Sirin, Alkonost, Stratim, Gamayun are the birds of ancient legends. Russian chronicles mention them, their images have been preserved among illustrations to ancient handwritten books, on jewelry of Kievan Rus, in carvings of white-stone cathedrals of the Vladimir-Suzdal land (Dmitrovsky Cathedral in Vladimir - 1212, St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Podolsky - 1230). Who are they, these mysterious virgin birds from Paradise or, in other words, the Solar Garden, and how did they get into Russian culture? The answer to this question lies in the legends and traditions of the East.
Before getting to Ancient Russia, wonderful stories about legendary birds traveled a long way along the Khvalynsky (Caspian) Sea, and then along the Slavic River (Volga), along which ships sailed from India and Persia. The ships carried various goods decorated with drawings, in which fantastic herbs, flowers, animals and birds were intertwined. Along the tributaries of the Volga, where by water, and where by drag, they were sent to all sides of Russia.
In addition to the Volga, there was another path connecting Kievan Rus with the East - this is the path along the Dnieper and the Black Sea. The port of Korsun (Chersonesos), on the territory of modern Sevastopol, was noisy and busy. Korsun merchants not only held in their hands all trade with the East, but also told the local residents about distant countries, retelling the myths and legends they heard there. So on the Slavic land, images began to come to life, which then became understandable and close.
Alkonost and Sirin
In Byzantine and Slavic medieval legends, Alkonost is a wonderful bird, an inhabitant of the Slavic paradise Iria. Her face is feminine, her body is a bird's, and her voice is sweet, like love itself, so the one who hears her singing can forget about everything in the world with delight. As the legend says, “Alkonost stays near Paradise, sometimes it happens on the Euphrates River. When in singing a voice emits, then it does not feel itself. And whoever will be close then will forget everything in the world: then the mind leaves him, and the soul leaves the body."
The image of the Alkonost bird goes back to the Greek myth of Alcyone, the daughter of the god of winds Aeolus, the wife of the Thessalian king Keikos - the son of the god of the morning star Eosphorus. As Ovid reports in Metamorphoses, Keikus died tragically in the stormy sea, while Alcyone was waiting for him at the top of the cliff. When the body of her deceased husband nailed to the rock, she threw herself from the top into the raging waves of the sea. And a miracle happened: the gods turned Alcyone into a kingfisher seabird, which then revived her deceased husband. Keik also became a bird, uniting with the daughter of the gods.
In the chronicle legends, the word "alkonost" is directly related to the Old Russian saying "alkyon is a bird", from the Greek alkyon - "kingfisher". Alkonost is depicted in popular prints as a half-woman, half-bird with large multi-colored feathers and a girl's head, shaded by a crown and a halo, in which a short inscription is sometimes placed. In his hands he holds flowers of paradise or an unfolded scroll in which is inscribed the saying about reward in paradise for a righteous life on earth. The bird of paradise is often found in Old Believer wall sheets.
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Alkonost is similar in appearance to another bird - Sirin, but differs from it in that it is always depicted with hands. The legend of "the days of the alcoholic" - seven days, was also associated with this bird in the Old Russian book literature. It says that when she lays eggs in the depths of the sea and incubates them sitting on the surface of the water, then at this time the storms are pacified. This happens in the middle of winter (or during the winter solstice). The eggs lie deep for seven days and then float to the surface. And all this time the sea is completely calm.
Alkonost does not take his eyes off the surface of the water and waits for the eggs to emerge, because they are very difficult to steal. If this still succeeds, people hang an egg from the ceiling in the church as a symbol of the integrity and unity of all the coming people. Sometimes the appearance of this bird is interpreted as a manifestation of "divine providence". According to another Russian tradition, Alkonost is the bird of the dawn that controls the winds and weather; it is associated with the sun god Khors. There are legends that Alkonost gives birth to children at the "edge of the sea" on Kolyada (at the winter solstice), and then the weather is calm for seven days.
The earliest depiction of the Alkonost bird can be found among the miniatures and headpieces of one of the oldest monuments of East Slavic writing - the Yuryevsky Gospel of 1120–1128, which was made in Kiev by order of the Yuryevsky Monastery of ancient Novgorod. This creature is depicted with arms and wings at the same time and with a flower in hand.
A special story was associated with the magical Sirin, which in ancient Russian folklore was represented as a large, strong and motley maiden-bird with a large chest, a stern face and a crown on her head. The prototype, and possibly the predecessor of Sirin, is the ancient Greek sirens, which carried sailors with magic singing, after which their ships perished in the depths of the sea. The first person who heard the singing of the sirens and survived was Odysseus, who covered his companions' ears with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast. The Argonauts passed the ominous island safely, but only because Orpheus distracted their attention from the "sweet voices" with his singing.
Sirens are predatory beauties with the head and body of a beautiful woman and with clawed bird paws, who inherited a divine voice from their mother, the muse of Melpomene, and a wild and spiteful disposition from their father, the god Acheloy. The sea maidens were part of the retinue of the goddess Demeter, who was angry with them for not helping her daughter Persephone, abducted by Hades, and endowed them with a half-bird appearance. In another version of this myth, the sirens themselves wanted to turn into birds in order to find Persephone. When people refused to help them, they settled on a deserted island in order to take revenge on the human race. Since then, they began to lure sailors and drive them crazy. The cliffs of Siren Island were littered with the bones and dried skin of their victims.
According to the description of ancient Russian beliefs, the sweet-voiced bird Sirin, like the destructive sea birds-maidens of the sirens, with its sad song also intoxicated travelers and carried them into the kingdom of death. In a later period, these features were supplanted, and the Russian Sirin acquired magical functions of a protective nature, personifying beauty, happiness and the joy of being. And the bearer of misfortunes and misfortunes, according to Russian mythology, was considered a fantastic bird with a female face - an offense bird, which, unlike Sirin and Alkonost, was depicted with outstretched wings, dispersing good, bright times. Div, or Bird, was also a messenger of misfortune - an angry bird with outstretched wings, sitting on top of a tree.
Here is what one of the ancient Russian ABC books wrote about Sirin: “Sirin is a bird from the head to the waist, the composition and image of a man, from the waist a bird; Nezii lie about this, verbally sweet song of being to her, as if whoever listens to her voice, forget all this life and go into the desert along it and die in the mountains delusion.
The oldest depictions of Sirin in Russian art are considered to be drawings on jewelry of Kievan Rus, mainly on gold kolts (pendants or temple rings in a woman's headdress) and silver wrist bracelets. The images of Sirin have been preserved on ancient cabinet doors, a chest, a dish, birch bark boxes. The Slavs often drew Alkonost next to it.
In the old days, the bird-maidens Sirin and Alkonost were very popular. This is explained by the ancient pagan beliefs of the Slavs, when people worshiped nature and its elements: they prayed to the sun, rain, wind, worshiped fire, endowed plants, animals and birds with protective properties. Among other birds, the Slavs revered the Bird-Sun - a strong creature with outstretched wings and beams spreading in all directions, and the Duck - the ancient Slavic symbol of the purifying power of water. It was believed, for example, that the Sun Bird and the Duck, connected on two sides of one kolt, can protect a woman from harm. The simultaneous combination of these two birds is also present in the image of the sun god Khors.
Since 988, Christianity became the new religion of the princely power in Russia, which at first was rigidly implanted among the pagan Slavs. The first step towards this was the destruction of the pagan gods and the prohibition of magical images on household items and clothing. By order of Prince Vladimir, with the confluence of all the people in Kiev, all the sanctuaries were destroyed, and the statues of Perun and Veles were thrown from the steep bank into the Dnieper. The same fate befell the stone Perun on the Zbruch River, which at the end of the last century was found in the talus of a steep bank, and is now kept in the halls of the Krakow Museum as a rare and valuable monument of antiquity.
Instead of the destroyed cult symbols, the Christian Church offered the people the protection of a new God and saints, who at that time were still alien to the Slavs. However, in response, she met resistance from the pagan Russians and was forced to make many concessions. The church calendar was drawn up in such a way that the most important Christian holidays coincided with the pagan ones. The most revered were those saints who took on the features of pagan deities. For example, the image of the great goddess of Mother Earth was embodied in the image of the Mother of God, the Theotokos, George the Victorious became the personification of the sun god Khors and Dazhbog, Ilya the prophet corresponded to the god of thunder and lightning Perun, the patron saint of cattle Vlasiy became the successor of the pagan Veles.
The same was the case with magical signs in the form of birds on clothing, household items and jewelry. The image of a bird, since ancient times, was such a widespread talisman among the Slavs that, destroying this protective symbolism, the Christian church was forced to give people new patrons in their usual guise. Sirin and Alkonost replaced the Sun Bird and the World Duck, while the mythical virgin birds began to be depicted with a halo or radiance over their heads - a sign of holiness in the Christian religion.
Gradually, the image of the Sirin bird, under the influence of Christian and pagan beliefs, began to be considered by the people paradise, that is, divine, endowing it with extraordinary qualities: brightness, radiance, unearthly beauty, wonderful singing and kindness. The image of Sirin in Russian art has become widespread, it is quite often found on various products of the XIV-XVII centuries. Alkonost comes across much less often. Perhaps, over time, the differences between them were forgotten and merged into one image of a fairy bird, in which, as a symbol of the beautiful, a person saw his own dream of kindness, beauty and happiness.
The most common composition of ancient Slavic pagan art associated with the image of these two birds is their arrangement on two sides of the same tree, branch or leaf. According to the researchers, this comes from the first legends about the origin of the world. One of them says that among the endless expanses of water, which were the beginning of all beginnings, there was a tall, mighty tree - most likely, this is a familiar expression “on the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan there is an oak”. A new life on earth began from two birds who made a nest on that oak. The tree of life has become a symbol of all living things, and the two birds guarding it have become a symbol of goodness, procreation and family happiness. The whole image as a whole meant life and well-being.
Prophetic birds, born in the depths of centuries and preserved by the memory of the people, inspired the lover of Russian antiquity, artist Viktor Vasnetsov, to create the painting “Sirin and Alkonost. Fabulous birds, songs of joy and sorrow (1896). The black color of Alkonost's plumage sounds alarming, portending death and sadness. Its tragedy is perceived even more strongly next to the white wings of the Sirin - the bird of joy. They embodied the idea of people about perfect beings, for whom the heavenly expanses and depths of wisdom are open, they also reflected the ancient legend about the Tree of Life.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, both maiden birds were often found in popular popular prints sold at bazaars and fairs, on objects of peasant use, in wooden carvings, on painted spinning wheels and dishes, in drawings on homespun canvas, in folk embroidery and lace. At present, all this is mainly kept in museums, but still in the Russian rural outback you can see houses decorated with carved boards, where, among the curling shoots and leaves, two mysterious birds of paradise - Sirin and Alkonost - worry and rejoice.
Stratim
This bird from the legends of the Slavs is in many ways similar to Alkonost. She lives on the shores of the sea-ocean, representing the embodiment of the formidable sea element. “… She lives on the sea-ocean, and when she screams, a terrible storm rises. And even if she just guides her with a wing, the sea waves, sways. But if the Stratim-bird takes off, then such ramparts rise up that the sea sinks ships, opens up the deepest abysses and washes away the cities and forests from the shores."
Stratim is a strong-winged bird, the foremother of birds. At the will of Svarog, he guards the entrance to Iriy (Paradise). According to some sources, she is one of the incarnations of Stribog, the god of wind.
The stratim-bird is called differently in different translations of the Pigeon Book - Nogai-bird, Fear-Rakh, Strafil. She is mentioned in the Star Book of the Vedas and in Songs of the Gamayun Bird, recreated by the famous commentator and translator Alexander Asov. An ancient manuscript tells about a giant bird, which was sometimes called Strafilus: “There are chickens with their heads reaching up to heaven, and the sea up to their knees; when the sun is washed in the ocean, then the ocean will shake, and waves will begin to beat the chicken on the feathers; he, sensing the waves, shouts "coco-river", which means: "Lord, bring light to the world!"
Stratim raises the most terrible storm not with his huge wings, but with a piercing cry. Not only ships sink from it - populous cities, forested mountains and even entire continents sink under the water. There is an ancient mysterious prophecy-legend: "If the Stratim bird flutters at 2 o'clock in the morning, then from that time on, the whole earth will constantly shine and the roosters will crow all over the world."
