There are very mysterious characters in Russian fairy tales. For example, Marya Morevna. Clever, beautiful, future wife of Ivan Tsarevich, a sorceress who managed to chain Koshchei the Immortal himself … Who is she?
Some versions of the tales say that Marya Morevna is the daughter of Baba Yaga. And who is dad? What's his name? Patronymic "Morevna" gives the answer - dad's name is Mor!
In modern Russian, the word "pestilence" means "epidemic", "mass fatal disease." However, this word used to mean something different! The same as the Latin mors, the Italian morte, the Spanish muerte, the French mort and, most importantly, the ancient proto-Indo-European * mertis - "death".
Marya Morevna.
Historians and ethnographers write that the ancient Slavs, in addition to other gods, worshiped the goddess of death - Mora or Morena, and even sacrificed captives to her. According to Academician B. A. Rybakov in his work "Paganism of Ancient Rus", the ancient Slavs in some cases (for example, wars or epidemics) even constructed gigantic images of Morena made of logs and twigs, placed prisoners intended for sacrifice inside, and so burned. It was believed that this allows you to appease Morena.
Illustrations by I. Ya. Bilibin for the fairy tale * Marya Morevna *.
So, Marya Morevna's “dad” is Mor, the male embodiment of Morena, the god of death. It is no wonder that his wife, Baba Yaga, has a "bone leg" - because Baba Yaga is originally a woman-skeleton, the wife of the god of death himself!
(By the way, our word "Yaga" is related to the Old Slavic ѩsa and the East Slavic "Yazya", "Yeza", "Yedza" - with the meanings of "anger", "suffering", "danger", "witch".)
Promotional video:
It is understandable why Marya Morevna possesses fantastic power - because death in ancient texts has always been considered "a power that is subject to everything and always."
Marya Morevna takes Koshchei the Immortal prisoner - that is, death takes immortality prisoner, think what an interesting symbolism! And the unlucky Ivan Tsarevich, having given Koshchei to drink forty buckets of water, frees immortality from the captivity of death - and thereby brings countless troubles to the earth. Why?
Koschei the Deathless. Fig. I. Ya. Bilibin.
For the ancient Slavs, death was the transfer of a person from the bodily, visible world (which was called "reality") into the world of spirits, which was called "nav". Baba Yaga, Mora's wife, is a guide from the world of the living to the world of the dead, the world of magic and unprecedented abilities. Without the help of this world, Ivan Tsarevich would not have been capable of anything. Remember, and Living water is powerless without the Dead?
Fig. Bilibina to * Vasilisa the Wise * on the cover of * Ray * magazine.
And Marya Morevna, the daughter of the god of death himself, possessing incredible magical power and wisdom, holds immortality captive, which disrupts the natural course of things - the eternal cycle of life and death, routine and magic, human weakness and strength of mind (spirits) - gods and ancestors.