📜 «a land of milk and honey»
Also known as: rivers of milk and banks of jelly, Cockaigne
A fairy-tale image of abundance.
“Rivers of milk, banks of kissel” is a fairy-tale picture of a land where there is plenty of everything (in English, the closest phrase is “a land of milk and honey”). There, rivers flow with milk, and the banks are made of kissel. Nobody has to work: food is always close at hand. The phrase came to mean heaven on earth and a carefree life of plenty.
The image comes from the folk tales of the Eastern Slavs. For peasants, milk and kissel were signs of a full stomach. Back then, kissel was not a sweet berry drink but a thick dish made from oats or other grain. It was slightly soured. The word “kissel” itself is related to the Slavic word for “sour”.
Today people often use the phrase with irony. They say it to someone who promises too much: “He promised rivers of milk and banks of kissel.” Or about a dream that will hardly come true. Other peoples have similar images. For example, the Bible speaks of “a land flowing with milk and honey”.
How it connects to milk
📜 «a land of milk and honey» → image → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Related to
- 🥛 Milk
- Part of
- 📜 Milk in culture and language
Frequently asked questions
What does “rivers of milk, banks of kissel” mean?
It is a fairy-tale image of plenty and a carefree life. People often say it with irony about promises that will not come true.
Why are the banks made of kissel?
In the past, kissel was a thick dish made from oats. Together with milk, it was seen as a sign of a well-fed life.
Similar
🌌 Milky Way · 🌽 Milk stage · 🦷 Milk teeth · 📜 «peaches and cream» · 📜 «once bitten, twice shy» · 📜 «wet behind the ears»