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The Bear and the Nightingale

First edition cover
Author	Katherine Arden
Cover artist	Barbara M. Bachman
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy fiction
Published	October 10, 2017
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	312
Followed by	The Girl in the Tower

The Bear and the Nightingale is a young adult novel written by American author Katherine Arden, published on January 10, 2017 by Del Rey. It is her debut novel, and the first of the Winternight trilogy. The second novel, the Girl in the Tower, was published December 5, 2017. The third novel, the Winter of the Witch, will be published in 2018.

Background

After graduating high school, Katherine Arden spent a year studying in Moscow. At Middlebury college, she specialized in Russian and French literature. While her novel is fantasy fiction, it has many elements of traditional Russian culture and religion, which is the starting point for the setting.

The novel is about a girl Vasya, who finds a way to keep her belief in the traditional spirits of Russia, and fight off the evil Medved despite the fear instilled in the people of "demons", and Vasya being a "witch". The title The Bear and the Nightingale comes from the antagonist, a bear called Medved, and Vasya's horse, Solovey (nightingale in Russian).

Plot

Part 1

During a harsh winter, the children of Pyotr Valdmirovitch listen to their nurse, Dunya, tell a story about the winter king, Morozoko. That same winter, his wife, Marina, says she wants another child, who would hopefully inherit her mother's magical powers. Upon having the child, which she names Vasilisa Petrovna (Vasya), she dies. One winter night after running from her sister, Olga, Vasya discovers a "ragged and filthy" man. She is returned home, frightened, to her family. Her father decides to go to Moscow in hopes of finding a wife to discipline Vasya. His oldest sons, Kolya and Sasha go with him. Marina's half brother is the grand prince of Moscow, so their party stays in the palace. Sasha hears of a monastery, and hopes to become a monk. Ivan Krasnii, the grand prince, talks to the Metropolitan, who is his advisor, Aleksei, who recommends that he marries his daughter to Pytor, in exchange Olga as Vladimir Andreevich's wife. This would increase the chances of his son taking the throne instead of Vladimir as well as eliminate small talk about Anna, who sees things that others don't. While in the market, Pyotr sees a strange man, whom no one knows much about. He is seen talking to his horse about "the witch's daughter" and later at the palace saying "the blood holds, brother." That night, Ivan presents the marriage plan, which Pyotr accepts. Right before departing from Moscow, the stranger is seen on Pyotr's horse. Kolya steps in, and is quickly seized. The man gives Pyotr back his son, as long as he gives Vasya what he calls a "trinket" Pyotr gives Dunya the jewel, which she decides to keep for the time being. In her dreams she sees the man, who allows her to keep the jewel until Vasya is grown. Anna sees a "demon" and flees to the church. Kolya is married off, as well as Olga. Vasya begs for them to stay, to no avail. At the same time, Sasha decides to leave for the monastery. After they depart, Vasya begins talking to the domovoi, a household guardian. When Anna catches her conversation, she yells at Vasya, telling her there is no such thing. Vasya then befriends the vazila, who lives in the stable. Vasya learns to keep quiet around her stepmother, but continues her conversations, in which the vazila teaches her to talk to the horses.

Part 2

Vasya turns fourteen, and the Metropolitan attempts to make Dmitrii Ivanovitch the ruler of Rus' after his father's death. While making sure the position would be safe by eliminating opponents, he comes across a priest named Konstantin Nikonovich. He is extremely influential, and has a large following. When the priest of Lesnaya Zemlya dies, Aleksei sends Konstantin to be the priest there. Vasya begins a friendship with a rusalka, a water spirit, in return for the safety of her people. When Konstantin arrives, he is intrigued by Vasya's wild nature. One night when Anna sees demons, she befriends Konstantin, who she believes will keep her safe. He decides to get rid of the old religion, which the people of Lesnaya Zemlya believe in, through fear. After their first visit to church with Konstantin in charge, Vasya notices the terror and daze the rest of the villagers are in, and becomes uneasy. He says they must abandon the chyerti, or sprits, and the people believe him, except for Vasya. As his time continues, the people slowly abandon the spirits, and Vasya begins to spend more time in the stables. The spirits begin to starve, and Vasya vows to bring food to the dying Vazila. The winter is bitter, and kills rabbits and people alike. As wood dwindles, her brother Aloysha goes to find wood. Worried about what will happen Vasya sets off after him. The wind talks to her, and threatens her village. Vasya offers it bread, which allows it to die down. It warns her that "as long as the people are afraid, they are lost." The frost-demon visits Dunya's dreams again, and she begs for one more year with Vasya. When the summer comes, in return for her kindness, the mares offer to teach Vasya how to ride . One day as she is riding, she sees the rusalka bringing Konstantin to his death. She saves him, and he tells her how he wishes to "save her" from the "demons." He is determined to complete his mission, ridding the world of defiant girls and demons. After he gives Vasya a cross, Anna becomes jealous and goes to Pyotr, saying that he should marry her off. Vasya becomes a skilled rider, and is called a witch. Pyotr decides to marry her to Kyril Artamonovich, and when the rusalka hears of this, she warns Vasya to not leave the village, and tells her "the bear is awake, beware the dead." When Kyril arrives, both Vasya and Aloysha get a bad feeling about him, and Vasya notices his horse fears him. One day, she goes to the stables and Kyril assaults her, and follows her when she goes to see the leshy, a wood spirit. Seryozha, the son of Kolya, decides to get on a horse, Mysh, who is startled. Vasya jumps onto Ogon, Kyril's horse, to rescue Seryozha. Although happy that his grandson is safe, Pyotr is furious at Vasya and Kyril calls off the marriage. Anna tries to talk Pyotr into sending Vasya to a convent. As more animals start to disappear, a servant, Agafya, questions discarding the old beliefs, due to the failure of crops and the harsh winter; Konstantin convinces her otherwise, and the voice of God congratulates him. On a cold night, Vasya sees the face of the man she saw in the forest years ago, and another one-eyed man. Agafya is found screaming that "he had come for her sins." The domovoi says he can only keep out what he says is "appetite.The sleeper, the eater" with her blood and offerings. Morozko comes to Dunya's dreams again, and tells her that he will come for her, and she must give Vasya the necklace. Dunya becomes sick, but finds the strength to give her the necklace. Vasya sees a dead girl in Konstantin's house, as well as a shadow. The next night, a black-cloaked figure comes for Dunya, and she is killed. Vasya is shaken, and notices that she died afraid. While the women keep vigil, Vasya and Aloysha find the upyr, or vampire, Agafya, and dig her up to put a stake through her mouth, to keep her from waking up again. Pyotr goes off to help a nearby village that was burned down. Vasya hears crying, and sees a dead Dunya begging to get in. The voice speaks to Konstantin again, urging him to send Vasya away. With Pyotr gone, he convinces Anna to get rid of Vasya by saying Irina is endangered by Vasya's presence. Anna tells Vasya she is to leave the next morning. After saying she will not go, Anna tells her if she brings a basket of snowdrops, she can stay, knowing snowdrops do not grow in the middle of winter. Vasya runs off, escaping Konstantin and his men. She gets lost in the woods, when she notices the tree she saw as a girl. A voice taunts her to come closer, when the mare of Morozko takes Vasya, where she officially meets Morozko for the first time before blacking out.

