The Alkonost is a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

ary woman-headed bird in

Slavic folklore Slavic folklore encompasses the folklore of the Slavic peoples The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inh ...

. Alkonost is more likely an individual character, as was noted in some legends about this bird.

Folklore

The name of the Alkonost came from a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

demigoddess whose name was

Alcyone In Greek mythology, Alcyone (or dubiously Halcyone) (; ) and Ceyx (; ) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god Zeus for their romantic hubris. Etymology Alkyóne comes from alkyón (), which refers to a sea-bird with a mour ...

. In Greek mythology, Alcyone was transformed by the gods into a

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

. Alkonost makes amazingly beautiful sounds, and those who hear these sounds forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again. She lives in the underworld with her counterpart, the

Sirin Sirin () is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology. According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrat ...

. The Alkonost lays her eggs on a beach and then rolls them into the sea. When the Alkonost's eggs hatch, a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

sets in and the sea becomes so rough that it becomes impossible to traverse. She is also the sister of other birds from Slavic mythology, such as Rarog and Stratim. According to folk tales, at the morning of the Apple Feast of the Saviour day, Sirin flies into the apple

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

and cries sadly. In the afternoon, the Alkonost flies to this place, beginning to rejoice and laugh. Alkonost brushes dew from her wings, granting healing powers to all fruits on the tree she is sitting on.

Gallery

In popular culture

* Alkonost is featured in the digital card game ''Mythgard'' (2019) as a rare minion in the Dreni faction. * Croatian singer

Nina Kraljić Nina Kraljić (; born 4 April 1992) is a Croatian singer-songwriter and voice actress. She is known for winning season one of '' The Voice – Najljepši glas Hrvatske'' and for being a finalist in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song ...

that performed at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...

sings under the name of Alkonost of Balkan. * Alkonost is a Russian epic folk metal band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia in 1995.

References

External links

* Russian folklore Avian humanoids Human-headed mythical creatures Female legendary creatures Slavic legendary creatures {{legendary-creature-stub

Folklore

Gallery

In popular culture

See also

References

External links