Viy description of the character. See what "VII" is in other dictionaries

The image of Viy, in the first and last time brought into the world by Gogol's pen, is so bright that it continues to haunt entire generations in nightmares - until now. Surely many people wondered: how did it appear? Where? Who is Viy? What he really is?

The author's preface says that Viy is the king of the gnomes, respectively, the king of all the underground. However, according to the plot of history, we see that the whole devilry fears and respects him. This means that Viy is not only the lord of the gnomes, but is also directly connected with Hell and its creatures. No wonder East Slavic mythology calls him the spirit-harbinger of death. Of course, it is unlikely that he rules the legions (otherwise an ordinary witch would not have ordered to bring him with such ease), but the following is obvious: between the kingdom of Viy and there is at least mutual assistance.

Due to his heaviness, sluggishness and helplessness (after all, he cannot even lift his eyelids on his own), he does not look like a spirit. As well as the thin, bony Koshchei, with whom he is compared, according to one of the tales, where the latter is also raised with a pitchfork. Rather, Viy resembles an ancient, half-forgotten evil deity by people. Perhaps this is Veles of a later era, who has lost its original meaning as a "cattle god". Opponent of Perun and everything good, bright - the earthly world and its inhabitants, including. Serpent-Veles brings with it cold, darkness and hatred. All this is also characteristic of Viy, in whose image, in addition, fatigue and despair are felt.

His name comes from the Ukrainian "eyelashes". Here you can easily guess a hint of his vision - there is nothing in the world that Viy would not be able to see. Moreover, with the power of his gaze, he, if desired, can destroy all living things (although this is unlikely, since the evil spirit would undoubtedly have long ago taken advantage of such powerful weapon). It is likely that the appearance of Viy intersects with the well-known in our folklore image of Dashing One-Eyed, whose appearance also brings continuous troubles, i.e. threatens with a black evil eye.

Nevertheless, for a person, there is a loophole here too: in order for Viy to see you, you need to look at him yourself. Consequently, God, although he gave Viy enormous power over the world of night and death, nevertheless limited this creature to a peculiar framework.

According to another version, his name is related to the word "curl", since from below it is all entwined with roots. And this, in turn, confirms not only Viy's habitation underground, but also his divine origin.

We believe that all of the above versions are true, with the exception of Koshchei the Deathless - the intricacies of myths and legends in folklore are interconnected. And Viy, whoever he is, is definitely an important part of it.

One of the strangest and mysteriously contradictory characters of the Slavic epic could have remained in the backyard of Russian folklore, if not for the attention of the great writer N.V. Gogol and his story "Viy", first published in the collection "Mirgorod" in 1835.

In his comments on the story, V.A. Voropaev and I.A. Vinogradov note: “According to the study of D. Moldavsky, the name of the underground spirit Viy arose from Gogol as a result of contamination of the name of the mythological ruler of the underworld “iron” Niy and Ukrainian words: “Virlooky, bug-eyed” (Gogol’s “Lexicon of Little Russia”), “viya” - an eyelash and “poviko” - eyelid (see: Moldavsky D. “Viy” and the mythology of the 18th century.//Almanac of a bibliophile. Issue 27. M., 1990. P. 152-154).

Shot from the film "Viy"

Obviously, one more word of Gogol's Little Russian Lexicon is connected with the name of Viy: “Viko, the lid is on the disc or on the cover”. Let us recall the “dizhu” in “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” - a huge tub of dough walking “squatting” around the hut - and the “hiding” in “The Night Before Christmas” - a chest bound with iron and painted with bright colors, made by Vakula to order for the beautiful Oksana ...

And in Gogol's extract from his mother's letter dated June 4, 1829 "On the weddings of Little Russians", where we are talking about the preparation of a wedding loaf, it is said: “Korovai is made nadizhe, and in their language on a wiki (...) they put it without a lid into the oven, and they put it on a dija” ”.

The architecture of the temple depicted here is also essential for understanding the story - a wooden one, "with three cone-shaped domes" - "baths". This is a traditional southern Russian type of a three-part ancient church, widespread in Ukraine and at one time being dominant for it. In the literature, however, there are references that tripartite wooden temples in Ukraine were predominantly Uniate churches.

