Monstrous
Monstropedia => Mythical Monsters => Topic started by: Zak Roy Yoballa on November 20, 2006, 03:15:42 PM
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This thread is for Nordic, Germanic and Slavic monsters
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Baba Yaga:
AKA Jezi Baba:
Baba Yaga is from the Slavic regions and is sometimes viewed as an evil witch or a female demon. She is supposed to travel around flying in a black cauldron or on a freaky animated house that traveled on chicken legs! She would prey upon travelers and other unsuspecting folk with her huge mouth that was reported to stretch to the corners of the earth. Her form was that of an elderly wicked looking woman. As a side note the word 'baba' in Russian is short for grandma.
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Grendel:
A humongous water monster that was impervious to any weapon. He frequently terrorized the Danish countryside devouring anyone whom he found. One night, in the hall of King Hrothgar, Grendel met him match, the heroic warrior Beowulf. Grendel crept into the hall and ate a sleeping warrior. Beowulf jumped up and seized the beast with his iron grip. The battle was violent and terrible. It was said to make a grown man wet himself to watch! In the end Grendel had to rip off his own arm to get away. Unfortuneately for him he bled to death in his lair (leaving a blood trail of Beowulf to follow). When the hero arrived he killed Grendel's mother and brought back Grendel's enourmous head as a trophy for the King.
BTW it took 4 men to carry the head !
ZRY
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Himinrjot - AKA Himinbrioter (Sky Bellower)
This was a humongous black ox owned by the Norse god Hymir. Hymir and Thor went fishing one day for the mighty sea serpent Jormungand. Thor broke Himinrjot's head off and used it as bait. Jormungand took the bait but the head was so big it got stuck in its throat. Thor was reeling the serpent in but as soon as Hymir saw he freaked out. In the ensuing chaos Hymir cut the line holding the serpent allowing it to escape.:doh:
I do believe that this was the first recorded "fish story" in history!
ZRY
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Fenrir: AKA Fenris, Devouring Wolf, the Beast of Ragnarok, Doom of the gods
Son of Loki and Angrboda (frost giantess). During Ragnarok, he will open his giaganitc yap and swallow Odin whole! His mouth is so big that it is said to touch the sky. This guy was so bad ass that the only god who would get near him was Tyr (war god). Eventually Odin decided that he needed to be chained up to prevent further devestation. Nothing natural could restrain the Beast so the dwarves made a special fetter called Gleipnir. Being a wiley monster, he wouldn't let the gods tie the ribbon like device around his massive neck unless he could have one of their hands in his mouth. Tyr was the only god with enough guts and will power to do it (he knew what would happen when the Doom of the gods found out the fetter couldn't be broken) The other gods, being petty and shallow, laughed at the one handed war god :x. But now Fenrir was secured to a rock with a sword stuck in his mouth to prevent him from biting.
I don't think Little Red Riding hood could handle this Big Bad Wolf :wink:
ZRY
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I like these little summaries of the Legends behind the Norse Gods, Zak. Keep'em coming.
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In ragnarok doesnt fenrir get ripped apart by tyr and the boot of good leather?
And can you do one about garm?
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Grendel:
A humongous water monster that was impervious to any weapon. He frequently terrorized the Danish countryside devouring anyone whom he found. One night, in the hall of King Hrothgar, Grendel met him match, the heroic warrior Beowulf. Grendel crept into the hall and ate a sleeping warrior. Beowulf jumped up and seized the beast with his iron grip. The battle was violent and terrible. It was said to make a grown man wet himself to watch! In the end Grendel had to rip off his own arm to get away. Unfortunately for him he bled to death in his lair (leaving a blood trail of Beowulf to follow). When the hero arrived he killed Grendel's mother and brought back Grendel's enormous head as a trophy for the King.
BTW it took 4 men to carry the head !
ZRY
one of my favorite stories ever! but a part you left out and probably one added later by Christians as the legend was growing - a giant arcane sword appeared to Beowulf that seemed to be sent from god to help the fearless warrior. it disappeared after he cut off the demons head if memory serves me right.
also later in the Beowulf's life when he was old he died during a battle with a fierce dragon. a magnificent storie as well it should be added here.
