Chernava


In Slavic mythology, Chernava is Morskoy Tsar's daughter, spirit and personification of the river of the same name. She is a mermaid. Her head and upper body are human, while the lower body is a fish's tail. Chernava is famous by the epic of Sadko, where she appears.

In ''Sadko''

In the Sadko bylina, Chernava appears as the one of the 900 mermaids. She is described as small, scrawny and young girl. When Morskoy Tsar offered Sadko a new bride, Sadko took Chernava and lay down beside her. On their wedding night he did not touch her. When Sadko was asleep, Chernava had transformed into a river, helping him to get into the human world. Sadko woke up on the shore of the river Chernava and rejoined his first wife.

In popular culture

are named after her.