One observation, long ago made by researchers, directly echoes this - that the “Viya” gnomes stuck in the windows and doors of the church definitely correlate with the chimeras (see below) of Gothic temples, in particular, the gargoyles of the cathedral Notre Dame of Paris. By the way, bearing the "Roman" name main character story - Khoma Brut - a pupil of the Fraternal Monastery, which at one time was Uniate.

Another “Catholic” sign in “Viy” comes through in contrasting the dilapidated iconostasis (with darkened, “gloomy” looking faces of the saints) to the “terrible, sparkling beauty” of the witch, whose coffin was placed “against the altar itself”.

It can be assumed that he image of the dead beauty was inspired by Gogol by a "Catholic" source - namely, the painting by K. Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii" with a beautiful dead woman in the foreground, to the image of which Gogol, who adores Italy, repeatedly returns in his dedicated to the painting Bryullov's article with the same name.

To understand Gogol's intention, it should be noted that Gogol uses the word "dwarf" in the "Book of all sorts of things" in the meaning of "sign": "The following dwarfs represent the weight of an apothecary ..."

Remember how Gogol? “Suddenly ... in the middle of silence ... he again hears the disgusting scratching, whistling, noise and ringing in the windows. He closed his eyes timidly and stopped reading for a while. Without opening his eyes, he heard how a whole crowd suddenly burst on the floor, accompanied by various knocks, deaf, ringing, soft, shrill. He slightly raised his eye and hastily closed it again: horror!., these were all yesterday's gnomes; the difference is that he saw many new ones among them.

Almost opposite him stood a tall man whose black skeleton had moved to the surface and a yellow body flashed through its dark ribs. To one side stood thin and long, like a stick, consisting only of eyes with eyelashes. Further, a huge monster occupied almost the entire wall and stood in tangled hair, as if in a forest. Two terrible eyes peered through the net of these hairs.

He looked up with fear: above him something in the form of a huge bubble with a thousand pincers and scorpion stingers stretched out from the middle was held in the air. Black earth hung on them in tufts. In horror he lowered his eyes to the book. The dwarfs made a noise with the scales of their disgusting tails, their clawed feet and squealing wings, and he heard only how they were looking for him in all corners. This drove out the last remnant of the hop that still brewed in the head of the philosopher. He zealously began to recite his prayers.

He heard their fury at the impossibility of finding him. “What if,” he thought with a shudder, “this whole gang falls on me? .. ”

“For Viem! let's go after Viy!” shouted the multitude strange voices, and it seemed to him as if some of the dwarfs had retired. However, he stood with closed eyes and did not dare to look at anything. “Wii! Viy!” - everyone made noise; the wolf's howl was heard in the distance and barely, barely separated the barking of the dogs. The doors screeched open, and Khoma only heard how whole crowds poured in. And suddenly there was silence, as in a grave. He wanted to open his eyes; but some threatening secret voice told him: "Hey, don't look!" He showed an effort... Through an incomprehensible curiosity, perhaps stemming from fear itself, his eyes suddenly opened.

Before him stood some kind of human gigantic growth. His eyelids were lowered to the ground. The philosopher noticed with horror that his face was iron, and turned his burning eyes back to the book.

“Raise my eyelids!” Viy said in an underground voice, and the whole host rushed to raise his eyelids. “Don't look!” some inner feeling whispered to the philosopher. He could not resist and looked: two black bullets were looking straight at him. An iron hand rose and pointed its finger at him, “Here it is!” - Viy said - and everything that happened, all the disgusting monsters at once rushed at him ... lifeless, he crashed to the ground ... The rooster sang for the second time. The dwarves heard his first song. The whole crowd rose to fly away, but it was not there: they all stopped and got stuck in the windows, in the doors, in the dome, in the corners and remained motionless ... "

So who is Viy? This is the god of the underworld. In Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian mythology, he was considered a creature whose one glance could bring death. His eyes were always hidden under the eyelids, eyebrows or eyelashes. He was the son of Chernobog and Marena, the goddess of death. He served as governor in the army of Chernobog, and in Peaceful time was a jailer underworld. He always had a fiery scourge in his hands, with which he punished sinners.

In Ukrainian legends, it is mentioned that Viy lived in a cave where there was no light, he was often depicted covered with wool (a clear hint of Bigfoot?). He looked like the Ukrainian Kasyan, the Byzantine Basilisk, the Volyn sorcerer "mangy Bunyaka", the Ossetian war giant and others.

