What are the characters in fairy tales. The most famous heroes of fairy tales and cartoons in the world
The most popular Russian fairy-tale hero is Ivanushka the Fool, however, this image does not always embody exclusively positive traits. In the fairy tale "Ivan the Peasant's Son and the Miracle Yudo", the image of the Russian Ivan is presented most beautifully and unambiguously. A hard-working hero fights with a sword and bare hands, cunning and ingenuity with the monsters that flooded the Russian land. He is kind and handsome, brave and courageous, strong and smart, undoubtedly, this is the most positive image of a Russian fairy tale.Another Ivan in "The Tale of Vasilisa the Golden Spit" also saves all the people and his own from a terrible snake that captivated the beauties and his own sister. Ivan Peas is a strong and formidable hero, ready to deal with any evil, protect his native land and defend the honor of his sister. But in the fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf”, the wolf acts as a more positive character, Ivan Tsarevich was only lucky to meet such a faithful and devoted friend. The same trend can be observed in the fairy tales "The Little Humpbacked Horse", "By the Pike's Command" and many others.
The Russian people for the most part believed that “the hunchbacked grave would fix it,” therefore, the transformation of the hero from a negative character into a positive one is not typical for Russian fairy tales.
The most positive female characters in Russian fairy tales are Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Wise. The Russian beauty is primarily distinguished by intelligence and kindness, she helps her chosen one defeat evil with cunning and ingenuity, get a magical item or direct it to the wise. Oddly enough, but in some fairy tales even Baba Yaga can be positive, which supplies the traveler with parting words, ancient knowledge and provides material assistance in the form of magic items: a scarf, a comb, a ball of thread or a mirror.
Positive heroes of foreign fairy tales
The heroes of European fairy tales are radically different from Russian ones, they are physically weak, intelligence and cunning are not sung in them like in folklore. Such qualities as kindness, humility, and diligence come to the fore. Snow White and Cinderella are downtrodden beauties, born for love and luxury, but, by will, they are obliged to play the role of servants. They make no effort to change their fate, they are submissive to it and freed from the shackles only by chance. Moreover, the main idea of such fairy tales is the idea that only virtue and diligence are necessary for justice, and God or good fairies will generously reward the heroine for all hardships.Pinocchio is a fairy tale by an Italian writer about the transformation of a stupid, naughty and sometimes cruel wooden doll into a kind and caring boy. Pinocchio or Pinocchio are one of the most positive children's characters.
Heroes-warriors in foreign fairy tales are presented quite rarely, one of the few such characters is Cipollino, although this is more the image of a revolutionary fighting dictators against the bourgeoisie and slavery. Another positive hero stands apart - the medieval revolutionary Robin Hood. The collective image of the noble robber-warrior is romanticized and inspired. He fights evil in the face of cruel feudal lords, lawlessness and injustice.
Oriental fairy tales are closer in their ideas, for example, Aladdin is an analogue of Ivan the Fool or Emelya. Oriental characters, like Russians, are often helped by cunning, dexterity and resourcefulness, the most popular hero is the "Baghdad thief", a criminal who managed to fool more than a dozen moneybags around his finger and was never caught. In almost every Arabic fairy tale there is also a guiding hand - as in the Russian tradition,. The smart and cunning wife of Ali Baba, Sakine, Scheherazade, like Vasilisa in Russian fairy tales, personifies such quick wit and ingenuity that is inherent only.
Scheherazade, she is Scheherazade, Shahrazade is the daughter of the vizier, and later the wife of King Shahriyar, a character in the cycle of fairy tales “1000 and 1 night.” She told her famous tales to the king.
To whom and why did she tell the tales of Scheherazade
Shahriyar had a brother, Shahzeman, who was cheated on by his wife. Heartbroken, he shared this news with the king. After that, Shahriyar decided to make sure of the fidelity of his own wife, but she turned out to be even more dissolute than her brother's wife. He executed her and all his concubines, deciding that no woman in the world was capable of being faithful. Since then, the king every day ordered an innocent girl to be brought to him, spent the night with her, and executed her the next morning.
This continued until it was the turn of the vizier's daughter to go to the king. Scheherazade was not only very beautiful, but also exceptionally smart. She figured out how to stop Shahriyar's cruelty and at the same time not die herself.
On the first night when Scheherazade was brought to the king, she asked permission to entertain him and tell an instructive story. Having received consent, the girl told him stories until dawn, but morning came at the most interesting place. Shahriyar liked listening to her so much that he decided to postpone the execution and find out the continuation. And so it happened: Scheherazade told all sorts of stories every night, leaving the most interesting for later.
After 1000 and 1 nights, Scheherazade came to the king with a request to have mercy on her, and brought three sons born from him during this time. Shahriyar replied that he had long decided not to execute her, since she had shown herself to be a chaste and faithful woman, and now he repented of the murder of innocent girls.
Who came up with "1000 and 1 night"?
The very story of Scheherazade is the frame and link of the cycle. All fairy tales in the collection can be divided into three types. Heroic stories include stories with a large proportion of the content of a fantastic plot. It is believed that they are the earliest in time of occurrence, and constitute the original core of "1000 and 1 nights". A later group of tales reflects the life and customs of the merchant population, most often these are various love stories. They are called urban or adventurous tales. The last to be included in the collection are picaresque tales, which are distinguished by irony in relation to the authorities and narration on behalf of the poor.
Fairy tales known to us from European editions, such as Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Aladdin's Magic Lamp, were not actually included in any Arabic manuscript.
The history of the emergence of "1000 and 1 nights" is still unclear to the end. It is generally accepted that the tales are Arabic, however, there are many hypotheses about the origin of the collection. Separate stories from there were known long before the appearance of the cycle. Not without reason it can be argued that initially folk art was edited by professional storytellers, and then it was written down by book sellers.
For many centuries of compilation and formation, the book has absorbed the cultural heritage of the Arabs, Indians, Persians, and even Greek folklore.
The collection had a great influence on the work of many writers, such as Gauf, Tennyson, Dickens. Pushkin admired the beauty of "1000 and 1" nights, which is not surprising, because. fairy tales have the brightness of the narrative, a colorful description of the East of that time, a combination of a fantastic and quite real plot.
The artist Roman Papsuev created a series of drawings in which he rethought the images of the heroes of the fairy tales of Ancient Rus'. In the author's interpretation, such heroes as Ilya Muromets, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Kashchei the Immortal and many others. others may well look like characters from the fantasy world.
Ilya Muromets. Began, of course, with him. By the way, a bottle of dead water hangs on his belt, to treat wounds. And with a shield, he can quite destroy enemies. I drew this picture from my head, just based on the types from childhood, but later, after consulting the sources, I came to the conclusion that I completely got into the image.
The author of the project does not in any way distort the history of the great heritage of the ancestors. He is only trying to make his vision of famous heroes. “I don’t invent characters, they are all in mythology, I just interpret their descriptions in my own way, I try to find common features in these descriptions and at the same time I try to maintain a single style so that it looks like a game world.
What pleases me most of all is that some people who have looked at my pictures begin to re-read fairy tales, learn a lot of new things for themselves and understand why Vasilisa the Beautiful has a doll in her bag, why Vodyanoy is on a catfish, why Ilya Muromets has a sword in his hands, not a mace, etc. This return to the roots through my modest project pleases me as an author most of all. Roman explains.
Dobrynya. What is known about him (in brackets - how I beat it). A relative of the prince (armor must be rich), the second most popular hero after Ilya (smaller in size, but still cool), a snake fighter (a magic shield upholstered in fiery dragon skin that shoots fire), a seven-tailed whip with which he whipped the horse so that he trampled the kites, and all that. Diplomatic abilities, education and erudition in the picture are difficult to portray, but I put a scroll in a tube on his belt, like he reads at his leisure. Right there he has living water, it complements the set of Ilya, who, let me remind you, has dead water on his belt. Well, the motive of the sun, like Ilya's, - they serve one prince.
Popovich. Well, it's obvious that he should be a witch hunter, right?
A sudden turn slightly to the side, towards Finist.
It's the girls' turn. I'll start with Vasilisa the Beautiful (not to be confused with Vasilisa the Wise, aka the Frog Princess). A combat magician, there’s nothing to even think about, one skull, incinerating enemies (mentioned in a fairy tale), which is worth it. And of course, the doll in the bag, everything is as it should be. A small remark: perhaps not so well seen, but her kokoshnik is steel, part of a half-helmet.
Vasilisa the Wise (The Frog Princess). It was not so easy for her. There are already three common versions of the fairy tale (in one of them she is generally called Elena the Beautiful), so I decided to try to collect everything that is known about her into one image. So, witch. He conjures both with the help of his own strength and with the help of mothers-nannies (grandmother-nanny, mother-manka, etc.). I decided that babysitters would be plump flying fairies in my version. The magic of mothers-nannies individually is not that strong, but if they start doing something together, just hold on.
I did not find confirmation in fairy tales that Vasilisa is the daughter of Koshchei the Immortal (although there is such a version, and it is quite logical), so I did not make obvious necromantic paraphernalia. But the Wise One, it seems to me, could also indulge in dark magic, she has such a character ... I completely forgot to mention - an arrowhead hangs on her chest in the form of a pendant. The one.
Princess Nesmeyana. At first I wanted to make my face open, then I decided to immediately show the mask-visor. The kokoshnik is part of the helmet. Observant viewers will pay attention to the waterskin and the horn on her belt. Why? Because because of the eternally bad mood, he is constantly applied to alcohol. By the way, when she laughs (and she laughs very rarely), it means that she has an attack and she becomes a berserker - a very scary ability.
Maria Morevna. Everything is clear here. The only remark is that since the fairy tale indicates that she is a steppe warrior, I slightly added Asian elements.
Barbarian beauty. Mound Raider. Strictly speaking, this is a cinematic character, in the mythology of Varvara-beauty, it seems, there was no. But, firstly, everyone probably knows Rowe's film, and secondly, her name is painfully noble, he could not pass by. I think it's clear who was the reference. A few comments: axes are attached to the sheaths on the hips, amulets-amulets dangle from the belts, the kokoshnik, as always, is metal. When there are many opponents, she attacks by spinning and mows down enemies (haha). The scythe itself may well be made of leather, like a whip, i.e. it is not tucked hair, but part of a helmet.
Baba Yaga. V.1.0.
Koschey. It feeds on the souls of victims. I also drew this one, based on stamps from my head, then I carefully studied the sources and came to the conclusion that I would change Koshchei's head. So there will be Koschey Mark 2 later. :)
Nightingale the robber. Part one. Upper. I'll have to explain something. In fairy tales, the Nightingale sits on nine oaks, sits high, looks far away, whistles like a nightingale, shouts like an animal. I thought for a long time how to beat it all (“sitting on nine oaks” was the biggest problem - a giant, or what? Or small oaks?), Eventually I came to the conclusion that the Nightingale would be a rider monster. He will ride on an oak tree. His whistling scream is a sonic weapon. A whistle is a targeted strike, a scream is a wide-range wave. He will also have a magical staff to control the oak. And notice the acorn necklace around his neck. It is not without reason, it is a solution to the problem with nine oaks. Yes, many have strange associations with his mouth, I advise you to go to the mirror and try to make “chicken tail sponges” - be surprised. :)
Nightingale the robber. Part two. Riding on an oak. In general, he lives on a tree, this is his repository and fortress. Chests (trophies) and shields are hung on the branches, which move if something threatens the Nightingale. Also, the oak has chains with hooks, with which it pulls the victim to itself in order to eat it.
The oak moves both like a spider and like a centipede, that is, it supports the trunk with large branches, and finely sorts through the roots. It moves slowly, but if it gets there - krants to the hero. Now about the problem of nine oaks. Acorns are magical. When the Nightingale drops one acorn on the ground, a minion oak tree rapidly grows from there, a ground support, so to speak. I drew one of them on the left. They are faster and more aggressive than oak-fortress. Run up to the hero and beat. There are eight acorns on the necklace plus an oak-fortress, for a total of nine. The oaks themselves are pretty creepy trees, but when nine oaks move at the hero, plus the Nightingale with his sonic weapon, the hero must be uncomfortable.
Yes, and the scale here is a little arbitrary (otherwise it would not fit), but approximately be guided by the skulls on the branch, these are the skulls of adults. That is, the Nightingale is slightly larger than an ordinary person. Yes, and in the picture he just screams like an animal.
Tugarin Serpent. This is probably the last picture where I use complex frames - it takes too much time for them, characters are more important, so further frames will be very conditional.
Lesovik. Owner of the forest. I will share the forest spirits, this one is the most important. He, in principle, is kind, but severe and fair, if anything, he can severely punish.
Visually, I decided to start from zooanthropomorphic descriptions, with elements of phytoanthropomorphism, for each forest spirit I will choose the main animal and I will dance from this
Goblin. I tried to embody in this handsome man the main thing that is known about goblin in the generally accepted (and most importantly - evil) sense. The character of Leshy, to put it mildly, is not very pleasant. One eye is normal (left), the right is usually larger than the left and "dead", immobile. Beard and gray hair. They often write about a cone-shaped head, in my interpretation - because of the hair gathered in a bun. She wraps her clothes to the left and wears them inside out (it turned out to be not so easy to show in a pencil that this is the inside out). The arms and legs are covered with hair. In some versions of the legends, he is girded, in others he is not necessarily. Trophies and everyday things hang on the belt: the skulls of defeated, lost and impolite travelers, a horn for drinking, and a bast shoe, because my Leshy just likes bast shoes, he collects them. In the legends, the classic Leshy also has some kind of fixation on bast shoes. But given that he is often described as hoofed, the question is - how did he wear them? The logical answer is that he did not wear them on his feet, he simply carried them with him as souvenirs.
Bolotnik. A vile creature living in the swamps, pretending to be a bump, eats everyone. Throws "swamp lights" from the bracelet to paralyze the victim. Poisonous.
P.S. I also want to add a decoy, like an angler fish. The decoy is long, telescopic, actually a symbiote, that is, a separate creature, lures-hypnotizes travelers, leads them straight into the quagmire to Bolotnik.
Spirits of the forest. Part 1. It was impractical to draw a separate picture for each small spirit of the forest, so I decided to divide them into groups. All these guys are Lesovik's retinue. I tried to make according to the descriptions that I could find, but it could not do without arbitrariness.
Vodyanik, for example, is, as it were, one of the names of the Waterman. But I decided that small ponds, streams and small streams should also have their own spirits, so I singled out the name "Vodyanik" as a separate group of small spirits. All the spirits of the forest are quite neutral, but if they are angry, they can attack.
The most aggressive of this group is Mokhovik, and according to legend, he could eat kids, if anything.
Berryberry, for all its outward harmlessness, can also deal damage (with poisoned berries).
Derevyanik - in one character he combined Derevyanik and Kornevik - stupid, awkward, but quite strong, he can entangle with roots and drink juice from the victim with them.
Spirits of the forest. Part 2. Mushroom picker, Listovik, Herbalist, Kustin. I call this picture "Russula is late for the meeting." Concluding the topic of forest spirits and Lesovik's retinue, let's quickly go over the characters and abilities.
The mushroom picker is not a very kind character (in mythology, mushrooms are generally not very favored, there is a lot about genitals and excrement), not very strong, but very tenacious and touchy (he believes that people slander him). Can infect offenders with rapidly growing fungi. His dream is to conquer the whole world.
The herbalist is a hippie. In case of danger, it can intoxicate the head of the offender and even kill if it gets very angry.
Listovik (combined with Steblevik so as not to produce essences) - the most harmless of all, usually acts as a support group for Derevyanik and Kustin, gives them additional strength and protection.
Kustin (Kuschanik) - Derevianik's younger brother, they are very similar in character and usually work in pairs. Kustin knows how to remotely braid the offender with branches, paralyzing him.
Water on catfish. For this picture, I will simply list the main characteristics with explanations of why this is so, and we will talk about the details of the character of the Vodyanoy in the next picture. I must say right away: I tried to absorb into the image everything that the Internet knows about Vodyanoy, at the same time offering some of my own solutions. I ask you right away, forget the Waterman's song from The Flying Ship. So let's go.
It is known that Vodyanoy is a fat old man with a big belly (done), he is often seen in a red shirt (I have chain mail made of scarlet gold), he has a broad beard and a green mustache (here I cheated and made him a CATFISH mustache, part of a beard - also catfish probes, hence the greenish color). Among the northern peoples of Russia, Vodyanoy is often represented with a club. In general, Vodyanoy is a serious evil spirit, and his character is very bad (quote: "The embodiment of the element of water as a negative and dangerous beginning"). And the main quote for the picture, from which, in fact, the image itself was born. “The catfish is attributed to him as a favorite fish, on which he rides and which delivers drowned people to him. For this, the catfish is popularly called the “damn horse”. That's when the idea to make a mount-boss came to mind. Since the Waterman is sometimes still seen on land, I made the catfish not quite a catfish. In fact, there is a whole mix of animals (all of them live quite well on the territory of Russia, by the way), whoever determines them all will get a pie.
I paid special attention to the harness, harness and saddle, I had to dream up, of course, but fighting pack catfish do not exist in nature, so I apologize if anything. This is not the last picture of Vodyanoy: here it is too small and details are not visible, so I will make it separately, as Nightingale did.
Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa. Sorry for so many letters, but it's necessary. I present to your attention a family photo, because of which I spent a sleepless night at work, so covered. Let's start with Vodyanitsa, because a new character. There is very little information about Vodyanitsy (it’s not clear where to put the emphasis, I prefer to put it on and), it is known that she is NOT a mermaid, she is dressed in a torn sundress, she has big breasts, she is a prankster, but in general she doesn’t offend anyone much, i.e. . quite a positive character. I painted her in a magpie (the headdress of married women) to emphasize family status. And this character has a key feature that really hooked me. "Vodyanitsa is a drowned woman from the baptized, and therefore does not belong to the undead." Do you understand? The baptized drowned woman is the wife of Vodyanoy, who is actually evil spirits (undead). There is a lot of room for imagination here, of course. And here's what I imagined.
As I wrote earlier, Vodyanoy has an extremely bad character. He seems to be neutral, but with a greater bias towards evil. He constantly needs to be appeased, otherwise he will mischief, and drown, and wave his club. However, he can provide a catch and save, if anything, - and in my version, all his good deeds are directly related to Vodyanitsa. Since his wife is essentially kind, but young, mischievous and absurd, she twists the old man as she wants. And often makes the hubby do good deeds, although this is contrary to his impure nature. And vice versa, when they quarrel, Vodyanoy goes on a campaign and rages even more, blowing off steam. Vodyanitsa herself is not particularly shown to people, and in my interpretation she is not even a separate character, but simply an addition to the image of Vodyany. She buffs (increases strength) the Merman when she yells at him.
Sister Alyonushka, brother Ivanushka Another sweet couple. I understand that I am shocking many with this picture, but before judging, I ask you to re-read the fairy tale. However, I will briefly explain everything to you. There are several key points in the fairy tale (in its many iterations) that are the same for all variants. So the facts:
1. Ivanushka became a kid.
2. Alyonushka was drowned.
3. In almost all variants, there is a “fierce snake” that sucked Alyonushka’s heart out (and there is also a “heavy stone” on her neck, “a white fish ate out her eyes”, “yellow sands lay on her chest”, “silk grass on her hands”, ashes, decay, hopelessness, that's all).
4. There is a witch-sorceress who arranged all this mess with drowning.
5. They took Alyonushka out of the river, “dipped her, rinsed her in clean water, wrapped her in a white cloth, and she became even better than she was.”
6. In all versions of the tale, where Ivanushka turned into a goat, he remained one. Well, you understand what I mean, right?
I was not too lazy and nevertheless compiled my own “dictionary of runes”. They, of course, are fictitious, based on the Scandinavian and those scribbles that I dug up in the pre-Christian writing of the Slavs. Moreover, I came up with the meanings of the runes myself, not really looking back at the real ones. My version, my runes, I turn whatever I want. There will be an additional game for the audience - to read what is written on the clothes of the heroes.
Fairy tale plays a significant role in human life. This is what he hears one of the first after birth; she also accompanies him in the next stages of growing up. Fairy tales are loved not only by children, but also by adults. Their deep philosophical meaning makes it possible to take a different look at ordinary things; understand the principles of good and evil; learn to believe in a miracle and not forget about your own role.
Moral values are transmitted through characteristic characters, each of which has its own folk prototype.
Hare
Runaway bunny, gray bunny, oblique - as soon as they don’t call the animal in Russian folk tales. He is endowed with a cowardly, but at the same time friendly character. Fairy hare has cunning, dexterity and resourcefulness. A striking example is the fairy tale "The Fox and the Hare", where a small animal turns from a cowardly animal into a savvy hero who managed to deceive even an evil wolf and help his friends.
In nature, hares do have cautious habits that help them avoid the teeth of predators. Our ancestors also knew this feature of the animal.
Fox
Cunning, dodgy, smart, insidious, vindictive ... What features are not given to the fox in fairy tales. She deceives animals, looks for profit everywhere, is not afraid of people. The fox is friends with the strong, but only for his own benefit.
Cunning is embodied in the image of an animal. A dishonest, thieving, but at the same time smart person can be considered a folk prototype. The fox is feared, despised and respected at the same time. This is evidenced by the appeal to her in fairy tales as Lisa Patrikeevna, Chanterelle-Sister.
Wolf
The wolf in Russian fairy tales embodies anger. He preys on weaker animals; is not always smart. The shortsightedness of the wolf is used by other characters. In the fairy tale "The Chanterelle Sister and the Gray Wolf" a formidable predator was deceived by a red cheat, and in "The Three Little Pigs"
harmless pigs could wrap him around their fingers.
Our ancestors also associated the wolf with death. Indeed, in nature, this predator is considered a kind of forest orderly who hunts weak and sick animals. And the human prototype of the wolf can be considered the one who is too evil, greedy and vengeful.
Bear
Fairy bear is the master of the forest. He is strong, rude, clumsy and not exactly smart. It is believed that in the form of a bear, ordinary people wanted to show the landowners. Therefore, in fairy tales, this animal is often deceived by weaker animals, with which ordinary people are associated.
At the same time, in fairy tales you can also find another image of a bear: kind, calm, honest and freedom-loving. Suffice it to recall how the bear helped the lost girl Masha in the work of the same name.
Man (peasant)
The image of a man in fairy tales has a different meaning. In some works, he acts as the personification of the working people: he is somewhat rustic, he works all the time, does not put up with the injustice of rich owners. On the other hand, such traits as wisdom and cunning were embodied in the peasant. He is hardworking, not rich, but much more cunning and resourceful than the landlords and generals.
Baba Yaga
A hut on chicken legs, a black cat, a mortar and a broom are the main attributes of any fabulous Baba Yaga. This old woman is both evil (what her threats are worth) and kind (helps in difficult situations). She is wise, strong-willed, purposeful. It can be an adviser, or it can be a threat.
The image of Baba Yaga in Russian fairy tales is one of the most controversial and controversial. She personifies matriarchal traits. Our ancestors Baba Yaga was closely associated with the clan.
Koschei the Deathless
In fairy tales, his image can be seen in three guises: a sorcerer with special power, the king of the underworld and an old man who can be the husband of the Serpent or a friend of Baba Yaga. It has unusual abilities: it turns heroes into animals and birds. It can be defeated only thanks to certain rituals (with the help of a magic horse, club, burning). Despite his name, he is not immortal at all, because his death is on the tip of a needle (or, alternatively, in an egg), which are securely hidden.
The folk prototype of Koshchei is an imperious, evil, cunning and vile person, endowed with magical properties.
Ivan the Fool
Contrary to the ambiguous name, Ivan is not at all the personification of stupidity, even if he is called a fool in the work. In fairy tales, he is the youngest of the sons, who often does nothing, is lazy, but achieves a lot in life thanks to cunning and luck. This is a positive hero, embodying the features of what people would like to have. A kind of dream, where without much effort, by chance, everything succeeds: to become rich, and to marry a princess. Our ancestors in the image of Ivan the Fool wanted to show a lucky person.
Ivan Tsarevich
Unlike Ivan the Fool, who gets everything simply and effortlessly, Ivan Tsarevich must overcome many obstacles to achieve his goal, showing his strength, intelligence and skills. He becomes a prince not only by the fact of birth, which he does not even know about, but by merit. Like Ivan the Fool, he is most often the youngest of the brothers, only of royal blood.
kikimora
Kikimora in fairy tales can act as an ugly creature of indeterminate age (this is a girl, an old woman, and even a man). It is the personification of evil spirits. She tries to hide from people, but lives near residential buildings or in a swamp. Her job is to frighten and frighten.
The mythological meaning of kikimora among our ancestors is a person who passed away in an unrighteous way. Therefore, his soul does not find rest.
Water
The merman is the master of water. This is a half old man half a fish. Lives near mills, in a whirlpool and a polynya. Scares people and drags them to the bottom; breaks mills and drowns cattle. But the merman can be deceived, defeated by cunning.
It's about the main character's fiancee. Whether he is Ivan Tsarevich or Ivan the Fool, he will certainly find Vasilisa the Wise or Vasilisa the Beautiful. The girl is supposed to be saved first, and then to marry - all honor by honor. It's just that the girl is not easy. She can hide in the form of a frog, have some kind of witchcraft and abilities, be able to speak with animals, the sun, wind and moon ... In general, she is clearly a difficult girl. At the same time, it is also some kind of "secret". Judge for yourself: finding information about her is much more difficult than about any other fairy-tale character. In encyclopedias (both in classical, paper, and in new ones, online) you can easily find lengthy articles about Ilya Muromets and Dobryn Nikitich, about Koshchei the Immortal and Baba Yaga, about mermaids, goblin and mermen, but there is almost nothing about Vasilisa . Only a short article in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia lies on the surface, which reads:
"Vasilisa the Wise is a character in Russian folk fairy tales. In most of them, Vasilisa the Wise is the daughter of the sea king, endowed with wisdom and the ability to transform. The same female image appears under the name of Marya the Tsarevna, Marya Morevna, Elena the Beautiful. Maxim Gorky called Vasilisa the Wise one one of the most perfect images created by folk fantasy. Another by nature is a destitute orphan - Vasilisa the Beautiful in Afanasiev's unique text. "
Let's start, perhaps, with Vasilisa Sr., with the one that Gorky identified with Marya the Tsarevna, Marya Morevna and Elena the Beautiful. And there were good reasons for that. All these characters are very similar, for example, in that nothing is really said about them in fairy tales. Like, a red maiden, which the world has never seen - that's all. Neither a detailed description of the appearance, nor any character traits. Just a female function, without which a fairy tale would not work: after all, the hero must win the princess, and who she is there is a tenth matter. Let there be Vasilisa.
The name, by the way, hints at a high origin. The name "Vasilisa" can be translated from Greek as "royal". And this royal maiden (sometimes in fairy tales she is called the Tsar Maiden) begins to put the hero to the test. That is, sometimes it is not she who does this, but some fabulous villain like Koshchei the Immortal or the Serpent Gorynych, who kidnapped the princess and keeps her captive (at best) or is going to devour her (at worst).
Sometimes the father of a potential bride acts as a villain. In the fairy tale, where Vasilisa appears as the daughter of the water king, the lord of the sea creates obstacles for the hero in order to destroy him, but loses, because the enemy suddenly turns out to be dear to the heart of his daughter, and no witchcraft can overcome him. But here everything is more or less clear: there is some kind of evil force (a dragon, a sorcerer or the girl's evil parents), and the hero must fight the enemy. In fact, that's how he becomes a hero. And the princess, princess or princess (it doesn’t matter) is a reward for the hero.
However, it also happens that Ivan Tsarevich or Ivan the Fool or some other central fairy tale character is forced to undergo trials not because of dragons or sorcerers - he is tormented by the bride herself. Either the hero needs to jump on horseback to the windows of her room and kiss the beauty on the lips of sugar, then recognize the girl among twelve friends who look exactly like her, then you need to catch the fugitive - or demonstrate enviable cunning to hide from the princess so that she did not find him. At worst, the hero is invited to solve riddles. But in one form or another, Vasilisa will check it.
It would seem that unusual in the tests? Testing a man is generally in the female character: is he good enough to connect his life with him or give birth to offspring, does he have the strength and intelligence to be a worthy spouse and father? From a biological point of view, everything is absolutely correct. However, there is one small detail. If the unfortunate Ivan does not complete the task, then death awaits him - and this is repeatedly emphasized in dozens of Russian fairy tales.
The question is, why does the beautiful princess demonstrate bloodthirstiness, which is more likely to face the Serpent Gorynych? Because she doesn't really want to get married. Moreover, she is the enemy of the hero, the famous researcher of Russian folklore Vladimir Propp believes in his book "The Historical Roots of a Fairy Tale":
"The task is set as a test of the groom ... But these tasks are still interesting to others. They contain a moment of threat:" If he does not, cut off his head for a fault. "This threat gives another motivation. Tasks and threats reveal not only the desire to have the best groom for the princess , but also a secret, hidden hope that there will be no such groom at all.
The words "perhaps I agree, just complete the three tasks in advance" are full of deceit. The bridegroom is sent to his death... In some cases, this hostility is expressed quite clearly. It manifests itself outwardly when the task has already been completed and when more and more new and more and more dangerous tasks are being set.
Why is Vasilisa, she is Marya Morevna, she is Elena the Beautiful, against marriage? Perhaps in fairy tales, where she constantly intrigues the main character, she simply does not need this marriage. She either rules the country herself - and she does not need a husband as a competitor in power, or she is the daughter of a king who will be overthrown by her potential husband in order to seize the throne. Quite a logical version.
As the same Propp writes, the plot about the intrigues that the future father-in-law repairs to the hero along with his daughter or in defiance of her could well have real grounds. According to Propp, the struggle for the throne between the hero and the old king is a completely historical phenomenon. The tale here reflects the transfer of power from father-in-law to son-in-law through a woman, through a daughter. And this once again explains why fairy tales say so little about the appearance and character of the bride - this is a character-function: either a prize for the hero, or a means of achieving power. Sad story.
Meanwhile, in the Russian tradition there is a fairy tale that tells about the childhood, adolescence and youth of Vasilisa. Gorky just mentioned her, saying that she does not look like the usual image of a princess that the hero is trying to conquer. In this tale, Vasilisa is an orphan girl. Not sure if it's the same character. Nevertheless, this Vasilisa, unlike other fairy-tale namesakes, is an absolutely full-blooded heroine - with a biography, character, and so on.
I'll sketch the storyline with a dotted line. The merchant's wife dies, leaving him a little daughter. The father decides to marry again. The stepmother has her daughters, and all this new company begins to tyrannize Vasilisa, loading her with overwork. In general, it is very similar to the fairy tale about Cinderella. It seems, but not really, because Cinderella was helped by a fairy godmother, and Vasilisa was helped by a creepy witch from the forest.
It turned out like this. The stepmother and her daughters said that there was no more fire in the house, and they sent Vasilisa to the forest to Baba Yaga, of course, hoping that she would not return. The girl obeyed. Her journey through the dark forest was scary - and strange: she met three riders, one white, one red, and a third black, and they all rode in the direction of Yaga.
When Vasilisa reached her dwelling, she was met by a high fence of stakes, seated with human skulls. Yagi's house turned out to be no less creepy: for example, instead of servants, the witch had three pairs of hands that appeared from nowhere and disappeared from nowhere. But the most terrible creature in this house was Baba Yaga.
The witch, however, accepted Vasilisa favorably and promised that she would give fire if Vasilisa completed all her tasks. Completing difficult tasks is an indispensable path of a hero. Unlike the fairy tales mentioned above, in this one, a woman passes by, and therefore her tasks are female, there are simply too many of them: to clean the yard, and sweep the hut, and wash the linen, and cook dinner, and sort out the grain, and that’s it. - for one day. Of course, if the tasks are performed poorly, Baba Yaga promised to eat Vasilisa.
Vasilisa washed Yaga's clothes, cleans her house, cooked her food, then learned to separate healthy grains from infected ones, and poppies from dirt. After Yaga allowed Vasilisa to ask her a few questions. Vasilisa asked about three mysterious horsemen - white, red and black. The witch replied that it was a clear day, a red sun and a black night, and all of them were her faithful servants. That is, Baba Yaga in this tale is an extremely powerful sorceress.
After that, she asked Vasilisa why she does not ask further, about dead hands, for example, and Vasilisa replies that, they say, if you know a lot, you will grow old soon. Yaga looked at her and, narrowing her eyes, said that the answer was correct: she does not like too curious and eats. And then she asked how Vasilisa manages to answer her questions without mistakes and how she managed to do all the work correctly.
Vasilisa replied that her mother's blessing helped her, and then the witch pushed her out of the door: "I don't need the blessed here." But in addition, she gave the girl fire - she removed the skull from the fence, whose eye sockets were blazing with flames. And when Vasilisa returned home, the skull burned her tormentors.
Creepy tale. And its essence is that Vasilisa the Beautiful, performing the tasks of Baba Yaga, learned a lot from her. For example, while washing Yaga's clothes, Vasilisa literally saw what the old woman was made of, writes the famous fairy tale researcher Clarissa Estes in her book "Running with the Wolves":
"In the symbolism of the archetype, clothes correspond to the person, the first impression that we make on others. The person is a kind of camouflage that allows us to show others only what we ourselves want, and no more. But ... the person is not only a mask behind which you can hide, but a presence that overshadows the familiar personality.
In this sense, a persona or mask is a sign of rank, dignity, character and power. It is an external pointer, an external manifestation of mastery. When washing Yagi's clothes, the initiate will see firsthand how the seams of the person look, how the dress is tailored.
And so it is in everything. Vasilisa sees how and what Yaga eats, how he makes the world revolve around him, and the day, sun and night walk in his servants. And the terrible skull, blazing with fire, which the witch gives to the girl, in this case, is a symbol of the special witchcraft knowledge that she received while she was in Yaga's novices.
The sorceress, by the way, might have continued her studies if Vasilisa had not been a blessed daughter. But it didn't work out. And Vasilisa, armed with power and secret knowledge, went back to the world. In this case, it is clear where Vasilisa's magical skills come from, which are often mentioned in other fairy tales. It is also understandable why she can be both good and evil.
She is still a blessed child, but the school of Baba Yaga is also not going anywhere. Therefore, Vasilisa ceased to be a meek orphan: her enemies died, and she herself married the prince and sat on the throne ...
The land of fairy tales is the most amazing and wonderful of all countries. Where else, if not here, you can see a carpet in the sky - an airplane, walking through the forest, meet the Gray Wolf and Lisa Patrikeevna speaking the human language, or accidentally come across the dilapidated hut of Baba Yaga.
The Russian people have an innumerable number of fairy tales. The Russian man lived in the midst of nature, dense forests stood around. It was terrible for a person in such a forest, much is incomprehensible. Trying to explain something, to calm down, to amuse themselves, our ancestors came up with tales, legends, legends, in which the heroes were water, goblin, kikimora, and also plants or animals.
And also fairy tales are a repository of information forgotten by the people about events that took place so long ago that it is difficult to remember. Any fairy tale carries at least two levels of information: general and hidden. The general level tells what is good and what is bad in a given society. But the hidden one tells about life in distant times, obscures the true heroes to obtain fairy-tale characters, well recognizable by readers and storytellers of any generation.
I present to you the ten most popular fairy tale characters of Russian folk fairy tales:
In 10th place is the well-known master of reincarnation, the Frog Princess, who successfully participated in the fairy tale of the same name.
In 9th place, the miracle of domestic poultry farming is the magnificent and inimitable Firebird from the fairy tale "Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf."
And in 8th place is a resident of dense forests, sometimes kind, sometimes evil, the unique Goblin with the fairy tale "The King and his uncle."
In 7th place is an expensive, extraordinary beauty Goldfish, who managed to participate in two fairy tales
"Gold fish",
"Golden shoe".
6th place is occupied by the most terrible monster with an indefinite number of heads Chudo-Yudo nasty, who has done trouble in two fairy tales:
"Ivan the Peasant's Son and Miracle Yudo",
Ivan Bykovich.
On the 5th line of our hit parade, a hybrid of man and animal, a little stupid and terribly greedy Devil. He "lit up" in three instructive tales:
"Golden Ax"
"Crazy",
"The Enchanted Queen"
The tireless horse Sivka-Burka rightfully takes the 4th place with the following three tales:
"Sivka-Burka",
“A pig is a golden bristle, a duck is golden feathers, a golden-horned deer and a golden-maned horse”,
Well, here we have reached the top three winners of our hit parade.
Honorary 3rd place is occupied by the well-known, slender and now living Koschey the Immortal. This old man "spoiled the blood" of the participants in seven tales:
"Princess Frog",
"The Snake Princess"
"Koschei the Deathless",
"Elena the Wise"
"Marya Morevna"
"Damask well done",
"The Tale of Koshchei the Immortal".
On the 2nd position of our hit parade is a recognizable snake with a personality disorder and a fiery character, the inimitable Serpent Gorynych. He inherited in 11 fairy tales:
"The Cursed Prince"
"Crystal Mountain"
"Ivan Tsarevich and Martha Tsarevna",
"Nikita Kozhemyaka"
"About a stupid snake and a smart soldier"
"Kuzma Skorobogaty",
"Animal Milk"
"Ivan Goroshko"
"Wonderful Shirt"
"Two Ivan soldiers' sons",
"About Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent Gorynych."
The Serpent Gorynych is associated with fire and water, flies through the sky, but at the same time it also correlates with the bottom - with a river, a hole, a cave where wealth is hidden from him, a stolen princess (or three princesses), a noble bride, “Russian full”; there is also the numerous offspring of the Serpent Gorynych - “snakes”.
Well, the winner is a terribly attractive girl of indeterminate years, a cheerful, laughter-loving Baba Yaga. This is the most common character in Russian folk tales. I counted 18 fairy tales, but this list can be continued:
"Vasilisa the Beautiful"
"Enchanted Queen"
"Stepdaughter and Stepmother's Daughter"
"A Tale of Two Sisters"
"Ivan Tsarevich and Bely Polyanin",
"Marya Morevna"
"Ivan Bykovich",
"Light of the Moon"
"Grateful Dead"
"Go there - I don't know where, bring that - I don't know what"
"The Tale of Koschey the Immortal"
"Baba Yaga"
"Tereshechka",
"Swan geese",
"Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka"
"Knee-deep in gold, elbow-deep in silver,"
"Princess Frog",
"The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water".
This is what the ten most popular fairy tale characters from Russian folk tales look like.
Prototypes of the heroes of Russian folk tales
Where did such fabulous images appear in fairy tales, which are simply a reflection of folk myths, and those, in turn, half-forgotten facts from life?
I will reveal to you the secrets of the most popular fairy tale characters, who are among the top three winners.
The Secret of Koshchei the Immortal.
There are several versions.
First. The Encyclopedia "Myths of the Peoples of the World" says that Koschey means "captive", "slave". The word is borrowed from the Turkic language, and is associated, rather, with the slavery not of Koshchei himself, but of the girls and boys whom he kidnapped. That is, initially, captives of an evil sorcerer or deity were called Kashchei, and then the common noun became a proper name. And now we know only one Koshchei - the Immortal.
Second. They call Koshchei the Immortal not because he cannot die, but because his Death is hidden too far. So in the fairy tale “Koschey the Immortal” - he says: “I have death in such and such a place; there stands an oak, a box under the oak, a hare in the box, a duck in the hare, an egg in the duck, my death is in the egg.
Third. If you look at this question from a mythological point of view, you can see that Koschey, personifying Winter, Cold, Death, steals Love and Beauty in the face of young girls so that Spring does not come, so that permafrost and darkness are established. But there is a good fellow - Ivan Tsarevich, a symbol of Sunlight and Warm Spring Thunder with Rain. With the help of the forces of nature (magical beasts), he defeats Death, and Spring comes to Earth.
Now let's try to imagine what Koschey the Deathless looked like, or could look like. Fairy tales and drawings for them made by artists will help us with this. It is they who create that image, the portrait of the hero, about whom we read in a book or in a fairy tale.
I did a little survey among my friends. It was attended by 10 people. I asked how you imagine Koshchei the Immortal, and received approximately the same answer. Everyone sees an old, very thin, rather thin and bony person who resembles a skeleton covered with skin. But he is not a weak old man, but very strong, one might say, wiry. Well, his character is harmful, evil, voluptuous, greedy (rather even mean), and he is completely unpolite, rude and ungrateful.
Of course, Koshchei has a lot of wealth, gold, various silver. He accumulates these riches, so that later, perhaps, he will make a gift for the wedding of his bride. But since he steals brides from other suitors, and he himself does not look young and handsome, the brides all run away from him, ultimately, with their real gentlemen - princes and queens. But this does not indicate that Koschei is stingy. He is just frugal and saves money for something very important to him.
Until now, the name of Koshchei is called old misers, withered from stinginess and trembling over a hidden treasure, largely thanks to Pushkin and his lines:
"There the King of Koschei languishes over gold."
Koschey to this day remains one of the most colorful characters in fairy tales, about whom they write poems, come up with jokes and new fairy tales, even erect monuments, as in the city of Suzdal, for example.
The image of the Serpent Gorynych.
There are also several versions that served as a prototype for the Serpent Gorynych. The first version, the most popular among the people, means under the Serpent Gorynych hordes of invaders who rolled into Rus' from the southern steppes, whether they were Polovtsy, Tatar-Mongols or other nomads. This version was explained beautifully, but unconvincingly. Like, hordes of nomads rolled into Rus' like a multi-headed snake, their avalanche wriggled like a snake, and the cunning and vile disposition of the Tatar-Mongol exactly repeated the character of the reptile reptile.
But according to the latest scientific data, the Serpent Gorynych turned out to be not a living creature, but a secret weapon. Let's compare the description of the Serpent Gorynych with the technical characteristics of the Mongolian weapons.
Let's start with the main sign of the Serpent Gorynych - the mouth bursting with fire (“it flies, the flame blazes from the nostrils”). This description is the best suited for fire projectiles. The many-headed Serpent can be explained by the fact that the installations that sent shells at the enemy would today be called "volley fire installations." The Mongolian "Katyushas" threw out dozens of fireballs, which, with a howl and hiss, rushed to the Slavic fortifications. The wings of the Serpent Gorynych turned out to be the stabilizers of powder rockets. Another proof of the rocket version is the fact that the Serpent Gorynych always purposefully flies in and falls from the sky at once, and does not circle over the cities of ancient Rus', choosing a victim. A distinctive feature of the Serpent Gorynych is his death at the hands of Russian heroes. The blood of the Serpent, according to fairy tales, is black, and mother earth does not want to accept it, absorb it.
Summing up, it is safe to say that the negative hero of a huge number of Russian fairy tales and epics was nothing more than the rocket troops of the army of the Tatar-Mongol invaders.
The image of a terribly attractive girl of indeterminate years, a cheerful, laughter-loving Baba Yaga.
Since childhood, everyone knows who Baba Yaga is, and remember almost everything about her tricks. In any fairy tale, Baba Yaga plays an important role. Take it out of the text. And the hero will definitely not be able to do anything. He will either not get the sword-treasurer he needs, or he will not receive an exact indication of where to look and where to go, and in the end, he will certainly turn out to be hungry and dirty, since this mischievous old woman from the very beginning will certainly feed him, give him water and soar in the bathhouse, and even then does everything else. Thus, without it, nowhere.
Baba Yaga "- this strange name has its own history. "Baba" is the mother, the main woman in ancient cultures. "Yaga" is fire. There was a verb "yag". strength. "Yagali hunters, women in labor. It turns out that Baba Yaga was the main mother, a wise woman who knew everything.
Remember what she is? Terrible. Lives in a dark forest, flies in a mortar, and all the time strives to fry and eat someone! Why, then, does Ivan Tsarevich or Vasilisa the Beautiful often come to Baba Yaga for advice? And because there was such a custom - to apply for any knowledge to the ancestors. And the distant ancestors, of course, are in the other world, where the living is ordered to enter. But Baba Yaga served as an intermediary, a guide to the other world. After all, she herself, apparently, died a long time ago. This is evidenced by the description of her appearance in fairy tales: shaggy, loose hair (braids in ancient times were untwisted only to dead women) and a bone leg (it is clear that she died so long ago that she even decayed). And her dwelling - a hut on chicken legs - a prototype of the houses that were built by people of the past. They believed that after the death of a person, his soul lives among people for some time. They made a doll for her, put her in a wooden house, and put the house on a stump from a felled tree, the roots of which are very reminiscent of a chicken paw - here you have a hut on chicken legs!
After all, there is not a single fairy tale where Baba Yaga would fry people, she just wants to do it. Where did this story come from? It turns out that there was such a rite - baking a sick child. The midwife spoke the bread dough, wrapped the baby in it, put it on a shovel and put it in the oven. Then she took it out, unfolded it, and gave the dough to the dogs. The child often recovered from such warming. So, if we interpret the fairy tale from the point of view of the history of culture, then Baba Yaga is not a villain at all, but a folk healer. So Baba Yaga is not as scary as we think.
Conclusion.
By doing this work, I have enriched my reading experience. I learned a lot of new Russian folk fairy tales.
I learned to analyze, to highlight the main thing. I have collected, it seems to me, interesting educational material that can be used in the lessons of literary reading, history, the world around.
