Tugarin
{{short description|Mythical creature}}
{{For|the Soviet football manager|Valentin Tugarin}}
File:Alyosha Popovich by Polevoy - page 14 - Alyosha & Tugarin.jpg and Tugarin, depiction by Klavdy Lebedev (1889)]]
Tugarin ({{langx|ru|Тугарин}}) is a mythical creature in Russian byliny and fairy tales, which personifies evil and cruelty and appears in a dragon-like form.{{sfn|Dixon-Kennedy|1998|p=283}} Tugarin is depicted as a giant and an opponent of Alyosha Popovich.{{sfn|Dixon-Kennedy|1998|p=283}}
Name forms and origins
Tugarin has many different names in Russian byliny and fairly tales, such as Zmey Tugarin, Zmey Tugaretin, Zmeishche Tugarishche, and others.
The name Tugarin as a corruption of Tugar-Khan ({{ill|Tugor-Khan|ru|Тугоркан}} of the Turkic Polovets),{{sfnp|Hapgood (tr.)|1886|p=345}} has been contested by an etymology from the root tug "grief".{{Efn|Related to verb tuzhit тужить "to grieve".}}{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|p=123}}{{citation|last=Prokofieff |first=Sergei O. |author-link=Sergei O. Prokofieff |title=The Spiritual Origins of Eastern Europe and the Future Mysteries of the Holy Grail |publisher=Temple Lodge Publishing |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_y3nDzXvcB8C&pg=PA488 |page=488|isbn=9780904693553 }} {{isbn|0904693554}}{{Refn|Каллаш, Этногр. Обозр., 1889, No 3, стр. 207, cited by Fasmer's Mythological Dictionary.}}
Description
Tugarin, although spoken of as a dragon, largely retains an "anthropomorphic" form, and is seen riding a horse.{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|p=122}} It appears he has wings with which to fly, and he soars to the air during the duel with Alyosha.Afanáśev, "Alyósha Popóvich", {{harvp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|p=168}} The flying wings are certainly a dragon-like trait, but some versions explain it away as a contraption made of paper, attached to his horse and not to himself."Alyosha Popovich, his Squire Yekim, and Tugarin", {{harvp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|pp=124–129}} and preface, p. 122
Tugarin was a great glutton, which is somewhat of a dragon-like trait.{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|p=122}} He could stuff a whole wheel of bread in each cheek, then deposit a whole swan on his tongue and swallow it.{{sfnp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|p=166}} This is similarly but somewhat differently sung in some versions of byliny.{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|p=126}}
He had a huge head,{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|p=124}} and in some texts, his severed head rolled off like a beer cauldron,{{sfnp|Alexander|1973|p=271}} or it rolled off like an onion, later to be described as big enough to serve as a cauldron.{{sfnp|Bailey|Ivanova|1998|pp=124–129}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Alyosha plays a game with it by tossing the head onto his spear. This is seenfby Alyosha's follower at a distance. In one version, the follower is called Marýshko, and he announces it is Alyosha playing with the "little head".{{sfnp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|p=169}}}}
The pagan Tugarin{{sfnp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|p=169}} is also portrayed as Roman Catholic rival of Prince Vladimir."[Turgarin] converted.. Vladimir's tsardom to the Latin faith" (#312, {{harvp|Haney|2015}}){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Of course, Aloyosha Popovich too has the "Son of Pope" byname, his father being called the "prebendary León" (or "Catheral priest Leontii") or "León the pope".{{sfnp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|p=166}}}}
=Nature myth=
It has been suggested by some commentators that Tugarin represents the element of fire, since in some versions of "Alyosha Popovich", Tugarin's torso is covered with fiery snakes which he uses as a weapon, attempts to strangle Alyosha with smoke, throw fiery sparks at him, scorch him with fire, and shoot firebrands ({{linktext|головни́}}, or ignited logs of wood) at him.
Tugarin may also represent the element of water, because their duel usually takes place near a river (usually the Safat River). However, Tugarin is defeated due to rain, which spoils his papery wings.
