Sumerian myths summary of knowledge. Mythology of ancient Mesopotamia

dva_gontsa — 01/13/2014

Let's continue the topic Slavic mythology and let's talk today about mythical creatures. The names of some have been known to us since childhood, while others may be the first time you’ve heard about them.

I would like to start with birds, which had a special place among the Slavs.

The Stratim bird is an inhabitant of the sea-ocean, raising storms with its cry. When it takes off, the sea takes the ships and rolls ashore, washing away forests, villages, and cities.

I've only heard about the phoenix, but this bird is very big to do this.

Well, its size really can inspire awe. The sea begins to move only from her slight movement of the wing.

The prophetic bird Gamayun is the messenger of the gods and their herald. She foretells the future to everyone who hears her divine hymns. There is such a belief that the cry of the Gamayun bird is a messenger of happiness.

Alkonost and Sirin lived in the Slavic paradise. Alkonost lays its eggs in the middle of winter in deep sea. The eggs lie there for 7 days, and after that they rise to the surface. The bird waits for the eggs to float, looking at the water. If you manage to steal Alkonost's egg, then it is hung from the ceiling in the church. It symbolized the unity of the people coming to church.

The bird of paradise Sirin is Alkonost's satellite. There is a version that the bird comes from the Greek sirens or vice versa. The singing of the Sirin bird was mesmerizing. Initially, it was credited with a stupefying effect, in order to entice travelers into kingdom of the dead. But later the bird became a protector and a symbol of beauty, happiness and joy.

The birds Sirin and Alkonost are united; they are symbols of Sorrowful and Joyful singing.

And, of course, the Firebird. The feathers of the firebird glow and can amaze human vision. The Firebird is the personification of the sun, light, fire. She feeds on golden apples, which give youth, beauty and immortality. While singing, pearls fall out of her beak. The singing of the Firebird can heal the sick and restore sight to the blind.

This character is already more familiar. As they say, I have heard a lot about him, but maybe not to such an extent.)

Now you will know more.

And now about the deities and the undead.

Beregini - Air maidens who protect people from ghouls. According to legend, Beregini live near the house and protect its inhabitants from evil spirits.

I guess these maidens are not so undead after all. Those who protect the house cannot be undead. These are more like protective spirits.

And nothing that was written: “...now about deities and the undead”? Me too, attentive reader.)

Pitchfork - women's perfume, charming girls with flowing hair, they have wings and goat legs. Very friendly, they help the downtrodden and orphans. But if you anger them, they are capable of cruelly punishing and even killing with a glance. Pitchforks are not immortal, although they can predict death and heal people. Wingless pitchforks become simple women.

Brownie is the Guardian hearth and home, the assistant that no one sees. His job is to look after the household. The brownie makes sure that everything is in order and ready.

Spirit of the forest - Leshy. And not only the spirit, but also its essence. The Leshy can easily turn into any animal, bird, stump or hummock, and can become overgrown with moss, and the noise of the forest is the sniffling of the Leshy.

Vodyanoy - Evil spirit, incarnation water element, its negative and dangerous beginning. The Slavs believed that the merman were the descendants of those representatives of evil spirits whom God cast down from heaven into rivers, lakes and ponds.

Mermaids are water maidens. Mermaids come to life in the spring and live in the dark depths of the earth's waters. They are cheerful, singing minxes who love to swing from tree branches. Unwary travelers can be tickled to death and drowned, bursting into evil laughter. Sometimes they are presented as unfriendly, disheveled and unkempt, with green hair and eyes.

Well, everything about mermaids is completely gloomy, but I was already daydreaming. Now all my dreams have come to an end.))

Okay, I’ve convinced you, the next time we meet, I’ll have fun, sing and tickle you. But in winter I won’t climb a tree.)))

A type of mermaid - Swamp - a drowned maiden living in a swamp. What distinguished her from mermaids was her black hair color.

So, what about Bolotnik? I also heard about him. It seems like there is one - the most important one in the swamp.

Yeah, he’s the boss of the swamp.

Mavki - Slavic mythical creatures, which become young children who die or are strangled by their mothers without baptism, or are stillborn. The mermaids take them and turn them into mawoks. They are usually represented as children in white shirts. Makos have no skin on their back; their second name is “backless.”

Ghouls - Undead (living dead), restless dead. These are creatures that kill people, suck their blood and hunt for human flesh.

We all know about Medusa Gorgon (or most of us), but not everyone knows that in Slavic mythology there was a similar creature - the maiden Gorgonia. Her face is deadly, she knows the languages of all living beings. She can only be beheaded by deception, and the one who does this will always triumph over the enemy.

Yeah, powerful! But I can’t even imagine how to defeat such a thing; you need to be a master of tactics.

Such people were defeated only by sorcery, you are my tactician.)

Bannik is a spirit living in a bathhouse. He scares people and demands victims, which he must leave in the bathhouse after washing. Bannik is often presented as a small but very strong old man with a shaggy body.

Shishiga is a demonic creature that pretends to be familiar, and by luring you into a bathhouse to take a steam bath, it can steam you to death. Shishiga is shown to those who go to the bathhouse with bad intentions, without prayer.

Viy is a mythical creature whose eyelids reach down to the ground. Assistants lift eyelids with pitchforks. Viy's gaze kills people and turns cities and villages to ashes. The word "wii" means eyelashes. Viy, the son of Chernobog, was a judge of the dead among the Slavs. He was also considered the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those who do not have a clear conscience.

Dashing One-Eye was someone to be avoided. Likho is usually represented as a one-eyed, thin woman. And “Dashing” itself comes from the word “extra.” Dashing One-Eyed lives in a deep forest thicket.

Kashchei the Immortal is a symbol of the torpor of nature in winter. This is the deity of the underworld. It was usually represented as a living skeleton - a skeleton.

Baba Yaga is a forest old witch. A resident of a remote thicket subjugates animals and birds. Baba Yaga is usually considered the mistress of animals and the world of the dead.

It’s not for nothing that we ended our short review with a wonderful old lady. Her story is so interesting and intertwined in such a wonderful way that we wanted to dedicate a separate post to it. We were somehow drawn into Slavic mythology. J

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The history and mythology of the ancient Slavs is surprisingly rich and diverse. Many legends, fairy tales and myths have survived to this day, the heroes of which were amazing creatures, according to legend, who inhabited the territory Ancient Rus'. Some helped the main characters in the fight against evil, while others personified this very evil, some had amazingly powerful powers, while others were simple companions who did not possess any special magic. In general, these creatures are very unusual and diverse, and, most importantly, they give the Slavic legends a special Russian atmosphere and originality. Let's talk in more detail about some of these creatures.

Slavic Gods of mythology

We should start with the most powerful beings, namely the Gods.

The most ancient pagan deity God Rod was considered the progenitor of all other deities, who was worshiped by all pagan peoples. The remaining Gods were divided into two groups: the Gods of the sun (its four hypostases) and the functional Gods (personifying the forces of nature). The Slavs divided the year into four times, four solar hypostases, and assigned each their own Sun God: Khors (from late December to March), Yarilo (from late March to June, the summer solstice), Dazhdbog (from mid-summer to the end of September) and Svarog (end of September until the day winter solstice). The pantheon of functional Gods was headed by Perun, the god of thunder and war; the image of the sacred heavenly fire was personified by Semargl, the God of Death. Veles was considered the God of the house and livestock, and Stribog was considered the God of the wind. The main Goddess was considered Mokosh - the goddess of the harvest, the fruits of human labor. Besides these Gods, Slavic pantheon includes many lesser and more powerful deities.

Perfume among the Slavs

The Slavs, like all ancient peoples, believed in a large number of spirits and patrons, they worshiped them, cajoled them, or, conversely, scared them away.

The Slavs divided perfumes into three groups, the first of which were the so-called atmospheric perfumes:

Whirlwind (dangerous wind caused by evil spirits), Frost and Fire Serpent, who could take the form of dead people.
The second group included household spirits who protected people’s lives and helped in the household, or vice versa, who tried to harm the residents: Domovoy (the patron of the house, he was very revered and respected), Kikimora (a female creature that harms people and brings misfortunes), Stopan (the main spirit hearth among the southern Slavs), Korgorushi (little helpers of brownies).
The third largest group includes spirits of place, that is, those who live in the same territory and protect it. This is Bannik, who lives in the bathhouse (usually invisible, but can take the form of an old man with a long gray beard), Bolotnik - a resident and keeper of swamps, Vodyanoy - the owner of waters, rivers, lakes, personifying water, like evil spirits. They also include Dvorovoy, the patron of livestock who lived in the barn, Leshiy, the powerful owner of the forests, and Polevik, the patron of fields and meadows.

