Koschey (Kashchey) the Immortal is one of the most odious and mysterious villains of Russian fairy tales. Already only the epithet "Immortal" makes one fear this character. The absence of fear for the Immortal may mean that you have long been registered in his Koshcheev kingdom.

Mystery of the name

We still do not know the exact origin of the name "Koshchei". The most common version - the name "Koschey" comes from the word "bone" and means skinny person- today is not in vogue among linguists. Modern researchers of Russian folklore are more inclined to see the roots of the villain either in the Lower Lusatian kostlar (caster), or in the Old Russian "kast" (abomination, muck, etc.). Other scholars believe that the word "koshchey" on others Slavic languages translated as skin, neck, bones. So, in Serbian "koschey" - "bone and skin" or "neck", in Slovenian and Polish - "neck" (Sloven. kitami, Polish. chudzielec).

Who is Koschei?

Oddly enough, until now, scientists have not come to an unambiguous conclusion. Some see in Koshchei an interpretation Slavic god death from the cold of Karachun, others - the Russian version of the German god Odin, still others - just a somewhat frostbitten sorcerer with large magical powers. Many modern folklorists generally call for rehabilitating Koshchei, stating that he is not a villain at all, but some role model participant in the mystery of the initiation of a young girl, which is performed by the father of the initiate.

Koshchei's crimes

In Russian fairy tales, Koschey appears as a very capable 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" in the skin of an amphibian, and in the fairy tale "Ivan Sosnovich" he cracks down on the whole kingdom, turning it into stone. Himself, the villain prefers to turn into a raven.

Unsuccessful ladies man

As a rule, all Koshchei'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 the Gallant

True, there was a case when Koshchei's lady reciprocated. In the epic “About Ivan Godinovich”, Immortal with an exotic patronymic, Tripetovich, appears as a gallant, courtly gentleman, wooing the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievichna. His rival is the treacherous Ivan Godinovich, who kidnaps Koshchei's bride and takes him to an open field. Having caught up with the kidnapper, Koschey Tripetovich again asks Beautiful Marya to become his lawful wife. And she agrees. Happy couple ties the perfidious Ivan to an oak tree, and they themselves leave to indulge in love pleasures in a tent. Then a raven flies in and begins to croak in love that Marya Dmitrievichna should not be Koshcheeva's wife, but the wife of Ivan Godinovich. In a fit of righteous anger, Immortal Romeo shoots a raven, but the arrow changes its trajectory and kills Koshchei himself. The unfortunate Marya the Beautiful decides to put an end to Ivan, but he dexterously snatches her saber from her and quarters the girl. So tragically ended the only one love story Koshcheya.

How to kill Koshchei

In one of the tales, Koschey opened up: “My death is far away: there is an island in the sea on the ocean, there is an oak tree on that island, a chest is buried under an oak tree, a hare is in a chest, a duck is in a hare, an egg is in a duck, and death is in an egg. my". Many scientists saw in this "matryoshka" an interpretation of the model of the universe: water (sea-ocean), earth (island), plants (oak), animals (hare), birds (duck), and oak - "world tree". In other words, it is possible to end Koshchei by destroying the world order.

Where does Koschey live and does he have relatives

The daughter of Koshchei is Vasilisa (from the Greek basilissa - queen) the Wise (she is also the Frog Princess), in another version, the father of Vasilisa the Wise Sea King. Image " sea ​​kings»goes back to the image of sea-king - the German leaders of sea voyages of the era Dark Ages(from the Goths to the Vikings), who came from Scandinavia. It is noteworthy that the kingdom of Koshchei is located in the north. Koschey went to war against Rus' in order to avenge the betrayal. By the way, in many fairy tales, he is mentioned primarily as a king. Koschey the Immortal: king, slave, sorcerer, unable to die, loves to kidnap girls, loves gold. Draw a parallel between him and the Scandinavian Troll, and you will get a 100% match, right down to the name, which translates as "slave", and in both cases there was initially betrayal, and then immortality.

Christian interpretation of Koshchei

Some elders of Northern Rus' interpreted Koshchei as a fallen Adam, and Ivan Tsarevich as a "New Testament man." In other interpretations folk Orthodoxy» Koschei symbolized the sinful body, the girl he abducted - human soul, and Ivan Tsarevich is 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.

