Origins and setting
The tale of Koschei the Deathless (Кощей Бессмертный) is one of the most famous wonder tales of Russia and the East Slavic world. Koschei is a figure both grotesque and fearsome: gaunt as bone, ravenous for gold and for women, and yet impossible to kill by ordinary means. His “death” is hidden outside his body, sealed in a chain of objects—a motif older than Christianity in the region, linked to shamanic and pagan beliefs about the soul’s separability. The tale belongs to the cycle of heroic rescue romances, where a prince or warrior, often aided by animal helpers or magical brothers-in-law, must seek and release his bride from the clutches of this undying sorcerer.
The tale
I. The theft of the bride
Once there lived a Tsar’s son, sometimes called Prince Ivan. He was brave, handsome, and beloved. He married a princess—Vasilisa the Wise in some tellings, Marya Morevna in others—clever as she was beautiful. Their happiness was a clear spring in a dark world.
But Koschei the Deathless had long coveted her. He came like a black wind: a gaunt rider with eyes burning hollow, his horse snorting fire. He seized the princess and vanished eastward faster than a storm.
Ivan swore: “By my life, I will not rest till I bring her home.”
II. The journey and the sisters
He rode until he found three great tents upon the plain. In the first lived a maiden bright as dawn. She kissed him and said, “I am your sister-in-law. Take this hawk for a helper.”
In the second tent, a maiden fair as noon: “Brother-in-law, here is my eagle. He will aid you.”
In the third, a maiden radiant as sunset: “Take my raven. He sees far and true.”
Ivan thanked them all and rode on with courage doubled.
III. The iron gates
At last he came to Koschei’s domain: a fortress of stone and iron, with walls glistening like winter and gates locked thrice over. His horse balked, but Ivan spurred on. He struck down guards, broke the locks, and burst into the hall.
There sat his princess, pale but steadfast. She fell into his arms. “Fly now, Ivan! While he sleeps!”
They fled on horseback, riding like arrows. But in time the earth trembled—the beat of hooves behind them. Koschei was awake.
“No bird, no wind, no fire shall steal from me,” he howled.
He overtook them with the swiftness of death. He cut Ivan down and bore the princess back to his fortress.
IV. The helpers’ work
The hawk, the eagle, and the raven found Ivan’s broken body. They mourned.
“We swore to help him,” said the hawk. He brought the Water of Life in his beak.
“And I,” said the eagle, “bring the Water of Death.”
First they sprinkled him with the Water of Death: his wounds closed, his bones knit. Then with the Water of Life: his eyes opened, his breath returned. Ivan rose, stronger than before.
“I live again,” he said, “and I will find Koschei’s death.”
V. The hidden death
Ivan returned to the fortress. This time he caught the princess alone. She whispered: “You cannot kill him by sword or arrow. His death is not in him. Ask cunningly; he is proud of his secret.”
Ivan bided his time. One evening he sat with Koschei and feigned friendship. “You are strong, brother. Surely none can kill you?”
Koschei grinned, teeth long and yellow. “Kill me? Never! My death is far away. My death is in a needle, the needle in an egg, the egg in a duck, the duck in a hare, the hare in a chest, the chest buried under an oak on the far island of Buyan.”
He laughed till the rafters shook.
Ivan remembered every word.
VI. The quest for the chest
He set out at once, guided by the hawk, the eagle, and the raven. Over forests, over seas, they flew until they found the oak on Buyan. Beneath its roots, with much labour, Ivan unearthed the iron chest. Out leapt a hare, bounding like lightning. The hawk stooped and caught it. Out of the hare darted a duck, wings flashing. The eagle swooped and seized it. Out of the duck fell an egg, tumbling toward the sea. The raven darted and caught it in his beak before it could sink.
Ivan took the egg in his hand. Inside rattled the tiny needle.
VII. The breaking of death
He returned to Koschei’s fortress. The sorcerer staggered at the sight of the egg.
“Do not break it! Spare me!” he begged, his power ebbing like snow in spring.
Ivan broke the shell. Koschei fell to his knees.
He snapped the yolk, found the needle within. Koschei shrieked, his bones rattling.
Ivan bent the needle. Koschei writhed. He broke it—Koschei fell dead, his body crumbling to dust as if it had waited centuries for this moment.
VIII. The homecoming
Ivan took his princess by the hand. Together they left the dark fortress. The hawk, the eagle, and the raven flew above them. They returned to their land, and the Tsar wept with joy to see them safe.
The princess said: “Life and death are not in iron or in spells, but in the keeping of faithful hearts.”
Ivan and she ruled long and well. As for Koschei, his name remained in tales, but his shadow never darkened the earth again.
Iconic lines remembered in the telling
- “Are you strong, brother? Surely none can kill you?”
- “Kill me? Never! My death is in a needle, the needle in an egg, the egg in a duck, the duck in a hare, the hare in a chest, the chest under an oak on the island of Buyan.”
- “Do not break it! Spare me!”
- “Life and death are not in iron or in spells, but in the keeping of faithful hearts.”
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