Evil spirits and lower spirits

Evil spirits, or undead, according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, inhabited all corners of nature: water, forests, fields and even homes. As a rule, evil spirits personified evil, dark force, so they were afraid of her, tried to protect their home from her, and even committed special rituals and rituals.

Mortgaged dead are the souls of people who did not die a natural death (or were not baptized) and wander the earth in search of peace. Mermaids in different areas were represented in completely different ways: in some places they were also considered evil spirits, frightening and harming people, and in others they were considered nymphs protecting lakes and rivers. Mavkas are the evil spirits of the southern Slavs, who became dead babies and unbaptized children. A ghoul is a dead person who rises from the grave at night and blood drinker in people and livestock. Baba Yaga is a famous female character who lives in the forest, in a hut and can cast magic.

Mermaids, goblins, water creatures - they are all familiar to us from childhood and make us remember fairy tales.
When it comes to magical monsters, we often think of zombies or dragons, although in our mythology there are ancient creatures in comparison with which monsters may seem like petty dirty tricks.
Slavic stories fairy-tale creatures another European monster might envy. The age of pagan legends is impressive: according to some estimates, it reaches 3000 years, and its roots go back to the Neolithic or even Mesolithic - that is, about 9000 BC.
The common Slavic fairy-tale “menagerie” was absent - in different areas they talked about completely different creatures. The Slavs did not have sea or mountain monsters, but forest and river evil spirits were abundant.
Some wonderful creatures appeared among the Slavs relatively late, during the period of their Christianization - most often they were borrowed from Greek legends and introduced into national mythology, thus creating a bizarre mixture of beliefs.

ALKONOST

Alkonost - In Byzantine and Russian medieval legends, a wonderful bird living in Iria - the Slavic paradise.
According to ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keik, upon learning of the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her alkyon (kingfisher). The word “Alkonost” entered the Russian language as a result of a distortion of the ancient saying “alkion is a bird.”
Bird Alkonost. Splint

Slavic Alkonost is a bird of paradise with a surprisingly sweet, euphonious voice. She lays her eggs on the seashore, then plunges them into the sea - and the waves calm down for a week. When the eggs hatch, a storm begins.
IN Orthodox tradition Alkonost is considered a divine messenger - she lives in heaven and comes down to convey the highest will to people

Slavic witch, popular folklore character. Usually depicted as a nasty old woman with disheveled hair, a hooked nose, a “bone foot,” long claws and several teeth in her mouth. Baba Yaga is an ambiguous character. Most often, she performs the functions of a pest, with pronounced inclinations towards cannibalism, however, on occasion, this witch can voluntarily help a brave hero by questioning him, steaming him in a bathhouse and giving him gifts. magical gifts(or by providing valuable information).
Baba Yaga, bone leg. The witch, the cannibal and the first female pilot

It is known that Baba Yaga lives in a deep forest. There stands her hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls. Sometimes it was said that on the gate to Yaga’s house there are hands instead of locks, and a small toothy mouth serves as a keyhole. Baba Yaga's house is enchanted - you can enter it only by saying: “Hut-hut, turn your front to me and your back to the forest.”
A forest hut on chicken legs, where there are no windows or doors, is not fiction. This is exactly how hunters from the Urals, Siberia and Finno-Ugric tribes built temporary dwellings. Houses with blank walls and an entrance through a hatch in the floor, raised 2-3 meters above the ground, protected both from rodents hunting for supplies and from large predators

The spirit living in the baths was usually represented as a small old man with a long beard. Like all Slavic perfume, mischievous. If people in the bathhouse slip, get burned, faint from the heat, get scalded by boiling water, hear the cracking of stones in the stove or knocking on the wall - all these are the tricks of the bathhouse.
The bannik rarely causes any serious harm, only when people behave incorrectly (wash on holidays or late at night). Much more often he helps them. The Slavs associated the bathhouse with mystical, life-giving powers - they often gave birth here or told fortunes (it was believed that the bannik could predict the future).
There were baths in Rome and Turkey. But the bannik is only among the Slavs

There was also a female version of the bannik - bannitsa, or obderiha. A shishiga also lived in the baths - an evil spirit that appears only to those who go to the baths without praying. Shishiga takes the form of a friend or relative, invites a person to steam with her and can steam to death

BASH CELIK (man of steel)

A popular character in Serbian folklore, a demon or evil sorcerer. According to legend, the king bequeathed to his three sons to marry their sisters to the first one to ask for their hand in marriage. One night, someone with a thunderous voice came to the palace and demanded the youngest princess as his wife. The sons fulfilled the will of their father, and soon lost their middle and older sister in a similar way.

