A folk tale is a message from our ancestors, passed down from time immemorial. Through magical stories, sacred information about morality and spirituality, traditions and culture is conveyed to us. The heroes of Russian folk tales are very colorful. They live in a world full of wonders and dangers. There is a battle between light and dark forces, as a result of which good and justice always win.
Ivan the Fool
The main character of Russian fairy tales is a seeker. He sets out on a difficult journey to get a magical object or a bride, and to deal with the monster. In this case, the character may initially occupy a low social position. Typically this is peasant son, the youngest child in the family.
By the way, the word “fool” in ancient times did not have a negative meaning. Since the 14th century, it has served as a talismanic name, often given to the youngest son. He did not receive any inheritance from his parents. Older brothers in fairy tales are successful and practical. Ivan spends time on the stove, since he is not interested in living conditions. He does not seek money or fame, and patiently endures the ridicule of others.
However, it is Ivan the Fool who ultimately gets lucky. He is unpredictable, capable of solving non-standard riddles, and defeats the enemy with cunning. The hero is characterized by mercy and kindness. He helps out those in trouble, releases the pike, for which he is awarded magical help. Having overcome all obstacles, Ivan the Fool marries the Tsar's daughter and becomes rich. Behind the unsightly clothes hides the image of a sage serving good and wary of falsehood.
Bogatyr
This hero was borrowed from epics. He is handsome, brave, noble. It often grows “by leaps and bounds.” He has enormous strength and is able to saddle a heroic horse. There are many stories where a character fights a monster, dies, and then is resurrected.
The names of the heroes of Russian fairy tales can be different. We meet Ilya Muromets, Bova Korolevich, Alyosha Popovich, Nikita Kozhemyaka and other characters. Ivan Tsarevich can also be classified in this category. He enters into battle with the Serpent Gorynych or Koshchei, saddles Sivka-Burka, protects the weak, and rescues the princess.
It is significant that the hero sometimes makes mistakes (responds rudely to the grandmother he meets, burns the skin of a frog). Subsequently, he has to repent of this, ask for forgiveness, and correct the situation. By the end of the tale, he gains wisdom, finds the princess and receives half the kingdom as a reward for his exploits.
Wonder Bride
By the end of the story, an intelligent and beautiful girl becomes the wife of a fairy-tale hero. In Russian folk tales we meet Vasilisa the Wise, Marya Morevna, and Elena the Beautiful. They embody the popular idea of a woman standing guard over her family.
The heroines are distinguished by their resourcefulness and intelligence. Thanks to their help, the hero solves ingenious riddles and defeats the enemy. Often beautiful princess subject to the forces of nature, she is able to turn into an animal (swan, frog), and create real miracles. The heroine uses powerful forces for the benefit of her lover.
There is also an image of a meek stepdaughter in fairy tales, who achieves success thanks to her hard work and kindness. General qualities for all the positive female images are loyalty, purity of aspirations and readiness to help.
Which hero of Russian fairy tales is the most beloved and popular among children and adults? The first place rightfully belongs to Baba Yaga. This is a very controversial character with a terrifying appearance, a hooked nose and a bone leg. In ancient times, “Baba” was the name given to the mother, the eldest woman in the family. "Yaga" may be related to the Old Russian words "yagat" ("to shout loudly, swear") or "yagaya" ("sick, angry").
An old witch lives in the forest, on the border between our world and the other world. Her hut on chicken legs is surrounded by a fence made of human bones. Grandmother flies on a mortar, makes friends with evil spirits, kidnaps children and protects them from uninvited guests many magical items. According to scientists, it is associated with kingdom of the dead. This is indicated by the loose hair that was unbraided for women before burial, the bone leg, and also the house. The Slavs made wooden huts for the dead, which they placed on stumps in the forest.
In Rus' they always respected their ancestors and turned to them for advice. That’s why good fellows come to Baba Yaga, and she tests them. To those who pass the test, the witch gives a hint, points the way to Koshchei, gives a magic ball, as well as a towel, comb and other wonders. Baba Yaga doesn’t eat children either, but she puts them in the oven and performs the ancient ritual of “over-baking.” In Rus' it was believed that in this way a child could be healed of an illness.
Koschey
The name of this fairy-tale hero of Russian fairy tales could come from the Turkic “koschey”, which translates as “slave”. The character was chained and kept prisoner for three hundred years. He himself also likes to kidnap beautiful girls and hide them in prison. According to another version, the name comes from the Slavic “kostit” (to scold, to harm) or “bone”. Koschey is often depicted as a skinny old man, more like a skeleton.
He is a very powerful sorcerer, lives far from other people and owns countless treasures. The death of the hero is in a needle, which is securely hidden in objects and animals nested inside each other like a nesting doll. The prototype of Koshchei may be the winter deity Karachun, who was born from a golden egg. It covered the earth with ice and brought death with it, forcing our ancestors to move to warmer areas. In other myths, Koshchei was the name of the son of Chernobog. The latter could control time and command the army the afterlife.
This is one of the most ancient images. The hero of Russian fairy tales differs from foreign dragons by having several heads. Usually their number is a multiple of three. The creature can fly, breathes fire and abducts people. It lives in caves, where it hides captives and treasures. Often appears in front of a positive hero after emerging from the water. The nickname “Gorynych” is associated either with the character’s habitat (mountain) or with the verb “to burn.”
The image of the terrible Serpent is borrowed from ancient myths about the dragon who guards the entrance to the underworld. To become a man, a teenager had to defeat him, i.e. accomplish a feat, and then enter the world of the dead and return back as an adult. According to another version, Zmey Gorynych - collective image steppe nomads who attacked Rus' in huge hordes. At the same time, they used fire shells that burned wooden cities.
Forces of nature
In ancient times, people personified the Sun, Wind, Moon, Thunder, Rain and other phenomena on which their lives depended. They often became heroes of Russian fairy tales, married princesses, and helped good heroes. There are also anthropomorphic rulers of certain elements: Moroz Ivanovich, the goblin, the water one. They can play the role of both positive and negative characters.
Nature is depicted as spiritual. The well-being of people largely depends on her actions. Thus, Morozko rewards the meek, hardworking daughter of an old man, whom her stepmother ordered to abandon in the forest, with gold and a fur coat. At the same time, her selfish stepsister dies from his spell. The Slavs worshiped the forces of nature and at the same time were wary of them, tried to appease them with the help of sacrifices, and made requests.
Grateful animals
In fairy tales we meet a talking wolf, a magical horse and cow, a goldfish, and a pike that grants wishes. And also a bear, hare, hedgehog, raven, eagle, etc. They all understand human speech and have unusual abilities. The hero helps them out of trouble, gives them life, and in return they help defeat the enemy.
Traces of totemism are clearly visible here. The Slavs believed that each genus descended from a specific animal. After death, the soul of a person moves into the beast and vice versa. For example, in the fairy tale "Burenushka" the soul of a deceased mother is reborn in the form of a cow to help her orphaned daughter. Such an animal could not be killed, because it became a relative and protected from harm. Sometimes the heroes of a fairy tale can themselves turn into an animal or a bird.
Firebird
Many positive heroes of fairy tales try to take possession of it. The wonderful bird dazzles the eyes like the golden sun and lives behind a stone wall in rich lands. Freely floating in the sky, it is a symbol of the heavenly body, which bestows luck, abundance, and creative power. This is a representative of another world, who often turns into a kidnapper. The firebird steals rejuvenating apples that bestow beauty and immortality.
Only those who are pure in soul, believe in the dream and are closely connected with their deceased ancestors can catch it. Usually this younger son, who had to care for his old parents and spent a lot of time near the family hearth.
