Three-headed serpent mountain. The legendary snake Gorynych from fairy tales and myths
Anyone who has ever heard or read Russian folk tales, definitely knows about the Serpent Gorynych - a fire-breathing dragon, greedy for treasures and red maidens; right and left, destroying good fellows and brave heroes. But few people realize how mysterious the appearance of this character seems to modern scientists, especially philologists!
Dragon.
There are several hypotheses trying to explain the origin of the fairy-tale image of the Serpent Gorynych. For example, academician Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov believed that this was nothing more than a memory of mammoths that had undergone significant transformations (!). Other researchers connect the legends of the fire-breathing snake with the attempts of the ancients to understand the essence of the aurora or draw an analogy between the Serpent Gorynych and a tornado.
An assumption of a different order was also expressed: the image of the Serpent Gorynych could have been generated by the struggle of the Slavs with the steppe nomads at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd millennium.
Chinese secrets of arsenals
Traditional ideas about the Mongol invasion of Rus', based on school history courses and popular films, picture wild hordes of nomads flooding the steppe to our imagination. We are accustomed to consider the main reasons for the military successes of this horde to be the surprise of the attack, the overwhelming numerical superiority of the conquerors, and their barbaric cruelty. Meanwhile, serious researchers unanimously claim that the army of Genghis Khan and Batu in that historical era was one of best armies in the world. Its high fighting qualities are largely explained by borrowing and assimilating other people's military experience. The same can be said about the weapons of the Mongol warriors. In particular, there is no doubt that they had artillery weapons, mainly made in China. These were various types of projectiles that used fire projectiles, the main component of which was a powder charge.
Everyone knows that gunpowder is a Chinese invention. But at the same time, there is an opinion that its original purpose was to create fireworks, and only much later it began to be used in military affairs. However, fire weapons have long been occupied important place in the military art of the Chinese. Europe did not know or have anything like this at that time. Already at that time, the Chinese had a fairly diverse arsenal of gunpowder weapons. For example, incendiary shells- “fire hawks” - were wooden vessels with gunpowder or clay pots filled with molten fusible metal. Fragmentation shells filled with gunpowder and scattering iron thorns and fragments of iron or porcelain shells during the explosion were used against enemy personnel. The explosion of such a projectile could be heard at a distance of about 50 kilometers, and its fragments easily pierced armor.
The Chinese also had a kind of chemical weapon: smoke balls that emitted multi-colored smoke, sometimes with the addition of asphyxiants, or, for example, balls of poisonous smoke filled with gunpowder mixed with potent plant poisons (monkshood, henbane and others). The Chinese also had shells filled with quicklime in their arsenal. In addition to them, in Chinese chronicles there are references to fire arrows that were thrown from a bow or crossbow, first igniting a powder charge, due to which the arrow received an additional reactive impulse. There were also rockets (!) - hollow bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder.
Thanks to military-economic espionage and the use of the knowledge and experience of captured Chinese specialists, the new weapon did not remain the exclusive property for long Chinese army. It is known that already at the end of the 11th century it appeared among the northern neighbors of China. The Mongol conquerors who invaded Northern China at the beginning of the 13th century also actively mastered fire weapons.
Genghis Khan's army successfully used grenades with oil and fire arrows with an incendiary fuse: for example, in 1206 the Mongols burned the fleet of one of the Chinese commanders. In 1225, while besieging Khorezm, the Mongols fired rockets and explosive gunpowder shells at the city. Thus, the Mongol army had various types fire weapons even before the invasion of Rus'. It would be strange if the troops sent to conquer Europe were not equipped with such an effective means of warfare.
Gorynych from the word “burn”
Now let’s go back to Zmey Gorynych and compare characteristic features this epic fairy-tale character with some of the above information about Chinese artillery. The Serpent Gorynych invariably appears as the bearer of fire (“flames blaze from his nostrils”) and smoke (“smoke pours out of his ears”). And the Chinese fire shells were primarily gushing grenades: in flight or after hitting the target, their contents, set on fire before launch, burned, emitting fire and smoke through the hole left behind.