Soon the brothers came to their senses and went in search of them. Younger brother met a beautiful princess and took her as his wife. Looking out of curiosity into the forbidden room, the prince saw a man chained. He introduced himself as Bash Celik and asked for three glasses of water. The naive young man gave the stranger a drink, he regained his strength, broke the chains, released his wings, grabbed the princess and flew away. Saddened, the prince went in search. He found out that the thunderous voices that demanded his sisters as wives belonged to the lords of dragons, falcons and eagles. They agreed to help him, and together they defeated the evil Bash Celik.

Auka, in Slavic legends and beliefs, is a forest spirit who never sleeps and is always willing to play a trick on a random passer-by or a lost mushroom picker.
At first glance, the auka looks quite harmless: it is a small forest creature of small size with a round, convex abdomen. The auca's favorite pastime has always been jokes and pranks - in winter he fools a person lost in the forest, responds with hooting sounds from several sides at once and can unnoticed lure him into the real wilderness, from where it will be very difficult to get out.

To avoid getting into such a situation, you should listen carefully and distinguish a familiar person from the forest evil spirits by their voice.
However, despite this characteristic, the auka is very good-natured. If you re-read ancient Russian legends, you can easily be convinced of this. In the hut forest spirit, which is usually located in a remote thicket, is warm even in the most severe frost. Auka not only leads people off the road (he confuses tracks and takes a person far away from the road) - he loves to joke and joke, but can often scare people.

Ghouls

Vurdalak - (Vrykolak, Vurkolak and Vukod lak) (Russia, Bohemia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro) - a deceased vampire, a werewolf in Slavic mythology, a werewolf with a supernatural ability to turn into wild animals, often hunting for blood from his victims as a vampire .

"Ghoul"

Poor Vanya was a bit of a coward:
Since he is late sometimes,
All sweaty, pale with fear,
Walked home through the cemetery

Poor Vanya can barely breathe,
Stumbling, wandering a little
By graves; suddenly he hears -
Someone is gnawing on a bone, grumbling

Vanya became; - can’t step.
“God!” the poor man thinks,
It's true that it's eating your bones
Red-lipped ghoul.

Woe! I'm small and not strong;
The ghoul will eat me completely,
If the earth itself is grave
I won't eat it with prayer."

What? Instead of a ghoul -
(Just imagine Vanya’s anger!)
In the dark there is a dog in front of him
There is a bone gnawing on the grave.

A.S. Pushkin

Like Alkonost, a divine female bird whose main function is to carry out predictions. The saying “Gamayun is a prophetic bird” is well known. She also knew how to control the weather. It was believed that when Gamayun flies from the direction of sunrise, a storm comes after her.

In the most generalized view - home spirit, patron of the hearth, a little old man with a beard (or completely covered with hair). It was believed that every house had its own brownie. If people established normal relations with him, fed him (they left a saucer of milk, bread and salt on the floor) and considered him a member of their family, then the brownie helped them do minor housework, looked after the livestock, guarded the household, and warned them of danger
Brownie. In homes they were rarely called “brownies”, preferring the affectionate “grandfather”

On the other hand, an angry brownie could be very dangerous - at night he pinched people until they were bruised, strangled them, killed horses and cows, made noise, broke dishes and even set fire to a house. It was believed that the brownie lived behind the stove or in the stable.

The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He presented himself as a little old man with a face similar to the head of the family. By nature, he is an eternal troublemaker, grumpy, but caring and kind. People tried to support Domovoy good relations, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped keep the house in order and warned of impending misfortune. Moving from house to house, Domovoy was always invited, through a conspiracy, to move with his family.

FIREBIRD

An image familiar to us from childhood, beautiful bird with bright, dazzling fiery feathers (“like heat they burn”). A traditional test for fairy-tale heroes is to get a feather from the tail of this bird. For the Slavs, the firebird was more of a metaphor than a real creature. She personified fire, light, sun, and possibly knowledge. Its closest relative is the medieval bird Phoenix, known both in the West and in Rus'.
Firebird - a symbol of fire and fulfillment of desires

KIKIMORA (shishimora, mara)

Swamp kikimora - in Slavic mythology - an evil, swamp spirit. Close girlfriend goblin. 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 little children, drags unwary travelers into a quagmire, where she can torture them to death.

