To put it lightly--Russia is a fascinating place.
It is a country that has been bestowed upon with some of the most elaborate tales of folklore
and mysticism ever seen in our shared history.
Russia is a country steeped in an ever-flowing and expansive tapestry of bizarre intrigue
and whimsical magic--of a folklore history that has been shaped with hardships both physical
and metaphysical--of a harsh and domineering landscape, and of an ancient magic that has
long lingered.
Truth be told, when we talk about Russian Folklore, what we’re really talking about
is the shared Culture of the Slavic People--one that encompasses most stories found in other
European Folklore--but have their seeds sown here, in Russian History.
So, let’s see what they’re all about, shall we?
Hello Horror fans, what’s going on--and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Most Terrifying Stories From Russian Folklore.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from the phenomenal 1979 film Stalker, written
and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky--and based upon one of the most fantastic Russian novels
ever written, the mind bending Roadside Picnic, written by brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
back in 1972.
And really, we’re using both of those titles to highlight just how remarkable some Russian
fiction is--inexplicably unique and bleak in it’s own interesting way--and more importantly,
it is a style deeply rooted in Russian & Slavic Folklore.
So yeah, the more you know, really.
Let’s take a look at some of the best.
Kicking off at Number 5--The Coffin Lid
And truth be told, most of what we know in modern literature about the many twisting
tales of Russian folklore, comes from a writer by the name of Alexander Afanasyev--who is
essentially both the Brothers Grimm and Aesop rolled into one.
His book, Russian Folk Tales--published between 1855 and 1863, took some of the greatest Slavonic
Fairy Tales and folk stories and compiled them for a wider audience.
This one, The Coffin Lid--is perhaps one of the most bizarre and calamitous.
As it goes, one night--a peasant was travelling down a road late throughout the evening in
his horse drawn carriage.
Quickly, the sky grew dark, and so the peasant decided to pull into a field before a church
and lay down for the night.
Little did he know, but he had fallen asleep on top of a grave--and throughout the night,
the earth rumbled beneath him--the coffin lid slid open, and a corpse emerged covered
in a white shroud.
It shot up from the dirt with it’s coffin lid clutched in it’s bony hand, ran out
of the cemetery gates without a word--and propped the lid before the gate.
Seizing the opportunity, the peasant grabbed hold of the coffin lid and hid it inside his
telega--his horse wagon--as he had heard it was of great power to steal from the dead.
Very soon though, the corpse returned--and it was furious to find that it’s coffin
lid was missing.
It raged through the cemetery and came across the peasant--where it furiously demanded for
it back.
“Give me my coffin lid or I will smash you to atoms,” it said.
The peasant wasn’t deterred though, and he demanded to know where the corpse had been
before he did.
“I have been to the village” it said--”and I have cut the throats of two young lads in
there sleep.”
Well, seizing the opportunity to impress the village--the peasant declared that he would
give the coffin lid back if the corpse revealed its secrets and let him know how to revive
the two young boys.
And so he did.
The corpse told him to take a corner of his shroud, and when he comes to the house of
the young lads, scatter hot sparks into a pot--burn the corner of the shroud--close
the door, and then waft the smoke throughout the room.
Well, that’s exactly what he did--and when morning broke, the peasant had made his way
into the village as the boys parents were shrieking and crying.
Do not fear--he said, I can revive them.
And so he did what the corpse instructed, and the young lads stirred back to life.
Well, in some stories--the villagers are so astounded that they herald the peasant as
a hero--race to the cemetery, dig up the corpses body and stake it’s heart on an oak spike
so it cannot rise and kill again.
In others though, the villagers see the peasant as a necromancer… and they hang him for
conspiring with the dead.
It’s a fine line, I guess.
Swinging in at Number 4--Rusalka Week
Okay.
What’s folklore without some terrifying mythical creatures, right?
Truth be told, in Slavic mythology--the Rusalki are some of the most horrifying and monstrous
versions of the archetypal water spirits of legend--and it goes without saying, that they’ve
been pretty important.
You see, folklore--if anything--serves as a shared cautionary tale for any given society.
If you’re trying to keep the village youngsters from frollicking too close to dangerous waters,
it’s probably best that you let them know devious aquatic creatures frolic there too.
Thus, just like the Celtic Mermaids and Greek Sirens of legend--we have the Rusalka--originating
from a Slavic pagan tradition where these young female entities were once worshipped
as symbols of fertility.
As time went on though, the traditional rusalki became images of young women dying violent
deaths.