Thus, the heroes of Russian fairy tales teach us to respect our ancestors, listen to our hearts, overcome fear, pursue our dreams despite mistakes, and always help those asking for help. And then the divine radiance of the magical firebird will fall on a person, transforming him and bestowing happiness.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the characteristics fairy tale characters, who are the characters in the fairy tales your children, and maybe you, love. They will help you more specifically choose certain fairy tales for your children for correctional purposes. Perhaps you will learn something new and interesting... Or perhaps you will disagree with something. But getting to know the characteristics of the characters will help you in choosing the hero of your own fairy tales for your baby, as well as for general awareness.
Cinderella lives in the kitchen near the stove and sleeps in a box of ash. Ash (ash) represents the essence of what has been burned. Fire is a symbol of destruction, purification and transformation. Cinderella lives next to fire, which imparts its power to her, and it in turn helps her survive adversity and suffering. Like fire that turns water into steam, Cinderella processes, burns through humiliation, resentment and pain, turning them into pure love. You must have a warm heart so as not to become embittered and hardened in soul when you are insulted, humiliated and hated.
Princess Frog
Amphibian frog and Vasilisa the Beautiful- one and the same creature: animal and earthly forces are fused into one. Every person contains incredible and wonderful possibilities. Merging with the image of the beautiful Vasilisa, you feel omnipotent, harmonious and joyful. a frog that turns into a beauty realizes its potential, given from birth.
sleeping Beauty
During the time of Sleeping Beauty, people perceived and understood the world around them differently. Consciousness never stands still, it develops, and intuitive perception should have been replaced by logical thinking. The spindle is a symbol of spinning. And the processes of spinning and thinking are initially related. The expressions “I lost the thread of reasoning”, “I pulled the thread and remembered everything” still exist. “Spinning” in figurative language means to build thoughts, create a logical chain.
The princess, who, under the curse of the evil fairy, pricks herself on the spindle and dies (falls asleep), is not ready to easily and quickly switch to a different type of thinking. And she goes into sleep to accept this process on an unconscious level.
The Snow Queen
Woman made of ice... Ice is frozen crystallized water. The Ice Queen symbolizes frozen feelings and emotions, stopped movement. Admiring ice crystals, the correctness of lines, the geometry of space and time and not feeling the tenderness of a flower, the warmth of the sun, the soft touch of beloved hands means living with a cold, frozen heart. The Snow Queen and her ice castle represent, on a psychological level, detachment, insensibility, firmness, determination, icy calm, composure, and the ability to control oneself. Are these qualities really that bad? Aren't there situations in life when we need to be cool, balanced and calm? It’s just that everything in excess is harmful. And even the most beautiful things in large quantities tire. And when the mind and feelings are in harmony, what could be better?
The image of the Snow Queen is very useful for children (adults) who are weak and weak-willed, insecure and timid, vulnerable and soft: it will give them strength, firmness, self-confidence, and perseverance in the face of difficulties. The image of the Snow Queen will also help those who are overly excitable, temperamental and hot: it will cool down excessive ardor, balance and calm.
Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a child of the element of water and symbolizes the emotional and sensory world. The Little Mermaid's passionate desire to experience earthly love and spending your life not in the expanses of water, but on solid land can be associated with the fact that the intangible and invisible strives to take shape. But life on earth is associated with great pain for the Little Mermaid. It is probably no coincidence that the heroine was never able to fulfill her dream of becoming the prince’s lover and wife. It would seem that the Little Mermaid deserved her happiness, but she did not receive it.
In such cases, you can invite children to write their own fairy tale and change its ending. The technique of changing fairy tales allows you to look at the world around you more optimistically and joyfully. This is especially important for sad, indecisive, inhibited and weakened children.
Mistress of Copper Mountain
This woman is incredibly beautiful, balanced and strong. The stone woman, however, is capable of crying, and is fair, and compassionate. So why doesn’t it bring joy to even good people? Maybe the point is not in the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, but in the person himself, who goes out to fight with a stronger one, but is not able to withstand the fight? Precious stones are a symbol of wealth and power. How many are capable of possessing treasures and not having attachment to them, not falling into dependence? The image of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain allows you to feel strong and powerful in a good way, fair and at the same time ruthless, powerful and rich.
A light, airy creature endowed with magical power. Messenger of fate, witch, sorceress - her other names. A fairy is a beautiful star creature, a kind of mediator between Space and Earth, the world of people. The fairy is inextricably linked with the light that penetrates any space. To feel like a fairy means to have indestructible faith in yourself, in the power of your thoughts; experience the state of a wizard for whom nothing is impossible.
It got its name from the verb “to know” - to know. Her other titles are sorceress, knowledgeable, knowledgeable, sorceress. A witch is, first of all, a healer, a sorceress. She easily commands the diverse forces of nature and any creatures. Unlike a fairy and a good sorceress, a witch uses powers to the detriment of a person or creature, demands a considerable fee for services, rejoices when she feels good, radiates anger, envy, tension and brute force (the force of a hurricane, whirlwind, earthquake).
One of the witches. The ancient Slavs in Rus' called her a hellish goddess, a terrible goddess who destroys the bodies and souls of people. Baba Yaga is a powerful sorceress, and her hut on chicken legs is something like a passageway, a kind of bridge between the world of the living and the kingdom of the dead. Only a brave hero, capable of overcoming the fear of death, can resist Baba Yaga. To be embodied in Baba Yaga, to live her image means to feel power, crushing strength and the absence of fear of death.
Koschei the Deathless
Belongs to the world of the dead. Why is he called immortal? Koschey the Immortal consists of nothing but bones. bones are the hardest, most durable, toughest tissue in human body, capable of withstanding enormous loads. Bones do not rot or decompose under certain conditions and are difficult to burn.
Koschey the Immortal symbolizes complete insensibility and lack of spirituality, rigidity, stereotyping, limitation and inertia. At the same time, the image of Koshchei the Immortal helps to gain fortitude, fearlessness, unshakable self-confidence, determination and strength.
Tsar (king)
The state is governed by a huge number of people. At the symbolic level, the king means a certain dominant higher psychic center. To be in a royal state is to experience the unification of all parts of the Self. To feel like a king means to control your thoughts, emotions, states, to feel responsible for everything that happens in your “kingdom”.
The highest regulatory center is responsible and governs. However, unlike the king, she symbolizes female emotions and feelings.
A wonderful sign of beauty and flourishing vitality. To more accurately understand the symbolism of a particular flower, describe it to yourself with 3-5 adjectives. These adjectives will mean the state of your soul that you see in the flower. If, for example, we take “The Scarlet Flower,” then I would like to describe it with the following adjectives: beautiful, burning, blazing, scarlet. Isn't it associated with the heart and love? The merchant's daughter's desire to find The Scarlet Flower- this is the desire for love, passion, dedication, heartfelt affection.
Symbol of freedom. By living the state of a bird, you can get rid of heavy attachments to desires, feel a state of independence, lightness, airiness and flight.
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A simple and at the same time mysterious bird. Crows are endowed with mystical powers and the ability to penetrate supernatural worlds, including the afterlife. Crows are smart and wise birds. Having reincarnated as a raven, you have the opportunity to look at the world with different eyes, see the deep and mysterious areas of life, explore the dark side of your soul and touch your inner wisdom.
Martin
The beautiful, fast-winged bird is a symbol of spring and renewal, a symbol of new life. It is no coincidence that it was the swallow that carried Thumbelina to new world, in which the girl found a home, her prince and happiness. Caring for a swallow, as Thumbelina did, means preparing for change, for a state of spring, joy, and happiness.
The white swan symbolizes the beautiful and pure thoughts. The swan is a sign of greatness, beauty and grace.
