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Tales from Russian Folklore
Presented in a brand new translation, this most comprehensive collection of classic Russian tales will enchant readers for their raw beauty and constant ability to surprise and excite.
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, following the example of the Brothers Grimm in Germany, Alexander Afanasyev embarked on the ambitious task of sifting through the huge repository of tales from Russian folklore and selecting the very best from written and oral sources. The result, an eight-volume collection comprising around 600 stories, is one of the most influential and enduringly popular books in Russian literature. This large selection from Afanasyev's work, presented in a new translation by Stephen Pimenoff, will give English readers the opportunity to discover one of the founding texts of the European folkloristic tradition.
Displaying a vast array of unforgettable characters, such as the Baba-Yaga, Ivan the Fool, Vasilisa the Fair and the Firebird, these tales--by turns adventurous, comical and downright madcap--will enchant readers for their raw beauty and constant ability to surprise and excite.
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, following the example of the Brothers Grimm in Germany, Alexander Afanasyev embarked on the ambitious task of sifting through the huge repository of tales from Russian folklore and selecting the very best from written and oral sources. The result, an eight-volume collection comprising around 600 stories, is one of the most influential and enduringly popular books in Russian literature. This large selection from Afanasyev's work, presented in a new translation by Stephen Pimenoff, will give English readers the opportunity to discover one of the founding texts of the European folkloristic tradition.
Displaying a vast array of unforgettable characters, such as the Baba-Yaga, Ivan the Fool, Vasilisa the Fair and the Firebird, these tales--by turns adventurous, comical and downright madcap--will enchant readers for their raw beauty and constant ability to surprise and excite.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2020
35 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Afanasyev
269 books111 followersAlexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Russian: Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) was a Russian folklorist who recorded and published over 600 Russian folktales and fairytales, by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world. His first collection was published in eight volumes from 1855-67, earning him the reputation of a Russian counterpart to the Brothers Grimm.
Born in 1826 in Boguchar, in Voronezh Governate, he grew up in Bobrov, becoming an early reader thanks to the library of his grandfather, a member of the Russian Bible Society. He was educated at the Voronezh gymnasium and from 1844-48 he studied law at the University of Moscow. Despite being a promising student, he did not become a professor, due largely to attacks upon his work by the conservative Minister of National Enlightenment, Count Sergey Uvarov.
Afanasyev worked for thirteen years at the Moscow's Main Archive Directorate under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, during which time he also amassed a huge library and published numerous articles and reviews. In 1862 he was fired from his position, because of his association with philosopher Alexander Herzen. Jobless for a number of years thereafter, he sold his library in order to support his family, eventually finding work as a secretary at the Moscow City Duma and at the Moscow Congress of Justices of the Peace.
Afanasyev wrote a large theoretical work (three volumes of 700 pages each) – "The Poetic Outlook of Slavs about Nature" (Поэтические воззрения славян на природу) – which came out between 1865 and 1869. In 1870 his Русские детские сказки (Russian Children's Fairy Tales) were published. He died in poverty in 1871, at the age of forty-five.
(source: Wikipedia)
Born in 1826 in Boguchar, in Voronezh Governate, he grew up in Bobrov, becoming an early reader thanks to the library of his grandfather, a member of the Russian Bible Society. He was educated at the Voronezh gymnasium and from 1844-48 he studied law at the University of Moscow. Despite being a promising student, he did not become a professor, due largely to attacks upon his work by the conservative Minister of National Enlightenment, Count Sergey Uvarov.
Afanasyev worked for thirteen years at the Moscow's Main Archive Directorate under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, during which time he also amassed a huge library and published numerous articles and reviews. In 1862 he was fired from his position, because of his association with philosopher Alexander Herzen. Jobless for a number of years thereafter, he sold his library in order to support his family, eventually finding work as a secretary at the Moscow City Duma and at the Moscow Congress of Justices of the Peace.
Afanasyev wrote a large theoretical work (three volumes of 700 pages each) – "The Poetic Outlook of Slavs about Nature" (Поэтические воззрения славян на природу) – which came out between 1865 and 1869. In 1870 his Русские детские сказки (Russian Children's Fairy Tales) were published. He died in poverty in 1871, at the age of forty-five.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 17, 2022
This is a charming collection of Russian folk and fairy tales that nicely compliments the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. Some are highly amusing, others meant to teach a lesson. I especially loved the longer tales that involve Baba-Yaga, the Firebird, Finist the Falcon and Koschei the Deathless. There are also some delightful proverbs which feature regularly in these tales: "morning is wiser than evening" and "you cannot pluck a falcon's feathers before catching it"; also the amusing ending to a fair number of tall tales: "I was there. I drank mead and wine. It flowed down my whiskers, but did not go in to my mouth."
More Russian (novelised) fairytales:
~The Shining Falcon by Josepha Sherman
~Tales of Old Russia (Prince Ivan / Firebird / The Golden Horde) by Peter Morwood
More Russian (novelised) fairytales:
~The Shining Falcon by Josepha Sherman
~Tales of Old Russia (Prince Ivan / Firebird / The Golden Horde) by Peter Morwood
November 15, 2021
This was great and really charming too. There were so many I had never heard of before and that was exactly what I was looking for. A lot of them made me smile too. Great folklore book and fascinating too.
June 19, 2024
You can learn a lot about a culture by the stories they tell. This book is no different. After a beautiful entry into Russian fairy tales (See: The Bear and the Nightingale), I wanted to learn more about Russian folklore.
Well...it certainly is different, if nothing else. Here, let me paraphrase a story for you.
A huntsman found a fish in a lake. "Let me go and I'll teach you to speak to all of the animals!" the fish cried. The man agreed. The fish granted him the power to speak to animals with the warning "If you tell anyone you can do this, you will die."
The man made camp for the evening with his two dogs. As he lay down he heard his dogs discuss their plans. "I am going home to check on the house." said one. "God's grace be with you. I will stay here, brother" said the other dog.
Upon return, the dog who went to the house shared that when he got there, the woman of the house beat him with a hot poker and forced him to eat hot ashes. Overhearing this, the hunter was furious and ran home.
"Hello wife!" He said as he entered. "Did the dog come home last night and eat?"
"Oh yes. I fed him a juicy steak and he warmed himself by the fire." She replied.
"LIAR! Tell the truth!" Yelled the hunter.
"Ok fine. The dog came back and I beat him senseless. How did you know?"
"I cannot tell you or I shall surely die." replied the man.
"Oh but you must! How could you possibly know of my actions?"
"Fine," said he "But let me get into my funeral gear first and assume the position of a dying man, as I am about to die."
As the man changed into his death clothing and prepared to tell his secret, a bird flew in the window and yelled "Stop! This woman is cheating on you with the farmer!"
So the hunter got up, beat his wife and set her on fire.
The end.
So yes...the stories go all over the place and always end abruptly after one party is brutally murdered or the hero marries the tsar/princess and becomes the ruler of the area.
As I said above, learning how cultures tell each other stories makes the rest of their society make far more sense. After reading this book full of extremely blunt stories with no subtlety and no morals or lessons learned, Russian culture suddenly makes far more sense to me. Much like their stories, this is a culture of direct and to-the-point people.
Well...it certainly is different, if nothing else. Here, let me paraphrase a story for you.
A huntsman found a fish in a lake. "Let me go and I'll teach you to speak to all of the animals!" the fish cried. The man agreed. The fish granted him the power to speak to animals with the warning "If you tell anyone you can do this, you will die."
The man made camp for the evening with his two dogs. As he lay down he heard his dogs discuss their plans. "I am going home to check on the house." said one. "God's grace be with you. I will stay here, brother" said the other dog.
Upon return, the dog who went to the house shared that when he got there, the woman of the house beat him with a hot poker and forced him to eat hot ashes. Overhearing this, the hunter was furious and ran home.
"Hello wife!" He said as he entered. "Did the dog come home last night and eat?"
"Oh yes. I fed him a juicy steak and he warmed himself by the fire." She replied.
"LIAR! Tell the truth!" Yelled the hunter.
"Ok fine. The dog came back and I beat him senseless. How did you know?"
"I cannot tell you or I shall surely die." replied the man.
"Oh but you must! How could you possibly know of my actions?"
"Fine," said he "But let me get into my funeral gear first and assume the position of a dying man, as I am about to die."
As the man changed into his death clothing and prepared to tell his secret, a bird flew in the window and yelled "Stop! This woman is cheating on you with the farmer!"
So the hunter got up, beat his wife and set her on fire.
The end.
So yes...the stories go all over the place and always end abruptly after one party is brutally murdered or the hero marries the tsar/princess and becomes the ruler of the area.
As I said above, learning how cultures tell each other stories makes the rest of their society make far more sense. After reading this book full of extremely blunt stories with no subtlety and no morals or lessons learned, Russian culture suddenly makes far more sense to me. Much like their stories, this is a culture of direct and to-the-point people.
July 6, 2024
I am probably the wrong age for this book of Russian Folk Tales. The author has done a great service in collating all these stories from oral and written sources. I found many of them repetitive. It would probably be best to read a few stories at a time and then walk away and return later rrather than try and consume all of the tales in one go.
Read
July 9, 2023Dnf.
October 22, 2023
It's incredible that the guy who put this collection together has the largest collection of folklore, cheers!
This collection of folklore was definitely different from other ones I've read. This had more to do with princes, marriage, and the baba-yaga (those being my favorites). So much of it ended with marriage and riches as well it became a bit predictable over time.
There were some good stories in this and some of them I feel could be adapted into some cool movies if done right. Most however were very bland and a bit silly, but some just made me go "why tho?". This was definitely an interesting read and apart from my interest in folklore this is something I'd say skip unless you want to have something for reference.
This collection of folklore was definitely different from other ones I've read. This had more to do with princes, marriage, and the baba-yaga (those being my favorites). So much of it ended with marriage and riches as well it became a bit predictable over time.
There were some good stories in this and some of them I feel could be adapted into some cool movies if done right. Most however were very bland and a bit silly, but some just made me go "why tho?". This was definitely an interesting read and apart from my interest in folklore this is something I'd say skip unless you want to have something for reference.
September 5, 2024
Las þessa eftir að hafa skráð mig í valáfanga í Rússneskum Bókmenntum í HÍ. Smásögur eru alltaf hits, og þá sérstaklega rússneskar (og bara rússneskar sögur yfifhöfuð). Þær eru alltaf svo wild og straight to the point. “Einu sinni var gömul kona sem átti tvo syni, en eldri sonurinn dó og hinn breyttist í svín” og allar gellur heita mismunandi útgáfum af “Lísa”. I love it its so silly.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews