Who is Viy? (3 photos). The sign of the god Viy Viy is an evil spirit, and Koschey is an ordinary evil person

In many, including academic works, the character of Gogol's story is described in a completely different way from what Viy looks like in the writer's work. Researchers claim that the author, in the image of the famous monster, combined the ancient Roman Niy with the human age, although N.V. Gogol himself wrote that he expounds the legend exactly as he heard it.

And the reader believes, because, in addition to this story, he created several more works of a similar genre, in which, with the ironic manner inherent in Gogol, the characters of the folk are described.

Wise Veles

This is how this god is called in ancient Slavic myths. He is the ruler of the bodily, organic life of all people and animals. He knows when the body asks for rest for sleep, and when it asks for eternal rest. Veles tirelessly ensures that everything that is taken from the earth returns to the same place. Nor is he a servant of death. Veles looks completely different from Viy. In the view of our ancestors, Veles is a man of about 50, strong and perfectly built, wise and balanced.

He is a kind of controller of bodily existence, as they used to say in the old days, bestial truth. Veles did not interfere in the mental, and even more so the spiritual activity of a person. This god did not condemn or punish gluttony, sexual promiscuity, the killing of animals for entertainment, and not for food. He simply removed his patronage from the body and this human nature fell into the power of Viy.

Viy. Short description

What does Wii look like? He is an ugly creature, with many bodily flaws and vicious spiritual strength. This monster attracts everything musty, bodily depraved and unbridled. Without others, he cannot satisfy his bodily needs, he cannot even lift his eyelids. But he lives a powerful spiritual life. And monster creatures are drawn to him, ready to serve for his spiritual strength. That's exactly what the pancake is. The writer points to this three times in the story: twice with a hint, and the third - in plain text, putting the words about it into the mouth of Thomas: “it is clear that she has done a lot of sin in her life, since evil spirits are so worth it.” And she is about Thomas: “Let Brutus read for three nights. He knows".

Some accurate details from the story of N. V. Gogol

Before pannochka, three people came to the farm - the rhetorician Tiberius Gorobets, the philosopher Foma Brutus and the theologian Freebie. Gogol three times, as it should be, speaks of Foma's bodily licentiousness. And it is to him that the one who lives "according to Wii" comes. They are similar to the passions that overwhelm them, and therefore are not under the protection of Veles. Pannochka has saddled the philosopher (what a delicate detail!), and he feels the sweetness of flying with the witch on him. But he has his own spiritual life, which defeats the spell of his own body, and not the spell of the lady, who in this situation is only a means. It's morning, the roosters are crowing. But Foma kills the lady. And Veles does not protect his body. Viy gets him in Kyiv, in God's institution, through the bodily depravity of the rector.

Viy's servants and, invisibly, Viy himself constantly walk around Thomas Brutus. The description of the meeting of the philosopher with the centurion is striking in the realism of the details. “It’s not like that with me,” the centurion says, “Do you know leather kanchuks?” "In large quantities, the thing is unbearable." "You won't get up with me."

That's where the philosopher got to (what a detail!). That's why he died of fear.

Viy is an evil spirit, and Koschey is an ordinary evil person

Some authors, who, without reading the whole work, quote "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and argue in their writings that Koschey and Viy are related images. Yes, this is nonsense. The "Word ..." specifically indicates that Gzak, Konchak and Gzak's father Bonyak are Slavic nomads and koshchei, that is, owners of cattle (in Old Slavonic: bones, koshchei). A. S. Pushkin directly points to this: “... it languishes over gold. There is a Russian spirit, there smells of Russia. You need to be deaf and blind in order not to distinguish between what Viy looks like in mythology, but how Koschey looks like.

Viy's abode

Viy is constantly in the depths, in the bowels of the earth, where the bodies of his servants are warm, humid and endlessly rotting. He has sisters - Villas, who sometimes fly out and prowl over the villages of people, looking for servants for their terrible brother. They compete with another character in our mythology, the Fire Serpent, for the souls of fallen people.

And it's not hard to imagine what Viy looks like. The photo of the painting by the artist who presented and painted Viy and his servants is known to the whole world. One can argue with some details, but in general the artist captured the essence of this character correctly. This is decaying flesh, which her mighty, but evil soul does not want to return to the earth, that is, does not submit to the wise Veles.

There is no fight between Veles and Viy

The struggle takes place in the souls of people. The soul of Thomas Brutus flew away along with the triumphant song of the roosters, which greet the rise of Yaril and the light that he brings to the world. And souls should not return to dead bodies, as was the case with the lady. This is contrary to the canons, which are observed by the bestial god - Veles.

Thomas returned to the earth what he so carelessly used in this bright world. And therefore he is commemorated by two friends - the philosopher Tiberius Gorobets and Freebie, who is drunk hiding in the weeds.

Slavic mythology is no less rich than the mythologies of other peoples. It has many different characters, both good and evil. Some of the latter are not just evil, but creepy. These include such an odious image as Viy. This is an entity from the underworld, with a look that can kill anyone.

The monster's eyes are closed by huge long eyelids that fall to the ground. Therefore, he cannot lift them himself. For this, there are special assistants. By order of Viy, they lift his eyelids with iron pitchforks, and the eyes of the monster from the underworld begin to sow horror and death.

Viy - a negative character in Slavic mythology

It was from the look of a terrible monster that the belief about the evil eye or the evil eye went. According to legend, the evil eye causes the death of people and animals, trees dry up from it, green grass turns yellow. He can also send a streak of bad luck, poverty, illness and other misfortunes to a person. Women in labor and brides are especially sensitive to the evil eye. To protect against the evil eye, the wedding veil was invented, and pregnant women tried not to catch the eye of strangers, especially strangers.

And all these customs began to flow from the inhabitant of the underworld with his terrible look. It is believed that he received his mystical component from Veles, a pagan god and the main enemy of Perun, from whom he stole cattle. Veles was associated with devils and other evil spirits and gave birth to Viy, who became the most powerful and terrible fiend of the underworld.

But among the Slavs who lived in the Baltic states, this remarkable image was considered one of the sons of Chernobog. The latter symbolized absolute chaos, destruction and universal darkness. He controlled all the elements, and evil spirits from the underworld served him. That is, Chernobog was considered a negative divine essence, so it is not surprising that a terrible monster with a killer look came from him.

Chernobog personified evil in Slavic mythology

At the same time, Viy in mythology had a number of positive features. Often he harassed people who were evil and spiritually flawed. But personalities, strong in spirit and strong-willed, welcomed and did not harm them. He was an extremely controversial creature, prone to violent mood swings. But its main function, in any case, was evil. Only sometimes it manifested itself in full force, and sometimes it was barely noticeable.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol described this underworld vermin in his work of the same name. He described her as squat, clubfoot, with sinewy arms and legs. Viy is covered with black earth from head to toe. The fingers and face of the monster are iron, and the eyelids are long and touch the ground. With a glance, he does not kill, but only destroys the protective power of amulets from evil spirits. He is only a guiding force, not a killer. And the protagonist of Gogol's work Khoma dies not at all from the look of a monster, but from the horror that seized his soul.

Stanislav Kuzmin

Relentless and ruthless Viy was considered the judge of the dead, the infernal fiery judge, whose throne is inside the earth. In his hands is a fiery scourge, his eyes are closed with eyelids lowered to the ground, but he still sees and knows. If they raise his eyelids, and his servants lift them with pitchforks, then he sees everything that is completely hidden from others. A person dies at the sight of Viy.

"Bring Viy! Follow Vim! - the words of the dead man were heard. And suddenly there was silence in the church: a wolf howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy steps were heard, sounding through the church; glancing sideways, he saw that some squat, hefty, clubfoot man was being led. All of it was in the black earth. Like sinewy, strong roots, his legs and arms covered with earth stood out. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron. He was led under the arms and directly placed to the place where Khoma was standing.

- Raise my eyelids: I can't see! - Viy said in an underground voice - and the whole host rushed to raise his eyelids. "Don't look!" some inner voice whispered to the philosopher. He could not bear it and looked.

- Here he is! Viy shouted and pointed an iron finger at him. And everyone, no matter how much, rushed at the philosopher. Breathless, he fell to the ground, and immediately the spirit flew out of him from fear.

