In the Dove Book and other medieval Russian books, Buyan (russian: Буя́н, sometimes transliterated as Bujan) is described as a mysterious

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

with the ability to appear and disappear with the tide. Three brothers—Northern, Western, and Eastern Winds—live there, and also the

Zorya Zorya ( lit. "Dawn"; also many variants: Zarya, Zara, Zaranitsa, Zoryushka, etc.) is a figure in Slavic folklore, a feminine personification of dawn, possibly goddess. Depending on tradition, she may appear as a singular entity, often called "Th ...

s, solar goddesses who are servants or daughters of the solar god

Dazhbog Dazhbog (russian: Дажьбо́г, Дажбог), alternatively Daždźbok ( be, Даждзьбог), Dažbog, Dazhdbog, Dajbog, Daybog, Dabog, Dazibogu, or Dadzbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and p ...

Background

The island of Buyan features prominently in many famous myths;

Koschei Koschei ( rus, Коще́й, r=Koshchey, p=kɐˈɕːej), often given the epithet "the Immortal", or "the Deathless" (russian: Коще́й Бессме́ртный), is an archetypal male antagonist in Russian folklore. The most common feature of ...

the Deathless keeps his

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

or immortality hidden there, secreted inside a needle placed inside an egg in the mystical oak-tree; other legends call the island the source of all weather, generated there and sent forth into the world by the god

Perun In Slavic mythology, Perun ( Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, ...

. Buyan also appears in ''The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan'' (an opera by

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

, set partially in

Tmutarakan Tmutarakan ( rus, Тмутарака́нь, p=tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ, ; uk, Тмуторокань, Tmutorokan) was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the S ...

and in Buyan's magical city of Ledenets (russian: Леденец, "sugary")) and in many other Slavic

skazka A Russian fairy tale or folktale (russian: ска́зка; ''skazka''; "story"; plural russian: ска́зки , translit = skazki) is a fairy tale from Russia. Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' �олше́бн� ...

s. Furthermore, Buyan has the mythical stone with healing and magic powers, known as the Alatyr (russian: Алатырь), which is guarded by the bird

Gagana Gagana is a miraculous bird with an iron beak and copper claws featured in Russian folklore. She is said to live on the Buyan Island. The bird is often mentioned in incantations. It is also said this bird guards the Alatyr, alongside Garafena the ...

and by Garafena the serpent. Some scholars (such as V. B. Vilibakhov) assert that Buyan is actually a Slavic name for some real island, most likely

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, w ...

in the Baltic Sea.

Influence

* The

Buyan-class corvette The Buyan class (russian: Буян, , Buyan), Russian designations Project 21630 ''Buyan'' and Project 21631 ''Buyan-M'', are series of corvettes (small artillery and missile ships in Russian classification) developed by Zelenodolsk Design Bure ...

is a class of corvettes used by the Russian Navy. * Buyan. an uninhabited island on the northern parts of the

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago ...

Archipelago off the northern coast of Russia. * Buyan Insula, an insula (island) within

Ligeia Mare Ligeia Mare is a lake in the north polar region of Titan, the planet Saturn's largest moon. It is the second largest body of liquid on the surface of Titan, after Kraken Mare. Larger than Lake Superior on Earth, it is mostly composed of liquid ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; ...

's moon

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fiction ...

. * Buyan, a Russian-cuisine restaurant in Singapore that is currently being closed. * Buyan is mentioned in

Catherynne M. Valente Catherynne M. Valente (born May 5, 1979) is an American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. For her speculative fiction novels she has won the annual James Tiptree, Andre Norton, and Mythopoeic Fantasy awards. Her short fiction has ap ...

's novel '' Deathless'' as the "Country of Life", a grotesque island nation ruled by Koschei where everything (even the flesh-like buildings) is organic and alive. It is also mentioned in another work by Catherine M. Valente, ''

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making ''Fairyland'' is a series of fantasy novels by Catherynne M. Valente. The novels follow a 12-year-old girl named September as she is spirited away from her average life to Fairyland. In Valente's previous novel, '' Palimpsest'', the narrator bri ...

'', in which the Marquess of Fairyland has conducted a peace treaty with the island country. * Buyan is used as the name of one of the planets in '' Signalis''.

References

Bibliography

* {{Slavic mythology Locations in Slavic mythology Mythological kingdoms, empires, and countries Mythological islands Russian mythology

Background

Influence

See also

References

Bibliography