Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that include Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales. Legends are stories about people or events which have been written in history. The stories can be made up, but the events may be loosely based on facts. Myths are stories that contain little to no historical facts, and are so far fetched that it is easy to distinguish. Fairy Tales are stories that can contain fantastic elements, and/or supernatural events or mythical characters. Like any other society, folklore is present in the Russian culture. However, legends are the most heavily concentrated category in Russian culture. People are more entertained in the sense of truthfulness and loose historical accuracy, than …show more content…
the far-fetched craziness of myths and fairy tales. Russian Folklore embodies human values and attitudes, to make the tales more understandable and help enrich the study of the culture’s past. In early times in the Russian culture, many people traded stories orally. They didn’t have the resources to be able to record them to be passed down from generation to generation. Folklore has captured and enchanted people for centuries. They were an important source of entertainment for peasants and princes alike in ancient times, and still serve the same purpose today. But, folklore also tells people about the way life was/is for the common man. History books are filled with hundreds of names, dates, and events that shaped our world. It is folklore, however, that remembers the aspirations, fears, and details of everyday lives. The stories and folklore in a culture are a key factor to the growth of that community because it helps the current culture know more about their heritage. Without the passing down of spoken tales, legends, myths, and ways of life the current generations would not know the values and morals of their forefathers. The creative attributes and characteristics that set the Russian culture apart would be changed due to the fact that there would be no oral traditions. The Russian culture would be bland and boring if there weren’t the telling, and retelling of folklore. The connectedness of the Russian culture would be greatly affected by the loss of oral traditions. Children would not have bedtime stories, or even a glimpse into the past to know more about their culture and heritage. The most current generation would also not have the pasts of their forefathers to base their morals and values on. Many Americans live their life by the superstitions of some myth, or by the elements or some legend or fairy tale. Due to the advanced nature of the technology of today, there aren’t many oral traditions. In the legend of Ilya Muromets, he is a fabled figure in the Russian culture, kind of like Lancelot, who was said to be the greatest knight of the court and upheld all the values it stood for.
llya Muromets was born a cripple to a poor peasant family. His parents would leave him alone, lying around their house while they worked. One day several old men came and persuaded him to get up and to walk. As if by miracle Ilya was healed and was able to walk for the first time. Ilya became the greatest knight of Russia, because the king was impressed by his help in the execution of the evil highwayman, Solovey. In the Tale of the Dead Princess, there was once a tsar who left his kingdom to fight a war, unfortunately leaving behind his pregnant wife. She never left the window she sat patiently at waiting for his return. But while he was away, she gave birth to a baby girl. Due to the small frame or the queen and the depression of missing her husband, the pregnancy and labor was too much for her, and the queen died. Ironically,the same day that the tsar was to finally return home. The king grieved for a while ,but eventually moved on. The new woman was beautiful, but very vain and jealous. She wanted to be the most fair in the land, but the princess was more beautiful, inside and out, than she could ever be. The new queen disguised herself as a peasant and poisoned the
princess. The legend of llya deals with miracles. He was born a cripple than he was miraculously able to walk after being persuaded by some old men. The Tale of the Dead Princess deals with vanity and jealousy. The new queen was jealous of the princess's beauty, because she thought she was the “most fair”. Both of these legends teach a lesson that then could be incorporated in the morals and values of the Russian culture: for example, llya Muromets teaches about perseverance and bravery, and the princess teaches humbleness. Despite the fact that he was born a cripple he didn’t let it stop him from aiding in the execution of an evil person. The princess was a very beautiful girl, but she didn’t let her beauty turn into vanity. These tales have little to no historical accuracy, and have not been altered in the passing down of these stories, as they have been told the same way throughout history. In the myth of Baba Yaga, she is a fearsome witch that is very ugly, and has a personality to match. In many stories she is said to eat her many victims with her iron teeth, and could be compared to the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Her nose is so long that it reaches the ceiling of her Hut when she sleeps. Baba Yaga is not a traditional witch, but flies through the sky like one, she also lives in a hut in the forest called “Hut on Chicken’s Legs” She is said to be a guardian spirit of the fountain of the Waters of Life and of Death. In the myth of “Gorynych the Dragon”, he is a dragon with many heads. He is able to appear out of the water, spew fire from his nose, and he can occasionally fly around on his wings made out of fire and often times resides in the mountains. Gorynych kidnapped many women and conquers countless cities. And he’s always determined to “make a meal of those who disturb his rest or thwart his plans.” These two myths are both alike in the