Eagle owl (owl)
A nocturnal bird of prey with excellent vision in the dark. It symbolizes the unknown and darkness. Unknown dark spaces are usually frightening, and therefore people are always afraid of the owl (owl). But it is not without reason that the owl (owl) is considered a symbol of wisdom. It is his fearless perception of the dark and mysterious side of life that provides depth and wisdom. Eagle owl (owl) is a symbol of transformation, the transition of negative dark states into a calm and harmonious perception of life.
A predatory beast, strong, smart and careful. Sometimes he is endowed with such traits as cruelty, ferocity, gluttony and greed. Wolves have a highly developed sense of family and pack. They are caring parents and partners who feel great about each other. In some fairy tales, the wolf is a bloodthirsty, ferocious and merciless monster, while in others, particularly in Mowgli, he is a caring, attentive and even noble parent. Therefore, a wolf can symbolize different states of the soul.
In Russian fairy tales, it usually appears as an independent, intelligent and resourceful creature, able to easily defend itself and repel any beast. Its needles symbolize caution, inaccessibility, closedness, fear of pain and the need for protection.
The hare is considered a symbol of fear, weakness, as well as boasting and unjustified self-confidence. And in many fairy tales he is indeed presented this way. However, the fairy tale “Koska the Hare and the Spring” shows other sides of the hare’s nature: curiosity, playfulness, patience and courage.
An ambiguous and deep image, they fear her, deceit and meanness are associated with her. Biblical motifs characterize the serpent as a seducer and tempter. The snake has the ability to change its skin frequently, and in this way it symbolizes rebirth and renewal. Different snakes symbolize different things: a boa constrictor, for example, can symbolize enormous suffocating compressive power and strength, and a viper may symbolize cunning and meanness.
It belongs to the category of amphibians and feels equally at home in water and on land. She is subject to both the emotional and sensory world and the material and objective world. In different fairy tales we see different images of frogs. in the fairy tale “The Frog Traveler,” curiosity, the desire for change, boasting and pomposity come to the fore; in the fairy tale “The Frog Princess” - nobility hidden behind the apparent external ugliness.
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When interpreting the image of a bear, one should take into account its dual nature. On the one hand, the bear is considered a clumsy, clumsy, heavy creature, on the other hand, the bear is unusually dexterous and fast. The bear represents cruelty, rudeness, evil force, and at the same time its image is associated with good nature and protection. In the fairy tale "Mowgli" the bear is a symbol of teacher's wisdom, attention, nobility and protection.
Smart, courageous, fearless, cunning, possesses seductive grace and flexibility, noiselessness, patience, and sometimes ruthlessness. The image of a panther will help balance existing qualities and give strength, firmness, sobriety, determination and courage.
There are many different expressions associated with the image of a fish: to be silent like a fish, to fight like a fish on ice, like a fish in water... each of these expressions describes certain human actions. The image of a fish is often associated with the “emerging” of deep psychic unconscious information. We can also talk about character traits such as coldness and dispassion. Sometimes fish symbolizes slipperiness, when the person with whom we are communicating deftly avoids the desired topic, avoids sensitive moments or situations.
Known for its ability to shed its tail in times of danger and grow a new one over time. Therefore, it is considered a symbol of renewal, reincarnation, resourcefulness and vitality. Perhaps, thanks to Bazhov’s fairy tales, or perhaps for another reason, the habitats of lizards are associated with deposits of precious stones, gold or treasures. And that is why lizards are considered a symbol of wealth, material gain or reward.
Boyan is an epic poet and singer in East Slavic mythology.
Brownie
They say that the brownie still lives in every village hut, but not everyone knows about it. They call him grandfather, master, neighbor, housekeeper, demon-housekeeper, but this is all he - the keeper of the hearth, the invisible assistant of the owners.
The brownie sees every little thing, tirelessly cares and worries so that everything is in order and ready: he will help the hard worker, correct his mistake; he enjoys the offspring of domestic animals and birds; he does not tolerate unnecessary expenses and is angry with them - in a word, the brownie is inclined to work, thrifty and prudent. If he likes the housing, then he serves this family, as if he went into bondage to her.
For this loyalty, in other places they call him that: he has killed him.
But he willingly helps the lazy and careless to run their households, torments people to the point that he crushes them almost to death at night or throws them out of their beds. However, it is not difficult to make peace with an angry brownie: you just have to put snuff under the stove, which he is a big fan of, or give him any gift: a multi-colored rag, a crust of bread... If the owners love their neighbor, if they live in harmony with him, then will never want to part with it, even when moving to new house: they will scratch under the threshold, collect the garbage in a dustpan - and sprinkle it in the new hut, without noticing how the “owner” moves with this garbage to a new place of residence. Just remember to bring him a pot of porridge for his housewarming and say with all possible respect: “Grandfather Brownie, come home. Come live with us!”
Rarely can a person boast that he has seen a brownie. To do this, you need to put on a horse collar on Easter night, cover yourself with a harrow, the teeth on yourself, and sit between the horses the whole night. If you're lucky, you'll see an old man - small, like a stump, all covered with gray hair (even his palms are hairy), gray with age and dust. Sometimes, in order to divert prying eyes from himself, he will take on the appearance of the owner of the house - well, he’s the spitting image! In general, the brownie loves to wear the owner’s clothes, but always manages to put them back in place as soon as the person needs things.
Before the plague, fire and war, the brownies leave the village and howl in the pastures. If there is a big unexpected disaster, the grandfather notifies about its approach, ordering the dogs to dig holes in the yard and howl at the whole village...
Kikimora
Kikimora, shishimora - in East Slavic mythology, the evil spirit of the house, a small woman - invisible (sometimes considered the wife of a brownie). At night, she disturbs small children, confuses the yarn (she herself likes to spin or weave lace - the sounds of K. spinning in the house portend trouble): the owners may escape from the house; hostile to men. May harm domestic animals, particularly chickens. The main attributes (connection with yarn, damp places, darkness) of Kikimora are similar to mokusha, evil spirit, continuing the image of the Slavic goddess Mokosha. The name “Kikimora” is a difficult word. the second part of which is the ancient name of the female character Mara, Mora.
Kikimora is a character best known mainly in the Russian North. Appears in the form of a small, hunched, ugly old woman, dressed in rags, sloppy and eccentric. Her appearance in a house or in outbuildings (on a threshing floor, barn or bathhouse) was considered an evil omen. It was believed that she settled in houses. built on an “unclean” place (on the boundary or where the suicide was buried). There is a well-known tale that in a newly built house there was a Kikimora, which none of the residents saw, but a voice was constantly heard demanding that the household members who sat down to dinner clear the table: she threw pillows at the disobedient ones and frightened them at night until then. until the whole family left the house (Vyatka province).
Bannik
Bannik, bainik, baennik, bainushko, etc., Belarusian. laznik - among Russians and Belarusians the spirit is the inhabitant of the bathhouse. Lives behind the heater or under the shelf. It can be invisible (according to some beliefs, it has an invisibility cap) or appears in the form of a person with long hair, a naked old man, covered with dirt and leaves from brooms, a dog, a cat, white hare etc. There is a belief that BANNIK appears in the bathhouse for the first time after a woman in labor has been there. It is believed that BANNIK washes himself in the bathhouse and he should be left with water, soap and a broom, otherwise he will splash boiling water, throw hot stones, and cause fumes. When entering the bathhouse, it was customary to say: “Baptized on the shelf, unbaptized from the shelf” (Smolensk province).
Anchutka
Anchutka is one of the most ancient names for the devil, the demon. Anchutkas come in bathhouses and field ones. Like any evil spirits, they instantly respond to the mention of their name. It’s better to keep quiet about them, otherwise this heelless, fingerless man will be right there. The heelless one is anchoot because one day a wolf chased him and bit off his heel.
Bath anchutkas are shaggy, bald, scare people with their moans, and darken their minds. But they are very good at changing their appearance - just like the rest of the undead. Field sprouts are very tiny and more peaceful. They live in every plant and are called according to their habitat: potato, hemp, flax, oatmeal, wheat, roznik, etc.