Thundergod
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In ragnarok doesnt fenrir get ripped apart by tyr and the boot of good leather?
It's Vidar (the Silent One), son of Odin, and guardian of primeval forests that kills Fenris, avenging his father. Vidar survives past Ragnarok, and is one of the gods that rebuilds the earth. He kills Fenris with his tremendous strength, which is said to be greater than Thor, even; by lodging his boot on the Wolf's lower jaw, grabbing Fenris' upper jaw, and ripping the poor bugger in two. The boot is magic (obviously), and is said to be made of the leftover scraps of leather from cobblers (shoemakers). It became a custom in Germany, Norway, Iceland, etc. for cobblers and other leather workers to burn or bury their leftover leather scraps as a sacrifice to Vidar, so his boot would be tough enough to withstand the razor sharp teeth of Fenris during The Last Days.
~ Loup
PS: The gods laughed at Tyr's disfigurement because it was his right hand that he put into Fenris' jaws to safeguard their pact. So for the God of Justice (and also a greatly favored God of War) to lose his right hand was actually a bit ironic. This is also where the tradition of placing one's right hand on a bible comes from as well, though, when the custom started, it wasn't a bible, but a large ring. The bible supplanted the Oath-Ring as christianity took hold. As a side note, the Northmen in general laughed at a lot of things: including death and disfigurement (by battle, that is). They had a remarkable sense of humor from the Saga's I've read, and didn't take much to heart - including their own disfigurements. Battle scars were a source of pride, and getting "laughed at" was rarely mocking, but mostly joyous or prideful.
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Baldur and Hodur
One thing the Northmen didn't laugh about was murder and betrayal. To break an oath was the worst thing a person could do, and usually guaranteed the Oath-Breaker a seat at Hel's table, or worse: a trip through Niflheim. (NOTE: The Northmen saw a disticnt difference between murder and warfare - killing another person in battle was not considered murder, since both parties were armed, and each was trying to kill the other.)
Baldur was a son of Odin, and was a god of warmth and light. Everything was pretty darned nice when Baldur showed up. Baldur also had a brother, Hodur, who was a god of Darkness. In contrast to Baldur, Hodur was often moody, sullen, and melancholy, and generally not well recieved - more tolerated than anything, really. Loki, the penultimate betrayer, had heard about the prophesy of the god Baldur's death. As Odin drank from Mimnir's well, he saw everything that would ever be: from the beginning to the end, and all things in between - including the death of his beloved son, Baldur. So Odin sent the gods to the far reaches of the earth, into every cave, under every rock, to gain the promise from all things that existed (trees, rocks, animals, everything) that they would never harm Baldur. Everything that existed gave their promise one way or another, except one: the mistletoe. The gods didn't really consider the fleshy little parasitic plant much of a threat, though. It's not like mistletoe could crush him like a boulder, or poison him like hemlock - it was just a wimpy little plant. So the gods ignored it, and began to celebrate the cheating of Destiny. They threw stones at Baldur, which bounced harmlessly off, since all the rocks in existence had promised never to hurt Baldur. They hit him with clubs and swords and sticks and anything else they could pick up and hurl at him. The game went on and on, and even Thor couldn't so much as scratch Baldur with anything that existed. Each time an object bounced off, the thrower was cheered, and Baldur was cheered, and everyone was generally quite happy with the situation.
Enter Hodur, The Blind, sitting sullenly in a corner, feeling sorry for himself, and wishing he could jump into the game, too. Loki approached Hodur at length, and offered to help his nephew join in the fun. Hodur naively accepted, and Loki handed him a bow, which Hodur took, and also handed him an arrow which, unknown to Hodur was made of a shaft of magically shape-shifted mistletoe. Hodur took aim with Loki guiding his hand, and released his arrow with a smile, expecting a cheer in response. Instead, his prank was met with horror as Baldur fell dead, with a shaft of misletoe through his heart.