Serpent Gorynych has several heads. And the Chinese fire shells had the shape of a ball or a barrel and could really resemble the heads of some kind of monster. In addition, it is likely that some of the shells were painted by enterprising conquerors to look like the heads of dragons and could be perceived by the defenders of the fortresses as the heads of real reptiles severed by someone.
The snake Gorynych has “trunks” with which it can strangle or bruise. According to Dahl's dictionary, the Old Russian "trunk" meant "tail", as well as "bend" and "arc". It is quite possible that this word originally described the plumes of smoke trailing behind shells and missiles. Such smoke could both choke and “hurt”, since some types of shells were designed for this.
The serpent Gorynych in Russian fairy tales always attacks from above and never appears from the forest or from the water, which is typical for dragons from the folklore of other peoples. And Chinese shells and missiles actually fell literally from the sky.
The flight of the Serpent Gorynych in legends is always accompanied by a terrible whistle and roar. This is quite understandable, since powder shells made both a whistle and a roar in flight and during the explosion.
Another interesting point: Zmey Gorynych has black blood, which is not absorbed into the earth for a long time, because “the Russian land does not want to accept it.” This blood could well have been the black, oily liquid leaking from unexploded shells and oil grenades. By the way, it actually doesn’t absorb well into the soil.
The Serpent Gorynych always appears unexpectedly, his appearance in smoke and flame contrasts with the emphatically good weather. Of course, shelling with gunpowder weapons in rainy weather was impossible, since the water extinguished the ignited shells and rockets.
The Snake's nickname is Gorynych. It is traditional to associate this nickname with the concept of “mountain”: he is either the son of a large cloud, like a mountain, or he himself is huge like a mountain. But it must be borne in mind that legends, epics and tales about the Serpent Gorynych were recorded mainly in the Great Russian regions, while the struggle of Dobrynya with the Serpent, to which they go back, took place in the era Kievan Rus further south. Perhaps the original nickname of the Snake was associated with the word “burn”, and only later and further north it was rethought.
Answer to the question
All these reflections allow us to put forward the following hypothesis. IN ancient mythology The theme of the hero's struggle with a fire-breathing serpent-dragon was widely used. In particular, ideas about incomprehensible, frightening things, refracted in popular imagination, could take on such a form. natural phenomena, be it a thunderstorm, a comet or ball lightning. As a result, many peoples have a traditional image of the dragon - the guardian of waters and the master of natural elements. In the mythology of the Slavs, who encountered mysterious and terrible fiery weapons during the Mongol invasion, this traditional theme received a completely different twist. The Serpent Gorynych became the personification of such a weapon and turned into a metaphorical image of artillery shelling.
Serpent-Gorynych is the general name for dragon-like creatures. Although he does not belong to dragons, but according to the classification he belongs to serpents, in appearance Gorynych has many dragon traits.
Outwardly, the Serpent-Gorynych looks like a dragon, but has many heads. Different sources indicate a different number of heads, but most often three heads are found. However, a larger number of heads rather indicates the fact that this serpent had already repeatedly participated in battles and lost heads, in the place of which a larger number of new ones grew. Gorynych's body is covered with red or black scales; on the serpent's paws there are large copper-colored claws with a metallic sheen; he himself has big sizes and an impressive wingspan.
These snakes live in mountainous areas, choosing large caves for their homes; quite often they can be found in reservoirs, as they like to eat fish, but they choose underwater caves for their homes much less often.
Gorynych always hunts at some distance from his nesting site; his diet is dominated by large mammals(deer, cows, etc.) and fish. If there is a shortage of food, the serpent can attack people. During the period of raising the cubs, Gorynych catches prey and takes it while still alive to his nest so that the growing snakes learn to hunt. These snakes rarely leave their victims alive; they usually stock up on food. These snakes prefer to live alone, occupying large territory. While the young snakes are small and weak, they live with their parent under his protection, reaching a certain age, the young snakes leave home territory in search of a new home. Clashes between snakes occur quite rarely, since different individuals try not to enter someone else’s territory and do not conquer it, but look for unoccupied land.