N. V. Gogol

The image of Viy expresses the hope that in the other world he will inevitably be rewarded, will take revenge on all those who lived on earth dishonestly, unfairly, without conscience and trampled others with impunity. Nothing can be hidden from Viy, it is also impossible to beg forgiveness from him. In addition, it was believed that this judge of the dead sends people, especially as a warning, terrible night ghosts and nightmares.

Viy- governor over evil spirits created by Chernobog. All of it is at his disposal. He himself is always underground, because he is afraid of sunlight.

Viy is a character of Ukrainian demonology, a formidable old man with eyebrows and centuries to the very ground. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze.

Viy cannot see anything on his own, but if several strongmen succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable gaze: with his gaze, Viy kills people, destroys and turns cities and villages to ashes.

In one of the tales, there is a mention that Kashchei the Immortal is raised with seven pitchforks.

“And suddenly there was silence in the church; a wolf's howl was heard in the distance, and soon heavy footsteps were heard, sounding through the church; glancing sideways, he saw that some squat, hefty, clubfoot man was being led. He was all in the black earth. Like sinewy, strong roots, his legs and arms covered with earth stood out. He walked heavily, stumbling every minute. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron.

(N. V. Gogol "Viy")

Viy (Vy, Niy, Niya, Niyan) is the son of Chernobog and the goat Seduni. The lord of the hellish kingdom, the king of the underworld (Navi, the Underworld), the lord of torment. The personification of those terrible punishments that await after the death of all villains, thieves, traitors, murderers and scoundrels, in other words, all those who lived unrighteously and violated the laws of Reveal and Rule (in Christianity, "sinners"). All of them are looking forward to the fair and incorruptible Judge Viy.

In East Slavic mythology, Viy is a spirit that brings death. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy kills with his gaze. In Ukrainian demonology - a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids to the ground.

Viy cannot see anything on his own, he also acts as a seer of evil spirits (which can be traced in the work of N.V. Gogol); but if several strong men succeed in raising his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his formidable gaze: with his gaze, Viy kills people, sends pestilence on enemy troops, destroys and turns to ashes the proud and villages. Viy was also considered a sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts.

In ethnography, the assumption is made that it is with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye and corruption is connected - that everything perishes and deteriorates from a bad look. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter.

There are two assumptions about the origin of the name Viya: the first is the Ukrainian word “vii” (pronounced “viyi”), which in modern Ukrainian means “forever”; and the second - with the word "curl", since the image of Viy resembles some kind of plant: his legs are covered with roots and he is all covered with dried pieces of earth.

According to the “Book of Kolyada”: “The governor in the army of Chernobog is Viy, the brother of the sky god Dyya. In peacetime, Viy is a jailer in Pekla. He holds in his hand a fiery scourge, with which he treats sinners. He has heavy eyelids, they are held with pitchforks by Viy's henchmen. If Viy opens his eyes and looks at a person, he dies. Viy cannot stand sunlight, therefore he always prefers to stay underground.

According to Slavic beliefs, Navi (it is also sometimes called Dark Navi as opposed to Light Navi - Slavi) is divided into three kingdoms. For the time being, Goryn was the Lord of the Upper. After the death of Goryn, this layer of Navi was empty for a long time until it was occupied by Veles. From time immemorial, Koschey owned the Lower Kingdom. But Chernobog gave the middle Kingdom to Viy. Although, in fact, there are other versions of the administrative-territorial division of Navi. According to some, Viy owned just the Upper Kingdom, according to others - the Lower Kingdom. However, this information has nothing to do with the essence of the interpretation of the image of Viy.

Viy was presented to our ancestors as a powerful, almost invincible monster (less often - a terrible stooped old man). He was strong and clumsy, controlled the dark incarnations of all the elements. At the same time, Viy was served by all kinds of evil spirits, without which this terrible god, at least, could not look at the world. The fact is that Viy had some kind of birth defect - his eyelids were too heavy for him to keep them open without outside help. Obviously, the curse of Svarog, sent to the head of the defeated Chernobog during the Primal Battle, is to blame. One way or another, Viy could not hold his eyelids on his own, so his servants constantly supported them with black-hot pitchforks (this episode is well known to all of us thanks to the immortal work of Nikolai Gogol).