Fame for this generally little-known creature, as we have already said, was brought by the story of N.V. Gogol. The fact is that in the epics of the Belarusian Polissya, death was presented in the form of a woman with large eyelids. In the chronicle legend of the 16th century, which described last days Judas, it was specified that the overgrown eyelids completely deprived him of vision.

Maciej Stryjkowski in the "Chronicle of Polish, Lithuanian and All Rus'" in 1582 writes: "Pluto, the god of hell, whose name was Nyya, was revered in the evening, they asked him for the best pacification of bad weather after death."

In Ukraine, there is a character Solovyy Bunio, but simply Scaly Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of "a terrible fighter, a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this deadly look is closed by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows."

"Long eyebrows to the nose" in Serbia, Croatia and the Czech Republic and Poland was a sign of Mora or Zmora, a creature considered the embodiment of a nightmare.

Having come to visit the blind (dark) father Svyatogor, Ilya Muromets, on an offer to shake hands, gives the blind giant a piece of red-hot iron, for which he receives praise: “Your hand is strong, you are a good hero.”

The Bulgarian Bogomil sect describes the Devil as turning into ashes everyone who dares to look into his eyes.

In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, who lived in the service of Baba Yaga, it is said that she received a pot (stove-pot) as a gift for her labors in some cases, and a skull in others. When she returned home, the skull-pot burned to ashes with her magical gaze her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters.

These are far from all references to the most ancient deity called "Viy".

