Tugarin Zmeyevich

Tugarin Zmeyevich is a monstrous dragon-man of Russian epic songs, a gluttonous, boastful invader who flies on wings until the hero Alyosha Popovich brings him down by praying for rain to soak them.

The Story

Tugarin Zmeyevich, whose second name means "son of the dragon," appears in the Russian byliny (epic songs) about Alyosha Popovich, the youngest of the three great heroes of Kyiv. In a typical version, the young Alyosha rides to the court of Prince Vladimir and takes a humble seat at the feast. Then Tugarin arrives. He is enormous and rude. He sits beside the princess, swallows whole swans and loaves in single gulps, and insults the guests. Alyosha mocks him for his gluttony, comparing him to a greedy dog or cow, and Tugarin hurls a knife at him, which Alyosha's companion catches.

The two agree to fight. When the day comes, Tugarin rises into the air on wings. Alyosha prays for a storm, and the rain soaks the wings so that Tugarin crashes to earth. Alyosha kills him, cuts off his head, and brings it back to Kyiv. In some versions he wins through a trick, disguising himself as a pilgrim or telling Tugarin to look behind him at an army that isn't there.

Appearance and Powers

Tugarin is a giant who walks, talks, eats at table, and rides a horse like a man, but he carries the nature of a dragon. The byliny describe his wings in different ways. In some versions they grow from his body; in others, Alyosha notices that the wings are made of paper and fastened to Tugarin's horse. Either way, rain ruins them. Some tellings give him fire or smoke and a monstrous size. Because he mixes human and dragon features, he is usually classed as a dragon-man rather than a true dragon.

Origins and Sources

One of the earliest written texts of the song appears in the collection attributed to Kirsha Danilov, compiled in the mid-18th century, probably for the Demidov family, and printed in 1804 and more fully in 1818. In it Tugarin rises into the sky "on paper wings," and Alyosha prays for a storm cloud that soaks them. Many more versions were recorded in the 19th century.

Many scholars connect Tugarin's name with Tugorkan, a khan of the Polovtsians (Cumans), steppe nomads who raided Kievan Rus'. The Russian Primary Chronicle records that Tugorkan was killed in battle in 1096. If the link is right, the song turned a historical enemy from the steppe into a dragon-like monster, a pattern seen in other Russian epics where foreign invaders take on monstrous form.

Legacy

Tugarin is the villain of the Russian animated film Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin the Dragon (2004), and he remains a stock enemy in Russian retellings of the Kyiv hero tales. For Russia's other great dragon, see the Zmey entry on Dragon Species and Dragons Across Cultures.

Related

• Zmey Gorynych: Zmey Gorynych is the many-headed, fire-breathing dragon of Russian epic songs and fairy tales, best known for kidnapping a princess of Kyiv and being defeated by the hero Dobrynya Nikitich.
• Zmeu: The zmeu is a giant, dragon-like ogre of Romanian fairy tales, a humanlike being of enormous strength who can fly and shapeshift, kidnaps princesses such as Ileana Cosânzeana, and is defeated by the hero Făt-Frumos.
• Zmaj: The zmaj is the dragon of South Slavic folklore, a fiery, winged, often protective being that guards fields from hail-bringing demons, takes human lovers, and fathers heroes such as Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk.
• Dragon Species
• Dragons Across Cultures

Sources and Further Reading

• James Bailey and Tatyana Ivanova, trans., An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics (M. E. Sharpe, 1998)
• Drevnie rossiiskie stikhotvoreniia, sobrannye Kirsheiu Danilovym, ed. A. P. Evgen'eva and B. N. Putilov (Nauka, 1977)
• The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text, trans. Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor (Mediaeval Academy of America, 1953)

Cite this entry: “Tugarin Zmeyevich,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/tugarin.