The gods set upon Hodur furiously, and would have killed him on the spot, but it is forbidden to spill blood within the sacred walls of Asgard. Instead, they banished Hodur to live on his own in the world until Ragnarok finally destroyed him along with the rest of the gods.
Baldur was set upon a funeral pyre that the gods themselves had carefully prepared, and just before the pyre was lit, Odin leaned in and whispered a single word into the ear of his dead son. What word he said is known only to Odin who spoke it, and to Baldur, who dines in the gentle but dismal company of Hel herself.
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nicely done, it is funny i find myself very much like the way u described the Norsemen, most likely because i am one, with a little incy bit of French and Germanic, no big deal tho, i take tremendous pride in my Scandinavian/viking blood.
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reread the story of Beowulf! There wasn't a violent and terrible battle. You watched the movie! They devised a plan on Grendel and pretended to sleep he entered killing two men off easily. Then the only thing that happend was that Beowulf ripped off Grendels arm when he tried to grab him. There was not a trail of blood that led to Grendels cave (it lead to the swamp land where he perished and died). AND Grendels mother wanted revenge on her killed son and took Grendels arm back and killed the kings friend (I can't remember if it was his cousin or not). So the king Rathgar asked Beowulf to retrive his friends head with a sword he found "underwater" in the battle against her he killed her (because she couldn't be killed). I am not sure if you have read the story. Sorry to be mean but some of your information sounds like it is coming from the movie and comic... As you can tell this was my favorite story! And in the story it doesn't say if Grendel was a sea monster. His mother was a Sea Hag or Wench implying a lot of things. The creatures that Beowulf fought before Grendel were sea monsters and giants and other warriors from different lands. It DOES say though that (in the christian form and earliest written form) Grendel was the offspring of a line to Cane. That in Canes blood line came giants, spirts, and other vicious creatures.
Go back reread..... Sorry to be mean.
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who was that directed at ?
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Fafnir was son of of the dwarf king Hreidmar and brother of Regin and otter. after otter got killed by Loki Hreidmar received the cursed gold of Andvari's as repayment for the loss of his son. Fafnir and Regin then killed their father to get the gold, but Fafnir decided he wanted it all, he turned into a dragon to guard it.Regin then sent his foster-son, Sigurd, to kill the dragon. Sigurd succeeded by digging a pit under the trail Fafnir used to walk to a stream and plunging his sword Gram into his heart as he walked past.
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Yggdrasil-The Tree of Life
At the Beginning of All Days, the Tree had stood for countless years in the Void. then, at the Beginning of Days, the three worlds were perched upon Yggdrasil. Asgard, realm of the Gods, was at the top of the tree. In the middle of the tree is Midgard, the human realm. We are surrounded by Jotunheim, the land of the Jotenn, across the Endless Sea. And at the bottom is Hel, realm of all evil.
It is said that at the End of Days, two humans shall be saved, hidden upon the branches of Yggdrasil. These two humans will be Lif and Lifthrasir, where they feed on dew and are protected by the tree.
At Ragnarok, it is said the tree will be one of the few things left standing, and that it shall save humankind from extinction.
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Kinda Adam and Eve's story thingy
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dang you guys forgot a banshee
wow thats allover europe
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dang you guys forgot a banshee
wow thats allover europe
WRONG.
It's Irish and Scottish.
Do your research before opening your mouth. Read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
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ok well if you read other stuff then in germany they are thought of as screaming faries
you read ok
I was born and raised in iceland and we have those there I lived in germany for 9yrs and they had them there
ok
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Perhaps you would like to share those German and Iclelandic stories about banshees with us ? I eagerly await whatever bits of folklore that you may be willing to impart to us.
