Serpent Gorynych with three heads in Slavic mythology. Serpent Gorynych - is it a myth or reality Where did the serpent Gorynych come from?

Serpent-Gorynych is the general name for dragon-like creatures. Although he does not belong to dragons, and according to the classification he belongs to snakes, Gorynych’s appearance has many draconic features.

Outwardly, the Serpent-Gorynych looks like a dragon, but has many heads. Different sources indicate a different number of heads, but most often three heads are found. However, a larger number of heads rather indicates the fact that this serpent had already repeatedly participated in battles and lost heads, in the place of which a larger number of new ones grew. Gorynych’s body is covered with red or black scales, the serpent’s paws have large copper-colored claws with a metallic sheen, and he himself is large in size and has an impressive wingspan.

These snakes live in mountainous areas, choosing large caves for their homes; quite often they can be found in reservoirs, as they like to eat fish, but they choose underwater caves for their homes much less often.

Gorynych always hunts at some distance from its nesting site; its diet is dominated by large mammals (deer, cows, etc.) and fish. If there is a shortage of food, the serpent can attack people. During the period of raising the cubs, Gorynych catches prey and takes it while still alive to his nest so that the growing snakes learn to hunt. These snakes rarely leave their victims alive; they usually stock up on food. These snakes prefer to live alone, occupying a large territory. While the young snakes are small and weak, they live with their parent under his protection, reaching a certain age, the young snakes leave their native territory in search of a new home. Clashes between snakes occur quite rarely, since different individuals try not to enter someone else’s territory and do not conquer it, but look for unoccupied land.

Capabilities

The Serpent-Gorynych is capable of flying and spewing fire. Gorynych's scales cannot be pierced by any weapon. His blood can burn, and blood spilled on the ground burns it out so that nothing grows in that place for a long time. Zmey-Gorynych is able to regrow lost limbs, he is able to regrow even a lost head. He also has intelligence and is able to imitate the voices of various animals, including the ability to reproduce human speech, which distinguishes him from serpents and makes him closer to dragons.

How to fight?

The cubs of the Serpent-Gorynych are very weak and defenseless, but as they grow older, their scales become invulnerable to any weapon and fire. The only weak spot in Gorynych’s “armor” is a small area of ​​scales on the neck near the head, where the scales are very soft. You can pierce it with almost any weapon, but the severed head will grow back and this will not kill the serpent, but will only scare it away for a while, but sometimes this is enough. The legends still describe a weapon capable of killing the Serpent-Gorynych - the “Seven-Tail Whip.” The key point is the fact that in order to kill Gorynych, it is necessary to destroy all the heads, without separating them from the body, so in some legends there is a description of how Gorynych is killed by a heroic horse by crushing the snake’s skull with its hoof.

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Z MEI GORYNYCH is the son of a thundercloud, a heavenly mountain. A flying multi-headed monster with a long tail and membranous wings (if the hero cuts off one head, another grows). Gorynych can have 3, 6, 9, or 12 heads. His body is snake-like, on four legs and covered with a strong shell. It spews smoke from its nostrils and ears, and flames from its mouth (clouds swirl and lightning flashes). Serves under Kashchei the Immortal. Kidnaps young beautiful girls or takes tribute from the population from the girls. He takes them to his hole-cave in the mountain, where he keeps his wealth. He has the ability of a werewolf - he can, for example, take on the appearance of a young handsome youth, a horse or some attractive thing. To do this, he hits the ground.

“...Suddenly the sky darkened, but there were no clouds in the sky, and there was no rain, but thunder rumbled, and there was no thunderstorm, but the fire was shining...

Dobrynya raised his head and saw that the Serpent Gorynych was flying towards him, a terrible serpent with three heads and seven tails, flames blazing from his nostrils, smoke pouring out of his ears, copper claws on his paws glistening.”

From the epic

The images of the Serpent existing in legends - the Serpent Tugarin, living in the hollow of Zmiulan, are similar to the image of the Serpent Gorynych.

Serpent Gorynych is a multi-headed fire-breathing dragon, a representative of the evil principle in Russian folk tales and epics. In foreign language legends it is found as zmok, smok or tsmok.
The many-headed nature of a snake is its indispensable feature. Most often the snake appears as three-headed.
In most cases, the kite has the ability to fly, but, as a rule, nothing is said about its wings. Thus, in the entire Afanasyev collection of Russian folk tales, “fiery wings” are reported only once (the fairy tale “Frolka-seat”).

The body of a snake is not described in fairy tales, but in popular prints depicting a snake, the favorite details are a long arrow tail and clawed paws.
Another important feature of the snake is its fiery nature, however, how exactly the fire erupts is not described in fairy tales. The snake carries fire within itself and spews it out when attacked.
In addition to the fire element, the serpent is also associated with the water element, and these two elements are not mutually exclusive. In some tales he lives in the water, sleeping on a stone in the sea. At the same time, the serpent is also the Serpent Gorynych. The word "Gorynych" probably comes from the word "mountains", since the Serpent Gorynych often lives in the mountains and caves. However, such a location does not prevent him from being a sea monster. In some fairy tales, he lives in the mountains, but when the hero approaches him, he comes out of the water.

Dragon

Summary of the myth

Serpent-Gorynych - personifies evil in folk tales and epics of the Slavs. In different legends, the description of the Serpent differs, which is why it is very difficult to create an accurate portrait of this character. But it is generally accepted that the Serpent-Gorynych is a talking dragon-like creature, with three heads, a tail and copper claws, with the ability to breathe fire, while releasing smoke from its ears. The Serpent can have from 3 to 12 heads, and from 1 to 7 tails, depending on the source. The Serpent moves through the air, but fairy tales are silent about the presence of wings. In the minds of modern man, the Serpent is identical to a winged dragon with three heads.

Gorynych can be either a product of the water element or the fire element, therefore, in the first case, he prefers mountains as his habitat, namely the “Sorochinsky Mountains”, in the second he can live at the bottom of the sea, river or lake. In most cases, Gorynych lives in a cave, but dens are also possible. His habitat is necessarily lifeless, where grass does not grow, birds do not sing, or, on the contrary, these are chambers sparkling with gold and silver.

In some epics, the Serpent-Gorynych acts as a guard of the Kalinov Bridge, which is thrown over the Smorodina River, dividing reality and nav (the world of the living and the world of the dead). But Gorynych found his main calling in burning Russian crops and villages. From time to time he kidnaps beautiful maidens from the common people, or from a princely family, in order to eat them, but more often the kidnapping is an end in itself. In fairy tales, the Serpent holds a great many captives, among them kings, courtiers, warriors and ordinary people. Accordingly, the Serpent is the sworn enemy of the Russian heroes, who strive to defeat him, in one case in order to restore justice, in another, to free captives. Sometimes fairy tales tell about Gorynych’s friendship with other folklore characters - Baba Yaga, Koshchei the Immortal and other evil spirits.

Lack of wind, cloudy weather, thunder and lightning - these are the first signs of the appearance of the Serpent somewhere nearby. When it comes to fighting with heroes, his main weapon is fire, which he spews from his mouth, but he still dies at the hand of the hero. To kill the Serpent, the hero has to hit him in the heart, or cut off all his heads. Zmey-Gorynych is such a negative character that even “Mother Cheese Earth” does not immediately want to absorb the black blood flowing from his wounds.

Images and symbols of myth

The image of the Serpent-Gorynych can be viewed from at least two sides. On the one hand, this is an image that absorbed all the troubles that happened in Rus', including the nomads, and was embodied in the form of some kind of mythical creature. On the other hand, this is a fairy-tale character, a kind of evil opposed to good.

Considering the fact that the Serpent-Gorynych begins his story under paganism and is a character in oral folklore, it is necessary to take into account the difference in the perception of symbols among the pagan Slavs and the Christian Slavs.

Serpent (analogue of dragon) - in this case can be considered as an ancient Slavic name or as the name of an animal, which later became used as a name; such conclusions allow us to draw the patronymic of this creature “Gorynych”.

With a pagan perception of the world in ancient times, the northern Slavs worshiped the snake as a god, and even made sacrifices to it (including human ones), while the southern Slavs considered the snake an atmospheric demon.

In Christianity, the serpent is a symbol of the fall of man, evil, and cunning. Do not forget that a snake, like a dragon, is one of the forms of the Devil incarnate. And in this case, Gorynych becomes a symbol of absolute evil. The dragon also symbolizes the apocalypse.

Patronymic - Gorynya (Slavic name) - mountain-like, huge, indestructible. This symbol shows us the power of the creature, its large size. “Gorynych” can also mean that he lives in the mountains.

The snake always harmed people, burned pastures and even entire villages. On the land subject to the Serpent-Gorynych, kings pay tribute. Here Gorynych acts as a symbol of the enemy invader.

Many heads - symbolizes the many faces of evil, its abundance.

