Kashchei the immortal: where and how the favorite fairy tale was filmed! (15 photos). Koschey the Immortal - who is he? Theories of the origin of the folk antihero
Koschey the Immortal is not just a character from children's fairy tales - this folklore hero has many stories and even names. So who is he?
Where did Koschey come from: hypotheses of origin
IN Slavic mythology he had the “last name” Chernobogovich - after his father, Chernobog. Then he was not a symbol of evil, although he reigned in Navi - this underground kingdom can be considered an analogue of the Greek Hades and belonged to a host of dark deities. He controlled the souls (and even bodies) of the dead, and also had many spirits under his command. Researchers of myths claim that, despite his power, Koschey did not like battles and participated in a battle only once.
Having migrated into fairy-tale folklore, Koschey turned into an evil sorcerer - he could be a king, sometimes just a sorcerer. As a rule, he kidnaps beauties.
Another of his incarnations is the husband of a witch, whose eyelids are always closed. To raise them, the strength of a dozen mighty warriors is needed. Obviously, from this legend he migrated to Gogol’s story about Viya, where he received his next name.
In any case, folklore Koschey is always the embodiment of evil and an antagonist, unlike Baba Yaga, who can also be an assistant to the hero.
Character from the point of view of scientists
The famous scientist James Frazer draws a number of parallels between the image of this folk hero and the famous Samson. They are united by miraculous strength and the fact that they cannot be defeated in a simple way, as well as a tendency to trust women. According to Fraser, these characters come from the same source, which he, however, does not establish.
Slavic ethnographers see in him the Lord of the Black Sun - a symbolic personification of the strength of the people and their power, that is, more of a patron than a pest.
One of the most interesting versions of the origin of the tales of Koshchei is associated with the marriage rites of the Slavs. To initiate a girl into married life, she was symbolically abducted (the custom has survived to this day). This gave rise to a certain generalized image of a kidnapper of girls, who took them to his kingdom (which was regarded as temporary death), and then returned them to the world of the living. According to this version, he is also not evil hero- only with the advent of Christianity, when the Slavs’ ideas about the world changed, Koschey also changed.
1. In fact, he is not completely immortal, he just dies in a needle, which is very difficult to get.
2. In Polish and Czech fairy tales, this character has a red beard.
3. His name comes from the word “bone”, since this hero was often depicted as a skeleton - or a very bony old man.
4. He can turn into a raven.
5. The symbol of Koshchei is his magic sword.
6. Being generally an unlucky gentleman, one day he will know love - this story is described in epics. The beautiful girl Marya reciprocates the sorcerer's feelings, but she is killed by the treacherous groom.
7. He may lose his strength if he goes for a long time without food, but one sip of water brings him back to normal.
8. And Koschey can turn an entire kingdom into stone as easily as putting frog skin on a person.
Not all Russian folk tales are endowed with only positive characters. Some heroes instill fear and horror in young children. It is worth remembering the ugly old woman who lured girls and boys into her house on chicken legs, who went straight into the oven. You can meet in the ominous forest, and mermaids live in the lake. Beauties with fish tails are not at all good creatures, which we are used to seeing in pictures, because they rush at people, catch them and tickle them to death.
Besides, in deep forests You should beware of the mystical character Koshchei the Immortal, who appears in the form of an evil sorcerer. Bad luck for anyone who ends up in his kingdom! This old man, always wasting away over gold, attracted attention famous artists, directors, animators and literary diaspora. One has only to remember the painting by the master of folklore painting “Koshey the Immortal” to understand how terrible this old man is.
Image and appearance
Where Koschey came from is still not clear to scientists, so there are several opinions in research circles. The first believe that the owner of the sword and the owner of the chests of gold were invented thanks to the Slavic god Karachun, who personifies death and cold. The second say that the Immortal was “based” on the German mythical ruler Odin. Still others are sure that the ruler of the dark kingdom does not have a specific prototype, and imagine him in the form of a sorcerer with magical abilities.
Koschey plays a fundamental role in Russian folk tales, with the description of this character varying depending on the story. Mostly, film and literature lovers are accustomed to imagining Koshchei as a thin old man in a dark suit with bones sticking out of him. His skin is so pale and taut that the outline of his skull and eye sockets are visible. The sorcerer's face is decorated with frowning eyebrows and a hooked nose. Sometimes the Immortal was even depicted as a skeleton. In any case, it appearance associated with darkness and death, it is not for nothing that it is said:
“Koschey looks at everything - everything withers. Scythe on the cattle - the cattle dies, Koschey on the grass - the grass dries."
Many stories mention that Koschey is a prisoner who was imprisoned for 300 years either in a tower or in a dungeon, bound in chains.
It is customary to distinguish three hypostases of the Immortal. In the first group of stories, the old man appears in the guise of a king, possessing magical abilities and wielding untold riches. Most often, Koshchei has a companion - a faithful skeleton horse, personifying the world of livestock. But sometimes he appears without it.
the main objective The hero's goal is to kidnap the beauties and get even with the enemies: Dubynya, Gorynya and other heroes. The girls who were captured by the thin wizard were very unlucky. However, there was a case when the gallant gentleman Koschey seduced the young lady. By at least, this is demonstrated in the epic “About Ivan Godinovich”: the sorcerer wooed the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievichna, who reciprocated.
In other tales, the Immortal is mentioned as the father of Chud-yud, married to a snake-witch. Koschey spends his days idly: he lies on the bed with his eyelids closed, which raise him two dozen mighty heroes. Thus, the thin sorcerer is somewhat reminiscent of the story of the same name.
Koshchei can also be seen in the form of an old man, to whom the authors gave the following description: “he is as big as a fingernail, with a beard as long as his elbow.” The hero lives in a hut on chicken legs. This image is demonstrated by the fairy tales “Zorka, Vechorka and Polunochka”, “Medvedko”, “Gorynya” and some other works of folk art.
Force
Koschey is a very professional sorcerer who would be the envy of someone from Harry Potter. Moreover, the dark wizard approaches his magical crimes in a very original way.
You don't have to look far for examples. In the fairy tale “Elena the Beautiful,” he turned his sworn enemy Ivan Tsarevich into a nut, turned the beauty into a frog princess, and another young lady into a snake. And in the story of “Ivan Sosnovich,” the sorcerer got even with the entire kingdom, turning its inhabitants into blocks of stone.
By the way, if you see a huge black raven in the forest, then perhaps it is Koschey the Immortal who has reincarnated as the proud bird from the poem.
Koshchei can be called lucky, because he draws his strength from ordinary water. When the old man drank three buckets of water offered by Ivan Tsarevich, he easily broke twelve chains and freed himself from the dungeon. However, the ruler of the throne also has weak sides. Killing him is not easy, but you can:
“Koshchei’s death is at the end of a needle, that needle is in an egg, that egg is in a duck, that duck is in a hare, that hare is in a chest, and the chest stands on a tall oak tree, and Koschei protects that tree like his own eye.”
However, in the fairy tale about Marya Morevna, an old man with immortality fell from the magic horse Ivan, who hit the sorcerer with his hoof and crushed his head. Next, Ivan burned the unfortunate man at the stake and threw the ashes to the wind. In another variation of the tale, the prince finishes off his sworn enemy with a club.
Filmography and actors
It’s impossible to count the number of cinematic works about Koshchei the Immortal on one hand, so let’s present a few famous paintings with the participation of famous actors.
"Kashchei the Immortal" (1944)
“After the Rain on Thursday” (1985)
In 1985, director Mikhail Yuzovsky presented a fairy tale based on the libretto. The plot tells how, after rain on Thursday, Tsar Avdey became a father: his wife gave birth to a boy. On the same day, housekeeper Varvara also gave birth to her first child, and a newborn foundling was discovered in the cabbage.
All the boys were named Ivan, and the owner of the crown ordered them to be raised together. However, the housekeeper decided to use cunning: she put her son in the royal cradle, and gave the rest to the robbers. 20 years passed, and the two Ivans decided to free themselves from their shackles and defeat Koshchei the Immortal. The role of the sorcerer went to, who worked with Gennady Frolov, and.
“They sat on the golden porch” (1986)
The magical fairy tale by Boris Rytsarev tells about two neighboring kings - Fedot and Amphibrachius. But the last monarch seemed to have fallen through the ground, and the queen could not cope with state affairs by oneself. Therefore, the lady began to think about how to give her daughter Alena in marriage on favorable terms. The girl’s heart was won by Ivan Tsarevich, who had to fight Koshchei the Immortal.
The gold lover was played by Viktor Sergachev, and his colleagues were, and.
"The Book of Masters" (2009)
In 2009, the first Russian film was released in collaboration with the film company " Walt Disney Pictures". The director was Vadim Sokolovsky. The story tells that the Stone Princess, imprisoned in the tower, will soon be released, and the world will end. By coincidence, the role of the arbiter of people's fate goes to Ivan, who will have to face Koshchei the Immortal.
IN cast paintings included
Koschey (Kashchei) the Immortal is one of the most odious and mysterious villains of Russian fairy tales. The epithet “Immortal” alone makes one fear this character. The absence of fear of the Immortal may mean that you have long been registered in his Koshcheev kingdom.
1. The secret of the name
We still don't know exact origin named "Koschey". The most common version - the name "Koschey" comes from the word "bone" and means a skinny person - is not in fashion among linguists today. Modern researchers of Russian folklore are more inclined to see the roots of the villain either in the Lower Sorbian kostlar (caster), or in the Old Russian “kast” (abomination, muck, etc.). Other scholars believe that the word "koschey" on others Slavic languages translated as skin, neck, bones. So, in Serbian “koschei” - “bone and skin” or “neck”, in Slovenian and Polish - “neck” (Slovenian kitami, Polish chudzielec).
2. Who is Koschey?
Oddly enough, scientists have not yet come to a clear conclusion. Some see Koschei as an interpretation Slavic god death from the cold of Karachun, others - the Russian version of the German god Odin, others - just a somewhat frostbitten sorcerer with great magical abilities. Many modern folklorists generally call for the rehabilitation of Koshchei, declaring that he is not a villain at all, but a kind of role model for a participant in the mystery of initiation of a young girl, which is performed by the father of the initiate.
3. Crimes of Koshchei
In Russian fairy tales, Koschey appears as a very capable sorcerer. Moreover, he was very sophisticated in his magical solutions. So, in the fairy tale “Elena the Beautiful” he turns Ivan Tsarevich into a nut, he “dresses up” the princess from “The Frog Princess” in the skin of an amphibian, and in the fairy tale “Ivan Sosnovich” he deals with the whole kingdom, turning it into stone. The villain himself prefers to turn into a raven.
4. Unsuccessful ladies' man
As a rule, all of Koshchei’s activities are built around young girls. Koschey uses the same failed tactics to win their love: first he spectacularly kidnaps the girl, then unsuccessfully tries to achieve intimacy, and, having failed, turns fairy-tale beauties into frogs or snakes.
5. Koschey the Gallant
True, there was a case when the lady reciprocated with Koschey. In the epic “About Ivan Godinovich” the Immortal with the exotic patronymic Tripetovich appears as a gallant, courtly gentleman, wooing the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievichna. His rival is the treacherous Ivan Godinovich, who kidnaps Koshchei’s bride and takes her to an open field. Having caught up with the kidnapper, Koschey Tripetovich again asks Beautiful Marya to become his legal wife. And she agrees. Happy couple ties the treacherous Ivan to an oak tree, and they themselves go to indulge in love pleasures in the tent. Then a raven flies in and begins to croak to the lovers that Marya Dmitrievichna will not be Koshcheeva’s wife, but the wife of Ivan Godinovich. In a fit of righteous anger, the Immortal Romeo shoots at the raven, but the arrow changes its trajectory and kills Koshchei himself. Unhappy Marya the Beautiful decides to put an end to Ivan, but he cleverly snatches the saber from her and quarters the girl. The only one ended so tragically love story Koshcheya.
6. How to kill Koshchei
In one of the fairy tales, Koschey opened up: “My death is far away: there is an island on the sea on the ocean, on that island there is an oak tree, under the oak tree there is a chest buried, in the chest there is a hare, in the hare there is a duck, in the duck there is an egg, and in the egg there is death.” my". Many scientists saw in this “matryoshka” an interpretation of the model of the universe: water (sea-ocean), earth (island), plants (oak), animals (hare), birds (duck), and the oak is the “world tree”. In other words, you can end Koshchei by destroying the world order.
7. Where does Koschey live and does he have any relatives?
The daughter of Koshchei is Vasilisa (from the Greek basilissa - queen) the Wise (aka the Frog Princess), in another version the father of Vasilisa the Wise is the Sea King. Image " sea kings"goes back to the image of the sea-king - the German leaders of sea campaigns of the Dark Ages (from the Goths to the Vikings), who came from Scandinavia. It is noteworthy that the kingdom of Koshchei is localized in the north. Koschey went to war against Rus' in order to avenge betrayal. By the way, in many fairy tales he is mentioned primarily as a king. Koschey the Immortal: king, slave, sorcerer, does not have the opportunity to die, loves to kidnap maidens, loves gold. Draw a parallel between him and the Scandinavian Troll, and you will get a 100% coincidence, right down to the name, which translates as “slave,” and in both cases there was initially betrayal, and then immortality.
8. Christian interpretation of Koshchei
Some elders of Northern Rus' interpreted Koshchei as the fallen Adam, and Ivan Tsarevich as a “New Testament man.” In other interpretations of “folk Orthodoxy” Koschey symbolized the sinful body, the girl he abducted - human soul, and Ivan Tsarevich is a spirit. The death of Koshchei was interpreted by these ascetics as the cleansing of the soul from sins. True, modern folklorists consider these interpretations anti-scientific.
The question of who Koschey the Immortal is is still relevant today. Is this folk art or did it have some kind of prototype? historical figure? Maybe this is generally a figment of the imagination of all times and peoples? And why does this immortal fairy-tale anti-hero have such strange name? Let's think about all this in more detail...
Koschey the Immortal, who are you?
First of all, we know that this is one of the brightest His appearance is vague, and the options for interpreting the image are contradictory. In addition, his name has a not entirely clear etymology. There are at least two versions of the origin of this dubious fairy-tale (and maybe not fairy-tale) personality:
Version one: folk fiction (folklore)
Koschey the Immortal, whose photo for a number of reasons is not possible to demonstrate to you (only drawings), is endowed with many powers as a folk figure. He turns into a black raven, and sometimes into a flying snake. This allows him to easily and quickly move around the world and different worlds, stealing everything he needs. And what he needs is gold and other riches... Remember how Pushkin said about Koshchei, who languishes over gold? That's how it is. According to folklore, water gives it strength. Having drunk three whole buckets at a time, he is able to tame even the Serpent Gorynych himself! By the way, some researchers in the field of Slavic mythology claim that the images of the Immortal and Gorynych are interchangeable in Russian fairy tales. Both of them simply adore wealth, and also steal beautiful girls! However, Koschey is endowed with a little more power, beyond the control of the Serpent Gorynych.
Version two: real prototype
According to this version, the prototype of the fabulous Koshchei is none other than Saint Kasyan himself. The fact is that the above-mentioned prototype could well have been called Koshchei because of the consonance of these names. In addition, two holidays coincide: the day of Chernobog and the day of St. Kasyan were celebrated by the Slavs at the same time - at the end of February. According to some reports, for this holiday they put on strange outfits in the form of human bones with a crown on their heads, which to this day are popular at children's matinees and in fairy-tale performances. This means the Immortal. Meanwhile, Kasyan did a lot to spread Christianity on earth, but he was still considered evil, not holy!
The meaning of his name
Origin of this name fairy tale character has a philological nature: consonance and general semantics with some words, for example, with blasphemy. "Koschun" is a sorcerer. And indeed: only omnipotent black magicians are immortal, as well as people who turn to dark forces(For example,
In addition, in the Old Church Slavonic language the word “koshch” (or “kosht”) means “skinny”, “dry” or “thin”. We all remember appearance our anti-hero: skin and bones... Some etymologists say that his name is nothing more than a mythological image of nature ossified and frozen from severe frosts.
Summarize
Let's put all the above thoughts together. So, Koschey the Immortal is a folklore image of ancient Russian fairy tales, which arose due to dubious rumors about Saint Kasyan, supported by such Old Slavonicisms as kosht and koschun. Although small, it is true!
