The Snow Queen is from the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The Snow Queen is cold as ice, unapproachable as an iceberg...

Sleeping Beauty - princess - a beauty who fell into a long sleep andslept for a hundred years

No one can remember from which region Grandfather Samo came to us. He was on friendly terms with any matter. And he did a lot not for himself, he tried for working people. Especially for those who loved to keep advice. If grandfather comes across such a person, he will definitely mark him. Master Samo also had one more amazing property - he knew how to convey his name to the working tool. Evgeniy Permyak told us about the wonderful grandfather Samo in his fairy tale “About Grandfather Samo.”

The Steadfast Tin Soldier,

Piggy bank,

Nightingale - these fairy-tale characters starting with the letter C were revealed to the world by the famous Danish writer G.H. Andersen.

Nightingale the Robber

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter T

Tobacco - jackal, constant companion of the tiger Sherkhanfrom the collection of short stories "The Jungle Book"

Cockroach - threatened to swallow everyone and not have mercy on anyone

Tikhei Molchanovich

Tikhogrom is a dwarf from the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm, a small agile man with a large head and long arms.

Three fat men -

Pumpkin (godfather)

Toropyzhka

Tortilla - a turtle, an inhabitant of the pond, a warm-hearted lady who gave Pinocchio the golden key (a fairy tale by A.N. Tolstoy “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”)

Tugarin Zmey

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter U

Ukonda - one of the seven underground kings

Umka is a polar bear cub, good-natured and funny

Urgando - one of the ancient Time Keepers of the Underground Country

Warra - leader of the Flying Monkeys

Urfin Juice

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter F

Beans - the son of the rag picker Beans and friend of Cipollino from the fairy tale by D. Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino”

Fedora (b grandmother) – big fan of dishes

Fairies are frequent guests of fairy tales, both original and folk.

Finist - clear falcon

Foka is a jack of all trades,man is an inventorfrom the fairy tale of the same name by Evgeny Permyak

Foxtrot - Chief of Police from "The Adventures of Pig Funtik"

Freken Bok is a housekeeper with a great culinary talent for baking buns (“The Kid and Carlson Who Lives on the Roof” by Astrid Lindgren)

Funtik

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter X

Khavroshechka is a girl who doesn’t know mother's love, her life passed in worries and work

Hart from “The Fire God of the Marrans” and “The Yellow Fog” by A. Volkov

Khitrovan Petrovich - from the fairy tale “The Long-Lived Master” by Evgeny Permyak

Hottabych is an old man who can work miracles

The Mistress of the Copper Mountain is a royal and important person. She has her own kingdom, special, precious

Hvasta (hayats)

Lame leg from “The Adventures of Cipollino” by D. Rodari

Piggy

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter C

The frog princess - by the will of fate, became the wife of Ivan Tsarevich, youngest son king

King Bird (aka Firebird)

Tsar Saltan - the hero of the fairy tale by A.S. Pushkin “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his glorious and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the beautiful Swan Princess”

Tsakhes - sThe son of a poor peasant woman, Frau Lisa, an absurd freak who had never learned to speak or walk well until he was two and a half years old, Tsakhes frightened those around him with his appearance (hero of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann's fairy tale "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober")

Caesar - from A. Volkov’s fairy tales “Fiery God of the Marrans” and “Yellow Fog”

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter H

Sorcerer - an ordinary sorcerer

Cheburashka is an animal belonging to an unknown family of animals.

Bird cherry - doctor from the fairy tale by D. Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino”

Blueberry - godfather from the fairy tale by D. Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino”

The Devil (from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs”).

Cipollino is a brave onion boy fromfairy tales by Gianni Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino”

Cipollone - father Cipollino from the fairy tale by D. Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino”

The sneezers from Genrikh Sapgir’s fairy tale “Miguns and Schihuns” love to listen to poetry

Wonder bird(from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Wonder Bird”)

Miracle - Yudo

Churidilo from the fairy tale by Genrikh Sapgir is as round-faced as the moon; he has forty arms and forty legs, and even forty blue eyes

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter Sh

Humpty Dumpty - fairy tale character who sat on the wall and fell in his sleep

Shapoklyak is an old woman whoorganizes unkind pranks on harmless city residents

Shere Khan - tiger, character from The Jungle Book (Mowgli) English writer Rudyard Kipling, the main antagonist Mowgli

The Hatter from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Chocolate - behemothfrom “The Adventures of Pig Funtik”

Hairpin -artist, living in fairy tales about Dunno by Nikolai Nosov

Syringe -doctor

Shpuntik -master,

Shtuchkin - director , living in fairy tales about Dunno by Nikolai Nosov

Screw -inventor,living in fairy tales about Dunno by Nikolai Nosov

Shushera - a rat from the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter Ш

The Nutcracker was at first an ugly doll, but at the end of the fairy tale he became a very important person...

Pike is a slightly weird character, she has magical powers and can give this power to others

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter E

Eliza is the heroine of the fairy tale by H.K. Andersen's "Wild Swans"

Ellie -the girl is meek, quiet, but knows how to stand up for herselffrom A. Volkov’s fairy tale “The Wizard of the Emerald City”

Elvina - former queen of the Underworld

Elgaro - miner

Elyana - one of the last kings of the Underworld

Elf, elves -

Forest echo - no one saw it, but everyone heard it

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter Y

Yuma - Marrano princess, wife of Prince Torma,fairy-tale heroine from A. Volkov’s book “Fiery God of the Marrans” (series of fairy tales “The Wizard of the Emerald City”)

Yuksi (in Russian means first) is the eldest gosling, he was the first to hatch from the egg, and soon demanded that everyone obey him from fairy tale story Selma Lagerlöf "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"

Southern Whototam is a beast that nature “forgot” to create, but it was invented by a wonderful writer, a real miracle worker Boris Zakhoder

Fairy-tale characters starting with the letter I

Apple tree - a fabulous tree from the Russian folk tale “Geese and Swans”

Jacob - a boy who traded in the market square with his mother

Fairytale lands...

Brawler - a magical fairy-tale island found in Russian fairy tales and beliefs. This island is considered the navel of the earth, it is located in the middle of the sea-ocean and there are many magical objects on it: a baked ox, crushed garlic in the side, and a sharpened knife; it is inhabited by mythological characters, Christian saints, and evil diseases - fever; Alatyr magic stone that heals any wounds and illnesses...Fairytale Buyan also became widely known thanks to Pushkin: on the island of Buyan magical things are stored that help fairy-tale heroes, and a magical oak tree (World Tree) grows. Many folk conspiracies and the spells began with the words: “On the sea on Okiyan, on the island on Buyan lies the white-flammable stone Alatyr.” The sacred stone alatyr in Slavic mythology designated the center of the world.

Real Buyan is the German island of Rügen in the Baltic. In ancient times, the West Slavic tribe of Ruyans lived on the island, and in their honor the island was called Ruyan. On the island was Arkona, the main pagan sanctuary of the Baltic Slavs. In subsequent centuries, in Slavic folklore the name was transformed into Buyan.

And the fabulous “white-flammable stone Alatyr” is the chalk rock “Royal Throne”, towering above the sea. According to tradition, the contender for the Ruyan throne had to climb alone at night along the spurs of the rock to the very top (which, apparently, was difficult and scary).