Part 3

Vasya wakes up to find herself in a house, which is also a fir-grove. Morozko tells her to wait to go home as she is wounded, because she will return "the dawn of the night she left." She is given a horse, Solovey (nightingale), and podzhneki, or snowdrops. She is told she has the second sight, which means she can see chyerti, and his house out of a fir-grove. Konstantin demands the return of Vasya so she can be sent to the convent; the voice speaks to him again, revealing himself as Medved. Because Konstantin wants Vasya returned safely, he agrees to bring a witch to Medved in return for Vasya. Vasya is told by Morozko that she was saved by her courage. Morozko tells her of the tale of Morozko and Medved, and how Medved is satisfying his hunger with her people. Morozko says he will defeat Medved at mid-winter, and he is amused by Vasya's offer to help. She does not take lightly to being told she is just a girl, and storms out. After a nightmare courtesy of Medved, she decides to return to Lesnaya Zemlya, and refuses Morozko's offer of a dowry, as custom in the tale of Morozko. Konstantin brings Anna to Medved, and leaves her screaming at the sight of the devil. When Vasya learns of Anna's plight, she and Aloysha ride to the Bear's clearing. The chyerti come out of the woods and Aloysha realizes he also has the second sight. The cheyrti began to take sides, answering the call of Medved. She sees Anna, slain by the upyr Dunya. With the death of Anna, the Bear breaks loose. Vasya asks Morozko to take Dunya away, while she is not afraid, and Morozko kisses her. Vasya uses her blood to call the domovoi, bannik and vazila to her, bringing them to her side. The rusalka captures her brother, and her small army is about to attack when Vasya sees her father. Pyotr steps in front of the Bear, and sacrifices himself for Vasya. This sacrifice binds the Bear. Vasya and Morozko go to Konstantin, demanding him to leave, or die. Vasya tells Aloysha and Irina that she must go, and fetches Solovey and her dowry, now used for bartering, before she goes.

Characters

Vasilisa Petrovna (Vasya)- The protagonist of the novel, a bold girl not afraid of standing up for what she believes in. She can see the cheryti (spirits) and tries to help them when possible. Although chastised and called a witch, she prevails, and ends up teaming up with Morozko to defeat Medved

Dunya- Vasya's nurse who tries to keep her and the rest of the children safe. She is tasked with giving Vasya a pendent when she comes of age, and ends up dying at the hands of Morozko near the end of the novel.

Pyotr Vladmirovitch- Vasya's father, who remarries to provide a mother-figure for Vasya after her mother Marina dies. The leader of Lesnaya Zemlya, he takes care of his village and ends up sacrificing himself to save Vasya and Aloysha.

Marina- the mother of Vasya, determined to have a "a daughter like my mother was", that has the second sight.

Olga- Vasya's older sister, who is married off to Vladimir Andreevitch near the beginning of the novel. She promises to send for Vasya when she is older.

Sasha- one of Vasya's older brothers, who joins a monastery, much to his father's chagrin.

Kolya- Vasya's older brother, who is married to a villager near the beginning of the novel.

Aloysha- The brother of Vasya and one of her best friends.

Seryozha- the son of Kolya, who is nearly killed when attempting to ride Mysh. He is saved by Vasya.

Kyril Artamonovich- the man chosen to marry Vasya.

Anna- The step-mother of Vasya who can also see the spirits. She heavily relies on the presence of Konstantin and Christianity. At the end of the novel, she is tricked by Konstantin into seeing Medved, and her fear allows him to break loose. She is ultimately killed by Medved

Konstantin- The priest sent to Lesnaya Zemlya to keep him from ascending to power. He instills fear in the people of the village, and is tricked into thinking Medved's voice in his head is God, leading him to give Anna to him.

Irina- the sister of Vasya, and the daughter of Anna. She is a natural beauty, and supports Vasya despite her over-bearing mother.

domovoi- The spirit of the household, which lives in the hearth

vazila- The spirit who lives in the stables. In return for food, he teaches her to talk to the horses.

rusalka- the spirit of the river, who tries to eat the villagers of Lesnaya Zemlya, including Konstantin. Vasya befriends the rusalka, in order to save the villagers.

Morozko- The frost-demon and death. He is in charge of the order of things. He shows up throughout the story, visiting Vasya as a child, approaching Pyotr in Moscow, and showing up in Dunya's dreams. Near the end of the novel, he and Vasya work together to capture Medved

Medved- The bear, the brother and enemy of Morozko. He thrives off of the fear of the people, and chaos in general. Often he sleeps, but wakes up and attempts to be released from his tree. He calls himself the "bringer of storms", and is released by Anna's fear. He is defeated by Morozko, after killing Pyotr and Anna.