An evil spirit (sometimes the brownie's wife), appearing in the form of a small, ugly old woman. If a kikimora lives in a house behind the stove or in the attic, then it constantly harms people: it makes noise, knocks on walls, interferes with sleep, tears yarn, breaks dishes, poisons livestock. Sometimes it was believed that infants who died without baptism became kikimoras, or kikimoras could be unleashed on a house under construction by evil carpenters or stove makers.
Old lady kikimora. In everyday life - an ugly, angry woman

Kikimora in the house portends trouble); hostile to men.
Here's a little plot: from Kikimora
At exactly noon, harness the wood and don’t watch what’s going on. Bring the firewood to the entryway and spread the fur coat on it, fur side up. Take an old broom and sweep the hut with it, on the ceiling, under the roof and say up to 3 times: “Honorable is the house, holy corners! nights, at every hour, at every time, for endless years, from now to eternity!
Throw a handful of earth three times over your shoulder near the entryway to the firewood, and spit three times; after that, take the firewood and fur coat to the forest.

KASHCHEY THE IMMORTAL (Kashchey)

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 the personification of the external enemies of the Slavs, evil spirit, a powerful wizard or a unique variety of undead.
Georgy Millyar is the best performer of Koshchei in Soviet fairy tales.

Koshchei’s “trademark” feature was immortality, and far from absolute. As we all probably remember, on the magical island of Buyan (capable of suddenly disappearing and appearing before travelers) there is a large old oak tree on which a chest hangs. There is a hare in the chest, there is a duck in the hare, there is an egg in the duck, and in the egg there is a magic needle where Koshchei’s death is hidden. He can be killed by breaking this needle (according to some versions, by breaking an egg on Koshchei’s head).

Forest spirit, protector of animals. He looks like a tall man with a long beard and hair all over his body. Essentially not evil - he walks through the forest, protects it from people, occasionally shows himself, for which he can take on any form - a plant, a mushroom (a giant talking fly agaric), an animal or even a person. The goblin can be distinguished from other people by two signs - his eyes glow with magical fire, and his shoes are put on backwards.

FAVORITELY ONE-EYED

Spirit of evil, failure, symbol of grief. There is no certainty regarding Likh’s appearance - he is either a one-eyed giant or a tall, thin woman with one eye in the middle of his forehead. Famously they are often compared to Cyclopes, although except for one eye and tall, they have nothing in common.
Dashing - in the traditions and legends of the Eastern Slavs, this creature symbolizes evil fate.
Likha's appearance is frightening - most often she is a thin, crooked, single-eyed woman of enormous stature or a one-eyed giant.
He lives in a large hut that stands in a dense and dark forest. Often also settles in an old abandoned mill. Instead of a bed, he has a large pile of human bones: according to some information, this creature does not disdain cannibalism and is capable of devouring any living creature that comes to hand.

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.

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.

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.
There were also “tree mermaids” living in tree branches. Some researchers classify mermaids as mermaids (in Poland - lakanits) - lower spirits who take the form of girls in transparent white clothes, living in the fields and helping the field.
The latter is also a natural spirit - it is believed that he looks like a little old man with a white beard. The field dwells in cultivated fields and usually patronizes peasants - except when they work at noon. For this, he sends midday warriors to the peasants so that they will deprive them of their minds with their magic.

DREKAVAK (drekavac)

A half-forgotten creature from the folklore of the southern Slavs. There is no exact description of it - some consider it an animal, others a bird, and in central Serbia there is a belief that the drekavak is soul of the dead unbaptized baby. They agree on only one thing - the drekavak can scream terribly.

Usually the drekavak is the hero of children's horror stories, but in remote areas (for example, the mountainous Zlatibor in Serbia) even adults believe in this creature. Residents of the village of Tometino Polie from time to time report strange attacks on their livestock - it is difficult to determine from the nature of the wounds what kind of predator it was. The peasants claim to have heard eerie screams, so a Drekavak is probably involved.

Another creature with the head of a woman and the body of an owl (owl), with a charming voice. Unlike Alkonost and Gamayun, Sirin is not a messenger from above, but a direct threat to life. It is believed that these birds live in the “Indian lands near paradise,” or on the Euphrates River, and sing such songs for the saints in heaven, upon hearing which people completely lose their memory and will, and their ships are wrecked.
Bird Sirin on a grape tree. Drawing on a chest, 1710

It's not hard to guess that Sirin is a mythological adaptation of the Greek Sirens. However, unlike them, the bird Sirin is not a negative character, but rather a metaphor for the temptation of a person with various kinds of temptations.
It is very difficult to list all the fabulous creatures of the Slavs: most of them have been studied very poorly and represent local varieties of spirits - forest, water or domestic, and some of them were very similar to each other. In general, the abundance of immaterial creatures greatly distinguishes the Slavic bestiary from the more “mundane” collections of monsters from other cultures.
Among the Slavic “monsters” there are very few monsters as such. The ancestors of the Slavs led a calm, measured life, and therefore the creatures that they invented for themselves were associated with the elementary elements, neutral in their essence. If they opposed people, then, for the most part, they were only protecting Mother Nature and ancestral traditions.

"It was bad with evil spirits in Rus'. Bogatyrev Lately there were so many that the number of Gorynychs fell sharply. Only once did a ray of hope flash for Ivan: an elderly man who called himself Susanin promised to lead him to the very lair of Likh One-Eyed... But he only came across a rickety ancient hut with broken windows and a broken door. On the wall was scratched: “Checked. Likh no. Bogatyr Popovich."
Sergey Lukyanenko, Yuliy Burkin, “Rus Island”

“Slavic monsters” - you must agree, it sounds a bit wild. Mermaids, goblins, water creatures - they are all familiar to us from childhood and make us remember fairy tales. That is why the fauna of “Slavic fantasy” is still undeservedly considered something naive, frivolous and even slightly stupid. Nowadays, when it comes to magical monsters, we more often think of zombies or dragons, although in our mythology there are such ancient creatures, in comparison with which Lovecraft’s monsters may seem like petty dirty tricks.

The inhabitants of Slavic pagan legends are not the joyful brownie Kuzya or the sentimental monster with a scarlet flower. Our ancestors seriously believed in those evil spirits that we now consider worthy only of children's horror stories.

Almost no original source describing fictional creatures from Slavic mythology has survived to our time. Something was covered in the darkness of history, something was destroyed during the baptism of Rus'. What do we have except vague, contradictory and often dissimilar legends from different Slavic peoples? A few mentions in the works of the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (1150-1220) - once. "Chronica Slavorum" by the German historian Helmold (1125-1177) - two. And finally, we should remember the collection “Veda Slovena” - a compilation of ancient Bulgarian ritual songs, from which one can also draw conclusions about the pagan beliefs of the ancient Slavs. The objectivity of church sources and chronicles, for obvious reasons, is in great doubt.

Book of Veles

“The Book of Veles” (“Veles Book”, Isenbek tablets) for a long time was passed off as unique monument ancient Slavic mythology and history dating from the 7th century BC - 9th century AD.

Its text was allegedly carved (or burned) onto small wooden strips, some of the “pages” were partially rotten. According to legend, the “Book of Veles” was discovered in 1919 near Kharkov by white colonel Fyodor Isenbek, who took it to Brussels and handed it over to the Slavist Mirolyubov for study. He made several copies, and in August 1941, during the German offensive, the tablets were lost. Versions have been put forward that they were hidden by the Nazis in the “archive of the Aryan past” under Annenerbe, or taken after the war to the USA).

Alas, the authenticity of the book initially caused big doubts, and recently it was finally proven that the entire text of the book is a falsification, carried out in the mid-20th century. The language of this fake is a mixture of different Slavic dialects. Despite the exposure, some writers still use the “Book of Veles” as a source of knowledge.

The only available image of one of the boards of the “Book of Veles”, beginning with the words “We dedicate this book to Veles.”

The history of Slavic fairy-tale creatures may be the envy of other European monsters. The age of pagan legends is impressive: according to some estimates, it reaches 3000 years, and its roots go back to the Neolithic or even Mesolithic - that is, about 9000 BC.

The common Slavic fairy-tale “menagerie” was absent - in different areas they spoke of completely different creatures. The Slavs did not have sea or mountain monsters, but forest and river evil spirits were abundant. There was no gigantomania either: our ancestors very rarely thought about evil giants like the Greek Cyclops or the Scandinavian Jotuns. Some wonderful creatures appeared among the Slavs relatively late, during the period of their Christianization - most often they were borrowed from Greek legends and introduced into national mythology, thus creating a bizarre mixture of beliefs.

