Russian Fairy Tales
Zmey
The
Zmey is a three headed Russian dragon, green in color it walks on its
hind legs and has small arms (much like a t-rex) and can spit fire. The
zmey came to represent the Steppes and its dangerous people such as the
Mongols. Like the hydra the Russian dragons had heads in multiples of
three which would grow back if every single head wasn’t cut off
quickly. The three headed dragon and the battle with the serpent is a
common theme in Indo-European mythology and so likely has its roots
among the Proto-Indo-European peoples who split up 6,000 years ago to
become the Slavic, Greek, Celtic, Latin, Spanish, Germanic, Iranian,
and Indian peoples.
The
Serpent [Zmyei] is described in the stories as "winged," "fiery,"
"many-headed." Sometimes he assumes a human form, becoming a youth of
marvellous beauty in the presence of his beloved, or, when going to
meet a foe, a warrior mounted on a noble charger, with a raven perched
on his shoulder and a hound following at his heels. Sometimes he bears
the patronymic of Goruinuich, i. e. Son of the Mountain [Gora = a
mountain], in which case he may be the lightning, looked upon as the
offspring of the aerial mountain, the cloud. In others he seems to be
intended for the cloud itself, as in a story which mentions his
blotting out the light of day. It seems to be in the latter capacity
that he is spoken of as guarding treasures of bright metals and
gleaming gems, and as carrying off and imprisoning fair maidens. In one
story a snake is said to have stolen the luminaries of the Right. A
hero cuts off its head, and out from the slain monster issue "the
Bright Moon and the Morning Stars;" and in another the Bear and the
"Ocean Monster" carry off the Beautiful Princesses Luna and Zvyezda
[Star] 3. But it is generally a mortal maiden with whom he elopes, and
whom he retains much against her will. From such unions spring heroes
of magic powers, such as Tugarin Zmyeevich, and Volkh Yseslav'evich, of
whom more will be said hereafter, and also
fiendish shapes like the Kikimori, or Incubi, which harass sleepers.
In
the stories and songs the fair prisoner is generally rescued by a hero
who penetrates into the castle of the Snake, and there fights and
conquers him, getting possession at the same time of the "living water"
[the rain?] on which depends the snake's [or the cloud's] power. This
hero is supposed to be the Thunder-god, who disperses the Cloud and
frees the life-bestowing Rain and the fair Sunlight. In some of the
stories he bears a surname which points to his connexion with the Deity
of the Hearth, being called Zapechny, or, Zatrubnik, or Popyalof--from
pech [the stove], or truba [the stove pipe or chimney], or pepel
[ashes]. Sometimes the demon eats the maidens whom he carries off, the
stories frequently speaking of a beautiful princess who is exposed like
Andromeda, and whom a Slavonic Perseus saves from a "seven-headed
snake" which is hastening to devour her.
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