Zmey Gorynych

The tale of Zmey Gorynych

Zmey Gorynych is the most famous dragon of Russian folk tales: a huge serpent with three heads (in some tellings six, nine or even twelve), iron claws and wings that blot out the sun. His name means "the serpent son of the mountain", and he lives in the Sorochinsky Mountains or in caves beyond the fiery river Smorodina. Over that river stands the Kalinov Bridge, the border between the world of the living and the world of monsters, and that bridge is where heroes come to fight him.

He breathes fire, burns villages, carries off princesses and keeps prisoners chained in his caves. When one of his heads is cut off, it often grows back, so the hero must be quick, or burn the wound, or cut all three at once.

Dobrynya and the dragon

The best-known story is the bylina (an epic song) of Dobrynya Nikitich, one of the three great bogatyrs of Kyiv. Against his mother's warning, Dobrynya goes swimming in the river Puchai. The dragon swoops down on him, but Dobrynya, with nothing but his hat full of sand, beats the beast to the ground. Zmey begs for mercy and swears never again to fly over Holy Rus or carry off its people, so Dobrynya lets him go.

The dragon breaks his oath almost at once. He flies over Kyiv and snatches Zabava, the niece of Prince Vladimir. Dobrynya rides after him on his good horse, fights the dragon for three days and three nights, and at last kills him. The dragon's blood floods the land and the earth refuses to drink it, until Dobrynya strikes the ground with his spear and it opens. He goes down into the caves, frees Zabava and all the dragon's prisoners, and brings them home.

A bridge of fire

In other tales the hero is Ivan, the youngest son, who waits on the Kalinov Bridge at midnight while his elder brothers sleep. Three nights in a row a dragon comes over the fire river, each one with more heads than the last. The bridge, the fire and the many heads became the most recognisable picture in all of Russian folklore.

Zmey Gorynych in Battle of Myths

Zmey Gorynych is a cost 3 Slavic hunter and warrior. His ability, Three-Headed Fire, breathes fire on his target and every enemy next to it, dealing magic damage and setting them burning. With the Slavic heroes he shares the Cycle of Morana: the first time he falls, he rises again as a spectral spirit.

Did you know?

• "Zmey" means serpent or dragon, and the same word appears in Serbian, Bulgarian and other Slavic folk tales, where the zmey is sometimes a wise, even helpful creature.
• In the game his quote says: cut off one head and the other two will argue about who eats you.