Capabilities
The Serpent-Gorynych is capable of flying and spewing fire. Gorynych's scales cannot be pierced by any weapon. His blood can burn, and blood spilled on the ground burns it out so that nothing grows in that place for a long time. Zmey-Gorynych is able to regrow lost limbs, he is able to regrow even a lost head. He also has intelligence and is able to imitate the voices of various animals, including the ability to reproduce human speech, which distinguishes him from serpents and makes him closer to dragons.
How to fight?
The cubs of the Serpent-Gorynych are very weak and defenseless, but as they grow older, their scales become invulnerable to any weapon and fire. The only weak spot in Gorynych’s “armor” is a small area of scales on the neck near the head, where the scales are very soft. You can pierce it with almost any weapon, but the severed head will grow back and this will not kill the serpent, but will only scare it away for a while, but sometimes this is enough. The legends still describe a weapon capable of killing the Serpent-Gorynych - the “Seven-Tail Whip.” The key point is the fact that in order to kill Gorynych, it is necessary to destroy all the heads, without separating them from the body, so in some legends there is a description of how Gorynych is killed by a heroic horse by crushing the snake’s skull with its hoof.
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Dragon- a bright character of Slavic folklore. The fire-breathing serpent is a dragon. A required attribute is several goals. Ideas about the Serpent Gorynych go back to dinosaurs, the remains of which are found throughout the settlement territory of the ancient Slavs.
Name " Gorynych", presumably comes from the word " mountain", i.e., a snake living in mountainous areas. A mountain meant something inaccessible, distant, since the Slavs mainly settled on the plains, and mountains were associated with other, “alien” places.
According to another version, the basis for the name was the word “ burn", i.e. Burning Serpent or Flame Breathing Serpent.
Ancient Slavic coins depicted a dinosaur with a high crest along its back, and it was called the Serpent Gorynych.
Where does the Serpent Gorynych live?
According to legend, Dragon lives beyond the fiery Smorodina River. There he guards Kalinov Bridge– passage to the Kingdom of the Dead ( Fortieth Kingdom).
In some legends, Gorynych’s habitat is water. There he appears as a sea resident.
There are also tales that describe the Snake, a large rich palace, as its habitat.
How many heads does the serpent Gorynych have?
Usually the mythical Serpent Gorynych has three heads. However, there are also characters with three, six, twelve heads. As a rule, their number is a multiple of three. But there are exceptions (five and seven).
From what characteristic Is the snake multi-headed?
This is due to symbolism in the idea of good and evil. Evil is always insidious and has many faces. It is changeable. His the main objective- cloud the mind, confuse.
Characteristic features of the Serpent Gorynych
From fairy tales and legends, in fact, only the presence of several heads is a common feature of the Serpent, unchanged for all texts. It is known that the Serpent can spew flame (breathe fire), but the nature of this fire is not entirely clear.
The Blood of the Serpent also has fiery properties. It burns out those areas of the earth that it hits. And then nothing grows there for a long time. Gorynych’s blood is black, which also enhances the negative connotation of the hero.
The snake has the ability to regenerate. Even his severed heads grow back. He is intelligent and speaks in a human voice. Does not shy away from material wealth. So, in some fairy tales, the Serpent Gorynych imposes tribute on principalities and kingdoms.
Gorynych's tail is long, with an arrow at the tip. His skin is scaly, iridescent in the Sun.
It is known that the Serpent flies. Nevertheless, NOWHERE There is no description of his wings, although it is obvious that he has them.
Serpent Gorynych Weapons
From fairy tales, we know that the Serpent had the ability to erupt flames. However, this image did not appear on its own. Since ideas about Gorynych were largely associated with nomadic conquerors, the most destructive of which were the hordes of Genghis Khan, it is logical to assume that this is where we need to look for the basis for this method of combat / defense.
Steppe nomads used in their raids special kind weapons unknown to residents Ancient Rus' – fire arrows, with a ignited powder charge, which had incredible destructive power. Most likely, they formed the basis for the eruption of fire by Gorynych.
Main activities
The Serpent Gorynych in epics is, as a rule, a collective image of evil with which Russian heroes enter into a struggle ( in general - people). The purpose of the Serpent is to burn, scorch fields and crops, thereby bringing hunger, destruction, desolation. 
Often Gorynych steals brides- the most beautiful girls. This corresponds to the image of warlike conquerors who devastated Rus' with their raids and took young women captive.
The connection between Zmey Gorynych and other characters
Some fairy tales mention that the Serpent makes friends or, rather, enters into an alliance with Baba Yaga and Koshchei the Immortal.
The main opponents are Russian heroes: as well as Ivan Tsarevich, Ivan the Peasant Son, Ivan the Fool, etc.
The Tale of the Snake Gorynych
Tales about the Serpent Gorynych: “Dobrynya and the Serpent”, “Three Kingdoms”, “Battle on the Kalinov Bridge”, “Three Heroes and the Serpent Gorynych”.
Most Popular A version of the legend about the Serpent Gorynych is the story of how Dobrynya Nikitich, the famous Russian hero, defeated the Serpent - a terrible reptile that terrorized many cities and, in particular, the capital - Kyiv.
The plot contains many characteristic elements: the river guarded by the Serpent, the kidnapping of brides and the rest of the people, the many-headed nature and invincibility of the Serpent by simple means.
Zmey Gorynych Movies Cartoons
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How often, while reading fairy tales or watching cartoons, do we meet the Serpent Gorynych?
Battles with great Russian heroes, the kidnapping of Slavic beauties, horror inflicted everywhere - this is what is associated with this character.
But does it really exist? Or is this a folklore image that lived in Rus'?
The appearance of the Serpents of Gorynych is described as follows: a dragon with several heads. As a rule, the quantity was a multiple of 3 - 3, 6, 9, 12, but could be 5 or 7.
His heads breathed fire, and if one of them was cut off, a new one instantly grew. clawed paws, a long tail with spikes and small wings that allowed him to fly everywhere, had a mythical character.
They called it differently in different countries ah: Zmok - Slovenia and the Czech Republic, Zmiy - Ukraine, Zmaj - Croatia.
Each country added new features to the image of Goryn, arguing whether he was a dragon or a serpent.
The Serpent Gorynych is not vulnerable, and therefore practically invincible. But there is only one place through which it could be destroyed - a small area of scales next to the head.
Once in this place, the head disappears, but a new one immediately appears in its place.
The weapon that could kill him was called the “Seven-Tailed Whip” in legend.
But it was possible to destroy Goryn only by cutting off all his heads at the same time. One more weak point the snakes are his young. They are defenseless, but only until their scales begin to turn to stone.
The emergence of a mythical patronymic
Why Gorynych and where does the mysterious snake live? It turns out that the patronymic, or nickname, is directly related to the habitat of the mythical character. There are several versions:
- The snake, as a creature, can belong to two elements: fire and water. Therefore, the first option for a lair is in the middle of the sea on a rock.
- According to legends, the Serpent is the guard of the transition between two worlds: the world of the living and the world of the dead. He lives on the Kalinov Bridge, which spans the Smorodina River.
- The mountain or cave from which the patronymic was derived. This assumption appeared as a result of one fairy tale. Everything around his habitat is lifeless and dead: grass does not grow, birds do not sing, animals pass by.
- Goryn - from the word burn. The fire that erupted from the monster’s mouth destroyed all living things in its path.
- The last, no less widespread version of where the Serpent Gorynych could live - chambers of gold and silver - also appeared thanks to epics in which he keeps kings and rulers at bay, collecting tribute from them and living in luxury. In this regard, there is an assumption that Goryn is an intelligent being.
The image of the Serpent in history
The symbolism of the image of the Serpent Gorynych is multifaceted in Russian mythology. At the time of the appearance of this creature, the Russian land was tormented by wars and raids by nomads.
It is possible that the snake is the embodiment of all the troubles of that time. Another version that comes from fairy tales: snakes are universal evil, the opposite of good.
The history of the appearance of legends about the Serpent Gorynych originates from paganism.
The Slavs who lived in the north worshiped a certain snake as a deity, making sacrifices. And for the southern Slavs he was a demon.
Christians interpret the image of the serpent as a symbol of the Fall.
It was believed that the snake and the dragon were the Devil in a different guise.
After all, it was because of the tempting serpent that Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden.
Goryn’s main occupation, according to legend, was destruction: he burned villages and cities, took hostages and prisoners, forced them to pay tribute, instilling fear of death.
In this image, he acts as an enemy invader.
Symbols of the many faces of evil are the numerous heads of the serpent. And the struggle between good and evil is depicted by the battles of heroes with him.
In the mythology of different countries, the image of a snake is associated with other monsters.
For example, in the myths about Hercules the Lernaean Hydra was described. A snake with 7 or more heads could breathe fire and regenerate severed heads. Hercules destroyed her in battle, just as the Russian heroes defeated Goryn.
Gorynych in art
Gorynychi turned out to be incredibly widespread in culture. Nowadays, thanks to films, cartoons and fairy tales, the image is more benevolent. There are no bloodshed, battles or kidnappings.
Sculptures:
- Petrazavodsk, 2000. In the year of the dragon, a sculpture of a snake was installed.
- Kharkov, 2000. Wooden Snake on the bank of the Lopan River.
- Novosibirsk, 2013. Fountain with heroes of Russian fairy tales, including the Serpent.
- Lipetsk. there is a huge statue.
Painting:
- V.M. Vasnetsov “Fight of Dobrynya Nikitich with the seven-headed Serpent-Gorynych”
- AND I. Bilibin “Dobrynya’s fight with the Snake”, “Dobrynya Nikitich liberates Zabava Putyatichna from the Snake-Gorynych”
- S. Moskvitin “Dobrynya Nikitich”
- N.K. Roerich "Victory"
Movies:
- “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, Alexander Rowe.
- “Ilya Muromets”, Alexander Ptushko.
- “Fire, water and... copper pipes”, Alexander Rowe.
- “There, on unknown paths”, M. Yuzovsky.
- “They sat on the golden porch,” B. Rytsarev.
The Serpent Gorynych became the most popular in various animated films.
The most popular of them is a series about Russian heroes: “Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent Gorynych”, “Three heroes and the Shamakhan queen”, “Three heroes on the distant shores”, “Three heroes and the sea king”.
Here the snake is a friend of the heroes, helping them in all fairy-tale vicissitudes.
In literature, the Serpent Gorynych is mentioned in such works as: the epic “About Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent-Gorynych”, the fairy tale “Until the third roosters”, “Monday begins on Saturday” by the Strugatsky brothers.
The serpent is among us
It is quite obvious that Zmey Gorynych is completely mythical creature.
It was created in epics and legends as an image of universal evil and invaders in Rus'. No evidence of its existence has been found. And the drawings found in the chronicles are just an accompaniment to the stories about the heroes who liberated Rus' from invasions.
In fairy tales, the Serpent was friends with Baba Yaga and Koshchei the Immortal: together they committed evil deeds. But they are all just fairy-tale characters.
Although, there are skeptics who claim that the Serpent could exist. And they do not exclude the possibility of its existence even now. According to the modern version, the Serpent is a reptilian, humanoid and snake in one guise. He could transform into a human to charm his captives, and then destroy them.
This is not the first time that assumptions about the existence of reptilians have been put forward. Some believe that they will take over the Earth and enslave humanity, but for now they live among us, trying to develop a plan to take over.
Accordingly, it is possible that the Serpent also lives among us!
