Russian rusalkas and nationalism water, power, and women

The Russian rusalka-a cousin of sirens, lorelei, naiads, undines, and mermaids-is specific to Russia's history and culture.¹ There are two sirenlike creatures in Russia, the terrestrial woman-bird sirin,² and the waterinhabiting rusalka. Carved at the base of columns on St. Basil's Bridge near the St. Petersburg Admiralty and leading sailors seaward from the prows of Russian vessels, the fishtailed rusalka,³ not the landlocked sirin, became a symbol of military expansion to the seas in the eighteenth century.