51 pages 1 hour read

Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017

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Symbols & Motifs

The Chyerti

The chyerti are the folk spirits of the household and nature. They symbolize The Connection Between Humanity and Nature, as well as how the dismissal of old ways disrupts the harmony of the community and the environment. The chyerti protect and provide for the villagers, and the people, in return, provide them with offerings, such as food.

The balance begins to unravel with the arrival of Father Konstantin, who denounces the chyerti as pagan superstitions, or even malevolent demons. His teachings lead the villagers to neglect the spirits, weakening the bond between them. As the villagers abandon them, the chyerti’s power weakens, which leads to growing disorder, fear, and natural calamities in and around the village, showing the danger when cultural roots are forsaken. For example, the domovoi, which lives in the oven, is the protector of the house. When he is weakened from neglect, he cannot keep Medved from the house, and Agafya is attacked as a result. Once Vasya gives the domovoi offerings again—bread and some of her blood—he is able to keep the upyrs of Agafya and Dunya out of the house.

Outside of the household guardians, such as the domovoi and the bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, Arden shows the spirits of the forest surrounding Lesnaya Zemlya, who have a more dangerous nature that matches their wilder home.