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Alkonost

Mythical bird from Russian folklore

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The Alkonost is a legendary woman-headed bird in Slavic folklore. Alkonost is more likely an individual character, as was noted in some legends about this bird.^[1]

Folklore[edit]

The name of the Alkonost came from a Greek demigoddess whose name was Alcyone. In Greek mythology, Alcyone was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher.^{[2][better source needed]}

Alkonost makes amazingly beautiful sounds, and those who hear these sounds forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again.^{[3][better source needed][1]} She lives in the underworld with her counterpart, the Sirin.^{[4][better source needed]} The Alkonost lays her eggs on a beach and then rolls them into the sea. When the Alkonost's eggs hatch, a thunderstorm sets in and the sea becomes so rough that it becomes impossible to traverse. She is also the sister of other birds from Slavic mythology, such as Rarog and Stratim.^[1]

According to folk tales, at the morning of the Apple Feast of the Saviour day, Sirin flies into the apple orchard and cries sadly. In the afternoon, the Alkonost flies to this place, beginning to rejoice and laugh. Alkonost brushes dew from her wings, granting healing powers to all fruits on the tree she is sitting on.^[5]

Gallery[edit]

Postcard, 1908

Viktor Vasnetsov's Sirin (left) and Alkonost (right) Birds of Joy and Sorrow (1896)

Alkonosts on frontage of the House of Noble and Peasant Bank [uk]inPoltava, Ukraine (1906-1909, burned in 1943, restored in 1948)

A depiction of the Alkonost, by Ivan Bilibin (1905)

In popular culture[edit]

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• Alkonost is featured in the digital card game Mythgard (2019) as a rare minion in the Dreni faction.
• Croatian singer Nina Kraljić that performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 sings under the name of Alkonost of Balkan. ^[6]
• Alkonost is a Russian epic folk metal band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia in 1995.

See also[edit]

• Gamayun
• Harpy
• Sirin
• Uchek Langmeitong

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Media related to Alkonost at Wikimedia Commons

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