fact that they involve a witch or a dragon that torments and eats people. They are also both able to fly and both reside in the mountains. More importantly, they reflect the culture by showing what makes the people of the Russian culture so afraid and respectful of the Folklore of their heritage. There are the values of fear and how it is important to the functionality of a culture. There is no real religious accuracy in these myths, because they are so dramatized and “fluffed up” to make them more entertaining to the people of the Russian culture. The oral traditions of the Russian culture helped with the exaggeration of the legends with each retelling, thus creating this idea that gods walked upon the earth alongside man. In the fairy tale “Ivan the Fool” Ivan is usually the youngest son of a poor peasant family. He doesn’t think about his actions, and does many things randomly. Therefore, other people don’t really take him seriously – and often they treat him like a fool, and bully him. Ivan can’t do the simplest of tasks, he often causes trouble with his family or employer. Yet somehow he always makes it through thanks to some divine help, and ends up doing things that are hard for some “heroes” to accomplish. In the tale of “Koschei the Immortal” Koschei is depicted as an evil monarch, His frame is usually described as a scrawny, or he is a king on horseback. To kill him you “need to break a magical needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in a chest in an oak tree.” His tale is not a happy one; in one of many retellings of his stories, “Koschei the Warrior,” it tells about how he was once a warrior, but then he was betrayed by his fellow warriors and taken hostage by his enemies. In these two fairy tales they deal with different circumstances. Ivan the Fool was left out because of his ways, Koschei was betrayed by his fellow warriors and turned bitter and evil. In the Russian Culture and many others there is a copious amount of betrayal, like Koschei faced by people he trusted the most. There is also a vast amount of ridiculing of people that are different like Ivan. There are really only negative values for these two fairy tales. Ivan could exhibit perseverance because even though he faced bullying and being ridiculed, he went on to accomplish great things. These two fairy tales both have origins from Russia. The people in the Russian culture accepted anything that enchanted then and captured their attention. They believed that if they were good that some of the fantastic things that would happen in the fairy tales would happen to them. An archetype is a reoccurring symbol or motif throughout any type of literature that represents universal patterns of human nature.The hero’s journey is the different stages of the adventure the hero takes. “Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting with the Mentor, Crossing the first Threshold, Tests (Allies & Enemies), Approach, Ordeal, Reward, The Road Back, Resurrection Hero, and Return with the Elixir“(Gundrum) The hero’s journey is important because in most stories there is a journey that need to be taken, and someone that needs to embark on whatever journey it is. The purpose is usually to keep something/someone safe, or to retrieve something that is of value. In many types of folklore there is an important journey that needs to be taken for the safety and/or wellbeing of others. This journey usually entails getting something important back to someone of a higher authority for a reward, or a higher position. Llya Muromets. unlike traditional heroes, wasn’t born with the title “hero”. He overcame a disability, lifted an unliftable stone, defeated an evil highwayman, and became the greatest Russian knight. Had llya Muromets not showed great determination and courageousness, he would have not been able to get up and walk for the first time, or help in the execution of Solovey. It gives the reader someone to connect and look up to. They could model after his perseverance, courage, and determination to make them a better person.They tend to deal with some important moral, tedious journey, or the teaching of a lesson. Many people in the Russian culture try to have courage, strength, determination, and humbleness. Every one of the stories I found talked about one of these morals. The universal values present in my found folklore are courage, perseverance, and humbleness. Generations to come in the Russian Culture will be able to model their lives on the moral and lessons talked about in the many myths, legends, and fairy tales in the Russian culture.
Introduce Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales. What does each of them entail? (If you found Tall Tales or Fables then introduce these as well) Legends are based on history. Myths are based on religions. Fairy Tales are based on fiction, false,and unreal. Each one of them have been passed down through the years and have had changes made to them to make them more interesting.
Folklores are stories that have been through many time periods. Folklore include Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales. Legends are traditional tales handed down from earlier times and believed to have a historical basis. Myths are ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes. Fairy Tales are fantasy tales with legendary being and creators.
Dictionary.com defines a myth as a traditional story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. Native Americans passed down their history by word of mouth. Many Native American tribes share legends within their group to their children. Obviously, they did not have the resources we have today to explain why some things happen in the world, so the Native Americans used their only assets on explaining natural phenomena. The Navajo and Delaware tribe both have their own explinations on how the world was created, while they are both completely different myths they have some points that are similar.