Alkonost

According to ancient Greek myth, Alkyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keik, upon learning of the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her, alkyon (kingfisher). The word “Alkonost” entered the Russian language as a result of a distortion of the ancient saying “alkion is a bird.”

Slavic Alkonost is a bird of paradise with a surprisingly sweet, euphonious voice. She lays her eggs on the seashore, then plunges them into the sea - and the waves calm down for a week. When the eggs hatch, a storm begins. In the Orthodox tradition, Alkonost is considered a divine messenger - she lives in heaven and comes down to convey the highest will to people.

Aspid

A winged snake with two trunks and a bird's beak. Lives high in the mountains and periodically makes devastating raids on villages. He gravitates towards rocks so much that he cannot even sit on damp ground - only on a stone. The asp is invulnerable to conventional weapons; it cannot be killed with a sword or arrow, but can only be burned. The name comes from the Greek aspis - poisonous snake.

Auca

A type of mischievous forest spirit, small, pot-bellied, with round cheeks. Doesn't sleep in winter or summer. He likes to fool people in the forest, responding to their cry of “Aw!” from all sides. Leads travelers into a remote thicket and abandons them there.

Baba Yaga

Slavic witch, popular folklore character. Usually depicted as a nasty old woman with disheveled hair, a hooked nose, a "bone leg", long claws and several teeth in her mouth. Baba Yaga is an ambiguous character. Most often, she acts as a pest, with pronounced tendencies towards cannibalism, but on occasion, this witch can voluntarily help a brave hero by questioning him, steaming him in a bathhouse and giving him magical gifts (or providing valuable information).

It is known that Baba Yaga lives in a deep forest. There stands her hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls. Sometimes it was said that on the gate to Yaga’s house, instead of locks, there were hands, and the keyhole was a small, toothy mouth. Baba Yaga's house is enchanted - you can enter it only by saying: “Hut, hut, turn your front to me, and your back to the forest.”
Like Western European witches, Baba Yaga can fly. To do this, she needs a large wooden mortar and a magic broom. With Baba Yaga you can often meet animals (familiars): a black cat or a crow, helping her in her witchcraft.

The origin of the Baba Yaga estate is unclear. Perhaps it came from Turkic languages, or perhaps it was formed from the Old Serbian “ega” - disease.

Baba Yaga, bone leg. A witch, an ogress and the first female pilot. Paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov and Ivan Bilibin.

Hut on Kurnogah

A forest hut on chicken legs, where there are no windows or doors, is not fiction. This is exactly how hunters from the Urals, Siberia and Finno-Ugric tribes built temporary dwellings. Houses with blank walls and an entrance through a hatch in the floor, raised 2-3 meters above the ground, protected both from rodents hungry for supplies and from large predators. Siberian pagans kept stone idols in similar structures. It can be assumed that the figurine of some female deity, placed in a small house “on chicken legs”, and gave rise to the myth of Baba Yaga, who can hardly fit into her house: her legs are in one corner, her head is in the other, and her nose rests on the ceiling.

Bannik

The spirit living in the baths was usually represented as a small old man with a long beard. Like all Slavic spirits, he is mischievous. If people in the bathhouse slip, get burned, faint from the heat, get scalded by boiling water, hear the cracking of stones in the stove or knocking on the wall - all these are the tricks of the bathhouse.

The bannik rarely causes any serious harm, only when people behave incorrectly (wash on holidays or late at night). Much more often he helps them. The Slavs associated the bathhouse with mystical, life-giving powers - they often gave birth here or told fortunes (it was believed that the bannik could predict the future).

Like other spirits, they fed the bannik - they left him black bread with salt or buried a strangled black chicken under the threshold of the bathhouse. There was also a female version of the bannik - bannitsa, or obderiha. The bathhouses also housed a shishiga, an evil spirit that only appears to those who go to the bathhouse without praying. Shishiga takes the form of a friend or relative, invites a person to steam with her and can steam to death.

Bas Celik (Man of Steel)

Soon the brothers came to their senses and went in search of them. The younger brother met a beautiful princess and took her as his wife. Looking out of curiosity into the forbidden room, the prince saw a man chained. He introduced himself as Bash Celik and asked for three glasses of water. The naive young man gave the stranger a drink, he regained his strength, broke the chains, released his wings, grabbed the princess and flew away. Saddened, the prince went in search. He found out that the thunderous voices that demanded his sisters as wives belonged to the lords of dragons, falcons and eagles. They agreed to help him, and together they defeated the evil Bash Celik.

This is what Bash Celik looks like as imagined by W. Tauber.

Ghouls

The living dead rising from their graves. Like any other vampires, ghouls drink blood and can devastate entire villages. First of all, they kill relatives and friends.

Gamayun

Gamayun-Gamayun, how long do I have left to live? - Ku. - Why so ma...?

Divya people

Demi-humans with one eye, one leg and one arm. To move, they had to fold in half. They live somewhere on the edge of the world, reproduce artificially, forging their own kind from iron. The smoke of their forges brings with it pestilence, smallpox and fevers.

Brownie

In the most generalized representation - a house spirit, the patron of the hearth, a little old man with a beard (or completely covered with hair). It was believed that every house had its own brownie. In their homes they were rarely called “brownies,” preferring the affectionate “grandfather.”

If people established normal relations with him, fed him (they left a saucer of milk, bread and salt on the floor) and considered him a member of their family, then the brownie helped them do minor housework, looked after the livestock, guarded the household, and warned them of danger.

Drekavac (drekavac)

A half-forgotten creature from the folklore of the southern Slavs. There is no exact description of it - some consider it an animal, others a bird, and in central Serbia there is a belief that drekavak is the soul of a dead, unbaptized baby. They agree on only one thing - the drekavak can scream terribly.

Usually the drekavak is the hero of children's horror stories, but in remote areas (for example, mountainous Zlatibor in Serbia), even adults believe in this creature. Residents of the village of Tometino Polie from time to time report strange attacks on their livestock - it is difficult to determine from the nature of the wounds what kind of predator it was. The peasants claim to have heard eerie screams, so a Drekavak is probably involved.

Firebird

An image familiar to us from childhood, a beautiful bird with bright, dazzling fiery feathers (“they burn like heat”). A traditional test for fairy-tale heroes is to get a feather from the tail of this feathered creature. For the Slavs, the firebird was more of a metaphor than a real creature. She personified fire, light, sun, and possibly knowledge. Its closest relative is the medieval bird Phoenix, known both in the West and in Rus'.

One cannot help but recall such an inhabitant of Slavic mythology as the bird Rarog (probably distorted from Svarog - the blacksmith god). A fiery falcon that can also look like a whirlwind of flame, Rarog is depicted on the coat of arms of the Rurikovichs (“Rarogs” in German), the first dynasty of Russian rulers. The highly stylized diving Rarog eventually began to resemble a trident - this is how the modern coat of arms of Ukraine appeared.

Kikimora (shishimora, mara)

An evil spirit (sometimes the brownie's wife), appearing in the form of a small, ugly old woman. If a kikimora lives in a house behind the stove or in the attic, then it constantly harms people: it makes noise, knocks on walls, interferes with sleep, tears yarn, breaks dishes, poisons livestock. Sometimes it was believed that infants who died without baptism became kikimoras, or kikimoras could be unleashed on a house under construction by evil carpenters or stove makers. A kikimora that lives in a swamp or forest does much less harm—mostly it only scares lost travelers.

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 undeniable that Koschey possessed very strong magic, avoided people and often engaged in the favorite activity of all villains in the world - kidnapping girls. In Russian science fiction, the image of Koshchei is quite popular, and he is presented in different ways: in a comic light (“Island of Rus'” by Lukyanenko and Burkin), or, for example, as a cyborg (“The Fate of Koshchei in the Cyberozoic Era” by Alexander Tyurin).

Koshchei’s “signature” feature was immortality, and far from absolute. As we all probably remember, on the magical island of Buyan (capable of suddenly disappearing and appearing before travelers) there is a large old oak tree on which a chest hangs. There is a hare in the chest, a duck in the hare, an egg in the duck, and a magic needle in the egg, where Koshchei’s death is hidden. He can be killed by breaking this needle (according to some versions, by breaking an egg on Koshchei’s head).

Georgy Millyar is the best performer of the roles of Koshchei and Baba Yaga in Soviet fairy tales.

Goblin

Sometimes a meeting with a goblin can end in failure - he will lead a person into the forest and throw him to be devoured by animals. However, those who respect nature can even become friends with this creature and receive help from it.

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.

Mermaid

In Slavic mythology, mermaids are a type of mischievous evil spirits. They were drowned women, girls who died recently