Kidnapping symbolizes the capture of Russian people into slavery.

Gorynych’s lair - the serpent’s lair is located in the “Sorochinsky Mountains”, these mythical mountains are located outside the territory of Rus'. The lair acts as a symbol of another state, from which the troubles of the Russians originate, and where the captives are taken.

The battle of the hero with the Serpent is a struggle between good and evil, symbolizing the opposition provided to the enemy army.

The death of the Snake is the inevitable victory of good over evil, of the Russians over the invaders.

Communicative means of creating images and symbols

Tales about the Serpent-Gorynych have been passed down from mouth to mouth for centuries, from grandfathers to grandchildren, and this is how we got to know this character. We heard about him in fairy tales, and a little later we watched him on TV, as a hero in cartoons and fairy tales. And now it would be simply impossible to imagine Russian folklore without this character.

In painting you can see the image of the Serpent-Gorynych in the following paintings: Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov: “Fight of Dobrynya Nikitich with the seven-headed Serpent-Gorynych” (1913-1918), Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin: “Fight of Dobrynya with the Serpent”, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin: “Dobrynya Nikitich frees Zabava Putyatichna from the Serpent-Gorynych" (1941), Artist Moskvitin Stanislav: "Dobrynya Nikitich" (2002)

In cinema, the image of a snake is also quite common. In these famous films you can see the snake: Vasilisa the Beautiful. Fairy tale film by Alexander Rowe 1939, Ilya Muromets. The film is a fairy tale by Alexander Ptushko, 1956, Fire, water and... copper pipes. Fairy tale film by Alexander Rowe 1968, There, on unknown paths... Fairy tale film by Mikhail Yuzovsky 1982

The character of the Serpent-Gorynych is mentioned in literature in many works: in the folk epic “About Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent-Gorynych”, in the fairy tale by V.M. Shukshin “Until the third roosters”, in the story of the Strugatsky brothers “Monday begins on Saturday”, in the poetic fairy tale “The Serpent-Gorynych” by Dmitry Polovnev.

From early childhood, we all knew who the Serpent-Gorynych was, thanks to the huge number of cartoons about him. For example, “Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey-Gorynych.” According to the plot of this cartoon, Zmey-Gorynych is an old friend of Dobrynya Nikitich and does not know how to fly (he will learn to fly only at the end of the cartoon). It is not known exactly how they met: Dobrynya says that he bought him from a merchant, and Gorynych says that he saved Dobrynya from captivity. But, most likely, Gorynych’s story is fiction, because... in it he has large wings, while in the main story he has small ones. A computer game was created based on the cartoon. Or even Soviet cartoons, such as “Ivashka from the Palace of Pioneers.” According to the plot of this cartoon, the Serpent-Gorynych is Baba Yaga’s guest and must rescue her from the captivity of the pioneer Ivan, but Ivan defeats him with the help of a fire extinguisher. Another children's favorite cartoon is “Baba Yaga Vs!”. According to the plot, the young Serpent-Gorynych is Baba Yaga’s pet and assistant. The list goes on and on.

Here are the most famous cartoon stories about the Serpent-Gorynych.

• "Between" The oppressors of the village residents are the Serpent-Gorynych and the greedy king. Both villains are defeated by the cunning of the soldier Kuzma (who for some reason calls the Snake “Gavrilych”).
• "Wait for it!" (issue 16). In a dream, a wolf finds himself in a magical land, where heroes of various fairy tales live outside of time and plot. The Serpent-Gorynych guards the fairy-tale castle. (In this film, director Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin and artist Svetozar Rusakov reused the image stated in the film “Mezha”.)
• "Key". Four (instead of the traditional three) different heads of the Serpent-Gorynych are a parody of formalist bureaucrats.
• "Epic about Dobrynya Nikitich." The puppet cartoon is based on a Russian folk epic. The hero Dobrynya goes to the mountains, where he kills the Snake-Gorynych.
• "Dreamers from the village of Ugory." The Serpent-Gorynych appears in the fantasies of the main characters as an ally of the enemies: Baba Yaga and Koshchei the Immortal.
• "Alyonushka and the Soldier." The three heads of the Snake are multi-colored (green, blue, yellow) and have different characters. First, the soldier turns them against each other, and then by cunning he forces Gorynych to turn into a birch block and throws him into the oven, from where the small and harmless Gorynych appears.
• "Three heroes and the Shamakhan queen." -Here he is also a friend of Dobrynya Nikitich. Here he already flies well. Came to China. There it was considered a Chinese dragon. When Dobrynya came to China, he met Gorynych and offered to fly on him to Kyiv to defeat the queen.

Social significance of the myth

Until recently, they always tried to show the Snake-Gorynych as a collective image of evil, which must be fought and, accordingly, defeated, because in fairy tales good always defeats evil. For the dragon, as an exclusively negative character, death, and for the hero laurels. But modernity offers us an alternative option.

Currently, the Serpent-Gorynych is, first of all, a character created for children. There is practically nothing left of that evil killer and kidnapper whom we saw in Slavic mythology. The serpent does evil things only because he does not know how to act correctly. He is like a baby who knows nothing about the categories of good and evil. Gorynych, like many other evil characters of folklore, becomes the antipode of his original self. For example, in the 2006 cartoon “Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent-Gorynych,” Gorynych plays the role of a good-natured klutz, an old friend of Dobrynya Nikitich. An image is created of a faithful comrade in arms, a friend of the hero, and therefore a friend of the child. The victory of good over evil can be considered double when the monster is transformed into an exclusively benevolent creature.

The Serpent Gorynych is a character in many fairy tales and epics; Dobrynya Nikitich and other Russian heroes fought with him. This dragon was friends with Koshchei and Baba Yaga. Although scientists believe that such creatures lived together with humans, as evidenced by ancient drawings, the main thing is that repteloids continue to live among earthlings today!

Serpent Gorynych - who is this?

As dictionaries explain, the Serpent Gorynych is a fire-breathing dragon with several heads, the personification of Evil in Slavic epics. Slovaks, Czechs and Poles called it Zmok, Ukrainians - Zmiy, Croats - Zmaj. And also - Gorynich, Gorynchat and Gorynchishche. Researchers argue: who was he: a dragon or a serpent? The dragon has paws and wings, but snakes do not, but in the pictures Gorynych has paws and wings. Therefore, the main version: a strong monster with the brain of a serpent and the body of a dragon.

Where does Zmey Gorynych live?

Legends mention that the terrible Serpent Gorynych lives near the fiery river, guarding the Kalinov Bridge, which leads to the world of the dead. Where he rules, grass does not grow and birds do not sing. According to versions of other legends, the Serpent lives in golden chambers. If we consider all the variants of folklore, 3 habitats arise:

1. In the water, on a rock in the sea.
2. Near the entrance to the kingdom of the dead.
3. On a mountain or in a cave.

In favor of the latter statement, the “patronymic” of the Snake is Gorynych. One of the fairy tales mentions the Glass Mountain; researchers suggest that the sand of the rock allegedly melted by the snake fire turned into glass, which was impossible to climb. There is also a hypothesis that in some languages ​​the words “mountain” and “forest” are not different. So “Gorynych” can also mean “forest”. Although the Serpent from the Forest does not appear in any of the fairy tales.

What does Zmey Gorynych look like?

The most common version: the Serpent Gorynych has three heads, but 5, and 6, and 7, and 9, and even 12 heads are mentioned in legends. This is the main feature of the monster; descriptions of the body are less accurate. It is mentioned that he can fly, but whether he has wings is not said. In popular prints, Gorynych was depicted with:

• the body of a snake;
• long spiky tail;
• clawed paws;
• a mouth spitting fire.

A similar monster is the Serpent Gorynych from Kudykina Gora - a huge statue installed in the Kudykina Gora park, near the village of Kamenka near Lipetsk. A photo of a dragon with three heads instantly spread around the world, collecting more than a million likes and 6.5 thousand comments. It also provided the park with enormous popularity, becoming one of the best photos on Instagram.

Serpent Gorynych - mythology

In myths, the evil Serpent Gorynych is depicted as the personification of universal Evil; scientists suggest that this may be an ancient name or the name of a creature, which later began to be referred to as a name and patronymic. There is also a version, supposedly this was the name of the terrible invader who burned cities, collecting, as fairy tales say, tribute from many kings and princes. This version is supported by arguments:

1. Many heads are a symbol of the many faces of Evil.
2. Kidnapping is the capture of Russians into slavery on conquered lands.
3. The Snake’s habitat is hidden in the “Sorochinsky Mountains,” which are supposedly located outside of Rus' - a description of another state.

