Koschei the Deathless
Koschei can't be killed, because his death isn't in his body. It's hidden in a needle, in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, in an iron chest, buried under an oak on an island.
What was reported
Koschei the Deathless is one of the great villains of Russian folk tales: a gaunt old sorcerer, sometimes a king, who kidnaps a hero's bride and carries her off to his kingdom.
He can't be harmed in battle, because he has hidden his death far away: at the point of a needle, inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, locked in an iron chest buried under a great oak on the island of Buyan. The hero must find each one, and break the needle.
Explanations offered
Koschei is a folk figure, an example of the 'giant without a heart in his body' found in tales across Europe. He appears in Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird and in countless retellings.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- As told across Russia
- Witnesses
- Russian folk tales
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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