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Koschei Misc Class Notes
Koschei Misc Class Notes
In a tale also known as "The Death of Koschei the Deathless", Ivan Tsarevitch encounters
Koschei chained in his wife's (Marya Morevna's) dungeon. He releases and revives Koschei, but
Koschei abducts Marya. Ivan goes to rescue Marya several times, but Koschei's swift horse
allows him to easily catch up with the escaping lovers; each time the magical horse informs
Koschei that he will be able to carry out several activities first and still be able to catch up. After
the third unsuccessful escape, Koschei cuts up Ivan and throws his parts into the sea in a barrel.
Ivan is revived with the aid of the water of life. He seeks Baba Yaga for a suitably swift horse.
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After trials he steals a horse and rescues Marya.
Ivan Sosnovich[edit]
Koschei hears of three beauties in a kingdom. He kills two and wounds a third, puts the kingdom
to sleep (petrifies), and abducts the princesses. Ivan Sosnovich (Russian Иван Соснович) learns
of Koschei's weakness: an egg in a box hidden under a mountain, so he digs up the whole
mountain, finds the egg box and smashes it, and rescues the princess.
He also appears as a miser in Pushkin's Ruslan and Ludmila, though this interpretation does not
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reflect previous folk tale representations.