Ukrainian Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Fables

Many of the Ukrainian fairy tales collected here were published in Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk-Tales in 1894. The collection’s stories from Ukraine originated from the originals by Ivan Rudchenko, Panteleimon Kulish, and M.P. Dragomanov. Bain’s collection is believed to be the first translation from Cossack sources to English. Reading these tales, you may notice they share a similarity with Russian fairy tales and that is because they were collected prior to the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917. A.H. Wristlaw also features several Ukrainian tales in his book Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. 

“They came to the place where they had left her.” Illustration by Noel Nisbet, published in Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales (1916), George G. Harrap and Co.

The Ukrainian word for “fairy tale” is казка (kazka). During the course of Ukranian history, Ukranians were in contact with nearly the entire Slavic world. Ukranian folk kazkas are influenced by pan-Slavism, while still reflecting the unique culture of Ukraine.

The most popular animals in these Ukrainian folktales correspond to the most well-known animals in Ukraine:  the fox, the wolf, the dog, the bear, the cat, the sparrow, and the hare.