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well like I said in germany they are thought of as the screaming faries
and when me friend told me a story about one that happened to him when I was over there
he was sleeping one night, and he heared this screaming/wailing sound........he thought it was his mom watching a SCIFI movie and so he went back to sleep..
the next morning he jokingly asked his mom what she was watching. she said she was asleep." ok then did you hear the screaming" he asked,"no hon I didn't maybe it was a dream"
well he thought ya maybe it was a dream cause his dog was whining at a pic of his dad
and his little brother most likely would of heared that
so he ate breakfast and watch the news .....
while he was watching it his mom answered the tele and all a sudden burst out crying and he ran to her and asked what happened.....
his dad was killed in a car acident the last night
then a few yrs later he was working at a base when he heared it again and this time he new something was wrong he called his mom. she answered nothing was wrong, he asked where his brother was she said walking the dog..
she called 30min later saying his brother and dog were both killed in a shooting..
then the last time it happened was a yr ago
it was his mom
so there is a story of me friend
he lived in germany so yes they do have banshee's there
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I heard a banshee when my grandfather died... it was terrible.... I never heard anything like it before or after that... nor I would like to...
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seeeeee
and she is croatian
and I have heared of american ones ( but the guy was from ireland soo I dont know if it counts)
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We call banshee Mora here... like Night mare is Noćna mora... go figure....
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Does it ever assume a form that is remotely human in appearance? Or are the German and Croation variations of the banshee' merely sininster but intangible presences that are recognized by their harsh, discordant vocalisations? Additionally, in Germany are entities of this nature in the habit of developing a fixation with a particular victim? Thanks.
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um I dunno about croatia but they do have a humanoid body like a spirit
and yes they do have a fixation
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What are these entities called in Germany? What are the legends and myths surrounding their origin? And what form do they usually assume for their nocturnal visitations? Thank you.
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I dunno the name but it I think it is die Todesfee
they say their origin is .......god, death, mothernatures kids,etc
and no one has really scene one
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Would it be possible for you to direct me to sources that might contain useful information on these entities? Once again, thank you.
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ya he said it was called that so I will try and look up some things for you ok
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Much appreciated,Terror.
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wow all I can come up with is this book writen by margeret miller
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Thank you! I'll be sure to look it up on Amazon.com. Would it be possible for you to give me the title as well?
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I hope this is the right book if not I will try and go to germany and get a book for you
Banshee die Todesfee: Miller, Margret
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Ahh,much obliged, Terror. Again, thank you!
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As far as Germanic and Nordic monsters, I'd say the troll is the best of them all.
Massive hairy animal-men who live in the mountains and only come out to play vicious pranks upon people and eat their livestock...They'd probably throw one hell of a party.
*<:)
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Despite their brutal behaviour though, some of them could be pretty sharp. If I remember correctly, a certain king of the trolls was able to capture Loki and blackmail him into handing over the godess Idun and her famed golden apples.
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Oh yes, clever bastards indeed.
See, the Norse, brave and fierce men that they were, weren't happy creating boogeymen that were just big, vicious, and evil. They had to add a frightening level of intelligence to them as well.
Sounds like the perfect enemy, actually :evil:
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Baba Yaga:
AKA Jezi Baba:
Baba Yaga is from the Slavic regions and is sometimes viewed as an evil witch or a female demon. She is supposed to travel around flying in a black cauldron or on a freaky animated house that traveled on chicken legs! She would prey upon travelers and other unsuspecting folk with her huge mouth that was reported to stretch to the corners of the earth. Her form was that of an elderly wicked looking woman. As a side note the word 'baba' in Russian is short for grandma.
However, if you happened to catch her while she was in a good mood she would sometimes help travelers find their way home.
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The animated house pops up in a lot of legends, it is even pretty popular in modern day fiction. Just look at Howl's Moving Castle.
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Some anthropologists have speculated that the Baba Yaga is the demoted version of a once powerful and widely worshipped underworld godess. That would probably explain the ''grand mother'' prefix attached to her name.
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Well, I just wanted to add to this. Everything said is true. Baba Yaga is from the Slavic regions and is also a very common source of stories throughout Russia. Baba Yaga is usually viewed as evil old witch, although not always. She also takes the form of a youthful woman.