However, they say that the water also has its own anchutka - an assistant to the waterman or swamper. He is unusually ferocious and nasty. If a swimmer suddenly has a cramp, he should know that it is a water anchutka who has grabbed his leg and wants to drag him to the bottom. That is why, since ancient times, every swimmer has been advised to have a pin with him: after all, evil spirits are deathly afraid of iron.
Goblin
Leshy, forester, leshak, forester, forester, forester - the spirit of the forest in Slavic mythology. The goblin lives in every forest, especially loves spruce trees. Dressed like a man - a red sash, the left side of the caftan is usually wrapped behind the right side, and not vice versa, as everyone wears. Shoes are mixed up: the right shoe is on left leg, left - to right. The goblin's eyes are green and burn like coals.
No matter how carefully he hides his unclean origin, he fails to do this: if you look at him through right ear horses, the goblin has a bluish color, because his blood is blue. His eyebrows and eyelashes are not visible, he has corny ears (no right ear), and the hair on his head is combed to the left.
A goblin can become a stump and a hummock, turn into an animal and a bird, he turns into a bear and a grouse, a hare, and anyone, even a plant, because he is not only the spirit of the forest, but also its essence: he is overgrown with moss, sniffles as if the forest is noisy, It not only shows itself as spruce, but also spreads like moss and grass. The goblin differs from other spirits by special properties inherent to him alone: if he walks through the forest, he is as tall as the tallest trees. But at the same time, going out for walks, fun and jokes on the forest edges, he walks there like a small blade of grass, below the grass, freely hiding under any berry leaf. But, in fact, he rarely goes out to the meadows, strictly observing the rights of his neighbor, called the field worker, or field worker. The goblin also does not enter villages, so as not to quarrel with brownies and buffaloes, especially in those villages where completely black roosters crow, “two-eyed” dogs (with spots above the eyes in the form of second eyes) and three-haired cats live near the huts.
But in the forest, the goblin is a full-fledged and unlimited master: all animals and birds are under his jurisdiction and obey him unrequitedly. Hares are especially subordinate to him. He has them as complete serfs, at least he even has the power to lose them at cards to the neighboring goblin. Squirrel herds are not exempt from the same dependence, and if they, migrating in countless hordes and forgetting all fear of man, run into big cities, and jump across rooftops, fall into chimneys and even jump out of windows, then the matter is clear: that means , the goblin led a whole artel gambling and the defeated side drove the loss into the possessions of the happy opponent.
Swamp kikimora
Kikimora - Evil, swamp spirit in Slavic mythology. Close girlfriend goblin - swamp kikimora. Lives in a swamp. He likes to dress up in furs made from mosses and weaves forest and swamp plants into his hair. But she rarely appears to people, because she prefers to be invisible and only shouts from the swamp in a loud voice. A little woman steals small children, drags unwary travelers into a quagmire, where she can torture them to death.
Mermaid
In Slavic mythology, mermaids are a type of mischievous evil spirits. They were drowned women, girls who died near a pond, or people swimming at inopportune times. Mermaids were sometimes identified with “mavkas” - from the Old Slavonic “nav”, dead man) - children who died without baptism or by strangled mothers.
The eyes of such mermaids glow with green fire. By their nature, they are nasty and evil creatures, they grab bathing people by the legs, pull them under the water, or lure them from the shore, wrap their arms around them and drown them. There was a belief that a mermaid's laughter could cause death (this makes them look like Irish banshees).
Some beliefs called mermaids the lower spirits of nature (for example, good “beregins”), who have nothing in common with drowned people and willingly save drowning people.
Swampwomen
Bolotnitsa (omutnitsa, shovel) is a drowned maiden living in a swamp. Her black hair is spread over her bare shoulders and decorated with sedge and forget-me-nots. Disheveled and unkempt, pale-faced with green eyes, always naked and ready to lure people to her only in order to tickle them to death without any particular guilt and drown them in the quagmire. The swampwomen can send devastating storms to the fields, heavy rains, destructive hail; steal threads, canvases and linens from women who have fallen asleep without prayer.
Brodnitsa
Maidens - Beauties with long hair, guardians of fords. They live with beavers in quiet pools, mend and guard fords paved with brushwood. Before an enemy attack, wanderers imperceptibly destroy the ford, directing the enemy into a swamp or pool.
Dashingly one-eyed
Spirit of evil, failure, symbol of grief. There is no certainty about Likh’s appearance - he is either a one-eyed giant or a tall, thin woman with one eye in the middle of his forehead. Dashing is often compared to the Cyclopes, although apart from one eye and tall stature, they have nothing in common.
The saying has reached our time: “Don’t wake up Dashing while it’s quiet.” In a literal and allegorical sense, Likho meant trouble - it became attached to a person, sat on his neck (in some legends, the unfortunate person tried to drown Likho by throwing himself into the water, and drowned himself) and prevented him from living.
Likh, however, could be gotten rid of - deceived, driven away by force of will, or, as is occasionally mentioned, given to another person along with some gift. According to very dark superstitions, Likho could come and devour you.
Ghoul
Ghouls are lower spirits, demonological creatures. The “Tale of Idols” talks about the ancient veneration of ghouls by the Slavs. In popular belief, these are evil, harmful spirits. Ghouls (like vampires) suck blood from people and animals. They were identified with the dead, emerging from their graves at night, lying in wait and killing people and livestock. author of the encyclopedia Alexandrova Anastasia
According to popular beliefs, ghouls became people who died an “unnatural death” - violently killed, drunkards, suicides, etc., as well as sorcerers. It was believed that the earth does not accept such dead people and therefore they are forced to wander around the world and cause harm to the living. Such dead people were buried outside the cemetery and away from housing. Such a grave was considered a dangerous and unclean place; it should be avoided, and if you had to pass by, you should throw some object on it: a chip, a stick, a stone, or just a handful of earth. In order for the ghoul not to leave the grave, he had to be “calmed” - the corpse had to be dug out of the grave and pierced with an aspen stake.
And so that the deceased, who did not live out his “life,” did not turn into a ghoul, his knee tendons were cut so that he could not walk. Sometimes coals were sprinkled on the grave of a supposed ghoul or a pot of burning coals was placed.
Semik was considered a special day of obedience to the dead among the Eastern Slavs. On this day, they also commemorated all untimely deceased relatives: unbaptized children, girls who died before marriage. In addition, in Semik they took special measures against pawned dead people who, according to legend, were capable of causing harm to a person. Aspen stakes or sharp metal objects were driven into their graves.
In Semik, burials were held for those who, for one reason or another, remained unburied. They dug for them common grave and buried with a prayer service and funeral service. It was believed that otherwise the pawned dead could take revenge on the living, sending various disasters to them: drought, storm, thunderstorm or crop failure
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga (Yaga-Yaginishna, Yagibikha, Yagishna) is the oldest character in Slavic mythology.
Baba Yaga is a more dangerous creature, possessing much greater power than some witch. Most often, she lives in a dense forest, which has long instilled fear in people, since it was perceived as the border between the world of the dead and the living. It’s not for nothing that her hut is surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls, and in many fairy tales Baba Yaga feeds on human flesh, and she herself is called the “bone leg.”
Just like Koschey the Immortal (koshch - bone), she belongs to two worlds at once: the world of the living and the world of the dead. Hence its almost limitless possibilities.
In fairy tales she acts in three incarnations. Yaga the hero possesses a treasure sword and fights with the heroes on equal terms. The kidnapper yaga steals children, sometimes abandoning them, already dead, on the roof of their home, but most often carried away to their hut on chicken legs, or into an open field, or underground. From this strange hut, children, and adults too, escape by outwitting Yagibishna. And finally, Yaga the Giver warmly greets the hero or heroine, treats him deliciously, soars in the bathhouse, gives useful tips, presents a horse or rich gifts, for example, a magic ball leading to a wonderful goal, etc.
