Sirin

Two fabulous magical birds, on the left the Sirin , on the right an Alkonost . ( Wiktor Wasnezow , 1896 )

Sirin ( Russian Сирин ) is the name of a legendary figure in Russian popular belief . They are birds that look like owls , but have the head and chest of a beautiful woman.

features

According to the story, these beings lived in Indian lands near the Garden of Eden or in the area around the Euphrates . These half-creatures show distant reference to the Greek tales of the sirens . The sirin sang songs about future joys for the sacred, but for mortals they were dangerous; whoever listened to their songs forgot everything earthly, followed the Sirin and ran to death. It was said that loud noises, such as cannon shots or the ringing of bells, should deter the animals.

The Sirin are the magical birds of grief and sorrow. In contrast to this are the Alkonost , the birds of luck and hope. The Sirin tend to be angry with people, but the Alkonost are not.

interpretation

The sirin are sometimes viewed as a metaphor for the word of God and how it gets into the soul of man. At other times they are the metaphor for a heretic who threatens to seduce the weak. The beings have also been equated with the sirens or the Polish wila (fairy-like beings).

In Russian popular belief, "Sirin" was associated with the religious scribe, St. Ephram the Syrian, who was admired by many . This is why rural lyricists such as Nikolai Kliuew used "Sirin" as a synonym for " poet ".

The Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov used the pseudonym "Sirin" in his Russian work.