#Zmey

[russianfolklore]

Viktor Britvin's illustration for tale "Pokatigoroshek".

Pokatigoroshek (also Katigoroshek, Ivan-Goroshko) is a bogatyr that can be found in Belorussian, Russian and Ukrainian tales.

Pokatigoroshek is a smaller guy on the pic btw. The dude with seven heads is a zmei (slavic dragon or serpent).

[gracelyngrausamkeit]

The Zmey is another one of the mythical creatures you cannot miss if you read Bulgarian folk tales and is basically our take on a dragon. While usually depicted as giant flying lizards (who would have thought), zmey can sometimes shapeshift into humans.

Some tales depict zmey as honorable protectors who ward villagers from malicious beings. Others, however, imagine them as notorious kidnappers or even maneaters.

One popular fairy tale – “The Zmey and the Princess” - sees an elderly couple adopt a young zmey who later marries the local princess.

[deadwolfonfire]

Storybook's draconic trinity

[lunaeclips]

If there are any that you have questions about, feel free to ask.

you may use this as a reference sheet, just please don’t steal it.

[dwollsadventures]

This page was drawn after I read A Study of Dragons of Eastern Europe by Ronesa Aveela. Here are some notes for context on the designs:

Lamya - Body is reptilian and huge with scarlet or yellow scales. Possesses webbed wings and dog-like heads (3/7/9) with horns and jaws wide enough to swallow a buffalo whole

Smok - Derived from ordinary snakes that, after incredibly long lives, grow to enormous sizes

Zmey - As they fly, sparks form from their scales

Balaur [which is Romanian, not Slavic] - Comes from a snake that fulfills a certain task (not being seen, not biting a human, not letting sun fall on it, etc.), Three types, living in the skies (come down to drink water, which is stored in the tail), land, or water

I really liked the design for the sky balaur, which stands out compared to the more generic land and water varieties. The water-filled tail acting as a pressure sprayer is also a super cool idea. The lamya design was refined into this drawing with Drake.

[yikuaidanggao]

I do occasionally show up in people’s nightmares.

- Abe Mazur

[twilight-mademegay]

Janine: if you ever need anything out there, call this number.

Rose: Hey who is this?

Janine: Your father.

Me: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN NOW ENTERING THE STAGE ZMEY!!!

[draconesmundi]

I might be splitting my dragons of the world guide via geography (where dragons live) rather than taxonomy (who they are related to)

I will make a few polls for bits I am unsure about so -

[atomiciva]

Clean-up shots I did for Episode 3 of Unicorn Warriors Eternal! 🦄

[rabemar]

Я нарисовала коллекцию Царевен Союзмультфильма по аналогии с Принцессами Диснея. Часть четвёртая. В этом посте у меня Царевны из мультфильмов: I drew a collection of Soyuzmultfilm Princesses similar to the Disney Princesses. In this post (Part 4) I have Princesses from cartoons: «Конёк-Горбунок» 1947 (The Little Humpbacked Horse) «Сказка сказывается» 1970 (The Tale is Told) «Сказка о царе Салтане» 1984 (The Tale of Tsar Saltan) «Последняя невеста Змея Горыныча» 1978 (The Last Bride of Zmey Gorynych) «Молодильные яблоки» 1974 (Apples Make You Young)

[corvidae1917]

Zemifon, the elusive Fakemon

Name etymology: Zmei, a dragon from Slavic mythology + myth + gryphon

Type: Dragon/Flying

Many of these Pokemon live at the top of the mountains of Northern Yurosa, in crevices and caves so difficult to reach that its existence was doubted by Pokemon professors until 20 years ago. For this reason they are cautious around humans and can be dangerous to approach without appropriate preparation, especially when their mothers are nearby. Their hostility was the reason why the first writers and poets who wrote of it, in what used to be called legends, portrayed it as malevolent or even as an evil spirit.

This Fakemon was originally drawn 3 years ago as Corwyth, and it was half-crow rather than half-eagle. It was also more of a wyvern than a traditional dragon.

In the current design, the dragon half’s form was based mostly on the Welsh dragon, although the idea for the dragon half came from European dragons as a whole, especially Zmei, a Slavic mythical creature. Although, Zmei’s extra heads are too reminiscient of Hydreigon; neither Zemifon or its evolved form have more than one head. The tail is supposed to look sort of gen 1-ish?? I added lines to make it resemble Nidoking’s tail. The eagle half was made to look still somewhat lion-like. The head is fluffy and also resembles the wings of an eagle as depicted on the coats-of-arms of various countries.

It is loosely inspired by Azhdaya, a demonic version of Zmei from Slavic mythology (again, without the extra heads). Some depictions of Azhdaya appear to show it with partially feathered (but still webbed) wings, and this was what originally made me think of the gryphon-dragon idea. I originally wanted it to be part-wyvern, but decided to separate the wings from the front legs as was more similar to a gryphon.

[russianfolklore]

Nikolai Vorobyov's illustration for russian epic poem (bylina) about Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmeyevich.

Alyosha Popovich is a bogatyr (a medieval knight-errant) and the youngest of the three main bogatyrs, the other two being Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets.

In byliny (ballads), he is described as a clever-minded priest's son who wins by tricking and outsmarting his foes. He defeated the dragon Tugarin Zmeyevich by trickery.

[defrostedvertebrae]

What are Zmei?

ORIGINS

In short, Zmei (singular zmeu, fem. zmeoaică) / змей are draconic or serpent-like beings of eastern-european folklore. Sometimes they are depicted as a human-like character with dragon-like traits. The origin of the word "zmeu" comes from Russian , zmei being the the masculine form of zmeya, a feminine noun, meaning "snake".

They may be male or female; in stories for instance, only the male dragons will masquerade as a human man to capture or captivate a princess or a maiden as a love interest.

Their most significant power is that of shapeshifting; morphing into human, animal, or even object forms. They rely on this for survival, but may also find joy in this ability. Both dragons and zmei are united by the symbolism of fire; the dragon breathing it and the zmeu turning into it. Zmei are crreatures of both wrath and joviality; depending mostly on circumstance.

In terms of origin; at least in romanian folklore; they are known to either be born by zmei, or having been turned into zmei from balauri (multi-headed dragons). Balauri are closer to animality, while zmei closer to sapience. This change from one to the other happens with the help of a solomonar (mage) and at the balaur's request and will; for whatever reason that may be.

To get there, the dragon has to pass some initiation tests, at the end of which they are then allowed to go to the Other Realm where he can shed his old appearance and become a zmeu.

ABOUT

In base appearance, zmei can have many heads or just one, as well as either 4 or 2 wings. Sometimes human folklore depict them as gigants, with an orc-like face more than dragon. Base forms as well as powers and abilities vary, zome zmei being powerful enough to steal the sun and the moon from the sky.

In diet they are known to have a taste for human flesh, though in its lack zmei are known to have cultivated their own food; being (more or less) omnivores. They are known to take great care of what is theirs and stray away from filth. They are also known to mix in human blood with wine to drink. (which if you ask me is pretty metal)

Regardless of the way they are viewed in EE folklore, they are nonetheless creatures with inteligence, cunning and determination; with a taste for life and all its joys. From an inside perspective, i suspect a lot of us are prone to bitterness and hatred; mostly due to the irreversibility of the change from balaur to zmeu and the possible regrets one draconic being may have upon being met with the realities of what it means to give up your form for an uncertain future in which you don't know how humans might treat you.

As for zmei that were born in families of zmei; from a mythology standpoint those are known to live in palaces and houses with their own farmland; livestock and the like. In some stories zmei born by zmei tend to organise very well as a kind, forming their own community.

VIEWS ON ZMEI IN EASTERN EUROPEAN FOLKLORE

In local (Romanian) folklore, similar to Serbian folklore, they are generally portrayed as evil and violent, incorporations of greed and hate; although it is not the case across all of eastern europe.

In Bulgarian stories, the zmei is sometimes described as a scale-covered serpent-like creature with four legs and bat's wings, at other times as half-man, half-snake, with wings and a fish-like tail.

In most Macedonian tales and folk songs they are described as extremely intelligent, having hypnotizing eyes. They were also known as guardians of the territory, and would even protect the people in it. Hostile behaviour was shown if another zmeu comes into his territory.

In Russia and Ukraine zmei have three to twelve heads, Tugarin Zmeyevich (literally: "Tugarin Dragon-son"), being a man-like dragon who appears in Russian (or Kievan Rus) heroic literature.

[deadwolfonfire]

Sárkan

New addition to the Ethereal bestiary OCs. My obsession with dragon sphinxes never ends.

[desolatus]

Dragon Spirit, C. 2016

Uldus Bakhtiozina

[grizzersmamma]

Hi I love your Nikto fic! Can you tell us what a zmei is though? I've never heard of one before

That is a most excellent question, anon!

Not too many people seem to know what a Zmei is, but that's understandable, it's a bit of a more niche legend. Obviously, if you don't want any details spoiled for the fic at all then you're more than welcome to skip this ask, but it'll be a while before it's fully explained in the main story. Honestly, it's not much of a spoiler since I've already touched on it a bit in some of the baby fics.

I'll be mentioning some concepts and characters from @ghouljams (obviously lol) so head up for that!

To begin, Nikto isn't a fae himself, despite this being the fae AU. I looked at different types of fae and faeries found in Russia and the surrounding areas, but nothing really jumped out at me until I came across the legend of the Zmei.

In Russian mythology, the Zmei is a three headed hydra who typically features as dangerous, malevolent creature, intent on tricking and killing humans. There's multiple stories that have the Zmei as the antagonist and stories vary about his exact appearance, but it's typically a large, black, three headed hydra - sometimes he can breathe fire, sometimes lightning - and can vary in size from a large horse to a mountain.

As mentioned by Ghoul in one of their asks, dragons and their kin were probably a thing in the past, but have since died off because of how difficult it would be for them to hide among humans. However! An important part of the Zmei legend, is that he can change his form from a hydra to a human accompanied by a black dog, a raven/crow, and a large black stallion.

In my version, the animals are extensions of Nikto himself. Each of the three heads are all Nikto, just different parts of his mind, which I found fitting given his potential DID. When in a human form, these animals are just those other parts of his mind. The human is Nikto, the dog is Nikto, the crow is Nikto and the horse is Nikto.

Since Zmei is capable of becoming human, the lack of other dragons/wyverns/hydras in the world doesn't prevent him from reproducing, hence how Nikto was born: his sire was Zmei and his dam a young Russian woman. Hence the title of the fic, Son of Zmei.

Their human forms aren't perfect - Nikto has some black scales on most of his body, including his face, which is why he prefers to wear a mask and clothes that cover every inch of his body. He's inherited the same ego and sense of superiority that most hydras have, along with a highly possessive and obsessive nature. He collects anything and everything that he finds interesting and, recently, he's found his attention drawn to the cute human running the antiques store.

The Zmei is actually the main inspiration for the design of King Ghidorah from Godzilla! So, just think of that bad boy and you'll get an idea of what Nikto looks like in his proper form.

Hope that answers some of your questions!