Also called Alkonst, Alkonos.
Their story
The Alkonost is a bird with a woman's head who lives in paradise, known from Russian illuminated books and folk prints. Her name comes from the Greek halkyon, the kingfisher of legend, and like it she lays eggs on the sea and calms the waters for days. Her song is so sweet that those who hear it forget everything. Viktor Vasnetsov painted her with Sirin as the birds of joy and sorrow in 1896.
Best times to give to them
- midwinter (when she lays her eggs)
- celebrations
What they like being given
- song
- a candle
- flowers
How to honour them
- Sing or play joyful music to lift a heavy day.
- Keep a picture of the bird of joy to balance times of sorrow.
How they can help you
- joy
- peace
- calm after storms
Symbols
- a bird with a woman's face
- a flower or scroll in hand
- eggs laid on the sea
She came into Russian lore through Byzantine learning, not from pre-Christian belief.
Sources
- Russian lubok folk prints (17th to 19th centuries)
- Viktor Vasnetsov, Sirin and Alkonost: Birds of Joy and Sorrow (painting, 1896)
More Slavic beings
- Div The crying omen in the tree-top
- Vodyanoy The old man of the millpond
- Polevik The spirit of the fields
- Poludnitsa Lady Midday of the harvest fields
- Mavka Hollow-backed maiden of the Ukrainian woods
- Mora The night-mare who sits on the chest
- Zmey Gorynych Many-headed dragon of the byliny
- Firebird The glowing bird of the golden apples