Sometimes murder, somtimes suicide--sometimes accidental death by drowning.
Either way, they were transformed by meaning ambivalent beings of folklore--to terrifying,
violent, revenge-seeking maligned entities.
Rightly so, really--because in my book they were certainly justified.
However--all of this malignant energy converges in a specific period of the Russian folklore
calendar.
Rusalka Week.
And it’s probably important that we note that unlike the fishtailed mermaids of legend--these
particular entities aren’t bound to bodies of water alone.
Yeah.
The Rusalki have legs and they can freely walk on land for one week of the year specifically.
At the beginning of each and every summer--around the first week of June--Slavic cultures celebrate
what is known as Rusalki Week.
You see, during this time--swimming in any kind of body of water is absolutely forbidden--as
it will almost certainly mean a violent and painful death at the hands of a Rusalka.
During this time, the Rusalki are believed to come ashore to play in the weeping willows
and swing between birch branches--as they gather en masse to perform circle dances under
moonlight.
As the legend goes, any passerby who should have the misfortune of witnessing one of these
circle dances--is then forced to dance with them until they die, driven to madness and
exhaustion as the Rusalki revel in the moonlight.
Eh.
What a way to go, eh?
Next up at Number 3--The Brosnya
And talking of terrifying bodies of water--what is any kind of folklore without having a terrifying
lake monster.
Strangely enough though, compared to Nessie--the Brosnya--also known as the Brosno Dragon--has
had far more coverage than most others.
The Brosno Dragon is a lake monster of Russian folklore--said to inhabit Lake Brosno, a huge
body of water near Andreapol in Western Russian.
Now, whilst many of these legends are wide and varied--tales of the Brosnya have been
recorded in oral traditions since as far back as the 13th century.
You see, in modern times--many people treat the existence of the Brosnya skeptically,
and say that more than likely--it is a mutant beaver--or some giant 100-year old pike.
Which, I mean, is pretty terrifying either way.
Others claim that it is a conglomerate of wild boards of elk that cross the lake from
time to time and leave chaos in their week.
But, you see--that doesn’t seem to fly with some of the historical references of The Brosnya.
You see, back in the 13th century--rumours of a strange, giant creature that lived at
the bottom of Lake Brosno were so prolific that they somehow managed to scare an entire
army--on multiple occasions actually--but the most remarkable of them all was the Tatar
Mongol army--a horde of Turkish warriors that were headed straight for the Russian city
of Novgorod sometime around the early 13th century.
Their leader, Batu Khan--stopped to rest and water his troops on the side of Lake Brosno
early in the evening.
As was expected, his horses were sent down to the lake to water--but before they knew
it, a huge roaring creature emerged from the water--mercilessly devouring both horses and
soldiers alike, slaughtering them by the hundreds.
Well, whatever happened--it worked--because it is recorded in numerous historical texts
that the Batu-Khan’s troops were so terrified that they turned back--and Novgorod was saved.
Whatever the truth of the Brosnya--it seems that throughout history, folklore has told
a similar tale of some sort of terrifying creature lurking in the waters at the bottom
of Lake Brosno.
Whatever it is, is anyone's guess--but I’m certainly not the one to find out.
Coming in at Number 2--The Tale of Alexander of Macedon
And my favourite facet of folklore, is when history meets myth and legend--because more
often than not, what we’re left with is this--a phenomenal cautionary tale steeped
in mysticism and legend, that may also have ties to a shared historical truth.
This particular folk tale--is a retelling of Alexander and the Iron Gates--one that
has been passed down through tradition by Slavic Culture--and tells the tale of a mysterious
people of legend, Gog and Magog.
Now, the truth of who these people were is unclear at best, and we may never truly know,
as folklore has a habit of switching perspective.
Gog and Magog were thought at first to be the Romans and their emperor.
Then they were the Goths--the Scythians--the Amazons--The Huns.
Whoever they were--they faced Alexander of Macedon, and they were imprisoned behind an
impossibly large Iron Wall.
As the legend goes--so long ago that neither our grandfathers, nor great-grandfathers,
nor our great-great-great grandfathers can recollect it--there was a mighty King.
Alexander of Macedon.
This Tsar was one of the greatest knights of all knights that ever were--and no champion
of earth could ever conquer him.
You see, Alexander of Macedon loved warfare, and his army consisted entirely of knights.
Whoever he would war with, he would conquer--and he numbered under his sway all the kings of
the earth.
He went so far that soon he found himself at the edge of the world--where he discovered
such peoples that even he, however bold he was himself--felt afraid of them.
They were ferocious folk--fierce folk--who ate men alive.
They were folk that had only one eye--and that eye was on the forehead.
Folks with three eyes--with three legs, and who ran as fast as an arrow darts from the
bow.
They were the Gogs and Magogs--and no matter what Alexander did, the wild people would
run from him and disperse into thickets, or deep beneath mountains.
They were able to hide themselves forever against Alexander of Macedon--and so, fearing
that they would destroy him--he rolled one mountain over them, and then another like
a roof--and one the arch he place trumpets--so that when the wind blew, a fearsome roar was
raised into the skies, and the Gogs and Magos would know that evidently--Alexander of Macedon
must still be alive.
Now, this is obviously an allegory for Alexander the Great and a mysterious historical society
that could be any number of people--but, I mean, that’s folklore in action right there.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot--The Language of the Birds
And you know what, I just love this story--so I’m gonna just dive right in.
As the legend goes, in an ancient city, there was a merchant and his wife--and their son,
a young boy named Vasili--who was wise beyond his years.
One day, the three of them were lunching together--and in a cage, there was a Nightingale singing
so woefully that the merchant could not bare it.
The father said--if there was ever a man who could tell me what doom the Nightingale is
foreboding, I should like to meet him.
The young boy eyed his father, and said--”I know what the Nightingale sings, only I am
afraid to speak of it.”---“Speak out openly,'' said the mother and father.
Then, with tears in his eyes--the young boy Vasili told his mother and father than the
Nightingale is foretelling that a time and a season is coming where you will be my servants.
You, my father, will draw me water--and you my mother will give me the towel to wipe my
face and hands and eyes.
Well, this made his mother and father very angry--and so one night, they decided to get
rid of their child.
They built him a little boat, and in the dark of night--they put the sleeping boy into it
and let it sail out into the open sea.
Well, luckily for the boy--as he sailed off into the night, the Nightingale flew from
its cage and landed by the boys side.
The next morning, the young Vasili was picked up by a ship--where the captain of the ship
quickly grew fond of him and the strange, small bird that perched on his shoulder.
The young boy told the master of ships of a young storm about to hit the harbor that
evening, and that he should draw in his sails.
He didn’t listen to the young boy, and so his mast was destroyed.
It took many days to repair, and as they were about to leave once more, Vasili told the
captain that the Nightingale had foretold twelve bold pirate ships that would ambush
them out of the harbor--and this time, the master of ships believed the boy, and stayed
behind before giving sail.
Shortly afterwards, twelve pirate ships came sailing across the shore--and yet they were
safe in the harbour.
From then on, wherever the young boy Vasili would go--he would speak the truth of what
the Nightingale told him--and whoever believed him would find good fortune, and whoever would
laugh at him or be fearful of his prophecy, would find themselves suffering great tragedies
shortly afterward.
Well, eventually, after many years of roaming the world alongside his Nightingale--soon,
Vasili found himself a fully grown man, and he had married his way up through the royal
courts of the land, where he had inherited half a kingdom as a dowry.
One day, as he journeyed as a royal emissary to a familiar land--he found himself in a
lavish city as it’s honored guest.
As he woke, he informed the chamberlain that he wished to wash for the morning--and so
two figures entered the chamber, one to draw him water, and one to towel him as he washed.
The were both his father and his mother, and when they saw their son--they wept at the
sight of him.
They had been broken by back-breaking labour since they had abandoned him all those years
before.
The Nightingale sang--and Vasili took them both back with him to his own city, where
they lived a good life for the rest of their days.
Happy ending guys.
They’re rare, so we’ve gotta take them when we can.
Well, there we have it guys--our list for the Top 5 Most Terrifying Stories From Russian
Folklore.
What do you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today's video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
Midnight Warlock says--
You guys should do a video on Worm the web novel.
There are a whole lot of horrifying things in that universe.
Love your videos guys, peace out and much love.
--- UHHHHHH.
DUDE.
Midnight Warlock, my friend.
I absolutely adore Worm and Ward and the whole Parahumans cycle--but holy shit dude, I don’t
even think that I could make a dent in that series.
Really, that ones for you all to discover yourself--you can’t condense something like
that.
It’s not fair to anyone.
But it’s awesome, so thank you Midnight Warlock.
Well, there we have it--unfortunately that’s all we’ve got time for in today's video,
cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.