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Zmei (Russian)
A ''Zmei Gorynich'' or ''zmei'' (russian: змей; plural: ru , змеи , translit = zmei), in ''skazki'' (Russian folktales) and ''byliny'' (Russian epic poetry), is a dragon or serpent, or sometimes a human-like character with dragon-like traits. Zmei Gorynych and Tugarin Zmeyevich, two well-known ''zmei'', appear as adversaries of the bogatyri (heroes) Dobrynya Nikitich or Alyosha Popovich. Etymology The word zmei in Russian is the masculine form of ''zmeya'', a feminine noun, meaning "snake". General traits Gender The dragon in Russian folk fiction may be female, in which case she is called ''zmeya''. The tendency is for the prose folktale versions to have male dragons, and the byliny poetry to have the females. This will affect the behavior of the dragons. For instance, only the male dragons will capture or captivate a princess or a maiden as a love interest. Multiheadedness The zmei is often depicted with multiple heads, and the number of heads may be 3, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zmeu
The ''Zmeu'' (plural: ''zmei'', feminine: ''zmeoaică'' / ''zmeoaice'') is a fantastic creature of Romanian folklore and Romanian mythology. Though referred by some sources as a dragon, the zmeu is nevertheless distinct, because it usually has clear anthropomorphic traits: it is humanoid and has legs, arms, the ability to create and use artifacts such as weapons, and to ride a horse, and has the desire to marry young girls. There are commentators that class it as a giant (equivalent of an ogre), or a devil, or even a vampire. In some stories, Zmeu appears in the sky and spits fire, or has the ability to change form. In other stories, it has a magical precious stone on its head that shines like the sun. It likes beautiful young girls, whom it kidnaps, usually for the purpose of marrying them. It is almost always defeated by a daring prince or knight-errant. The zmei has also been conflated with or confused with the ''dracu'' or with the ''balaur'' type dragon. Etymology Most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavic Dragon
A Slavic dragon is any dragon in Slavic mythology, including the Russian '' zmei'' (or ''zmey''; ), Ukrainian ''zmiy'' (), and its counterparts in other Slavic cultures: the Bulgarian ''zmey'' (), the Slovak ''drak'' and ''šarkan'', Czech ''drak'', Polish , the Serbo-Croatian ''zmaj'' (), the Macedonian ''zmej'' (змеј) and the Slovene ''zmaj''. The Romanian ''zmeu'' is also a Slavic dragon, but a non-cognate etymology has been proposed. A ''zmei'' may be beast-like or human-like, sometimes wooing women, but often plays the role of chief antagonist in Russian literature. In the Balkans, the ''zmei'' type is overall regarded as benevolent, as opposed to malevolent dragons known variously as '', ''ala'' or ''hala'', or ''aždaja''. The Polish ''smok'' (e.g. Wawel Dragon of Kraków) or the Ukrainian or Belarusian ''smok'' (смок), ''tsmok'' (цмок), can also be included. In some Slavic traditions ''smok'' is an ordinary snake which may turn into a dragon with age. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skazka
A Russian fairy tale or folktale (russian: ска́зка; ''skazka''; "story"; plural russian: ска́зки , translit = skazki) is a fairy tale from Russia. Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' олше́бная ска́зка(literally "magical tale") is considered a magical tale. ''Skazki o zhivotnykh'' are tales about animals and ''bytovye skazki'' are tales about household life. These variations of ''skazki'' give the term more depth and detail different types of folktales. Similarly to Western European traditions, especially the German-language collection published by the Brothers Grimm, Russian folklore was first collected by scholars and systematically studied in the 19th century. Russian fairy tales and folk tales were cataloged (compiled, grouped, numbered and published) by Alexander Afanasyev in his 1850s ''Narodnye russkie skazki''. Scholars of folklore still refer to his collected texts when citing the number of a ''skazka'' plo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bylina
A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb ''to be'' ( rus, был, r=byl) and implies 'something that was'. The term most likely originated from scholars of Russian folklore (folklorists); in 1839, Ivan Sakharov, a Russian folklorist, published an anthology of Russian folklore, a section of which he titled "Byliny of the Russian People", causing the popularization of the term. Later scholars believe that Sakharov misunderstood the word in the opening of the ''Igor Tale'' as "an ancient poem." The folk singers of called their songs ( rus, ста́рины, p=ˈstarʲɪnɨ, ; ) or ( rus, старинки, p=), meaning 'stories of old' ( rus, старый, r=staryj). History Most scholars adhere to the version expressed by Vsevolod Miller that as an old genre originated in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tugarin Zmeyevich
