A Game-Changer for Understanding Fairy Tales - My Perspective on Children's Stories Will Never Be the Same

Hello everyone!

I've been reading bedtime stories to my little daughter for years now, and the more I read, the more I'm struck by the sameness of the plots and sometimes the utter absurdity of the storytelling. But to my kid, the thrilling tales of Baba Yaga, the bogatyrs, and Zmey Gorynych are a hit. There's this notion that most fairy tales teach kids about being good, working hard, and getting what's coming to them, with good ultimately triumphing over evil. But after reading Vladimir Propp's book, I'm not so sure anymore. Do they really teach us something, or are they just echoes of ancient cults, shamanic traditions, and initiation rituals?

A Few Words About the Author

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (1895–1970) was a Soviet philologist, folklorist, and professor at Leningrad University. He made significant contributions to the development of general folklore theory, fairy tale research, epic studies, and ethnography. Propp is one of the founders of the structural-typological approach to studying folklore texts.

Don't get me wrong, this book 'Historical Roots of the Enchanted Fairy Tale' isn't some modern bestseller trying to stir up controversy without any factual basis. I mean, we've seen plenty of those kinds of books lately, and the author's conclusions seem pretty shocking and far-fetched at first glance. But Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp isn't exactly a modern-day author. He's a pretty well-known philologist who did some serious research back in the early 20th century. So, everything written in this book isn't just the product of his imagination or a desire to create a sensation - it's based on actual historical facts, grounded in his analysis of ancient rituals. ENCHANTED FAIRY TALE

One of my daughter's favorite fairy tales is "Hansel and Gretel" by the Brothers Grimm. I'll remind you of the plot for those who've forgotten. There's a family - mom, dad, son, and daughter. And then, at some point, the parents decide they can't take care of their kids anymore and abandon them in the woods, hoping they'll somehow survive on their own. I have to admit, I was immediately skeptical - they just up and leave, and then it's like, "That's it?" It's pretty weird, if you ask me. But, I guess that's their story. So, the siblings stumble upon a gingerbread house and, being hungry, start licking the lollipops that make up the windows and eating the door, which is made of gingerbread. The commotion wakes up a half-blind old woman, who, let's say, turns the kids into slaves. She forces the daughter to do all the dirty work around the house, and the son is fattened up to be eaten, with her periodically checking his progress by feeling his finger. I have to ask, why not just check his sides or something? But, I digress. In the end, the old woman decides to roast the boy in the oven, but the sister tricks her into falling into the fire instead. The siblings find a treasure chest in the house and return home, saying they'll never go hungry again. Yay, happy ending! Some literary critic would probably say that the story teaches us that good conquers evil, hard work is always rewarded, and light triumphs over darkness. But Vladimir Propp would probably find allusions to ancient initiation rituals, or the mystery of initiation, where a person transitions to a new stage of development, is introduced to the rules, norms, and values of a given society, and so on.

I've been diving into the world of folk tales and it's crazy how every detail matters. Like, why it's always a dad or some other guy who lures the kids into the woods, even if it's the stepmom who's behind it all. And how the kids stumble upon food in the forest, like that gingerbread house. And how the old lady is blind as a bat. Even the part about checking the kid's weight by looking at his finger is explained by the initiation ritual. It's wild, but considering the Brothers Grimm didn't make up these stories themselves, but were actually collectors of folk tales and researchers of popular culture, I'm not questioning Professor Propp's theories. It's likely that these stories did originate from ancient myths that evolved over time, adding new details and twists, but keeping their core essence intact, which is exactly what Professor Propp uncovered in his research.

I was reading through Propp's work, and one of the chapters where he talks about the Baba Yaga hut reminded me of the Fable of Vasilisa the Beautiful from my childhood. You know, the story about the girl whose father remarries a widow with two daughters after her mother's death? I was thinking, why do we see so many stories about orphans and widowed fathers? It's because medicine was pretty underdeveloped back then, and many women died in childbirth. Some people like to romanticize it, saying women used to deliver babies in the fields and nothing happened. But here, it's a different story. Vasilisa's mother dies when she's 8 years old, and before she goes, she gives her a magical doll that helps her out of tricky situations. One time, Vasilisa's stepmother sends her to Baba Yaga to fetch fire while her father is away. The description of the Baba Yaga hut always sent shivers down my spine:

Vasilisa walked through the night and the whole day, and it wasn't until the next evening that she reached the clearing where the hut stood. The fence was made of human bones, and there were human skulls on top with eyes, instead of pickets, human legs at the gate, and instead of a lock, a mouth with sharp teeth.

