We invite you to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of fairy-tale characters who are actors fairy tales that are loved by your children, and maybe you too. They will help you more specifically choose certain fairy tales for your children for correctional purposes. Perhaps you will learn something new and interesting... Or perhaps you will disagree with something. But getting to know the characteristics of the characters will help you in choosing the hero of your own fairy tales for your baby, as well as for general awareness.
Cinderella lives in the kitchen near the stove and sleeps in a box of ash. Ash (ash) represents the essence of what has been burned. Fire is a symbol of destruction, purification and transformation. Cinderella lives next to fire, which imparts its power to her, and it in turn helps her survive adversity and suffering. Like fire that turns water into steam, Cinderella processes, burns through humiliation, resentment and pain, turning them into pure love. You must have a warm heart so as not to become embittered and hardened in soul when you are insulted, humiliated and hated.
Princess Frog
The amphibian frog and Vasilisa the Beautiful are one and the same creature: animal and earthly forces are fused together. Every person contains incredible and wonderful possibilities. Merging with the image of the beautiful Vasilisa, you feel omnipotent, harmonious and joyful. a frog that turns into a beauty realizes its potential, given from birth.
sleeping Beauty
During the time of Sleeping Beauty, people perceived and realized differently the world. Consciousness never stands still, it develops, and intuitive perception should have been replaced by logical thinking. The spindle is a symbol of spinning. And the processes of spinning and thinking are initially related. The expressions “I lost the thread of reasoning”, “I pulled the thread and remembered everything” still exist. “Spinning” in figurative language means to build thoughts, create a logical chain.
The princess, who, under the curse of the evil fairy, pricks herself on the spindle and dies (falls asleep), is not ready to easily and quickly switch to a different type of thinking. And she goes into sleep to accept this process on an unconscious level.
The Snow Queen
Woman made of ice... Ice is frozen crystallized water. The Ice Queen symbolizes frozen feelings and emotions, stopped movement. Admiring ice crystals, the correctness of lines, the geometry of space and time and not feeling the tenderness of a flower, the warmth of the sun, the soft touch of beloved hands means living with a cold, frozen heart. The Snow Queen and her ice castle represent, on a psychological level, detachment, insensibility, firmness, determination, icy calm, composure, and the ability to control oneself. Are these qualities really that bad? Aren't there situations in life when we need to be cool, balanced and calm? It’s just that everything in excess is harmful. And even the most beautiful thing in large quantities tires. And when the mind and feelings are in harmony, what could be better?
The image of the Snow Queen is very useful for children (adults) who are weak and weak-willed, insecure and timid, vulnerable and soft: it will give them strength, firmness, self-confidence, and perseverance in the face of difficulties. The image of the Snow Queen will also help those who are overly excitable, temperamental and hot: it will cool down excessive ardor, balance and calm.
Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a child of the element of water and symbolizes the emotional and sensory world. The Little Mermaid’s passionate desire to experience earthly love and spend her life not in the expanses of water, but on solid land can be associated with the fact that the intangible and invisible strives to take shape. But life on earth is associated with great pain for the Little Mermaid. It is probably no coincidence that the heroine was never able to fulfill her dream of becoming the prince’s lover and wife. It would seem that the Little Mermaid deserved her happiness, but she did not receive it.
In such cases, you can invite children to compose your own fairy tale and change its ending. The technique of changing fairy tales allows you to look at the world around you more optimistically and joyfully. This is especially important for sad, indecisive, inhibited and weakened children.
Mistress of Copper Mountain
This woman is incredibly beautiful, balanced and strong. The stone woman, however, is capable of crying, and is fair, and compassionate. So why doesn’t it bring joy to even good people? Maybe the point is not in the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, but in the person himself, who goes out to fight with a stronger one, but is not able to withstand the fight? Precious stones are a symbol of wealth and power. How many are capable of possessing treasures and not having attachment to them, not falling into dependence? The image of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain allows you to feel strong and powerful in a good way, fair and at the same time ruthless, powerful and rich.
A light, airy creature endowed with magical powers. Messenger of fate, witch, sorceress - her other names. A fairy is a beautiful star creature, a kind of mediator between Space and Earth, the world of people. The fairy is inextricably linked with the light that penetrates any space. To feel like a fairy means to have indestructible faith in yourself, in the power of your thoughts; experience the state of a wizard for whom nothing is impossible.
It got its name from the verb “to know” - to know. Her other titles are sorceress, knowledgeable, knowledgeable, sorceress. A witch is, first of all, a healer, a sorceress. She easily commands the diverse forces of nature and any creatures. Unlike a fairy and a good sorceress, a witch uses powers to the detriment of a person or creature, demands a considerable fee for services, rejoices when she feels good, radiates anger, envy, tension and brute force (the force of a hurricane, whirlwind, earthquake).
One of the witches. The ancient Slavs in Rus' called her a hellish goddess, a terrible goddess who destroys the bodies and souls of people. Baba Yaga is a powerful sorceress, and her hut on chicken legs is something like a passageway, a kind of bridge between the world of the living and the kingdom of the dead. Only a brave hero, capable of overcoming the fear of death, can resist Baba Yaga. To be embodied in Baba Yaga, to live her image means to feel power, crushing strength and the absence of fear of death.
Koschei the Deathless
Belongs world of the dead. Why is he called immortal? Koschey the Immortal consists of nothing but bones. bones are the hardest, strongest, toughest tissue in the human body, capable of withstanding enormous loads. Bones in certain conditions do not rot or decompose, are fire-resistant.
Koschey the Immortal symbolizes complete insensibility and lack of spirituality, rigidity, stereotyping, limitation and inertia. At the same time, the image of Koshchei the Immortal helps to gain fortitude, fearlessness, unshakable self-confidence, determination and strength.
Tsar (king)
Rules the state and is subordinate to him great amount of people. At the symbolic level, the king means a certain dominant higher psychic center. To be in a royal state is to experience the unification of all parts of the Self. To feel like a king means to control your thoughts, emotions, states, to feel responsible for everything that happens in your “kingdom”.
The highest regulatory center is responsible and governs. However, unlike the king, she symbolizes female emotions and feelings.
A wonderful sign of beauty and prosperity vitality. To more accurately understand the symbolism of a particular flower, describe it to yourself with 3-5 adjectives. These adjectives will mean the state of your soul that you see in the flower. If, for example, we take “The Scarlet Flower,” then I would like to describe it with the following adjectives: beautiful, burning, blazing, scarlet. Isn't it associated with the heart and love? The merchant's daughter's desire to find a scarlet flower is a desire for love, passion, dedication, and heartfelt affection.
Symbol of freedom. By living the state of a bird, you can get rid of heavy attachments to desires, feel a state of independence, lightness, airiness and flight.
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A simple and at the same time mysterious bird. Crows are endowed mystical power and the ability to penetrate supernatural worlds, including the afterlife. Crows are smart and wise birds. Having reincarnated as a raven, you have the opportunity to look at the world with different eyes, see the deep and mysterious areas of life, explore the dark side of your soul and touch your inner wisdom.
Martin
The beautiful, fast-winged bird is a symbol of spring and renewal, a symbol of new life. It is no coincidence that it was the swallow that carried Thumbelina to new world, in which the girl found a home, her prince and happiness. Caring for a swallow, as Thumbelina did, means preparing for change, for a state of spring, joy, and happiness.
The white swan symbolizes beautiful and pure thoughts. The swan is a sign of greatness, beauty and grace.
Eagle owl (owl)
A nocturnal bird of prey with excellent vision in the dark. It symbolizes the unknown and darkness. Unknown dark spaces usually they are frightening, and therefore people are always afraid of the owl (owl). But it is not without reason that the owl (owl) is considered a symbol of wisdom. It is his fearless perception of the dark and mysterious side of life that provides depth and wisdom. Eagle owl (owl) is a symbol of transformation, the transition of negative dark states into a calm and harmonious perception of life.
A predatory beast, strong, smart and cautious. Sometimes he is endowed with such traits as cruelty, ferocity, insatiability and greed. Wolves have a highly developed sense of family and pack. They are caring parents and partners who feel great about each other. In some fairy tales, the wolf is a bloodthirsty, ferocious and merciless monster, while in others, particularly in Mowgli, he is a caring, attentive and even noble parent. Therefore, a wolf can symbolize different states of the soul.
In Russian fairy tales, it usually appears as an independent, intelligent and resourceful creature, able to easily defend itself and repel any beast. Its needles symbolize caution, inaccessibility, closedness, fear of pain and the need for protection.
The hare is considered a symbol of fear, weakness, as well as boasting and unjustified self-confidence. And in many fairy tales he is indeed presented this way. However, the fairy tale “Koska the Hare and the Spring” shows other sides of the hare’s nature: curiosity, playfulness, patience and courage.