Serpent Gorynych in Slavic mythology

The Serpent Gorynych is described by the Slavs as the guard of the Kalinov Bridge across the Smorodina River, which separates the world of the living and the dead: reality and reality. But much more often there is a mention that this Serpent is an intelligent creature, for fun he burns cities and steals beauties. In legends, he makes friends with evil spirits or keeps them in subjection. Calm weather and then a terrible thunderstorm foreshadow the appearance of a fairy-tale monster. Bogatyrs constantly fight with him and kill him in a fair fight. Some epics mention that in place of the severed heads of the Serpent, new ones grew.

Researchers suggest that Gorynych:

1. A collective image of the nomads who besieged Rus'.
2. The personification of universal Evil.

Serpent Gorynych in Ancient Greece

If you carefully read the myths of Ancient Greece, it becomes obvious: the Serpent Gorynych was noted in those parts, but they called him differently. In the 12 Labors of Hercules, a terrible monster is mentioned - the Lernaean Hydra. She was described as a snake with 7-9-50 heads, in place of one cut off, 3 appeared, and one head had immortality and spat fire. The analogies with Gorynych are obvious; this hydra was defeated in battle by Hercules.

There is also a version that the Serpent Gorynych is a reptilian, a creature similar to a humanoid and a snake at the same time. Writer Andrei Belyanin puts forward a version that Gorynych allegedly turned into a man of his own free will and charmed the captives, spent time with them, and then destroyed them. Similar creatures were mentioned in the legends of the ancient Greeks; the founder of Athens, Cecrops, was even called half serpent, half human.

Scientists suggest that reptilians once tried to conquer earthlings, but did not succeed. And yet they were able to pass on a lot of valuable knowledge to the peoples of India and China, where snakes are still especially revered. Judging by the Bible, the Serpent also gave secret knowledge to Adam, but this lesson supposedly did not serve any purpose. It is possible that reptilians still live among us, transforming their appearance, although it is very problematic to prove this. So it is possible that the Serpent Gorynych exists.

Serpent Gorynych is a winged, fire-breathing multi-headed serpent (dragon), a representative of the evil principle in Russian folk tales and epics.
There are a huge number of hypotheses trying to explain the origin of the fairy-tale image of the Serpent Gorynych. From significantly altered memories of mammoths, natural elements, to crude oil-based weapons. The topic is very broad, but I will try to describe everything briefly and clearly.
The worship of snakes (common among many nations) has never been characteristic of the spirit of the Russian people. In Rus', the snake was always treated with disdain and did not look for an object of deification in the reptile. The goblin, the water goblin, not to mention the brownie, were incomparably more revered by the Russian people than the Serpent Gorynych, despite all his strength and terrifying appearance.
In ancient times, the Serpent Gorynych most likely meant threatening dark clouds that blocked the path of the sun’s rays in the sky and thereby deprived the living world of the main source of life - light. Over time, the Serpent Gorynych began to be associated not with the cloud itself, but with lightning flying out of the “heavenly mountain”, similar to snakes, which actually reinforced this image. Proof of this theory can be the fact that the Serpent Gorynych in Russian fairy tales always attacks from above and never appears from the forest or from the water, which is typical for dragons from the mythology of other nations.

Subsequently, the idea of ​​​​the Serpent Gorynych transferred to meteors, sweeping over the earth like a ball of fire and scattering sparks in front of everyone. Also an analogy with volcanic activity. Streams of liquid or solidifying lava, explosions in the crater, earthquakes, ash clouds flying into the sky, the formation of a black mountain (GORYnych) from cooled lava. And the accompanying disasters for the surrounding population.
Ancient legends about the fight against this terrible monster - the embodiment of a cruel enslaving force - pass from century to century. As the legend says, such a kite flies, flames burst from its mouth, and smoke pours out of its ears. As he roars in a loud voice, the oak forest will tremble from the serpentine roar, so that the leaves from the trees fall off; he hits the damp ground with his tail - rivers splash out of their banks; The grass dries up from the poisonous breath, and the birds fall dead. It seems there is no escape from such a formidable monster! But the sons of the Russian land stood in his way and saved it from the evil invasion.
Images of mighty heroes who entered into single combat with him have been preserved. The epic hero Dobrynya Nikitich defeated the “fierce serpent Gorynchishche”, trampled the baby snakes with his horse, rescued the boyars, princes and other captives from captivity and took the loot.

And another epic hero, Nikita Kozhemyaka, harnessed the Serpent Gorynych to a plow weighing 300 pounds and plowed the land on it from Kyiv to the sea, those furrows are still visible. These so-called Serpentine Ramparts stretch across the territory of Ukraine for hundreds of kilometers (according to the explanation of scientists, these legendary ramparts were erected to protect against the attacks of steppe nomadic tribes approximately in the 9th - 10th centuries. The people interpreted their origin in their own way).

There is also a version that the Serpent Gorynych in Russian fairy tales is the personification of the southern enemies of the Slavs. Hordes of invaders rolled into Rus' from the southern steppes, be they Polovtsians, Tatar-Mongols or other nomads. This version became the most popular during the Soviet period, when all folk tales were unanimously explained as a reflection of the struggle of the Russian people against oppressors, internal class or external invaders. This version was explained beautifully, but unconvincingly. They say that hordes of nomads rolled into Rus' like a many-headed snake, their avalanche wriggled like a snake, and the cunning and vile disposition of the Tatar-Mongol exactly repeated the character of the reptile.

According to the latest scientific data, the Serpent Gorynych turned out to be not a living creature, but a secret weapon of the same Tatar-Mongols, like the legendary “Greek fire”.
By the time the Tatar-Mongol hordes invaded Rus', they had fought in the vast expanses of Asia, in particular with the Chinese. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Mongol army was not only the largest, but also the most modern in the world. As the above-described case showed, the Mongols successfully adopted their military developments from other peoples and brought them to the highest level. In particular, they borrowed from the Chinese the secret of making gunpowder, combustible mixtures and throwing machines for projectiles on this basis.
"Irrefutable evidence" of this version is here: http://www.tatworld.ru/article.shtml?article=144

But I consider the main image of the Serpent Gorynych to be the one described in the Star Book of Kolyada. This snake personified the representative of Navi, the Slavic “other world”.
Serpent Gorynych (Gorynych, Goryn Vievich, Goryn Zmeevich, Goryn) is a chaotic negative dragon from the mythology of the ancient Slavs. Son of Viy, ruler of the Middle Underground Kingdom. It is a monster so powerful that the Mother of Cheese Earth cannot carry it on herself (the dualistic analogy with Svyatogor is obvious). That is why Gorynych lives in the mountains, hence his name.
Our ancestors imagined Gorynch as a powerful and extremely large snake-like creature (dragon) with black scales (less often green) and fiery eyes. Moreover, according to different versions, Goryn had either three, seven, or nine goals.
The Serpent Gorynych can be identified with the eternal guardian of the Dark World. Our ancestors sometimes called this world heaven (dvurunnitsa, meaning “there is no god”). One way or another, based on folklore sources, the image of Gorynych emerges as absolutely negative. This is an unprincipled villain who ruins villages and entire cities (both earthly and heavenly). Moreover, there is not a single reliable mention that the Serpent Gorynych could spit fire.

The Serpent Gorynych is an allegory of strength and power, unencumbered by wisdom and knowledge. This character was greedy and proud to the extreme. He lived in the Black Mountains, where he stole all his loot - gold and jewelry. Once he even coveted the bright maidens of Dazhdbog, demigoddesses, who every morning open the heavenly gates to the solar disk. Dazhdbog rushed in pursuit of the snake, saved the maidens, but did not have time to kill the monster; it disappeared into its lair in the Black Mountains. However, soon the Serpent Gorynych decided to try again, but this time he chose a different target - the mistresses of the golden, silver and copper kingdoms that stretched out at the junction of earth and heaven. The dragon easily stole the princesses and hid them in the Lower Underground Kingdom near Kashchei. Three heavenly heroes Nochka, Zorka and Vechorka went to the rescue of the beautiful maidens. At the end of this tale: the heroes rescue the princesses from captivity. And then together they drive the dragon out of his lair. The serpent Gorynych soared above the clouds and fought in a frantic battle with the gods - Semargl, Dazhdbog and Stryi. As a result, Gorynych the Serpent was defeated, fell to the ground and turned into Black Mountain.

Along with the obvious symbolism of this legend, as a metaphor for the eternal confrontation of multidirectional principles, one can discern in it many other, deep-seated motives of the ancient culture of our ancestors. Speaking about the Serpent Gorynych, it is impossible not to mention that in fact he is a collective image of an apostate, a person who has ceased to live according to the behests of his ancestors. Serpent Gorynych strives for wealth, he is unprincipled and perverted. Morality is alien to him, his desires are more important than the desires of others. According to our ancestors, such a person is doomed to death - first spiritually (all the plans of the Serpent Gorynych, according to legend, collapsed one after another), and then physically (at the end of the story the serpent is killed). There is also a theory that it was from this legend that all European fairy tales about dragons and knights were later copied, but without the true, interlinear subtext.