Meduza (Russian: Медуза), Meluza (Russian: Мелуза, literally «small», «little») or Meluzina (Russian: Мелузина) is a mythical creature in Russian folklore. She was depicted in a Russian lubok of the 17th or 18th century. She is described as half-woman, half-snake, or as the half-woman, half-fish creature. She is also said to be the deity of deception.[1]
She is represented as a sea monster with the head of a beautiful dark-haired maiden, having the body and belly of a striped beast, a dragon tail with a snake's mouth at the end, and legs resembling those of an elephant with the same snake mouths at the end. She also wears a crown.
According to belief, her snake mouths contained a deadly dragon poison. She was said to live in the Sea near the Ethiopian abyss, or in the Western Ocean.
Book: Belova, Olga Vladislavovna. Славянский бестиарий: словарь названий и символики. Slavic Bestiary: a dictionary of names and symbols. ru . Indrik. 1999. 5-85759-100-7.
Book: Belova, Olga Vladislavovna, Petruhin. Фольклор и книжность: Миф и исторические реалии. Folklore and bookishness: Myth and historical realities. ru . Science. 2008. 263. 978-5-02-036228-4.
Book: Damskiy, Kipriyan. Любопытный словарь естеств животных. Curious Dictionary of the Natures of Animals. ru . Тип. Ф. Мейера. 1801. 234.