Viy is an underground god in Slavic mythology.

(or as it is also called - Niam) - this is the God of the Slavs, who is perceived as the Guardian of Souls who have gone to Nav. In a late presentation, this divine Person appears as a kind of mythical creature with eyelids lowered to the ground. If he raises his eyelids with a pitchfork, then nothing will be hidden from the View Eye. By the name of the Slavic god Viy, in the ancient Slavic language, people's eyelashes are called vii. This sound is still preserved in the language of the Ukrainian people. In the legends Viy is ambiguous, with a contradictory character.

The Slavic God Viy is considered the oldest God, the son of Rod. He was born together with his twin brother, whose name the Progenitor gave - Dy. Despite the fact that the Slavic God Viy is a dark God, nevertheless, He often looks at the bright Rule, striving to live according to its laws.

Wise people, seeing in depth, calmly perceive sometimes strange behavior Via. They remember something secret meaning the appearance of Viy for the Worlds, this is the plan of the Family, led to the end only by Him.

legends and myths about Slavic God Vie

Many different legends affect Viy. Here are some examples of them.

About how the Slavic God God Viy taught the young God Veles:

The Dark God Viy took the child to himself as his own son, erased part of his memory, and taught him black magic. So Veles became a scientist who knows about all the secrets of light and good, as well as dark and destructive magic.

About His important appointment in the universe:

Nav was chosen by Viy when Rod entrusted Him with an important task - to purify the souls who came to Nav, no matter what. The main task is to cleanse all the souls that come in hell, then let them go clean.

Souls are cleansed with flame in a special place - Peclet. All painful, unnecessary, heavy memories, attachments, dependences on the burning fire leave the soul forever! Then the soul remains for some time in a purified state in Navi, but already in another place, where the afterlife Judge determines the duration of its stay and exit from Navi. And the soul was already leaving, completely cleansed of Falsehood and Lies, only in this way can it move further along the path to the Rule!

God Viy was created with a large admixture of the magic of Other Worlds, therefore He is always interested in distant Worlds - what is happening in them, what is happening.

How Viy got excellent assistants-informers, how He was called the All-Seeing and All-Knowing:

No matter what happens, something that could harm us does not appear, ”Viy thought about the mysterious other Worlds. Therefore, they decided to create a gang of birds, rats and other nimble living creatures, which could find out all the news everywhere, and retell Viyu. Everywhere his scammers snooped around, they even visited Rod's room, collected news day and night, and then they reported everything to Viyu. The God of Sleep and his girlfriend Sandman also came to the dreams of the Gods, and then they retold them to Wii. So Viy knew about everything that was done in Yavi, Navi or Rule. So the glory of Viy appeared as God the All-Knowing and the All-Seeing.

amulet – symbolGod Viya

The sign or amulet of God Viy is called by the Slavs - "All-Seeing Eye". He immediately tells us that this is God, from whose eyes, hearing and memory nothing is hidden. Appearance sign - circles repeating each other, one inside the other. Small stripes-protrusions along the edges of the circles indicate immunity. This means the hidden and obvious strength of Viy, his imperiousness, as well as his regalia - to be the Shepherd of Souls, when no one will hide under the vigilant, watchful eye of God.

Amulet "All-Seeing Eye" will protect from:

• bad, impure thoughts;
• despondency;
• depression;
• pessimism;
• the arbitrariness of dark navi and other forces;
• deceit or lawlessness in your direction.

Amulet "All-Seeing Eye" will draw to you:

• development of intuition;
• penetrating mind;
• ingenuity;
• supernatural instinct;
• restoration of lost connections;
• good relations with people, friends;
• family trust in you.

You can get a lot from the All-Seeing Eye of Viy - purposefulness, understanding true feeling justice, and even wit, an analytical mindset, its development.

See more about the All-Seeing Eye amulet.

Manifestation God Viya for Slavs

The ancient ancestors of the Slavs knew about the terrible power of Viy - with just a glance, he is able to destroy not only a person, but entire cities or villages. One thing pleases, this heavy look is carefully hidden by thick eyebrows and low lowered eyelids.

The ancient North still remembers the understanding that the Viy God of the Slavs does a useful thing in Hell - it helps souls to cleanse themselves there. After purification, the soul can continue on its journey. It is necessary for the soul to return to its Rod, from where it came. Therefore, the Slavs treated Viy with reverence, honored Him for helping souls in their rebirth.

Attributes God Viya

Animal- a shaggy black dog with hanging eyelids.