Viy is the god of the underworld. In Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian mythology, it was considered a creature whose one glance could bring death. His eyes were always hidden under the eyelids, eyebrows or eyelashes. He was the son of Chernobog and Marena, the goddess of death. He served as governor in the army of Chernobog, and in peacetime he was a jailer in the underworld. He always had a fiery scourge in his hands, with which he punished sinners. His eyelids were lifted with a pitchfork by his assistants. Every person died at his sight. He could not stand the sunlight, because of this he lived in the dungeon. He helped Dyu, whom Veles threw into the dungeon, to return to earth. Then imprisoned Veles, but yielding to the requests of Azovushka, let him go. Viy gave magic ring Dazhdbog, so that he would free Zlatogorka from the enchanted coffin. To continue the race, he gave birth to blind sons Gorynya, Kashchei, goat-legged Pan, who tried to kidnap Veles, and after all he kidnapped the daughters of the Heavenly Cow Zemun - Buryona and Dana. Viy put his daughters to sleep and called them his children. Later, Pan and Dana had children Vrita and Valu, who were killed by Indra, the son of Dyya. Some Ukrainian legends mention that Viy lived in a cave where there was no light, he was often depicted covered with wool. He looked like the Ukrainian Kasyan, the Byzantine Basilisk, the Volyn sorcerer "Mangy Bunyaka", the Ossetian war giant and others. Possible correspondences of the name Viy and some of its attributes in the Ossetian ideas about giants-vayugs force us to recognize the ancient origins of the legend about Viy. This is also evidenced by the parallels to the image of Viy in the Celtic epic, and the abundance of typological parallels in the mythological functions of the eye. In Belarusian legends, the motive with raising the eyelids is common, most likely this is due to the name of the eyelashes in Ukrainian “viya”. Niy (zap.-glory) in Orthodoxy - St. Kasyan - the god of Navigo underworld and the posthumous judge, according to Dlugosh ("History of Poland", XV century), perhaps one of the incarnations of Veles: "KH.I. ... Pluto was nicknamed Nya (Nya); he was considered the god of the underworld, the keeper and guardian of souls, left the body, and happened to him after death to spend in best places the underworld, and they erected a main sanctuary for him in the city of Gniezno, where they converged from all places. "Fame for this mythological creature brought the story of N.V. Gogol "Viy". In the epics of the Belarusian Polissya, death was presented in the form of a woman with large eyelids. In the chronicle legend of the 16th century, which described the last days of Judas, it was specified that the overgrown eyelids completely deprived him of his sight. Another Ukrainian legend about the origin of tea says that the devil, who seduced the hermit, cast a spell on his eyelids, so that he could not open his eyelids, then the hermit tore them off and buried them in the ground. They grew into tea. There is a similar legend in Ancient China about the origin of tea from the Ages of Bodhidharma. Maciej Stryikovsky in the "Chronicle of Polish, Lithuanian and All Russia" in 1582 writes: "Pluto, the god of hell, whose name was Nyya, was revered in the evening, they asked him after death for the best pacification of bad weather." "And suddenly there was silence in the church: they heard in the distance the howling of a wolf, and soon heavy footsteps resounded throughout the church, glancing sideways, he saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, clubfoot man. feet. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the very ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was made of iron. They led him under the arms and put him directly to the place where Khoma stood. "Raise my eyelids: do not I see!" Viy said in an underground voice. "And the whole host rushed to raise his eyelids." We know that in fairy tales like "Fight on Kalinov bridge"the hero and his named brothers cope with three miracle-yuds, then reveal the intrigues of miracle-yud wives, but the mother of snakes was able to deceive Ivan Bykovich and" dragged him into the dungeon, brought him to her husband - an old old man. - On you - he says - our destroyer. The old man lies on an iron bed, sees nothing: long eyelashes and thick eyebrows completely cover his eyes. He then called twelve mighty heroes and began to order them: - Take an iron pitchfork, raise my eyebrows and black eyelashes, I'll see what kind of bird he is that killed my sons. The heroes raised his eyebrows and eyelashes with a pitchfork: the old man looked ... "Isn't it, it looks like Gogol's Viy. The old old man arranges for Ivan Bykovich a test with the kidnapping of his bride for him. And then competes with him, balancing over the fiery pit, standing on the board. This old old man loses the test and falls into a fiery pit, i.e. into the very depths of his lower world.In this regard, it is not superfluous to mention that the southern Slavs spent winter New Year's celebration, where the old, serpentine god Badnyak (correlative with the old year) was burned, and the young Bozhych took his place. In Ukraine, there is the character Solovyy Bunio, and simply Scaly Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of "a terrible fighter, a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this deadly look is closed by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows." "Long eyebrows to the nose" in Serbia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as in Poland, was a sign of Mora or Zmora. this creature was considered the embodiment of a nightmare. Ilya Muromets, who came to visit the blind (dark) father of Svyatogor, gives the blind giant a piece of red-hot iron, for which he receives praise: "Your hand is strong, you are a good hero." In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, who lived in the service of Baba Yaga, it is said that she received as a gift for her labors - in some cases - a pot (stove-pot), in other cases - a skull. When she returned home, the skull-pot burned to ashes with her magical gaze her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters. These are far from all sources about the ancient Navi deity Viy, who has analogues among the ancient Irish - Yssbaddaden and Balor. In the future, he probably merges with the image of Koshchei (the son of Mother Earth, originally an agricultural god, then the king of the dead, the god of death). Close in function and mythology to the Greek Triptolemus. The duck, as the keeper of the egg with the death of Koshchei, was revered as his bird. In Orthodoxy, it is replaced by the evil Saint Kasyan, whose day was celebrated on February 29. * Kasyan looks at everything - everything fades. Kasyan will look at the cattle, the cattle will fall; on a tree - the tree dries. * Kasyan on the people - it's hard for the people; Kasyan on the grass - the grass dries; Kasyan for cattle - the cattle dies. * Kasyan mows everything obliquely ... It is curious that Kasyan is subject to the winds that he keeps behind all kinds of constipation. Attention is drawn to the relationship of the words KOCherga, KOSHEVOY, KOSHCHEY and KOSH-MAR. Koshch - "chance, lot" (cf. Makosch). It was assumed that Chernobog stirred coals in hell with pokers, so that from this dead matter was born new life. There is the Orthodox saint Procopius of Ustyug, depicted with pokers in his hands, as, for example, on the bas-relief of the Church of the Ascension on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow of the 16th century. This Saint, introduced in the 13th century, is responsible for the harvest, he has three pokers, if he carries them with their ends down - no warning, up - there will be a harvest. Thus, it was possible to predict the weather and crop yields. Koschey in more late era stood out as an independent cosmogonic character, which makes living matter be deader, is associated with chthonic characters such as a hare, a duck and a fish. Undoubtedly, it is associated with seasonal necrosis, it is the enemy of Mokosh-Yaga, who leads the hero into his world - a kosny kingdom. The name of the heroine kidnapped by Koshchei is also interesting - Marya Morevna (mortal death), i.e. Koschey - even greater death - stagnation, death without rebirth. The veneration of the annual Viya-Kasyan fell on January 14-15, and also on February 29 - Kasyan Day.