An ambiguous and deep image, they fear her, deceit and meanness are associated with her. Biblical motifs characterize the serpent as a seducer and tempter. The snake has the ability to change its skin frequently, and in this way it symbolizes rebirth and renewal. Different snakes symbolize different things: a boa constrictor, for example, can symbolize enormous suffocating compressive power and strength, and a viper may symbolize cunning and meanness.
It belongs to the category of amphibians and feels equally at home in water and on land. She is subject to both the emotional and sensory world and the material and objective world. In different fairy tales we see different images of frogs. in the fairy tale “The Frog Traveler,” curiosity, the desire for change, boasting and pomposity come to the fore; in the fairy tale “The Frog Princess” - nobility hidden behind the apparent external ugliness.
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When interpreting the image of a bear, one should take into account its dual nature. On the one hand, the bear is considered a clumsy, clumsy, heavy creature, on the other hand, the bear is unusually dexterous and fast. The bear represents cruelty, rudeness, evil force, and at the same time its image is associated with good nature and protection. In the fairy tale "Mowgli" the bear is a symbol of teacher's wisdom, attention, nobility and protection.
Smart, courageous, fearless, cunning, possesses seductive grace and flexibility, noiselessness, patience, and sometimes ruthlessness. The image of a panther will help balance existing qualities and give strength, firmness, sobriety, determination and courage.
There are many different expressions associated with the image of a fish: to be silent like a fish, to fight like a fish on ice, like a fish in water... each of these expressions describes certain human actions. The image of a fish is often associated with the “emergence” of deep psychic unconscious information. We can also talk about character traits such as coldness and dispassion. Sometimes fish symbolizes slipperiness, when the person with whom we are communicating deftly avoids the desired topic, avoids sensitive moments or situations.
Known for its ability to shed its tail in times of danger and grow a new one over time. Therefore, she is considered a symbol of renewal, reincarnation, resourcefulness and vital energy. Perhaps, thanks to Bazhov’s fairy tales, or perhaps for another reason, the habitats of lizards are associated with deposits of precious stones, gold or treasures. And that is why lizards are considered a symbol of wealth, material gain or reward.
Fairy tales are a treasure trove folk wisdom! You can learn a lot from seemingly simple stories. useful information: how to marry a prince, how to deceive Koshchei, or how to turn from a frog into a princess.
Nowadays fairy tales are read only to children, but it’s never too late to learn women’s wisdom! So, what can the heroines of fairy tales teach adult girls and women?
Princess Frog
What it teaches: the ability to hold oneself in any situation and the ability to make a king out of an ordinary man.
The Frog Princess was not ashamed of her appearance, since she perceived herself exactly as she was. She understood that beauty is not the main thing, but the main thing is the ability to present oneself correctly. It was this skill that she showed at the king’s reception, when with a wave of her hand a lake and swans appeared from her sleeves. And thanks to her intelligence and wisdom, she was able to turn the loser Ivan Tsarevich into a successful man.
Princess on the Pea
What does it teach: healthy sleep- is important for a woman, and no peas should interfere with this!
In a fairy tale, the Prince finds his Princess. It would seem that everything will end well, but it was not so! They decided to test the girl for the authenticity of her blue blood and placed a pea under her many mattresses and feather beds. In life modern woman there are a lot of “peas” that interfere with sleep - work, children, problems, household chores, trips, etc. But you should always remember that healthy sleep not only gives you the opportunity to rest, but also contributes to the preservation of beauty.
Vasilisa the Beautiful
What it teaches: follow your intuition.
One of a woman’s strong abilities is her intuition. But sometimes women simply don’t trust her, and want to do everything logically, like men. Vasilisa received a doll from her mother. It is she who helps her overcome difficulties in the future. The doll gave advice and helped with everything. This doll can be compared with intuition.
Nastenka from Morozko
What it teaches: be a woman to the core! Position yourself in such a way that a man feels needed, so that he wants to protect and take care of you.
A humble, patient, modest girl, Nastenka finds her happiness thanks to her kind, sympathetic character. The man next to her understands that such a fragile girl needs to be taken care of and does it without any questions.
Cinderella
What it teaches: They are greeted by their clothes and escorted by their intelligence.
It’s not for nothing that Marilyn Monroe said: “Give a woman a pair of good shoes and she will conquer the whole world!” The heroine Cinderella teaches neatness, beauty and harmonious appearance. What can we say - men like beautiful, well-groomed and stylishly dressed girls. Of course, the Prince fell in love with Cinderella not for her appearance, but for her kindness, talent and sincerity, but at first she made an impact with her dress, shoes and hairstyle!
Baba Yaga
What it teaches: hospitality and thriftiness.
Despite the fact that Baba Yaga is a negative character, you can also learn a lot from her. Remember how this grandmother greeted good fellows? And she heated the bathhouse, and treated her to tea, and put her to bed. And only after that she asked about business.
Alyonushka from the fairy tale “Geese-Swans”
What it teaches: do good and it will definitely come back to you.
When Alyonushka's brother was stolen, Alyonushka went in search of him. On her way, she met various characters who asked for help, but the girl did not help. When she herself needed help, those who crossed her path also refused to help her. And only when Alyonushka herself began to help those around her, they also came to her aid.
The Snow Queen
What it teaches: never hold a grudge to yourself, otherwise your heart will become cold as an ice floe.
Apparently the Snow Queen had a hard time in life, since she imprisoned herself in an ice castle and stole the innocent boy Kai. The callous, evil and cold heart of the Snow Queen does not accept the joy of those around her, nor love, nor mercy. And all from resentment towards the whole world, which ultimately destroyed her.
Live in reality, but don't forget about good fairy tales- take from them all the brightest and best that is missing in modern world. And remember that all fairy tales end with a happy ending! We wish you good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and
Fairy tales have their own special structure - stable plots and motifs are constantly used in its composition, fairy tale heroes are encountered with their unchanged functions and abilities. We all remember popular folk tales with their triple repetitions, with the repeating formulas “Once upon a time...”, “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state...”, “A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it...”. The space in a fairy tale is conditional and distant from reality.
The heroes of fairy tales are distinguished by such bright human qualities as nobility, kindness, courage, resourcefulness, and good forces in fairy tales always prevail. Among the positive heroes of Russian folk tales there are brave princes, epic heroes, simple peasants, and a whole range of female characters.
Bogatyrs were originally heroes of Russian epics, but over time they penetrated into folk tales. The most famous hero of fairy tales is Ilya Muromets. He embodies the ideal of a warrior hero, who is famous not only for his remarkable physical strength, but also for the special moral qualities inherent in a real hero: calmness, perseverance, good nature. In epics and fairy tales, this hero is the people's protector. Let us recall, for example, such a work as “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber.” Also worthy of mention is the noble but little-known ancient hero of Russian fairy tales, Ruslan Lazarevich. The plots and adventures in which he appears are close to the famous plots with Ilya Muromets.
Dobrynya Nikitich, like the hero of fairy tales, acts as a reliable assistant to the prince, whom he faithfully serves for many years. He carries out personal assignments for the prince, for example, to save his daughter or niece. Dobrynya is particularly brave - he himself decides to carry out tasks that other heroes refuse. Often this is the hero of a fairy tale about snake fighting, as well as Alyosha Popovich. Their adventures and the plots of the fairy tales in which they appear are extremely similar to each other. Let us recall, for example, such stories as “Dobrynya Nikitich and the Zmey Gorynych” and “Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin the Zmey.”
All these three epic hero are in close interaction with each other, and in different fairy tales they show their strong and noble qualities in different ways. Everyone is familiar with these names of heroes of folk tales. Alyosha Popovich is a collective image of a hero in Russian folklore. In the character of this fairy tale hero we see a mixture of a variety of traits. First of all, Alyosha is distinguished by his courage, but he is also very perky and cunning. His image reflected the entire breadth of the soul of the Russian person, all its versatility.
Favorite hero of folk tales is Ivan Tsarevich. This is a positive character known to everyone, who fights evil, helps the weak and offended. Often this is the youngest of the king's three sons. In some stories, Ivan does not even know about his royal origin, but, nevertheless, personifies the nobility and good qualities of his soul. For example, he fights Koshchei, defeats him, saves his wife or a beautiful princess. And for his heroic behavior and good deeds, this hero of folk tales receives his due kingdom or half of other people’s kingdoms, and the king’s daughter, and other magical skills.
Ivanushka the Fool is also a very important hero of fairy tales, standing on the side of good and the forces of light. Ivan the Fool is just a peasant son and he does not at all resemble a noble fairy-tale hero. His peculiarity is that outwardly he is not at all like other positive heroes of Russian fairy tales. He does not shine with intelligence, but it is thanks to his irrational behavior and non-standard thinking that he passes all the fabulous tests, defeats his opponent and gains wealth.
It is important to note that Ivan the Fool has a special creative skill - he plays musical instruments (harp or pipe), and fairy tales often attach great importance to his wonderful singing. This is its peculiarity, because the positive heroes of fairy tales are not always able to create something beautiful on their own, without resorting to the help of magical animals or objects.
Among female fairy-tale images, the type of the Wonderful Bride is especially outstanding. This extraordinary hero of fairy tales is distinguished by his intelligence and special feminine cunning. She often owns some magical objects or knows how to use miraculous powers. We all know heroines who correspond to this type: Vasilisa the Beautiful, Vasilisa the Wise and the Frog Princess. This is the female version of the strong hero of folk tales.
This kind heroine is a reflection of the bright side, the personification of goodness and peace, but at the same time, in many stories, the wonderful bride is the daughter of the enemy of the main character of the fairy tale. The good hero of folk tales goes through severe trials and solves complex riddles, and a wonderful bride helps him with these tasks. Thus, sometimes in one fairy tale we meet not one, but two, or even three characters who help each other in the fight against evil.
As we can see, the positive heroes of folk tales are very diverse. They reveal different sides of the people's character: here there is nobility, selflessness, ingenuity, cunning, special heroism, straightforwardness, and female wisdom. The heroes of fairy tales overcome all obstacles on their way thanks to these positive qualities. After all, in Russian folklore fairy-tale heroes strive for the light, and good forces always prevail.
They create the mythical reality of folklore: these heroes are an important part of the life of our ancestors. Description magical power, which each of the heroes owned and believed in in ancient times, has reached our time practically unchanged, although now it is not entirely clear to us. Children's fairy tale characters familiar to us from the very early age, but gradually their images fade from memory. Let's remember some of them.
Male fairy tale characters
Ivan Tsarevich, aka Ivan the Fool, aka Ivan the peasant son. The main qualities of this character are nobility and kindness. In any of the fairy tales, Ivan helps and saves, which ultimately leads to a successful resolution of the situation, and to his happiness. teaches the reader to listen to his heart, to his intuition, to maintain honor in any situation and not to lose his presence of mind. Ivan is often accompanied by his faithful horse or Gray Wolf. The Horse is a symbol of devotion and fidelity, but the Wolf is a symbol of cunning: they help Ivan in all his endeavors. The antithesis of Ivan is often Koschey the Immortal - a negative character in Russian folk tales, an evil sorcerer. His death is hidden in several nested objects and animals. In fairy tales, Koschey kidnaps the heroine and hides her at the end of the world in his castle, and Ivan usually saves her. Less often, Koschey acts as a symbol of wisdom and a keeper of knowledge.
Female fairy tale characters
Vasilisa the Beautiful, aka Vasilisa the Wise. The main qualities of the character are wisdom, beauty, loyalty. She is not just a heroine, she is a faithful assistant to Ivan, who must free her from captivity with Koshchei, or her stern father, or the Serpent Gorynych, or any other villain. Vasilisa does not helplessly wait to be rescued, but helps the hero in every possible way, gives him advice, turns to her friends among people and animals. Vasilisa is a symbol of wisdom and virtue; from her the reader learns to be responsive and patient. Another female character, found in Russian fairy tales, is Baba Yaga, also known as Yaga-Yaginishna. This is perhaps the most ancient character and the most multifaceted. Yaga usually lives in and is famous for her bad character - it is better to avoid her hut on chicken legs. She casts spells and spells, but nevertheless more often helps than harms the heroes. Baba Yaga sometimes acts as a symbol of wisdom and the keeper of ancient knowledge.
Animals - fairy-tale characters
The Serpent Gorynych is a symbol of evil, representing a dragon with three, six, nine or twelve heads. Often the Serpent kidnaps the heroine and keeps her in captivity, from where Ivan must free her. Gorynych also often acts as a guard at the gates to the underworld or Koshchei’s house. Cat-Bayun is an insidious character who lulls you to sleep with his voice. He knows many songs and tales, but often acts on the side of evil. It is often a pet of Yaga or Koshchei. Of the most neutral heroes of the animal world of Russian fairy tales, one can name the Firebird. She has great healing powers. She often becomes the object of desire of kings, kings and Koshchei himself, so the hero often goes in search of her. It is not so easy to catch the Firebird, because it blinds and burns with its light.
The characters of Russian fairy tales are diverse, and the fairy tales themselves contain great wisdom...
REFLECTION
Grandmother's tales. Fragment. Artist V.M. Maksimov. 1867.
UDC 293.21:821.16
Shtemberg A.S.
Heroes of Russian folk tales: who are they and why do they behave this way and not otherwise?
Shtemberg Andrey Sergeevich, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Department of Experimental Biology and Medicine of the State scientific center RF - Institute of Medical and Biological Problems Russian Academy Sci.
Email: [email protected]
The article is devoted to the mythological and ritual roots of the images of heroes of traditional Russian fairy tales (Ivan Tsarevich, Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, Zmey Gorynych).
Key words: Russian folk tales, fairy-tale heroes, Ivan Tsarevich, Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, Serpent Gorynych, magical assistant, clan system, matriarchy, totem, magic, kingdom of the living and kingdom of the dead.
Russian folk tales... From early childhood, we all immersed ourselves in their amazing, unlike anything else and often very mysterious world. From the same early childhood, we learned that a fairy tale is a fiction, that in it good always wins, and evil is certainly punished, and nevertheless we followed with excitement the adventures of fairy-tale heroes. The most attentive of those who, having grown older, did not stop reading and rereading fairy tales, probably noticed that they are all built according to strictly defined rules. Despite their seemingly enormous variety, the plots of fairy tales are repeated all the time, and fairy-tale heroes constantly wander from one fairy tale to another, though sometimes under different names.
You may also have noticed some oddities in the behavior of fairy-tale characters, which often contradict logic and common sense. So, for example, for some reason parents send or take their children into a dense forest to be eaten by some fairy-tale evil spirits, Baba Yaga, this evil spirit and cannibal, for no apparent reason helps Ivan Tsarevich, whom he sees for the first time in his life, Gray wolf, having gobbled up Ivan Tsarevich's horse, instead of eating it himself, he suddenly begins to serve him faithfully and meekly clears out all the troubles caused by his disobedience... This list of fairy-tale absurdities (from our modern point of view) could go on and on. Many collectors of folk tales have noticed that the narrator himself is often perplexed by the
waters the motives of the actions of his heroes, even sometimes tries to somehow explain them from the point of view of our modern logic, but, as a rule, this cannot be done without violating the basic scheme of the fairy-tale narrative. After all main feature fairy tales and their difference from other author’s literary genres are that they reflect not the narrator’s personal perception of the world, but the common thing that unites him with all people. It was this feature that allowed the fairy tale to retain echoes ancient beliefs, customs and rituals. After all, fairy tales, especially fairy tales, are terribly ancient, they are rooted in primitive society, when people lived in a primitive communal tribal system. And then both people’s ideas about the world around them and the rules of their behavior were completely different. It is with this that the strange, as it seems to us, features of the behavior of fairy-tale heroes are connected. And despite the fact that in these fairy tales there are kings and kings, soldiers and generals (after all, storytellers, retelling fairy tales for centuries, of course, outwardly modernized the heroes), they are imbued with the worldview of primitive man, for whom the nature surrounding him was incomprehensible, mysterious and complete unexpected dangers: the Tsar's daughter was walking in the garden, suddenly a three-headed Serpent flew in (a whirlwind of an unidentified nature, Koschey the Immortal) and carried the princess to the thirtieth kingdom... And now Ivan Tsarevich sets off in search... And he knows where to go, that speak and how to behave in the most incredible fairy-tale situations. Where? What is this, the thirtieth kingdom? Who are its permanent inhabitants - Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, Zmey Gorynych? Where did they come from? Why do they behave this way and not otherwise in all fairy tales? Surely all these questions arose while reading fairy tales. We will try to answer them in our essay. The fact is that all these heroes come from there, from the world of primitive man, and their behavior is determined by his ideas, beliefs and customs. Indeed, fairy-tale heroes are unique; they are not found anywhere else - neither in myths, nor in heroic epics, nor in legends. There are absolutely no characters from Russian myths and legends in fairy tales - all these brownies, goblins, mermans, mermaids, barnacles, kikimoras and others - ideas about them were formed much later. They are talked about in bylichki - a special type of Russian folklore that is not similar to fairy tales. And fairy-tale heroes are much older - let’s try to trace their genealogy, understand their behavior and actions.
Ivan Tsarevich
Ivan Tsarevich is the main positive hero of most fairy tales. Occasionally, however, he appears under other names - Vasily the Tsarevich or Dmitry the Tsarevich - sometimes he is replaced by characters of lower origin - Ivan the Merchant or peasant son or even Ivan Bykovich
He is the illegitimate offspring of a cow, but his essence, his fairy-tale role and the nature of his actions do not change. Therefore, let us, without taking into account his social origin, call him by the most common name - Ivan the Tsarevich, meaning the main fairy-tale hero who overcomes all obstacles and marries the princess at the end of the fairy tale.
So, who is Ivan Tsarevich? Let's start from the very beginning - with the birth of the hero. First of all, he is, as a rule, the youngest son in the family. Why? Apparently, the point is that in the generic primitive society it was the youngest son who was the keeper and heir of family property, orders and traditions, because he remained in the family the longest. Older brothers, as a rule, went to the family of their mother's brother. Over time, with the collapse of primitive communal relations and the emergence of paternal (patriarchal) law and a large patriarchal family, the situation changed. The separation of older brothers began to be viewed as fragmentation and weakening of the family, destruction of the common cause and squandering of family property. Therefore, the right of inheritance was revised in favor of the eldest sons. So the youngest son found himself offended and destitute - it’s not for nothing that many fairy tales about three brothers begin with the death of the father and the division of property, in which the youngest gets almost or nothing at all. Naturally, in fairy tales that preserve the most ancient ideas, all sympathies are on his side - he acts as the guardian and defender of the primordial family principles, while his brothers are their destroyers. Therefore, our hero embodies the ideal of ideas about the virtues of a person of primitive communism - he is unselfish, trusting, respectful to elders, while the brothers are the focus of the qualities that destroyed this society: commitment to profit, selfishness, treachery. Probably, as the keeper of the family hearth and tribal traditions, he also provides himself with the protection of mythical forces - the spirits of the maternal family, who help him in further adventures. His close relationship with animals, who also willingly help him, is also connected to this. The fact is that the matriarchal clan system was associated with ideas about animal totems - the ancestors and patrons of the tribe. Let us pay attention to one more feature of the birth of our hero: in some fairy tales it is a magical birth. Thus, in the fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich,” the queen, the cook and the cow give birth to three heroic boys after eating a magic fish - the golden-finned ruff. Fish in the minds of primitive man was associated with getting rid of infertility due to its incredible fertility and life in water, fertilizing the surrounding nature. So already some circumstances of the birth of Ivan Tsarevich indicate that he is not an entirely simple person. Let's note this and move on.
The next stage of our hero’s biography (childhood and adolescence are skipped, and why stop there?
After all, he is growing by leaps and bounds) - receiving a magical assistant. This is the most main stage, after co-
Ivan Tsarevich on a gray wolf. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1889.
Ivan Tsarevich is at a crossroads. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
After that, he no longer becomes an ordinary person, then his affairs go like clockwork, and the success of the enterprise is guaranteed.
This is where the most interesting part of the tale and the greatest variety of situations are. Let's try to look at the most typical ones. How does it all begin? Sometimes brothers decide to get married and shoot arrows - where the arrow falls, there the bride will be (“The Frog Princess”). Quite a strange, in our opinion, way of choosing a wife, isn’t it? We can assume two reasons for the occurrence of this incomprehensible action: one is fortune telling, the faith of primitive man in fate; the second is due to the fact that the arrow (symbol of lightning) was associated with fertilizing rain and was used by the ancient Slavs in the wedding ceremony as a sign of fertility and a weapon sanctifying the marriage union. Here the brothers marry ordinary (and rather clumsy) women, and Ivan Tsarevich receives a magical assistant in the person of the frog princess.
In other cases, the father of the brothers dies and orders his sons to watch at his grave for three nights (also a strange wish from our modern point of view), as, for example, in the tale of Sivka-burka. What's the matter here? With the withering away in primitive society of the cult of totemic ancestors along the female line, they were replaced by male ones. Therefore, being on duty at the father’s grave meant performing the required rituals and sacrifices necessary for the dead man to find peace and not return. The brothers, as usual, screw up, shifting their responsibilities onto Ivan, who honestly fulfills his duty and receives a magical assistant from his father, this time in the form of Sivka-Burka. The image of the deceased father-donor comes from primitive ideas about the power of the dead - after all, they are in another world, where everything is known, where everything begins and where everything ends. The story of the grassing of a reserved field or garden (as in the fairy tales of the Firebird and the Little Humpbacked Horse) is very close to this plot, when the hero conscientiously guards the territory entrusted to him, discovers or catches a thief, and also receives a magical assistant as a reward. This reflects the rituals associated with the existence of special protected fields among the ancient Slavs of their dead ancestors, which were supposed to divert their attention from the living.
We analyzed situations when the hero receives magical helpers without going on a journey, so to speak, with home delivery. True, even in these cases, he cannot avoid traveling: he inevitably either loses these helpers (for example, by burning the skin of the Frog Princess), or various misadventures befall him, and, no matter how you look at it, he, dear one, has to stomp into the thirtieth kingdom - rescue a stolen wife or bride, carry out tasks from the authorities (the old king), get rejuvenating apples for the old father or something else. In other situations, Ivan Tsarevich receives magical helpers directly in the thirtieth kingdom - as a gift or steals a magic horse from Koshchei the Immortal or Baba Yaga, meets a gray wolf, fraudulently takes possession of a self-assembled tablecloth, an invisible hat, a magic baton and other wonderful objects.
So, having jumped ahead a little, we came to sending our hero on a long journey - to the notorious thirtieth kingdom. Here is the time to talk about how he is going there and what this very thirtieth kingdom is. Remember what the princess says when she goes there? “Look for me far away, in the thirtieth kingdom! Before you trample three pairs of iron shoes, break three iron staffs, and gnaw up three stone wafers, before you find me!” Shoes, a staff, prosvir (bread) are precisely those items that the ancients supplied the dead with, preparing them for a journey to another world. The fact that there are three of them (the technique of tripling is generally characteristic of fairy tales), and the fact that they are iron and stone, apparently should have meant the length of the journey. Everything that we know about the thirtieth kingdom (and this is a kingdom in which everything is wrong, the habitat of magical creatures and the presence of magical objects) suggests that the thirtieth kingdom is an otherworldly kingdom, the kingdom of the dead. We'll talk about this in more detail when we find ourselves there with our hero, but for now let's see how he gets to the thirtieth kingdom.
First of all, we note that the hero does not always go to this kingdom in search of stolen relatives or on instructions from the leadership. There are situations in fairy tales (the same Ivan Bykovich) when the heroes themselves, for no apparent reason, are called “to go to foreign lands, to look at people for themselves, to show themselves in people.” Another common fairy-tale collision is the motive of selling a just-born child to a certain mysterious creature: “give back what you don’t know at home” (this plot, among other things, may have reflected primitive ideas about expiatory sacrifices for violating a ban) or giving a son to training to be a sorcerer (as in fairy tales about the sea king or cunning science). Let us pay attention to the fact that in both cases the son comes at the disposal of the fabulous miracle-yuda upon reaching a certain age.
So how does our hero get into this other kingdom and why does he have to visit it? The methods of crossing to the thirtieth kingdom are varied: Ivan Tsarevich can go there on a magical
Three princesses of the underworld. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1881.
Three brothers. Illustration for the fairy tale “The Frog Princess”. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
on horseback, on birds (for example, Nogai the bird carries him to a high mountain), to go down underground (as in the tale of the three kingdoms - copper, silver and gold) or to follow a leader (for example, after a magic ball), but they all reflect the ideas of primitive man about the journey of the deceased to the afterlife.
Now let us note one more very significant point: in most fairy tales, the hero’s path certainly lies through a dense forest. Here it’s time to compare this circumstance with what we talked about a little earlier - about the sudden departure of matured heroes or sending them to some fairy-tale undead (that is, again to the same other world - the thirtieth kingdom). Having done this, we come to the second extremely important idea and the associated ritual of primitive man, the memory of which is reflected in the motives of most fairy tales. This is a rite of passage, or initiation, through which young men of all primitive tribes, without exception, must pass through when they have reached a certain age. This ritual consists in the fact that the young men are taken away or sent to some special sacred place, almost always located in the forest; uninitiated members of the tribe (especially women) are strictly forbidden to even approach him. There they are subjected to ritual tests, often cruel - it was believed that during these tests the boy should, as it were, die, and after passing them, be born again as a new person - a man, a hunter, a full-fledged member of the tribe. Often, after initiation, the boy even received a new name. It is the memory of this ritual, which played an extremely important role in the life of primitive man, that underlies such fairy-tale motifs as the sudden departure of heroes to the thirtieth kingdom, sending them into service or training with fairy-tale evil spirits; hence the stories of expulsion or parents taking their children into the dense forest - nothing can be done, the time has come.
It is important for us that this rite was accompanied by magical rituals - after all, the memory of primitive magic forms the basis of the magic that we constantly encounter in fairy tales. In the minds of primitive man, the art of a hunter consists, first of all, in getting the animal into his hands, and this, in his opinion, can only be achieved with the help of magic. Therefore, learning magical techniques, introducing the boy to the magical performances, rituals and rites of the tribe formed an important part of the initiation rite (hence the sending to study with a fairy-tale sorcerer). In close connection with this, the hero’s receipt of a magical gift (an invisibility hat, walking boots and other accessories of a fairy-tale hero) or a magical assistant - the initiation rite involved the acquisition of a guardian spirit associated with the tribe’s totem.
What is this magical assistant, solely with the help of which Ivan Tsarevich successfully solves the tasks assigned to him?
These can be magical objects: a flying carpet, an invisibility hat, a self-assembled tablecloth, walking boots, magic batons, knapsacks, balls, boxes, etc. There are different opinions about the origin of these magical objects, but all of them are somehow connected with the thirtieth otherworldly kingdom and reflect certain properties of its inhabitants. Thus, in the imagination of ancient people, the inhabitants of the kingdom of the dead could fly (flying carpet), become invisible to the living (invisibility hat), and instantly move in space (walking boots). In addition, the other world, in their opinion, was distinguished by incredible abundance - it is not for nothing that in the thirtieth kingdom there flow milk rivers with jelly banks; so the self-assembled tablecloth, obviously, seemed to be a piece of this abundance, which, in a portable design, could be taken with you.
These can be magical animals: a horse, a gray wolf, an eagle, a raven or a falcon. In this company the main role, undoubtedly belongs to the horse, so we will dwell on it in a little more detail.
First of all, how does the hero acquire a horse? He is not at all satisfied with an ordinary earthly horse from the nearby royal stable: “whatever horse he approaches and puts his hand on, he falls off his feet.” The hero either finds a horse in the thirtieth kingdom in some dungeon, or receives it as a gift, earns it, or steals it from one of the inhabitants of this kingdom (Baba Yaga, Koshchei, some king there), or he personally feeds it from a lousy foal in protected (magical) meadows.
We will talk about receiving a horse as a gift a little later (in the chapter about Baba Yaga), but for now we note that the plot of feeding a horse most likely originates from the ritual of fattening sacrificial animals, which gave them magical (magical) power.
As for other (wild) animals, their willingness to serve the hero is most likely determined by their belonging to the totem of his tribe, that is, they are the patron spirits of the maternal clan. It is not without reason that in some fairy tales (as in the tale of the three kingdoms) the eagle, falcon and raven are the hero’s sons-in-law, that is, relatives on the female side. Therefore, the gray wolf, having devoured Ivan Tsarevich’s generally unnecessary ordinary horse, left for his complete disposal. The main role of magical animal helpers, in addition to other magical services, is that they are intermediaries between two kingdoms, and transfer the hero from one to another.
Finally, the third type of magical assistants are craftsman assistants. Ivan Tsarevich picks them up on the way to their destination, going to woo some cunning and malicious princess. These are all kinds of edibles, opivals, freezers, magic runners, arrows, and so on. These are also patron spirits, but they are either personified (humanized) embodiments of any one, but limitless ability, or
Carpet plane. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1880.
master spirits of the elements (frost, wind and others). There are, however, such universal magical helpers that combine the properties of all three varieties - for example, Shmat-reason (“Go there, I don’t know where, bring something, I don’t know what”) or a magic ring.
So, obtaining (in one way or another - this is also important, but we will talk about this later) a magical assistant is a decisive stage in the fabulous career of our hero. Now he is magically armed, initiated and chosen, he is not just some ordinary prince or hero, but a powerful magician, the only one capable of measuring his strength with the inhabitants of the thirtieth otherworldly kingdom. After receiving a magical assistant, the hero is already firmly moving towards his intended goal and knows exactly how he will achieve it. Probably, many even had the impression that the hero was playing next passive role: the assistant does everything for him, and he best case scenario comes when it’s ready, but at worst, it only gets in the way and gets in the way, making life difficult for the assistant. This is, in general, incorrect: the magical assistant is not an independent character, he is simply the personified magical abilities of the hero. Functionally (that is, in terms of the role played in the fairy tale), the hero and the helper are one person. Confidence in the hero’s behavior is determined by his magical weapons, and, in fact, his very heroism lies in his magical knowledge and strength. But as for the disagreements that sometimes arise between the assistant and the hero, it personally seems to me that this is a manifestation of the contradictions between the magical and human essences of the hero.
So, now magically armed and ready for all upcoming troubles, Ivan Tsarevich arrived in the thirtieth kingdom. Let's stop with him for a minute and look around. What do we know about this kingdom? In different fairy tales, it can simply be located somewhere very far away, on a high mountain or even inside a mountain, underground or under water, but, as a rule, there are no specific underground or underwater features in it. Often the hero, having got there, is even surprised: “And the light there is the same as ours.” It was common for ancient (and, probably, not only ancient) people to transfer the features of the world in which they live to the other world. It is interesting that, as the external forms of life of the storytellers changed, modernizing the surroundings of fairy tales (kings, generals settled in them, palaces and granaries appeared), all these paraphernalia were automatically transferred to another kingdom.
home distinguishing feature of this kingdom, its seal is the golden color of everything that belongs to it. It contains golden palaces, golden animals - a deer - golden antlers, a golden goat, a pig - golden bristles and others, all objects are also made exclusively of gold - gold rings, eggs, boxes and so on. And this kingdom itself is often golden - most likely copper, silver and golden kingdom- just the usual fabulous tripling. The golden color is apparently an expression of sunshine - after all, almost all the beliefs of the ancient Slavs were very closely related to the Sun. Perhaps the ideas about the inexhaustible abundance reigning in the thirtieth kingdom are also associated with it. We have already mentioned milk rivers with jelly banks and a self-assembled tablecloth (the idea that if you bring food from there, then it will never run out on earth either). Now we can also recall the quite fabulous wealth of the inhabitants of the thirtieth kingdom and the inexhaustible abundance of their reserves.
About what and why the hero does in the thirtieth kingdom - communicates with Baba Yaga, defeats Koshchei the Immortal or the Serpent, solves tricky problems and brilliantly passes the tests of the local king or princess,
finally, after many ups and downs, he marries the princess and becomes the king himself - we will talk in the following sections (about Baba Yaga, Koshchei, the Snake, the king and the princesses), where we will consider in detail his relationship with these characters. And here, finally, let us dwell on one more feature of Ivan Tsarevich’s behavior - the plot of his escape from the thirtieth kingdom, which is very often found in fairy tales.
Sometimes this flight is caused by the kidnapping of a bride, but sometimes, it would seem, it is not motivated by anything at all (as, for example, in the fairy tale about the sea king and Vasilisa the Wise): everything ended well, the hero passed all the tests, married the princess - it seems time to calm down . But no - he wanted, you see, to go home. Well, if you wanted to, go ahead, it seems, why would the king of the sea stop him? But for some reason this is impossible, and when they run away, sea king for some reason he falls into a terrible rage and sets off in pursuit. This chase is magical: it is repeated in many fairy tales (only the pursuers change - Baba Yaga, Koschey or someone else) and is accompanied by transformations of the heroes or the throwing of various magical objects: a brush turns into a dense forest, a mirror into a lake, a comb or flint, into inaccessible mountains, etc.
Most likely, escape with transformations is a later plot structures, although it can be noted that the ability to turn into animals is a property quite often attributed to the inhabitants of the other world in ancient Slavic beliefs. But throwing household items is in its purest form the so-called imitative (based on external similarity) magic: an impenetrable forest appears from a thick brush, a lake or river from a mirror similar to the surface of water, and so on. Right here
Vasilisa the Beautiful runs from Baba Yaga's hut. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
Red Rider (Noon or Sun). Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
Baba Yaga. Screensaver for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1900.
there are echoes of another type of magic - partial, based on the idea that a part causes the appearance of the whole: flint (part of a mountain) - inaccessible rocks, flint - a fiery river. During the chase, the pursuer overcomes two obstacles, and the third one stops him. It is curious that the third obstacle is most often a river (sometimes a fiery one). Apparently, this is the border of the otherworldly kingdom, and the pursuer cannot cross it, because his power does not extend to the kingdom of the living (in the ideas of many ancient peoples, the river serves as the border of the kingdom of the dead).
But what caused such rage of the inhabitants of this kingdom? Most likely, the escape is a consequence of the theft of magical objects. This is a very interesting moment, because it reflects the very ancient ideas of primitive man, when he did not produce anything, but only took by force, stole from nature. It is not for nothing that the first things leading to culture seemed to the ancient people not to have been made, but to be stolen (the fire stolen by Prometheus, the first arrows and seeds from the South American Indians). After all, the later initiation rite that we talked about involved a completely peaceful and voluntary transfer of a magical object (which is also often found in fairy tales). So we see that in some cases our positive hero breaks into the kingdom of the dead as if alive - a troublemaker, a destroyer and a kidnapper, thereby causing quite natural discontent of the owners of the country. This is one of the motives that determines his relations with the inhabitants of the otherworldly kingdom, but, as we will see later, they do not always develop this way.
Who, you might say, doesn’t know who Baba Yaga is? A malicious, unattractive old woman lives in the forest in a hut on chicken legs, flies in a mortar with a broom, eats children (or rather, tries to eat, because the children constantly deceive her)... In general, she is not a serious character. However, sometimes she helps Ivan Tsarevich with advice or gives him something - a horse, a magic ball... That's where we'll start.
If you look more closely, you will find that in fairy tales there are three types of Baba Yaga: Yaga the adviser and giver, Yaga the kidnapper and devourer (the one who strives to eat children) and another, less common type - Yaga the warrior (for example, in the tale of the White Polyanin, for the last thirty years he has been at war with Baba Yaga - the golden leg). Let's start with the first variety, especially since it is the main, original and most closely related to the most ancient ideas, beliefs and rituals. And this makes Baba Yaga one of the most difficult and interesting characters Russian fairy tales.
As promised, let’s return to the hero of the previous section - Ivan Tsarevich - at the moment when he (or a character functionally close to him, say, the merchant’s daughter from the fairy tale about the feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon), making his way through the dense forest, approaches Baba’s hut Yagi. How is this hut described in the fairy tale? “There is a hut on chicken legs, without windows, without doors, with the forest in front and the back to it.” Well, okay, it would seem that you approached the hut from behind - go around it and enter. But for some reason this cannot be done. And Ivan Tsarevich pronounces the well-known formula: “Hut, hut, stand with your back to the forest, and with your front towards me.” At the same time, he knows exactly what needs to be said, because the hut obediently turns. What does he see? “Baba Yaga lies on the stove - a bone leg, from corner to corner, her nose has grown into the ceiling.”
It’s also strange, isn’t it?
After all, Baba Yaga, it seems, was never presented as a special giantess in Russian fairy tales. So, it’s not Baba Yaga that is so big, but the hut is very small? What explains all these oddities? And they are explained by the fact that Baba Yaga is a dead man. And she lies in a cramped hut, as if in a coffin, and the fact that this hut is raised above the ground on its chicken legs suggests the air burials of the ancient Slavs - they buried their dead in the forest on trees or special platforms. And a bone leg - a skeleton leg - is also a sign of a dead person.
There are also some other indirect signs that speak in favor of this assumption. For example, almost nowhere in fairy tales is it said that Baba Yaga walks - she either lies or flies, and these are also signs of the inhabitants of the other world. And the fact that she rarely sees the hero, but mostly smells him, says the same thing. And her hut, which stands somewhere at the edge of the world, in the deepest forest and which cannot be bypassed in any way, is a “border post”, a guard outpost on the border of two kingdoms - the kingdom of the living and the kingdom of the dead.
Baba Yaga's hut. Fragment of the cover of the “Fairy Tales” series. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
The girl in the forest. Illustration for the fairy tale “The Feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon.” Artist IYA. Bilibin. 1900.
The hut of death. Fragment. Artist N.K. Roerich. 1905.
Baba Yaga is a very ancient character, dating back to the times of matriarchy. She largely has the features of the most ancient totemic female ancestor, whose worship was associated with the animal ancestors and patrons of the tribe and with the cult of nature. After all, it is not without reason that in fairy tales animals often obey and serve her (by the way, the chicken legs of her hut remind of her connection with them), and she herself may have retained the features of her animal ancestors. Of course it is controversial issue, but some researchers trace the genealogy of Baba Yaga to the ancient Slavic goddess of death, who was closely related to the snake - a symbol of death among some tribes. Perhaps the bone leg comes from there - it is assumed that Yaga was originally one-legged, and then transformed into a bone leg. And even her name is derived from the common Aryan roots of the ancient Slavs - from the ancient Indian Sanskrit Ahi - snakes. Well, it may very well be, because our fairy-tale Baba Yaga has very friendly and even family relations with her colleague, the Serpent Gorynych. But the features of the female ancestor - the patron spirit of the tribe - are manifested in her in that she is prophetic - she knows everything and guides the hero along the right path, a powerful sorceress, adviser and assistant. As a family patron spirit associated with the cult of the hearth, it is characterized by kitchen attributes - an oven, a mortar, a pestle (the ancient Slavs did not grind, but pounded grain) and a broom.
However, let's return to the friendly communication of our heroes. We have established that Baba Yaga's hut is a “checkpoint” to the kingdom of death. That is why there is no way to bypass it, but you must definitely go through it, and in order to get into this kingdom, you need to pass certain tests, demonstrating sufficient magical knowledge. Ivan Tsarevich had already spoken the first part of the password, turning the hut around. What happens next? And then Baba Yaga also utters the traditional, well-known: “Fu-fu-fu, something smells like the Russian spirit!” What kind of Russian spirit is this, so unpleasant for her? Apparently, this is the smell of a living person. Apparently, ancient people believed that the smell of a living person was as disgusting to the dead as the smell of a dead person was to the living.
Then the interrogation begins: “Where are you, good fellow, going? Are you torturing or are you trying to get away with it?” The hero reacts to these seemingly completely innocent and natural questions very unexpectedly and aggressively - instead of answering, he goes on the offensive: “Oh, you old hag! First, give the good guy something to drink and feed, and then ask questions!” And then Baba Yaga’s behavior suddenly changes dramatically: she begins to fuss, invites Ivan Tsarevich into the house, sits him down at the table, and so on. In some fairy tales, she even indulges in self-criticism: “Oh, I’m an old fool! Without feeding the good fellow, I’m asking questions!” It is interesting that this feeding motif is an obligatory element of the hero’s meeting with Baba Yaga, present in all fairy tales without exception. What's the matter? Why should he definitely eat from Baba Yaga? What, you couldn’t eat somewhere else? Of course, one could assume the simplest thing - the usual manifestation of hospitality towards a traveler, but the obligatory nature of this procedure and what we already know suggest that this food is of some kind of ritual nature. Indeed, in the mythological beliefs of many peoples (including the ancient Slavs), in order to enter the kingdom of the dead, a person must certainly taste the special food of the dead. After this, he is considered to have fully joined the other world. Therefore, Ivan Tsarevich, demanding food from Baba Yaga, thereby shows that he is not afraid of this communion, is ready for it - and Baba Yaga humbles himself, finally accepting him as her own.
Then, as you know, the questions begin - Baba Yaga takes a detailed interview with the hero about the purposes of his journey. In the end, it turns out that she is in the know (“I know, I know, where your beautiful Vasilisa is”) and gives Ivan Tsarevich precise and detailed instructions about where to go, what to do and how to achieve his intended goal. Sometimes, however, she resorts to the help of animals: she convenes her “network of informants” - prowling animals, flying birds, creeping reptiles, and so on, demonstrating her totemic roots.
In some cases, Baba Yaga's help is limited to instructions, in others they are followed by a magical gift - most often it is a horse, sometimes a magic ball, an invisible hat or something else; but even if the gift is not presented immediately, then as a result of following the instructions received, the hero still receives it. Why does Baba Yaga provide such an invaluable service to the alien prince in the form of advisory and magical (magical) assistance? Because he passed the test and demonstrated his magical competence and power: he knew the spell that turned the hut, and was not afraid of Baba Yaga’s food, introducing himself to the inhabitants of the otherworldly kingdom.
As we see, in this situation, Baba Yaga acts as a purely positive character, helping the main character achieve his noble goals. And this role of hers is explained by what we have already talked about - her origin from the most ancient totemic female ancestor, the patron spirit of the clan, omniscient and omnipotent. Hence the gift of magical helpers - magical protection of the hero and his protection from evil spirits. So how did she manage to turn into the kind of evil cannibal that is found in many other fairy tales? To understand this, let's move on to the second type of Baba Yaga - Yaga the kidnapper and devourer - and try to trace the connection between these two hypostases of our character.
To do this, we will have to turn again to the ideas of primitive people about the rite of passage, which we described in the previous section. It is easy to notice that the gastronomic inclinations of Baba Yaga of this variety are aimed mainly at children and are associated with the entry of these children in one way or another (by leaving, leading away or kidnapping) into the dense forest in the notorious hut on chicken legs: that is, here we see
“Here with a cheerful soul he said goodbye to Yaga.” Illustration for “The Tale of the Three Tsar’s Divas and Ivashka, the Priest’s Son” by A. S. Roslavlev. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1911.
all the features of the environment surrounding the initiation ceremony. The image of Baba Yaga the Devourer is most closely associated with this ritual - after all, we have already mentioned that the essence of the initiation was symbolic death and the subsequent rebirth of the boy passing by. By the way, here you should pay attention to the fact that it is boys who invariably end up at Baba Yaga’s dinner - after all, only they undergo the initiation rite. So in the tales about this Yaga, the memory of this ritual preserved from primitive times is very vividly reflected: a dense forest, from where some mysterious and inevitable danger emanates, a hut - the abode of a mysterious mythical creature, fear of the upcoming ceremony...
Well, okay, you say, but what does eating children have to do with it? The fact is that very often the imaginary death of the initiate was presented as being devoured by some mythical monstrous animal, and the subsequent rebirth to life as an eruption from his womb. Baba Yaga also owes her official duties in this category of fairy tales to her origins from an ancient totemic animal ancestor. We will meet these ideas in the section about the Serpent Gorynych, who in some situations can act as a deputy or understudy of Baba Yaga. Memories of the initiation rite were apparently reflected in the fact that in fairy tales, getting to Baba Yaga is always followed by a successful ending: the hero avoids the danger that threatens him and gains all sorts of benefits - the initiation of the person who has been initiated into full members of the tribe and the provision of privileges to him I didn't have it before.
The positive role of the patroness and helper lost by Baba Yaga in these tales, oddly enough, may have been reflected in the detail that she prefers to eat the children who come to her exclusively fried.
Until a relatively late time, the Slavic tribes retained the custom of the so-called “palanya” of children, associated with ideas about the healing power of fire - the child was slightly “baked” in the oven, which supposedly made him stronger and more resistant to disease. So here, too, it seems that Baba Yaga was originally a helper and healer, and not at all evil.
Thus, the connection between the ideas of Yaga the helper, adviser and giver, guardian of the border of the kingdom of the dead, and Yaga the Devourer, performer of the initiation rite, begins to become clearer. This connection lies in the kinship between primitive man’s ideas about real death with a subsequent journey to the other world and the temporary, imaginary death to which he was subjected in the initiation rite. By the way, the acquisition of magical knowledge and magical equipment (receiving a magical assistant) after crossing the border of the otherworldly kingdom and undergoing an initiation rite (in both cases, after communicating with Baba Yaga) makes these ideas similar.
But we again see that initially in all these situations Baba Yaga played a positive role. What actually happened? And this is what most likely happened. The collapse of the authority of Baba Yaga as the oldest totemic ancestral ancestor is a reflection in the minds of people, and after this in myths and fairy tales, of the collapse of matriarchy and the emergence of agriculture and agricultural religion. For ancient man, the forest ceased to be a home and a source of livelihood, native and understandable, and therefore all the characters of the former forest religion turned into pure evil spirits: the great magician and shaman of the tribe - into an evil sorcerer, the patroness mother and mistress of animals - into a malicious witch dragging to his lair of children for the purpose of no longer symbolic consumption.
So, perhaps, we were able to partially rehabilitate Baba Yaga in your eyes: the ancient, original historical roots of this fairy-tale character come from the good, positive role, which she played in the beliefs of our ancestors. And the idea of her as a cannibal witch, which later received an ironic connotation (in later everyday tales Baba Yaga does not even shine with intelligence - her children constantly leave her in the cold, and all that remains of her magical power is a mortar and a broom), which took shape in much later times.
And in conclusion, a few words about the third type of Baba Yaga - the warrior Yaga. Most likely, this character, rarely seen in fairy tales, does not have independent meaning and acts simply as someone’s deputy: according to the role he plays in the fairy tale, anyone could be in his place - the Serpent Gorynych, Koschey the Immortal, some fairy-tale king or king. It is not without reason that in the fairy tale about Beloy Polyanin this species can be mistaken for a representative of a certain Babiya Yaga aristocracy and a full-fledged citizen of the thirtieth kingdom: there she is Baba Yaga - the golden leg.
Koschey (Kashchei) the Immortal
This great fairy-tale villain is another character familiar to all of us from early childhood. And, however, let's try to summarize, what do we know about him from the fairy tales we read? Although practically nowhere in these tales is there a description of Koshchei’s appearance, we are accustomed to imagining him as a tall, bony, incredibly thin old man - it’s not for nothing that they say: “Thin as a Koschey” - with sunken burning eyes, sometimes with a thin goat’s beard.
The main occupation of Koshchei the Immortal is the abduction of women. Isn’t it true that at the mention of this fairy-tale hero, gloomy castles with dungeons full of captives and chests with untold riches with which he unsuccessfully tries to seduce these captives appear in our imagination? And, of course, the indispensable attributes of his immortality are the standard fairy-tale nesting doll: death hidden in an egg, an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare and
Baba Yaga. Illustration for the fairy tale “Son Filipko”. Artist E.D. Polenova. 1905.
Baba Yaga. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1900.
Koschey. Fragment. Artist S.V. Malyutin. 1904.
Koschei the Deathless. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1917-1926.
Let's try to understand the origin of our negative character. First of all, where did his very name - Koschey - come from? It turns out that in the ancient Russian language the word koschey meant slave, captive, servant. It is in this sense that it is used in the famous “Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” when Svyatoslav reproaches Prince Vsevolod for his indifference to the fate of the Russian principalities - if Vsevolod had acted differently, things would have changed, better times: “Even if you were, there would be chaga for nogata, and koshchei for cutting.” In other words, the time would come for fantastic cheapness on the slave market (nogata and rezana are small monetary units in ancient Rus', chaga is a slave, Polonyanka, and koschey, respectively, is a slave, a slave). And in another place: “Shoot, sir, Konchak, the filthy Koshchei, for the Russian land, for the wounds of Igor, the great Svyatoslavich!” Konchak is called a slave here, and Galician Yaroslav is called a master. And again: “Then Prince Igor moved from the golden saddle to the Koshcheevo saddle,” that is, he moved from the golden, master’s saddle to the slave’s saddle.
On the other hand, the word koschey could be derived from the name Kosh: koschey - belonging to a certain Kosh (Kosh - master of the slave Koshchei). This Kosh is the oldest, original name of Koshchei. It is still sometimes found in some fairy tales (for example, in the tale of Koshchei from the collection of A.N. Afanasyev, he is called Kosh the Immortal). What kind of Kosh is this? It turns out that during the collapse of primitive communal society, the first masters who seized power and established the institution of slavery were called koshas. This word comes from the common Slavic root bone (Old Slavic kosch, kosht) - the backbone, foundation, root of the clan - clan elder, eldest in the family, who became a master. He is the founder of the family, everything rests on him, all subsequent generations are his “bone”. In the Ukrainian language this meaning was preserved until later times: kosh - camp, settlement, koshevoy - foreman, chief of the kosh. Perhaps it is precisely these etymological roots of the name Koshchei that are also associated with his incredible thinness (bonyness) and extreme old age.
This is where the negative role of our character begins to become clear. In the eyes of primitive people, committed to the primitive justice of the tribal maternal society, Koschey was the embodiment of the force that violated the ancient orders of tribal equality and robbed a woman of her social power. This is where Koschey the Immortal’s ineradicable penchant for kidnapping and enslaving women comes from, as well as his power - after all, Koschey in fairy tales, as a rule, is presented as the ruler, the king of his dark kingdom, and the possession of untold riches, greed, and cruelty are associated with him. Koschey was the personification of social injustice and untruth, the paternal right of violence and acquisitiveness, a symbol of the collapse of the tribal just society and its replacement by class. Perhaps his immortality embodied the immortality of injustice, violence and profit in human society, and the death of this “immortal” hero is the age-old dream of humanity that someday these orders will collapse, just as they are collapsing dark kingdom Koshchei after his death. The fact that the ideas about the immortality of this character are connected with some deep, eternal concepts, also says that Koshchei’s death is hidden in the egg. After all, an egg is the beginning of life, its indispensable link, providing the opportunity for continuous reproduction, and only by crushing and destroying it can this life be put to an end.
Probably, later, during the period of continuous wars between the Slavs and the tribes of nomads, these ideas about Koshchei were superimposed on the perception of him as an enemy, an adversary, which was already associated with the later meaning of this word - a slave, a captive. And indeed, in some fairy tales (for example, in the tale of Marya Morevna), Koschey appears as a prisoner who, contrary to the ban, is freed by our unlucky Ivan Tsarevich.
A unique view of Koshchei from the outstanding collector and connoisseur of Russian folk tales, Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev. He sees in Koshchei a demon - a drainer of rain moisture (hence his dryness and thinness), the personification of winter, dark clouds bound by cold. And the meaning of his name comes from the same place - after all, it’s not without reason that they say: “Nasty from the cold.” And Afanasyev connects the story of Koshchei’s death with the Slavic ideas about the oak - the tree of the thunder god Perun, and in the egg he sees a metaphor for the sun killing winter, and in its immortality - the continuous revival of winter in nature. In support of this point of view, Alexander Nikolaevich turns to the same Marya Morevna. Indeed, there the captive Koschey is hanging in iron chains.
Koschei the Immortal. Illustration for the fairy tale “Marya Morevna, the Overseas Princess.”
Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1901.
pyakh (a cloud bound by frost) and breaks away from them only after drinking water (having been saturated with rain moisture in the spring). Ivan Tsarevich’s magical assistants in this tale are an eagle, a falcon and a raven, who personify the forces of wind, thunder and rain, and in the end Ivan Tsarevich (the thunder god) kills Koshchei with a horse’s hoof (lightning strike) (destroys a cloud, forcing it to fall with spring rain).
