Myths and Legends Podcast

Normally, I prefer to read old fashioned, physical books over any other form of reading-including from a Kindle or listening to audiobooks. But now that a good chunk of each day (and night) is spent nursing my baby, hands-free listening is the way to go to pass the time! I had shared the Myths and Legends Podcast earlier and I've been listening to more episodes. Some ones that I particularly enjoyed:

Episode 56-Nepali Folklore: Hope You Guess My Name-From the title I thought this might be a sort of Rumpelstiltskin tale, but it's a sort of Cinderella story, only with a completely different ending. There's no Prince Charming, and after the main character thinks she has escaped her horrible life, she ends up returning home and confronting her problems rather than marrying and magically erasing past issues! A great alternative to the traditional Cinderella tales to tell to modern audiences

Episodes 5A and 5B: Two fascinating stories about Koschei from Russian folklore. He's a fascinating villain I was eager to learn more about. The first tale has a gender reversed Bluebeard element to it, but with a very different result! Also an opening scene in which bird magicians fly in through a window and ask for brides, which made me wonder if David Bowie's entrace as the Goblin King in Labyrinth was a nod to this story?

In the second tale, Jason, the narrator, expands a little on Koschei's character and motivations. In fact, the way he tells it, I not only felt sorry for him, but realized Koschei has an uncomfortable resemblance to Disney's Beast...in fact, he's less abusive than Disney's Beast...

Episode 32-Tricksters: Wager-I'm sadly ignorant of trickster tales; they tend not to be as common among people who rewrite or analyze fairy tales. The tales can have troubling moral implications but are highly entertaining if you don't take them too seriously. There are several shorter tales in this episode from around the world, including a version of a Tortoise and the Hare race, in which the Native American Coyote races a turtle; there is also a story about Anansi the Spider, and Loki and Thor.

Scary Fairy Tales: The Silver Saucer and the Transparent Apple

In an earlier post in this series, Ozfan95 mentioned this Russian tale in the comments, and also pointed out that you could consider "Juniper Tree" a ghost story, as the murdered boy's spirit takes the form of a bird. It got me thinking about all the other well-known fairy tales in which there might be ghosts, even if we don't think of them as ghosts, and the first thing that popped into my head was "Cinderella." With the exception of Perrault's Fairy Godmother, it's almost always the spirit of Cinderella's dead mother who helps her-in the form of a tree, a fish, a doll, etc.

Anyway, the story of "The Silver Saucer and the Transparent Apple" is an interesting combination of a Cinderella tale with "The Singing Bone." It begins with the classic scene in which a father offers to buy gifts for his daughters; the eldest request dresses and jewels, and the youngest has a more unusual request. This youngest daughter is, of course, the most beautiful, and we are told over and over that she is good and she does all of the chores. She is called "Little Stupid" by her sisters (and even her father!)-sometimes we're so used to the name Cinderella we forget that name was also supposed to be an insult, more along the lines of "Dirty Ella."

Little Stupid requested a silver saucer and a transparent apple. No one else understands why, and they attribute the desire to her stupidity, but once she gets the items and spins the apple in the saucer, she is able to see anything she wants to, all over the world, in it. Her sisters become jealous, take Little Stupid into the woods, and kill her with an ax.

image-Patricia Ludlow-(Thanks Ozfan95!)

That spring, a reed is growing in the forest where the dead sister lay, and a shepherd comes by and uses it to make a flute. The flute begins singing all by itself, and tells him the story of how she was murdered. The flute is eventually taken to the girls' father, and he finds his daughter's body, and is able to bring her back to life with holy water from the Tsar. After that follows a more unsatisfactory ending (in my opinion) where she marries the Tsar and forgives her family, although the shepherd who originally found the reed is in love with her and I was rooting for him. In fact, the children who are being told the story felt the same way I did, and the narrator, Old Peter, explains that it was actually good because if he had married Little Stupid, he would have had to live with her whole nasty family. So...that's one way to look at it?

The Grimms' "Singing Bone" is a much shorter tale; a man is murdered by his brothers and his bone tells the story. Only in this one, the ending is more bittersweet, because while the bone allows the murdered man justice and his brothers are punished, he is not brought back to life. He is, however, given a proper burial. This tale somehow seems more satisfying to me; the ending of the other tale seems a bit forced. I normally don't mind too much the versions where Cinderella forgives her sisters (depending on how that part is worded), but at least they don't usually try to kill her! It hardly seems like a happy ending for her to live with her abusive family forever while the poor shepherd who actually rescued her doesn't get the girl. In fact, in none of the other related Singing Bone tales on Ashliman's site does the murdered person come back to life (although it does happen in other tales-see the comments for more discussion!), or are the murderers forgiven (although sometimes the remains don't sing, but bleed-it was widely believed in Medieval Europe that a murdered corpse would bleed in the presence of its murderer.)

Image

Gala Nocturna

This came to my attention via Meagan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast tumblr, I saw images from Gala Nocturna's Belle et la Bete and was curious as to what it was!

Gala Nocturna is a "world famous dark romantic costume ball" held every year in Belgium. The pictures look absolutely amazing, it's clear the attendees take it very seriously and all dress in elaborate costume. Each year they have a theme, and 2014 was "La Belle et la Bete" (Beauty and the Beast).

The evening involves not just dress and dance, but the story is partially acted out. Here's a personal account of the Bella et la Bete Gala, to give you a better idea of what goes on.

Cela Yildiz played the Beast

Opening dance between Beauty and the Beast

Gala Nocturna has a different theme each year; some non-fairy tale themed (2016 is "The Age of Redemption") but 2015 was "Swan Princess," inspired by Swan Lake:

And 2012 was "Russian Fairytale"

Photography: Viona Ielegems

What an incredible way to experience immersing yourself in a theme and a story!

Fairy Tales About Contentment

The Grimms' tale "The Fisherman and his Wife" tells the story of a magical fish that could grant wishes, and the wife who was never satisfied and ultimately ended up back where she started, in a poor little shack by the sea. It essentially imparts the classic moral "be careful what you wish for," which has good uses, although it might bother modern readers because of what the tale seems to say about women (the wife in the story is the greedy, never satisfied one; although the pushover husband is not the most admirable character either).

There is a similar Japanese fairy tale I learned about via the Myths and Legends podcast that both I and the host Jason Weiser prefer to the Grimm version, The Stonecutter. (This tale can also be found in Lang's "Crimson Fairy Book".)

It tells the story of a poor stonecutter who, for many years, was content to work hard, knowledgeable and strong from his years of experience. But one day, delivering a gravestone to a rich man's house, he became envious of the large, cool mansion, allowing him to escape from the heat of the day. He wished out loud that he could be a rich man, and the spirit of the mountain granted his wish.

He lived for a while, happy to enjoy his new wealth. But one day, he saw a prince ride by, and realized that despite his riches, a royal prince had more power than he. So he wished to be a prince.

Yet he was not content as a prince, and he realized the sun had more power than he to give discomfort. He next became the sun, and relished his power, until clouds blocked him from scorching the earth, and he wished to be a cloud.

As a cloud he felt powerful, as he covered the earth with rain, but he realized that though he could drown people and plants, there was a large boulder that remained unaffected by his storms, so he wished to be a rock.

Image source

As a rock, he was immovable and powerful-until one day, a poor stonecutter came away and chipped away his pieces. He wished to become a stonecutter, and ended up as his former self, and was content to do his work again.

I like the cyclical nature of power as shown in this fairy tale. First of all it challenges our perception of power, as it shows that all natural forces have their own influence. Also, the stonecutter actually learns his lesson from experience. The fisherman's wife simply climbs up the ladder, is never satisfied, and then is sent back down to the lowest rung of the ladder when she wishes to be like God. She never experiences what that might be like and learns there are negatives to the things we long for, and there's no sense of empowerment to the poor working person. (Note: this is not just in the Grimms' collection, but in another German tale, "Hanss Dudeldee," with essentially the same plot.)

There is a Russian tale that is very similar, but with a slight twist at the ending; rather than wishing to be like God, the fisherman's wife-turned-czarina wishes to have power over the oceans and fish. It makes sense that the magical fish would rather not be at her mercy.

"Fisherman and his Wife" illustrations by Kay Neilsen

Koschei's Death Egg

For Easter weekend, I have a couple of egg themed posts!

Viktor Vasnetsov, "Kashchey the Immortal"

First up, the concept of Koschei's Death Egg. Koschei is a character in Russian folklore, the classic villain. One of his defining characteristics is that he is nearly impossible to kill because his soul is kept outside of his body-in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, in a chest, buried under an oak tree, on Buian island on the ocean-sea (or some series of objects-within-objects, but that formula is a standard one). It's interesting because I just posted an Irish tale in which the villain's heart is similarly hidden in an egg, in a duck, in a sheep, in a tree. Reader Sue Bursztynski noted that this was similar to Koschei, and it's a feature I've only come across in Koschei tales before, but there are always exceptions! It makes sense that the culture that created Russian nesting dolls would have stories that contained objects hidden within a series of other objects, and the series of objects are so similar the Irish tale must have been influenced by Russian stories.

