Firebird (Slavic folklore)

Ivan Bilibin's illustration to a Russian fairy tale about the Firebird, 1899

In Slavic mythology and folklore, the Firebird (Russian: жар-пти́ца, romanizedzhar-ptitsa; Ukrainian: жар-пти́ця, zhar-ptytsia; Serbo-Croatian: žar-ptica, жар-птица; Bulgarian: Жар-птица, romanizedZhar-ptitsa; Macedonian: Жар-птица, romanizedŽar-ptica; Polish: Żar-ptak, rarely also ptak-żar; Czech: Pták Ohnivák; Slovak: Vták Ohnivák; Slovene: Rajska/zlata-ptica) is a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird from a faraway land which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor.