Folk, Not Fairy
Anna Messerly
Siloam Springs High School
Folktales are...
• Stories that grow out of the lives and
imaginations of the people or folk.
• Accepted as fact in Russian history.
• Rooted in the oral tradition.
• Told after the children have gone to bed.
• Not fairy tales.
Types of Folktales
• Magic tales with a female hero
• Magic tales with a male hero
• Animal tales (with animals as main
characters, with or without the participation
of human characters)
• Magic tales about everyday life
Tales with Female Heroes
• Center around her ability to perform
certain tasks and test her ethics.
• Female is always expected to act and to
perform some task.
• The result of her actions is that she finds a
husband, or acquires a dowry, which will
ensure that she will find a good husband
eventually.
Tales with Male Heroes
• Always leaves his home on a quest.
• Is not expected to perform tasks, at least
not by himself.
• Knows how to behave properly and how to
secure the assistant of magic helpers, but
he needs those helpers when it comes
down to actions.
Animal Tales
• Not magical nor are they cute stories
about nice furry creatures.
• Animal characters are strictly typecast:
– Wolves are greedy, rather stupid, and male.
– Foxes are sly, calculating, tricksters, and female.
– Cats are opportunistic, lazy, and male.
– Bears are lumbering, rather clumsy, not very bright, and male.
– Hares are quick, cowardly, and male.
– The goat is cunning and female.
– The rooster is cocky, boastful, and male.
Magic Tales
• Tales about soldiers returning home who
meet (and defeat) Death, or who
encounter a witch or some other kind of
magical being.
• Gain fortune in the end (or maybe just a
bowl of soup).
Baba Yaga
Resources
• Websites
http://folklore.mashaholl.com/index.html
http://russian-crafts.com/tales.html
http://www.endicott-
studio.com/rdrm/rrrussian.html
http://www.oldrussia.net/baba.html
For more information or lesson plans, e-mail
me at: anna.messerly@sssd.k12.ar.us