Alkonost

The name of the Alkonost came from a Greek demigoddess whose name was Alcyone. In Greek mythology, Alcyone was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher.{{cite web | last=Nina | first=Lena G. | title=Everything Slavic Related | url=http://slavic.tumblr.com/post/3618946836/the-alkonost-is-a-legendary-bird-in-slavic | publisher=self-published | via=Tumblr | format=blog | access-date=2011-05-27 | archive-date=2011-08-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827103151/http://slavic.tumblr.com/post/3618946836/the-alkonost-is-a-legendary-bird-in-slavic | url-status=dead }}{{better source|date=November 2016}}{{better source|date=November 2016}}

Alkonost makes amazingly beautiful sounds, and those who hear these sounds forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again.{{cite book|author = Torpie, Kate | year=2007 | title= Groovy Tubes: Mythical Beasts | edition = children's illustrated | series = Groovy Tube Books | asin = B002YX0E8Y | location= Norwalk, CT | publisher=InnovativeKids | pages=23 | url = https://www.amazon.com/Groovy-Tubes-Mythical-Beasts-Books/dp/B002YX0E8Y | access-date = 18 November 2016 }}{{better source|date=November 2016}}{{better source|date=November 2016}}{{cite web|url= http://mifologia.osipova-pr.com/soderjanie/slavyane/alkonost|title=Алконост|website=PR in mythology. Electronic encyclopedia}} She lives in the underworld with her counterpart, the Sirin.{{cite book|author1=Matthews, John |author2=Matthews, Caitlin | year=2010 | title= The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic| edition = children's illustrated | isbn = 978-0007365050 | location= London | publisher=HarperCollins UK | page= 16 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0007365055 | access-date = 18 November 2016 }}{{better source|date=November 2016}}{{better source|date=November 2016}} The Alkonost lays her eggs on a beach and then rolls them into the sea. When the Alkonost's eggs hatch, a thunderstorm sets in and the sea becomes so rough that it becomes impossible to traverse. She is also the sister of other birds from Slavic mythology, such as Rarog and Stratim.{{cite web|url= http://mifologia.osipova-pr.com/soderjanie/slavyane/alkonost|title=Алконост|website=PR in mythology. Electronic encyclopedia}}

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.{{cite book|last= Bobrov A. A.|title=Русский месяцеслов на все времена. Памятные даты, праздники, обряды, именины|trans-title=Russian months for all time. Memorable dates, holidays, ceremonies, name days|date=2004|publisher=Veche|location=M.|isbn=5-7838-1304-4|language=ru}}

{{gallery|mode=packed

|File:Lubok alkonost.JPG|Lubok picture

|File:Grebnev Alkonost.JPG|Postcard, 1908

|File:Vasnetsov Sirin Alkonost.jpg|Viktor Vasnetsov's Sirin (left) and Alkonost (right) Birds of Joy and Sorrow (1896)

|File:Будинок Російського селянського(дворянського) банку. Тепер СБУ.JPG|Alkonosts on frontage of the {{Interlanguage link|House of Noble and Peasant Bank|uk|Будинок Дворянського і Селянського банку}} in Poltava, Ukraine (1906-1909, burned in 1943, restored in 1948)

|File:Ivan Bilibin 099.jpg|A depiction of the Alkonost, by Ivan Bilibin (1905)}}

{{In popular culture|date=March 2022}}

• Alkonost is featured in the digital card game Mythgard (2019) as a rare minion in the Dreni faction.
• Croatian singer Nina Kraljić that performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 sings under the name of Alkonost of Balkan. {{cite web | url=https://eurosong.hr/objavljen-spot-za-pjesmu-rijeka/nina-kraljic-alkonost-of-balkan/ | title=Nina Kraljić Alkonost of Balkan }}
• Alkonost is a Russian epic folk metal band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia in 1995.

• Gamayun
• Harpy
• Sirin
• Uchek Langmeitong

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{{Slavic mythology}}

Category:Russian folklore

Category:Avian humanoids

Category:Human-headed mythical creatures

Category:Female legendary creatures

Category:Slavic legendary creatures

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