Lukomorye - distant fairyland...The fabulous Lukomorye was borrowed by Pushkin from folklore Eastern Slavs. This is a reserved northern kingdom on the edge of the world, where people hibernate in winter and wake up with the first rays of the spring sun. There is the World Tree (“At Lukomorye there is a green oak”), along which, if you go up, you can get to heaven, if down, you can get to the underworld.

The real Lukomorye, contrary to the children's song with the words “Lukomorye is not on the map, which means there is no way into the fairy tale,” is depicted on many old Western European maps: this is the territory adjacent to the eastern shore of the Ob Bay, in the area of ​​​​the modern Tomsk region.

In general, “Lukomorye” in the Old Slavonic language means “bend of the sea shore”, and in ancient Russian chronicles this toponym is not mentioned Far North, and in the area of ​​the Azov and Black Seas and the lower reaches of the Dnieper. The chronicle Lukomorye is one of the habitats of the Polovtsy, who were sometimes called “Lukomorets”. For example, in connection with these regions, Lukomorye is mentioned in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” In “Zadonshchina” in Lukomorye the remnants of Mamai’s army are retreating after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo.

Far Far Away kingdom - “another, distant, alien, magical” land (country).

The expression “Third-ninth kingdom, thirtieth state” is very often found in Russian folk tales as a synonym for the expression “very far”. The origin of the expression is due to the fact that in ancient Rus' the word “land” was used, in particular, to refer to a territory subordinate to one ruler (for example, the Rostov-Suzdal land - a territory subordinate to the princes who lived in the cities of Rostov and Suzdal). Thus, the hero who goes “to distant lands” must, in his wanderings, cross a corresponding number of fairly large territories and state borders located between them.

The natural background for the action of Russian myths was the usual habitat (field, forest). As a contrast, an “Other”, alien, strange land was envisaged: the Far Far Away Kingdom, the Thirtieth State... Initially, these were steppes, deserts, and also often forests and impenetrable swamps and other fabulous obstacles (for example, rivers with fire), etc.

The very origin of the term is as follows: in the old days they counted in threes, hence distant (three times nine) - twenty-seven, thirty - thirty.

Oz - O surrounded on all sides by mountains and desert, the land of Oz could well exist in reality. Some argue that Frank Baum allegorized the United States in his book, but there is an opinion that real country Oz is in China, and Sydney, Chicago and Dubai are tipped for the laurels of the Emerald City. In any case, when you go looking for the land of Oz, be careful, because the first film based on this work is listed as “cursed” due to many accidents on the set. In addition, many productions of the work were also overshadowed by troubles that happened to the actors, most often suffered by those who played the role of the evil sorceress Gingema.

Wonderland - P consolation down the rabbit hole seems more fantastic these days than space travel, although century before last the latter seemed less real. magical land, where the Cheshire Cat and the March Hare live, can be found if you take a good walk in the vicinity of Oxford, where Lewis Carroll once studied. And those who want to get to know the characters of the book better should go to the small town of Ripon in North Yorkshire. It is the decorations of the local cathedral served as a source of inspiration for Lewis when creating images.

Neverland - With According to legend, only children can enter the island, and adults are prohibited from entering here. Although, with pure childish thoughts, it is quite possible to follow Peter Pan's route over the treetops and through caves and end up in a land where Captain Hook, fairies, mermaids and pirates live. They say that James Barry wrote his book under the impression of a trip to Australia, but many also argue that the real prototype of the island “No and Will Not” is Madagascar.

Narnia - The kingdom of Narnia, where animals can talk and magic works, appeared thanks to Clive Lewis, who described it in a series of seven children's fantasy books. There is no clear opinion as to where Lewis found inspiration for describing the amazing landscapes. Although many are inclined to believe that dense forests, crenellated castles and high mountains, which are mentioned in the book, can be found in Northern Ireland in County Dawn. However, the creators of films about Narnia found the scenery for filming their chronicles only in distant Australia. And the third film in the series, scheduled for release in December 2010, is being filmed in New Zealand, on the White Island, located in the Bay of Plenty.

middle earth - P It would be difficult to find a non-existent country with a more detailed map and a more fully documented history. There is even more “historical evidence” of Middle-earth written by John Tolkien than that of some real countries. Thanks to the author of the film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" Peter Jackson, in the minds of tourists, Middle-earth was firmly associated with New Zealand and served as a massive influx of tourists to these distant lands. If you don’t want to go that far, you can find places closer: Argentina, Scotland, Romania and Finland are also related to the great work.

Wonderful forest - Hundred Acre Wood, with light hand Boris Zakhoder, who became “wonderful”, is actually located in England, in the county of East Sussex and is called Ashdown. In any case, this is exactly what Alan Milne’s son, Christopher, claims in his autobiography. Some of the places written about in the book can actually be found in the forest, which, thanks to Winnie the Pooh, has long gained tourist popularity. Alas, you won’t be able to see the toys that served as prototypes for the fairy tale heroes in England. Back in 1947, they were taken to the USA for an exhibition and are now stored in the New York Public Library. True, the issue of returning exhibits to their homeland haunts the British and was even raised in 1998 in the British Parliament. But in Oxfordshire you can take part in the annual trivia championship, which appeared thanks to the book.

If you regularly read our blog, you probably remember the post about the creation of a little dog, a character in the mobile game “Evolution”. It was drawn (and the post was written) by the leading artist of the project, Roman Amokrus Papsuev. However, like all talented people, Roman creates not only at work, but also in free time- for the soul. One day he came up with the idea of ​​redrawing well-known characters from Russian fairy tales and epics in a modern fantasy gaming style. The result is a whole series of wonderful pencil drawings, executed with great attention to detail. The novel was not guided by the characters of any specific game; the images turned out to be collective. However, it is better to see a hundred times than to read once.

Welcome to the cut, his story is waiting for you there (also see the second part). Lots of pictures inside!

As a CG artist, I sometimes amuse myself by remembering how to draw with a pencil. I once spent a lot of time on a sketchbook that I called Monsta Panopticum - it was a collection of various monsters, a kind of exercise for the imagination. But the sketchbook ended, but the ideas remained, and then it occurred to me that Slavic mythology and Russian folk tales are full of cool characters, and games based on our legends are one or two out of stock. Since I have been working in game development for quite a long time, I have a fairly good understanding of the basic visual cliches (I may disappoint someone, but I have never played Warhammer, Allods Online, Dota, Elder Scrolls, Dark Souls or even World of Warcraft, which is not prevents me from knowing what they look like).

The idea of ​​the project is this: develop and develop one topic, try to look at it from different angles. It occurred to me that we should try to make our characters, but in the standard modern fantasy game style (you shouldn’t try to identify the specific game that inspired the pictures, everything will be from everywhere).

At first it was just an exercise in imagination, then, when I began to carefully study the primary sources and look at reference literature, the project became much more interesting for me, since it allowed me to interpret “in a playful way” not only the stereotypes that have stuck in everyone’s heads since childhood, but also primary sources are Russian folk tales and epics. You will see for yourself how the descriptions of the pictures vary: the longer the description, the more time I spent studying the sources.

I don’t invent characters, they are all in mythology, I just interpret their descriptions in my own way, try to find common features in these descriptions and at the same time try to maintain a single style so that it looks like the game world.

What makes me most happy is that some people who look at my pictures begin to re-read epic fairy tales, learn a lot of new things for themselves and understand why Vasilisa the Beautiful has a doll in her bag, why Vodyanoy is on a catfish, why Ilya Muromets has a sword in his hands, and not a mace, etc. This return to origins through my modest project pleases me as an author most of all.

I often hear that the characters turned out to be “not Russian”, they say, remove the signatures - and it’s not clear who is where. I would like to say right away that, firstly, I consciously tried to get away from stereotypes and interpretations of individual authors, and secondly, I would like to know where the canon is by which you can EXACTLY determine what Baba Yaga looked like, for example. After all, all we know about the heroes of fairy tales are images from childhood, images given to us by the brilliant Ptushko, Rowe, Vasnetsov, Bilibin. That is, the author's interpretations. So, my pictures are also interpretations, and in a very specific style. Just keep in mind that this project has nothing to do with realism and historical authenticity. And these are fairy tales that have found their way into the world of games. My goal is not to erase our great heritage, but only to try to look at it from a different point of view.

Thank you for making it through the introduction. Now the actual pictures.

Ilya Muromets. I started, of course, with him. By the way, on his belt hangs a bottle of dead water, treat wounds. And with a shield he is quite capable of destroying his enemies. I drew this picture from my head, just based on the types from my childhood, but later, after checking with the sources, I came to the conclusion that I completely fell into the image.

Dobrynya. What is known about him (in parentheses - how I played it out). A relative of the prince (the armor must be rich), the second most popular hero after Ilya (smaller in size, but still cool), a snake fighter (a magical shield, upholstered in fiery dragon skin, shooting fire), a seven-tailed whip, with which he whipped his horse so that trampled baby snakes, and all that. It’s hard to depict diplomatic skills, education and politeness in a picture, but I put a scroll in a tube on his belt, like he’s reading in his spare time. Right there with him living water, it complements the set of Ilya, who, let me remind you, has dead water on his belt. Well, the sun motif, like Ilya’s, serves one prince.

Popovich. Well, it’s obvious that he should be a witch hunter, right?

A sudden turn slightly to the side, towards Finistu.

It was the girls' turn. I'll start with Vasilisa the Beautiful(not to be confused with Vasilisa the Wise, aka the Frog Princess). A battle mage, there’s nothing to even think about, one skull that incinerates enemies (mentioned in a fairy tale), that’s worth it. And of course, the doll is in the bag, everything is as it should be. A small note: it may not be so clearly visible, but her kokoshnik is made of steel, part of a half-helmet.

Vasilisa the Wise (Frog Princess). It turned out to be not so simple with her. There are already three common versions of the fairy tale (in one of them she is generally called Elena the Beautiful), so I decided to try to collect everything that is known about her into one image. So, witch. He casts spells both with the help of his own power and with the help of nannies (grandmothers, nannies, mothers, etc.). I decided that the nannies would be plump flying fairies in my version. The magic of nanny mothers individually is not that strong, but if they start doing something together, just hold on.

I did not find confirmation in fairy tales that Vasilisa is the daughter of Koshchei the Immortal (although there is such a version, and it is quite logical), so I did not make obvious necromantic paraphernalia. But the Wise One, it seems to me, could also dabble in dark magic, her character is like that... I completely forgot to mention - she has an arrowhead hanging on her chest in the form of a pendant. The same one.

Princess Nesmeyana. First I wanted to make my face open, then I decided to immediately show off the visor mask. Kokoshnik is part of a helmet. Observant viewers will notice the waterskin and horn on her belt. Why? Because because of forever bad mood constantly applied to alcohol. By the way, when she laughs (and she laughs extremely rarely), it means that she has an attack and she becomes a berserker - a very scary ability.

Marya Morevna. Everything is clear here. The only note is that since the fairy tale indicates that she is a steppe warrior, I slightly added Asian elements.

Varvara-beautiful. Mound Raider. Strictly speaking, this is a movie character; it seems that Varvara the Beauty did not exist in mythology. But, firstly, everyone probably knows Roe’s film, and secondly, her name is too famous, I couldn’t pass it by. I think it's clear who the reference was. A few comments: the hatchets are attached to the sheath on the hips, amulets-amulets dangle from the belts, the kokoshnik, as always, is metal. When there are a lot of enemies, she attacks by spinning like a top and mows down the enemies (haha). The braid itself may well be made of leather, like a whip, i.e. it is not collected hair, but part of a helmet.

Baba Yaga. V. 1.0.

Koschey. Feeds on the souls of victims. I also drew this one, based on stamps from my head, then I carefully studied the sources and came to the conclusion that I would change Koshchei’s head. So later there will be Koschey Mark 2. :)

Nightingale the Robber. Part one. Upper. I'll have to explain some things. In fairy tales, the Nightingale sits on nine oak trees, sits high, looks far away, whistles like a nightingale, screams like an animal. I thought for a long time about how to play it all out (“sitting on nine oak trees” was the biggest problem - a giant, or what? Or are the oak trees small?), in the end I came to the conclusion that the Nightingale would be a monster rider. He will ride on an oak tree. His scream-whistle is a sonic weapon. A whistle is a targeted blow, a scream is a wave with a wide range of action. He will also have a magical staff to control the oak tree. And notice the acorn necklace around his neck. It is not without reason, it is a solution to the problem with nine oaks. Yes, many have strange associations with his mouth, I advise you to go to the mirror and try to make “chicken lips” - you will be surprised. :)

Nightingale the Robber. Part two. Riding on an oak tree. In general, he lives in a tree, this is his storage and fortress. Chests (trophies) and shields are hung on the branches, which move if something threatens the Nightingale. The oak tree also has chains with hooks, with which it pulls the victim towards itself in order to eat it.

The oak tree moves both like a spider and like a centipede, that is, it supports the trunk with large branches and finely moves with its roots. It moves slowly, but if it gets there, screw the hero. Now about the problem of nine oaks. Acorns are magical. When Nightingale throws one acorn on the ground, an oak minion quickly grows from there, ground support, so to speak. I drew one of them on the left. They are faster and more aggressive than the fortress oak. They run up to the hero and hit him. There are eight acorns on the necklace plus the fortress oak, for a total of nine. Oaks themselves are pretty creepy trees, but when nine oaks plus a Nightingale with his sonic weapon are moving towards the hero, the hero should feel uncomfortable.

Yes, and the scale here is a little arbitrary (otherwise it wouldn’t fit), but roughly guide yourself by the skulls on the branch, these are the skulls of adults. That is, the Nightingale is slightly larger ordinary person. Yes, and in the picture he just screams like an animal.

Tugarin Zmey. This is probably the last picture where I use complex frames - they take too much time, the characters are more important, so then the frames will be very conventional.

Lesovik. Owner of the forest. I will separate the forest spirits, this one is the most important. He is, in principle, kind, but stern and fair, if anything happens, he can punish harshly.

Visually, I decided to start from zooanthropomorphic descriptions, with elements of phytoanthropomorphism; for each forest spirit I will choose the main animal and will dance from it.

