle and pearls fall from his beak. The pearls would then fall to the peasants, giving them something to trade for good or services. In the most common version of the legend, a Tsar commands his three sons to capture the firebird that keeps flying down from above and eating his apples. The golden apples are in the Tsar’s orchard and give youth and strength to all who eat them. The sons end up barely missing the bird, but they catch one of his feathers that glows in the night. They take it in a dark room and it lights the room completely. The mystery of the feather has illuminated hearts of men for many years.

Ivan Bilibin's illustration to a Russian fairy tale about the Firebird, 1899.

The following are all by Viktor Vasnetsov:
Ivan Tsarevich riding the Gray Wolf

Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird on a magic carpet
The Flying Carpet

from http://s42.radikal.ru/i097/0807/23/ad29ef66a737.jpg
Alyonushka

The Unsmiling Tsarevna (Nesmeyana)

Frog Tsarevna

Originally Posted by Johanna

There is one particularly spooky creature called "Huldran" who looks like a beautiful woman from the front, but from the back she looks like a rotten tree-trunk... She has very long hair and her objective is to lure men deep into the forest and imprison them in her caves inside the mountains.

Scary, indeed. And her name sounds somewhat Tolkien-esque to me. I went and looked up "Swedish folklore" in Wikipedia - lots of interesting stuff! And it looks like Swedish folklore is similar to English, which is not surprising: trolls, giants, dwarves, elves, kelpie. Kraken! And I remember reading about Odin, Thor, and also about nisse. I had this Big Book of Christmas as a kid and it had stories about nisse in it as well.

Because of their common Germanic origin, Scandinavian folklore shows a large correspondence with folklores elsewhere, such as in England and Germany among others.

Originally Posted by starrysky

LOL. Вагонный. I wanna see that film now! I haven't seen it yet.

Вагонный appears on fifth minute of the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBDr8jXOpR8

Also you could find there another parts of the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

This is just wonderful!
With stories like this it's no surprise that Russia has a "mysterious"
image...

I guess the geographical situation - Northern country, so large and also in-between East and West is one of the reasons you have more folklore than almost any other country..

I think that the first book I read in Russian will have to be a FAIRYTALE! I will try to find a really beautiful one with lots of large pictures - that will be really inspirational...

I hope Russia will treasure it's folklore and not let it become "Disney-fied" or forgotten...

Some of these figures are a bit familiar to me, but with another name..

But nobody has mentioned "Uncle Frost" or the Snow King...
I saw the Russian kids' film about the Grandfather Frost (?) as a child
and I think that these figures are perhaps important there...?
Or are they "newly invented" figures that aren't "real" folklore?
(I am not sure how to say the names of these figures in English, hope you know which ones I mean.)

Originally Posted by Johanna

But nobody has mentioned "Uncle Frost" or the Snow King...

????Snow King?????
Дед Мороз.


Морозко

????Snow King?????

Well in Scandinavia we have such figures, but they have been "replaced" more or less by "Santa Claus" / Father Christmas from England and the US.

I think they might be from the same folklore basis as the Russian figures though -- I've heard something like that anyway. And I am not too sure what the Russian legends about them are anyway - other than the story from the film.

Before Santa Claus "invaded" we had something called "The Christmas Goat" who came with the presents for the children. It's based on an old figure who existed before Christianity came. Does that exist in Russia?

Why don't you mention Кащей-бессмертный (Kaschei the immortal) and Змей Горыныч (Gorynych the serpent)? They are evil creatures but, nevertheless, very famous (or infamous) folklore characters.

Кащей-бессмертный
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koschei


Змей Горыныч
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_dragon


Also there is Кот-Баюн:
Unfortunately, there's only German version available in the Wikipedia:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajun


Wait, isn't Cat Bayun is also a Scandinavian folklore character?
Here's a better illustration (just as l imagined):

Снегурочка (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snegurochka)

Соловей-Разбойник (Nightingale the Robber)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingale_the_Robber

Russian folk lore question: Houses that are alive and have legs, some kind of bird legs. I have seen these in some of the Russian animation/cartoons. In one of the cartoons, the house had a nest of eggs, they hatched and out came little houses, also living, with bird legs. In Летучий корабль that I posted to the cartoons thread, there is one such house with bird legs. Русские мультики на ютюбе

Do such houses have a name? Or is there a fable/story about them?

It's a very important part of Russian folk lore - a so called "Hut on Chicken Legs", or "Chicken-Legged Hut" ("избушка на курьих ножках"). There are no stories featuring it as a main character, it's just a house where Baba Yaga lives, and it appears in every fairy tale about Baba Yaga. In some tales these huts are semi-intelligent creatures, but mostly it's just what you can call a "smart house", albeit with an attitude.

An integral part of every tale about Baba Yaga vs. some kind of hero is a chant, which is needed to be said before you can enter the Hut on chicken legs when Baba Yaga is absent: "Избушка-избушка, повернись к лесу задом, ко мне передом" (Hut-hut, turn your back to the forest, your front to me). After this a hut makes a turn and reveals a door which was hidden and/or unavailable before then.

Some theories on the origin of such an exotic dwelling are mentioned in the article about Baba Yaga: Wiki.

Due to its familiarity (everyone knows about this hut since childhood) its images are often used in cartoons, jokes, etc.:


A sand sculpture of (a little unconventional) Chicken-Legged Hut in Kharkov (Ukraine):

thank you so much, gRomoZeka. I actually thought they were chicken legs. Must be distant memories from the farm.

Another thing about Russian folk lore, and Russian literature is the stove. Not like other stoves. A Russian stove can take up half a house! Only in Russia and close vicinity, do people sleep on the stove. Finally in cartoons, I have seen the Russian stove.

I don't know why Canadians and Alaskans don't have more stoves like Russian stoves. People in North America some times have Russian stoves, but they are somewhat rare.

Originally Posted by Seraph

...Another thing about Russian folk lore, and Russian literature is the stove. Not like other stoves. A Russian stove can take up half a house! Only in Russia and close vicinity, do people sleep on the stove. Finally in cartoons, I have seen the Russian stove. ...

По щучьему велению
http://cqham.qrz.ru/skazka/skaz028.shtml

Емеля сидит на печи:


Емеля приехал на печи к царю: