Firebird (Slavic folklore)

A Firebird (Russian жар - птица, sharp - ptiza Firebird, v. жар embers ) is a bird in Slavic mythology. The magical glowing bird lives in a distant land, bringing its captor equally a blessing and a disaster.

Features

The rich plumage of the firebird shines in red, orange and yellow, such as the embers of a campfire. Individual springs also glow after they have failed, one alone can illuminate a wider area. Later accounts show the bird as winning peacock- like animal with bright coloring and eyes glowing spots on the tail feathers.

The Firebird in the original word

In fairy tales the bird is the subject of difficult tasks: a hero has to bring a feather of the Firebird, pulls out to catch the bird, on its own initiative or by the desire of the father or king. The essence is magical and highly sought after, but the hero, initially charmed by the glowing spring, gives him the blame for his circumstances.

The stories always follow the classic structure of the fairy tale; the spring serves as a warning of a difficult undertaking, magical helpers are the hero on his way to the side, to assist in the journey, to catch birds and the return from the far country with the "reward". Well known is the legend Ivan, The Firebird and the Grey Wolf.

In some versions of the hero saves on top of a captured princess from the clutches of the horrible prince Koschei.

The bird as a motif in other stories

The story of the Firebird served as a model and inspiration for many other works, as well as for The Little Humpbacked Horse by Pyotr Yershov. Even the composer Igor Stravinsky created with the ballet suite " The Firebird " ( original title " L' Oiseau de feu "), a tribute to the legend of the mythical creature.

The motif shows parallels to the Iranian legends of magic birds to Tales of the Brothers Grimm ( The Golden Bird, The Crystal Ball, The water of life ) and other Russian magic birds such as the Sirin. In Armenian legend Hazaran Blbul the task is described, in which the bird is caught; However, the bird does not light up in this version, but can flourish the land glorious with his singing.

The Firebird as a quality mark

For the lacquer miniatures of Palekh the Firebird has been used for decades as a quality mark. The jobs created in the famous artists' village of cans and boxes from papier obtained after a strict quality check, the character of the firebird, over the then comes the final coat.