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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 28, 2024 8:25:59 GMT -5
It's doubtless a reference to Koshei the deathless, who hid his death (sometimes his heart) somewhere so he could go on living; like Koshei, Hettie says that her heart could be hid inside an egg that's inside a duck that's on an island etc, etc... and at the same time, this being a Gaiman work, I'm sure that the object itself (the heart-shaped locket) is just a heart-shaped locket. Heck, in a century, Hettie might be looking for a totally different object that she will consider her heart. As Didi says in the series, symbols have power, but not the way the Eremite (or we) may think. Interesting. I'd not heard of Koschei, but a quick Google search informs me that he is the central character in a Russian fairy story. You might well be right that Death finding Hettie's missing heart hidden inside a set of Russian dolls is a reference to this story. I'd bet heavily that Gaiman was familiar with the The Death of Koschei the Deathless fairy tale. He is; I believe it's even mentioned in one of the Sandman comics (the one about the young Russian werewolf). I'd have to check the exact issue. I enjoyed Neil's incorporation of classic material in his tales! |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,197 
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Post by Confessor on Jun 28, 2024 8:43:53 GMT -5
Interesting. I'd not heard of Koschei, but a quick Google search informs me that he is the central character in a Russian fairy story. You might well be right that Death finding Hettie's missing heart hidden inside a set of Russian dolls is a reference to this story. I'd bet heavily that Gaiman was familiar with the The Death of Koschei the Deathless fairy tale. He is; I believe it's even mentioned in one of the Sandman comics (the one about the young Russian werewolf). I'd have to check the exact issue. Ah, right! I'm not sure of the original issue number, but that Russian werewolf story appears in the volume 6 TPB, Fables & Reflections. It also features a cameo by the witch Baba Yaga from Russian folklore, complete with her flying mortar and pestle!  |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 28, 2024 9:20:07 GMT -5
It's doubtless a reference to Koshei the deathless, who hid his death (sometimes his heart) somewhere so he could go on living; like Koshei, Hettie says that her heart could be hid inside an egg that's inside a duck that's on an island etc, etc... and at the same time, this being a Gaiman work, I'm sure that the object itself (the heart-shaped locket) is just a heart-shaped locket. Heck, in a century, Hettie might be looking for a totally different object that she will consider her heart. As Didi says in the series, symbols have power, but not the way the Eremite (or we) may think. Interesting. I'd not heard of Koschei, but a quick Google search informs me that he is the central character in a Russian fairy story. You might well be right that Death finding Hettie's missing heart hidden inside a set of Russian dolls is a reference to this story. I'd bet heavily that Gaiman was familiar with the The Death of Koschei the Deathless fairy tale. Gaiman is very well read in folk and fairy tales. So that's a very safe bet. He used a number of Slavic Gods in his novel American Gods. |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Jun 28, 2024 10:34:17 GMT -5
As a tangential note, Koshei is also used prominently in comics by Mike Mignola in his various Hellboy/BPRD (as is Baba Yaga and a lot of other Slavic/Russian folklore. Entirely different tone/style than Sandman, but both creators are drawing deep from the well of folklore form a number of different cultures.
-M
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