Eglė Žalčių karalienė

Description

EGLĖ ŽALČIŲ KARALIENĖ / EGLĖ, THE SERPENT QUEEN

“Eglė, the Serpent Queen” is a unique and profound Lithuanian folk fairy tale about the relationship of the mortal and the divine.
In this story, the serpent – an important creature in Lithuanian mythology – is King of the Waters; a deity who takes an earthly woman Eglė for his wife. Despite the objections of Eglė’s family, the serpent takes her to his underwater palace, where they beget children. The tale ends tragically when Eglė’s brothers lure the serpent onto dry land and kill it. Eglė turns her children into trees, and transforms herself into a spruce, or, according to another version of the story, a cuckoo bird.
This story has been told throughout Lithuania in a hundred different ways. Its deep, layered symbolism has provided fodder for academic research and inspiration for artists to retell it using their own creative language.
(1) The Cuckoo Woman returns to her birthplace and remembers something that happened here long ago. (2) Three sisters are swimming in the lake. They playfully try to guess the lake’s name, and accidentally summon the serpent Žaltys, King of the Waters. (3) When the sisters return to shore to get dressed, the youngest, Eglė, finds the Serpent in her clothes. The girls are terrified, and beg the Serpent to give the clothes back. The Serpent agrees to leave only after Eglė promises to marry him. (4) Eglė, now alone, tries to grasp what has happened, and is overcome with emotions about her future. (5) The Serpent King’s brothers arrive with an entourage at Eglė’s family home to collect the promised bride. Her brothers and sisters don’t want to give her up. They fool the serpents twice by giving them a farm bird and animal instead of the girl. The Cuckoo Woman reveals this trickery to the serpents, and on the third try they leave with the real bride. (6) At the seashore, Eglė comes face to face with Žaltys in his full godly form. Freely now, the Serpent and the woman vow to marry one another. (7) The sea responds to the Serpent’s incantation and opens to receive him and his bride. In the Serpent Kingdom, she is recognized and crowned Queen. (8) As the years pass, the royal couple begets children. Two Sea Fairies sing about the flow of time. (9) The Serpent Queen misses her earthly family, and they miss her. As the sun sets beneath the waves, both sides seem to be able to hear each other. She decides to ask her husband for permission to visit her birthlands with her children. (10) Žaltys doesn’t want to let her go. He requires her to complete three impossible tasks – to spin a bewitched bundle of flax, to wear out a pair of iron slippers, and to bake bread in a sieve. She completes the tasks with the help of the Sea Fairies. (11) Exhausted, Eglė falls into a deep sleep, while Žaltys is restless. He feels a creeping loneliness and longing. (12) In the morning, the Queen departs with the children. Žaltys instructs them how to summon him when they need to return. If he is alive, the sea will foam with milk. If he is dead, it will foam with blood. He asks them to keep the incantation a secret. (13) When she returns to land, the Serpent Queen first meets the Cuckoo Woman, who reassures her and shows her the way home. (14) Upon arriving, they are received joyfully by Eglė’s brothers and sisters. They celebrate with a homecoming feast. (15) But the brothers are hatching a plot. They take Eglė’s children out to the pastures at night, and interrogate and frighten them into divulging the Serpent’s Call. They summon Žaltys and slay him. (16) Ready to return to the sea, The Serpent Queen calls her husband, but sees only a foam of blood. She decides to never return to the world of mankind. She turns her children into trees, and transforms herself into a cuckoo bird.

Eglė – Aistė Smilgevičiūtė
The Serpent – Mantas Jankavičius
The Cuckoo Woman – Neda Malūnavičiūtė
Eglė’s Sisters – Karina Krysko ir Aistė Lasytė
Eglė’s Brothers – Povilas Meškėla ir Vladas Kovaliovas
The Serpent’s Brothers – Jeronimas Milius ir Tadas Juodsnukis
The Sea Fairies – Teresė ir Milda Andrijauskaitės

©℗ Promostar, VIA ARTIS 2018

Songs

CD I
1. NUO DIEVO LŪPŲ / From God’s Lips 4:05
2. MAUDYNĖS / Swimming 4:13
3. EIK ORAN! / Go Away! 7:09
4. BALTO ŽIEDO ARIJA / Song of the White Blossom 4:47
5. ŽALČIAI ATVAŽIUOJA / The Serpents Arrive 8:01
6. DUODU ŽODĮ TAU / I Give You My Word 3:59
7. MEILĖ BEDUGNĖ / Love’s Abyss 6:09
8. LAIKAS DUGNE / Time at the Bottom of the Sea 7:38

CD II
9. TOLUMĖLĖ / The Distance 4:47
10. ŽALČIO UŽDUOTYS / The Serpent’s Tasks 9:17
11. VIENATVĖ ILGAPIRŠTĖ / Pervasive Solitude 7:30
12. RYTO DUETAS / Morning Duet 5:43
13. ŠVENTAS RYTAS / Sacred Morning 4:52
14. SUTIKTUVĖS NAMUOSE / Homecoming 4:45
15. NAKTIGONĖ / Night Pasture 7:27
16. KRAUJO PUTA / Foam of Blood 8:19
17. SPARNAIS APRENGTI / Dressed with Wings 7:30