Viy is an underground god in Slavic mythology. See what "VIY" is in other dictionaries

One of the strangest and most mysteriously contradictory characters of the Slavic epic could have remained on the margins of Russian folklore, if not for the attention to him of the great writer N.V. Gogol and his story “Viy”, first published in the collection “Mirgorod” in 1835.

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

Still from the film "Viy"

Obviously, another word from Gogol’s “Little Russian Lexicon” is connected with the name Viya: “Viko, a lid on a dizhe or on a skryne.” Let’s remember the “dija” in “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” - a huge tub of dough walking “squatting” around the hut - and the “skrynya” in “The Night Before Christmas” - a chest bound in iron and painted with bright flowers, made by Vakula to order for the beautiful Oksana...

And in Gogol’s extract from a letter to his mother dated June 4, 1829, “On the weddings of Little Russians,” where we're talking about about the preparation of a wedding loaf, it is said: “The korovai is made more quickly, and in their way, on the wiki (...) they put it in the oven without a lid, and the korovai is put on the dizha.”

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

This directly echoes one observation made by researchers long ago - 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 a “Roman” name main character story - Khoma Brut - a pupil of the Brotherhood Monastery, which was at one time a Uniate monastery.

Another “Catholic” sign in “Vie” appears in the contrast here of the dilapidated iconostasis (with the darkened, “gloomily” looking faces of the saints) to the “terrible, sparkling beauty” of the witch, whose coffin was placed “opposite the altar itself.”

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

To understand Gogol’s plan, it is necessary to note that Gogol uses the word “gnome” in “The Book of Sundries” to mean “sign”: “The following gnomes represent apothecary weight...”

Remember how Gogol did? “Suddenly... in the silence... he again hears 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 suddenly a whole multitude crashed onto the floor, accompanied by various knocks, dull, ringing, soft, shrill. He raised his eye a little and hastily closed it again: horror!.., these were all yesterday’s gnomes; the difference was that he saw many new ones among them.

Almost opposite him stood a tall man, whose black skeleton moved to the surface and through his dark ribs a yellow body flashed. Standing to the side was something thin and long, like a stick, consisting of only eyes with eyelashes. Next, a huge monster occupied almost the entire wall and stood in tangled hair, as if in a forest. Through the network of these hairs two terrible eyes looked.

With fear, he looked up: above him there was something in the air in the form of a huge bubble with a thousand pincers and scorpion stings stretching out from the middle. The black earth hung on them in clumps. With horror, he lowered his eyes to the book. The dwarves made a noise with the scales of their disgusting tails, clawed feet and screeching wings, and he only heard how they searched for him in all corners. This drove out the last remnant of hops that was still fermenting in the philosopher’s head. He began to read his prayers zealously.

He heard their fury at the sight of their impossibility of finding him. “What if,” he thought, shuddering, “this whole gang will fall on me?..”

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

Before him stood some kind of human image of gigantic stature. His eyelids were lowered to the very ground. The philosopher noticed with horror that his face was iron, and fixed his burning eyes again on the book.

“Lift my eyelids!” Viy said in an underground voice, and the whole host rushed to lift his eyelids. “Don’t look!” someone whispered inner feeling philosopher He could not resist and looked: two black bullets were looking straight at him. The iron hand rose and pointed its finger at him: “Here he is!” - said Viy - and whatever happened, all the disgusting monsters rushed at him at once... lifeless, he fell to the ground... The rooster crowed for the second time. The dwarves heard his first song. The whole crowd started to fly away, but that was not the case: 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 earthly kingdom. In Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian mythology, he was considered a creature whose one glance could bring death. His eyes were always hidden under eyelids, eyebrows or eyelashes. He was the son of Chernobog and Marena, the goddess of death. He served as a governor in the army of Chernobog, and in Peaceful time was a jailer in the underworld. He always had a fiery scourge in his hands, with which he punished sinners.

Ukrainian legends mention that Viy lived in a cave where there was no light; he was often depicted covered with wool (a clear allusion to Bigfoot?). He looked like the Ukrainian Kasyan, the Byzantine Basilisk, the Volyn sorcerer “mangy Bunyaka”, the Ossetian giant warrior and others.

The fame of 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 Belarusian Polesie, death was represented in the image of a woman with large eyelids. In the chronicle legend of the 16th century, which described last days Judas, it was specified that his overgrown eyelids completely deprived him of his vision.

Maciej Stryjkowski in the “Chronicle of Polish, Lithuanian and All Rus'” in 1582 writes: “Pluto, the God of Pekel, whose name was Nyya, was revered in the evening, they asked him after death for better pacification of bad weather.”

In Ukraine, there is a character, Solodivy Bunio, or simply the Naughty Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of a “terrible fighter, with a glance that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this murderous gaze is covered by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows».

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

Having come to stay with the blind (dark) father Svyatogor, Ilya Muromets, when asked 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 to ashes all who dare to look him in the eye.

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

These are not all references to the ancient deity called “Viy”.

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. It's about God 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 extremely 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, descriptions of certain characters associated with evil spirits who kill with their gaze, but their eyelids are so huge and so heavy that you have to lift them 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 "Fight 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, talks 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 is from this ancient concept, a superstition has appeared, which is known as the “evil eye” - from a black, slanted 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 Christian tradition Kasyan (John Cassian the Roman) is considered a righteous man, in Slavic tradition he was credited with the role played by Chernobog 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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N.V. Gogol dedicated only a dozen lines in his story to Viya. But anyone who has read them at least once in their life will never forget such a bright, unusual, impressive image. Perhaps one of the reasons here lies in the special mystery and incomprehensibility of Viy. How did this image arise, where did it come from? Who is Viy and what do we know about him?

The Slavs recognized this as an underground god, whose place was occupied by the ancients by Pluto, the king of hell.
M. D. Chulkov. "Abevega of Russian superstitions"

The inhabitants of the world of the dead, spirits hostile to all living things, the dead were called in Ancient Rus' naviam.

The so-called Zbruch idol. It reflects the structure of the Universe according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs.

Image of Veles in the 12th century Dmitrov Cathedral (column console) in Vladimir.

Round dance is not just folk dance, and a pagan rite is a spell. Folk festival. Lithograph from the workshop of Ivan Golyshev. Mstera. 1871

Saint Blaise with herds of cattle and Saint Spiridonius. Novgorod icon XVI century.

Traces of pagan beliefs, in particular the cult of Veles, could be traced in folk culture and folklore until the beginning of the 20th century. For example, grass, bushes, trees and other vegetation were popularly called “hairs of the earth.”

To begin with, let’s quote Gogol: “Bring Viy! Follow Viy!” came the words of the dead man.

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 legs and arms covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots. He walked heavily, constantly stumbling, his long eyelids were lowered to the very 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!" - someone whispered inner voice philosopher He couldn’t bear it and looked.

Here he is! - Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everyone, no matter how many there were, rushed at the philosopher. Lifeless, he hit the ground, and the spirit immediately flew out of him out of fear.”

It is difficult to find a more impressive and mysterious character in the works of Russian classics than Gogol's Viy. Clearly belonging to the heroes of folklore and fairy tales, he stands out among them for his special effectiveness and inexplicable, hidden power. “Viy is a colossal creation of the common people’s imagination,” Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wrote in a note to his story. “This is the name given to the Little Russians for the chief of the gnomes, whose eyelids go down to the ground. This whole story is 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.” Considering that in 1835, when the story was written, Slavic folklore as a science was still in its infancy and we knew no more about our own mythology, than, for example, about the Chinese, it is not surprising that Gogol did not give a more meaningful explanation regarding the “chief” of the Little Russian “gnomes”.

Today we can look into Viy’s eyes without fear and tell about him everything that even his literary father did not know.

So, who is Viy? If, according to Gogol, he is a hero of folk legends, then his image should be found in works of folklore. However fairy tale hero does not exist with that name. Where did the name itself come from - Viy? Let's turn to the dictionary. In the Ukrainian language, the name of the character of Little Russian legends Viy, apparently, comes from the words “viya”, “viyka” - eyelash (and “poviko” - eyelid). After all, the most memorable and characteristic Viya - huge eyelids, so it is quite natural that his name came from them.

