April 17, 2015

How Well Do You Know Russian Fairy Tale Characters?


How Well Do You Know Russian Fairy Tale Characters?

This Friday, April 17, would have been the 120th birthday of Soviet folklorist Vladimir Propp, creator of a classification system for fairy tale plot lines. In his honor, today we present the recurring characters of Russian fairy tales.

Baba Yaga

Possibly the most familiar of the Russian characters, Baba Yaga is clearly a witch. Like the familiar witches of the Western tradition, she is typically an old hag who lives in isolation from the rest of society and is able to fly on a common household implement (in this case, a giant mortar and pestle). She lives in the forest, in a house on chicken legs (or just one leg), often described as being without doors or windows. In fairy tales she is often the villain, but being a magical old woman, sometimes she appears as a benevolent figure, offering the hero some helpful magical object.

Koschey and Other Villains

Koschey the Immortal, the ruler of the underworld, unlike Baba Yaga, is more unambiguously a villain. He has a bad habit of stealing the hero’s bride, and the fairy tale usually isn’t over until he dies. But here’s the catch: Koschey’s death is a physical object that the hero must find. Usually Koschey puts it on the end of a needle, then puts that needle in an egg, the egg in a duck, the duck in a rabbit… The list goes on.

Hero Dobrynya Nikitich with a slain Zmey - and his prize!

Other villains and obstacles include Zmey Gorynych, a multi-headed fire-breathing dragon, also with a bad habit of stealing young women; Chudo-Yudo, a sea-based creature of massive proportions; and the Cat Bayun, a giant man-eating cat that purrs you to sleep. Gotta stay on your toes!

Dangers of the Forest

The ancient Slavic world was filled with spirits. Sometimes they could be helpful, and sometimes, if angered, they could be a more immediate danger than some of the big-league villains. The forest as a whole was tended by the leshy, a shapeshifter who would lead travelers astray if they were mean, or help them find their way out of the forest if they helped him. Bodies of water held the double danger of the vodyanoy, the water spirit, and rusalki, siren-like mermaids. And, of course, the besy, minor evil spirits, were ubiquitous, causing small-scale mayhem and requiring effort to tame.

The slightly-leery leshy

Heroes and Positive Characters

Most male heroes go by Ivan – either Ivan-tsarevitch (Prince Ivan) or Ivan-durak (Ivan the idiot). The name is about as descriptive as naming the character John Doe – Ivan is the Russian everyman. His female counterpart is often Vasilisa, nicknamed “the wise” or “the beautiful.” Another positive character, familiar to Western audiences from Stravinsky’s ballet, is the Firebird, whose golden feathers gleam like a thousand candles and which is often the object of a hero’s quest.

An artistic depiction of the firebird.

Image credit: snob.ru, Wikimedia Commons, veche.razved.ca

Tags: fairy tales
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
PO Box 567
Montpelier VT 05601-0567

802-223-4955