Viy in Slavic mythology. Viy - underground god in Slavic mythology
In many, including academic works, the character in Gogol’s story is described completely differently from how Viy looks in the writer’s work. Researchers claim that the author, in the image of the famous monster, united the ancient Roman Niy with the human age, although N.V. Gogol himself wrote that he presented the legend exactly as he heard it.
And the reader believes, because, in addition to this story, he created several more works of a similar genre, in which, in Gogol’s characteristic ironic manner, folk characters are described.
The Wise Veles
This is exactly how this god is called in ancient Slavic myths. He is the ruler of the bodily, organic life of all people and animals. He knows when the body asks for rest for sleep, and when for eternal rest. Veles tirelessly makes sure that everything that is taken from the earth returns there. And at the same time he is not a servant of death. Veles looks completely different from Viy. In the minds of our ancestors, Veles is a man of about 50 years old, strong and ideally built, wise and balanced.
He is a kind of controller of bodily existence, as they put it in the old days, of bestial truth. Veles did not interfere in the mental, much less spiritual, activity of a person. This god did not condemn or punish gluttony, sexual promiscuity, or the killing of animals for entertainment and not for food. He simply removed his protection from the body and this human nature fell into the power of Viy.
Viy. Short description
What does Viy look like? He is an ugly creature, with many physical defects and vicious spiritual strength. This monster attracts to itself everything musty, bodily depraved and unbridled. Without others, he cannot satisfy his bodily needs, he cannot even lift his eyelids. But he lives a powerful spiritual life. And monster creatures are drawn to him, ready to serve for his spiritual strength. This is exactly what the lady is like. The writer points to this three times in the story: twice with a hint, and the third - in open text, putting words about this into Thomas’s mouth: “it’s obvious that she’s done a lot of sin in her life, since she deserves such evil spirits for it.” And she’s talking about Thomas: “Let Brutus read for three nights. He knows".
Some exact details from the story by N.V. Gogol
Before the lady, three people came to the farm - the rhetorician Tiberius Gorobets, the philosopher Thomas Brutus and the theologian Khalyava. Gogol, as expected, speaks three times about Thomas’s bodily promiscuity. And it is to him that the one who lives “according to Viy” comes. They are similar in the passions that overwhelm them, and therefore are not under the protection of Veles. The lady saddles the philosopher (what a subtle detail!), and he feels the sweetness of flying with the witch on him. But he has his own mental life, which defeats the spell of his own body, and not the charm of the lady, who in this situation is only a means. It's already morning, the roosters have crowed. But Foma kills the lady. And Veles does not protect his body. Viy gets him in Kyiv, in God's institution, through the bodily depravity of the rector.
Viy’s servants and, invisibly, Viy himself constantly walk around Thomas Brutus. The description of the meeting between the philosopher and the centurion is striking in the realistic details. “It’s not like that with me,” says the centurion, “Do you know the leather caps?” “In large numbers the thing is unbearable.” “You won’t get me up.”
This is where the philosopher ended up (what a detail!). That's why he died of fear.
Viy is an evil spirit, and Koschey is an ordinary evil person
Some authors who, without reading the entire work, quote “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and claim in their works that Koschey and Viy are related images. Yes, this is nonsense. The “Word...” specifically states that Gzak, Konchak and Gzak’s father Bonyak are Slavic nomads and koschei, i.e. owners of livestock (in Old Slavonic: bones, koschei). A. S. Pushkin directly points out this: “... he is wasting away over gold. There’s a Russian spirit there, it smells like Russia.” You have to be deaf and blind not to distinguish between what Viy looks like in mythology and what Koschey looks like.
Viy's Habitation
Viy is constantly in the depths, in the bowels of the earth, where the bodies of his servants are warm, humid and endlessly rotting. He has sisters - Villas, who sometimes fly out and prowl over human villages, looking for servants for their terrible brother. They compete with another character in our mythology, the Fire Serpent, for the souls of fallen people.
And it’s not hard to imagine what Viy looks like. The photo of the painting by the artist who presented and painted Viy and his servants is known throughout the world. One can argue with some details, but in general the artist captured the essence of this character correctly. This is decaying flesh, which her powerful but evil soul does not want to return to the earth, that is, it does not submit to the wise Veles.
There is no fight between Veles and Viy
The struggle takes place in human souls. The soul of Thomas Brutus flew away along with the triumphant song of the roosters, who greet the rise of Yaril and the light that he brings to the world. And souls should not return to dead bodies, as was the case with the lady. This contradicts the canons, which are observed by the bestial god Veles.
Thomas returned to the earth what he had so carelessly used in this bright world. And that’s why he is remembered by two friends - the philosopher Tiberiy Gorobets and Freebie, who hides drunk in the weeds.
Viy is a character in Ukrainian demonology - a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching down to the ground. Having huge eyes with heavy lids, Viy kills with his gaze.
Viy cannot see anything on his own, but if several strong men manage to raise his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his menacing gaze: with his gaze Viy kills people, destroys and turns cities and villages to ashes.
Ethnography suggests that it is precisely with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye is connected - that everything perishes or gets spoiled from a bad look.
In one of the fairy tales there is a mention that Koshchei the Immortal raises his eyelids with seven pitchforks.
The ancient Slavs called Viem the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts. They appeared to those who had an unclean conscience. In this he is related to Niyan, the king of hell.
Viy also served Chernobog in his kingdom and judged the dead for their misdeeds.
Our fairy tales know a mighty old man with huge eyebrows and unusually long eyelashes: his eyebrows and eyelashes were so thick that they completely obscured his vision; for him to look at the world, he needs several strong men who could lift his eyebrows and eyelashes with iron pitchforks.
Then nothing will be hidden from his gaze (the word “vii” means eyelashes).
The folk legend about Viya is familiar to anyone who has only read Gogol; however, some curious features were not included in his poetic story.
In Podolia, for example, Viy is represented as a terrible fighter who kills people with his gaze and turns cities and villages to ashes; fortunately, his murderous gaze is hidden by thick eyebrows and eyelids close to his eyes, and only in those cases when it is necessary to destroy enemy armies or set fire to an enemy city, they lift his eyelids with a pitchfork.
In such a grandiose image, folk fantasy depicted the thunder god (grandfather Perun): from under cloudy eyebrows and eyelashes he casts lightning glances and sends death and fires...
In the legends of the Czechs and Slovaks there is a giant named Quick-Sighted. With his sharp, all-seeing glances, he sets everything on fire, and even rocks crack and crumble into sand.
Interestingly, the word “Viy” is undoubtedly consonant with the name of the ancient Hindu god Vayu.
He was the god of storms and hurricanes, killing all living things. He was usually called merciless: “You can go the way that a fast river runs, but you cannot go the way of the merciless Vayu...”
He ruled over the underworld. Isn’t this our Viy, who in ancient times was also mentioned as the patron of all-destroying hurricanes and even participated in sending the Great Flood to the lands?
N. GOGOL. VIY
The ill-fated seminarian Khoma Brut comes to church to read funeral prayers over the coffin of the lady witch he killed:
“He stopped for a minute. In the middle, the coffin of the terrible witch still stood motionless... having drawn a circle around him, he began to recall all his spells. The silence was terrible; the candles fluttered and bathed the entire church in light...
Suddenly... in the midst of silence... the coffin lid burst with a crash and a dead man stood up. He was even scarier than the first time. His teeth clashed terribly, row on row, his lips twitched in convulsions, and spells flew, squealing wildly.
A whirlwind rose through the church, icons fell to the ground, and broken glass windows flew from top to bottom. The doors broke off their hinges, and an untold force of monsters flew into God's church. A terrible noise from wings and scratching claws filled the entire church. Everything flew and rushed around, looking everywhere for the philosopher.
Khoma lost the last remnant of hops in his head. He just crossed himself and read random prayers. And at the same time he heard how evil spirits rushed around him, almost catching him with the ends of their wings and disgusting tails. Everyone looked at him, searched for him and could not see him, surrounded by a mysterious circle.
Bring Viy! Follow Viy! - the words of the dead man were heard.
And suddenly there was silence in the church; a wolf howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy footsteps were heard echoing through the church; Looking sideways, he saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, club-footed man. He was all covered in black earth.
His arms and legs covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots.
He walked heavily, stopping every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground.
Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron. They brought him by the arms and stood him directly in front of the place where Khoma stood.
Lift my eyelids: I can’t see! - Viy said in an underground voice - and the whole host rushed to lift his eyelids.
"Don't look!" - some inner voice whispered to the philosopher. He couldn’t bear it and looked.
Here he is! - Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everything, no matter how much it was, rushed at the philosopher. Lifeless, he fell to the ground, and immediately the spirit flew out of him out of fear.”
S. GORODETSKY. VIY
Because of distant distant centuries,
Because of the darkness, because of the impenetrable darkness,
From under a pile of gray boulders
It comes out like a snag that’s not right.
The skin is wrinkled, hanging like a rag,
Teeth are covered with white dust.
Apparently the stake was driven past him:
I couldn’t find peace underground!
And what kind of beds are under the ground?
The darkness and the heat are annoying.
And up, angry and angry,
Viy struggles through and gets out.
He wanted to look
To live and be young.
Got out. He sees a noose and a bag.
“What is this,” he thinks, “what is it?”
“Lift my eyelids! - shouts.
- I see neither happiness nor will.
The groan is nailed to the sad earth,
I thought: people won’t moan anymore!”
Oh, my old, my stupid Viy!
Let me close my eyelids tighter!
Our life has been deprived of all lives!
You shouldn't have come out of the womb!
As if we are boiling in resin, but we live,
We even sing songs and laugh.
Tears will fall - we don’t tear up the songs.
Laugh, we’ll wipe ourselves off with our sleeves.
Heavy! You can not understand,
What a life, what an earthly matter.
Goodbye, turn back
We are again for ours, for the intoxicated.
Just say to the globe,
To become more overgrown with grain
Yes, behind the sun in an unknown darkness
More fun, more fun flying.
Slavic mythology
Viy - underground god in Slavic mythology
Viy (Vyy, Niy, Niya, Niyan) is the son of Chernobog and the goat Seduni. Lord of the Pekel kingdom, king of the underworld (Navi, the Underworld), lord of torment. The personification of those terrible punishments that await after the death of all villains, thieves, traitors, murderers and scoundrels, in other words, all those who lived unrighteously and violated the laws of Reveal and Rule. The fair and incorruptible Judge Viy is looking forward to all of them.
Viy is the king of the underworld, brother of Dyya. In peacetime, he is a jailer in Pekla. He holds in his hand a fiery scourge with which he treats sinners. He has heavy eyelids - they are held with pitchforks by his many servants. And he can't stand sunlight to death. According to Russian and Belarusian fairy tales, Viy’s eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows were raised with pitchforks by his assistants, causing the person who could not withstand Viy’s gaze to die.
In East Slavic mythology, Viy is the spirit who brings death. Having huge eyes with heavy lids, Viy kills with his gaze. In Ukrainian demonology - a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching down to the ground.
Viy cannot see anything on his own, he also acts as a seer of evil spirits (which can be seen in the work of N.V. Gogol); but if several strong men manage to lift his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing will be able to hide before his menacing gaze: with his gaze Viy kills people, sends pestilence to enemy troops, destroys and turns towns and villages to ashes. Viy was also considered the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts.