She is known to be helpful to those who are pure of heart and seek her guidance and wisdom, although it is equally true that she is just as likely to make a meal out of you and has even been known to kidnap and eat children.
She flies through the air in a mortar, using the pestle as a rudder. She has a broom made of silver birch which she uses to wipe away her tracks. That the broom itself is made of birch is significant to me as the birch tree symbolizes both mystery and healing, among other things.
She does indeed reside in a cabin which is perched upon chicken legs. Her cabin gets up and moves about at will until a specific incantation is spoken to quiet it down. The keyhole to her front door is actually a mouth that is filled with very sharp teeth and her house is surrounded by a fence made of human bones. Some stories say that a part of the fence is left open for true “heroes” to pass, in other stories her door is invisible unless magical words are spoken to it.
Baba Yaga has three faithful servants:
The White Horseman - The Day
The Red Horseman - The Sun
The Black Horseman - The Night
Of course there are differences from region to region. In the Polish, her cabin stands on only one chicken leg. In the Russian Baba Yaga’s teeth are made from iron, but universally throughout the regions where stories of her are prevalent, she is completely unpredictable and one should always be wary of her!
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Are these all tall tales that come from a real person? Or is she just a completely "made up" myth? :?
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Traditionally she is portrayed as or perceived to be a goddess of death and regeneration. She is one of the most prevalent figures in Russian fairy tales where she is usually a witch. In the Polish, many of the stories very closely resemble the classic story of Hansel and Gretel.
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Do you think that some of the more malovelant and grisly details that surround her are the result of the negative Christian propaganda that would have undoubtedly been unleashed against existing deities during the conversion of the Slavic peoples? Or has she always been a dangerously unpredictable being?
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Christianity definitely had something to do with it.
Of course, there have always been powerful, unpredictable female figures in the traditional spiritualities of European pagan peoples...So she might not have been a particularly nice figure, but by no means was she a baby-eating witch before Christianity raped the "primitive" tribes with "civilization".
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That would make sense. An enigmatic underworld goddess with a wrath that was easily aroused would have fitted nicely into the convetional Christian paradigm pitting God against the Devil and his gruesome minions. A bit of exaggeration here and there and you have the perfect monster to intimidate ''unsaved'' souls with.
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Absolutely, I think that the introduction of Christianity had a lot to do with the way that not only Baba Yaga, but all of the Slavic deities were perceived after its introduction. Even Perun, who was a major Slavic god; god of thunder, justice and war, was twisted into the personification of the prophet Elijah of the Bible.
All of the information that I’ve read on the subject thus far has indeed pointed to Baba Yaga being not only wise and helpful, but also cannibalistic, and indeed having iron teeth, or sometimes and iron nose, and still other times a nose that reaches up to the ceiling of her cabin. There are so many different stories about her and many of them do conflict. It is true that the true, original, pagan Baba Yaga was very close to nature, and controlled the elements as well. It is also true, of course and very unfortunately, that when Christianity was introduced throughout the region, Baba Yaga’s persona was twisted to make her nothing but an evil old witch or a demoness.
In the old, pre-Christian stories, she is not all bad. She is known to be not just Death but Renewal, and sometimes she is known as the Water of Life and Death.
When Christianity was introduced as early as the 7th century, many Slavs looked at it as an “addition” to their beliefs, not something to replace it, so on the positive side, all of the old stories pertaining to Baba Yaga still survive to this day.
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This thread was started to include Nordic, Germanic and Slavic "Monsters", but there really isn't anything in the way of the Slavic, so I thought I'd start adding them.
Rusalka
The Rusalka are described as being the spirits of either unbaptized children, young women who commit suicide because they’ve been discarded by their lovers, unmarried women pregnant out of wedlock, or virgins who found their death through drowning. Sometimes they are described as being female ghosts, water nymphs, succubi, or mermaid-like demons. In all cases, the Rusalka reside in water.
The Rusalka are usually perceived as being evil, although in some of the cases were they take the form of female ghosts, it stems from young women who die in or near the water before their time and who haunt that particular waterway. They are allowed to die peacefully, but only if their deaths are avenged.