This old sorceress does not walk, but travels around the world in an iron mortar (that is, a scooter chariot), and when she walks, she forces the mortar to run faster, striking it with an iron club or pestle. And so that, for reasons known to her, no traces are visible, they are swept behind her by special ones, attached to the mortar with a broom and broom. She is served by frogs, black cats, including Cat Bayun, crows and snakes: all creatures in which both threat and wisdom coexist
Koschey the Immortal (Kashchei)
One of the well-known Old Slavonic negative characters, usually represented as a thin, skeletal old man with a repulsive appearance. Aggressive, vengeful, greedy and stingy. It is difficult to say whether he was a personification of the external enemies of the Slavs, an evil spirit, a powerful wizard, or a unique variety of undead.
It is indisputable that Koschey possessed very strong magic, avoided people and often engaged in the favorite activity of all villains in the world - kidnapping girls.
Dragon
Serpent Gorynych - in Russian epics and fairy tales, a representative of the evil principle, a dragon with 3, 6, 9 or 12 heads. Associated with fire and water, flies across the sky, but at the same time correlates with the bottom - with a river, a hole, a cave, where he has hidden wealth, a kidnapped princess
Indrik is a beast
Indrik the Beast - in Russian legends “the father of all animals”, a character in the Dove Book. Indrik is a distorted name of the god Indra (the variants “foreigner”, “inrok” can cause an association with a unicorn, but INDRIK is described with two, not one horn). INDRIK was credited with the properties of others fantastic images medieval book tradition - the king of the waters, opponents of the serpent and the crocodile - “onudra” (otters) and ichneumon, the fabulous fish “endrop”.
According to Russian folklore, Indrik is an underground beast, “walks through the underground like the sun in the sky”; he is endowed with the traits of the owner of the water element, sources and treasures. I. acts as an opponent of the serpent.
Alkonost
Alkonost is a wonderful bird, a resident of Iria - the Slavic paradise.
Her face is feminine, her body is birdlike, and her voice is sweet, like love itself. Hearing Alkonost's singing with delight can forget everything in the world, but there is no harm from her to people, unlike her friend the bird Sirin. Alkonost lays eggs “at the edge of the sea”, but does not hatch them, but immerses them in the depths of the sea. At this time, there is no wind for seven days until the chicks hatch.
Iriy, irye, vyriy, vyrey - a mythical country located on the warm sea in the west or southwest of the earth, where birds and snakes winter.
Gamayun
The bird Gamayun is the messenger of the Slavic gods, their herald. She sings divine hymns to people and proclaims the future to those who agree to listen to the secret.
In the ancient “Book, verb Kosmography,” the map depicts a round plain of earth, washed on all sides by a river-ocean. On the eastern side is marked “the island of Macarius, the first under the very east of the sun, near the blessed paradise; That’s why it’s so popular that the birds of paradise Gamayun and Phoenix fly into this island and smell wonderful.” When Gamayun flies, a deadly storm emanates from the solar east.
Gamayun knows everything in the world about the origin of earth and sky, gods and heroes, people and monsters, animals and birds. According to ancient belief, the cry of the bird Gamayun foretells happiness.
A. Remizov. Gamayun
One hunter tracked down a strange bird with the head of a beautiful maiden on the shore of a lake. She sat on a branch and held a scroll with writing in her claws. It read: “You will go through the whole world by untruth, but you will not turn back!”
The hunter crept closer and was about to pull the bowstring when the bird maiden turned her head and said:
How dare you, pathetic mortal, raise weapons against me, the prophetic bird Gamayun!
She looked into the hunter's eyes, and he immediately fell asleep. And in a dream he dreamed that he saved two sisters - Truth and Untruth - from an angry boar. When asked what he wanted as a reward, the hunter answered:
I want to see the whole wide world. From edge to edge.
“This is impossible,” said Pravda. - The light is immense. In foreign lands, sooner or later you will be killed or enslaved. Your wish is impossible.
“It’s possible,” her sister objected. - But for this you must become my slave. And henceforth live a lie: lie, deceive, deceive.
The hunter agreed. Many years later. Having seen the whole world, he returned to his native land. But no one recognized him or recognized him: it turns out that his entire native village fell into the open ground, and in this place a deep lake appeared.
The hunter walked for a long time along the shore of this lake, grieving over his losses. And suddenly I noticed on a branch that same scroll with ancient writings. It read: “You will go through the whole world by untruth, but you will not turn back!”
This is how the prophecy of the things of the bird Gamayun came true.
Sirin
Sirin is one of the birds of paradise, even its very name is consonant with the name of paradise: Iriy.
However, these are by no means the bright Alkonost and Gamayun.
Sirin is a dark bird, dark force, messenger of the ruler of the underworld. From head to waist Sirin is a woman of incomparable beauty, and from the waist she is a bird. Whoever listens to her voice forgets about everything in the world, but is soon doomed to troubles and misfortunes, or even dies, and there is no strength to force him not to listen to Sirin’s voice. And this voice is true bliss!
Firebird
Firebird - in Slavic mythology, a fiery bird the size of a peacock. Her feathers glow blue, and her armpits glow crimson. author of the encyclopedia Alexandrova Anastasia
You can easily get burned on its plumage. The fallen feather retains the properties of the Firebird plumage for a long time. It glows and gives warmth. And when the feather goes out, it turns into gold. The Firebird guards a fern flower.
The land of fairy tales is the most amazing and wonderful of all countries. Where else, if not here, can you see a carpet - an airplane in the sky, walking through the forest, meet the Gray Wolf and Fox Patrikeevna speaking human language, or accidentally come across the dilapidated hut of Baba Yaga.
The Russian people have an innumerable number of fairy tales. Russian people lived among nature, the forests were dense around them. It was scary for a person in such a forest; much was incomprehensible. Trying to explain something, to calm down, to amuse themselves, our ancestors came up with tales, legends, stories in which the heroes were water creatures, goblins, kikimoras, and also plants or animals.
Fairy tales are also a repository of information forgotten by people about events that happened so long ago that it is difficult to remember. Any fairy tale carries at least two levels of information: general and hidden. The general level speaks about what is good and what is bad in a given society. But the hidden one talks about life in distant times, obscures true heroes to get fairy tale characters, good recognizable by readers and storytellers of any generation.
I present to you the ten most popular fairy-tale heroes of Russian folk fairy tales:
In 10th place is the well-known master of disguise, the Frog Princess, who successfully took part in the fairy tale of the same name.
In 9th place is the miracle of domestic poultry farming: the magnificent and inimitable Firebird from the fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf”.
And in 8th place is a resident of dense forests, sometimes kind, sometimes evil, the unique Leshy with the fairy tale “The King’s Son and His Uncle.”
In 7th place is an expensive, incredibly beautiful Goldfish, which managed to take part in two fairy tales
"Gold fish",
"Golden Slipper"
6th place is taken by the most terrible monster with an indefinite number of heads, the nasty Miracle Yudo, who caused trouble in two fairy tales:
"Ivan the Peasant Son and Miracle Yudo"
"Ivan Bykovich."
On the 5th line of our hit parade is a hybrid of human and animal, a little stupid and terribly greedy Damn. He "lit up" in three cautionary tales:
"Golden Axe"
"Unwashing"
"The Enchanted Queen".
The tireless horse Sivka-Burka rightfully takes 4th place with the following three tales:
"Sivka-Burka"
“A pig has golden bristles, a duck has golden feathers, a golden-horned deer and a golden-maned horse,”
Well, we've reached the top three winners of our hit parade.
