After exploring main gods of Slavic pantheon and lower beings of Slavic mythology in my previous posts in this post I decided to retell an old folk tale. There were many candidates especially from old Croatian folklore but in the end winner is .....(imagine drums rolling)... the most famous Slavic villain,one and only, Koschei the Deathless. He has become part of pop culture through Hellboy comics, but his origins lay in old tales of East Slavs.
If you allow me, let me introduce you to Koschei the Deathless
Death of Koschei the Deathless
In some distant kingdom both the king and the queen were on their death bed. Facing death they summoned the oldest of their children, prince Ivan.
When young prince arrived they expressed their last wish. They asked of him to marry his three sisters to first suitors who come to woo them.
After their parents funeral, prince Ivan and princesses Mary, Olga and Anna went for a walk in the gardens until their stroll was interrupted by bad weather. When they retrieted back to the palace, thunderbolt split opened the ceiling and a falcon flew in. Falcon changed shape into a young man and from Ivan asked Marya's hand in marriage. After Marya gave her consent, Ivan agreed to Falcon's proposal. After the marriage Falcon took Marya away to his own realm.
Few years passed and again nice stroll was interrupted by bad weather. When Ivan and his 2 sisters returned to the palace thunder opened the ceiling and an eagle flew in. When eagle shapeshifted into a young man he asked Ivan for Olga's hand in marriage. Olga was pleased with her suitor and Ivan agreed. After the marriage she too was taken away from Ivan, into the Eagle's realm.
Year after Ivan an Anna were in the garden when their walk was shortened by dark clouds. Immediately after they entered the palace, ceiling was opened by thunder and raven flew in. Raven transformed into the most handsome suitor of them all. After Anna agreed to marriage, Ivan allowed the proposal. And he ended up all alone.
Year passed and prince Ivan grew ever more lonely so he went on a journey to find his sisters. After few days he witnessed a field of battle on which lied bodies of soldiers slain by beautiful princess Marya Morevna. When he met her, he fell in love and married her.
He was taken to her realm. Soon she left to make war and left him alone, instructing him that the closet is off limits. Of course that as soon as she left, Ivan opened the closet, and inside was Koschei the Deathless chained with 12 chains.
Ivan felt pity for Koschei and gave him 3 buckets of water to drink. After that Koschei regained his strength and with ease broke his chains and in a shape of a whirlwind exited the palace, threatening to imprison Marya Morevna.
Ivan realised his mistake and vowed to save his wife. He went out on a noble quest to rescue his wife. After few days he met his sister Marya and her husband the Falcon. He explained his quest to them, but they had little faith that he will be successful. Before continuing his search Ivan left them his silver spoon.
Few more days passed and Ivan met Olga and her husband the Eagle. Again he explained his troubles. Before he left he left them his silver fork.
Finally he met Anna and the Raven. They too weren't too convinced he is going to be successful. When he left them he gave them his silver snuff-box.
Finally Ivan arrived to Koschei's home where he met his wife. Now two of them were on the run, trying to escape Koschei the Deathless. But when Koschei realized what is going on he caught up to them on his mighty steed in no time. Again he took Marya but spared Ivan's life. He explained Ivan that he will forgive him this time and one more time in the future. In this way he will repay his depth to Ivan for helping him regain his strength.
But Ivan's mind was set on saving his wife. So he tried his luck one more time. Again he managed to escape the villain's home with his wife. But the result was the same. In a matter of hours they were caught by the Koschei the Deathless who was riding his mighty steed. Koschei stayed true to his word and spared Ivan's life one more time but he kidnapped Marya again.
Ivan was desperate and he tried his luck one more time. But riding his steed Koschei caught up with them but this time he killed Ivan and chopped him into small bits. He put pieces of Ivan's body into the barrel and threw the barrel into the blue sea. He then again took Marya to his own home.
When Ivan died, silver gifts he left to his brothers-in-law grew dark. They immediately knew Ivan was dead. When they realized what exactly happened Eagle went to blue sea to extract the barrel. Raven flew to get Water of death which he used to put pieces back, while Falcon flew to get Water of life which breathed life back into Ivan.
This time Ivan decided to be smarter. He managed to see Marya to figure out the secret of his fast steed. In a conversation with Koschei Marya learned that he got the steed from Baba Yaga. She managed to get that information to Ivan who immediately set ot to find Baba Yaga.
When finally reached Baba Yaga's home he managed to steal a horse as powerfull as the villains steed, finally giving him a chance to be with his wife.
So he went to Koschei's home one last time. Both of them saddled Ivan's new horse and rode hard and fast. But they were two of them on one horse so Koschei managed to catch up with them. At the moment when Koschei swung his sword to give a killer blow, Ivan's horse kicked him in the head with his back legs, splitting open his skull. Ivan finished the job and set Koschei's body to flames thus killing the Koschei the Deathless.
Now Ivan was finally able to enjoy life with his beautiful Marya Morevna.
Image sources:
https://www.mythpodcast.com/tag/koschei-the-deathless/
https://www.slavorum.org/koshchei-the-deathless-legend-of-immortal-slavic-villain/