And although there is no Viy as such in either Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Russian fairy tales, quite often there are images that almost completely coincide with Gogol’s description of Viy: squat, hefty, and therefore strong, covered with earth, as if the devils had taken him out of dungeons. The tale about Ivan Bykovich, recorded by the famous collector and researcher of Slavic folklore A. N. Afanasyev, tells that after Ivan first defeated three multi-headed monsters on the Smorodina River, and then destroyed their wives, a certain witch, having now lost her daughters and sons-in-law, dragged Ivan to the owner underground kingdom, to my husband:

“On you,” he says, “our destroyer!” - And in the fairy tale the same Viy appears before us, but in the underground kingdom, at home:

"The old man lies on an iron bed, sees nothing: long eyelashes and thick eyebrows completely cover my eyes. He 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.”

Both in Gogol and in the fairy tale recorded by Afanasyev, the presence of iron attributes is not surprising. Gogol's Viy has an iron face, an iron finger, while the fairytale's Viy has iron bed, iron pitchforks. Iron ore after all, it is mined from the earth, which means that the ruler of the underground kingdom, Viy, was a kind of owner and patron of the earth’s bowels and their riches. Apparently, this is why N.V. Gogol classifies him among the European gnomes, guardians of underground treasures. For ancient man at the time of folding Slavic mythology iron, a durable metal, difficult to extract and difficult to process, irreplaceable in the economy, seemed to be of the greatest value.

The fairy-tale hero Afanasyev with his long eyebrows and eyelashes fully matches the appearance of Viy. However, in Slavic mythology, it was apparently not necessary for the owner of the underground kingdom to have long eyebrows or eyelashes. His distinguishing feature- Just long hair, but what it is, eyelashes, eyebrows or a beard, is not important. It can be assumed that exorbitant eyelids are a later distortion of folk tradition. The main thing is not the eyelids, but just long eyelashes and hair. One of the Belarusian fairy tales describes “Tsar Kokot, a beard as long as an elbow, a seventy arshin iron whip, a bag made of seventy ox hides” - an image similar to the owner of the underworld. Also known is the fairy-tale old man “As big as a fingernail, with a beard as big as an elbow,” the owner of exorbitant strength and a huge herd of bulls. He had a three-headed serpent in his service, and he himself was hiding from the heroes pursuing him underground. But among the Belarusian fairy tales there is also one where Koshchey, like Viya, the maid raised her eyelids, “five pounds each.” This Koschey “no matter how he looks at someone, he will not leave him, even if he lets him go, everyone will still come back to him.”

This means that you can’t look Viy in the eyes because he will take you and drag you into the dungeon, into the world of the dead, which, in fact, is what happened to poor Khoma in Gogol’s “Viy”. This is probably why in Christian apocryphal legends Saint Kasyan was identified with Viy, who was popularly considered the incarnation leap year and the personification of all misfortunes. They thought that Kasyan, like the owner of the underground kingdom, lived deep underground, in a cave where daylight did not penetrate. Kasyan's gaze is destructive for all living things and entails troubles, illnesses, and even death. Some of Viy’s traits were also shared with the apocryphal Judas Iscariot, who, as punishment for betraying Jesus Christ, allegedly lost his sight due to overgrown eyelids.

So where did such a thing come from in Slavic mythology and folklore? strange image Viya? The main characteristics of our character help us find the answer: hairiness, possession of herds of bulls and involvement in the underworld. These signs make us recall one of the most ancient and, moreover, the main East Slavic gods of pagan times - Veles (Volos). Before people learned to cultivate the land, he patronized hunters and helped hunt animals, which, according to many researchers, determined the name of the deity. It comes from the word "hair", that is, fur, the skin of hunting prey. Veles also personified the spirits of killed animals. Hence the idea that this deity is associated with death, world of the dead. “Initially, in the distant hunting past, Veles could mean the spirit of a killed animal, the spirit of hunting prey, that is, the god of that only wealth of the primitive hunter, which was personified by the carcass of a defeated animal.” This is what Academician B. A. Rybakov wrote about Veles-Volos.