The honorable 3rd place is occupied by the well-known, slender and now living Koschey the Immortal. This old man “spoiled the blood” of the participants in seven fairy tales:
"Princess Frog",
"Snake Princess"
"Koschei the Deathless",
« Elena the Wise»,
"Marya Morevna"
"Well done Bulat"
"The Tale of Koshchei the Immortal».
On the 2nd position of our hit parade is a recognizable snake with a personality disorder and fiery character, the inimitable Serpent Gorynych. He inherited in 11 tales:
"The sworn prince"
"Crystal Mountain"
"Ivan the Tsarevich and Martha the Princess"
"Nikita Kozhemyaka"
"About a stupid snake and a smart soldier"
"Kuzma Skorobogatiy"
"Animal milk"
"Ivan Goroshko"
"Wonderful shirt"
"Two Ivan soldier's sons"
“About Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych.”
The serpent Gorynych is associated with fire and water, flies across the sky, but at the same time it also correlates with the bottom - with a river, a hole, a cave, where he has hidden wealth, a kidnapped princess (or three princesses), a noble bride, “Russian fulls”; There are also numerous offspring of Zmey Gorynych - “little snakes”.
Well, the winner is a terribly attractive girl of unknown age, a merry, laughing Baba Yaga. This is the most frequently encountered character in Russian folk tales. I counted 18 fairy tales, but this list can be continued:
"Vasilisa the Beautiful"
"The Enchanted Princess"
"Stepdaughter and stepmother's daughter"
"A Tale of Two Sisters"
"Ivan Tsarevich and Bely Polyanin"
"Marya Morevna"
"Ivan Bykovich"
"Light Moon"
"The Grateful Dead"
“Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what”
"The Tale of Koshchei the Immortal"
"Baba Yaga"
"Tereshechka"
"Swan geese",
"Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka"
“Knee-deep in gold, elbow-deep in silver”
"Princess Frog",
"The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water."
This is what the top ten most popular fairy-tale characters from Russian folk tales look like.
Prototypes of heroes of Russian folk tales
Where did such fairy-tale images come from in fairy tales, which are simply a reflection of folk myths, and those, in turn, half-forgotten facts of life?
I will reveal to you the secrets of the most popular fairy-tale characters who were among the top three winners.
The secret of Koshchei the Immortal.
There are several versions.
First. The Encyclopedia “Myths of the Peoples of the World” says that Koschey means “captive”, “slave”. The word is borrowed from the Turkic language, and is connected, rather, with the slavery not of Koshchei himself, but of the girls and boys whom he kidnapped. That is, initially, captives of an evil sorcerer or deity were called kashchei, and then the common noun became a proper noun. And now we know only one Koshchei - the Immortal.
Second. They call Koshchei the Immortal not because he cannot die, but because his Death is hidden too far. So in the fairy tale “Koshey the Immortal” - he says: “I have death in such and such a place; there is an oak tree, under the oak tree there is a box, in the box there is a hare, in the hare there is a duck, in the duck there is an egg, in the egg is my death.”
Third. If you look at this issue from a mythological point of view, you can see that Koschey, personifying Winter, Cold, Death, steals Love and Beauty in the faces of young girls, so that Spring does not come, so that permafrost and darkness are established. But it is good fellow- Ivan Tsarevich, symbol of Sunlight and Warm spring Thunder and Rain. With the help of the forces of nature (magical beasts), he defeats Death, and Spring comes to Earth.
Now let's try to imagine what Koschey the Immortal looked or could have looked like. Fairy tales and drawings for them made by artists will help us with this. They are the ones who create the image, the portrait of the hero we read about in a book or a fairy tale.
I conducted a small survey among my friends. 10 people took part in it. I asked how you imagine Koshchei the Immortal, and received approximately the same answer. Everyone sees an old, very thin, rather skinny and bony man who resembles a skeleton covered in skin. But he doesn't frail old man, but very strong, one might say, sinewy. Well, his character is harmful, evil, voluptuous, greedy (most likely even stingy), and he is completely unpolite, rude and ungrateful.
Of course, Koshchei has a lot of wealth, gold, and various silver. He accumulates these riches so that he can later give a wedding gift to his bride. But since he steals brides from other suitors, and he himself does not look young and handsome, the brides all run away from him, ultimately with their real gentlemen - princes and princes. But this does not indicate that Koschey is stingy. He’s just thrifty and saving money for something very important to him.
Until now, the name Koshchei is used to call old misers, withered from stinginess and trembling over a hidden treasure, largely thanks to Pushkin and his lines:
"There the King of Koschei is wasting away over gold."
Koschey to this day remains one of the most colorful characters in fairy tales, about whom they write poems, come up with jokes and new ones. fairy tales, they even erect monuments, as in the city of Suzdal, for example.
Image of the Serpent Gorynych.
There are also several versions of what served as the prototype of the Serpent Gorynych. The first, most popular version among the people, refers to the Serpent Gorynych as the hordes of invaders who rolled into Rus' from the southern steppes, be it the Polovtsians, Tatar-Mongols or other nomads. This version was explained beautifully, but unconvincingly. They say that hordes of nomads rolled into Rus' like a many-headed snake, their avalanche wriggled like a snake, and the cunning and vile disposition of the Tatar-Mongol exactly repeated the character of the reptile.
But according to the latest scientific data, the Serpent Gorynych turned out to be not a living creature, but a secret weapon. Let's compare the description of the Serpent Gorynych with the technical characteristics of Mongolian weapons.
Let's start with the main feature of the Serpent Gorynych - its mouth bursting with fire (“flies, flames burst from its nostrils”). This description is perfectly suited for fire projectiles. The multi-headed nature of the Snake can be explained by the fact that the installations that sent projectiles to the enemy would today be called “multiple rocket launchers.” Mongolian “Katyushas” threw out dozens of fireballs, which, howling and hissing, rushed towards the Slavic fortifications. The wings of the Serpent Gorynych turned out to be stabilizers of powder rockets. Another proof of the rocket version is the fact that the Serpent Gorynych always purposefully flies in and immediately falls from the sky, and does not circle over the cities of ancient Rus', choosing a victim. Distinctive feature Gorynych's snake is his death at the hands of Russian heroes. The blood of the Serpent, according to fairy tales, is black, and Mother Earth does not want to accept it, to absorb it.
To summarize, we can confidently say that bad guy a huge number of Russian fairy tales and epics was nothing more than the missile troops of the army of Tatar-Mongol invaders.
The image of a terribly attractive girl of uncertain years, a merry, laughing Baba Yaga.
Since childhood, everyone knows who Baba Yaga is and remembers almost everything about her tricks. In any fairy tale, Baba Yaga plays an important role. Eliminate it from the text. And the hero will definitely not be able to do anything. He either won’t get the treasure sword he needs, or he won’t receive exact instructions on where to look and where to go, and in the end, he will certainly end up hungry and dirty, since this harmful old woman will certainly feed him, give him water and soar in the bathhouse, and then he does everything else. Thus, there is nowhere without her.
Baba Yaga is strange name has its own history. "Baba" is the mother, the main woman in ancient cultures. "Yaga" - fire. There was a verb "yagat". “Yagat” meant “to scream, putting all your strength into this scream.” Hunters and women in labor were yagali. It turns out that Baba Yaga was the main mother, a wise woman who knew everything.
Do you remember what she is like? Scary. He lives in a dark forest, flies in a mortar, and is always trying to fry and eat someone! Why then do Ivan Tsarevich and Vasilisa the Beautiful often come to Baba Yaga for advice? But because there was such a custom - to turn to your ancestors for any knowledge. A distant ancestors, of course, are in the other world, where entry to the living is prohibited. But Baba Yaga served as an intermediary, a guide to the other world. After all, she herself apparently died a long time ago. This is evidenced by the description of her appearance in fairy tales: shaggy, flowing hair (braids in ancient times were unbraided only by dead women) and a bone leg (it is clear that she died so long ago that she even decayed). And her home is a hut on chicken legs - a prototype of the houses that people of the past built. They believed that after a person dies, his soul lives among people for some time. They made a doll for her, put her in wooden house, and the house was placed on the stump of a felled tree, the roots of which are very reminiscent of a chicken paw - here you have a hut on chicken legs!
