Sirin

Sirin (Russian: Сирин) is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology.[1] According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrates River.[2][3]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Folklore
* 3 Gallery
* 4 In popular culture
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 Sources
* 8 External links

## History

The legend of Sirin might have been introduced to the Rus' by Persian merchants in the 8th–9th centuries. In the cities of Chersonesos and Kiev she is often found on pottery, golden pendants, even on the borders of Gospel books of the 10th–12th centuries. Due to this history, Russian culture has experienced a very strong correlation with the Byzantine Empire through its steppes, the Volga River and Dnieper River.[4][5][6]Template:Relevance Pomors often depicted Sirin on the illustrations in the Book of Genesis as birds sitting in paradise trees.[2]

Later, in the 17th–18th centuries, the image of Sirin changed and she started to symbolize world harmony (as she lives near paradise). People in those times believed only happy people could hear a Sirin, while only very few could see one because she is as fast and difficult to catch as human happiness. She symbolizes eternal joy and heavenly happiness.[7]

## Folklore

This half-woman half-bird is directly based on the later folklore about sirens.[3][8][9] She was usually portrayed wearing a crown or with a nimbus.[10] Sirin sang beautiful songs to the saints, foretelling future blisses. The bird was dangerous. Men who heard her would forget everything on earth, follow her, and ultimately die. People would attempt to save themselves from Sirin by shooting cannons, ringing bells and making other loud noises to scare the bird off.[8]

According to folk tales, at the morning of the Apple Feast of the Saviour day, Sirin flies into the apple orchard and cries sadly. In the afternoon, the Alkonost flies to this place, beginning to rejoice and laugh. Alkonost brushes dew from her wings, granting healing powers to all fruits on the tree she is sitting on.[11]

Sometimes Sirin is seen as a metaphor for God's word going into the soul of a man. Sometimes she is seen as a metaphor of heretics tempting the weak. Sometimes Sirin was considered equivalent to the Wila. In Russian folklore, Sirin was mixed with the revered religious writer Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Thus, peasant lyrists such as Nikolay Klyuev often used Sirin as a synonym for poet.[2]

## Gallery

* Sirin (postcard) (1908)

* Sirin Russian lubok print, 19th century

* Sirin Russian lubok print, 19th century

* Viktor Vasnetsov. Sirin (left) and Alkonost (right) Birds of Joy and Sorrow (1896)

## In popular culture

This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, providing citations to reliable, secondary sources, rather than simply listing appearances. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2022)

|

* Alternative band Birds of Tokyo have a track named "Sirin" on their March Fires Album.
* Author Vladimir Nabokov published under the pseudonym Sirin.
* A Moog synthesizer uses the name "Sirin: Analog Messenger of Joy".
* The Chinese Mobile game Honkai Impact 3rd features a Slavic girl from Belarus named Sirin, as one of the game's major antagonists.
* "Songbird" Sirin is a female companion in the game Tyranny, who enchants people's minds with her singing.
* The progressive folk artist Marjana Semkina, lead singer of the duo iamthemorning released her second solo album "Sirin" in 2024, describing the mythical bird as a "harbinger of bad luck and death."

## See also

* Alkonost
* Gamayun

## References

1. ↑ Dixon-Kennedy 1998, p. 258.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ru). http://bestiary.us/sirin.php.Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=http://bestiary.us/sirin.php&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Sirin">
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ru). http://www.newacropol.ru/activity/volonter/ecology/birds/stbirds/.Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=http://www.newacropol.ru/activity/volonter/ecology/birds/stbirds/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Sirin">
4. ↑ John Zumerchik; Steven L. Danver (2010). Seas and waterways of the world: an encyclopedia of history, uses, and issues.. ABC-CLIO. pp. 236–237. OCLC 1054962639.
5. ↑ "Kiev and the Byzantine Legacy of Russia" (in en). https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/kiev.
6. ↑ Maas, Michael (2018). "How the Steppes Became Byzantine" (in en). Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, ca. 250–750. pp. 19–34. doi:10.1017/9781316146040.004. ISBN 9781316146040. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/empires-and-exchanges-in-eurasian-late-antiquity/how-the-steppes-became-byzantine/DA2DE636796F3EF1134718CB89FF50D4. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
7. ↑ "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ru). http://slavonian.ru/superstition/index14.php.Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=http://slavonian.ru/superstition/index14.php&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Sirin">
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Boguslawski, Alexander (1999). "RELIGIOUS LUBOK". http://tars.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/Lubok/lubrelig.html.
9. ↑ "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ru). http://dreamworlds.ru/intersnosti/3431-personazhi-slavjanskojj-mifologii.html.Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=http://dreamworlds.ru/intersnosti/3431-personazhi-slavjanskojj-mifologii.html&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Sirin">
10. ↑ Hilton, Alison (1995). Russian folk art. Indiana University Press. pp. 144. ISBN 978-0-253-32753-6. https://archive.org/details/russianfolkart00hilt. "Sirin bird of paradise."
11. ↑ Bobrov A. A. (2004) (in ru). Русский месяцеслов на все времена. Памятные даты, праздники, обряды, именины. M.: Veche. ISBN 5-7838-1304-4.

## Sources

* Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (8 December 1998). "Sirin" (in en). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-57607-487-9. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Russian_and_Slavic_Myth/S73OEAAAQBAJ.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Slavic folklore

Deities|

* Dažbog
* Belobog1
* Chernobog
* Devana1
* Hors
* Kresnik
* Jarilo
* Mat Zemlya
* Lada1
* Marzanna
* Mokosh
* Niya2
* Perun
* Porenut
* Porewit
* Radegast1
* Rod2
* Rugiewit
* Stribog
* Svarog1
* Svetovid
* Triglav
* Veles
* Zorya
* Živa

Legendary heroes|

* Alyosha Popovich
* Burislav
* Damned Jerina
* Dobrynya Nikitich
* Dragon of Bosnia
* Ilya Muromets
* Ivan Kosančić
* Ivan Tsarevich
* Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv
* Lech, Czech, and Rus
* Libuše
* Mikula Selyaninovich
* Mila Gojsalić
* Milan Toplica
* Miloš Obilić
* Misizla
* Nikita the Tanner
* Popiel
* Prince Marko
* Sadko
* Solovey-Razboynik
* Svyatogor
* Vasilisa the Beautiful
* Volga Svyatoslavich

Unquiet dead|

* Vila
* Drekavac
* Kikimora
* Mavka
* Upyr

Place spirits|

* Bannik
* Bolotnik
* Domovoy
* Dvorovoi
* Lady Midday
* Leshy
* Ovinnik
* Polevik
* Vodyanoy
* Shubin

Entities|

* Ala
* Alkonost
* Baba Yaga
* Babay
* Baš Čelik
* Bauk
* Berehynia
* Bies
* Black Arab
* Błędnica
* Blud
* Boginki
* Bukavac
* Chernava
* Cikavac
* Chort
* Čuma
* Dola
* Dukljan
* Dziwożona
* Fern flower-Chervona Ruta
* Firebird
* Gamayun
* Ispolin
* Karzełek
* Koschei
* Krsnik
* Likho
* Likhoradka
* Mare
* Meduza
* Nav
* Nocnitsa
* Psoglav
* Raróg
* Rahmans
* Raskovnik
* Rusalka
* Samodiva
* Simargl
* Sirin
* Shishiga
* Skrzak
* Strzyga
* Stuhać
* Sudice
* Tintilinić
* Topielec
* Ved
* Vesna
* Zduhać
* Zmey

Ritual figures|

* Baba Marta
* German
* Dodola
* Koliada
* Kupala
* Marzanna
* Maslenitsa
* Jarilo

Mythological places|

* Kingdom of Opona
* Buyan
* Vyraj
* Kitezh
* Lukomorye

Related topics|

* Book of Veles
* Films based on Slavic mythology
* Russian traditions and superstitions
* Ukrainian folklore
* Serbian folk astronomy
* Slavic fairies
* Slavic fantasy
* Slavic paganism
* Bogatyr
* Volkhv

Notes: 1 historicity of the deity is dubious; 2 the deity status is dubious.

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirin. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Unsolved:Sirin&oldid=3992960"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template