Koschey - main villain Russian fairy tales. If only for this reason, we should be wary of this character. The absence of fear for the Immortal may mean that you have long been registered in his Koshcheev kingdom.

The most common version of the origin of the name "Koshchei" - from the word "bone" and meaning a skinny person - is not in vogue among linguists today. Modern researchers of Russian folklore find words of the same root in the Lower Lusatian "ko?tlar" (caster) and in the Old Russian "cast" (abomination, disgust, etc.).

Who is Koschei?

Oddly enough, scientists have not yet come to an unambiguous conclusion on this issue. Some see in Koshchei an interpretation of the Slavic god of death from the cold Karachun, others see the Russian version of the German god Odin, others see a somewhat frostbitten sorcerer with pumped magical abilities. Many modern folklorists generally call for Koshchei to be rehabilitated, stating that he is not a villain, but a certain role model of a participant in the mystery of the initiation of a young girl, which is performed by the father of the initiate.

Koshchei's crimes

In Russian fairy tales, Koschey appears as a powerful sorcerer. And very sophisticated in their magical solutions. So, Ivan Tsarevich in the fairy tale "Elena the Beautiful" he turns into a nut, he "dresses up" the princess from the "Frog Princess" in the skin of an amphibian, and in the fairy tale "Ivan Sosnovich" he easily cracks down on the whole kingdom, turning it into stone. The villain himself prefers to turn into a raven.

Unsuccessful ladies man

As a rule, all Koshchei'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 the Gallant

True, there was the only case when Koshchei's lady reciprocated. In the epic “About Ivan Godinovich”, Immortal with an exotic patronymic, Tripetovich, appears as a gallant, courtly gentleman, wooing the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievichna. His rival is the treacherous Ivan Godinovich, who kidnaps Koshchei's bride and takes him to an open field.

Having caught up with the kidnapper, Koschey Tripetovich again asks Beautiful Marya to become his lawful wife. And she agrees. The happy couple ties the perfidious Ivan to an oak tree, and they themselves leave to indulge in love pleasures in a tent.

Then a raven flies in and begins to croak in love that Marya Dmitrievichna should not be Koshcheeva's wife, but the wife of Ivan Godinovich. In a fit of righteous anger, Immortal Romeo shoots a raven, but the arrow changes its trajectory and kills Koshchei himself.

The unfortunate Marya the Beautiful decides to put an end to Ivan, but he dexterously snatches her saber from her and quarters the girl. So tragically ended Koshchei's only love affair.

How to kill Koshchei

In one of the tales, Koschey opened up: “My death is far away: there is an island in the sea on the ocean, there is an oak tree on that island, a chest is buried under an oak tree, a hare is in a chest, a duck is in a hare, an egg is in a duck, and death is in an egg. my". Many scientists saw in this "matryoshka" an interpretation of the model of the universe: water (sea-ocean), earth (island), plants (oak), animals (hare), birds (duck), and oak - the "world tree". In other words, it is possible to end Koshchei by destroying the world order.

Christian interpretation of Koshchei

Some elders of Northern Rus' interpreted Koshchei as a fallen Adam, and Ivan Tsarevich as a "New Testament man." In other interpretations of “folk Orthodoxy”, Koschey symbolized the sinful body, the girl he kidnapped symbolized the human soul, and Ivan Tsarevich symbolized the 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.

Power beyond the grave, relics, dried fruit, miser, thin, thin, worm, thin as a chip, old man, skeleton Dictionary of Russian synonyms. koschey, see the thin Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova ... Synonym dictionary

- (or kashchei), koshcheya, husband. (Cossack poor man). 1. (To uppercase). In Russian folk tales mythical creature: a thin, bony old man who has the secret of longevity, rich and evil. Koschei the Deathless. 2. Skinny, skinny and tall old man (colloquial) ... Dictionary Ushakov

Koshchey, kashchey. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Koschei the Immortal. 1. Unfold Unapproved About an evil, greedy, stingy person. BMS 1998, 312. 2. Razg. Unapproved About a very thin person. BMS 1998, 312; BTS, 75; Mokienko 1989, 147. 3. Jarg. school Shuttle. iron. or Neglect. Elderly, elderly teacher; ... ... Big Dictionary Russian sayings

KOSHCHEY, me, husband. 1. In Russian fairy tales: thin and angry old man, owner of treasures and secrets of longevity. K. Immortal. 2. trans. About skinny and tall man, more often an old man, as well as a miser (colloquial neod.). Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu.… … Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

KOSHCHEY- Koschey, a man of the Grand Duke of Moscow. OK. 1459. A. K. I, 548. Koshche, peasant, zap. 1582. Arch. VI, 1, 115 ... Biographical Dictionary

Ko (a) shchi immortal (eternal kike). Wed He took from his own, he took from the poor, He was known as a kashchei peasant ... Nekrasov. Vlas. Wed He lives there alone in the smithy, like an immortal kashchei, stuffing himself a little egg!... He has become greedy! fear! Markevich. ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

M. razg. Endowed with immortality, a bony and evil old man, the owner of enormous wealth as a character in Russian folk tales; Koschei the Deathless. Explanatory Dictionary of Efremova. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

KOSHCHEY- (character of Russian fairy tales; see also KASHCHEY) Koschey was not evil, What will be, perhaps, the uprising of things. Why do we spoil things? Chl909 (189) ... Given name in Russian poetry of the XX century: a dictionary of personal names

koschey- This word, which means a thin, skinny person and a miser, is probably formed from a bone. According to another version, in Old Russian there was koshchei - a slave, a prisoner, borrowed from Turkic languages and in no way connected with Koshchei the Deathless ... Etymological dictionary Russian language Krylova

Books

• Koschey. Reboot. Roman, Galkin R.. "Koschey. Reboot". What do you know about Koschey the Immortal, Baba Yaga, Lesh and other fairy-tale characters? Do you think they are insidious villains? George thought the same way, until his soul after ...
• Koschei the Immortal: a fairy tale-development with games,. Koschey the Immortal: a fairy tale-development with games ISBN: 978-5-222-19883-4 ...

Research

Koschei

Immortal

Nomination: "Literature and folklore"

The study was conducted by students of grade 1:

Prominsky Valery, Kodyaeva Valeria,

Uvarova Angelina, Volkova Xenia.

Leaders:

Novikova N.V.,

teacher primary school,

Introduction

All of us are well known from the very early childhood such a character in Russian folk tales as Koschey the Immortal. What does he represent? The answer comes by itself: this is an evil ruler who loves gold and steals beautiful girls. Is that so? Can't Koschey be kind? Maybe in vain we slander him?

In fairy tales, as in any literature in general, every little thing is thought out, and not one detail can be in them without a good reason.

Relevance work is that the Russians folk tales contain a deep meaning and you need to work hard and think carefully, comparing a lot of facts in order to answer the question: what is the character of Koshchei the Immortal and what this character brought to Russian folklore.

So why do our favorite Russian folk tales include Koschey the Immortal? This question interested us, and we decided to explore fairy tales in which this character is present.

The research work puts the followingtarget : get acquainted with the history of the image of Koshchei the Immortal; find out what role he plays in the fairy tale; analyze folk tales in which there is a given character; make their classification in accordance with the type of the studied image.

During the research, the followingtasks :

1) study folk tales more deeply;

2) get acquainted with the history of the image of Koshchei the Immortal;

3) identify features this character and classify fairy tales according to the type of Koshchei the Immortal;

4) make a presentation "Koschey the Immortal in Russian folk tales" foruse on extracurricular activities in literary reading.

object studies are Russian folk tales, in which one of actors Koschei the Deathless;subject research - the role of Koshchei the Immortal in Russian folk tales.

Hypothesis: Koschei the Deathless - negative character in Russian folk tales.

In the course of the study, the followingmethods , as the study of fairy tales, acquaintance with reference books, analysis collected material, systematization and classification of fairy tales in accordance with the type of image under study, making a presentation.

The origin of the image of Koshchei the Immortal

Koschey the Immortal is one of the brightest fairy-tale characters, making an indelible impression on the listener, especially in the children's audience. Plots in which this image is present always make you empathize with the main character - Ivan Tsarevich, worry about his fate, since his opponent is strong, powerful and, it seems, invulnerable. In addition, from an ordinary point of view, the image of Koshchei in fairy tales is perceived as unambiguously negative. From the standpoint of the bearer of mythological consciousness, this definition should be put in quotation marks. Actually, the image of Koshchei the Immortal is one of the variants of the image of the hero’s opponent, without which the test could not have taken place, transferring the hero into new stage his fabulous life. The image of Koshchei, like Baba Yaga, has a mythological basis dating back to ancient times.

A lot of trouble and worries are brought to fairy-tale heroes by their eternal enemy Koschey the Immortal. One has only to fall in love with a beautiful girl, think about marriage, as the evil and treacherous Koschey steals his betrothed right from the crown, takes her away to distant lands, to unknown countries. And the young man is forced to accomplish unprecedented feats in order to free, return his beloved.

Who is he, this malicious, ubiquitous old man, why can't he calm down?

Portrait

Appearance Koshcheya in fairy tales is rather fuzzy.

One of the most frequently mentioned signs is age. Koschei the Immortal is depicted as an old, "gray-haired old man", "decrepit man".

In many fairy tales, Koschey the Immortal does not walk, does not ride, but flies like a bird or a whirlwind, which resembles the Serpent Gorynych. The flight of Koshchei calls rapid changes in the state of nature: "Suddenly thunder rumbles, hail is coming, Koschei the Deathless is flying."

Koschey the Immortal is endowed with great power in fairy tales. From one of his breath, heroes-heroes "fly like mosquitoes." Koschey is able to raise a sword "five hundred pounds", fight with the hero all day and win.

The mythological nature of Koshchei is evidenced by the fact that he, hanging by a thread, burning in a fire or boiling in a cauldron, does not die: he is immortal. Exhausted from hunger and thirst, Koschei only loses his extraordinary strength. True, she returns to him, as soon as he drinks water.

Mystery of the name

We still do not know the exact origin of the name "Koshchey". The most common version - the name "Koshchey" comes from the word "bone" and means a skinny person - is not in vogue among linguists today. Modern researchers of Russian folklore are more inclined to see the roots of the villain either in the Lower Lusatiankoehtlar(caster), or in ancient Russian "cast" (abomination, muck, etc.).

Where Koschey lives, trees do not grow, birds do not sing, the earth is not fertile, the sun does not let its blessed rays. In the kingdom of Koshcheev it is always twilight. Everything is scorched, dried, frozen. What does this remind you of? Well, of course, winter, severe frosts that fetter rivers and can kill all living things. It is fair to say that under Koshchei the Deathless could be hidden ancient god death from cold. And such was. This is Karachun - an evil spirit that shortens life, bringing death from the cold. The same word is called the winter solstice. Karachun is an underground god who commands frost. His assistants: connecting rod bears, turning into snowstorms, and blizzard wolves.

Habitat

The fact that Koschey is associated with cold is also indicated by the following facts drawn from fairy tales. On the way to the kingdom of Koshcheev, the traveler first comes across a brown bear - the lord of the forests. Following him are birds, in particular migratory ones, for example, duck, which can be seen in the northern tundra during the summer nesting period. Next comes the fish. Pike, but perhaps this is a later replacement, and earlier there was some kind of fish from northern seas, for example, white whale. Thus, the path goes from south to north. And it is in the north, in his terrible and cold halls, that Koschei the Deathless lives.Who is Koschei?

Oddly enough, until now, scientists have not come to an unambiguous conclusion. Some see in Koschey the Slavic god of death from the cold Karachun, others see the Russian version of the German god Odin, and still others see it as just a sorcerer with great magical abilities. Many modern folklorists generally call for rehabilitating Koshchei, stating that he is not a villain at all, but a certain role model of a participant in the mystery of the initiation of a young girl, which is performed by the father of the initiate.

The perception of Koshchei the Immortal as a representative of the "other" world, the world of death, is indicated by the characteristics of his location. Koshchei's kingdom is very far away: the hero has to go to "cover the world, to the very end" of it. The longest, most difficult and dangerous of all paths leads there: the hero wears out iron boots, an iron frock coat and an iron hat, eats three iron loaves; he has to overcome numerous obstacles, turn to assistants for advice and help, fight against an insidious enemy, and even die and be resurrected. The dwelling of Koshchei the Immortal is depicted in a fairy tale as a palace, a castle, a large house, "a ta-terka - golden windows." Here are untold riches - gold, silver, scat pearls, which the hero, after defeating the enemy, takes from his kingdom. According to researchers, the golden color of objects in the mythopoetic consciousness is perceived as a sign of the other world. The same applies to the image of the glass mountains, where, according to some texts of fairy tales, the palace of Koshchei the Immortal is located.

Koshchei's belonging to the "other" world can be traced in a line that brings him closer to the image of Baba Yaga. Like Baba Yaga, he detects the presence of a person in his house by smell, and storytellers use the same formulas to describe this moment: “Fu-fu-fu, something in the upper room smells of Russian spirit” - or: “Fu -ugh! You can’t hear the Russian scythe, you can’t see it in sight, but the Russian scythe itself came into the yard. As in the case of Baba Yaga, the expression “Russian scythe” characteristic of a Russian fairy tale means a person in general as a representative of an alien epic tribe.

The main types of Koshchei in fairy tales

Unusual gluttony is attributed to Koshchei the Immortal in fairy tales, which probably helps to maintain his strength. For example, he eats a dinner prepared for three heroes-heroes, he can drink a bucket and even a barrel of water or wine at once, eat half a bull. Exorbitant gluttony brings his image closer to mythological ideas about death, the essence of which is characterized by a constant feeling of hunger.

How fairy tale character, belonging to the "other" world, Koschey the Immortal is the owner of not only untold riches, but also wonderful things. Yes, he has magic sword Sam-samosek, there is an unusual horse. The horse of Koshchei the Immortal is endowed with various fantastic abilities. He is prophetic: he warns his master three times that Ivan Tsarevich has taken away his captive. The horse's other ability is unimaginable speed.

In one version of the fairy tale, Koschey, turning to the hero for help, says: “If, well done, you let me down from the board, I’ll add two centuries to you!” Freed from captivity, Koschey keeps his promise until the hero tries to free his wife or bride from him for the third time.

The main feature of Koshchei the Immortal, which distinguishes him from other fairy-tale characters, is that his death (soul, strength) is materialized in the form of an object and exists separately from it.

Koshchei's crimes

In Russian fairy tales, Koschey appears as a very capable sorcerer. And very sophisticated in their magical solutions. So, Ivan Tsarevich in the fairy tale "Elena the Beautiful" he turns into a nut, the princess from "The Frog Princess" he "dresses up" in the skin of an amphibian, and in the fairy tale "Ivan Sosnovich" he cracks down on the whole kingdom, turning it into stone. Himself, the villain prefers to turn into a raven.

As a rule, all Koshchei's activities are built around young girls. Koschei uses the same tactics in winning their love: first he effectively kidnaps the girl, then he tries to achieve reciprocity, and, failing to achieve it, turns the fabulous beauties into frogs or snakes.

winter's demon folk tales often appears in the form of an old, bony, ugly sorcerer. And to whom is old age and a disgusting appearance a joy? Nobody. So he reaches out for youth and beauty, dreaming of borrowing life juices and strength from her in order to continue to do his unrighteous deeds. That is why so often a beautiful girl becomes his victim.

Beauty, beauty is an integral quality of the Slavic goddess of love and spring Lada. That's what Koschey is trying to captivate, lime, freeze full of love and the warmth of her heart, to cover with gray hoarfrost golden, like the sun's rays, hair. In a word, to assign to oneself, to imprison in an impregnable chamber. To hide from human eyes the life-giving force capable of transforming the earth, blooming it with greenery and flowers. And the hero-prince, going to battle with the monster, is like a god - a thunderbolt. IN hard way help the young man all the forces of nature. His victory is a victory over death, over eternal darkness and cold. So the fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it ...

Koschey the Gallant

True, there was a case when Koshchei's lady reciprocated. In the epic “About Ivan Godonovich”, Immortal with an exotic patronymic, Tripetovich, appears as a gallant, courtly gentleman, wooing the Chernigov princess Marya Dmitrievich. His rival is the treacherous Ivan Godinovich, who kidnaps Koshchei's bride and takes him to an open field. Having caught up with the kidnapper, Koschey Tripetovich again asks the beautiful Marya to become his lawful wife. And she agrees. Then a raven flies in and begins to croak in love that to be Marya Dmitrievna is not Koshcheeva's wife, but the wife of Ivan Godinovich. In a fit of righteous anger, Immortal Romeo shoots a raven, but the arrow changes its trajectory and kills Koshchei himself. The unfortunate Marya the Beautiful decides to put an end to Ivan, but he deftly snatches her saber from her and quarters the girl. ended so tragically the only novel Koshcheya.

How to kill Koshchei

Is Koschey the Deathless immortal? He would very much like to permanently encase the earth in an ice shell and dominate the snow clouds that forever hid the life-giving sun, unable to bring warm spring rains.

Jealously guards Koschei's unjustly acquired wealth. It is not in vain that the misers who withered from stinginess are called Koshchei in Rus'.
But in the tale of Koshchei, death eventually comes. One way or another, the hero learns his secret.

In one of the tales, Koschey opened up: “My death is far away: there is an island in the sea on the ocean, on that island there is an oak tree, a chest is buried under an oak tree, in a chest there is a hare, in a hare - duck, in the duck- an egg, and in the egg is my death. Many scientists saw in this "matryoshka" a model of the universe: water (sea - ocean), earth (island), plants (oak), animals (hare), birds (duck), and oak - "world tree". In other words, it is possible to end Koshchei by destroying the world order.

Returning to the image of Koshchei the Immortal, it should be noted that there are plots in which his death occurs from a blow with the hoof of a magic horse specially obtained by the hero.

This is how the demon of winter finds its death, smelling and hating " Russian spirit". And love and spring triumph again. Not only the bride and groom find happiness - all animals, birds, plants. So the mythological evil spirit of Koschei is not at all immortal.

Christian interpretation of Koshchei

Some elders of Northern Rus' interpreted Koshchei as a fallen Adam, and Ivan Tsarevich as a "New Testament man."

In other assumptions of “folk Orthodoxy”, Koschey symbolized the sinful body, the girl he kidnapped symbolized the human soul, and Ivan Tsarevich symbolized the 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.

What is the role of Koshchei the Immortal in the fairy tale?

It is known from the texts that his usual activities are that he flies around Rus', "goes to war", leaves "for prey" or hunting, "staggers around the free world." As part of the development of the plot of the tale, Koschey acts as a formidable opponent of the protagonist. The conflict between them always arises because of the heroine-bride: Koschei is the kidnapper of the hero's bride. Sometimes in a fairy tale there is no motivation for the kidnapping. More often, the heroine's falling under the power of Koshchei is associated with a violation by the protagonist of any prohibition. This, for example, is a violation of the requirement of the wife (or bride) to her husband (or groom) to enter one of the premises of the house: the basement or pantry. Failure to comply with this prohibition will result in enclosed space Koschey is freed, forcibly captures the heroine and takes her to his kingdom: "The old man hit the ground, faked Elena the Beautiful from the garden and took him away." Often there is also a ban on burning the skin of an enchanted or cursed frog princess before the expiration of a certain period.

Koschey the Immortal is not the only character who kidnaps brides and women. To this category fabulous images also include the Serpent, birds such as Raven Voronovich, a bear and similar characters.

Classification of fairy tales by types of Koshchei

We conducted a student survey. 40 students of grades 1-4 took part in the survey. The question was asked: “Koschey the Immortal in Russian folk tales positive hero or negative? The answers were as follows. 86% believe that this hero symbolizes evil; 14% believe that in some fairy tales he is kind, while in others he is evil.

Koschey the Immortal - one of the most common fairy-tale characters has developed because it is a very colorful, vivid, memorable image of Russian folklore. Are there many Russian folk tales in which there is such a character as Koschey the Immortal? Of the 20 analyzed tales, in sixteen Koshchei the Immortal acts as a kidnapper, in 2 as an assistant, in 20 as a warrior, and in 20 as a sorcerer.

Thus, the popular opinion about the evil Koschey the Immortal is not so erroneous, and this was proved during research work. The fabulous Koschei the Immortal is most often a negative hero, but can also be an adviser and a giver , the image of which is made up of different details.

So in the fairy tales "The Tale of rejuvenating apples and living water”, “Marya Morevna”, he appears as a just ruler who observes the contract, in contrast to the positive hero Ivan Tsarevich.

What is immortality?