After all, there is not a single fairy tale where Baba Yaga fries people, she just wants to do it. Where did this come from in the fairy tale? It turns out that there was such a ritual - baking a sick child. The midwife spoke the bread dough, wrapped the baby in it, put it on a shovel and stuck it in the oven. Then she took it out, unwrapped it, and gave the dough to the dogs. The child often recovered from such warming. So, if we interpret the fairy tale from the point of view of cultural history, then Baba Yaga is not a villain at all, but a folk healer. So Baba Yaga is not as scary as we think.
Conclusion.
By doing this work, I enriched my reading experience. I learned a lot of new Russian folk fairy tales.
I learned to analyze and highlight the main thing. I collected what I think is an interesting educational material, which can be used in lessons of literary reading, history, and the surrounding world.
Artist Roman Papsuev created a series of drawings in which he reinterpreted the images of fairy tale heroes Ancient Rus'. In the author's interpretation, such heroes as Ilya Muromets, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Kashchei the Immortal and many others. others may well look like characters from a fantasy world.
Ilya Muromets. I started, of course, with him. By the way, he has a bottle of dead water hanging on his belt to treat his wounds. And with a shield he is quite capable of destroying his enemies. I drew this picture from my head, just based on the types from my childhood, but later, after checking with the sources, I came to the conclusion that I completely fell into the image.
The author of the project in no way distorts the history of the great heritage of our ancestors. He is only trying to make his own vision of famous heroes. “I don’t invent characters, they are all in mythology, I just interpret their descriptions in my own way, try to find common features in these descriptions and at the same time try to maintain a single style so that it looks like the game world.
What makes me most happy is that some people who look at my pictures begin to re-read epic fairy tales, learn a lot of new things for themselves and understand why Vasilisa the Beautiful has a doll in her bag, why Vodyanoy is on a catfish, why Ilya Muromets has a sword in his hands, and not a mace, etc. This return to origins through my modest project pleases me as an author most of all.” - explains Roman.
Dobrynya. What is known about him (in parentheses - how I played it out). A relative of the prince (the armor must be rich), the second most popular hero after Ilya ( smaller in size, but still cool), a snake fighter (a magical shield covered with fiery dragon skin that shoots fire), a seven-tailed whip, with which he whipped his horse so that it would trample the baby snakes, and so on. It’s hard to depict diplomatic skills, education and politeness in a picture, but I put a scroll in a tube on his belt, like he’s reading in his spare time. Right there with him living water, it complements the set of Ilya, who, let me remind you, has dead water on his belt. Well, the sun motif, like Ilya’s, serves one prince.
Popovich. Well, it’s obvious that he should be a witch hunter, right?
A sudden turn slightly to the side, towards Finist.
It was the girls' turn. I'll start with Vasilisa the Beautiful (not to be confused with Vasilisa the Wise, aka the Frog Princess). A battle mage, there’s nothing to even think about, one skull that incinerates enemies (mentioned in a fairy tale), that’s worth it. And of course, the doll is in the bag, everything is as it should be. A small note: it may not be so clearly visible, but her kokoshnik is made of steel, part of a half-helmet.
Vasilisa the Wise (Frog Princess). It turned out to be not so simple with her. There are already three common versions of the fairy tale (in one of them she is generally called Elena the Beautiful), so I decided to try to collect everything that is known about her into one image. So, witch. He casts spells both with the help of his own power and with the help of nannies (grandmothers, nannies, mothers, etc.). I decided that the nannies would be plump flying fairies in my version. The magic of nanny mothers individually is not that strong, but if they start doing something together, just hold on.
I did not find confirmation in fairy tales that Vasilisa is the daughter of Koshchei the Immortal (although there is such a version, and it is quite logical), so I did not make obvious necromantic paraphernalia. But the Wise One, it seems to me, could also dabble in dark magic, her character is like that... I completely forgot to mention - she has an arrowhead hanging on her chest in the form of a pendant. The same one.
Princess Nesmeyana. First I wanted to make my face open, then I decided to immediately show off the visor mask. Kokoshnik is part of a helmet. Observant viewers will notice the waterskin and horn on her belt. Why? Because because of forever bad mood constantly applied to alcohol. By the way, when she laughs (and she laughs extremely rarely), it means that she has an attack and she becomes a berserker - a very scary ability.
Marya Morevna. Everything is clear here. The only note is that since the fairy tale indicates that she is a steppe warrior, I slightly added Asian elements.
Varvara is beautiful. Mound Raider. Strictly speaking, this is a movie character; it seems that there was no Varvara the Beauty in mythology. But, firstly, everyone probably knows Rowe’s film, and secondly, her name is too famous, I couldn’t pass it by. I think it's clear who the reference was. A few comments: the hatchets are attached to sheaths on the hips, amulets-amulets dangle from the belts, the kokoshnik, as always, is metal. When there are a lot of enemies, she attacks by spinning like a top and mows down the enemies (haha). The braid itself may well be made of leather, like a whip, i.e. it is not collected hair, but part of a helmet.
Baba Yaga. V. 1.0.
Koschey. Feeds on the souls of victims. I also drew this one, based on stamps from my head, then I carefully studied the sources and came to the conclusion that I would change Koshchei’s head. So later there will be Koschey Mark 2. :)
Nightingale the Robber. Part one. Upper. I'll have to explain some things. In fairy tales, the Nightingale sits on nine oak trees, sits high, looks far away, whistles like a nightingale, screams like an animal. I thought for a long time about how to play it all out (“sitting on nine oak trees” was the biggest problem - a giant, or what? Or are the oak trees small?), in the end I came to the conclusion that the Nightingale would be a monster rider. He will ride on an oak tree. His scream-whistle is a sonic weapon. A whistle is a targeted blow, a scream is a wave with a wide range of action. He will also have a magical staff to control the oak tree. And notice the acorn necklace around his neck. It is not without reason, it is a solution to the problem with nine oaks. Yes, many have strange associations with his mouth, I advise you to go to the mirror and try to make “chicken lips” - you will be surprised. :)
Nightingale the Robber. Part two. Riding on an oak tree. In general, he lives in a tree, this is his storage and fortress. Chests (trophies) and shields are hung on the branches, which move if something threatens the Nightingale. The oak tree also has chains with hooks, with which it pulls the victim towards itself in order to eat it.
The oak tree moves both like a spider and like a centipede, that is, it supports the trunk with large branches and finely moves with its roots. It moves slowly, but if it gets there, screw the hero. Now about the problem of nine oaks. Acorns are magical. When Nightingale throws one acorn on the ground, an oak minion quickly grows from there, ground support, so to speak. I drew one of them on the left. They are faster and more aggressive than the fortress oak. They run up to the hero and hit him. There are eight acorns on the necklace plus the fortress oak, for a total of nine. Oaks themselves are pretty creepy trees, but when nine oaks plus a Nightingale with his sonic weapon are moving towards the hero, the hero should feel uncomfortable.
Yes, and the scale here is a little arbitrary (otherwise it wouldn’t fit), but roughly guide yourself by the skulls on the branch, these are the skulls of adults. That is, the Nightingale is slightly larger than an ordinary person. Yes, and in the picture he just screams like an animal.
Tugarin Zmey. This is probably the last picture where I use complex frames - they take too much time, the characters are more important, so then the frames will be very conventional.