Relentless and ruthless Viy was considered the judge of the dead, the infernal fiery judge, whose throne is inside the earth. In his hands is a fiery scourge, his eyes are closed with eyelids lowered to the ground, but he still sees and knows. If they raise his eyelids, and his servants lift them with pitchforks, then he sees everything that is completely hidden from others. A person dies at the sight of Viy.

"Bring Viy! Follow Vim! - 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 steps were heard, sounding through the church; glancing sideways, he saw that some squat, hefty, clubfoot man was being led. All of it was in the black earth. Like sinewy, strong roots, his legs and arms covered with earth stood out. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron. He was led under the arms and directly placed to the place where Khoma was standing.

- Raise my eyelids: I can't see! - Viy said in an underground voice - and the whole host rushed to raise his eyelids. "Don't look!" some inner voice whispered to the philosopher. He could not bear it and looked.

- Here he is! Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everyone, no matter how much, rushed at the philosopher. Breathless, he fell to the ground, and immediately the spirit flew out of him from fear.

N. V. Gogol

In the image of Viy, the hope is expressed that in other world will inevitably repay, take revenge on all those who lived on earth dishonestly, unfairly, without conscience and trampled others with impunity. Nothing can be hidden from Viy, it is also impossible to beg forgiveness from him. In addition, it was believed that this judge of the dead sends people, especially as a warning, terrible night ghosts and nightmares.

Viy- governor over evil spirits created by Chernobog. All of it is at his disposal. He himself is always underground, because he is afraid sunlight.

Viy is a character of Ukrainian demonology, a formidable old man with eyebrows and centuries to the very ground. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze.

Viy cannot see anything on his own, but if several strongmen succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable gaze: with his gaze, Viy kills people, destroys and turns cities and villages to ashes.

In one of the tales, there is a mention that Kashchei the Immortal is raised with seven pitchforks.

“And suddenly there was silence in the church; a wolf's howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy footsteps were heard, sounding through the church; glancing sideways, he saw that some squat, hefty, clubfoot man was being led. He was all in the black earth. Like sinewy, strong roots, his legs and arms covered with earth stood out. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron.

(N. V. Gogol "Viy")

Viy (Vy, Niy, Niya, Niyan) is the son of Chernobog and the goat Seduni. The lord of the hellish kingdom, the king of the underworld (, the Underworld), the 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 laws and Rules (in Christianity, "sinners"). All of them are looking forward to the fair and incorruptible Judge Viy.

to the east Slavic mythology Viy - spirit, deathly. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze. In Ukrainian demonology - a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids to the ground.

Viy cannot see anything on his own, he also acts as a seer of evil spirits (which can be traced in the work of N.V. Gogol); but if several strong men succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable gaze: with his gaze, Viy kills people, sends pestilence on enemy troops, destroys and turns to ashes the proud and villages. Viy was also considered a sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts.

In ethnography, the assumption is made that it is with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye and corruption is connected - that everything perishes and deteriorates from a bad look. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter.

There are two assumptions about the origin of the name Viya: the first is the Ukrainian word “vii” (pronounced “viyi”), which is translated from the modern Ukrainian language means "eyelids"; and the second - with the word "curl", since the image of Viy resembles some kind of plant: his legs are covered with roots and he is all covered with dried pieces of earth.

According to the “Book of Kolyada”: “The governor in the army of Chernobog is Viy, the brother of the sky god Dyya. In peacetime, Viy 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 Viy's henchmen. If Viy opens his eyes and looks at a person, he dies. Viy cannot stand sunlight, therefore he always prefers to stay underground.

According to Slavic beliefs, Navi (it is also sometimes called Dark Navi as opposed to Light Navi - Slavi) is divided into three kingdoms. For the time being, he was the Lord of the Upper. After the death of Goryn, this layer of Navi was empty for a long time until it was occupied. From time immemorial he owned the Lower Kingdom. But Chernobog gave the middle Kingdom to Viy. Although, in fact, there are other versions of the administrative-territorial division of Navi. According to some, Viy owned just the Upper Kingdom, according to others - the Lower Kingdom. However, this information has nothing to do with the essence of the interpretation of the image of Viy.

Viy was presented to our ancestors as a powerful almost invincible monster (less often - a terrible stooped old man). He was strong and clumsy, controlled the dark incarnations of all the elements. At the same time, Viy was served by all kinds of evil spirits, without which this terrible god, at least, could not look at the world. The fact is that Viy had some kind of birth defect - his eyelids were too heavy for him to keep them open without outside help. Obviously, the curse of Svarog, sent to the head of the defeated Chernobog during the Primal Battle, is to blame. One way or another, Viy could not hold his eyelids on his own, so his servants constantly supported them with black-hot pitchforks (this episode is well known to all of us thanks to immortal work Nikolai Gogol).

Anyone Viy looked at immediately died (if he was a mortal) or turned to stone (if he was a being of a higher order). Not many gods had the courage to face Viy in a fair duel. However, this monster did not win a single victory over the Irian gods, despite all its terrifying power. But Viy spoiled a lot of blood for the human race. Being a strong magician, he constantly sent epidemics and natural disasters to people.

At the same time, it is worth noting that in the guise of Viy one can also guess positive features. For example, Viy with particular enthusiasm harasses people who are evil or spiritually weak. But Viy may well let go of a person who is strong both in body and will. Thus, this god has a certain amount of justice, albeit a very peculiar one.

It is difficult to say what exactly our ancestors hid in the guise of Viy. Obviously, this is one of the incarnations of the dark component of human nature, deep animal evil, which seeks to destroy everything in its path and moves forward without taking apart the road. However, if a person’s will is strong and his spirit is strong, then he is quite capable of changing the vector of the direction of this destructive energy, it is even possible to use it for the benefit of himself and others.

In Ukraine, there is a character Solovyy Bunio, but simply Scaly Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of "a terrible fighter, a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this deadly look is closed by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows." "Long eyebrows to the nose" in Serbia,
Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as in Poland, were a sign of Mora or Zmora. this creature was considered the embodiment of a nightmare.
Ilya Muromets, who came to visit his blind (dark) father, on the offer to “shake hands”, gives the blind giant a piece of red-hot iron, for which he receives praise: “Your hand is strong, you are a good hero.”
The Bulgarian Bogomil sect describes the Devil as turning into ashes everyone who dares to look into his eyes.
In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful , who lived in the service of, it is said that she received as a gift for her labors - in some cases - a pot (oven-pot), in other cases - a skull. When she returned home, the skull-pot burned to ashes with her magical gaze her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters.

These are far from all the sources about the ancient Navi deity Viy, who has analogues among the ancient Irish - Yssbaddaden and Balor.
In the future, he probably merges with the image of Koshchei (the son of Mother Earth, originally an agricultural god, then the king of the dead, the god of death). Close in function and mythology to the Greek Triptolemus. The duck, as the keeper of the egg with the death of Koshchei, was revered as his bird. In Orthodoxy, it is replaced by the evil Saint Kasyan, whose day was celebrated on February 29.

Kasyan looks at everything - everything fades. Kasyan will look at the cattle, the cattle will fall; on a tree - the tree dries.

Kasyan against the people - it's hard for the people; Kasyan on the grass - the grass dries; Kasyan for cattle - the cattle dies.

Kasyan mows everything obliquely ...

It is curious that Kasyan is subject to the winds, which he keeps behind all kinds of constipation.
Attention is drawn to the relationship of the words KOCherga, KOSHEVOY, KOSHCHEY and KOSH-MAR. Koshch - "chance, lot" (cf.). It was supposed that he stirred coals in hell with pokers so that a new life would be born from this dead matter. There is the Orthodox saint Procopius of Ustyug, depicted with pokers in his hands, as, for example, on the bas-relief of the Church of the Ascension on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow of the 16th century. This Saint, introduced in the 13th century, is responsible for the harvest, he has three pokers, if he carries them with the ends down - there is no harvest, up - there will be a harvest. Thus, it was possible to predict the weather and crop yields.
Koschey in a later era stood out as an independent cosmogonic character who makes living matter be deader, associated with chthonic characters such as a hare, duck and fish. Undoubtedly, it is associated with seasonal necrosis, it is the enemy of Makoshi-Yaga, who leads the hero into his world - the kosny kingdom. The name of the heroine kidnapped by Koshchei is also interesting - Marya Morevna (mortal death), i.e. Koschey - even greater death - stagnation, death without rebirth.
The veneration of the annual Viya-Kasyan fell on January 14-15, and also on February 29 - Kasyan Day.