Heraldry, items- scourge

Treba (offering)- a fire and a bag of wool for burning.

God Viyin northern traditions divination and of magic

Cut number – 9

Divination. questioning God.

The appearance of the Reza of God Viy draws the attention of the Questioner to the fact that he is standing on the edge of a cliff, and communications with Prav have been lost. This is a warning that a person is doing something wrong, somewhere his path turned off the right path and rushed somewhere to Nav, but it was necessary - to Prav.

He gives advice: you should cleanse your soul. To find the right path, you will need to make a lot of effort, which should not be abandoned.

A sure sign of finding the right path is the sudden arrival of a streak of luck and good luck.

Magic. When invite Boga Viy.

AT magical rites they avoid specifically calling God Viy, turning rituals to him. This God is harsh and does not like to be disturbed. He is the keeper of Magic, but does not give it away in vain. But behind the amulet of God Viy they know the power - to protect in Reveal from unrighteous deeds. Those in the know who walk between the Worlds certainly take the sign of God Viy with them as an assistant and protector. After all, Viy is the ancient God of magic, who taught Veles himself!

Nauzes were also woven, turning to Father Viy in those cases when it was very necessary to block the path of a bad intention, to stop attacks, other people's intentions. Therefore, they tied the knot, and they slandered the conspiracy against the person from whom they wanted to protect themselves. Nauz Viya " Dead Knot" is called - it serves as a powerful barrier from unkind people.

Viy is a character of Ukrainian demonology - a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching to the ground. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze.

Viy cannot see anything on his own, but if several strong men succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable gaze: with his gaze, Viy kills people, destroys and turns cities and villages to ashes.

In ethnography, the assumption is made that it is with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye is connected - that everything perishes or deteriorates from a bad look.

In one of the tales, there is a mention that Koshchei the Immortal is raised with seven pitchforks.

Among the ancient Slavs, Wiem was called the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts. They were those with a bad conscience. In this he is related to Niyan, the king of hell.
Viy also served Chernobog in his kingdom and judged the dead for their misdeeds.
Our fairy tales know a mighty old man with huge eyebrows and unusually long eyelashes: his eyebrows and eyelashes are so densely overgrown that they completely darkened his vision; so that he can look at the world, several strong men are needed who could raise his eyebrows and eyelashes with iron pitchforks.

Then nothing will be hidden from his eyes (the word "vii" means eyelashes).
The folk tradition about Viya is familiar to anyone who has only read Gogol; however, some curious features did not enter his poetic narrative.
In Podolia, for example, they represent Viy as a terrible fighter who kills people with his gaze and turns towns and villages into ashes; fortunately, thick eyebrows and eyelids close to his eyes cover his murderous gaze, and only in those cases when it is necessary to destroy enemy troops or set fire to an enemy city, they raise his eyelids with a pitchfork.
In such a grandiose image, folk fantasy imagined the god of thunder (grandfather Perun): from under cloudy eyebrows and eyelashes, he casts lightning-fast glances and sends death and fires ...
In the legends of the Czechs and Slovaks there is a giant named Quick-sighted. With his sharp all-seeing glances, he ignites everything around, and even the rocks crack and crumble into sand.
Interestingly, the word "Viy" is undoubtedly consonant with the name ancient god Vayu Indians.
He was the god of storms and hurricanes, he killed all living things. Usually he was called ruthless: "You can go the way that a fast river runs, but you cannot go the way of the ruthless Vayu ..."
He also ruled over the underworld. Isn't this Viy ours, who is in the deepest antiquity was also mentioned as the patron of all-destroying hurricanes and even participated in sending the Flood to the lands?

N. GOGOL. VIY

The ill-fated seminarian Khoma Brut comes to church to read prayers for the dead over the coffin of the pannochka-witch that he ruined:

“He stopped for a minute. In the middle, the coffin of a terrible witch still stood motionless ... having outlined a circle around him, he began to recall all his spells. The silence was terrible; candles fluttered and poured light over the whole church ...
Suddenly... in the midst of silence... the lid of the coffin burst with a crack and a dead man stood up. It was even scarier than the first time. His teeth banged row upon row terribly, his lips twitched in convulsions, and, screeching wildly, spells rushed.
A whirlwind rose through the church, icons fell to the ground, flew from top to bottom broken glass windows. The doors were torn off their hinges, and a myriad force of monsters flew into god's church. A terrible noise from the wings and from the scratching of the claws filled the whole church. Everything flew and rushed, looking everywhere for the philosopher.

Khoma got the last remnant of hops out of his head. He only crossed himself and read prayers at random. And at the same time I heard devilry darted around him, almost catching him with the ends of her wings and hideous tails. Everyone looked at him, searched and could not see him, surrounded by a mysterious circle.

Bring Viy! Follow Wim! - 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, sounding through the church; glancing sideways, he saw that some squat, hefty, clubfoot man was being led. All of it was in the black earth.
Like sinewy, strong roots, his hands and feet covered with earth stood out.
He walked heavily, stopping every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground.
Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron. He was led under the arms and directly placed to the place where Khoma was standing.

Lift my eyelids: I can't see! - Viy said in an underground voice - and the whole host rushed to raise his eyelids.

"Don't look!" - someone whispered inner voice philosopher. He could not bear it and looked.

Here he is! Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everything, no matter how much, rushed at the philosopher. Lifeless, he fell to the ground, and immediately the spirit flew out of him from fear.

S. GORODETSKY. VIY

Because of distant violent centuries,
Because of the darkness, because of the impenetrable mist,
From under a pood of gray boulders
It comes out like a snag.
The skin is wrinkled, hanging like a rag,
Teeth crumble in white dust.
It can be seen that a stake was driven past him:
I did not find peace under the earth!
Yes, and what kind of bed under the ground?
Darkness and heat pesters.
And upstairs, angry and angry,
Viy pushes through, gets out.
He wanted to look
To live to be young.
Got out. He sees a loop and a bag.
“This,” he thinks, “what is it?”
"Lift up my eyelids! - screams.
- I see neither happiness nor will.
A groan is nailed to the dejected earth,
I thought: people don’t moan anymore!”
Oh, you, my old, my stupid Viy!
Let me slam my eyelids tight!
Less our life of all lives!
In vain you got out of those uterine!

As in resin we boil, but we live,
We even sing songs and laugh.
Tears will drip - we do not tear songs.
Laughing, we'll wipe ourselves with our sleeves.
Heavy! You can not understand,
What a life, what an earthly thing.
Farewell, turn back
We are again for our own, for drunkenness.
Just say you to the ball-earth,
To grow stronger with cereal
Yes, behind the sun in an unknown haze
More fun, more fun to fly.

Slavic mythology

One of the strangest and mysteriously contradictory characters of the Slavic epic could have remained in the backyard of Russian folklore, if not for the attention of the great writer N.V. Gogol and his story "Viy", first published in the collection "Mirgorod" in 1835.

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

Shot from the film "Viy"

Obviously, one more word of Gogol's Little Russian Lexicon is connected with the name of Viy: “Viko, the lid is on the disc or on the cover”. Let us recall the “dizhu” in “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” - a huge tub of dough walking “squatting” around the hut - and the “hide” in “The Night Before Christmas” - bound with iron and painted bright colors a chest made by Vakula to order for the beautiful Oksana…

And in Gogol’s extract from his mother’s letter dated June 4, 1829 “On the weddings of Little Russians”, which refers to the preparation of a wedding loaf, it is said: “They make a korovai, but in their wiki way (...) they put it into the oven without a lid, and vico is put on a dress.”

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

One observation, long ago made by researchers, directly echoes this - 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 the "Roman" name main character story - Khoma Brut - a pupil of the Fraternal Monastery, which at one time was Uniate.

Another “Catholic” sign in Vie comes through in contrasting the dilapidated iconostasis (with darkened, “gloomy” looking faces of the saints) to the “terrible, sparkling beauty” of the witch, whose coffin was placed “against the altar itself”.

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

To understand Gogol’s intention, it should be noted that Gogol uses the word “dwarf” in the “Book of All sorts of things” in the meaning of “sign”: “The following dwarfs represent the weight of the pharmacist ...”

Remember how Gogol? “Suddenly ... in the middle of silence ... he again hears the 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 a whole crowd suddenly burst on the floor, accompanied by various knocks, deaf, ringing, soft, shrill. He slightly raised his eye and hastily closed it again: horror!., these were all yesterday's gnomes; the difference is that he saw many new ones among them.

Almost opposite him stood a tall man whose black skeleton had moved to the surface and a yellow body flashed through its dark ribs. To the side stood thin and long, like a stick, consisting only of eyes with eyelashes. Further, a huge monster occupied almost the entire wall and stood in tangled hair, as if in a forest. Two terrible eyes peered through the net of these hairs.

He looked up with fear: above him something in the form of a huge bubble with a thousand pincers and scorpion stingers stretched out from the middle was held in the air. Black earth hung on them in tufts. In horror he lowered his eyes to the book. The dwarfs made a noise with the scales of their disgusting tails, their clawed feet and squealing wings, and he heard only how they were looking for him in all corners. This drove out the last remnant of the hop that still brewed in the head of the philosopher. He zealously began to recite his prayers.

He heard their fury at the impossibility of finding him. “What if,” he thought with a shudder, “this whole gang falls on me? .. ”

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

Before him stood some kind of human gigantic growth. His eyelids were lowered to the ground. The philosopher noticed with horror that his face was iron, and turned his burning eyes back to the book.

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

In Ukrainian legends, it is mentioned that Viy lived in a cave where there was no light, he was often depicted covered with wool (a clear hint of Bigfoot?). He looked like the Ukrainian Kasyan, the Byzantine Basilisk, the Volyn sorcerer "Mangy Bunyaka", the Ossetian war giant and others.

Fame for 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 the Belarusian Polissya, death was presented in the form of a woman with large eyelids. In the chronicle legend of the 16th century, which described last days Judas, it was specified that the overgrown eyelids completely deprived him of vision.

Maciej Stryjkowski in the "Chronicle of Polish, Lithuanian and All Russia" in 1582 writes: "Pluto, the god of hell, whose name was Nyya, was revered in the evening, they asked him for the best pacification of bad weather after death."

In Ukraine, there is a character Solovyy Bunio, but simply Scaly Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of "a terrible fighter, a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this deadly look is closed by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows."

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

Having come to visit the blind (dark) father Svyatogor, Ilya Muromets, on an offer 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 into ashes everyone who dares to look into his eyes.

In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, who lived in the service of Baba Yaga, it is said that she received a pot (oven-pot) as a gift for her labors in some cases, and a skull in others. When she returned home, the skull-pot burned to ashes with her magical gaze her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters.

Here are not all the references to ancient deity under the name "Viy".

In many, including academic works, the character of Gogol's story is described in a completely different way from what Viy looks like in the writer's work. Researchers claim that the author, in the image of the famous monster, combined the ancient Roman Niy with the human age, although N.V. Gogol himself wrote that he expounds the legend exactly as he heard it.

And the reader believes, because, in addition to this story, he created several more works of a similar genre, in which, with the ironic manner inherent in Gogol, the characters of folk art are described.

Wise Veles

This is how this god is called in ancient Slavic myths. He is the ruler of the bodily, organic life of all people and animals. He knows when the body asks for rest for sleep, and when it asks for eternal rest. Veles tirelessly ensures that everything that is taken from the earth returns to the same place. Nor is he a servant of death. Veles looks completely different from Viy. In the view of our ancestors, Veles is a man of about 50, strong and perfectly built, wise and balanced.

He is a kind of controller of bodily existence, as they used to say in the old days, bestial truth. Veles did not interfere in the mental, and even more so the spiritual activity of a person. This god did not condemn or punish gluttony, sexual promiscuity, the killing of animals for entertainment, and not for food. He simply removed his patronage from the body and this human nature fell into the power of Viy.

Viy. Short description

What does Wii look like? He is an ugly creature, with many bodily flaws and vicious spiritual strength. This monster attracts everything musty, bodily depraved and unbridled. Without others, he cannot satisfy his bodily needs, he cannot even lift his eyelids. But he lives a powerful spiritual life. And monster creatures are drawn to him, ready to serve for his spiritual strength. That's exactly what the pancake is. The writer points to this three times in the story: twice as a hint, and the third time in plain text, putting the words about it into the mouth of Thomas: “it is clear that she has done a lot of sin in her life, since evil spirits are so worth it.” And she is about Thomas: “Let Brutus read for three nights. He knows".

Some accurate details from the story of N. V. Gogol

Before pannochka, three people came to the farm - the rhetorician Tiberius Gorobets, the philosopher Foma Brutus and the theologian Freebie. Gogol three times, as it should be, speaks of Foma's bodily licentiousness. And it is to him that the one who lives "according to Wii" comes. They are similar to the passions that overwhelm them, and therefore are not under the protection of Veles. Pannochka has saddled the philosopher (what a delicate detail!), and he feels the sweetness of flying with the witch on him. But he has his mental life, which defeats the spell of his own body, and not the spell of the lady, who in this situation is only a means. It's morning, the roosters are crowing. But Foma kills the lady. And Veles does not protect his body. Viy gets him in Kyiv, in God's institution, through the bodily depravity of the rector.

Viy's servants and, invisibly, Viy himself constantly walk around Thomas Brutus. The description of the meeting of the philosopher with the centurion is striking in the realism of the details. “It’s not like that with me,” the centurion says, “Do you know leather kanchuks?” "At in large numbers something intolerable." "You won't get up with me."

That's where the philosopher got to (what a detail!). That's why he died of fear.

Viy is an evil spirit, and Koschey is an ordinary evil person

Some authors, who, without reading the whole work, quote "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and argue in their writings that Koschey and Viy are related images. Yes, this is nonsense. The "Word ..." specifically indicates that Gzak, Konchak and Gzak's father Bonyak are Slavic nomads and koshchei, that is, owners of cattle (in Old Slavonic: bones, koshchei). A. S. Pushkin directly points to this: “... it languishes over gold. There is a Russian spirit, there smells of Russia. You need to be deaf and blind in order not to distinguish between what Viy looks like in mythology, but how Koschey looks like.

Viy's abode

Viy is constantly in the depths, in the bowels of the earth, where the bodies of his servants are warm, humid and endlessly rotting. He has sisters - Villas, who sometimes fly out and prowl over the villages of people, looking for servants for their terrible brother. They compete with another character in our mythology, the Fire Serpent, for the souls of fallen people.

And it's not hard to imagine what Viy looks like. The photo of the painting by the artist who presented and painted Viy and his servants is known to the whole world. Some details are debatable, but general artist Captured the essence of this character. This is decaying flesh, which her mighty, but evil soul does not want to return to the earth, that is, does not submit to the wise Veles.

There is no fight between Veles and Viy

The struggle takes place in the souls of people. The soul of Thomas Brutus flew away along with the triumphant song of the roosters, which greet the rise of Yaril and the light that he brings to the world. And souls should not return to dead bodies, as was the case with the lady. This is contrary to the canons, which are observed by the bestial god - Veles.

Thomas returned to the earth what he so carelessly used in this bright world. And therefore he is commemorated by two friends - the philosopher Tiberius Gorobets and Freebie, who is drunk hiding in the weeds.

Who is Viy?

In traditional mythology Eastern Slavs Viy is a creature from the underworld that kills with a glance. Wiy's eyelids and eyelashes are so heavy that he cannot lift them without help (which, apparently, should indicate the character's age). The etymology of the word itself presumably comes from "viy", "veyka" - in East Slavic languages ​​it means: "eyelash".

Folk image

So who is Viy, what is his origin as a character of folklore? According to some scientists, some features of another pagan god Veles, his darker sides. Veles was perceived by the Eastern Slavs as an opposition to Perun (the pagan deity of thunder, heaven, war). Perun lived in heaven. Welles contacted underworld, dead ancestors (not without reason, after the harvest, the people left a bunch of spikelets “Veles on the beard” in order to appease and gain the favor of the forefathers).

But Veles is also wealth in the house, the well-being of the family, he is the patron of livestock. Viy is the embodiment of only negative qualities. By the way, the names both "Viy" and "Veles" have the same root and come from the words "hair", "eyelashes". And plants in ancient times were popularly called "hairs of the Earth." Such are the analogies.

In fairy tales

In Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian folk tales Viy was portrayed as a hairy, wiry old man (some mentioned not hair, but branches), whose eyelids (eyebrows or eyelashes) usually had to be raised with outside help. In the fairy tale "Ivan Bykovich", for example, mention is made of a witch's husband who lives underground and whose bogatyrs-assistants raise their eyelashes with iron pitchforks. The images of an iron pitchfork, an iron finger, an iron face obviously date back to more ancient times, when this metal was difficult to obtain and was highly valued.

If the monster managed to raise his eyelids and look at a person, he immediately died. Scientists in this regard admit the relationship of Viy with folk beliefs about the evil eye or the evil eye (a bad look spoils everything and begins to die). It is also possible that the traits of the creature correspond to another character in fairy tales - Koshchei the Immortal.

Gogolevsky Viy

In his story of the same name, Gogol reveals this image, as the writer says, "the creation of the common people's imagination." In the work, the creature is squat, clubfoot. His arms and legs are like intertwined roots. Viy has iron face and with an iron finger, for centuries to the ground. Rather, he does not kill with a glance, but removes any effect of amulets against evil spirits. In this regard, we can talk about the literary continuity of this folk image.