Goblin. I tried to embody in this handsome man the main thing that is known about goblin in the generally accepted (and most importantly - evil) sense. Leshy's character, to put it mildly, is not very pleasant. One eye is normal (left), the right one is usually larger than the left and “dead”, motionless. The beard and hair are gray. They often write about a cone-shaped head, in my interpretation - because of the hair collected in a bun. He wraps his clothes to the left and wears them inside out (it turned out not so easy to show with a pencil that it was the wrong side). The arms and legs are covered with fur. In some versions of the legends it is belted, in others it is necessarily not. On the belt hang trophies and essential things: the skulls of defeated lost and impolite travelers, a horn for drinking, and bast shoes, because my Leshy just likes bast shoes, he collects them. In the legends, the classic Leshy also has some kind of fixation on bast shoes. But considering that he is often described as having hooves, the question is how did he wear them? The logical answer is that he did not wear them on his feet, he simply carried them around with him as souvenirs.

As for the general appearance, the justifications are as follows.

• Firstly, legends indicate that Leshy often appears in a zooanthropomorphic form, in particular in the form of a bear. There is a saying: “The goblin is not his brother - he will break all the bones no worse than a bear.”
• Secondly, there are beliefs that he goes into hibernation (preved, bear).
• Thirdly, which animal is considered the most ferocious and personifies Russian nature?
• Fourthly, as friends from LiveJournal suggested to me - according to many researchers (in particular, Dmitry Zelenin), Leshy can be considered the personification of Veles, whose basic hypostasis is just a bear.

Since he is still a forest spirit, I also added phytomotives. Leshy are often associated with aspen trees (aspen trees seem to indicate demonicity), so he is hung with the leaves of this tree. On the chest hang the cut cores of magical aspens, in the center of which grow magic stones(this is a fairy tale, let me remind you). These cuts on the chest are the magical protection of Leshy. Well, the roots and branches hold the skin on the shoulders.

And finally, he has woodpecker skulls hanging from him. Since Leshy has a violent and bad temper and at the same time he loves to sleep, he is terribly annoyed by the knocking woodpeckers. That's why he destroys them. Well, he exterminates rats simply because they are rats. Leshy is afraid of their bare tails. On this basis, the Leshis often quarrel with the Lesoviks. Although they are relatives, they are, in fact, Greenpeace members and, in general, protect any forest life. And the Leshis believe that some forest dwellers are disgusting and must-have.

Swampman. A vile creature living in the swamps pretends to be a hummock and eats everyone. Throws “swamp lights” from the bracelet to paralyze the victim. Poisonous.

P.S. I would also like to add a decoy, like that of an angler fish. The decoy is long, telescopic, in fact a symbiote, i.e. a separate creature, lures and hypnotizes travelers, leading them straight into the quagmire to the Bolotnik.

Spirits of the forest. Part 1. It was impractical to draw a separate picture for each small spirit of the forest, so I decided to divide them into groups. All these guys are Lesovik’s retinue. I tried to do it according to the descriptions that I could find, but it was not without arbitrariness.

Vodyanik, for example, is like one of the names of Vodyanoy. But I decided that small ponds, streams and small rivers should also have their own spirits, so I singled out the name “Vodyanik” into a separate group of small spirits. All forest spirits are quite neutral, but if you anger them, they can attack.

The most aggressive of this group is Mokhovik; according to legend, he could eat children, if anything.

Berryberry, for all its outward harmlessness, can also cause damage (with poisoned berries).

Derevyanik - combined Derevyanik and Kornevik in one character - stupid, awkward, but quite strong, he can entangle himself with roots and drink the juices from the victim with them.

Spirits of the forest. Part 2. Mushroom picker, Leaf picker, Herbal picker, Kustin. I call this picture “Russula is late for the meeting.” Concluding the topic of forest spirits and Lesovik’s retinue, let’s quickly go over the characters and abilities.

The mushroom picker is not a very kind character (in mythology mushrooms are generally not very popular, there is a lot about genitals and excrement), not very strong, but very tenacious and touchy (he believes that people slander him). Can infect offenders with rapidly growing fungi. His dream is to conquer the whole world.

The herbalist is a hippie. In case of danger, he can fool the offender and even kill him if he gets very angry.

Leaflet (combined with Steblevik, so as not to produce entities) - the most harmless of all, usually acts as a support group for Derevyanik and Kustin, giving them additional strength and protection.

Kustin (Kushchanik) is Derevyanik’s younger brother, they are very similar in character and usually work in pairs. Kustin can remotely entwine the offender with branches, paralyzing him.

Vodyanoi on catfish. For this picture, I will simply list the main characteristics with explanations of why this is so, and we’ll talk about the details of Vodyanoy’s character in the next picture. I’ll say right away: I tried to incorporate into the image everything that the Internet knows about Vodyanoy, while at the same time proposing some of my own solutions. Please, immediately forget the song of Vodyanoy from “The Flying Ship”. So, let's go.

It is known that Vodyanoy is a fat old man with a big belly (done), he is often seen in a red shirt (for me it’s chain mail made of scarlet gold), he has a thick beard and a green mustache (here I cheated and made him a CATFISH mustache, part of the beard - also catfish probes, hence the greenish color). Among the northern peoples of Russia, Vodyanoy is often represented with a club. In general, Vodyanoy is a serious evil spirit, and his character is very bad (quote: “The embodiment of the element of water as a negative and dangerous principle”). And the main quote for the picture, from which, in fact, the image itself was born. “He is credited with catfish as his favorite fish, which he rides on and which brings him drowned people. For this reason, the catfish is popularly called the “devil’s horse.” This is where the idea of ​​making a mount boss came to mind. Since Vodyanoy is sometimes seen on land, I made the catfish not quite a catfish. In fact, there is a whole mix of animals (they all live quite well in Russia, by the way), whoever identifies them all has a pie.

I paid special attention to the harness, harness and saddle; I had to use my imagination, of course, but fighting pack catfish do not exist in nature, so I apologize if anything happens. This is not the last picture of Vodyanoy: here he is too small and the details are not visible, so I will make him separately, as I did Nightingale.

Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa. Sorry for the many letters, but it's necessary. I present to your attention family photo, because of which I spent a sleepless night at work, it hit me like that. Let's start with Vodyanitsa, because it's a new character. There is very little information about Vodyanitsa (where to put the emphasis, I prefer to put on and); it is known that she is NOT a mermaid, she is dressed in a torn sundress, she has large breasts, she is a prankster, but in general she does not offend anyone much, i.e. .is quite a positive character. I painted her wearing a magpie (the headdress of married women) to emphasize her marital status. And this character also has a key feature that really stuck with me. “Vodyanitsa is a drowned woman from the baptized, and therefore does not belong to the undead.” Do you understand, right? The baptized drowned woman is the wife of Vodyanoy, who is actually an evil spirit (undead). There is a huge scope for imagination, of course. And this is what I imagined.

As I wrote earlier, Vodyanoy has an extremely bad character. He seems to be neutral, but with a greater bias towards evil. He constantly needs to be cajoled, otherwise he will play dirty tricks, and drown, and wave his club. However, he can provide a catch and save, if anything - and in my version, all his good deeds are directly related to Vodyanitsa. Since his wife is essentially kind, but young, mischievous and foolish, she plays with the old man as she wants. And often makes hubby commit good deeds, although this contradicts his unclean nature. And vice versa, when they quarrel, Vodyanoy goes on a hike and rages even more, letting off steam. Vodyanitsa herself is not particularly visible to people, and in my interpretation she is not even a separate character, but simply an addition to the image of Vodyany. She buffs (increases the strength) of the Vodyanoy when she yells at him.

Now a little about the images themselves.

All river spirits in Slavic mythology are distinguished by a passion for combing their hair (all of them must have long and flowing hair). Vodyanitsa is no exception. In one of the sources I saw that she combs her hair with fish bones, but I decided to give her a cool comb (hanging on her belt). This is a gift from the Sea King, a distant relative of Vodyanoy (Bolotnik, by the way, is also a relative, but feral, “there’s a black mark in the family,” as they say). Vodyanitsa's hair is green, she herself is very pale. Her jewelry is mostly pearls and all sorts of things with shell and water motifs. On the belt, in addition to the comb, there are amulets, but they do not affect Vodyanoy, because he is a husband. The merman does not object to amulets (he even hangs all sorts of moonlights on his fighting catfish), but he does not wear them himself, because he sincerely believes that he does not need them and he does not care at all.

More about Vodyanoy. As I mentioned, he has chain mail made of scarlet gold, underneath it is a shirt made of nets, a shell plate to protect his stomach, well, you can see for yourself. But he took off his shoulder pads because he was at home. He has a whip on his side, because he “grazes herds of his cows - catfish, carp, bream and other fish - at the bottom of rivers and lakes.” He has short legs because he usually rides a catfish, and they are not particularly developed. I would especially like to mention the “crown”. The merman is also described as having a horn on his head; I replaced the horn with a crown - in the form of catfish probes sticking out of his head.

As for Vodyanoy’s abilities, he draws his strength, of course, from water and from the screams of his wife. He is a boss mount (meaning he is very tough and rides a horse), and together with the fighting catfish they make a formidable fighting unit. The merman uses mainly brute force, and can magically summon only lower water spirits (akin to Kelpies from Celtic mythology) - stupid, but aggressive. Perhaps there are others magical abilities, but I haven’t thought about them yet.

What a sweet couple they turned out to be. In general they have happy marriage, live and live, make good. Not without quarrels and swearing, of course. But it’s the same for everyone, probably, right?

Sister Alyonushka, brother Ivanushka

Another sweet couple. I understand that I shock many people with this picture, but before you judge, please re-read the fairy tale. However, I will briefly explain everything to you. There are several key points in the fairy tale (in its many iterations) that are the same for all versions. So, the facts:

1. Ivanushka became a little goat.
2. Alyonushka was drowned.
3. In almost all versions there is a “fierce snake” that sucked out Alyonushka’s heart (and there is also a “heavy stone” on her neck, “a white fish ate her eyes out”, “yellow sands lay on her chest”, “silk grass on her hands”, ashes, decay, hopelessness, that's all).
4. There is a witch-witch who organized this whole drowning mess.
5. They took Alyonushka out of the river, “dipped her, rinsed her in clean water, wrapped her in white linen, and she became even better than she was.”
6. In all versions of the fairy tale, where Ivanushka turned into a little goat, he remained one. Well, you understand what I mean, right?

Ten years have passed. The little goat has grown up...

He became her bodyguard and instrument of brute force. Both characters are creatures tied to magic. Both are generally positive and on the side of good, but they do not hesitate to use black magic, unlike Popovich, who is all correct. They are professionals high quality, merciless with evil spirits, unsurpassed masters melee combat: Ivanushka takes with force, Alyonushka with dexterity. Ivanushka is generally as strong as a bull (ha-ha), so he carries all his and his sister’s belongings, plus a huge hammer, which he naively calls the “Witches Hammer.” Ivanushka has complexes about his appearance and can kill if someone suddenly calls him an asshole.

Now for the images. The idea of ​​a little girl and a big companion is not new; in the same Juggernaut we have Una, for example. Here this scheme simply suggested itself. So it turned out like this. Well, some details, just for information.

Alyonushka:
- the wreath is woven from water lilies (in fact, a drowned woman), poppy (a flower against witches), leaves and branches of aspen (a magic tree);
- a cross on the neck - protection of the immortal soul. The fairy tale did not say whether Alyonushka was baptized, I believe that she was baptized;
- Witches are afraid of all piercing and cutting weapons, including scythes. Alyonushka has a damask scythe-sickle, created specifically for fighting evil spirits;
- Alyonushka’s costume is partially and very loosely based on the clothing of the Krivichi and Drevlyans;
- on the belt hang the necessary things against witches - a bottle of spring water (a bonus for the one who tells you why spring water), a bag of poppy seeds, obligatory amulets and a bag with all sorts of things. Well, half-drowned women also love combs.

Ivanushka:
- in addition to a two-handed war hammer, he carries with him a large damask knife on his side (one of those with which they wanted to stab him), a cleaver strapped to the “backpack”, and an aspen stake in the same place. Not a peg, as usual with everyone (for the same Popovich), but a really hefty stake. Can string several unclean enemies onto him at once;
- all his armor is painted with the sign of witch hunters, so that it is immediately clear who he is and why he came;
- on his belt dangles a tooth, torn out from the first werewolf he killed (his skin is on his shoulders), and the collarbone of the very witch who drowned Alyonushka;
- bells-amulets hang on the shoulder pads;
- well, in the end, before you say that goats have only two horns, google “goat with four horns”, you will see everything for yourself, I was also surprised by the variety of genetic mutations.

Now about the runes. I was not lazy and nevertheless compiled my “dictionary of runes”. They are, of course, fictitious, based on the Scandinavian and those scribbles that he dug up in the pre-Christian writing of the Slavs. Moreover, I came up with the meanings of the runes myself, without really looking at the real ones. My version, my runes, I move whatever I want. There will be an additional game for the audience - reading what the characters have written on their clothes. And here are the runes themselves:

I also have

We were all little once, and we all read Russian fairy tales. Reading these fairy tales, we had a figurative idea of ​​all the characters, about Vodyanoy, Baba Yaga, Koshchei the Immortal, Ivan Tsarevich, Alyonushka, Varvara Kras, and many more. Fairy tales taught us to recognize good and evil. In every hero of the tale, you can distinguish good and bad traits. And everyone main character contains certain meaning. For example:
1. Ivan Tsarevich is one of the most important heroes of Russian folk tales. Usually in a fairy tale he is shown as a positive hero. His characteristic qualities are kindness, honesty and nobility. In every fairy tale, Ivan helps people, saves a princess or defeats an enemy. Ivan teaches every person to listen to his heart, and if something bad happens, not to lose heart.
2. A frequently mentioned hero from fairy tales is the Snow Maiden. She appears to readers as tender, vulnerable, and purely soulful. The Snow Maiden embodies all the best qualities that every woman should have. The Snow Maiden always has unusual beauty in fairy tales. She teaches us that everything that is not done from the heart will not succeed, and also that we should not stop at any difficulties. If you want something, you need to strive for it, and then everything will work out.
3. But our children like not only positive heroes, but also negative ones. For example, Baba Yaga is admired by many. This character is involved in almost every fairy tale. Baba Yaga lives in a big dark forest in a small hut on chicken legs. In order for the hut to turn around and open its doors, you need to say to it: hut, hut, turn your back to the forest, and turn your front to me. And then the hut will definitely turn around and open its doors. Old Yaga is an old friend of Koshchei the Immortal; they sometimes make insidious plans together. But, the main thing distinguishing feature Baba Yaga is that she flies in a mortar and on a broom. Baba Yaga symbolizes treacherous people who do everything under the skin. Children remember Baba Yaga as a grandmother in a mortar with a large bent nose.
4. Koschey the Immortal is the most sinister hero of Russian folk tales. He lives in splendid isolation in a castle. He is also very rich and greedy. But the most main feature Koshchei is that it is not so easy to kill him. His death is hidden in a crystal casket, in an egg. If you take a needle that is hidden in an egg and break it into two parts, then the cat will die. Koschey the Immortal is the image of the evil, treacherous and bad people. Looking at him, we see that everyone who loves money very much quickly perishes.
5. A merman is a male creature that lives in a swamp. He is a good owner and takes good care of his possessions. But if you offend him, he can take cruel revenge. The fishermen who fished in the reservoirs, so that Vodyanoy would not disturb them, they cajoled him. People brought various treats to the water, and in gratitude for this, Vodyanoy did not tear their fishing nets and did not scare the fish. The merman symbolizes people who are ready not to notice anything bad if they give him something for it. This is a negative character and should not be repeated after him.
6. Dwarves - they live underground, working in the mines. They are very hardworking. But they also have a negative trait: gnomes are too greedy for gold. They are ready to do anything for him. People who love money more than anything in the world are prototypes of gnomes.
7. Brownie is a creature that lives in every house. Usually the Housekeeper is the keeper of cleanliness and comfort in the house. People believed that if a brownie lived in a house, then it would always be clean and comfortable. The brownie is an image of economic and ambitious people.
8. Serpent Gorynych is the negative hero of Russian folk tales. He has either three, or nine, or twelve heads. As a rule, the Serpent Gorynych spews out flames. As he flies, thunder roars and the earth shakes. In fairy tales, the Serpent Gorynych stole girls and burned cities and villages with his fire. The Serpent Gorynych symbolizes bad people who are ready to do anything to achieve their goal.
All heroes in Russian folk tales contain great meaning. There are, just as there are negative ones, there are also positive heroes. To understand what kind of hero is in a fairy tale, you need to understand and analyze him. Since fairy tales are very useful, they should be read to children; they will help in shaping their vision of the world.

“The ball rolls along wide valleys, along deep ravines...” Fairy tales, tales, stories... In ancient times, people did not invent fairy tales. People simply talked about what surrounded them, what they knew and what their ancestors knew. And these stories have existed for thousands of years. In fact, just imagine, some fairy tales are seven to ten thousand years old (and maybe much more?)!

Fairy tales are filled with metaphors and images. You just need to be able to understand them. But most often we can only guess what is behind these images. Probably thanks to this, fairy tales preserve what was originally inherent in them. Without fully understanding the meaning of the images, people telling fairy tales did not introduce their thoughts into them, but simply conveyed everything as it was.

Therefore, every famous fairy tale has several levels or layers of knowledge about the structure of the world and man, about the foundations of life, deeply hidden and not immediately revealed. There is not a single random empty word or event in a fairy tale. Everything is harmonious and harmonious.. And it will take us a very long time to reveal its secrets.

Among the ancient Slavs, life seemed endless, in the form vicious circle where there was no beginning or end. There was no death.. Fairy-tale heroes, in search of what they wanted, went far away to the thirtieth kingdom, fearing neither time nor space, wearing out three pairs of iron boots along the way, grinding down three iron staves….

They went so far and so easily... Why? What is there - in this distant unknown..? Far away lands, the thirtieth kingdom... Probably, some secret is hidden in these numbers.

Russian people have always been attracted to everything unknown and mysterious. And although fairy tales had their origins in reality, real life, there is no doubt that people believed in miracles. The characters in fairy tales were creatures similar to humans, but possessing magical powers. They could become invisible or change shape, often appearing in the form of animals or birds. They could predict the future. Some were immortal, others lived for hundreds of years.

“But in the old days everything was. Will old people really start lying? The old people told the truth, they won’t lie. And the dead rose again, and the beasts spoke.”

This is what the famous storyteller Agafya Zaitseva said: “But it seems to me that fairy tales have been preserved not because of this belief in miracles and magic, but because of their faith in man - his intelligence, nobility, selflessness, wisdom and selflessness.”

“The thought of ordinary blessings is lost there...” said the unusually talented, but, unfortunately, now almost forgotten, Russian storyteller Stepan Pisakhov. Nowadays, few people remember this name. And this was a real Storyteller.

Reading his works, you begin to understand how a fairy tale is born and then goes on to live its own life. How, moving from place to place, from person to person, leaving years and centuries behind it, it turns into an eternal and imperishable treasure...

Here’s how Pisakhov himself wrote about himself: “I started writing and telling fairy tales a long time ago, and rarely wrote them down. My maternal grandparents are from the Pinezhsky district, near Arkhangelsk. My grandfather was a storyteller. His name was the storyteller Leonty. It never occurred to anyone to write down the tales of grandfather Leonty. They talked about him: he was a great inventor, he told everything to the point, everything to the point. Grandfather Leonty was hired as a storyteller to go fishing.

In bad weather they crowded into the fishing hut. In cramped conditions and in the dark: a smokehouse in a bowl with animal fat was shining. They didn't take any books with them. There was no nobility about radio. The storyteller begins a long fairy tale, or he starts a story that has happened with an incredible story. He speaks for a long time, stops, and asks: “Friends, comrades, are you awake?” Someone will respond in a sleepy voice: “No, we’re not sleeping yet, tell me.”

The storyteller continues to weave a tale. If no one raised their voices, the storyteller could sleep. The storyteller received two shares: one for fishing, the other for fairy tales. I didn’t find grandfather Leonty and didn’t hear his tales. Since childhood, I have been among the rich northern word creation. When working on fairy tales, memory restores individual phrases, sayings, and words.

For example: - “You’re so hot, if you touch you, you’ll burn your hands.” A girl, a guest from Pinega, talked about her life: “Mama wakes me up in the morning, but I’m sleeping, I’m in a hurry!” When they met, the old woman asked: “Why haven’t you been seen for a long time - neither in a sheaf, nor in a handful?”

They asked me where I get themes for fairy tales? The answer is simple: After all, rhymes easily live with me, two will come on their own, the third will be brought. I often write fairy tales from life, almost from life. Much is remembered and much begs to be told in a fairy tale. It would take a long time to list what gave rise to this or that fairy tale. I'll tell you for example. One visitor asked me how long I have been living in Arkhangelsk. The secret is not great.

I said: “Since 1879.”
“Tell me, how many houses were there in Arkhangelsk before?”

There was something casually condescending in the tone, in the question. I answered in the same tone as the visitor: “There used to be one pillar, on the pillar there was a board with the inscription: A-r-h-a-n-g-e-l-y-s-k. People huddled around the pillar. There were no houses, they didn’t even know about them. Some covered themselves with coniferous branches, others buried themselves in the snow, and in winter they wrapped themselves in animal skins. I had a bear. In the morning I shook the bear out of its skin and climbed into the skin myself. It's warm to walk around in a bearskin, and the frost is a different matter. At night I gave the skin to the bear.”

It was possible to weave a fairy tale. And the visitor is ready to believe. He found himself in the “wild north”. He wanted polar impressions... I left the visitor to figure out what the city was like without houses.

One day an old Nenets man comes. He talked about this and that, drank tea and asked: “Tell me, artist, you know, that’s why those people, a hundred people come, have two truths, and we have one? I'm trying.. I don't understand:. Like two truths... the same as one... With them there is good for bad, and bad for good, but with us, bad is bad, good is good.”

They talked a lot, and either that year or in 1907, when they lived again before the autumn voyage, they told me fairy tales. I think I remember two of them. I kept it inside myself like an expensive gift. Now many years have passed, it is possible to convey how I wrote it down then. I like more the dream of a happy land, where there is no anger, hostility, where only love:

“If you cross the ice, going all the way to the north, and jump over the walls of the whirling winds, then you will find yourself among people who only love and know neither hostility nor malice. But those people have one leg, and each individually they cannot move, but they love and walk hugging each other, loving. When they hug, they can walk and run, and if they stop loving, they immediately stop hugging and die. And when they love, they can create miracles. If you need to chase an animal or escape from an evil spirit, those people draw sleighs and deer in the snow, sit down and drive so fast that the east wind cannot catch up.”

And here is the second fairy tale: “The hero of the fairy tale found a grave frame in the forest: four low pillars driven into the ground and surrounded by boards, like a box. Near a sleigh with a cart, overturned, and reindeer in harness. The hero looked around, there was no one, he began to call:
- Is there anyone here? A voice from the grave responded: “Here I am, girl, buried.”
- Why are you buried?
- Yes, I'm dead.
- How did you know, or who told you, that you were dead?
“I was dead all my life, I didn’t have a soul, but I didn’t know about it and lived like everyone else alive. And when I was a bride and was sitting with the groom and family by the fire on the eve of the wedding, a coal jumped out of the fire and fell on me. I, my family, and the groom found out that I had no soul, but only an appearance. They buried me, and with me everything that was mine. Hero said:
- If you want, I will break the grave and you will live. No, I don't have another soul. But I will give you half of my soul, you will be my wife!
The girl agreed. The hero of the fairy tale broke the grave frame, freed the girl and took her with him.”

Throw a crumb into the forest, you’ll go and find it. You’re stingy, not on the net. They don’t call me stingy, but can I remind you something new?
He asked the old man: “Why haven’t you come in for a long time?” “There was no backlog.” The Pomor arrived - there was only one captain. - “Why didn’t your wife come? “I wasn’t in a hurry.”

Don’t be offended that some sayings go wrong. By the way, they run to the place, line up... They are easy to bow, quick to speak, they lead round dances, weave a pattern with words. Just make sure to write down where they take it from and where they put it! It’s the same with fairy tales: I’m sitting here writing... And it also happened that the fairy tale wouldn’t let me go! What if I flew to the moon in my grandmother’s skirt with two samovars? There's no stopping! We must fly, have a look and return home!

Don’t think that I’m talking - I’m talking... You can’t put a ban on thoughts. Let it fly and curl. They say: a person cannot invent what cannot be.”

Can’t...A person can’t come up with something that can’t be...

So maybe the power and immortality of fairy tales is not that they created an amazing Magic world- a world in which you can hide from reality, forget about the dullness and dullness of life with its monotonous feelings and desires. And the fact is that it gives a person hope for his humanity, that she keeps within herself an absolute, inexhaustible faith in a person and in the best that is in him. She has no doubt that Good will defeat Evil, that loyalty and nobility will be rewarded with love and happiness. And if you are for justice, for truth, if you are real, then you will find your true value in this world, that is why you were called into this world. And then everything is achievable..

We live in a world now enchanted fairy tale, in the world of some cursed space, in Nanichya, as the ancient Slavs said - a world where everything has an inverse value, where the meaning of such concepts as honor, justice, conscience, knowledge is lost. Maybe that same offended, evil fairy from a fairy tale touched us with her magic wand and we all fell asleep..? And you just need to shake off this dream and wake up... Maybe a fairy tale will help? After all, she lives, she hasn’t left, she’s just patiently waiting for her time to come, her turn, when people need her again.

There are questions that are asked and will always be asked.. Because the answer to them is very important, sometimes it is the most important in a person’s life. Here is one of them - do you believe in fairy tales? Apparently this question still worries people. In any case, on the Internet, in various forums and discussions, you come across amazing words and thoughts that people share with each other. Here are just a few of them:

“I don’t believe in fairy tales - I live in them. I see the unusual in the ordinary and a fairy tale in everyday life. In the morning I watch the sun rise - it rises from behind the trees. For me, the sun and I are one – it’s breathtaking, it rises from me. Then the birds fly to festive table– the sky is filled with many wings, but first the Raven, my friend, flies. He's the first. When He flies away, the air explodes with the hubbub of birds: magpies chatter, sparrows chirp... - this is how birds observe the hierarchy, the order that exists in nature. Cats, dogs, birds, plants in my garden - this is all I am, only in other forms. And at night I sleep under my favorite birch tree - I open my eyes - fantastic!!! Life is a mystery!!! Mystery!!! I dance with the Moon, with the Stars. Once I saw a fireball on the grass, it was alive.

It pulsated, and then slowly floated across the grass and disappeared. When you don’t separate yourself from nature, from the existence of what exists, then you live in a fairy tale...”

“I believe, I believe with all my soul in fairy tales, I believe in magic, I believe in true love... I’m almost sixteen years old and I believe in the magical world... and I’m not ashamed. I believe in the best, that peace and balance will soon reign on earth, that the world will be ruled by the most worthy of the worthy. But every day, I understand what the adult world is. I don’t want to go there, there’s no place for me there, why? I don’t want to go to this kingdom... Everything there is overgrown with selfishness, so little normal people, people who did not succumb to this world of imaginary pleasures, did not forget what truth, honor and dignity are. But there are so few of them."

“When I was little, Russian cartoons and Russian fairy tales scared me terribly. My heart ached for the poor grandfather from the “goldfish”, I cried for Ivanushka, who turned into a kid, and when the fox ate the bun, it was a shock for me, like sudden lightning... there was a bun and bam! ate! I was incredibly worried, I watched the fairy tale as if it were sinister story is actually happening to my mom or dad, who are in danger.... Or maybe it’s foreign! It’s easy and simple to watch, even the most turbulent fairy tale with unpredictably tragic events evokes interest and a desire to find out “what will happen next?”, but not worry and excitement... And in Russian fairy tales some powerful force is hidden, in every fairy tale there is a grain a powerful and unsolved idea..."

“It seems to me that the hero of the Russian fairy tale is not looking for a home at all. And not yourself. The hero is looking for a WORLD in which he is needed and useful. Not your place in the existing world, not your home. And a whole world for yourself... A Russian fairy tale is a search better world for myself. Search for the city of Kitezh, Heavenly Rus', Far Away Kingdom, Communism, Noon, Kingdom of Kashchei. I think so..."

“When you read fairy tales, you begin to involuntarily believe in them. And then it’s very hard to return to a gray and boring reality.. But when the moment comes to return, you just need to find a way to color and change this very reality. Make it the way you want it! After all, everything is possible in this life, you just need to try a little! ... The main thing is to understand that a fairy tale is beautiful not because of castles and magic wands, but because of PEOPLE, ordinary people who love, hate, fear, rejoice... just live... just like us... We cannot fly on brooms, we cannot turn cups into mice, but we can live and be happy! Live, create, create, know how to appreciate beauty, know how to LOVE, know how to FORGIVE and BE HAPPY!”