Solovey- Vasya's horse, gifted to her by Morozko. He follows her command, and rides with her to defeat Medved

Transliteration and Russian

While the novel is primarily in English, Katherine Arden uses Russian in the novel for names of people, places and spirits. Besides the proper nouns such as "Vasya" and "Lesnaya Zemlya" that are Russian, words such as "upyr" (vampire) and "vedma" (witch) are in Russian. Since Russia use the cyrillic alphabet, she transliterated all the Russian words and names used. Transliteration is a conversion of text from one script to another by swapping letters in predictable ways. As said in the author's note of the novel, she chose to give words exotic flair and keep them relatively pronounceable for English-speakers. This meant forgoing the most traditional transliterations in order to get the desired affect.

Historical Context

The novel is set in the Russian wilderness around the late 1300s. Lesnaya Zemlya, where Vasya lives, is a village in northern Rus'. Part of the novel also takes place in Moscow, where Pytor goes in search of a wife.

In the 1300s, Russia was not one united country. Ivan IV took the small city-state of Muscovy (Moscow) and enlarged it by adding parts of Kievan Rus. Khanates ruled parts of Russia as well. This turmoil is seen in the novel, where the Metropolitan is afraid of having Ivan ascend the throne due to unrest. During this time, city-sates were protected by walls around their border.

In the 1200s, the Mongols invaded Rus' which is likely the "war with the Khans" that Pyotr and Kolya were arguing about. This resulted in parts of Kievan Rus' being ruled by Khanates, as the Mongols ruled over Russia after the initial invasion until the 1500s. The fact that Moscow grew as a capital of Kiev resulted in the eventual Imperial Russia, leading to the Tsardom that would rule eastern Europe. In the novel you can see the political power in Moscow, in which the Grand Prince (Tsar) and Metropolitan are centered there.

While most of the characters are fictional, there is mention of Ivan the Terrible and Dmitry Ivanovich, rulers of Russia during this time frame. Ivan the Terrible, who is known as Ivan Krasnii in the novel, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533-1547, then the Tsar until 1584, when he died. He is the half brother of Marina, Pyotr's wife, in the novel. Dmitry Ivanovich, his son, was able to become the Tsar after years of turmoil in Moscow

The tale of Morozko, or Father Frost, is a popular in Russian folklore. In the story, a girl is sent into the freezing cold by her stepmother. Because she is polite to Morozko, she is gifted chests of beauty. When her father is sent to get her, he finds her not dead, but beautiful and happy. Seeing her rewards, the stepmother sends her own daughter out in the woods, where she freezes and dies. This tale is one of Vasya's favorite, and she becomes the girl in the story when she is taken by Morozko.

Vasya also mentions the tale of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is a mythological creature in Slavic Folklore. She lives in a house on chicken legs, and is portrayed as both guidance or the antagonist. In the tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful", Vasilisa is gifted a doll by her late mother(?), who helps her through her chores in the face of an evil stepmother. When she is sent to go get firewood from the witch Baba Yaga, her doll helps her with the impossible tasks the witch sets upon her. As she is kind to the guards of Baba Yaga's house, she is able to escape when she finds out Baba Yaga plans to eat her. She returns home, and the fire she brings kills her stepmother and stepsisters. She lives happily ever after.

Another Russian fairytale mention in the novel is the one of Tsarevitch Ivan and the grey wolf. In this tale, Ivan and Dmitri set out to find a fire bird that was stealing golden apples from their garden. They come to a stone marked with the words "Who rides straight forward shall meet both hunger and cold, who rides to the right shall live though his horse shall die, who rides to the left shall die though his horse shall live". Ivan rides to the right, and his horse is eaten by a wolf. Because of Ivan's bravery, the wolf repays him by helping him out.

In the 1300s, Russians thought that everything was inhabited by a spirit, the chyerti. These spirits included household spirits such as the domovoi, the river spirit vodyanoy and many others. To maintain good graces, spirits were given gifts of food. Without offerings, the chyerti would become weakened and fade away. Like in the novel, some spirits were evil, such as the rusalka, who enticed victims to their deaths, much like a siren. The leshy, a forest spirit, tends to play tricks, but can have bad intentions. In the novel, Vasya finds Brother Rodion walking in circles until he died at the hands of the leshy. 988 CE, Christianity became the official religion of Kiev Rus', but many people did not convert until much later, such as the people in Lesnaya Zemlya in the novel. Another common practice at the time was to follow Christianity, while still honoring the chyerti. This practice is called dvoeverie, or double faith. Priests fought this practice for centuries.

The branch of Christianity which Konstantin preached is Russian Orthodox, and he was part of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is the official religion of Russia, founded in 988 CE , by Greek missionaries who came from Byzantium to Kievan Rus' in the 9th century. Metropolitans like Aleksei were the heads of the Church, and resided in Moscow. They were the heads of the church until 1448. Vladimir, a prince in Kiev, was the first to be baptised in 988 CE. Due to the Mongol rule, Rus' was exempt from taxation, leading to a rise in monasticism. We see the monasteries in the novel. Sasha goes to one, and Anna is eager to send Vasya off to a convent.

There is no specific name for the worship of spirits, but it can be known as the Slavic Religion, or Russian folklore. Part of the Russian folklore was the belief that the dead could come back to life, in an attempt to reclaim the things they lost. This was especially present in those who died young. These spirits were feared by the people. Those who did not decompose were known as vampires, or upyr. To kill the vampire, it was imperative to stick a stake through their mouth, to kill them once and for all. Vasya and Aloysha do this to Agafya to ensure she does not stay a upyr.

Themes

In the novel, many themes are introduced. Fear is a concept throughout the story. The fear is what causes the villagers to lose faith. Vasya's lack of fear allows her to help her people. While Konstantin gains followers through fear, and Medved is freed by the fear, Vasya sees the fear for what it is and is able to see past it. Her constant defiance of Anna and her father set her apart. This fearlessness is present when talking to the Rusalka, and meeting the wind and Morozko as a child. The Chyerti warn her against fear, and this is portrayed as the greatest evil of all. This is even mentioned when Vasya sees Kyril's horse, noting that he is afraid of Kyril, foreshadowing Kyril's bad spirit. Magic and fairy tales also shape the novel. Constantly, Vasya is told that she is too old for fairytales, by her brother and father, and to stop believing in them. Her belief in magic, despite being told it is not real is also contributes to her success. The novel shows that standing up for what you believe in and protecting those who you love will ultimately get the desired outcome. The novel also discusses the role of women. In this time, women were expected to go to a convent or marry, neither of which Vasya desires. She constantly breaks the stereotype of women at the time, by riding horses, and going off into the woods instead of training to be a wife. Many of the characters are sad of this fate for Vasya, such as Brother Rodion, who thinks that she would not be well suited to a convent. Pyotr and Konstantin recognize that Vasya is different, but do little to help her do what she wants. They instead attempt to send her off through marriage and the convent. Aloysha also sees this, and tries to protect her from the villagers who see her as a vedma, or witch. This conveys the message of freedom, and breaking free of your designated path.

Critical Reception

The novel has received much praise, including a 4.1/5 rating on Goodreads and a 9.8/10 on Fantasy book review. Amazon says "Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice." and Naomi Novik, the author of Uprooted says the novel is “A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up.” Publishers Weekly calls the novel "“Stunning . . . will enchant readers from the first page. . . . with an irresistible heroine who wants only to be free of the bonds placed on her gender and claim her own fate.”

Although relatively new, The Bear and the Nightingale has received accolades, such as being called the "best science fiction and fantasy book of 2017" by Google. The book is also part of the Random House reader's circle.