Russian Myths English

Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) wrote Old Peter's Russian Tales while he was in Russia during the First World War, prior to becoming a war correspondent for The Manchester Guardian. There are 22 stories in all and are told by Old Peter at the behest of his grandchildren, Ivan and Maroosia, in a cozy log cabin in the middle of the forest. These are delightful re-tellings in Ransome's own words of Russian folk tales, and include stories such as "The Little Snow Girl", "Baba Yaga", "Frost", and "Salt".

Collection The Best Fairy Tales contents. Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel ; Little Red Cap ; Rumplestiltskin ; Rapunzel. Charles Perrault : Cinderella Or The Little Glass Slipper ; The Master Cat or Puss In Boots ; The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods. Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Duckling. Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince ; The Nightingale and the Rose ; The Selfish Giant ; The Devoted Friend ; The Remarkable Rocket.

Long cold winter nights make for good story telling, so it's scarcely surprising that some of the world's most wonderful fairy tales come from Russia. Soar through the air in 'The Flying ship', feel the frost freeze your bones in 'The Strange Bridegroom', sail the seven seas in a ship with patchwork sails in 'The Salt Mountain'. These are stories guaranteed to delight in another outstanding edition of Classic Children's Stories.

Vasilisa the Beautiful is a Russian fairy tale collected by a Russian poet, writer, editor, ethnographer and translator Alexander Afanasyev. It tells the tale of a beautiful girl named Vasilisa. When her mother dies, she gives her a magic doll. Her father remarries, and she gains an evil stepmother and two stepsisters. Despite the stepmother's attempts to diminish Vasilisa's beauty, she continues to grow more beautiful.

Russia is the largest country in the world, with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Over a thousand years this multifaceted nation of shifting borders has been known as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago, it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Russia is not an enigma, but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They too omit episodes of national disgrace in favour of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality.

In 1913, Arthur Ransome traveled to Russia to explore Russian folklore. The result of his studies was the publication of retellings (rather than translations) of a number of stories, including The Soldier and Death, which first appeared in 1920.

The Russian fairy tale about Tsarevich Ivan and his wife, Vasilisa the Wise, who was enchanted to be a frog, was recorded by the renowned folklorist Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (1826–1871), who collected and published more than 600 Russian folk tales in the middle 19th century.

The fourth installment of Russian Collection for Kids features stories that begin in everyday life and end in magic. Their main characters are children - boys and girls thrown into tough circumstances and having to test the limits of their courage and ingenuity to solve problems without grown-up help.

The fifth and final installment of Russian Collection for Kids goes well and truly outside of the boundaries of Russia and all over the world. Folk tales and stories by foreign authors, narratives from various continents, fanciful and fascinating story lines, people, places, and animals - everything has been thrown in and mixed thoroughly in this comprehensive collection, bound to astonish and delight both children and grown-ups.

The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf is a Russian fairy tale collected by a Russian Slavist and ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev. A king's apple tree bore golden apples, but every night, one was stolen. Guards reported that the Firebird stole them. The king told his two oldest sons that the one who caught the bird would receive half his kingdom and be his heir. They drew lots to see who would be first, but both fell asleep; they tried to claim it had not come, but it had stolen an apple. Finally Ivan Tsarevich, the youngest son, asked to try; his father was reluctant because of his youth but consented.

Finist Clear Falcon 's feather is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki (1855-1863). The story of a daughter who asks only for a scarlet flower when her father goes to market, instead of the luxuries her two sisters ask for. Two times her father forgets; the third time, he buys a scarlet flower from a mysterious old man as long as the daughter agrees to marry his son, Finist the Falcon. This sets in motion a tale of love, jealousy, and adventure as the two overcome many obstacles to their love.

Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. Marya was a warrior queen who ruled a small kingdom and for some 10 years, kept Koschei the Deathless a captive in her castle's tower. The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.She fell in love with Ivan Tsarevitch, and while she was away on a campaign, he accidentally released Koschei. The evil wizard then abducted the queen and Ivan Tsarevitch was forced to find some way to kill him. Ivan was successful and was reunited with Marya.

Sister Alenushka, brother Ivanushka is a Russian fairy tale collected by Russian Slavist and ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev. A classic Russian fairy tale about Alyonushka and her naughty brother turned into a goatling.