The word «fairy tale» in its modern meaning was established quite recently. In ancient Russia there were other words for it — «fable» or «parable». But even in this ancient designation it implied not only and every story but a narrative with elements of fiction and edification. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin wrote his fairy tales ahead of his time, when there was still a quarter of a century left until the publication of a main corpus of Russian folk tales!

The Russian North has aroused the greatest interest among ethnographers and folklorists. At the beginning of the 20th century the formers of the fairy tales’ collections gave a rich commentary on each text, extensive information about storytellers and about the conditions of fairy tales in the north. These authors carried out the idea that the northern fairy tale at the turn of the century lived a full life and was closely intertwined with the nature of peasant work. The storyteller has always been a welcome member of the working group, the artels of fishermen or loggers. The fairy tale was often heard at the gristmill. Scientists pointed out the great social significance of both magical and domestic fairy tales.

 

The authors of the collections say that in the north (just like elsewhere) the fairy tale gradually narrows the area of its existence. It becomes mainly a fun activity for children and does not really catch adults’ attention. Therefore, the function of the fairy tale is changing, becoming primarily educational.

A lot of interesting variants have accumulated in our «magical» land. Some of the fairy tales are considered to be luck, rarity, and zest by formers. Scientists have long noted that the Russian North gave its own northern versions of the all-Russian fairy tales. The tales are so distinctive and so vividly reflect the colors of the north, the personality, life and work of the northerners that they inspired works of professional creators. It was the origins of northern fairy tale that nourished the creativity of innumerous unique first-class writers such as Boris Shergin and Stepan Pisakhov.

Drawings by A. Menuhov

Information was prepared by the staff of the Arkhangelsk Regional Scientific Library named after N.A. Dobrolyubova, more information on the website http://cultnord.ru/