A Slavic dragon is any dragon in Slavic mythology, including the Polish żmij, Russian zmei (or ; ), Ukrainian (), and its counterparts in other Slavic cultures (See below). The physiognomy resembles a combination of the classical dragon and a snake (as a winged serpent), less often depicted with two legs and/or more than one head. Similar representations include the Aztec Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent) or Caduceus (Sumerian symbol of the god Enki borrowed into Greek mythology).
The Romanian zmeu could also be deemed a "Slavic" dragon, but a non-cognate etymology has been proposed.
A zmei may be beast-like or human-like (assuming dragon form in air, human form on ground), sometimes wooing women, but often plays the role of chief antagonist in Russian literature. In the Balkans, the zmei type is overall regarded as benevolent, as opposed to malevolent dragons known variously as , ala or hala, or aždaja.
The Polish smok (e.g. Wawel Dragon of Kraków) or the Ukrainian or Belarusian smok (смок), tsmok (цмок), can also be included. In some Slavic traditions smok is an ordinary snake which may turn into a dragon with age.
Some of the common motifs concerning Slavic dragons include their identification as masters of weather or water sources; that they start life as snakes; and that both the male and female can be romantically involved with humans.
Nomenclature Etymology The Slavic terms descend from Proto-Slavic *zmьjь. The further derivation that Serbo-Croatian zmaj "dragon" and "earth" ultimately descend from the same Proto-Slavic root zьm-, from the zero grade of Proto-Indo-European *ǵhdem, was proposed by Croatian linguist Petar Skok. Lithuanian scholarship also points out that the connection of the snake (zmey) with the earthly realm is even more pronounced in folk incantations, since its name would etymologically mean 'earthly (being); that which creeps underground'."Ypatingas gyvatės ir žemės ryšys matomas užkalbėjim ų tekstuose, visoje tautosakos tradicijoje ir rus. змея etim ologijoje — šio žodžio pradinė reikšmė yra 'žeminis, šliaužiantis po žeme' ir kilęs iš земля". Zavjalova, Marija. "Lietuvių ir rusų užkalbėjimų nuo gyvatės pasaulio modelių palyginimas". In: Tautosakos darbai. 1998, t. 9 (16). p. 63.
The Russian zmei, Ukrainian zmiy may be rendered "serpent", but a "flying serpent" is always implicit, and similarly for the Belarusian , hence "dragon".
There is dissenting opinion that the Romanian zmeu may not be a loan word from the Slavic zmei group of words, but rather an early borrowing from the Thracian language.
Forms The forms and spellings are Russian: zmei or zmey (pl. zmei ); Ukrainian: zmiy (pl. zmiyi ); Belarusian: (змей); Bulgarian: zmei (pl. zmeiove ; female zmeikinya ); Polish zmiy (pl. żmije); Serbo-Croatian zmaj (pl. ); Slovene: zmaj zmáj or zmàj (pl. zmáji or zmáji), or Macedonian: zmev (; pl. zmevovi ). the Slovene zmaj, the Slovak drak and šarkan, Czech drak,
East Slavic zmei
In the legends of Russia and Ukraine, a particular dragon-like creature, Zmey Gorynych ( or ), has three to twelve heads, and Tugarin Zmeyevich (literally: "Tugarin Dragon-son"), known as zmei-bogatyr or "serpent hero", is a man-like dragon who appears in Russian (or Kievan Rus) heroic literature. The name "Tugarin" may symbolize Turkic or Mongol steppe-peoples.Тугарин // Мифологический Словарь / Ed. Елеазар Мелетинский. — М.: Советская Энциклопедия, 1991.
Both the Russian flying serpent or dragon (; ) and fiery serpent (; ) are considered types of demons, which take on the shape of serpent/dragon in air, and a humanoid on land.
Chudo-Yudo The Chudo-Yudo (or Chudo-iudo, ; pl. Chuda-Yuda) is a multi-headed dragon that appears in some wondertale variants, usually considered to be water-dwelling. Some legends portray him as the brother of Koshchey the Deathless, and thus the offspring of the witch Baba Yaga; others present him as a personification of the witch in her foulest form. A Chudo Yudo is one of the guardians of the Water of Life and Death, and his name traditionally was invoked in times of drought. He can apparently assume human-like forms and is able to speak and to ride a horse. He has the ability to regenerate any severed heads.
The term Chudo-Yudo may not be a name for a specific type of dragon at all, but rather a fanciful term for a generic "monster". According to this explanation, the term is to be understood as a poetic form of chudovishche () meaning "monster", with a ending appended simply for the rhyme., p. 161, note 39, stating that Vasmer concurs. Chudo in modern Russian means "a wonder", and once also had the meaning of "a giant"; "yudo" may relate to Iuda, the Russian form of the personal name "Judas", with connotations of uncleanness and the demonic.Aleksey Khomyakov (editor): Материалы для сравнит. словъ. — Saint Petersburg: Изд. Академіи наукъ (Academy of Sciences). — Volume 2.
Three- and six-headed zmei, slain by the titular hero in "Ivan Popyalov" (, "Ivan Cinders", Afanasyev's tale #135)"Ivan Popyalof", . appear as six-, nine-, and twelve-headed Chuda-Iuda in the cognate tale #137 "Ivan Bykovich" (). The inference is that Chudo-Yudo must also be a dragon, even though the word "serpent" (zmei) does not appear explicitly in the latter tale. The six-, nine-, and twelve-headed Chuda-Yuda that appear out of the Black Sea are explicitly described as zmei in yet another cognate tale, #136 "Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son" (). The Storm-Bogatyr possesses a magic sword (sword Kladenets), but uses his battle club (or mace) to attack them.
