Fire Guides to the Realm of the Dead in the Pagan View of the Eastern Slavs
The main purpose of this study was the historical reconstruction of the pagan ideas of the Eastern Slavs about the fiery psychopomps - guides to the realm of the dead. Relying on the materials of archaeological excavations of ancient Russian burial grounds of the pre-Christian era and data from Ancient Slavic written sources of the 11th-16th centuries, the authors were able to consistently analyze the pagan ideas of our ancestors about fiery birds, winged horses and magic boats as personifications of cremation fire.