Koschey is the main villain of Russian fairy tales. That's why we should be wary of this character. The absence of fear for the Immortal may mean that you have long been registered in his Koscheev kingdom.
The mystery of the name
The most common version of the origin of the name "Koschey" - from the word "bone" and meaning a thin person - is not in vogue among linguists today. Modern researchers of Russian folklore find the same root words in Lower Sorbian "ko? Tlar" (spellcaster) and in Old Russian "caste" (abomination, disgusting, etc.).
Who is Koschey?
Oddly enough, on this issue, scientists have not yet come to an unambiguous conclusion. Some see in Koschey an interpretation of the Slavic god of death from cold Karachun, others - the Russian version of the Germanic god Odin, others - a somewhat frostbitten sorcerer with pumped up magical abilities. Many modern folklorists generally call for rehabilitating Koshchei, stating that he is not a villain, but a role model of a participant in the initiation mystery of a young girl, which is performed by the father of the initiate.
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Koschei's crimes
In Russian fairy tales, Koschey appears as a powerful sorcerer. And very sophisticated in their magical solutions. So, in the fairy tale "Elena the Beautiful" he turns Ivan Tsarevich into a nut, he "dresses up" the princess from the "Frog Princess" into the skin of an amphibian, and in the fairy tale "Ivan Sosnovich" he easily deals with the whole kingdom, turning it into stone. The villain himself prefers to turn into a raven.
Unsuccessful ladies' man
As a rule, all of Koschei's activities are built around young girls. Koschey uses the same failed tactics in winning their love: first, he effectively kidnaps the girl, then unsuccessfully tries to achieve intimacy, and, failing to achieve it, turns the fabulous beauties into frogs or snakes.
Koschey Gallant
True, there was the only case when the lady reciprocated Koshchei. In the epic "On Ivan Godinovich," Immortal with an exotic patronymic Tripetovich appears as a gallant, courteous gentleman, wooing the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievichna. His rival is the treacherous Ivan Godinovich, who kidnaps Koschei's bride and takes her to the open field.
Having caught up with the kidnapper, Koschey Tripetovich again asks the Beautiful Marya to become his legal wife. And she agrees. The happy couple ties the treacherous Ivan to an oak tree, and they themselves go to indulge in love pleasures in the tent.
Then a raven arrives and begins to croak in love that Marya Dmitrievichna should not be Koscheeva's wife, but the wife of Ivan Godinovich. In a fit of righteous anger, the Immortal Romeo shoots a crow, but the arrow changes its trajectory and kills Koshchei himself.
Unhappy Marya the Beautiful decides to put an end to Ivan, but he dexterously snatches her saber from her and quarters the girl. This is how Koshchei's only love story ended tragically.
How to kill Koschei
In one of the tales, Koschey opened up: “My death is far away: there is an island on the sea on the ocean, there is an oak on that island, a chest is buried under an oak, a hare in a chest, a duck in a hare, an egg in a duck, and death in an egg my". Many scientists saw in this "matryoshka" the interpretation of the model of the universe: water (sea-ocean), land (island), plants (oak), animals (hare), birds (duck), and the oak is the "world tree". In other words, you can do away with Koshchei by destroying the world order.
Christian interpretation of Koschei
Some elders of Northern Russia interpreted Koshchei as the fallen Adam, and Ivan Tsarevich as a “New Testament man”. In other interpretations of "popular Orthodoxy," Koschey symbolized a sinful body, the girl he had kidnapped - a human soul, and Ivan Tsarevich - a spirit. The death of Koshchei was interpreted by these ascetics as the cleansing of the soul from sins. True, modern folklorists consider these interpretations unscientific.