A Chudo-Yudo's head has a healing property: even if severed, he can pick them up and re-attach them with a stroke of his fiery finger, according to one of these tales, comparable to the regenerative power of the Lernaean hydra that grows its head back.
Folktales often depict Chuda-yuda as living beyond the (the name may suggest "Stench River")—that is, in the realm of the dead, reached by crossing over the ("White-hot Bridge").
Smok
The terms smok ("dragon") and tsmok ("sucker") can signify a dragon, but also just an ordinary snake. There are Slavic folk tales in which a smok, when it reaches a certain age, grows into a dragon (zmaj, etc.).
Some common themes
Snake into dragons The folklore that an ancient snake grows into a dragon is fairly widespread in Slavic regions. This is also paralleled by similar lore in China.
In Russian lore, when the grass snake () or some other serpent, lizard, rooster, or carp achieves certain longevity, such as 9 years or 40 years, it transmutes into a flying zmei.
In Bulgaria is a similar folk belief that the smok ("Aesculapian snake") begins its life-cycle as a non-venomous snake but later grows into a zmei dragon after living 40 years. Or, if the body of a decapitated snake () is joined to an ox or buffalo horn, it grows into a lamia after just 40 days, according to Bulgarian folk tradition published by in the 19th century.
There are also among the East Slavic folk the tradition that a viper transforms into a dragon. In Ukrainian folklore the viper needs 7 years to metamorphosize into a dragon, while in Belarusian folklore the requisite time is 100 years, according to one comparison.
The weather-making dragon, ismeju (or zmeu), of Romanian Scholomance folklore is also locally believed to grow out of a snake which has lived for 9 years (belief found at "Hatzeger Thal" or Hațeg).; reissued:
Crossbreeds There are other accounts of how the zmei is engendered. A hen-hatched egg unbeknownst to a human may turn into a zmei (Bulgaria). Or a dragon may be born when a grass snake is swept up by whirlwind (Bulgaria). It is also explained as a cross hybrid between a serpent and grass snake (Macedonia), serpent and ram (Serbia), serpent and a samovila (Macedonia). A woman may conceive a zmei with a serpent (Macedonia), but may suffer a prolonged period of pregnancy.
Weather
Locally in Ukraine, around Lutsk, the rainbow is called tsmok ("sucker") which is said to be a tube that guzzles water from the sea and rivers and carries the moisture up into the clouds.
There is the notion (thought to be inspired by the tornado) of a Slavic dragon that dips its tail into a river or lake and siphons up the water, ready to cause floods.: When the monster lowers his tail into the river or lake, he 'takes up' the water which he uses to make floods.
In Romanian folklore, dragons are ridden by weather-controlling wizards called the Solomonari. The type of dragon they ride may be the zmeu or the balaur, depending on the source.Marian (1879): "Cînd voiesc Solomonarii să se suie în nori, iau friul cel de aur şi se duc la un lac fără de fund sau la o altă apă mare, unde ştiu ei că locuiesc balaurii [With these [golden] reins, the Solomonari rein their dragons called balaurii that they use instead of horses]", quoted in: Hasdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu; Brâncuș, Grigore (1976) edd., 3, p. 438.
The lamia and the hala (explained further below) are also generally perceived as weather dragons or demons.
Balkan Slavic dragons In Bulgarian lore, the zmei is sometimes described as a scale-covered serpent-like creature with four legs and bat's wings, at other times as half-man, half-snake, with wings and a fish-like tail.
In Bulgaria, this zmei tends to be regarded as a benevolent guardian creature, while the lamya and hala were seen as detrimental towards humans.: "Unlike the lamia and hala which were always malevolent.. zmey was seen mainly as a protector".: "In the majority of folksongs these creatures [zmei, samodivi, samovili, etc.] are quite agreeable,.. The exception is the lamiá".
Zmei lovers A flying zmei may appear as a "mythological lover", i.e., a mythical creature behaving as a suitor and lover of human females. A favorite topic of folk songs was the male zmey-lover who may marry a woman and carry her to the underworld, or a female zmeitsa (zmeitza) who falls in love with a shepherd. When a zmei falls in love with a woman, she may "pine, languish, become pale, neglect herself ... and generally act strangely", and the victim stricken with the condition could only be cured by bathing in infusions of certain herbs, according to superstition.
In Serbia, there is the example of the epic song Carica Milica i zmaj od Jastrepca () and its folktale version translated as "The Tsarina Militza and the Zmay of Yastrebatz".
Zmey of Macedonian fairy tales
In most Macedonian tales and folk songs they are described as extremely intelligent, having hypnotizing eyes. However, sometimes Zmey's could be men who would astrally project into the sky when there is a storm to battle the Lamia, a female evil version that wants to destroy the wheat. They were also known as guardians of the territory, and would even protect the people in it. Hostile behaviour was shown if another zmey comes into his territory. They could change their appearance in the form of a smoke, strong spark, fire bird, snake, cloud but almost afterwards he would gain the form of a handsome man and enter the chambers of a young maiden. They fell in love with women who were conceived on the same night as them, or born in the same day as them. He usually guards the girl from a small age and his love lasts forever. Some girls get sick by loving a zmey, and symptoms include paleness, shyness, antisocial behaviour, watery eyes, quietness and hallucinations. They didn't live a long life, because it resulted in suicide. Zmeys would kidnap girls and lead them into their mountain caves where she would serve him.
Benevolent zmei of the Balkans