Skip to content
Koshchei the Deathless, a MythSource painting
Slavic

Koshchei the Deathless

01Identity

Koshchei the Deathless in Slavic tradition

In Ralston's Russian Folk-Tales, Koshchei appears in two separate episodes. In one, Prince Ivan urges Marya Morevna to leave while Koshchei is out of sight. Koshchei later catches Ivan, but the prince's horse strikes him and Ivan finishes the fight with a club. The couple leave for their own realm. In another tale, Koshchei tells Ivan that his death lies within an egg, hidden inside a duck, a hare and a casket beneath an oak. Ivan reaches the oak with help from animals he had spared. The duck escapes, but the crow helps him recover it. Later, Ivan drops the egg once into the sea, and the pike returns it. When Ivan squeezes the egg, Koshchei bends double. Ivan breaks it, and Koshchei dies. Ralston keeps these events in separate stories, with different routes to Koshchei's death.

SourceRussian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873): Source scan (printed pagination), pp. 68, 70, 90, 96, 180, 210· Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873): Source scan (printed pagination), pp. 67, 103–105, 179, 181

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Koshchei the Deathless

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

Marya Morevna and Prince Ivan escape Koshchei

While Koshchei was out of sight, Prince Ivan urged Marya Morevna to leave with him. They prepared and fled together. After a time Koshchei caught up with Ivan and landed. He held a sharp sword and meant to kill the prince there. Ivan's horse struck Koshchei powerfully with its hoof, cracking his skull. Ivan then used a club to end the fight.

With Koshchei dead, his body was reduced to ash. The couple set out again. Marya rode the horse Koshchei had used, while Ivan took a separate mount. They visited the Raven, the Eagle and the Falcon in turn. At those meetings, their hosts made clear that Ivan's return had surprised them. Their words also acknowledged the effort that brought him back. They praised Marya's beauty and welcomed the pair with feasts. Marya and Ivan then went to their own realm.

Marya Morevna and Prince Ivan escape Koshchei, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-09-28

  1. 1Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1
  2. 2Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1

Koshchei's hidden death and Prince Ivan's rescue

Prince Ivan asked Koshchei where his death lay. Koshchei described it inside an egg, which lay inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a casket beneath an oak. Ivan travelled to the oak. On the way he spared a crow and a young pike, and a wolf later caught the hare that escaped from the opened casket. The pike stretched across the sea, and Ivan crossed over her back to reach the oak.

The duck escaped when Ivan opened the hare. The crow and her young caught it and returned it to him. Ivan held the egg, but dropped it into the sea while washing it. The water grew violent, and the pike brought the egg back. Ivan crossed the water and went to his mother, who hid him again. When Koshchei arrived, Ivan squeezed the egg, making Koshchei bend double. Ivan then came out of hiding and showed him the egg. Koshchei pleaded for his life and offered friendship, but Ivan broke the egg. Koshchei died, and Ivan and his mother set out for home.

Koshchei's hidden death and Prince Ivan's rescue, a MythSource painting of the scene

4 sources· checked 2026-09-28

  1. 1Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1
  2. 2Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1
  3. 3Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1
  4. 4Russian Folk-Tales (W. R. S. Ralston, 1873)T1