In terms of his fairy-tale role, Koschey the Immortal is in many ways a close relative and often an understudy of the Serpent of Mountain (they often replace each other in different fairy tales). This refers to the kidnapping of princesses and all sorts of intrigues perpetrated by positive fairy-tale characters. Many of Koshchei’s traits characterize him as a typical representative of the thirtieth otherworldly kingdom: he senses the Russian spirit, flies, is immensely rich and has magical powers. The originality of this character is associated primarily with the idea of his “immortality”: the hero does not enter into direct combat with him, due to the futility of this occupation, but must defeat him by completing one of the difficult tasks - to find and obtain the death of Koshchei, which he does it with the help of magical assistants, one of which is always the princess who was kidnapped and lives with Koshchei. It is she who, as a rule, fools Koshchei, finding out from him where his death is hidden and how to get it. But we will mention this in the section on the princess.
Dragon
There is probably no other creature that would play such a colossal role in the mythological ideas of all peoples of the Earth without exception, as the Serpent.
Therefore, let us resist the temptation to draw any parallels with mythology and turn exclusively to our native Serpent Gorynych of Russian folk tales. First of all, we discover that this character, strictly speaking, is not properly described anywhere in fairy tales.
Although there are still some signs of a criminal. It is multi-headed: as a rule, three, six, nine, twelve heads, although occasionally five- and seven-headed specimens are found. Perhaps this is its main distinguishing feature.
The rest are only occasionally mentioned: he is flying, fire-breathing (scorches with fire) and, apparently, is somehow connected with the mountains, as evidenced by his last name (or patronymic?) - Go-rynych - living in the mountains, son of the mountain. Here, however, it must be borne in mind that in ancient times the common Slavic word mountain meant not only the mountain itself, but also the top in general, and could also be used to mean forest. So the nickname Gorynych could mean both “living above” and “forest”. It may very well be that this very Serpent of Gory-nych was associated in the minds of the Slavic tribes living in the forests with forest fires caused by a lightning strike. This is evidenced by his constant connection with fire, and the description of his flights - the personification of an evil natural element: a storm rises, thunder rumbles, the earth trembles, the dense forest bends down - the three-headed Serpent flies. According to A.N. Afanasyev, the flying fiery Serpent was associated with snake-like writhing lightning. In general, various associations with fire arise in almost all appearances of this character in fairy tales. The properties of fire are reminiscent of the Snake’s ineradicable tendency to swallow everything, and its multi-headedness, and the ability to constantly grow new heads to replace the severed ones (as new tongues appear in the flame), and the fiery finger, with the help of which heads are grown (cut off the fiery finger - the Snake defeated ). Fire crawls like a snake and bites like a snake. In the fairy tale "Ivan Bzhovich" main character categorically forbids his brothers-in-arms to sleep before meeting the Serpent.
Maybe this is a memory of the real danger that awaited the primitive hunter who fell asleep in the forest near a fire and violated the ban on sleeping in front of the fire?
It is also quite possible that the Snake’s peculiar relationship with women is partly connected with fire. On the one hand, he acts as a kidnapper and rapist (duplicating Koshchei in many fairy tales), on the other, as a seducer: individual irresponsible heroines of fairy tales willingly enter into contact with the Serpent, uniting with him in developing intrigues against the positive hero. The connection of a woman with the Serpent-Fire is probably an echo of the role that a woman played as a keeper of fire in primitive society. Although, who knows, perhaps this incarnation of the Serpent also reflected later, already inspired by Christian mythology, ideas about the Serpent-tempter? After all, he performs his insidious Don Juan functions in fairy tales in the respectable guise of a beautiful good fellow, and not a fire-breathing brute-dragon. But we digress. The ideas of fertility were also associated with fire among primitive tribes. The Slavs have a well-known ritual in which barren women were given water to drink, into which sparks from firebrands had fallen from the hearth.
The memory of the primitive rites of sacrifice to the gods of fertility, carried out with the aim of influencing the future harvest, was probably reflected in fairy tales about the exactions of the Serpent, when he demands girls as an annual tribute. With the extinction of this ritual, when new forms of agriculture and new family and social relationships developed, their sympathies were transferred from the consuming spirit to the victim. That's when the hero-liberator appeared, killing the Serpent and saving fairytale beauty. The motive of snake fighting, as well as transformation
Zmievna. Artist N.K. Roerich. 1906.
Dragon. Opened - Detail of the series cover
ka. Artist I.Ya. Bili - “Russian folk tales”.
bit. 1912. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.
The fight between Dobrynya Nikitich and the seven-headed Serpent Goryny-chem. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1913-1918.
Dobrynya Nikitich frees Zabava Putyatichna from the Serpent Gorynych. Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1941.
ideas about Baba Yaga apparently appeared with the collapse of matriarchal relations and the emergence of a patriarchal family. It reflected the denial of tribal relations, in which a woman belonged not to an individual, but to the entire clan. There was a desire to take away a woman, to win the right to her. The serpent fighter defeated the ancient lord of fire in order to take the woman from him.
However, what is the role of this fairy-tale character? He, like Baba Yaga and Koschey the Immortal, is a full-fledged inhabitant of the thirtieth kingdom. Let's try to trace the development of his relationship with the main positive character according to the same fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich”, in which they are described in most detail.
Here the heroes come to the Smorodina River, the Viburnum Bridge. For some reason, this bridge cannot be crossed (“there are human bones all along the bank, it will be piled up to the knees”). Therefore, the heroes settle down in a hut that turns up and begin to go on patrol - to guard the Snake. It can be assumed that this Kalinov Bridge, like Baba Yaga’s hut, is a border outpost, and the Smorodina River is a kind of border, which can only be crossed by killing the Serpent. So the Serpent, among other things, like Baba Yaga, carries out guard duty, only Baba Yaga guards the periphery, and the Serpent is the very heart of the thirtieth kingdom.
But our heroes finally meet. And here an interesting detail becomes clear - the Serpent knows in advance both who his opponent is and about his predetermined death from him: “Why are you, dog meat, stumbling, why are you, a crow feather, fluttering, why are you, dog fur, bristling? Do you think Ivan Bykovich is here?” Then Ivan Bykovich appears, and a boastful squabble occurs between the opponents; then the battle itself begins. In it, the tactics of warfare by our heroes are curious: the hero tries to cut off the Snake’s head, but the Snake does not use any weapons, but strives to hammer the adversary into the ground. In third,
In the most terrible battle, his magical assistant - a heroic horse - comes to the aid of the hero. With his assistance, Bykovich manages to cut off the Snake's fiery finger, after which cutting off the heads that remain without a regeneration mechanism becomes a matter of technique.
What is the origin of this peculiar ritual, repeated in almost all fairy tales? How does the Snake know the name of the enemy? To understand this, we will have to turn again to the primitive initiation rite, in which the swallowing of the initiate by some monstrous animal, often, by the way, resembling a snake, is simulated. The “swallowed” and “regurgitated” person acquires magical power and power over the animal that once swallowed him. In the myths of many primitive peoples, a great hunter and a great shaman emerge from the Serpent. At the same time, as we have already said, in the initiation rite the exit from the womb of the Serpent was represented as the second birth of man. “Born of the Serpent,” the initiate who has passed through it himself becomes to some extent the Serpent and acquires a magical connection with it. That is why the Snake knows in advance the future enemy and destroyer - born of him and the only one who can kill him. Perhaps this is why the Serpent hammers the hero into the ground - he tries to return him “to the dust” from which he came, which is why the hero’s magical assistant plays a decisive role in defeating the Serpent - the victory is of a magical nature. With the disappearance of the ritual, its meaning was lost and forgotten, but the memory of the ritual itself remained. However, absorption by the Serpent was no longer viewed as a blessing, but as a very unpleasant threat - the motive of snake fighting arose, which we have already discussed.
In general, the Serpent, like many other mythical and fairy creatures, is a mechanical connection of several animals, the main ones being the bird and the snake. In the minds of ancient man, a bird was associated with a distant kingdom, and a snake with the underground. These are the two main animals associated with
The fight of Ivan Tsarevich with the three-headed Serpent. Artist V.M. Vasnetsov. 1918.
Mortal combat with a three-headed serpent. Postcard. Artist B.V. Zvorykin. 1916.
ideas about the human soul. Therefore, the Serpent is associated with the image of death - the idea of death as the abduction of the soul. Therefore, in fairy tales he constantly plays the role of a kidnapper, hence his function as a symbolic devourer in the initiation rite. Perhaps his many heads - many mouths - is exaggerated -
figurative image of devouring (technique of enhancing quality through multitude).
To be continued
LITERATURE
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Illustration for the fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird.”
Artist I.Ya. Bilibin. 1899.