Anyone Viy looked at immediately died (if he was a mortal) or turned to stone (if he was a being of a higher order). Not many gods had the courage to face Viy in a fair duel. However, this monster did not win a single victory over the Irian gods, despite all its terrifying power. But Viy spoiled a lot of blood for the human race. Being a strong magician, he constantly sent epidemics and natural disasters to people.

At the same time, it is worth noting that positive features are also guessed in the appearance of Viy. For example, Viy with particular enthusiasm harasses people who are evil or spiritually weak. But Viy may well let go of a person who is strong both in body and will. Thus, this god has a certain amount of justice, albeit a very peculiar one.

It is difficult to say what exactly our ancestors hid in the guise of Viy. Obviously, this is one of the embodiments of the dark component of human nature, deep animal evil, which seeks to destroy everything in its path and moves forward without taking apart the road. However, if a person’s will is strong and his spirit is strong, then he is quite capable of changing the vector of the direction of this destructive energy, it is even possible to use it for the benefit of himself and others.

In Ukraine, there is a character Solovyy Bunio, but simply Scaly Bonyak (Bodnyak), sometimes he appears in the form of "a terrible fighter, a look that kills a person and turns entire cities into ashes, the only happiness is that this deadly look is closed by clinging eyelids and thick eyebrows." "Long eyebrows to the nose" in Serbia,
Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as in Poland, were a sign of Mora or Zmora. this creature was considered the embodiment of a nightmare.
Came to the blind (dark) father Svyatogora to visit Ilya Muromets, on the offer to "shake hands", gives the blind giant a piece of red-hot iron, for which he receives praise: "Your hand is strong, you are a good hero."
The Bulgarian Bogomil sect describes the Devil as turning into ashes everyone who dares to look into his eyes.
In the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful who lived in the service of Baba Yaga, it is said that she received as a gift for her labors - in some cases - a pot (stove-pot), in other cases - a skull. When she returned home, the skull-pot burned to ashes with her magical gaze her stepmother and her stepmother's daughters.

These are far from all the sources about the ancient Navi deity Viy, who has analogues among the ancient Irish - Yssbaddaden and Balor.
In the future, he probably merges with the image of Koshchei (the son of Mother Earth, originally an agricultural god, then the king of the dead, the god of death). Close in function and mythology to the Greek Triptolemus. The duck, as the keeper of the egg with the death of Koshchei, was revered as his bird. In Orthodoxy, it is replaced by the evil Saint Kasyan, whose day was celebrated on February 29.

Kasyan looks at everything - everything fades. Kasyan will look at the cattle, the cattle will fall; on a tree - the tree dries.

Kasyan against the people - it's hard for the people; Kasyan on the grass - the grass dries; Kasyan for cattle - the cattle dies.

Kasyan mows everything obliquely ...

It is curious that Kasyan is subject to the winds, which he keeps behind all kinds of constipation.
Attention is drawn to the relationship of the words KOCherga, KOSHEVOY, KOSHCHEY and KOSH-MAR. Koshch - "chance, lot" (cf. Makosh). It was assumed that Chernobog stirred coals in hell with pokers so that new life would be born from this dead matter. There is the Orthodox saint Procopius of Ustyug, depicted with pokers in his hands, as, for example, on the bas-relief of the Church of the Ascension on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow of the 16th century. This Saint, introduced in the 13th century, is responsible for the harvest, he has three pokers, if he carries them with the ends down - there is no harvest, up - there will be a harvest. Thus, it was possible to predict the weather and crop yields.
Koschey in a later era stood out as an independent cosmogonic character who makes living matter be deader, associated with chthonic characters such as a hare, duck and fish. Undoubtedly, it is associated with seasonal necrosis, it is the enemy of Makoshi-Yaga, who leads the hero into his world - the kosny kingdom. The name of the heroine kidnapped by Koshchei is also interesting - Marya Morevna (mortal death), i.e. Koschey - even greater death - stagnation, death without rebirth.
The veneration of the annual Viya-Kasyan fell on January 14-15, and also on February 29 - Kasyan Day.

(or as it is also called - Niam) - this is the God of the Slavs, who is perceived as the Guardian of Souls who have gone to Nav. In a late representation, this divine Person appears as a kind of mythical creature with eyelids lowered to the ground. If he raises his eyelids with a pitchfork, then nothing will be hidden from the View Eye. By the name of the Slavic God Viy, in the ancient Slavic language, people's eyelashes are called vii. This sound is still preserved in the language of the Ukrainian people. In the legends Viy is ambiguous, with a contradictory character.

The Slavic God Viy is considered the oldest God, the son of Rod. He was born together with his twin brother, whose name the Progenitor gave - Dy. Despite the fact that the Slavic God Viy is a dark God, nevertheless, He often looks at the bright Rule, striving to live according to its laws.

Wise people, seeing in depth, calmly perceive Viy's sometimes strange behavior. They remember a certain secret meaning of the appearance of Viy for the Worlds, in that is the intention of the Family, which is only known to the end by Him.

legends and myths about Slavonic God Vie

Many different legends affect Viy. Here are some examples of them.

About how the Slavic God God Viy taught the young God Veles:

The Dark God Viy accepted the child as his own son, erased part of his memory, and taught him black magic. So Veles became a scientist who knows about all the secrets of light and good, as well as dark and destructive magic.

About His important appointment in the universe:

Nav was chosen by Viy when Rod entrusted Him with an important task - to purify the souls who came to Nav, no matter what. The main task is to cleanse all the souls that come in hell, then let them go clean.

Souls are cleansed with flame in a special place - Peclet. All painful, unnecessary, heavy memories, attachments, dependences on the burning fire leave the soul forever! Then the soul remains for some time in a purified state in Navi, but already in another place, where the afterlife Judge determines the duration of its stay and exit from Navi. And the soul was already leaving, completely cleansed of Falsehood and Lies, only in this way can it move further along the path to the Rule!

God Viy was created with a large admixture of magic from Other Worlds, therefore He is always interested in distant Worlds - what is happening in them, what is happening.

How Viy got excellent assistants-informers, how He was called the All-Seeing and All-Knowing:

No matter what happens, something that could harm us does not appear, ”Viy thought about the mysterious other Worlds. Therefore, they decided to create a gang of birds, rats and other nimble living creatures, which could find out all the news everywhere, and retell Viyu. Everywhere his scammers snooped around, they even visited Rod's room, collected news day and night, and then they reported everything to Viyu. The God of Sleep and his girlfriend Sandman also came to the dreams of the Gods, and then they retold them to Wii. So Viy knew about everything that was done in Yavi, Navi or Rule. So the glory of Viy appeared as God the All-Knowing and the All-Seeing.

amulet – symbolGod Viya

The sign or amulet of God Viy is called by the Slavs - "All-Seeing Eye". He immediately tells us that this is God, from whose eyes, hearing and memory nothing is hidden. The appearance of the sign is circles repeating each other, one inside the other. Small stripes-protrusions along the edges of the circles indicate immunity. This means the hidden and obvious strength of Viy, his imperiousness, as well as his regalia - to be the Shepherd of Souls, when no one will hide under the vigilant, watchful eye of God.

Amulet "All-Seeing Eye" will protect from:

• bad, impure thoughts;
• discouragement;
• depression;
• pessimism;
• the arbitrariness of dark navi and other forces;
• deceit or lawlessness in your direction.

Amulet "All-Seeing Eye" will draw to you:

• development of intuition;
• penetrating mind;
• ingenuity;
• supernatural instinct;
• restoration of lost connections;
• good relations with people, friends;
• family trust in you.

You can get a lot from the All-Seeing Eye of Viy - purposefulness, understanding of the true sense of justice, and even wit, an analytical mindset, its development.

See more about the All-Seeing Eye amulet.

Manifestation God Viya for Slavs

The ancient ancestors of the Slavs knew about the terrible power of Viy - with just a glance, he is able to destroy not only a person, but entire cities or villages. One thing pleases, this heavy look is carefully hidden by thick eyebrows and low lowered eyelids.

The ancient North still remembers the understanding that the Viy God of the Slavs does a useful thing in Hell - it helps souls to cleanse themselves there. After purification, the soul can continue on its journey. It is necessary for the soul to return to its Rod, from where it came. Therefore, the Slavs treated Viy with reverence, honored Him for helping souls in their rebirth.

Attributes God Viya

Animal- a shaggy black dog with hanging eyelids.

Heraldry, items- scourge

Treba (offering)- a fire and a bag of wool for burning.

God Viyin northern traditions divination and of magic

Cut number – 9

Divination. questioning God.

The appearance of the Reza of God Viy draws the attention of the Questioner to the fact that he is standing on the edge of a cliff, and communications with Prav have been lost. This is a warning that a person is doing something wrong, somewhere his path turned off the right path and rushed somewhere to Nav, but it was necessary - to Prav.

He gives advice: you should cleanse your soul. To find the right path, you will need to make a lot of effort, which should not be abandoned.

A sure sign of finding the right path is the sudden arrival of a streak of luck and good luck.

Magic. When invite Boga Viy.

In magical rites, they avoid specifically calling God Viy, turning rites to him. This God is harsh and does not like to be disturbed. He is the keeper of Magic, but does not give it away in vain. But behind the amulet of God Viy they know the power - to protect in Reveal from unrighteous deeds. Those in the know who walk between the Worlds certainly take the sign of God Viy with them as an assistant and protector. After all, Viy is the ancient God of magic, who taught Veles himself!

Nauzes were also woven, turning to Father Viy in those cases when it was very necessary to block the path of a bad intention, to stop attacks, other people's intentions. Therefore, they tied the knot, and they slandered the conspiracy against the person from whom they wanted to protect themselves. Nauz Viya " Dead Knot" is called - it serves as a powerful barrier from unkind people.

Vievichi - children of Viy, the son of Chernobog - Koshchei the Immortal from the previous world

Vievichi (goryn-vievichi) were the children of Viy - the son of the Black Snake, Chernobog or Koshchei the Immortal. Slavic legends tell that the Vievichi lived underground, namely under the Ural, Caucasian mountains and, possibly, in the Russian North.
True, the father of Viy Chernobog used to live on Earth, but then was thrown into the abyss after the defeat of his tribe or race in a battle with the gods of light, led by the supreme god Svarog or the god of fire Semargl, the son of Svarog, as a result of which the first world was destroyed, in which did not yet have people.
The other inhabitants of that former world were the serpent Indrik, the son of Indrik and Mother Earth Cheese, the Fire Serpent Volkh, the wife of Indrik, the serpent Paraskei. However, the traditions are not very specific in this regard. They also "send" Volkh and Paraskei to the underworld and place Volkh over the "underground power", including over Viy.

Appearance and way of life of Vievichi

Slavic legends contain very little information about the appearance and lifestyle of the Vievichi - they are associated only with everything bad, black and ugly. Descriptions of individual representatives of this tribe - the Black Snake, Viy, the son of Viy Svyatogor are too vague and extremely mythologized. This, most likely, can be explained by the fact that only oral stories in the form of epics, songs and fairy tales have come down to us, and secondary written sources from the annals, teachings, chronicles, writings of Byzantine authors, while ancient written sources, sculptures, rituals and customs meaningfully destroyed for almost a whole millennium (almost all the remaining Old Church Slavonic books were burned during the reign of the grandfather and father of Peter I, Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov).

Vievichi - giant many-headed snakes - werewolves. Chernobog - Koschey the Immortal

Trying to recreate the appearance of the vievichs, you immediately pay attention to the duality of their characteristics given in the legends. So, Chernobog is depicted as a giant thousand-headed " Serpent of the fierce, Serpent of the Black, many-headed"; "That Serpent has a thousand heads, that Serpent has a thousand tails.", then in the form of a man or a demon with human features. His army in the battle with the gods also appears as a multitude of many-headed snakes -" fierce kites, many-headed x". At the same time, we know the images of some viyevichs in folk arts and crafts, where they have human-like features. So, Chernobog was depicted as a human-like idol, painted black with a silvered mustache. He was dressed in armor or chain mail, a helmet and wore a spear and a metal shield.The ancient Slavs brought him bloody sacrifices (captives, slaves and horses) before the start of important matters, in particular, before a military campaign.

Viy. Wii's eye

Viy was portrayed as a huge shapeless creature with eyebrows and eyelids to the ground, because of which he could not see anything. But if several strong men, usually twelve, managed to raise his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing could be hidden from his menacing gaze: with his gaze, Viy killed people, destroyed and turned towns and villages to ashes.