Stratim is under the auspices of the sea king, representing one of the faces of the wise god Veles. The sailors revered the Stratim bird, made rich sacrifices to it, because navigation is completely dependent on the weather. If the sky is calm and the sun shines warm and bright, then nothing threatens the ship, and if the Stratim bird wakes up and starts flying over the sea, touching the waves with its wing, then the clouds turn black, a strong storm rises, and the sailors can only wait for its end and ask the Stratim bird to calm down and fly away to their chicks.
Although the Stratim bird is associated with the destructive power of the ocean, in fairy tales, myths and legends, it often acts as an assistant to the protagonist. For example, it can help to return home from a desert island in gratitude for the fact that the hero saved her chicks. The old "Legend of the Stratim-bird and Zhdan" tells about one of the meetings with the wonderful bird.
Gamayun is a prophetic bird, "speaking"
Her name comes from the word "gam" or "kam", which means "noise", hence the words - "kamlat", "shaman". Gamayun is the messenger of the god Veles, his herald, a heavenly being who sings divine hymns to people and portends the future to those who know how to hear the hidden meaning of broadcasting. A bird was depicted with a female head and chest.
In the ancient Slavic Vedas, the image of the Gamayun bird is found quite early. This is a prophetic bird, an incarnation of Veles himself, the god of wisdom. She flies to the blessed Macarius island, located "under the very east of the sun near paradise." The image of a precursor bird can be found in the oldest surviving monuments of Slavic culture. This is how the Velesova Book begins in the form in which it is available now: “A bird flew to us, and sat on a tree, and began to sing, and every feather is different, and shines with different colors. And it became in the night, as day, and she sings songs about battles and civil strife. Let us remember how our fathers fought with enemies, who now look at us from the blue sky and smile at us well. And so we are not alone, but with our fathers.
And we thought about helping Perunova, and saw a rider galloping across the sky on a white horse. And he raises the sword to heaven, and cuts through the clouds and thunder roars, and living water flows on us. And we drink it, for everything that is from Svarog flows to us with life. And we will drink this, for this is the source of God's life on earth."
The bird symbol had a huge impact on the mythological tradition, because among its patrons there are a number of divine characters, including Veles, Kryshenya, Kolyada and Dazhbog. In Eastern mythology, Gamayun is a sacred bird, symbolizing happiness, wealth, power: a person on whom its shadow falls will be rich, good luck, etc. By the way, in ancient Iranian mythology there is a semblance of a heavenly creature - the bird of joy Humayun. She was called the bird Humai in Siberia and Iran, Garuda in India, Huang in China. In later times, the special song Gamayun foreshadowed a new dynasty of Russian tsars.
In the old "Book of the Verb Cosmography" with a description of the Earth, a round plain washed on all sides by a river-ocean is shown on the map. On the eastern side is marked “Makariysky Island, the first under the very east of the sun, near the blessed paradise; because it is so denounced that birds of paradise Gamayun and Phoenix fly into this island and wear out a wonderful fragrance."
The bird is also mentioned in the titles of the eastern rulers: the Turkish sultan and the Persian shah. For example, the full title of the Turkish Sultan Ibrahim from one royal letter sent with ambassadors to Constantinople sounded like this: “Gamayun to imitator Ibrahim Sultan Sovereign of Constantinople, White Sea, Black Sea, Anatolian, Urum, Roman, Karamansky and others to our Great Sovereign brother and our good brother …"
The style of Boris Godunov's reading and writing to the Shah of Persia (Iran) Abbas is also characteristic, combining the glorification of the shah with the self-deprecating characteristics of the Russian tsar: “In the tsar, the brightest and most chosen Gamayun imitator … Boris Fedorovich Godunov, the courtyard and governor of Kazan and Astrakhan, Boris Fyodorovich Godunov beats your High Majesty with his head.
In the descriptions of the Russian orientalist historian V. K. Trutovsky about the "royal" greatness of the bird Gamayun, it is said: and for the Muslim rulers … over whom she flies so close that her wings blow on his head, he will be the ruler. It is noteworthy that the birds of paradise entered zoological terminology on a completely equal basis. AE Bram writes: "The most famous of the birds belonging here is the legless bird of paradise named by Linnaeus."
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