N.V. Gogol in his work “Viy” describes this deity as follows:
“And suddenly there was silence in the church: a wolf howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy footsteps were heard sounding through the church; looking sideways, he saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, club-footed man. He was all covered in black earth. Like stringy strong roots, arms and legs covered with earth protruded from it. He walked heavily, constantly stumbling. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron. They brought him by the arms and stood him directly in front of the place where Khoma stood.
- Lift my eyelids: I can’t see! - Viy said in an underground voice. “And the whole host rushed to lift his eyelids.”
"Don't look!" - some inner voice whispered to the philosopher. He couldn’t bear it and looked.
- Here he is! - Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everything, no matter how much it was, rushed at the philosopher. He fell lifeless to the ground, and the spirit immediately flew out of him out of fear. That’s why you can’t look Viya in the eyes, because he’ll take you away and drag you into his dungeon, into the world of the dead.
Gogol also adds the following to his work: “Viy is a colossal creation of the common people’s imagination. This name is used by the Little Russians to call the chief of the gnomes, whose eyelids go all the way to the ground. This whole story is a folk legend. I didn’t want to change it in any way and I’m telling it almost in the same simplicity as I heard it.”
Our ancient Navier deity Viy also has an analogue among the ancient Irish, who call it Balor. In Irish mythology, this deity is the one-eyed god of death, leader of the ugly Fomorian demons. Balor struck enemies with the deadly gaze of his single eye. During the battle, the god's eyelid was raised by four servants.
The gods of the ancient Slavs have not gone anywhere. If the Slavic god Viy is close to you, then your sign is the All-Seeing Eye, the symbol of God Viy.Sign of GodViya sign of godViya. Read more…
Symbol of God Viy
Viy god of the Slavs
Among the ancient Slavs, God Viywas perceived as one of the oldest, but most powerful gods. It was believed that the Slavic god Viy is the shepherd of Souls, living in Navi, in the spiritual world.
He carefully ensures that Souls learn all the lessons they received while in the manifest world. This God was revered for his justice, for the fact that he punished careless people who crossed the moral line. He punished, first of all, with his piercing gaze. This is what the Slavs believed. And today the symbol of the god Viy is rightfully recognized as his keen eye.
Symbol of God Viy
Chevron from the Slavic online store “Northern Fairy Tale”
Sign of GodViya has long meant that things must go correctly, according to the laws. Suitable for mature people, men and women.
Powerful power of this sign:
· will relieve you of unclean, pessimistic thoughts, despondency and depression,
· will protect you from arbitrariness, lawlessness, deception, from dark forces,
Symbol of the god Viy:
· will develop intuition, insight, an almost supernatural sense of the situation,
· will help restore lost connections, perhaps meet and improve relationshipsold friends, restore your reputation at work or among business colleagues, become more trusting and open with your family.
The gods of the ancient Slavs have not gone anywhere!
Generally, sign of godViya, The All-Seeing Eye will bestow upon the ownerperseverance, determination, analytical mind and sense of justice , can show you amazing abilities for objective assessment, openness, frankness and the opportunity to feel the situation personally, reward you with the ability to calmly manage not only your own, but also other people’s views ─ with your work colleagues you will be able to direct the situation in the right direction precisely becauseNow you know how to refuse some spontaneous deals and offers if you see future failure in them; You will become more open and insightful when communicating with friends and family,will give you the ability to sensibly assess the situation , now you will know when to stop so as not to step into the abyss, it will strengthen your independence, the will to freedom and the desire to be a leader. This is powersymbol of the god Viy, the mighty god of the Slavs.
Read our next article “The Sign of the Goddess Lada” by clicking on the symbol of God Viy. Sign of God Viymeans “all-seeing eye,” meaning that nothing can hide from the judge’s gaze and assessment. His sign is depicted in the form of two overlapping circles, one of which is inside the other. Both circles have short protruding stripes that signify immunity. This is the strengthsign of the god Viy. Read more… ">
Viy is a mythological character who is known to literally everyone. Viy became one of the most famous characters in mythology, in particular, Ukrainian mythology, after Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852) wrote his immortal work “Viy”. This creature is presented exactly as Gogol showed him, but is this what Viy really looks like and isn’t he a product of the great writer’s imagination?
