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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Baba Yaga, Zilant, Slavic Dragon, Rusalka, Firebird, Sirin, Tugarin Zmeyevich, Sword Kladenets, Buyan, Indrik, Shishiga, Gamayun, Drioma. Excerpt:Baba Jaga, by Viktor Vasnetsov . Baba-Yaga (in Russian pronounced Bába-Y gá; also spelled Baba Jaga , written ) is a witch -like character in Slavic folklore . She flies around on a giant mortar or broomstick, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a hut which stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales she is portrayed as an antagonist ; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom , and she has been known on occasion to offer guidance to lost souls, although this is seen as rare. Etymology and origin The name of Baba-Yaga is composed of two elements. Baba means "old woman, grandmother" used in most Slavic languages ; it derives from child language and often has pejorative connotations. The second element, yaga , is from Proto-Slavic (j) g , which is probably related to Lithuanian ingis 'lazybones, sluggard', Old Norse ekki 'pain', and Old English inca 'question, scruple, doubt; grievance, quarrel'. It has also been suggested that Yaga may be a diminutive of the feminine name Jadwiga . An alternate etymology, mentioned by Sergei V. Rjabchikov, derives Yaga from Aga (Fiery; cauldron ), a solar deity of the Scythians and Sarmatians . The term being a cognate of "agni", Sanskrit for fire . The noun also used as the name of Agni , a fire god . Modern cognates or derivatives include Russian "ogon" (fire) and Ossetic "ag" (cauldron). An early recorded reference to "yaga-baba" is in Of the Russe Common Wealth by Giles Fletcher, the Elder , in the section "About Permyaks , Samoyeds and Lopars ", indicating at a possible Finno-Ugric influence. The name di... ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region. According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape (Apis) is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice was part of the worship of the early cow deities and a bull might represent a king who became a deity after death. ... Read more

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For several decades David Bethea has written authoritatively on the 'mythopoetic thinking' that lies at the heart of classical Russian literature, especially Russian poetry. His theoretically informed essays and books have made a point of turning back to issues of intentionality and biography at a time when authorial agency seems under threat of 'erasure' and the question of how writers, and poets in particular, live their lives through their art is increasingly moot. The lichnost (personhood, psychic totality) of the given writer is all-important, argues Bethea, as it is that which combines the specifically biographical and the capaciously mythical in verbal units that speak simultaneously to different planes of being. Pushkin's Evgeny can be one incarnation of the poet himself and an everyman rising up to challenge Peter's new world order; Brodsky can be, all at once, Dante and Mandelstam and himself, the exile paying an Orphic visit to Florence (and, by ghostly association, Leningrad). It is this sort of metempsychosis, where the stories that constitute the Ur-texts of Russian literature are constantly reworked in the biographical myths shaping individual writers' lives, that is Bethea's primary focus. This collection contains a liberal sampling of Bethea's most memorable previously published essays along with new studies prepared for this occasion. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

The power of stories and myth in Russia
It is common to say that "we are the stories we tell ourselves." This principle is the thread that connects the many themes in this astoundingly rich and useful survey of Russian folk belief, religious symbolism and practice. Sinyavsky, one of the original Soviet dissidents and an extraordinarily gifted author and critic, describes here the intricately intersecting layers of the Russian psyche, as they developed and morphed through history and custom: ancient and invisible, pagan and Christian, faith and fantasy, symbol and society.

Beginning with a penetrating analysis of Russian fairy tales - their purpose and genesis ("people remember and pass on only what is precious to them"), Sinyavsky examines the uniquely Russian views toward Beauty, Fate and Heroism, and the role of magic and the supernatural behind all things.

This leads to concise and entertaining descriptions of Russia's pagan gods, demons, spirits and symbols. Which naturally segues into a history of how these all were supplanted with the adoption of Christianity. Well, perhaps not simply supplanted so much as coopted and overlaid. Pagan holidays took on Christian meaning, phonetic similarities inclined patron saints to certain "assignments," and age-old sprites were given new jobs as modern devils.

Finally, Sinyavsky closes with succinct summaries that are essential reading for anyone interested in Russia but unfamiliar with Orthodoxy: elements of the Russian faith, the role of icons, the major sects, the reforms and schisms that have rocked that faith. What truly makes this an invaluable book (and part of the Russophile's Essential Library) is Sinyavsky's easy, storytelling style. Adapted from lectures he gave at the Sorbonne and fluidly rendered into English by Joanne Turnbull's superb translation, this book is never dry or encyclopedic. Rich with examples and constantly reflecting historical and social context, this is a lively history of the Russian worldview. (Reviewed in Russian Life) ... Read more

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This Book Is In Sanskrit. ... Read more

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Rich in cultural significance, social commentary, and popular beliefs, the tales found in this series represent the best, the most intriguing, and the most curious of oral literature from cultures whose legends, myths, and folklore have been largely unavailable in English until now.Each volume includes 20 to 30 tales, accompanied by an introduction and a historical overview which give the reader compelling insights into the culture, the folk literature, and the lives of the people in the region. ... Read more

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Fabulous stories
This small book contains fabulous stories great for reading aloud before bedtime. This book quickly became a favorite. The stories are not your usual fairy tales but express instead the reality of the Russian gypsies. Refreshing. ... Read more