The Death of Koschei the Deathless

The Death of Koschei the Deathless or Marya Morevna (Russian: Марья Моревна) is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki and included by Andrew Lang in The Red Fairy Book.[1] The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.

The Death of Koschei the Deathless
Sorcerer Koschei the Deathless abducts Marya Morevna. Illustration by Zvorykin.
Folk tale
NameThe Death of Koschei the Deathless
Also known asMarya Morevna
Data
Aarne-Thompson grouping
  • ATU 552 (The Girls who married Animals)
  • ATU 552 (The Animal Brothers-in-Law)
RegionRussia
Published inNarodnye russkie skazki, by Alexander Afanasyev

Plot

Ivan Tsarevitch had three sisters, the first was Princess Marya, the second was Princess Olga, the third was Princess Anna. After his parents die and his sisters marry three wizards, he leaves his home in search of his sisters. He meets Marya Morevna, the beautiful warrior princess, and marries her. After a while she announces she is going to go to war and tells Ivan not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away. Overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds Koschei, chained and emaciated. Koschei asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, he tears his chains and disappears. Soon after Ivan finds out that Koschei took Marya Morevna away, and chases him. When he gets him for the first time, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan doesn't give in, and Koschei kills him, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea. Ivan is revived by his sisters' husbands, powerful wizards, who can transform into birds of prey. They tell him Koschei has a magic horse and Ivan should go to Baba Yaga to get one too, or else he won't be able to defeat Koschei. After Ivan stands Yaga's tests and gets the horse, he fights with Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands.

Analysis

The tale is classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther index as ATU 552 (The Girls who Married Animals),[2] with an episode of type ATU 302 (The Giant/Ogre who had no heart in his body).

The tale of Marya Morevna and Koschei the Deathless (both in the same variant) is considered the most representative version of the ATU 552 tale type in Russia.[3]

Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, based on comparative analysis of Slavic folkloric traditions, stated that the eagle, the falcon and the raven (or crow) are connected to weather phenomena, like storm, rain, wind. He also saw a parallel between the avian suitors from the tale Marya Morevna with the suitors from other Slavic folktales, where they are the Sun, the Moon, the Thunder and the Wind.[4]

It has been suggested that the tale type ATU 552 may have been derived from an original form that closely resembles ATU 554, "The Grateful Animals", and, in turn, ATU 554 and ATU 302, "Devil's Heart in the Egg", would show a deeper connection due to the presence of animal helpers. Further relations are seen between both tale types, type ATU 301 and its subtypes, "Three Stolen Princesses" and "Jean de l'Ours", and ATU 650, "Strong Hans"/"Strong John".[5]

Variants

Eastern Europe

In the Eastern European tale of The Story of Argilius and the Flame-King[6] (Zauberhelene,[7][8][9] or Trold-Helene[10]) after his sisters are married to the Sun-king, the Wind-king (or Storm-king) and the Moon-king, Prince Argilius (hu) journeys to find his own bride, Kavadiska (or Zauberhelene). They marry and his wife warns not to open the last chamber in their castle while she is away. Argilius disobeys and releases Holofernes, the Flame-King.

Russia

In another Russian tale, Prince Egor and the Raven, a friendly Raven points prince Egor to a powerful warrior monarch, Queen Agraphiana the Fair, which the prince intends to make as his wife. After they meet, the Queen departs for war and Prince Egor explores her palace. He soon finds a forbidden chamber where a talking skeleton is imprisoned. The Prince naïvely helps the skeleton, it escapes and captures Queen Agraphiana.[11]

In another Russian variant, "Иванъ царевичъ и Марья Маревна" ("Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Marevna"), collected by Ivan Khudyakov (ru), the young Ivan Tsarevich takes his sisters for a walk in the garden, when, suddenly, three whirlwinds capture the ladies. Three years later, the Tsarevich intends to court princess Marya Morevna, when, in his travels, he finds three old men, who reveals themselves as the whirlwinds and assume an avian form (the first a raven, the second an eagle and the third a falcon). After a series of adventures, Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Moreva marry and she gives his a silver key and warns him never to open its respective door. He does so and finds a giant snake chained to the wall.[12]

Hungary

In a Hungarian variant, Fekete saskirály ("Black Eagle King"), a prince and his wife move to her father's castle. When the prince explores the castle, he opens a door and finds a man nailed to a cross. The prisoner introduces himself as "Black Eagle King" and begs for water to drink. The prince helps him, and he escapes, taking the princess with him.[13]

In another Hungarian tale, Királyfi Jankó ("The King's Son, Jankó"), Jankó journeys with a talking horse to visit his brothers-in-law: a toad, the "saskirá" (Eagle King) and the "hollókirá" (Raven King). They advice Jankó on how to find "the world's most beautiful woman", who Jankó intends to marry. He finds her, they marry, and he moves to her kingdom. When Jankó explores the castle, he finds a room where a many-headed dragon is imprisoned with golden chains. The prince helps the dragon regain his strength and it escapes, taking the prince's wife with him.[14]

In another Hungarian variant, A Szélördög ("The Wind Devil"), a dying king's last wish is for his sons to wed their sisters to whoever passes by their castle. The youngest prince fulfills his father's wishes by marrying his sisters to a beggar, a wolf, a serpent and a gerbil. Later on, the prince marries a foreign princess, opens a door in her palace and releases the Wind Devil.[15]

In a Hungarian tale published by Nándor Pogány, The Magic Cherry-Tree, a king is dying and only the cherries that grow on the top of a huge tree can cure him. A shepherd volunteers to climb up the tree to get them. After a while, he arrives at a diamond meadow and meets a princess sitting on a throne of opal and gems. After several adventures, they marry and she gives him the keys to the rooms in her castle. When he opens a door, he finds a twelve-headed dragon chained to the wall. The dragon asks the shepherd to release him, which the human does. After this, the dragon kidnaps the princess and the shepherd goes after him with the help of a golden-maned horse.[16]

Czech Republic

Author Božena Němcová collected a Czech fairy tale, O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku a Větrníku, where the prince's sisters are married to the Sun, the Moon and the Wind.[17][18] A retelling of Nemcova's version, titled O slunečníkovi, měsíčníkovi a větrníkovi, named the prince Silomil, who marries the unnamed warrior princess and frees a king with magical powers from his wife's dungeon.[19]

Slovenia

Author Bozena Nemcova also collected a very similar Slovenian variant of the Czech fairy tale, titled O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku, Větrníku, o krásné Ulianě a dvou tátošíkách. The princesses are married to the Sun, the Moon and the Wind, and prince journeys until he finds the beautiful warrior princess Uliane. They marry. Later, she gives him the keys to her castle and tells him not to open the thirteenth door. He disobeys her orders and opens the door: there he finds a giant serpent named Šarkan.[20][21]

A second Slovenian variant, from Porabje (Rába Valley), collected by Károly Krajczár (Karel Krajcar), with the title Lepi Miklavž or Leipe Miklauž. In this story, a youth that works in the stables wishes to impress the queen. With the help of an old, lame horse, the youth summons three magnificent horses and wonderful garments, which he uses to crash three royal appointments. The queen becomes fascinated with the splendid youth and discovers his identity. They marry. Soon after, while the queen is away, the youth opens a door in her castle and finds a creature chained to the wall, named šarkan. The youth gives him three drinks of water, he escapes and captures the queen.[22]

Croatia

Karel Jaromír Erben collected a Croatian variant titled Královic a Víla ("The Tsar's Son and the Víla"). In this tale, the Wind-King, the Sun-King and the Moon-King (in that order) wish to marry the tsar's daughters. After that, the Kralovic visits his brothers-in-law and is gifted a bottle of "water of death" and a bottle of "water of life". In his travels, Královic comes across a trench full of soldiers' heads. He uses the bottles on a head to discover what happened and learns it was the working of a Víla. Later, he meets the Víla and falls in love with her. They marry and she gives the keys to her palace and a warning: never to open the last door. Královic disobeys and meets a dangerous prisoner: král Oheň, the King of Fire, who escapes and captures Víla.[23]

Serbia

In a Serbian variant, Bash Tchelik, or Real Steel, the prince accidentally releases Bash Tchelik from his prison, who kidnaps the prince's wife. He later travels to his sisters' kingdoms and discovers them married, respectively, to the king of dragons, the king of eagles and the king of falcons.[24] The tale was translated into English, first collected by British author Elodie Lawton Mijatovich with the name Bash-Chalek, or, True Steel,[25] and later as Steelpacha.[26]

Georgia

In a Georgian variant, sourced as Mingrelian, Kazha-ndii, the youngest prince gives his sisters as brides to three "demis". They later help him to rescue his bride from the antagonist.[27]

Adaptations

Peter Morwood wrote an expanded version of this tale in the novel Prince Ivan, the first volume of his Russian Tales series.

Gene Wolfe retold this as "The Death of Koshchei the Deathless", published in the anthology Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears and reprinted in his collection Strange Travelers.

Catherynne M. Valente released a novel based on the story, titled "Deathless" in 2011.

In the 7th Sea tabletop role-playing game setting, Koshchei Molhynia Pietrov, aka Koshchei the Undying is an enigmatic Boyar who entered into a strange contract with the Baba-Yaga-esque Ussuran patron spirit in order to receive a form of immortality. In contrast to the usual myth, he is portrayed in a sympathetic light and seems to be intended to serve (similarly to the Kami, Togashi in the Legend of the Five Rings RPG by the same publishers) as a source of adventure hooks and occasionally a Donor (fairy tale) to whom it is perilous in the extreme to apply.

The Morevna Project, an open-source, free culture film project, is currently working on an anime-style adaptation of this story set in a cyberpunk science-fiction future[28]

The story was combined with Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf as the plot of Mercedes Lackey's Firebird, wherein Ilya Ivanovich (son of self-styled Tsar Ivan) encounters Koschei the Deathless and, with the assistance of the titular Firebird, manages to slay him and free the maidens that the sorcerer had kept trapped.

