Cossack Bear, a Chernobyl story
Why Cossack Bear? Why not a wolf, an eagle or maybe even a stoat? Good question.
Before I had even shared the first ideas for the novel with my old laptop, I knew that somehow, somewhere it would feature a bear, more specifically a brown bear, a species which can still be found throughout the vast forests and mountainous regions of Eastern Europe.
They share the terrain with, amongst others, wolves of course. But wolves live and hunt in packs, whereas bears are solitary self-sufficient creatures - a little like Demyan. I also find wolves, although undoubtedly intriguing, a little sinister. Think Little Red Riding Hood! Not so bears. In my mind they are intelligent, powerful, resilient animals. Their appearance is often portrayed as lovable, cuddly even. I give you Paddington, Winnie the Pooh and Rupert for starters.
The eagle, the symbol of Russian might and power, is a beautiful and majestic raptor but an eagle would simply not have worked for the purposes of the story. Yes, they can be trained but they have few of the qualities that I wanted to feature in the novel. And stoats? Well, I have to admit that this humble creature, whose fur is so prized, would have made an excellent substitute.
But you could never dress a stoat as a Cossack, could you?
So, there you have it. A little insight into how Medved came into being.
Please feel free to get in touch and comment
Thanks for reading, until next time,
Neil
Original artwork by Rosie Ablewhite @RosieRockets_
Find out more about Rosie here : https://rosierocketsblog.wordpress.com/about/
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