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Mora
The Mora is, in ancient Slavic mythology, a malicious spirit and bringer of nightmares. Mora is depicted as being a beautiful woman who visits men in dreams in order to torture them with desire, just to suck the life from them. Men were not the only targets of this evil spirit. The Mora has the ability to send all humans to sleep, and with that sleep, nightmares. She is known to suffocate them and suck their blood, even that of children.
Other forms that the Mora is able to take are a white horse, a white shadow, straw, a leather bag, a white mouse, cat, and a snake.
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The following entry is about a sinister sorceror who once reputedly served the notorious witch Baba Yaga as her herdsman. A richly detailed creation of Slavic folklore, he is as compelling a character in his right as the more infamous Baba Yaga.
Koshchey the Deathless also known as Koshchey the Immortal
In Russian Koshchey is known as "Koshchey Bessmertny" which means deathless or immortal .
Variant spellings of his name are: Koschey, Katschei/Koshchey/Kashey
In Russian folklore Koshchey is an evil sorcerer of terrifying appearance who gallops naked around the wild Caucus mountain range on his magic steed.
He is also a shape-shifter, who takes the form of a whirlwind or a storm wind. He is a nature spirit representing the destructive powers of nature.
He is fond of stealing beautiful women, often the bride of the hero.
Like his female counterpart Baba Yaga, he also has powers over the elements. Dark clouds suddenly appear amidst thunder and lightning when he comes on the scene.
As a shape-changer, Kotschey usually takes the form of a whirlwind and makes off with his victims in this form. He may also come under cover of a mist or fog and can fly through the air.
Koschey is called the deathless, or immortal because his soul/spirit/life force or his "death" as he calls it, is hidden in a remote, inaccessible place, separate from his body.
Koshchey's soul/spirit/ is often hidden in a duck's egg, inside a hare, which in turn is inside a chest buried under the roots of a mighty oak tree, on an island in the middle of the ocean.
Sometimes his "death" may be hidden in the point of a needle inside the duck's egg. Although called deathless or immortal, Kotschey may die if the hero finds out where the egg that contains his life force or, as he calls it, his "death", is hidden.
If the egg is broken, it's goodnight for Kotschey too. Anyone possessing this egg has Koshchey in their power. He begins to weaken, becomes sick and immediately loses all his magic powers.
In one story the egg is thrown at his forehead and he drops down dead.
Imprisoned in the palace of the warrior princess Maria Morevna for ten years, Koshchey is freed by the unwitting hero.
In this story the egg with his soul/spirit/death in it is not mentioned at all. Instead, he receives a kick in the head from one of Baba Yaga's magical steeds. After the horse kills him, the hero Ivan cuts Koshchey's head off, burns it and scatters the ashes to the four winds, presumably just to be on the safe side.
Koshchey's appearance:
Tall, boney, fearful to look upon. As Baba Yaga says:
' Medusa's got nothing on you, Kotschey dear .'
Maria Morewnas description of him:
He sports a wild mane of tangled seaweed-like hair which stands up all around a lean and bony face. From beneath those craggy brows peer hooded, unblinking reptilian eyes. A raven's beak of a nose juts out over a cavernous mouth from which now and then one may catch a glimpse of several large crooked teeth. Mouth may change shape according to mood.
His beard: Mottled-grey and scraggly, unsightly after meals.
Skin: Scaly, rough, forever shedding, more snake-like than human.
Method of fighting: Wraps or coils himself around his foes. Finger nails and toe nails long and claw-like (he never cuts his hair, finger or toe nails - to preserve his 'life-force' as he calls it/his lack of clothing may also be attributed to these peculiar 'life-force preservation' reasons).
On the inside of Koshchey's scrawny long ape-like arms are venom glands. (His blames Maria Morewna for his arms being so long - he complained once that hanging out in her dungeon for 10 years didn't do his posture any good).
During battle he has been known to lick these venomous parts and then bite his adversary thus causing intense pain and immobility.
Can change his voice at will. Terrifies his opponents with blood-curdling cries. Has also been known to use his voice to charm and induce sleep when necessary.
When astride his magical steed, Kotschey likes to throw off his flamboyant fish-skin clothes and it is said that he thus takes on the magical powers of his mount.
His fish-skin clothes, which he scatters behind him, are blown away and scattered by the four winds. Flocks of ravens gather behind him to fight over and devour these shreds. Shreds of his clothing may be sometimes seen flapping in the tree tops throughout the steppes.
Thus freed from all worldly constraints he gallops naked through the wild Caucus mountains with his long spindly legs trailing in the dust. In the picture by Ivan Bilibin, he is seen brandishing his sabre, shrieking blood-curdling threats and urging the spirits of the steppes to come to his aid.
Quite an emotional character, it is said that he will weep with rage for hours afterwards when outwitted by his quarry and his sobbing and wailing often echoes throughout the Caucuses, terrifying both man and beast alike.
During times of stress he may change himself into a storm or a whirlwind. In his spare time he seems to be off hunting quite a lot, although it is not specified what it is that he is hunting.
Although cunning, one of his weaknesses is that he is extremely vain and therefore may be outwitted by a woman pretending to find him irresistible.
He has twelve sisters (also shape-shifters) who come to avenge his death and who seem to be almost as charming as Koshchey himself.
Although Koshchey is a powerful sorcerer, he seems to be down the hierarchical ladder a rung or two to Baba Yaga. In one story he works as a herdsman for her in order to earn one of her magical steeds. This horse has the power of speech and gives Koshchey invaluable advice.
His favourite drink: A fermented drink make of green tea, sour goat's milk and salt.
He craves female company, and although he can turn on a charming voice at will, Kotschey is anything but a smooth talker.
When Maria Morewna is trying to pump him for information and plays up to him, he once again fails to realize that one of his oft-repeated remarks: "Foolish woman, long of hair: short of wit", does not do anything to improve his chances with her.
Beating about the bush is one of Koshchey's rules of thumb: for Koshchey to speak directly is to lose his power or 'life force'.
When she asks him about the time he spent at Baba Yaga's hut and where he got his horse he replies: "Three days there and I learned as much as in three years."
Koshchey is able to "far see" - he has the ability to see with his eyes closed.
A song he is fond of singing when he has drunk enough Kwas: (Some say he penned it himself while he was hanging out in Maria Morewna's dungeon)
Amidst great Rocks
Koschey the Deathless leaping,
Onward rides,
Wild and fierce
And free again from chains.
Like the storm he howls and weeping,
Sprays the steppes
With burning tears of rage.
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We need a new topic dedicated to Slavic monsters.... we really need it bad, cause both Baba Jaga and Mora are from Slavic, not nordic or german mythology.
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You've raised an excellent point, Nina. I'll be starting a a new thread for Slavic monsters soon. Once I have done that, I will proceed to move to it all the entries about Slavic mythological creatures which are currently posted under the Nordic/Germanic mythology.
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Ok, I hope you are not mad at me for already starting it, sorry! If you want, delete it and we can start again :wink:
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Vij
Vij is traditional monster for Ukrainian mythology, According to Tolstoi's story I've read he is the leader of all the monsters, having appearance of a dwarf with his eyes shut and eyelids reaching the ground, opens his eyes only before the kill.
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Ok, I hope you are not mad at me for already starting it, sorry! If you want, delete it and we can start again
Not at all, Nina. In fact, I heartily approve. On that subject, would it be okay with you, leshy and Mahiqun, if I moved all entries on Slavic monsters currently posted under this thread to the new one that you just created? As you stated, this is not really a thread designed to display information about Slavic entities.
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That would be cool, blowfly, thank you! Im sure Leshy will approve too, after all, they are Slavic, not Nordic! (never mind some similarities)
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Yep, got my approval! :-)
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Interesting stories about the Nordic gods.
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just read this thread; So much true and accurate here. My Danish quarter is satisfied...