The Death of Koschei the Deathless

The Death of Koschei the Deathless or Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki and included by Andrew Lang in The Red Fairy Book. The character Koschei is an evil, immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.

Adaptations

Peter Morwood wrote an amplified version of this tale in the novel Prince Ivan, the first volume of his Russian Tales series.

Gene Wolfe retold this as "The Death of Koshchei the Deathless", published in the anthology Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears and reprinted in his collection Strange Travelers.

Catherynne M. Valente released a novel based on the story, titled "Deathless" in 2011.

In the 7th Sea (role-playing game) setting, Koshchei Molhynia Pietrov, aka Koshchei the Undying is an enigmatic Boyar who entered into a strange contract with the Baba-Yaga-esque Ussuran patron spirit in order to receive a form of immortality. In contrast to the usual myth, he's generally portrayed in a sympathetic light and seems to be intended to serve (similarly to the Kami, Togashi in the Legend of the Five Rings RPG by the same publishers) as a source of adventure hooks and occasionally a Donor (fairy tale) to whom it is perilous in the extreme to apply.

The Morevna Project is an open-source/free-culture film project creating an animated adaptation of this story reset in a cyberpunk science-fiction future.

See also

• The Fair Fiorita
• The Three Enchanted Princes
• The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples
• The Flower Queen's Daughter
• The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh
• What Came of Picking Flowers
• Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
• Bash Chelik