VIY VIY

in East Slavic mythology, a character whose deadly gaze is hidden under huge eyelids or eyelashes, one of the East Slavic names of which is associated with the same root: cf. Ukrainian viya, viika, belarusian. veika - "eyelash". in Russian and Belarusian fairy tales, eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows of V. were raised with pitchforks by his assistants, why man, who could not stand V.'s gaze, was dying. Preserved until the 19th century. The Ukrainian legend about V. is known from the novel by N. V. Gogol. Possible correspondences of the name V. and some of his attributes in the Ossetian ideas about giants-vayugs (see. Waig) make us recognize the ancient origins of the legend about V. This is also evidenced by the parallels to the image of V. in the Celtic epic, and the abundance of typological parallels in mythological functions eyes.
Lit.: Abaev V.I., The image of Viy in Gogol's story, in the book: Russian folklore, v. 3, M.-L., 1958; Ivanov V. V., On one parallel to Gogol's Wii, in the book: Works on sign systems, c. 5, Tartu, 1971; his own. The category of "visible" and "invisible" in the text. Once again about East Slavic folklore parallels to Gogol's Viy, in: Structure of texts and semiotics of culture, The Hague-P., 1973.
V.I., V.T.

(Source: "Myths of the peoples of the world".)

(Niy, Niam) - mythical creature whose eyelids drop to the very ground, but if you raise them with a pitchfork, then nothing will be hidden from his eyes; the word "wee" means eyelashes. Viy - with one look kills people and turns cities and villages into ashes; fortunately, thick eyebrows and eyelids close to his eyes close his murderous gaze, and only when it is necessary to destroy the enemy rati or set fire to the enemy city, they raise his eyelids with a pitchfork. Viy was considered one of the main servants of Chernobog. He was considered a judge over the dead. The Slavs could never come to terms with the fact that those who lived lawlessly, out of conscience, were not punished. The Slavs believed that the place of execution of the lawless was inside the earth. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter. He was revered as a sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those with a guilty conscience. “... He saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, clubfoot man. He was all in the black earth. Like sinewy, strong roots, his legs and arms covered with earth stood out. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron ”(N.V. Gogol.“ Viy ”). “... Today Viy is at rest,” the two-headed horse yawned with one head, and licked his other head, “Viy is resting: he killed a lot of people with his eye, and only ashes lie from the countries-cities. Viy will accumulate strength, get down to business again ”(A.M. Remizov.“ To the Sea-Ocean ”).

(Source: "Slavic mythology. Dictionary-reference book.")

See what "VIY" is in other dictionaries:

I; m. In Slavic mythology: a supernatural being with a deadly look hidden under huge eyelids or eyelashes. ● By folk ideas, Wii is a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids to the ground. By itself, he can not see ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

In East Slavic mythology, the spirit that brings death. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

A person from Little Russian demonology; an old man with eyebrows and eyelids down to the ground; but if you lift his eyelids and eyebrows, then his gaze kills and destroys everything that he sees. This legend is processed by Gogol in Viy. Dictionary foreign words included in ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Exist., number of synonyms: 4 fictional creature (334) hero (80) ny (2) ... Synonym dictionary

Viy- Viy, Viya, preposition. p. o Vie (mythol.) ... Russian spelling dictionary

Request "Vee" is redirected here; for the American golfer, see Vee, Michelle. This term has other meanings, see Viy (meanings). Viy is a character of Ukrainian demonology in the form of a formidable old man with eyebrows and centuries to the very ... ... Wikipedia

viy- I; m. In Slavic mythology: a supernatural being with a deadly look hidden under huge eyelids or eyelashes. According to popular notions, Viy is a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids to the very ground. By itself, he can not see ... ... Dictionary of many expressions

VIY- (a character of the same name novel by N.V. Gogol; see also VIEV) Jealousy, / wives, / tears ... / well, them! - / eyelids swell / fit Viy. / I am not myself, / but I am / jealous / for Soviet Russia. M928 (355); The legacy of the terrible bourgeois, They are visited at night by the Non-existent, ... ...

-VIY- see KYIV VIY ... Given name in Russian poetry of the XX century: a dictionary of personal names

In Little Russian demonology, a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching to the ground; V. cannot see anything on his own, but if several strongmen succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron