The Tale of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird, and
the Gray Wolf
About the author:
"The tale of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" is a Russian fairy tale by Alexander Afanasyev in Russian Fairy Tales.
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev was born in 11 July 1826 and died in 23 October 1871.He published a large collection of tales, 600 Russian folktales and fairytales.
The first edition of his collection brought him the reputation of „the Russian counterpart to the Brothers Grimm.”
(from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) He became a librarian in the Archives of Moscow in 1849, where he worked for 13 years. In 1862 he was dismissed because of the scandal that came after his publishing the Russian Popular Religious Legends, a satire of the Orthodox clergy. After this scandal he couldn`t find a place to work, so he was penniless.
He also wrote many articles about leading personalities of the 18th century. Alexander Afanasyev died suffering from tuberculosis, in Moscow aged 45
Afanasyev collections are an important contribution to the keeping of Russian culture and folk belief. His influence can be seen even today in the work of many writers.
About the tale- summary:
This Russian fairy tale is about a king, his three sons and a golden apple tree. Every night a firebird steals a golden apple, so the king tells his son to catch the bird. The first two sons fall asleep and only the little son remains to guard the tree. He manages to catch a feather from the firebird, but it escapes. The King asks his sons to go and bring him the firebird. The youngest son, Ivan enters a field where a wolf eats his horse. The wolf is very sorry and helps Ivan to steal the firebird from the Tsar, but Ivan touches the bird`s cage and he is caught. Ivan must steal the golden mane from Tsar Afron to restore his honesty He is caught there too, because he wants to steal the golden bridle also. To get his honor back, he must bring back the princess Helen the Fair from the Thrice Tenth Kingdom. This time, the wolf steals the princess and they are not caught. Ivan and Helen fall in love and with the help of the wolf, who transforms himself into a princess, they escape together. Each time, the wolf transforms and Ivan leaves for his kingdom with the princess, the horse and the firebird.
On his way back, they stop to rest. In that moment, Ivan`s two brother kill him with Dmitry’s sword. They take the girl, the horse and the firebird to their father and lie that they have got those gifts. After thirty days, the wolf finds Ivan`s dead body and decides to help him. He catches a crow`s baby and forces the crow to bring him the life-and death water.
The wolf kills the baby crow and heals it with the water; then does the same thing with Ivan. Ivan comes to life and recovers his princess. His father puts his two brothers in prison. Ivan and Helen get married.
Aarne- Thompson-Uther Classification:
The Tale of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf is Aarne-Thompson`s type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird. In this type are included "The Golden Bird", "The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener", "The Bird 'Grip'", "How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon", and "The Nunda, Eater of People".
Morphological analysis:
According to Vladimir Propp`s morphology, the tale is divided into 31 functions:
INITIAL SITUATION: The story starts with the presentation of the tsar and his three sons. We also read about a golden apple tree and a firebird that stoles an apple every night The three sons try to catch the bird, but only the youngest, Ivan succeeds in taking a feather from the bird.
ABSENTATION: The three sons leave the security of home to catch the firebird. The first two went together while Ivan left alone with his horse.
INTERDICTION: When Ivan reaches a field, sees a warning pillar: "He who goes straight will be hungry and cold. He who passes to the right will be safe, but his horse shall die. He who passes to the left will be killed, but his horse will be safe.”
VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. Ivan decides to go further and goes to the right. After three days, a gray wolf eats his horse.
RECONNAISSANCE: Although the wolf ate Ivan`s horse, it apologized and helped Ivan to find the Firebird. The tsar tells Ivan that he would have given the bird to him „if you had just come and asked me”, but now he must steal the golden mane horse from Tsar Afron to be forgiven for his theft
DELIVERY: When Ivan wants to steal the bird from the tsar, touches the cage and he is caught
TRICKERY: The tsar tells Ivan that he would have given the bird to him „if you had just come and asked me”, but now he must steal the golden mane horse from Tsar Afron. Ivan tries to steal the horse, but he`s caught and Tsar Afron asks him to bring back Elena the Fair.
COMPLICITY: Ivan is forced to steal the horse and the girl because the tsars tell him that he will be forgiven and that he will get the golden bird and the horse
VILLAINY or LACKING: The tsars don`t want to give Ivan the golden bird or the horse, even after Ivan explains that they are for his father
MEDIATION: When the wolf and Ivan want to steal the princess, the wolf steals her all alone because the first two times they were caught because of Ivan
BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Ivan falls in love with Elena and with the wolf`s help, that transforms into the princess, Ivan and Elena leave together
DEPARTURE: Ivan leaves for his kingdom after three days
TESTING: The wolf is the magical helper
HERO'S REACTION: Ivan is very surprised to see the wolf transformed into the princess, but then he is the one who asks the wolf to transform into the horse
ACQUISITION: Ivan and the wolf are friends at this point: Ivan said to the wolf, "Listen, my dear friend, you have done much for me, but could you do one more thing?”
GUIDANCE: Ivan and the wolf arrive at the place where the wolf ate his first horse and they separate.
STRUGGLE: On their way home, Ivan and the princess stop to sleep. There, Ivan`s two brothers kill him and take his treasures
BRANDING: Ivan is killed with his brother`s sword. He stood there for thirty days, until the wolf found him
VICTORY: The wolf brings back Ivan to life with the help of the life-and-death water
RESOLUTION: Ivan comes to life and leaves for his kingdom riding the wolf
RETURN: Ivan returns home as the wedding feast was already in progress
PURSUIT:-.
RESCUE: -
ARRIVAL: The wedding between his brother Vasily and Elena is about to start
UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: Ivan`s brothers told the tsar that they have captured the firebird and the horse
DIFFICULT TASK: -
SOLUTION: -
RECOGNITION: Helen sees Ivan and recognizes him from the beginning
EXPOSURE: Helen is also the one to expose Vasily`s false story: "There is my dear fiancé, not this coward sitting next to me!"
TRANSFIGURATION: -
PUNISHMENT: Helen tells the true story to the tsar and this one throws his two sons in prison
MARRIAGE: Ivan marries Helen and” they never parted.”
Characters:
The hero of this story is Ivan Tsarevitch. His name means the "tsar's son."It is also a common name in Russia. Like in a fairy tale, he has to prove that he`s worthy of the crowd, he has to pass some tasks and finally marry the princess
The Villain- Ivan`s brothers are the ones who kill him, but the two Tsars who trick Ivan into going on a difficult mission could also be the villains
The father is the one who gives the task of finding the Firebird to his sons, punishes his two older sons and marries Ivan with Helen
The magical helper- it is curious that in this story it is a wolf that helps Ivan. He acts like a horse, an adviser, a friend and even has magic powers
The false hero- We actually have two false hero`s in this story: Dmitry and Vasily, Ivan`s brothers. They kill Ivan because they are jealous of him, like in the story from the Bible with Cain and Abel
Morality of the tale
"The tale of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf” is a typical fairy tale with many folklore elements. It has a hero, villains and magical helpers. It also ends with a wedding and a happy end. The moral of the story is that no matter how many tasks one has to pass in his journey to life, if he/she relies on their friends everything will end as it should: “they lived happily ever after”
Bibliography
http://surlalunefairytales.com/firebird/index.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.orghttp://www.tradestonegallery.com/?content=fairytales
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