Russian Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Fables
Read Russian fairy tales from The Russian Garland as well as from authors like Robert Nisbet Bain and Alexandar Afanasyev. View entire list of Russian fairy tales.
“It was clear that her fascination still worked upon the hearts of the prisoners.” Illustration by Frank Papes, published in The Russian Story Book by Richard Wilson (1916), MacMillan
About: Russian fairy tales are deeply rooted history in Slavic Mythology. They are vibrant, riveting and poetic tales of gods and demons, heroes and witches. Pagan slavic religion had deities for everything, such as water and household spirits; these stories for children taught people about manners, traditions, and warned against natural dangers.
Russian fairy tales nearly saw their extinction in the wake of Soviet rule because communist proponents found folklore detrimental to furthering their ideals. However, a man, Maxim Gorky, stressed the importance and artistic value of the country’s folklore, and convinced Soviet leaders that fairy tales were, in fact, in line with communistic beliefs, and would help foster patriotism and support a burgeoning soviet society. Because of Gorky’s efforts, the 1920s are considered the Golden Age of Russian Folklore, as research and preservation efforts were expanded to increase the country’s collection of fairy tales and folk tales. Many new writers took the stage and wrote contemporary folklore that extolled political leaders, like Stalin and Lenin, and imparted communist ideals and morals. In this way, Russia’s folklore was not only a means to maintain tradition and impart values and morals to a community, but also a means of distributing soviet propaganda to the masses.
Russian fairy tale heroes and Slavic gods continue to be depicted in the modern arts of Russia, and many holidays are held annually to celebrate their favorite heroes. Though Russia adopted Christianity in the 10th century, and tried to replace Slavic gods with Christian icons, the heroes of lore persisted and could never be entirely eradicated. Russia has such a wide and rich collection of folklore due largely to folklorist, Alexander Afanasyev, who published more than 600 Russian folk tales and fairy tales, and thanks to British scholar, Robert Steele, who gathered and anthologized numerous folk tales from the region into the fairy tale collection known as The Russian Garland.
- The Flying Ship
- Father Frost
- The Frog-Tsarevna
- Frost
- The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
- The Fire-Bird, the Horse of Power, and the Princess Vasilissa
- The Frost, the Sun and the Wind
- The Golden Mountain
- Go I Know Not Whither—Fetch I Know Not What
- The Golden Cockerel
- The Golden Fish
- God Knows How to Punish Man
- The Good Children
- God and the Devil
- The History of Dwarf Long Nose
- The Hairy Man
- The Hut in the Forest
- The Hunter and His Wife
- Huntsman the Unlucky
- The Lute Player
- The Language of the Birds
- The Little Daughter of the Snow
- Little Master Misery
- The Lime-Tree
- Little Rolling-Pea
- The Mild Man and his Cantankerous Wife
- Morozko
- The Muzhichek-As-Big-As-Your-Thumb-with-Moustaches-Seven-Versts-Long.
- The Muddy Cart
- Story of Lyubim Tsarevich and the Winged Wolf
- Story of the Most Noble Self-Playing Harp
- The Seven Brothers Simeon
- Story of Ivan, the Peasant's Son
- Story of the Golden Mountain
- Story of the Duck with Golden Eggs
- Story of Bulat the Brave Companion
- Story of Prince Malandrach and the Princess Salikalla
- Story of a Shoemaker and his Servant Prituitshkin
- Story of Prince Peter with the Golden Keys, and the Princess Magilene
- Sila Tsarevich and Ivashka with the White Smock
- Story of the Knight Yaroslav Lasarevich and the Princess Anastasia
- The Story of the Tsarevich Ivan, and of the Harp that Harped Without a Harper
- The Story of Gore-Gorinskoe
- Seven Simeons
- The Soldier and Death
- Sadko
- Spring in the Forest
- The Stolen Turnips, the Magic Tablecloth, the Sneezing Goat, and the Wooden Whistle
- Salt
- The Story of King Frost
- The Snow-Child
- Story of Gol Voyansky
- Story of Vasilisa with the Golden Tress, and of Ivan the Pea
- Spirit Treasures
- Story of Little Simpleton
- The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan
- A Tale of the Dead
- The Tsarevna Frog
- To Your Good Health!
- The Tale of the Silver Saucer and the Transparent Apple
- The Three Men of Power -- Evening, Midnight and Sunrise
- The Wood Sprite
- Woe Bogotir
- The White Duck
- The Witch and Her Servants
- Who Lived in the Skull?
- The Wonderful Boys
- The Witch
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