Combat with Alyosha
{{More|Alyosha Popovich}}
Tugarin Zmeyevich is best known from the bylina about his duel with Alyosha Popovich, which comes in many different versions. The story is also found in the prose fairytale version."Alyósha Popóvich", {{harvp|Magnus (tr.)|1916|pp=165–169}}Afanas'ev, "312. Alyosha Popovich", {{harvp|Haney|2015}}
In some versions, they two meet for the duel at Safat River, where they pitch pavilions.{{sfnp|Hapgood (tr.)|1886|p=89}} Tugarin roars in a booming voice,{{sfnp|Hapgood (tr.)|1886|p=89}} or else hisses like a snake.
He is flying in the sky flapping his paper-like wings, which fail him when it rains. Alyosha Popovich wins the duel, cuts Tugarin's body into pieces and scatters them across the field.
Some bylinas mention Tugarin's intimate relations with the wife of Prince Vladimir. When she finds out about his death, she turns sad and reproaches Alyosha Popovich for separating her from her "dear friend".
Other dragons
Tugarin Zmeyevich is a chronical character of an ancient dragon-fighting myth, related to Zmey Gorynych ({{Langx|ru|“Змей Горыныч”}}, {{Langx|uk|“Змій Горинич”}}), Fiery Dragon ({{Langx|ru|“Огненный Змей”}}) etc.
Modern depictions
The legend of Tugarin Zmeyevich is mentioned in the novel The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros, with the character Yakov imagining the antisemitic murderer of his family as Tugarin. The dragon is portrayed as an amalgamation of burned corpses.{{Cite book |last=Polydoros |first=Aden |title=The City Beautiful |publisher=Inkyard Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-335-40250-9 |language=en}}
Explanatory notes
{{notelist}}
References
;Citations
{{reflist|refs=
[http://enc-dic.com/fasmer/Tugarin-709.html "Тугарин"] in Fasmer's Mythological Dictionary
}}
;Bibliography
{{Refbegin}}
;texts
- {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Haney|2015}} |editor-last=Haney |editor-first=Jack V. |author=Afanasʹev |title=The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev |volume=2 |location= |chapter=#312 Alyosha Popovich |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2015 |first=Aleksandr Nikolaevich |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkuXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT641 |isbn=978-1-4968-0275-0}}
- {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Magnus (tr.)|1916}} |translator-last=Magnus |translator-first=Leonard Arthur|translator-link=Leonard Arthur Magnus |author=Afanasyev |title=Russian Folk-tales |edition=2nd |location=New York |publisher=E.P. Dutton |year=1916 |first=Aleksandr Nikolaevich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elI_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA165 |pages=165–169}}
- {{cite book |editor-last=Bailey |editor-first=James |editor-last2=Ivanova |editor-first2=Tatʹiana Grigorʹevna |title=Anthology of Russian Folk Epics (Folklores and folk cultures of Eastern Europe) |location=Armonk, New York |page=122 |oclc=940533848 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe Inc. |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=37BmHdTrZhAC&pg=PA122 |isbn=0-585-26579-8}}
- {{cite book |oclc=560334961 |ref={{SfnRef|Hapgood (tr.)|1886}} |last=Hapgood |first=Isabel Florence |title=The Epic Songs of Russia |location=Armonk, New York |publisher=C. Scribner's Sons |year=1886 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u-UGAAAAQAAJ |pages=88–}}
;studies
- {{citation |last=Alexander |first=Alex Edward |title=Bylina and Fairy Tale: The Origin of Russian Heroic Poetry |location=The Hague |publisher=Mouton |oclc=164086156 |year=1973 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pgo_AQAAIAAJ}}
- {{cite book |last1=Dixon-Kennedy |first1=Mike |title=Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend |date=8 December 1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-57607-487-9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Russian_and_Slavic_Myth/S73OEAAAQBAJ |language=en |page=283 |chapter=Tugarin}}
{{Refend}}
{{Slavmyth}}
Category:Russian folklore characters
Category:Characters in bylinas