This story may seem solely comedic, but within it is a darker tale of a Russia where, in the current times and those prior to it, social rank and position were key. ...
Folklore is very important on a culture relating to legends, myths and fairy tales. The generations will keep telling the legends, myths and fairytales to the next
Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages and often having a whimsical, satirical, or moralistic character. The term embraces popular folktales such as “Cinderella” and “Puss in Boots,” as well as art fairy tales of late...
Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.
The problem with the origin of the Russian State is that it is exceedingly complex and many theories are based on circumstantial evidence. A good example of this is the early history of the plains above the Black Sea. This region compromises the center of the Kievan State, yet much is unknown about these parts due to the lack of resources. Archaeological finds suggest many ideas, all of which are unconfirmed. The simplest and most accepted belief is that this area was inhabited thousands of years before the Christian era, and played a part as the center for cultural exchanges between groups of nomadic tribes. These tribes led to the beginning of Slavic history.
From youthfulness, to abusiveness, to persecution of the already downtrodden, horses in literature are able to reveal many things to us. They symbolize and give vitality, through their importance, love, and companionship; they show inner personality of their owners and the dreadful interpersonal reactions and relationships, and they even teach us things about history. Horses truly were not just important to the Russian population, but still remain important to us, through their use in literature.
Russia culture is very different from any other culture that I have ever read about. This is a country that is dominated by males. Males actually run the county of Russia. The men are so dominated that every Russian women dream is to be married and have a family with these men. Russia is known for its poor society. In the book Sakharov he mentions how he moved from one place to another. He first was in Moscow’s larger apartments with his family. In this apartment there were six families. With thin the six families they had to share the kitchen and the bathroom. Then he states that he moved into a very old house and in this old house there was a leaking ceiling. With in this house there were still six families that shared everything. (Sakharov 24-25)
Stereotypes of the Russian Character Much has been said and written about the Russian character. Traditionally the Russians have been known as industrious, tough, suspicious and brave. Russian soul is regarded by foreigners as the mix of a drunken poor writer and a furious brown bear. These stereotyped characteristics have been noted by observers from all over the world.
What do we know about other cultures, does our knowledge extend to what we have seen in the movies? Are the majority of Russians burly commandos who consume a large quantity of vodka to keep warm in the Russian weather and dream about the day that the KGB and Stalin return? If you believe what you see in the movies, this could be the picture that comes to mind when thinking about Russia and their culture. Though if you are in pursuit of an accurate cultural awareness, there are many tools to help you reach this. Russia is a unique culture with different customs, language, politics, historical value, terrain, and weather. With its vast expanse
Baba Yaga is one of the most well-known figures in Russian folklore. The name ‘Baba Yaga’ can be translated to Old Hag, or Old Grandma. Baba Yaga is very dominate in Russian tales as she travels on the wind, watches over the forest spirits, and is related to death. Also known as "Baba Yaga Kostinaya Noga," or "Baba Yaga Bony Leg" she possesses metal teeth, and piercing eyes, and, she is simply enough to intimidate even the bravest hero. Her preferred method of transportation is a mortar while using a broom to sweep away any trace of herself that she may leave.
Fairytales are folk tales that reflect the basic human condition of the era it was told in. They usually are intended to convey a message and/or lesson. People realized a long time ago that the best way to teach something is to make it interesting and implement it in a short story. The stories can be told in different ways to suit different ages and cultures. Folktales are oral stories and are not written down.
Jack zipes believes that fairytales were first narrated to members of tribe in order to elucidate natural occurrences such as the change of the seasons and shifts in the weather or to celebrate the rites of harvesting, hunting, marriage and conquest. The emphasis in most folk tales was on communal harmony (zipes,10). His research has revealed that, Fairytales had been orally created and transferred from generation to generation and often carried underlying message of warning and advice. Some critics confuse the oral folktale with the literary fairytale. Windling in contes de fees says that it is necessary to focus our attention on the difference between oral folktale and literary fairytale. According to Tismar, Literary Fairytales are “written by a single identifiable author” and are unreal and complex, whereas folktales “have no author” ; they are passed down through the oral tradition. The literary fairy tale as a genre was developed through its shift from oral to written form, whereas the history of folk tales can be reached back to thousands of years. Jack zipes agreed that it is very