{{expand Russian|topic=cult|date=October 2018}} {{Italic title}} '''''Verlioka''''' ({{langx|ru|«Верлиока»}}) or '''''Wyrlook''''' ({{langx|uk|«Вирлоок»}})<ref>Капица Ф. С. Тайны славянских богов. - М.: РИПОЛ классик, 2007. - 416 с.</ref> is an East Slavic [[fairy tale]] collected by [[Alexander Afanasyev]] in ''[[Narodnye russkie skazki]]'' (1855–63). It is classified in the [[Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index]] as tale type ATU 210*, "Verlioka".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uther |first1=Hans-Jörg |title=The Types of International Folktales: Animal tales, tales of magic, religious tales, and realistic tales, with an introduction |date=2004 |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica |isbn=978-951-41-0956-0 |page=133 }}</ref>
==Synopsis== Once there was an elderly couple who had two grandchildren, whom they loved. One day, the grandpa ordered his granddaughter to shoo away the sparrows to protect the crops. Verlioka finds her there and kills her. The grandpa wonders why his granddaughter hasn't come back and sends his youngest grandchild to find her. Verlioka kills her too. Grandpa then sends the grandmother to bring the girls back but Verlioka kills her. After a while, the grandfather goes out to find his family, learns they are dead, and sets out to kill the monster. Along the way, he is joined by talking animals and objects, who attack the monster in his home.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haney |first1=Jack |title=The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-093-3 |pages=469–473}}</ref>
==Etymology== The [[Ukrainian language]] has an adjective "вирлоокий" ('vyrlookyi'), meaning "with bulging eyes"; noun "вирло", plural "вирла" ('bulging eyes'). The name has cognates with other Slavic languages: {{langx|be|вірлавокi|virlavoki}} ('with bulging eyes'), {{langx|sr|врљоока|vrljooka}} ('with a damaged eye'), dialectal [[Smolensk]] {{langx|ru|верлиокий|verliokiy|strabismic, crossy-eyed'; 'turning their eyes in all directions}}).<ref>Словарь русских народных говоров. Т.4. — '''С. 147'''</ref> This may reflect [[Proto-Slavic]] ''*vьrl-'' ('to turn, to spin') + ''*oko'' ('eye').<ref>Етимологічний словник украïнськоï мови/А-Г. — Киïв: [[:uk:Наукова думка|Наукова думка]], 1982. — '''С. 380, 634'''</ref>
==Analysis== According to [[Alexander Afanasyev]]'s note, the tale was collected by Nikolay Tikhorski in "Southern Russia". According to the [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]] Folktale Classification ({{langx|ru|СУС|translit=SUS}}), there are 3 Russian, 7 Ukrainian, and 1 Belarusian variant.<ref>Barag, Lev. "Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка". Leningrad: НАУКА, 1979. p. 86.</ref> Notemakers {{ill|Lev Barag|ru|Бараг, Лев Григорьевич}} and N. V. Novikov theorize that the typical Ukrainian ending «Вот вам сказка, а мне бубликов вязка» ({{langx|uk|Ось вам казка, а мені бубликів в'язка}}, "Here's a tale for you, and a bunch of donuts for me"; in Bain's translation "So there's a skazha for you－and I deserve a cake or two also."), as well as usage of the [[vocative case]] («А вы, добродею, знаете Верлиоку?») possibly suggest that the tale was written in or near Ukraine.<ref>Народные русские сказки А.Н. Афанасьева в трех томах. Том II. Москва: Издательство «Наука», 1985. С. 451.</ref>
American professor Jack Haney suggested that the tale is "primarily" [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haney |first1=Jack V. |title=The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev, Volume II: Black Art and the Neo-Ancestral Impulse |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |id={{Project MUSE|42506|type=book}} |isbn=978-1-4968-0278-1 |pages=552–553 }}</ref> while German folklorist [[Hans-Jörg Uther]] argues that the tale type appears to be "mainly documented in Russia".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uther |first1=Hans-Jörg |title=The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson |date=2004 |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica |isbn=978-951-41-0963-8 |page=133 }}</ref>
==Variants== [[Alexander Afanasyev]]'s fairy tale collection has a variant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haney |first1=Jack |title=The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-093-3 |pages=469–473}}</ref>
[[Robert Nisbet Bain]] included a retelling of the story in ''Russian Fairy Tales'', a translation of [[Nikolai Polevoy]]'s work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian Fairytales |url=https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/russian-fairytales-1915 |website=The Public Domain Review |access-date=19 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Полевой |first1=Пётр Николаевич |title=Народные русские сказки в изложении П. Полевого |date=1874 |publisher=Типография и литография А. Траншеля |location=Санкт-Петербург |pages=91–95}}</ref>
Russian folklorist D.K. Zelenin listed a variant as the ninety-sixth story in his collection.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zelenin |first1=D.K. |title=Great Russian Fairy Tales of the Vyatka Province |url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/node/333559#v=d&z=3&n=5&i=1848226_doc1_639B2713-1975-4881-B52C-49B783AA9888.tiff&y=658.5&x=571 |website=Presidential Library |publisher=Administrative Department of the President of the Russian Federation |access-date=17 February 2024}}</ref>
Two Russian versions were collected from one informant in Belozerye.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilyina |first1=E. N. |title=Tale of Verlioka in Speech Culture of Belozerye and in Repertoire of Language Personality |journal=Научный диалог |date=2023 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=220���236 |doi=10.24224/2227-1295-2023-12-2-220-236 |url=https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/4403 |access-date=17 February 2024|doi-access=free }}</ref>
“Довгомудыкъ," ("Dovgomudyik") is a Ukrainian variant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Manzhura |first1=Ivan |title=Fairy Tales, Proverbs, etc., Recorded in the Yekaterinoslav and Kharkov Provinces |date=1890 |publisher=Tip. K.Schasni |location=Kharkov |pages=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/20200408_20200408_1223/page/n5/mode/2up |access-date=17 February 2024}}</ref>
Another Ukrainian variant appears as the twenty-sixth story in a collection.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chubinsky |first1=P.P. |title=Proceedings of the Ethnographic and Statistical Expedition in the West-Russian Territory |url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/item/941335#v=d&z=3&n=5&i=15142570_doc1.tiff&y=1118.375&x=562 |website=Presidential Library |publisher=Administrative Department of the President of the Russian Federation |access-date=17 February 2024}}</ref>
A Belarusian variant was published by V.N. Dobrovolsky.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dobrovolsky |first1=V.N. |title=Smolensk Ethnographic Collection. Part I. |date=1891 |publisher=Russian Geographical Society |location=St. Petersburg |pages=152–153 |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/%D0%A1%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B9_%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%8A._%D0%A7%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_I.pdf |access-date=17 February 2024}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Russian fairy tales}} {{Slavic mythology}}
[[Category:Russian fairy tales]] [[Category:Slavic legendary creatures]] [[Category:Russian mythology]] [[Category:Ukrainian mythology]] [[Category:Ukrainian fairy tales]] [[Category:Cyclopes]] [[Category:ATU 200-219]] {{Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index}}
{{legendary-creature-stub}} {{europe-myth-stub}}