Chernava
In Russian folklore, Chernava (diminutive: Chernavushka; Russian: Чернава, Чернавушка) is Morskoy Tsar's (Sea Tsar) daughter (or, according to some versions, a niece), spirit and personification of the river of the same name. She is a mermaid. Her head and upper body are human, while the lower body is a fish's tail. Chernava is famous by the epic of Sadko, where she appears.[1][2][3]
In Sadko[edit]
In the Sadko bylina, Chernava appears as the one of the 900 mermaids. She is described as small, scrawny and young girl who works as a servant in the palace. When Morskoy Tsar offered Sadko a new bride, Sadko took Chernava and lay down beside her. On their wedding night he did not touch her. When Sadko was asleep, Chernava had transformed into a river, helping him to get into the human world. Sadko woke up on the shore of the river Chernava and rejoined his first wife.
In popular culture[edit]
Chernava Colles are named after her.
References[edit]
- ^ Fedorovich 1873, p. 400.
- ^ Dixon-Kennedy 1998, p. 52.
- ^ Bailey 2015.
Bibliography[edit]
- Fedorovich, Alexander Hilferding (1873), Onegsky byliny, recorded by Alexander Fedorovich Hilferding in the summer of 1871, The Imperial Academy of Sciences, ISBN 978-5-4460-3959-3
- Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998), Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 9781576070635
- Bailey, James (2015), An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics, Routledge, ISBN 978-1317476924
External links[edit]
- Краткое содержание и история создания оперы Римского-Корсакова «Садко» на сайте «Belcanto.Ru» (in Russian)
- Bylina «Садков корабль стал на море» (in Russian)
- Bylina «Садко» (in Russian)
- Sadko the bylina
- Prose version
- Sadko as collected by Arthur Ransome in Old Peter's Russian Tales
- Sadko as collected by Arthur Ransome in Old Peter's Russian Tales as a librivox.org audiobook.