But time passed and integral part The economy of ancient people became agriculture and cattle breeding. Hunting lost its former importance, and Veles became the patron saint of livestock. That’s why the old man “He’s as tall as a fingernail, with a beard as long as his elbows” has a herd of bulls, and anyone who encroaches on them runs the risk of experiencing the hefty strength of the owner of the herd. In ancient times, the number of livestock was the main indicator of a family’s wealth. Livestock provided people with almost everything they needed: draft power, fur, leather, wool for clothing and other household needs, milk, dairy products and meat for food. It is no coincidence that the custom of measuring wealth in the “heads” of cattle survived into the Middle Ages. The word “cattle” meant not only the livestock itself, but also all the property and wealth of the family. The word "bestiality" was used in the meaning of "greed", "greed". The post of the financial official, standing between the mayor and the headman, was called “cowman”, since “cowwoman” is the treasury (hence another meaning of Veles as a deity: in charge of income and wealth).

It is no coincidence that Veles was opposed to Perun - the god of heaven, thunderstorms and war. After all, wealth, prosperity and war, leading to ruin, are incompatible. The giver of thunderstorms, Perun, lived in the sky, in the transcendental kingdom of the gods. Veles connected with the underworld of the dead, “that light.” Until the beginning of the 20th century, the custom persisted after the harvest of leaving a bunch of unharvested ears in the field - “For Veles on his beard.” The peasants hoped to earn the favor of the ancestors buried in the earth, on whom the next year's harvest depended. Trees, bushes, and grasses were popularly called “hairs of the earth.” Thus, it is not surprising that the owner of the underground kingdom Veles, whose name was forgotten centuries later, was depicted as a hairy old man and subsequently received the name Viy because of this. (However, the name Viy is similar in origin to the name Veles: both came from the words “hair”, “eyelashes”.)

With the advent of Christianity, the role of the patron of cattle Veles passed to Saint Blaise (most likely due to the consonance of names), whose day fell on February 11 (24th in the new style). In many places in Russia, Vlasiev Day was celebrated as a big holiday. For example, in the Vologda province, residents of neighboring volosts came to the festival, a solemn, crowded prayer service was held, during which loaves of bread were blessed. Housewives at home fed hunks of consecrated bread to their cattle, thereby hoping to protect them from disease for the whole year. From this day on, livestock trading began in the bazaars. They turned to Saint Blaise with a prayer for the safety and health of the livestock: “Saint Blaise, give happiness to the smooth heifers, to the fat bulls, so that they can walk and play from the yard, and walk and gallop from the field.” Icons of the saint were hung in cowsheds and stables to protect livestock from all kinds of misfortunes.

But the function of Veles, who dominates the underworld, was apparently taken over by the image of Viy, a purely negative character, " evil spirits"In other words, with the adoption of Christianity, the image of pagan Veles gradually divided into two hypostases: positive - Saint Blaise, the patron of livestock, and negative - Viy, an evil, formidable spirit ruling the underworld, the personification of death and grave darkness, the leader of evil spirits.

“A rooster crow was heard. This was already the second cry; the first was heard by the gnomes. The frightened spirits rushed randomly into the windows and doors in order to fly out as quickly as possible, but that was not the case: they remained there, stuck in the doors and windows The priest who entered stopped at the sight of such a disgrace of God's shrine and did not dare to serve a requiem mass in such a place. So the church remained forever with monsters stuck in the doors and windows, overgrown with forest, roots, weeds, wild thorns; and now no one will find the way to it ". This is how Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol ends his story “Viy”.

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 it to death sunlight. 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 a spirit, deathly. 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 running 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 to the ground lifeless, 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.

Relentless and merciless Viy was considered the judge of the dead, a hellish fiery judge, whose throne is located 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 his eyelids are lifted, and his servants lift them with pitchforks, then he sees everything that is completely hidden from others. A man dies from Viy’s gaze.

“- Bring Viy! Follow Viy! - the words of the dead man were heard. And suddenly there was silence in the church: a wolf's howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy footsteps were heard running 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 legs and arms covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots. 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 everyone, no matter how many there were, rushed at the philosopher. He fell lifeless to the ground, and the spirit immediately flew out of him out of fear.”

N.V. Gogol

The image of Viy expresses the hope that in the other world he will inevitably be rewarded, take revenge on all those who lived on earth dishonestly, unjustly, not according to conscience and trampled on others with impunity. Nothing can be hidden from Viy, nor can one beg his forgiveness. In addition, it was believed that this judge of the dead sent terrible night apparitions and nightmares to people, especially as a warning.

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

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.

In one of the fairy tales there is a mention that Kashchei the Immortal raises his eyelids with seven pitchforks.

“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 legs and arms covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots. He walked heavily, constantly stumbling. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron.”

(N.V. Gogol “Viy”)

Viy (Vyy, Niy, Niya, Niyan) is the son of Chernobog and the goat Seduni. Lord of the Pekel kingdom, king of the underworld (, 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 and Rules (in Christianity, “sinners”). The fair and incorruptible Judge Viy is looking forward to all of them.

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.

In ethnography, the assumption is made that it is with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye and damage is associated - 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: first - Ukrainian word“vii” (pronounced “viyi”), which is translated from modern Ukrainian language means "eyelids"; and the second - with the word “to curl”, since the image of Viy resembles some kind of plant: his legs are entwined with roots and he is all covered with dried pieces of earth.

According to the “Book of Kolyada”: “Viy, the brother of the sky god Dy, serves as a commander in the army of Chernobog. In peacetime, Viy is a jailer in Pekla. He holds in his hand a fiery scourge with which he treats sinners. His eyelids are heavy; Viy’s henchmen are holding them with pitchforks. If Viy opens his eyes and looks at a person, he dies. Viy cannot stand sunlight, so he always prefers to stay underground.”

According to Slavic beliefs, Nav (it is also sometimes called Dark Nav as opposed to Light Nav - 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 ruled the Lower Kingdom. But Chernobog gave the middle Kingdom to Viya. Although, in fact, there are other versions of the administrative-territorial division of Navi. According to some, Viy owned the Upper Kingdom, according to others, the Lower Kingdom. However, this information has nothing to do with the essence of the interpretation of Viy’s image.

Viy seemed to our ancestors as a powerful, almost invincible monster (less often, a scary, 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 a minimum, could not look at the world. The fact is that Viy had some kind of congenital 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 Primordial 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, red-hot pitchforks (this episode is well known to all of us thanks to immortal work Nikolai Gogol).

Anyone whom Viy looked at immediately died (if he was 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 fight. 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 Viy’s appearance one can also guess positive features. For example, Viy with particular enthusiasm harasses people who are evil or spiritually weak. But Viy can easily 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 Viy’s appearance. Obviously, this is one of the embodiments of the dark component of human nature, deep animal evil, which seeks to destroy everything in its path and moves forward without clearing out 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 direction of this destructive energy, perhaps even using it for the benefit of himself and others.

In Ukraine there is a character, Solodivy Bunio, or simply Naughty Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of “a terrible fighter, with a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this murderous look is covered 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.
Having come to stay with his blind (dark) father, Ilya Muromets, when asked 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 to ashes all who dare to look him in the eye.
In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful , who lived in the service of , it is said that she received 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 her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters to ashes with its magical gaze.

These are not all the sources about the ancient Navya 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, initially 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 after Koshchei’s death, was revered as his bird. In Orthodoxy it was replaced by the evil saint Kasyan, whose day was celebrated on February 29.

Kasyan looks at everything and everything withers. Kasyan looks at the cattle, the cattle fall; on the tree - the tree dries.

Kasyan on the people - it’s hard for the people; Kasyan on the grass - the grass dries; Kasyan for livestock - the livestock dies.

Kasyan mows everything with a sideways...

It is curious that Kasyan is subordinate to the winds, which he keeps behind all sorts of locks.
Noteworthy is the relationship between the words KOCHERGA, KOSHEVAYA, KOSHCHEY and KOSH-MAR. Koshch - “chance, lot” (cf.). It was assumed that he would stir up the coals in the inferno with pokers, so that from this dead matter a 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 B. Nikitskaya Street in Moscow in 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, upwards - there will be a harvest. In this way, the weather and crop yields could be predicted.
Koschey in more late era stood out as an independent cosmogonic character, which causes living matter to be deader, associated with chthonic characters such as the hare, duck and fish. Undoubtedly, he is associated with seasonal necrosis, he is the enemy of Makoshi Yaga, who guides the hero into his world - the kingdom of death. The name of the heroine abducted by Koshchei is also interesting - Marya Morevna (mortal death), i.e. Koschey is an even greater death - stagnation, death without rebirth.
The annual veneration of Viya-Kasyan took place on January 14-15, as well as on February 29 - Kasyan Day.