Researchers of the pagan culture of the Slavs do not find any mention of the name “Viy” in ancient sources. However, a god is mentioned that is similar in sound and essence. We are talking about the god of the underworld, whose name is Niy (correspondence). Niy, most likely, is related to the ancient Slavic words “” (world of the dead) and “navi” (dead people). Researcher D. Moldavsky puts forward the version that Gogol in his work used later ideas about Niya in folklore. The change in the name Niy to Viy most likely came from a feature of the underground god, namely his long eyelids or eyelashes, which cover his deadly gaze. Here is Ukrainian. viya - eyelash and povika - eyelid over time in the dialect of the inhabitants of Ukraine they replaced Niya with Viya.
As for this character, we should be grateful to Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol for the fact that he left unusually valuable information for us, which, if not for his work, would quite possibly have been erased from the memory of peoples. The most interesting thing about this character, who, as we have already found out, is a fairy-tale prototype of the god of the underworld - Niya-Koshchei, is his deadly eyes and long eyelids, which have to be revealed to the creatures or heroes around him. Although in Gogol’s book Viy’s gaze did not kill at all, but rather removed the effect of the amulets, apparently, in ancient times this gaze was attributed with destructive abilities.
In Russian and Belarusian fairy tales there are descriptions of certain characters associated with evil spirits who kill with their gaze, but their eyelids are so huge and so heavy that they have to be lifted with a pitchfork. We can observe such a character in the fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich,” where the eyebrows and eyelashes are raised with a pitchfork to the witch’s husband. In the fairy tale “The Battle on Kalinov Bridge,” the mother of the snakes dragged the main character into the dungeon, where her husband, an old man with long eyelashes and thick eyebrows that cover his eyes, lies on an iron bed. The old man calls twelve mighty heroes and orders: “Take an iron pitchfork, raise my eyebrows and black eyelashes, I’ll see what kind of bird he is that killed my sons.” This tale most likely tells about the pagan goddess and her husband Koshchei. Thus, it can be assumed that the ability to kill with a glance was inherent in both Niy and our Koshchei. There is an assumption that it was from this ancient idea that a superstition arose, which is known as the “evil eye” - from a black, slanting or ugly eye, an evil look, a sideways glance, and so on, everything perishes and deteriorates.
The era of dual faith proves that Viy (Nii) and Chernobog Koschey are the same god, as well as the fact that both had a deadly look and long eyelids (eyebrows, eyelashes). After baptism, both on the territory of Russia and on the territory of Ukraine, the image of these gods was transferred to one Christian saint - St. Kasyan. It is believed that Kasyan is evil, unkind, stingy, vindictive, unpleasant and dangerous. St. Kassian's Day is celebrated on February 29 in a leap year. Despite the fact that in the Christian tradition Kasyan (John Cassian the Roman) is considered a righteous man, in the Slavic tradition he was credited with the role that Chernobog played in pagan times. In all likelihood, this came from the name of a Christian saint, since Kasyan in Russian and Ukrainian is heard as “oblique”, “ukr: kosiy”. A sidelong glance meant a bad look, which could bring misfortune. Russian sayings about Saint Kasyan: “Kasyan looks at everything, everything withers”, “Kasyan mows everything down”, “Kasyan looks at the people - it’s hard for the people”, “Kasyan looks at the grass - the grass withers, at the cattle - the cattle dies, at the tree - the tree is drying up" and "The offspring are bad in the year of Kasyanov." There are also beliefs that Kasyan has disproportionately large eyelids that cover his eyes, and if these eyelids are opened, then everything that this saint looks at, whose prototype is the god of the underworld of the dead, immediately dies.
“Lift my eyelids!” excerpt from the 1967 film “Viy”:
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