Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend Mike Dixon-Kennedy Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England Copyright © 1998 by Mike Dixon-Kennedy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dixon-Kennedy, Mike, 1959– Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic myth and legend. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: Covers the myths and legends of the Russian Empire at its greatest extent as well as other Slavic people and countries. Includes historical, geographical, and biographical background information. 1. Mythology, Slavic—Juvenile literature. [1. Mythology, Slavic. 2. Mythology—Encyclopedias.] I. Title. BL930.D58 1998 398.2'0947—dc21 98-20330 CIP AC ISBN 1-57607-063-8 (hc) ISBN 1-57607-130-8 (pbk) 0403020100999810987654321 ABC-CLIO, Inc. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 Typesetting by Letra Libre This book is printed on acid-free paper I. Manufactured in the United States of America. For Gill CONTENTS Preface, ix How to Use This Book, xi Brief Historical and Anthropological Details, xiii Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend, 1 References and Further Reading, 327 Appendix 1, 331 Glossary of Terms Appendix 2, 333 Transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin Letters Appendix 3, 335 The Rulers of Russia Appendix 4, 337 Topic Finder Index, 353 vii PREFACE Having studied the amazingly complex sub- This volume is not unique. A good num- ject of world mythology and legend for more ber of books have been published about the than twenty years, I have found few stories myths and legends of the ancient Russians more stirring than those of ancient Russia. and Slavs. However, as a quick look at the Regrettably for us, at the end of the twenti- Bibliography will show, many of these are eth century very few Russian pre-Christian available only in languages other than (pagan) beliefs remain. Those that have sur- English.Thus this book presents, possibly for vived have been Christianized, their pagan the first time, the myths and legends in their roots now long forgotten. translated form. In addition, a great deal of My introduction to Russian legend was historical, geographical, and biographical the story of the witch Baba-Yaga, told me information related to the Slavs and their by someone whose identity I have since for- mythology has been included so that readers gotten. Many years later, as I began to may gain the deepest possible understanding research world mythology and legend, Baba- of the myths and legends against their cul- Yaga resurfaced as I delved into the myster- tural and geographical background. A ies and delights of ancient Russian and detailed map of the area covered by this vol- Slavic folklore. ume has been included to make this last task This book is a general guide to the myths easier; for even though certain places or and legends of the Russian Empire at its countries described might be familiar, there greatest extent, along with those of countries are a fair number that are not so well known. and peoples that can be broadly defined as Russian and Slavic beliefs weave a rich Slavic or that have influenced and been tapestry between the real world and the influenced by Slavic cultures. Today, at the world of pure fantasy.Here we have a culture end of the twentieth century, Russia or Rus that believed in a large number of supernat- is a huge country that occupies a large part ural and fantastical beings, from dragons to of Europe and Asia.Yet it was once a land of one-eyed or multiheaded monsters, from modest size that subsequently underwent shape-changing wolves to soulless beings.We centuries of expansion and change. Pop- also find a curious mix of the pagan and the ulations came and went, and each migration Christian; for even though Russia adopted added to the culture base of the country as it Christianity as the state religion in A.D. 988, progressed from one incarnation to the paganism remained popular until the end of next—from principality to empire. All this the nineteenth century, and in more remote movement has left the rich legacy of mythol- areas, even up to the present day. Thus we ogy and legend detailed in this volume—a find Christian themes interwoven with legacy inherited by a land that covers pagan ideas: Dragons fight priests, saints approximately one-sixth of the earth’s total encounter nymphs, and witches enter the landmass. kingdom of heaven. ix x PREFACE It is my hope that by preparing this vol- ed my countless mistakes and assumptions ume in the format in which it is presented, I would need a volume all its own. Needless to have brought the myths and legends of the say, they all know just who they are, and to Russian and other Slavic peoples to a much each and every one of them I say a great big broader readership, and by so doing, have “thank you.” increased readers’ understanding of the cul- My final thanks have to go to my long- tures on which the volume touches. suffering wife, Gill, and to Christopher, Obviously one such volume cannot begin to Charlotte, Thomas, and Rebecca, my four do justice to this subject. Although I have often “fatherless” children. For long periods included as much information as possible of time over many years they have lost me to within the physical constraints of the book, I my research, my passion. Very rarely have hope readers will be inspired to undertake they complained, and I hope that now they their own, further research and to carry it to will be able to enjoy the results of their soli- new levels. tude. Whoever thinks writing is a solitary Whenever one writes a book, one obvi- occupation should think of the writers’ part- ously owes thanks to many different people ners, for theirs is the true solitude. for their help.To list all those who over the years have provided me with information, Mike Dixon-Kennedy guided me as to where to look, and correct- Lincolnshire HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Although this book is arranged as a simple, SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION straightforward encyclopedia, several conven- The spellings of Russian words and names tions have been adopted to make cross-refer- that appear in this book are based on vari- encing easier and the text more decipherable. ous commonly used systems of translitera- 1. Where headwords have alternative tion from the Cyrillic to the Latin alpha- spellings, these are given under the main bet. These word-spellings are phonetically entry within the book preceded by “Also.” based (see Appendix 2); thus, the words When the variant spellings are widely differ- should be pronounced more or less as writ- ent, variants are given their own, shorter ten, with every vowel and consonant being entries that direct readers to the main sounded (there are no silent e’s, for exam- entries.Where this is simply a matter of the ple).The single prime sign (') has been used omission or addition of a letter or letters, where the soft sign would appear in the then those letters affected within the head- Cyrillic word, indicating that the preceding word are enclosed in parentheses; e.g., consonant is palatalized. Appendix 2 shows Timofe(y)evna gives two versions of the the full modern Cyrillic alphabet and each patronymic, Timofeyevna and Timo- letter’s various possible pronunciations as feevna, both of which are acceptable well as its written equivalents in the Latin transliterations from the Cyrillic. alphabet. Where the variation is a different ending, then the most common is given first. For RUSSIAN TITLES instance, Svarozhich (~gich) indicates that Russian rulers and their families were given the most common variant is Svarozhich titles that may be unfamiliar to the reader. and the less common is Svarogich. Briefly, they were as follows. Where the difference is a complete word, tsar or czar—Russian emperor.The title then that word is enclosed in parentheses. was first used c. 1482 by Ivan Vasilevich, This occurs when an epithet or patronymic Grand Duke of Muscovy—better known as is part of the subject’s name but is not com- Ivan Groznyi, or Ivan the Terrible.Thereafter, monly used, e.g., Peter (Belyaninovich). it was used by the emperors of Russia until 2.Where there is a separate entry for any the 1917 Revolution. The word tsar is of the people, places, or objects mentioned derived from the Latin cæsar. within an entry, a list of these will be found tsarevich or czarevich—The son of a at the end of the entry preceded by “See tsar. Historically the tsarevich was the eldest also.” son, but the word applies to any son, not just 3. At the end of many entries, citations of the heir. sources in the References and Further tsarevna or czarevna—The daughter Reading section will be found, preceded by of a tsar. Like the tsarevich, the tsarevna was “References.” usually the eldest daughter of the tsar; but xi xii HOW TO USE THIS BOOK the word may be correctly applied to any tsaritsa or czaritsa—A woman who is daughter. empress and rules in her own right, regard- tsarina or czarina—The wife of a tsar; less of whether she is married to a tsar.