Is it a blessing or a punishment? Perhaps in ancient times there was a ritual of gaining immortality. In any case, during the excavation of the grave of the founder of the city of Chernigov, Prince Cherny, archaeologists found a scene depicted in fairy tales: a needle is in an egg, an egg is in a duck, a duck is in a hare, a hare is in a coveted chest. The ritual of gaining immortality has been forgotten, but its symbol has been preserved - immortelle flowers. Rough and dry to the touch, yellowish, reddish. They grow in the ground or plucked put in a glass of water - there is not much difference. They can stand without water and do not change their color. Life in them seems to be, and it seems not. They prefer to plant such flowers on the graves. The explanation is this: these flowers are between the living and the dead, like a border. We touch them in this world, and the dead in the next.

Maybe Koshchei's immortality is like that? Life is not life, and death is unattainable. And he is stuck between two worlds and remains so until Ivan Tsarevich saves him from such eternal torment, because Koschey is still a creature Furthermore, otherworldly, world. He immediately smells the smell of a living person with disgust.The development of the image in modern literature

Conclusion.

The image of Koshcheya was so fond of readers that he stepped from Russian folk tales into contemporary literature and cinema.

The first verses dedicated to Koshchei belong to A. S. Pushkin in Ruslan and Lyudmila:

There Tsar Koschei languishes over gold,

There is a Russian spirit

It smells of Russia there.

Times have changed - the ancient has changed fairy tale hero. The character has become softer, he no longer does nasty things and is becoming more and more like a kindly uncle than an evil ruler.

We found:

Koschei the Deathless- a fictional fairy-tale character, his prototype is the god of death and cold;

according to scientists,Koschei the Deathlessin ancient times it was either a warlock or a god ruling in the underworld;

the name "Koschey" comes from the word "bone" and means a skinny person

in fairy tales, he appears in the form of an ugly old man living in a palace among gold, where he always ends up main character;

according to young readers,Koschei the Deathless- a negative character;

a fairy tale knows several images of a womanKoshchei the Immortal: Koschei the Deathless-donor,Koschei the Deathless-warrior,Koschei the Deathless- kidnapper;

out of 20 analyzed fairy tales in 2Koschei the Deathlessacts as a donor, at 20 - a warrior, and at 20 - a kidnapper;

conventional wisdom about evilKoshchei the Immortal in parterroneous, and this has been proven in the course of the research work. FairyKoschei the Deathless- this is most often a hero opposed to good, necessary for balance in the universe and betraying a special flavor to a fairy tale;

imageKoshchei the Immortalis so colorful that many foreign and Russian writers, cinematographers, artists, sculptors and other artists.

Thus, the hypothesis thatKoschei the Deathless- a negative character in Russian folk tales, was confirmed. But now we know for sure that only thanks to him the main character becomes a real hero. One should always be very careful when reading any artwork, since only thoughtful reading will make it possible to make some new discoveries.

Application No. 1

Student survey results

« Koschei the Deathlessin Russian folk tales a positive hero or a negative one?

The hero symbolizes evil

In some stories he is good, in others he is evil.

86%

14%

Application No. 2

Classification of fairy tales by types of Koshchei the Immortal

Koschei the Deathless keeps his word

Koschei the Deathless -warrior

Koschei the Deathless - kidnapper

Koschey the Deathless - villain

Koschey the Deathless - sorcerer

"Vasilisa the Beautiful"

"Maria Morevna"

"The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water"

"Book of Masters"

"Ivan Godinovich"

"After the rain on Thursday"

"Fire, water and copper pipes»

List of used literature:

1. Dal V. I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language / Comp. Shakhmatova N.V. S.-Petersburg: Publishing house "Ves", 2004, - 1678 p.

4. Kuznetsov A. N. From time immemorial. – M.: Oniks, 2005, – 325p.

5. Maksimov S.V. Unclean, unknown and cross power. – M.: Russian word, 1995, - 568 p.

6. Propp V. Ya. Historical roots fairy tale. - St. Petersburg: Labyrinth, 1996, - 336 p.

7. Russian folk tales. Compiled by Anikin V.P. - M .: Press, 1992, - 560 p.

Video library:

"Book of Masters";

"Fire, water and copper pipes";

"Koschei the Deathless";

"After the rain on Thursday"

"New Year's adventures of Masha and Vitya".