Sirin
Also called Sirin Bird.
In Russian folklore, the Sirin is a bird-woman whose ravishingly beautiful song lures travelers into forgetting the world and following her to their death, the dark counterpart to the blissful Alkonost in the classic paired bird-maiden motif.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Slavic folklore
- Region
- Russia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Song-Binders
- Symbols
- Bird
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Bird is image-domain The bird denotes the soul and its flight between worlds, carrying aspiration, prophecy and divine essence, and moving freely where the earthbound cannot follow.
why
In Russian folklore, the Sirin is a bird-woman whose ravishingly beautiful song lures travelers into forgetting the world and following her to their death, the dark counterpart to the blissful Alkonost in the classic paired bird-maiden motif.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Woman-headed bird hybrid
why
The Sirin is a bird-woman of Russian folklore, depicted with the body of a bird, often an owl or other large bird, and the head and torso of a beautiful woman, sometimes shown crowned with a halo or a headdress evoking a sacred or otherworldly origin.
- Human-headed bird hybrid
why
depicted with the body of a bird, often an owl or other large bird, and the head and torso of a beautiful woman
- Hybrid of multiple animals
why
The Sirin is a bird-woman of Russian folklore, depicted with the body of a bird, often an owl or other large bird, and the head and torso of a beautiful woman, sometimes shown crowned with a halo or a headdress evoking a sacred or otherworldly origin.
- Paired opposite siren sisters
why
She is most often discussed in tandem with the Alkonost as one half of a paired pair of bird-maidens: where the Alkonost's song brings bliss, the Sirin's song is dangerous, an alluring but deadly counterpart within the same folkloric pairing.
Behaviour
- Song induces euphoric amnesia
why
Her defining power is her voice: the Sirin sings a song of such overwhelming, ravishing beauty that any traveler who hears it forgets everything they knew, their home, their path, their very purpose, and follows the sound as if entranced.
Sight and sound
- Haunting music entrances or terrifies listeners
why
the Sirin sings a song of such overwhelming, ravishing beauty that any traveler who hears it forgets everything they knew, their home, their path, their very purpose, and follows the sound as if entranced
Curses
- Hypnotic enchanting song
why
Her defining power is her voice: the Sirin sings a song of such overwhelming, ravishing beauty that any traveler who hears it forgets everything they knew, their home, their path, their very purpose, and follows the sound as if entranced.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Anima carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Sirin."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Sirin."
- Death carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Sirin."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Sirin."