Lesovik. Owner of the forest. I will separate the forest spirits, this one is the most important. He is, in principle, kind, but stern and fair, if anything happens, he can punish harshly.
Visually, I decided to start from zooanthropomorphic descriptions, with elements of phytoanthropomorphism; for each forest spirit I will choose the main animal and will dance from it
Leshy. I tried to embody in this handsome man the main thing that is known about goblin in the generally accepted (and most importantly - evil) sense. Leshy's character, to put it mildly, is not very pleasant. One eye is normal (left), the right one is usually larger than the left and “dead”, motionless. The beard and hair are gray. They often write about a cone-shaped head, in my interpretation - because of the hair collected in a bun. He wraps his clothes to the left and wears them inside out (it turned out not so easy to show with a pencil that it was the wrong side). The arms and legs are covered with fur. In some versions of the legends it is belted, in others it is necessarily not. On the belt hang trophies and essential things: the skulls of defeated lost and impolite travelers, a horn for drinking, and bast shoes, because my Leshy just likes bast shoes, he collects them. In the legends, the classic Leshy also has some kind of fixation on bast shoes. But considering that he is often described as having hooves, the question is - how did he wear them? The logical answer is that he did not wear them on his feet, he simply carried them around with him as souvenirs.
Bolotnik. A vile creature living in the swamps pretends to be a hummock and eats everyone. Throws “swamp lights” from the bracelet to paralyze the victim. Poisonous.
P.S. I would also like to add a decoy, like that of an angler fish. The decoy is long, telescopic, in fact a symbiote, i.e. a separate creature, lures and hypnotizes travelers, leading them straight into the quagmire to the Bolotnik.
Spirits of the forest. Part 1. It was impractical to draw a separate picture for each small spirit of the forest, so I decided to divide them into groups. All these guys are Lesovik’s retinue. I tried to do it according to the descriptions that I could find, but it was not without arbitrariness.
Vodyanik, for example, is like one of the names of Vodyany. But I decided that small ponds, streams and small rivers should also have their own spirits, so I singled out the name “Vodyanik” into a separate group of small spirits. All forest spirits are quite neutral, but if you anger them, they can attack.
The most aggressive of this group is Mokhovik; according to legend, he could eat children, if anything.
Berryberry, for all its outward harmlessness, can also cause damage (with poisoned berries).
Derevyanik - combined Derevyanik and Kornevik in one character - stupid, awkward, but quite strong, he can entangle himself with roots and drink the juices from the victim with them.
Spirits of the forest. Part 2. Mushroom picker, Leaf picker, Herbal picker, Kustin. I call this picture “Russula is late for the meeting.” Concluding the topic of forest spirits and Lesovik’s retinue, let’s quickly go over the characters and abilities.
Mushroom picker - not very good good character(in mythology mushrooms are generally not very popular, there is a lot about genitals and excrement), not very strong, but very tenacious and touchy (believes that people slander him). Can infect offenders with rapidly growing fungi. His dream is to conquer the whole world.
The herbalist is a hippie. In case of danger, he can fool the offender and even kill him if he gets very angry.
Leaflet (combined with Steblevik, so as not to produce entities) - the most harmless of all, usually acts as a support group for Derevyanik and Kustin, giving them additional strength and protection.
Kustin (Kushchanik) is Derevyanik’s younger brother, they are very similar in character and usually work in pairs. Kustin can remotely entwine the offender with branches, paralyzing him.
Water on catfish. For this picture, I will simply list the main characteristics with explanations of why this is so, and we’ll talk about the details of Vodyanoy’s character in the next picture. I’ll say right away: I tried to incorporate into the image everything that the Internet knows about Vodyanoy, while at the same time proposing some of my own solutions. Please, immediately forget the song of Vodyanoy from “The Flying Ship”. So, let's go.
It is known that Vodyanoy is a fat old man with a big belly (done), he is often seen in a red shirt (for me it’s chain mail made of scarlet gold), he has a thick beard and a green mustache (here I cheated and made him a CATFISH mustache, part of the beard - also catfish probes, hence the greenish color). Among the northern peoples of Russia, Vodyanoy is often represented with a club. In general, Vodyanoy is a serious evil spirit, and his character is very bad (quote: “The embodiment of the element of water as a negative and dangerous principle”). And the main quote for the picture, from which, in fact, the image itself was born. “He is credited with catfish as his favorite fish, which he rides on and which brings him drowned people. For this reason, the catfish is popularly called the “devil’s horse.” This is where the idea of making a mount boss came to mind. Since Vodyanoy is sometimes seen on land, I made the catfish not quite a catfish. In fact, there is a whole mix of animals (they all live quite well in Russia, by the way), whoever identifies them all has a pie.
I paid special attention to the harness, harness and saddle; I had to use my imagination, of course, but fighting pack catfish do not exist in nature, so I apologize if anything happens. This is not the last picture of Vodyanoy: here he is too small and the details are not visible, so I will make him separately, as I did Nightingale.
Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa. Sorry for the many letters, but it's necessary. I present to your attention a family photo, because of which I spent a sleepless night at work, I was so overwhelmed. Let's start with Vodyanitsa, because new character. There is very little information about Vodyanitsa (where to put the emphasis, I prefer to put on and); it is known that she is NOT a mermaid, she is dressed in a torn sundress, she has big breasts, she’s a prankster, but on the whole she doesn’t offend anyone much, that is, she’s quite positive character. I drew her wearing a magpie (the headdress of married women) to emphasize family status. And this character also has a key feature that really stuck with me. “Vodyanitsa is a drowned woman from the baptized, and therefore does not belong to the undead.” Do you understand, right? The baptized drowned woman is the wife of Vodyanoy, who is actually an evil spirit (undead). There is a huge scope for imagination, of course. And this is what I imagined.
As I wrote earlier, Vodyanoy has an extremely bad character. He seems to be neutral, but with a greater bias towards evil. He constantly needs to be cajoled, otherwise he will play dirty tricks, drown you, and wave your club. However, he can provide a catch and save, if anything - and in my version, all his good deeds are directly related to Vodyanitsa. Since his wife is essentially kind, but young, mischievous and foolish, she plays with the old man as she wants. And she often forces her hubby to do good deeds, although this contradicts his unclean nature. And vice versa, when they quarrel, Vodyanoy goes on a hike and rages even more, letting off steam. Vodyanitsa herself is not particularly visible to people, and in my interpretation she is not even a separate character, but simply an addition to the image of Vodyany. She buffs (increases the strength) of the Vodyanoy when she yells at him.
Sister Alyonushka, brother Ivanushka Another sweet couple. I understand that I shock many people with this picture, but before you judge, please re-read the fairy tale. However, I will briefly explain everything to you. There are several key points in the fairy tale (in its many iterations) that are the same for all versions. So, the facts:
1. Ivanushka became a little goat.
2. Alyonushka was drowned.
3. In almost all versions there is a “fierce snake” that sucked out Alyonushka’s heart (and there is also a “heavy stone” on her neck, “a white fish ate her eyes out”, “yellow sands lay on her chest”, “silk grass on her hands”, dust, decay, hopelessness, that’s all).
4. There is a witch-witch who organized this whole drowning mess.
5. They took Alyonushka out of the river, “dipped her, rinsed her in clean water, they wrapped it in white linen, and it became even better than it was.”
6. In all versions of the fairy tale, where Ivanushka turned into a little goat, he remained one. Well, you understand what I mean, right?
I was not lazy and nevertheless compiled my “dictionary of runes”. They are, of course, fictitious, based on the Scandinavian and those scribbles that he dug up in the pre-Christian writing of the Slavs. Moreover, I came up with the meanings of the runes myself, without really looking at the real ones. My version, my runes, I move whatever I want. There will be an additional game for the audience - reading what the characters have written on their clothes.
