THE SLAVIC SORCERER—KOSCHEI
KOSCHEI appears as a skeletal old man, which could be why his name translates to bone. He has a scraggly beard and a hooked nose but can shape-shift into various creatures or a tornado.
He possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and abducts women to marry.
Koschei is Baba Yaga’s male counterpart. They have been depicted as siblings or a married couple. They represent death and the supernatural’s dark side.
Killing Koschei involves destroying the needle containing his soul. The needle is in an egg, which is in a duck, in a rabbit, in a chest buried under an oak tree on the invisible island of Buyan. These components are reminiscent of a Russian nesting doll.
Manipulating the egg may control Koschei like a voodoo doll.
IMMORTALITY
Inspired by folklore
Afte
