Why the tale of Koschie (Koschie the Deathless) doea not support the three brothers and three sisters trope of what a lot of people are hoping for.
Koschie the Deathless comes from Slavic mythology, often known as Koschie the the Immortal. There are many tales of how Koschie is immortal and where his power comes from but what SJM pulls from his story that was inspired by Andrew Lang's ‘ The Red Fairy Book’ and Alexander Afanasyev's ‘ Russian Fairy Tales’ that both tell the story of Koschei the Deathless that circles around the life and love of Prince Ivan Tsarevitch. Following the death of his parents, Ivan saw his three sisters wed to three powerful kings or wizards that take on the form of birds of prey. Raven (darkness), Eagle (fire), and a Hawk (wind). Within a year, Ivan became lonely and even envious of his sisters for finding love while he remained alone. Soon, Ivan ventured off to find his sisters coming across Marya Morvena, a woman warrior, as they wed along their journey.
Soon after, Marya says that she is going off to war and warns Ivan not to open the door to the castle dungeon (or closet) in the castle they reside in while she is away. Overcome by the desire to know, he opens the door soon after her departure to find Koschie emaciated and chained. Koschie soon asks Ivan for some water, which Ivan does. After drinking twelve buckets of water, his magic returned to him, breaking free of his chains and disappearing. After Koschie disappeared, he soon found out that he had captured Marya and pursued him. When Ivan finally reached Koschie, he warns the man to let him go, but Ivan refuses, thus causing Koschie to kill him. Tossing parts of his body into barrels into the sea where his sister's husbands revived him. They tell Ivan that Ksochie has a magical horse and that he should go to Baba Yaga for one as well.
After surpassing and surviving her tests, Ivan gets a magical horse as well and kills Koschie. Burning his body and saving Marya.
But how does SJM tie this into Acotar? We know that throughout her books, the number 3 has been incredibly symbolic and representative in her series. Though for acotar, we have three sisters and three kings or in some stories, wizards: Highlord of Night, Heir of Day, and Prince of Bastards. Though in other variations of the myth, they turn into night, day, and wind. We have Rhysand, who is basically the personification of Night, Lucien, who is heir of the Day court, and Cassian as Illyrians are said to be created by the wind. And each of these males is mated to the three sisters. But who represents Ivan? Azriel. In the tale of Ivan, it tells of him not only being lonesome but also envious of something his sisters have: love.
Azriel is already on his journey of envy and loneliness that we've seen in his bonus chapter, but instead of going forth, he runs away finding Gwyn. In many variations of the tale, they tell of Marya as a warrior or a warrior princess at times, which leads to Gwyn. Not only is Gwyn a warrior - a valkyrie on top of that, but she could also be related to Beron as well. It was said that her grandmother was a water nymph who would seduce high fae males in the Autumn Court. It could've very well have been the start of his deep hatred for lesser fae as he was seduced by one and why her mother could not be contained in the Forest House. This theory supports Gwynriel and what is to come, but it also supports Elucien too. On different days, Ivan and his sisters were approached by birds of prey.
To support Elucien: Days follow days, hours chase hours; a whole year goes by. One day, Prince Ivan and his two sisters went out to stroll in the garden green. Again, there arose a storm cloud, with whirlwind and lightning. 'Let us go home, sisters!' cries the Prince. Scarcely had they entered the palace when the thunder crashed, the roof burst into a blaze, the ceiling split in twain, and in flew an eagle. The Eagle smote upon the ground and became a brave youth. 'Hail, Prince Ivan! Before I came as a guest, but now I have come as a wooer!' And he asked for the hand of the Princess Olga. Prince Ivan replied: 'If you find favor in the eyes of the Princess Olga, then let her marry you. I will not interfere with her liberty of choice.' Princess Olga gave her consent and married the Eagle. The Eagle took her and carried her off to his own kingdom.
As stated before in other variations of the story, the wizards represent the following: darkness, fire, and wind. In the section that was provided before, an eagle came to the three siblings in the garden as the roof burst into a blaze, and as the bird smote onto the ground, it became a brave youth We've known that Lucien is clever and witty, but he is also brave. He broke through the spell that Hybern had casted upon everyone to reach Elain, he was the first to acknowledge what she did when it came to defeating Hybern, did not doubt her vision when it came to Vassa and went searching for her where he also returned with the one person she adored the most: her father and an army of ships. If Lucien does take the title as Highlord of Day, his beast form would be part eagle.
To support Nessian: Hardly had they got into the palace, when the thunder pealed, the ceiling split open, and into the room where they were came flying a falcon bright. The Falcon smote upon the ground became a brave youth and said: 'Hail, Prince Ivan! Before I came as a guest, but now I have come as a wooer! I wish to propose for your sister, Princess Marya.' 'If you find favor in the eyes of my sister, I will not interfere with her wishes. Let her marry you in God's name!' The Princess Marya gave her consent; the Falcon married her and bore her away into his own realm.
To support Feysand: They returned home, but they hadn't had time to sit down when the thunder crashed, the ceiling split open, and in flew a raven. The Raven smote upon the floor and became a brave youth. The former youths had been handsome, but this one was handsomer still. 'Well, Prince Ivan! Before I came as a guest, but now I have come as a wooer! Give me the Princess Anna to wife.'
'I won't interfere with my sister's freedom. If you gain her affections, let her marry you.' So the Princess Anna married the Raven, and he bore her away into his own realm.
Princess Marya represents Nesta as she is the oldest of the three sisters, Princess Olga representing Elain as the middle sister, and Princess Anna representing Feyre as the youngest of the sisters to be wed.