Russian Nesting Dolls

Andreas Johns points out that it's ironic that Koschei is sometimes referred to as "Koschei the Deathless," because in the stories in which he appears, he is inevitably killed by the hero. Yet the term "Deathless" could refer not just to the fact that he is difficult to kill, but the fact that he keeps his "death" outside of himself. It's interesting that the egg should have such negative connotations, since usually eggs are associated with life/birth/resurrection, but the egg can also be said to contain his soul. In one tale, the hero Vasilii uses the same egg to kill Koschei as to revive his birth father, so sometimes (although rarely) the egg can have life-giving properties.

Ivan Bilibin

The storing of the soul within multiple objects gives Koschei protection, as it's more difficult to find and to get to, but the reciting of the egg's location has a lilting rhythm to it that is more obvious in Russian but even evident in English ("in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, in a chest..."). In fact, the Russian phrase that often begins the series, "On the sea, on the ocean, on Buian Island" also occurs in East Slavic incantations. Johns suggests that tale tellers were either familiar with incantations, or practitioners of spells themselves. Irina Razumova suggests that both genres come from a culture which believes in the magic power of words.

Godsavethetsar

Although the Death Egg is almost always Koschei's, there are exceptions; in one tale type a maiden's love is contained in the egg hidden within the series of objects, and in one tale it's Baba Yaga whose soul is hidden in the egg. But whoever is hiding their soul in eggs, the hero of the tale is bound to discover the information and smash the egg anyway. We can look at Koschei as a reminder of the inevitability of death-you can try to prolong life, but it will catch up to you in the end. From the other perspective, it's encouraging to see that even the most difficult obstacles can be overcome by the hero, and good triumphs.

Source: Andreas Johns, Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale

Faberge Eggs-a royal Russian Easter tradition

Myths and Legends Podcast

Tony found a podcast on Myths and Legends! As the title implies, it's not only about fairy tales, but there are many episodes that might be of interest to fairy tale fans, on Aladdin, Russian folklore, Japanese fairy tales, Snow Queen, and more. The description:

"Ever wonder about the original stories behind King Arthur and his legendary knights, Robin Hood, or Aladdin? Did you know that fairy tales originally weren't for children, and as such are way more bizarre, ridiculous, and interesting that you ever thought possible? Maybe you've heard of characters like Thor, Odin, and Hercules from modern movies, but their stories stretch back through centuries, and the originals that inspired the adaptations are even better.

"This is a show where I tell the folklore that has shaped our world. Some are incredibly popular stories you think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen.

"These are stories of magic, kings, Vikings, dragons, knights, princesses, and wizards from a time when the world beyond the map was a dangerous, wonderful, and terrifying place."

So far we've listened to the one on Vasilisa the Beautiful (titled "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named").The host, Jason Weiser, tells a story in each episode, with some asides here and there, but it's really focused on telling the tale.

I loved being able to listen to a fairy tale told orally like this, it's really rare to even have opportunities to do so. The vast majority of fairy tales I read are in books. I'll tell one myself here or there if anyone's willing to listen but am even less likely to be a listener-storytelling is an art that's been mostly lost (power to you out there who are storytellers yourself! I know some of my favorite bloggers are storytellers). Weiser narrates with some humorous comments also thrown in, which makes it even more enjoyable.

However, I didn't necessarily agree with all of his interpretations. In fact, for someone hosting a podcast on myths and legends, Weiser seemed to be very thrown by many of the supernatural elements in the tale-he mentioned multiple times that he didn't understand Vasilisa's doll helper and was frustrated that there was "no explanation" for it. I've never had a problem with the doll channeling her mother's helpful spirit, it's a very common feature of fairy tales (especially Cinderella stories) to have a good mother help her daughter, even after death. The explanation is, I think, that fairy tales view a mother's love as one of the most extremely powerful forces in the world (and I thought that would be the Harry Potter tie-in hinted at in the title, but it wasn't).

Weiser also didn't like the idea that Vasilisa didn't have to do any work because the doll did it for her. I kind of get this, and it's a very modern, American perspective, where we're all about being rewarded for hard work and tend to be suspicious of those who get money without "deserving" it. Weiser does have a very interesting personal theory about the doll at this point in the story (hint-he references "Fight Club"). However, when you think about the people who would have been telling and hearing this story in Russia, they were poor people who had to work day and night just to keep their family fed-no running water or refrigerators or modern conveniences. It seems natural-maybe even healthy?- that they would fantasize about getting rid of their tasks and even villainize their chores by imagining them coming from evil stepmothers and witches.

Has anyone else listened to any of these episodes? It provided good discussion between myself and Tony, and could be fun to discuss here if other people are listening!

Illustrations by Ivan Bilibin

The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights

This Russian poem, by Alexander Pushkin, is an interesting version of "Snow White." Written in 1833, Pushkin had a French translation of the brothers Grimm, so it appears that The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights was his revision of the tale. The full text can be read here, but below is an excerpt.

This version is much more romantic. Rather than the Prince (disturbingly) lusting after a corpse, this Prince was already engaged to the Princess, and spent the time of her disappearance searching for her. The Princess lives with seven knights, who despite being in love with her treat her with utmost respect, and she remains loyal to her betrothed.

Also, the Princess in this poem comes across as less stupid, because there is no warning against talking to anyone that she breaks; and instead of accepting gifts from the same woman who already tried to poison her, her only interaction with her stepmother was to trade bread for an apple. (Actually, some of these features would later become part of the Disney version, such as a previous romance between the Prince and Princess, and one temptation episode instead of three).

Illustrations by Charles Robinson

The Tsaritsa, time to pass,
Chatted with her looking-glass:
"Who in all the world is fairest
And has beauty of the rarest?"
Then what did the glass reply?
"You are fair, I can't deny.
But the Princess is the fairest
And her beauty is the rarest."
Up the proud Tsaritsa jumped.
On the table how she thumped,
Angrily the mirror slapping,
Slipper heel in fury tapping!
"O you loathsome looking-glass,
Telling lies as bold as brass!
By what right is she my rival?
Such young folly I shall bridle.
So she's grown up—me to spite! 
Little wonder she's so white:
With her bulging mother gazing
At that snow—what's so amazing!
Now look here, explain to me
How can she the fairer be? 

Snow Maiden

The Snow Maiden is a Russian fairy tale about a couple who wished for a child; one winter, they saw the other children making snowmen, and decided to make their own snow child. The snow child came to life in the form of a little girl. The snow maiden lived with the couple as their child, but was clearly supernatural-she grew quickly, was happiest in the cold, and avoided the fire. As spring came, she became sadder. The other children invited her to play in the forest, a game of jumping over a small fire. When it came the snow maiden's turn, she jumped, but evaporated into the air as she went over the fire and was never seen again.

The Snow Maiden list of tales on D. L. Ashliman's page has a couple other related tales from around the world; the plots are different (for example, most other versions seem to include a fatal romance), but they have something in common: tales involving supernatural winter females all seem to end very tragically. 

The story of the same name ("Snegurochka," translated "The Snow Maiden") has been made into a play and an opera in Russia, but again the story is a bit different. The daughter of Spring and Frost wishes for human companionship, but is not capable of true love; once she does finally fall in love, her heart's warmth melts her and she dies. The story has been redone with a slightly happier ending, such as Ruth Sanderson who keeps the heroine alive, but as she learns to love she becomes a mortal human, so the ending is still bittersweet, as she will now have to die someday. These tales bear a resemblance to mermaid tales, in which romances are almost always doomed.

Illustrations by Ruth Sanderson


The Snow Maiden used to be commonly seen in Russia at Christmas in the form of ornaments and decorations; but when the celebration of Christmas was discouraged after the Russian Revolution (it was too bourgeois and religious), she was moved to New Year's, which was allowed in 1935. She has been associated with being the daughter of Ded Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, a Russian gift-giving version of Santa Claus who delivered presents on New Year's Eve.

Ukrainian Ded Moroz




Also, doesn't this Sanderson illustration for "Snow Princess" scream "Beauty and the Beast" to you?

Angela Barrett

Baba Yaga as a Mother Figure

Psychologists have long thought that the presence of witches, evil stepmothers, and ogresses in fairy tales are a result of splitting the mother into two versions-one good and one bad. It's hard for young children, as concrete thinkers, to understand that their mother who loves and cares for them can also be the one to scold them and sometimes lose their patience. Andreas Johns explores this concept more thoroughly as it relates to Baba Yaga as a mother figure.

All children must, as they grow, learn to find their identity as independent of their primary caretaker, which in most cultures in history has usually been the mother, or other females. Interestingly, in Russia, peasant families often lived together in large houses with extended family. Although children weren't raised completely communally and still had a significant relationship with their birth mother, aunts and cousins and sisters would have likely played more of a role in raising children than in Western cultures. This could help to explain the multiple, and contradicting, faces of a mother figure.

The correlation between Baba Yaga and a mother is often made clear. Sometimes the hero of the tale refers to her as "mother," sometimes the text makes specific contrasts between the hero's mother at home and Baba Yaga-as the one weeps outside her hut for her son, Baba Yaga brings the boy to her hut to harm him. One version notes that Yaga "spoke like his mother," for she listened to how his mother spoke and imitated it.

The parallel between Baba Yaga and the mother is even more interesting with tales in which Yaga attempts to cook the hero in an oven. The oven has similarities to a womb, according to psychoanalysts. Russian customs support this idea. To ease the pain of childbirth, one trick was to open an oven door. Also, a wedding custom of a certain province included riding around with a broom and an oven door, to symbolize the loss of a bride's virginity. A Russian proverb states "the oven is our mother." It becomes clear that Baba Yaga, in attempting to put the hero of a tale into an oven, is also trying to put him back into her womb. This could be seen as a way for mothers to express the frustrations of raising children, or possibly represents the idea of a mother trying to prevent a child from growing older. "In many ways Baba Yaga is a reversal or inversion of the hero's mother. The mother is good, gives birth to a boy, and feeds him; Baba Yaga is evil, wants to force the boy back into the oven (a symbolic womb), and eat him."

There is a tale type in Russia that is similar to "Hansel and Gretel", only it features a male and not his sister. I referenced it a while ago, especially as it relates to an old Russian custom of symbolically "baking" children. What does it mean that this tale, and related stories in which Baba Yaga attempts to cook and eat a child, feature predominantly male heroines? Johns concludes that the tales must explore the complications that rise specifically in a mother-son relationship.

Johns says incest could be one of the complications of the mother-son relationship that this tale explores. I'm always wary of psychologists who automatically assume the meaning of every fairy tale relationship must be sexual, and statistically, far fewer boys are molested in childhood than girls (as far as we are aware, it's a difficult issue to get data on). Still, the fact is, incest does happen, even between mothers and their sons; even what isn't common still needs to be dealt with.

Another explanation for the emphasis on the mother-son relationship, and one that I think is more widely applicable, is the fact that, as children establish their own identity as mentioned above,it is more difficult for a son to separate himself into a separate gender than the one who raised him. This causes unique issues, and is sometimes expressed in negativity about the female gender (and probably part of the reason that even today, doing something "like a girl" is considered doing it poorly, while "being a man" has good connotations.

However, how does this line of thought compare to Western tales? Although we have Gretel, it isn't her that the witch wants to eat. Although you could really look at the Rapunzel tale as being a story about a mother trying to stunt her daughter's growth into a woman.

Also interesting to note: Russian lullabies tend to be especially morbid, often singing about the death of the child. Read more on the topic here, but here's a sample:

Bye-bye, bye-bye,

Quickly die,

On the morning will be frost,

And you’ll go to the grave-yard.

Grandfather will come

And will bring the coffin.

Grandmother will come

And will bring the grave clothes.

Mother will come

And will sing the prayer song.

Father will come

And will take you to the graveyard.

Art by Antonina Medvedeva

Were Fairy Tales Ever Believed to be True?

In Andreas Johns' book on Baba Yaga, he answers the question of whether or not fairy tales were ever thought of as historical fact, at least as Russian tale tellers and listeners are concerned. But his discussion will, I think, shed light on similar practices of storytelling that went on in other countries.

The short answer is: often, yes. Nikolai Novikov believes that the Russian peasants used to see the folktales they listened to as fact, but the shift of seeing them as fiction happened towards the end of the nineteenth century. Dmitrii Zelenin "reports that tellers could not always make a clear distinction between truth and invention in the folktale, but most often believed in what they narrated." Zelenin says that belief in Baba Yaga was widespread, and tales about her often incorporated other historical figures such as Orthodox saints (although Johns later states that scholars debate over whether or not Baba Yaga was believed in by the Russian people).

Baba Yaga by Des Hanley

A storyteller's beliefs about the truth of their tales may be found at the conclusion of their story. A Frog Princess tale told by V. P. Monachkova in 1979 took place, she says, "during the reign of Nikolai Nikolaevich." Storyteller Agaf''ia L. Zaitseva believed that the events in the stories could have happened "in the old days," for "Why would the old people lie to us? What would they have to gain by it? There were dragons, knights, and sorceres. And I've seen witches myself."

Some of the evidence gathered about storytelling indicate that people believed that fairy tales themselves were a form of magic. Certain rules applied to what time of the day or the year tales could be told, because it was believed that the tales might produce affects varying from attracting spirits, to causing cows to get lost in the forest forever.

Ivan Bilibin, illustration for Afanasyev's "Father Frost"

Yet of course, to every rule their are exceptions. Other tales end with phrases that indicated that the teller and listener both know very well they are not true, historical facts, such as "That's the whole tale, and I can't lie any more," or "Well, I think this is all chatter. All of this really couldn't happen like that."

Fairy tales have a complex history, and you may come across people making contradictory statements; some claiming that historically, people used to believe the tales they told, and others maintaining that even hundreds of years ago people weren't gullible enough to believe all the details of a story. So both claims are true, and of course it varies from culture to culture. The reality is, many historical facts or legends probably evolved and became more fantastic and grew into fairy tales; other tales were pure invention on the part of the storyteller, embellishing on other tales and story motifs.

Mid-20th Century Cigarette Case from The Russian Museum

Johns points out that folklore itself has almost contradictory aspects of its nature-the stories are set in another, enchanted realm, distinct from the everyday; yet the stories are such that, when you strip the story of its magical and fantastic elements, at its core is a story of human conflict and struggle that we can all relate to. Fairy tales are at once realistic and unrealistic; they have truth in them whether or not that are seen as fiction. Linda Degh says that fairy tale narration is an ambiguous art, for "the teller uses all his or her artistry to make the listeners believe what they know is an entertaining lie." Even today when fairy tales are told, their long history and the level of awe we tend to have towards them makes even the most skeptical of us sometimes wonder about these tales that have captured human imagination for so very long...

Russian Hansel

The Russian version of "Hansel and Gretel" (and its many variants) is one of the most popular Russian folktales. This one only features a young boy. He is abducted by Baba Yaga (sometimes it is because she either asks him for an apple, or offers him an apple; an interesting comparison to Snow White, especially when looking at how women are typically the ones to succumb to such temptations in fairy tales).

Baker's Peel/Bread Spatula

Yaga intends to eat the boy. She is often the mother of three daughters in Russian folklore, who are present in most variants of this tale. The first daughter is tasked with putting the boy in the oven, and asks him to sit on the bread spatula. He lies down but sticks his limbs out so that he won't fit into the oven. The daughter insists that he sit the right way; he plays dumb and asks her to show him how. When she does so, he shoves her in the oven and roasts her instead.

And if we think the Grimms' "Hansel and Gretel" are violent for shoving the witch in the oven, this boy takes it a step further; he serves the meat of the daughter to Baba Yaga, who comments on how sweet his meat is, and does the same thing with the other daughters, ending by defeating Yaga herself.

Baba Yaga and Ivan-Thistle Theater Puppeteers

The most interesting thing about this Russian version is its similarity to a local custom of symbolically "baking" children. Andreas Johns says, "It consisted of putting an infant on a bread spatula and into a warm oven, and in some cases putting the child in and taking it out a number of times, with an accompanying dialogue urging the performer of the ritual to bake away the child's illness." A similar ritual in Romania involves holding a child over boiling water to cure it of "the evil eye".

Although it seems shocking, it was not meant to be an abusive thing, but viewed as positive and nurturing, as fire was seen to have healing properties. Still, I can't help but wonder how hot the oven was and how long they held the kid in there...but it seems reasonable to think that the tale could have reflected a child's anxieties concerned with this ritual.

John Augustus Atkinson-Russian oven drawing-1803

Johns also reminds us of how essential an oven was to a family in the middle of cold Russian winters, as their primary source of heat. We are reminded of the paradox of fire, which is both necessary for survival, and also a dangerous instrument of injury and sometimes death. From Wikipedia: "As well as warming and cooking, the Russian oven can be used for washing. A grown man can easily fit inside, and during World War II some people escaped the Nazis by hiding in ovens.^[3][4][8][9] In Ancient Russia the oven was used to treat winter diseases by warming the sick person's body inside it."

So maybe this ritual wasn't as close to child abuse as it appears to us; it seems like ovens could be manipulated to become a sort of sauna. Still, I would imagine there would be some anxiety about keeping young children from climbing in...

Information from Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale by Andreas Johns