Koschei
Koschei (), often given the epithet "the Immortal", or "the Deathless" (), is an archetypal male antagonist in Russian folklore. The most common feature of tales involving Koschei is a spell which prevents him from being killed. He hides his soul inside nested objects to protect it. For example, the soul (or in the tales, it is usually called "death") may be hidden in the needle that is hidden inside the egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is in the chest, the chest is buried or chained up on a far island . Usually he takes the role of a malevolent rival father figure, who competes for (or entraps) a male hero's love interest. The origin of the tales is unknown. The archetype may contain elements derived from the 12th-century pagan Cuman-Kipchak (Polovtsian) leader Khan Konchak, who is recorded in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; over time a balanced view of the non-Christian Cuman Khan may have been distorted or caricatured by Christian Slavic writers. Historicity and folk origins. By at least the 18th century, and likely earlier, Koschei's legend had been appearing in Slavic tales. For  a long period no connection was made with any historical character. Origin in Khan Konchak. The origin of the tale may be related to the Polovtsian (Cuman) leader Khan Konchak, who dates from the 12th century. In "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" Konchak is referred to as a koshey (slave). Konchak is thought to have come/returned from Georgia (the Caucasus) to the steppe c.1126–1130; by c.1172 he is described in Russian chronicles as a leader of the Polovtsi, and as taking part in an uprising. There is not enough information to reconstruct further details of Konchak's appearance  or nature from historical sources; though unusual features or abnormalities were usually recorded (often as epithets) by chroniclers, none are recorded for Konchuk. The legendary love of gold of Koschei is speculated to be a distorted record of Konchak's role as the keeper of the Kosh's resources. Koschei's epithet "the immortal" may be a reference to Konchak's longevity. He is last recorded in Russian chronicles during the 1203 capture of Kiev, if the record is correct this gives Konchak an unusually long life – possibly over 100 years – for the time this would have been over six  generations. Koschei's life-protecting spell may be derived from traditional Turkic amulets, not only were these egg-shaped, but they would often contain arrowheads (cf. the needle in Koschei's egg). It is thought that many of the negative aspects of Koschei's character are distortions of a more nuanced relationship of Khan Konchak with the Christian Slavs, such as his rescuing of Prince Igor from captivity, or the marriage between Igor's son and Konchak's daughter. Konchak, as a pagan, could have been demonised over time as a stereotypical villain. Naming and etymology. In the dictionary of  V. I. Dal, the name Kashchei is derived from the verb “cast” - to harm, to dirty: “probably from the word to cast, but remade into koshchei, from bone, meaning a man exhausted by excessive thinness” Vasmer notes that the word "koshchei" has two meanings that have different etymologies: "thin, skinny person, walking skeleton" or "miser" - the origin of the word "bone". Old Russian "youth, boy, captive, slave" from the Turkic košči "slave", in turn from koš "camp, parking lot". Koschei, as the name of the hero of a fairy tale and as a designation for a skinny person, Max Vasmer  in his dictionary considers the original Slavic word (homonym) and associates with the word bone (common Slavic * kostь), that is, it is an adjective form koštіі (nominative adjective in the nominative case singular), declining according to the type "God". Numerous variant names and spellings have been given to Koschei – these include "Kashchei", "Koshchai", "Kashshei", "Kovshei", "Kosh", "Kashch", "Kashel", "Kostei", "Kostsei", "Kashshui", "Kozel", "Koz'olok", "Korachun", "Korchun bessmertnyi", "Kot bezsmertnyi", "Kot Bezmertnyi", "Kostii bezdushnyi"; in bylinas he also appears as "Koshcheiushko", "Koshcheg", "Koshcherishcho", "Koshchui", "Koshel". "Kachtcheï" is the standard French transliteration. The term "Koshey" appears in Slavic chronicles as early as the  12th century to refer to an officer or official during a military campaign. Similar terms include the Ukrainian "Кошовий" (Koshovyi) for the head of the 'Kish' (military) (see also Kosh otaman.) In Old Russian 'Kosh' means a camp, while in Belarussian a similar term means 'to camp' and in Turkic languages a similar term means 'a wanderer'. The use as a personal name is recorded as early as the 15th century on Novogrodian birch bark manuscripts. In "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" a similar sounding term is used, recorded being inscribed on coins, deriving from the Turkic for 'captive ' or 'slave'. The same term also appears in the Ipatiev Chronicle, meaning 'captive'. A second mention of the term is made in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" when Igor is captured by the Polovtsi; this event is recorded as a riddle: "And here Prince Igor exchanged his golden saddle of a prince for the saddle of a Koshey (slave)." Nikolai Novikov also suggested the etymological origin of "koshchii" meaning "youth" or "boy" or "captive", "slave", or "servant". The interpretation of "captive" is interesting because Koschei appears initially as a captive in some tales. In folk tales. Koschei is a  common antihero in east-Slavic folk tales. Often tales involving him are of the type AT 302 "The Giant Without A Heart" (see Aarne–Thompson classification systems); and he also appears in tales resembling type AT 313 "The Magic Flight". He usually functions as the antagonist or rival to a hero. Love rivalry and related themes are common. The typical feature of tales concerning Koschei is his protection against being killed (AT 302) – to do so he has hidden his soul inside an egg, and further nested the egg inside various animals, and then in protective containers and places. In  other tales, Koschei can cast a sleep spell that can be broken by playing an enchanted gusli. Depending on the tale he has different characteristics: he may ride a three- or seven-legged horse; may have tusks or fangs; and may possess a variety of different magic objects (like cloaks and rings) that a hero is sent to obtain; or he may have other magic powers. In one tale he has eyelids so heavy he requires servants to lift them (cf. the Celtic Balor or Ysbaddaden, or Serbian Vy). Psychologically, Koschei can represent an initially benevolent, but later malevolent, father  (to a bride) figure. The parallel female figure, Baba Yaga, as a rule does not appear in the same tale with Koschei, though exceptions exists where both appear together as a married couple, or as siblings. Sometimes, Baba Yaga, as an old woman figure appears in tales along with Koschei as his mother or aunt. Marya Morevna. In a tale also known as "The Death of Koschei the Deathless", Ivan Tsarevitch encounters Koschei chained in his wife's (Marya Morevna's) dungeon. He releases and revives Koschei, but Koschei abducts Marya. Ivan goes to rescue Marya several times, but Koschei 's swift horse allows him to easily catch up with the escaping lovers; each time the magical horse informs Koschei that he will be able to carry out several activities first and still be able to catch up. After the third unsuccessful escape, Koschei cuts up Ivan and throws his parts into the sea in a barrel. Ivan is revived with the aid of the water of life. He seeks Baba Yaga for a suitably swift horse. After trials he steals a horse and rescues Marya. Tsarevich Petr and The Wizard. Tsar Bel-Belianin's wife the Tzaritza is abducted  by Koschei (the Wizard). The Tsar's three sons attempt to rescue her. The first two fail to reach the wizard's palace, but the third, Petr, succeeds. He reaches the Tzaritza, conceals himself, and learns how the wizard hides his life. Initially he lies, but the third time he reveals it is in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, that nests in a hollow log, that floats in a pond, found in a forest on the island of Bouyan. Petr seeks the egg, freeing animals along the way – on coming to Bouyan the freed animals help him  catch the wizard's creatures and obtain the egg. He returns to the wizard's domain and kills him by squeezing the egg – every action on the egg is mirrored on the wizard's body. The Snake Princess. In "The Snake Princess" (Russian "Царевна-змея"), Koschei turns a princess who does not want to marry him into a snake. Ivan Sosnovich. Koschei hears of three beauties in a kingdom. He kills two and wounds a third, puts the kingdom to sleep (petrifies), and abducts the princesses. Ivan Sosnovich (Russian "Иван Соснович") learns of Koschei's weakness: an egg in a  box hidden under a mountain, so he digs up the whole mountain, finds the egg box and smashes it, and rescues the princess. He also appears as a miser in Pushkin's Ruslan and Ludmila, though this interpretation does not reflect previous folk tale representations. Related folklore figures. The Serbian Baš Čelik (Head of Steel); Hungarian 'Lead-Headed Monk'; and Slovak 'Iron Monk' also all hide their weakness inside a series of nested animals.