“If you take a closer look at each life moment, then they are all a little like the chapters of one big fairy tale)) so until it ends, I can’t answer... but I know one thing for sure, it’s very interesting!”

“A fairy tale is born right within ourselves... When we allow it to be born... But sometimes it breaks out on its own... straight from our soul... And then the world becomes fabulously beautiful.”

In the land of Russian fairy tales, everything is possible - happiness, loyalty, love... And good always defeats evil... And evil, which almost always helps good. Like the One who once said to himself, “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good...”. Because both good and evil in this country are, as it were, parts of one whole and everything happens there according to some unknown, incomprehensible to us, but surprisingly fair rules... Where everything knows its place and time and everything seems to have been created for this purpose to tell you about something very, very important...

In this country you can live thousands of lives, go everywhere, see and feel everything - ride tirelessly and fearlessly on a wonderful horse, cross seas and oceans, rise to the stars. Monsters, giants, sorcerers appear in front of you - but you are not afraid, you cannot be afraid, because you know that you are invincible, and nothing threatens you - as long as you are honest and fair, as long as you remain yourself.. And It's not difficult, not difficult at all. You just have to want it.. And behind everything that is happening in this country there is another hidden meaning invisible to the ordinary eye, an amazing secret.. And it definitely needs to be solved..

And one more thing I would like to talk about is Russian fairy tales and Russian folk art. It is impossible to imagine how one could exist without the other. Probably many thousands of years ago, the hand of an ancient master gave the first visible forms to those images that lived next to him and worried his soul and heart.

Fairy tales have lived for thousands of years and people have lived, been born and died for thousands of years, keeping their secrets in the creations of their imagination and their hands. Times have changed, styles and forms have changed, but the main thing has remained unchanged - deep, continuous love and devotion to everything that our history and culture has created and brought to us over the centuries.

Take a closer look at the works of current masters. They are so different. But they all contain secret knowledge and thoughts. They can tell a lot. You just have to listen.

Fairy tales play a significant role in a person’s life. This is one of the first things he hears after birth; she also accompanies him in the next stages of growing up. Not only children, but also adults love fairy tales. Their deep philosophical meaning gives you the opportunity to look at ordinary things differently; understand the principles of good and evil; learn to believe in miracles and not forget about your own role.

Moral values ​​are conveyed through characteristic characters, each of which has its own folk prototype.

Hare

Runaway bunny, gray bunny, scythe - as they name the animal in Russian folk tales. He is endowed with a cowardly, but at the same time friendly character. The fairytale hare has cunning, dexterity and resourcefulness. A striking example is the fairy tale “The Fox and the Hare,” where a small animal turns from a cowardly animal into a savvy hero who managed to deceive even the evil wolf and help his friends.

In nature, hares do have cautious habits that help them avoid the teeth of predators. Our ancestors also knew this feature of the animal.

Fox

Cunning, resourceful, smart, insidious, vindictive...What traits are not given to a fox in fairy tales? She deceives animals, seeks profit everywhere, and is not afraid of people. The fox makes friends with the strong, but only for its own benefit.

The image of the animal embodies cunning. The folk prototype can be considered a dishonest, thieving, but at the same time intelligent person. The fox is feared, despised and respected at the same time. This is evidenced by the appeal to her in fairy tales as Fox Patrikeevna, Little Fox-Sister.

Wolf

The wolf in Russian fairy tales embodies anger. He preys on weaker animals; doesn't always act cunningly. Other characters take advantage of the wolf's shortsightedness. In the fairy tale “Little Fox and Sister Gray wolf“The formidable predator was deceived by a red-haired cheat, and in “The Three Little Pigs”

He was tricked by harmless pigs.

Our ancestors also associated the wolf with death. Indeed, in nature, this predator is considered a kind of forest orderly who hunts weak and sick animals. And the human prototype of a wolf can be considered one who is too angry, greedy and vindictive.

Bear

The fairytale bear is the owner of the forest. He is strong, rude, clumsy and not entirely smart. It is believed that the common people wanted to show the landowners in the image of a bear. Therefore, in fairy tales this animal is often deceived by weaker animals with which ordinary people are associated.

At the same time, in fairy tales you can find another image of a bear: kind, calm, honest and freedom-loving. It is enough to remember how the bear helped the lost girl Masha in the work of the same name.

Man (peasant)

The image of a man in fairy tales has different meaning. In some works, he appears as the personification of the working people: he is somewhat simple-minded, works all the time, does not put up with the injustice of rich employers. On the other hand, traits such as wisdom and cunning were embodied in the man. He is hardworking, not rich, but much more cunning and resourceful than the landowners and generals.

Baba Yaga

A hut on chicken legs, a black cat, a mortar and a broom are the main attributes of any fairytale Baba Yaga. This old woman is both evil (her threats are worth it) and kind (she helps in difficult situations). She is wise, strong-willed, purposeful. She can be an advisor, or she can be a threat.

The image of Baba Yaga in Russian fairy tales is one of the most controversial and controversial. She personifies matriarchal traits. Among our ancestors, Baba Yaga was closely connected with the clan.

Koschei the Deathless

In fairy tales, his image can be seen in three forms: a sorcerer with special powers, the king of the underworld, and an old man who may be the husband of the Snake or a friend of Baba Yaga. Has unusual abilities: turns heroes into animals and birds. You can defeat him only through certain rituals (using a magic horse, a club, burning). Despite his name, he is not at all immortal, because his death is at the tip of a needle (or, as an option, in an egg), which are securely hidden.

The folk prototype of Koshchei is a powerful, evil, cunning and vile person endowed with magical properties.

Ivan the Fool

Despite the ambiguous name, Ivan is not at all the personification of stupidity, even if he is called a fool in the work. In fairy tales, he is the youngest of the sons, who often does nothing, is lazy, but achieves a lot in life, thanks to cunning and luck. This is a positive hero who embodies the characteristics of what people would like to have. A kind of dream where, without much effort, by chance, everything works out: to become rich and to marry a princess. Our ancestors, in the image of Ivan the Fool, wanted to show a successful person.

Ivan Tsarevich

Unlike Ivan the Fool, who gets everything simply and effortlessly, Ivan Tsarevich, in order to achieve his goal, must overcome many obstacles, showing his strength, intelligence and skills. He becomes a prince not only by the fact of birth, which he is not even aware of, but by merit. Like Ivan the Fool, he is most often the youngest of the brothers, only of royal blood.

Kikimora

Kikimora in fairy tales can appear in the form of an ugly creature of indeterminate age (this is a girl, an old woman, and even a man). Is the personification evil spirits. She tries to hide from people, but lives near residential buildings or in a swamp. Her job is to cause mischief and frighten.

The mythological meaning of kikimora among our ancestors is a person who died in an unrighteous way. Therefore, his soul finds no peace.

Water

The merman is the master of water. This is half old man, half fish. Lives near mills, in pools and wormwood. Scares people and drags them to the bottom; breaks mills and drowns cattle. But a merman can be deceived and defeated by cunning.