See also

References
  1. Andrew Lang, The Red Fairy Book, "The Death of Koschei the Deathless"
  2. Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. pp. 55-56. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  3. Haney, Jack, V. An Anthology of Russian Folktales. London and New York: Routledge. 2015 [2009]. pp. 119-126. ISBN 978-0-7656-2305-8
  4. Афанасьев, А.Н. Поэтические воззрения славян на природу: Опыт сравнительного изучения славянских преданий и верований в связи с мифическими сказаниями других родственных народов. Том 1. Moskva: Izd. K. Soldatenkova 1865. pp. 506-508. (In Russian)
  5. Frank, R. M. (2019). "Translating a Worldview in the longue durée: The Tale of “The Bear’s Son”". In: Głaz A. (eds). Languages – Cultures – Worldviews. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp. 68-73. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28509-8_3
  6. Montalba, Anthony Reubens. Fairy Tales From All Nations. New York: Harper, 1850. pp. 20-37.
  7. Mailath, Johann Grafen. Magyarische Sagen, Mährchen und Erzählungen. Zweiter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen: Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1837. pp. 23-37.
  8. Mailáth, Johann. Magyarische Sagen und Mährchen. Trassler. 1825. pp. 257-272.
  9. Jones, W. Henry; Kropf, Lajos L.; Kriza, János. The folk-tales of the Magyars. London: Pub. for the Folk-lore society by E. Stock. 1889. pp. 345-346.
  10. Molbech, Christian. Udvalgte Eventyr Eller Folkedigtninger: En Bog for Ungdommen, Folket Og Skolen. 2., giennemseete og forøgede udgave. Unden Deel. Kiøbenhavn: Reitzel, 1854. pp. 200-213.
  11. The Ruby fairy book. Comprising stories by Jules Le Maitre, J. Wenzig, Flora Schmals, F.C. Younger, Luigi Capuani, John C. Winder, Canning Williams, Daniel Riche and others; with 78 illustrations by H.R. Millar. London: Hutchinson & Co. [1900] pp. 209-223.
  12. Худяков, Иван Александрович. "Великорусскія сказки". Вып. 1. М.: Издание К. Солдатенкова и Н. Щепкина, 1860. pp. 77—89.
  13. Arnold Ipolyi. Ipolyi Arnold népmesegyüjteménye (Népköltési gyüjtemény 13. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvénytársualt Tulajdona. 1914. pp. 351-356.
  14. János Berze Nagy. Népmesék Heves- és Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok-megyébol (Népköltési gyüjtemény 9. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvény-Társulat Tulajdona. 1907. pp. 274-290.
  15. János Berze Nagy. Népmesék Heves- és Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok-megyébol (Népköltési gyüjtemény 9. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvény-Társulat Tulajdona. 1907. pp. 127-133.
  16. Pogány, Nándor, and Willy Pogány. The Hungarian Fairy Book. [1st ed.] New York: F. A. Stokes Co., 1913. pp. 84-99.
  17. Němcová, Božena. Národní báchorky a pověsti: Sešit I, II a III.. V Litomysli a Praze: Tiskem a nákladem Antonína Augusty. 1862. pp. 170-185.
  18. Němcová, Božena. Národní báchorky a pověsti 1. V Praze: Kvasnička a Hampl. 1928. pp. 143-154. Dostupné také z:
  19. Knihovna Pohádek Cislo 3: O slunečníkovi, měsíčníkovi a větrníkovi a Jak se Honza učil latinsky. V Praze: I. L. Kober. 1899. pp. 1-12.
  20. ERBEN, Karel Jaromír; ČAPEK, Karel a NĚMCOVÁ, Božena. Pohádky Erbenovy, B. Němcové a K. Čapka. V Brně: Nová brána jazyků, 1940. pp. 89-99. Dostupné také z:
  21. Němcová, Božena. Slovenské pohádky a pověsti. Zemský ústřední spolek jednot učitelských. Vol. 1. Praha: Zemský ústřední spolek jednot učitelských. 1912. pp. 41-55. Dostupné také z:
  22. Krajcar, Karel. Slovenske pravljice iz Porabja. Budimpešta: Murska Sobota. 1990. pp. 35-45.
  23. Erben, Karel Jaromír. Vybrané báje a pověsti národní jiných větví slovanských. Svazek III. Praha: Otto, 1907. pp. 178–181.
  24. Petrovitch, Woislav M. Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.. 1921 [1914]. pp. 247-267.
  25. Mijatovich, Elodie Lawton. Serbian folk-lore: popular tales; selected and translated. London: W. Isbister & Co.. 1874. pp. 146-172.
  26. Houghton, Louise Seymour. The Russian grandmother's wonder tales. New York: C. Scribner's sons. 1906. pp. 299-347.
  27. Wardrop, Marjory Scott. Georgian folk tales. London: D. Nutt. 1894. pp. 112-118.
  28. Morevna Project,
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.