Tugarin (Russian: Тугарин) is a mythical creature in East European bylinas and fairy tales, which personifies evil and cruelty and appears in a dragon-like form. Name forms and origins Tugarin has many different names in East Slavic mythology, such as Zmey Tugarin, Zmey Tugaretin, Zmeishche Tugarishche and others. "Tugarin" as a corruption of "Tugar-Khan" (Tugor-Khan of the Turkic Polovets), has been contested by an etymology from the root ''tug'' "grief". Description Tugarin, although spoken of as a dragon, largely retains an "anthropomorphic" form, and is seen riding a horse. It appears he has wings with which to fly, and he soars to the air during the duel with Alyosha. The flying wings are certainly a dragon-like trait, but some versions explain it away as a contraption made of paper, attached to his horse and not to himself. Tugarin was a great glutton, which is somewhat of a dragon-like trait. He could stuff a whole wheel of bread in each cheek, then deposit a w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bogatyr
A bogatyr ( rus, богатырь, p=bəɡɐˈtɨrʲ, a=Ru-богатырь.ogg) or vityaz ( rus, витязь, p=ˈvʲitʲɪsʲ) is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear mainly in Rus' epic poems— ''bylinas''. Historically, they came into existence during the reign of Vladimir the Great (Grand Prince of Kiev from 980 to 1015) as part of his elite warriors (''druzhina''), akin to Knights of the Round Table. Tradition describes bogatyrs as warriors of immense strength, courage and bravery, rarely using magic while fighting enemies in order to maintain the "loosely based on historical fact" aspect of bylinas. They are characterized as having resounding voices, with patriotic and religious pursuits, defending Rus' from foreign enemies (especially nomadic Turkic steppe-peoples or Finno-Ugric tribes in the period prior to the Mongol invasions) and their religion. In modern Russian, the word ''bogatyr'' labels a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dobrynya Nikitich
Dobrynya Nikitich (russian: Добрыня Никитич) is one of the most popular bogatyrs (epic knights) from Russian folklore. Albeit fictional, this character is based on a real warlord Dobrynya, who led the armies of Svyatoslav the Great and tutored his son Vladimir the Great. Many byliny center on Dobrynya completing tasks set him by prince Vladimir. Dobrynya is often portrayed as being close to the royal family, undertaking sensitive and diplomatic missions. As a courtier, Dobrynya seems to be a representative of the noble class of warriors. He is a professional archer, swimmer, and wrestler. He plays the gusli, plays tafl, and is known for his courtesy and cunning. Bailey & Ivanova tr. (1998), p. 81. Dobrynya and the Dragon The following summary is after the version localized in the Povenets District of Olonets Province, collected by A. F. Gilferding in 1871, from the singer was P. L. Kalinin: Bailey & Ivanova tr. (1998), pp. 84–97 (translation) The bylina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alyosha Popovich
Alyosha Popovich (russian: Алёша Попович, literally ''Alexey, son of the priest''), is a folk hero in the Rus' folklore, a bogatyr (i.e., a medieval knight-errant). He is the youngest of the three main bogatyrs, the other two being Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets. All three are represented together in Viktor Vasnetsov's famous painting ''Bogatyrs''. In Byliny (ballads) he is described as a clever-minded priest's son who wins by tricking and outsmarting his foes. He defeated the dragon Tugarin Zmeyevich by trickery. Character Alyosha Popovich is "noted for his slyness, agility, and craftiness, may be fun-loving, sometimes being depicted as a ‘mocker of women’, and may occasionally be a liar and a cheat", as described by James Bailey. His tongue-lashings are attested by his mockery of Tugarin's gluttony and insult to the unfaithful Princess. His clever ruse was his disguise as a deaf pilgrim to make Tugarin approach him without caution. He then plays a pract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bylina
A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb ''to be'' ( rus, был, r=byl) and implies 'something that was'. The term most likely originated from scholars of Russian folklore (folklorists); in 1839, Ivan Sakharov, a Russian folklorist, published an anthology of Russian folklore, a section of which he titled "Byliny of the Russian People", causing the popularization of the term. Later scholars believe that Sakharov misunderstood the word in the opening of the ''Igor Tale'' as "an ancient poem." The folk singers of called their songs ( rus, ста́рины, p=ˈstarʲɪnɨ, ; ) or ( rus, старинки, p=), meaning 'stories of old' ( rus, старый, r=staryj). History Most scholars adhere to the version expressed by Vsevolod Miller that as an old genre originated in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-headed Animal
Polycephaly is the condition of having more than one head. The term is derived from the Greek stems ''poly'' (Greek: "πολύ") meaning "many" and ''kephalē'' (Greek: "κεφαλή") meaning "head". A polycephalic organism may be thought of as one being with a supernumerary body part, or as two or more beings with a shared body. Two-headed animals (called bicephalic or dicephalic) and three-headed (tricephalic) animals are the only type of multi-headed creatures seen in the real world, and form by the same process as conjoined twins from monozygotic twin embryos. In humans, there are two forms of twinning that can lead to two heads being supported by a single torso. In dicephalus parapagus dipus, the two heads are side by side. In craniopagus parasiticus, the two heads are joined directly to each other, but only one head has a functional torso. Survival to adulthood is rare, but does occur in some forms of dicephalus parapagus dipus. There are many occurrences of multi- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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