Vasilisa stayed with the old woman for a while and, with the help of the magical doll, completed her tasks – the usual household chores. As a reward for her loyalty, Baba Yaga gave her a skull with glowing eyes, which Vasilisa used to burn down her stepmother and her daughters when she got back home. It's a pretty dark tale, isn't it? According to Yandex, the story teaches us about humility and patience, and helps us distinguish between good and evil.

Well, we finally got it, we finally understood... In reality, if you read Proppe, you'll find answers to many of your questions. For example, about the gift-givers and the magical doll; about the three horsemen that Vasiliisa met in the forest; about the terrifying fence around Baba Yaga's hut; about serving the old woman and many, many other things.From this, the question arises: do magical stories teach us anything at all? Especially since some folk creations can easily outdo 'Tales from the Crypt'. For instance, here's a description of one fairy tale from Onuchkov's collection:

There are cases in Russian folklore where the rite of the funeral service is not observed, and the deceased returns (On. 45). 'There was a peasant who lived in a deserted place; he had two sons: a year-old and a three-year-old. He told his wife, "I'll die tomorrow, bury me under the icon and burn incense for three days." The peasant died, his wife burned incense for two days, but forgot on the third. The three-year-old girl went out and said, "Mama, Mama, my father has come back to life and is sitting!" "What are you talking about, you crazy child? He's dead, isn't he?" The wife looked again – the husband was sitting on the bench, his teeth were all black. The wife grabbed the two boys and threw them onto the stove, leaving the girl on the floor. The deceased grabbed a diaper from the cradle and ate it, and then ate the girl.'

OverallI have to admit, my analysis of these two fairy tales is based on my own thoughts after reading the book, rather than a summary of Propp's work. Maybe I should write a book too? 😊 Unfortunately, the author isn't as generous with practical examples as I'd like. He does reference some fairy tales, mainly Afanasyev and Smirnov, and occasionally the Grimm brothers, but he only does it in a single sentence quote, and he doesn't specify which specific fairy tale the quote is from. However, as I was reading, I found myself thinking of all sorts of familiar storylines from well-known fairy tales, so in a way, it's not necessary to reference specific sources. Without delving into the details of a particular fairy tale, Propp takes a common motif - Baba Yaga, gift-giving, the Thirty-Third Kingdom, and so on - and analyzes the character or situation from an ethnographic perspective.

But let me tell you, the book's not all fairy tales. You'll also find descriptions of initiation rituals and shamanic ceremonies. Some of them are so gruesome, I'm not even kidding - they'll make your blood run cold. If a director ever decided to make a movie based on these themes, it'd be the most brutal horror film of all time. So, if you're the faint of heart, you might want to skip the next few quotes. But if you're feeling brave, here's a look at the initiation ritual:In the center of the initiation ceremony, there was always a ritual circumcision. But that's just the tip of the iceberg - the boys were subjected to all sorts of brutal torture and abuse. I've read accounts from travelers who were horrified by the screams coming from the hut. And then there's the fire ritual, where the boys were burned... it's just too graphic to describe. Another form of torture was skin removal, with deep gashes to leave scars. Shurtz and Webster both mention the practice of cutting the boy's back from the neck down. "The visible symbol of this initiation is the cutting of the skin from the neck down." Sometimes, ropes were inserted under the boy's skin on their back and chest, and they'd be hung from trees. The South American tribes were particularly brutal - they'd rub chili peppers into the boy's wounds, and then beat them. It's like something out of a nightmare. And it's all described in this book, in graphic detail.

It's pretty disturbing to think about the heroes in this story.

Shurtz and the other authors talk about how the boys were repulsed by what they had to do. They had to drink the urine of their teacher and all sorts of other disgusting things. They were thrown into a pit with manure and water, covered in animal waste. Without going into the details, Shurtz says that 'along with enduring the pain, they often had to overcome their revulsion.' The moment when 'she got hit under the counter' might correspond to a loss of consciousness, a failure into darkness, a feeling of death and darkness.

All these brutalities, according to Proppe, had a practical purpose:

Apparently, these brutalities were meant to 'knock some sense into them.' They went on for a very long time (sometimes weeks), accompanied by hunger, thirst, darkness, and terror. They were meant to induce a state that the initiate considered death. They caused temporary insanity (which was exacerbated by the consumption of various poisonous drinks), so the initiate forgot everything. His memory was so impaired that after his return, he forgot his name, didn't recognize his parents, and so on. And maybe he even believed it when they told him that he was dead and had come back as a new, different person.

But the book focuses more on the mythological stories, so...

I've always wondered what's the deal with Baba Yaga and the spirit world, and why she's got a bony leg and her nose is stuck in the ceiling.What's the real story behind the Thirty-Third Kingdom?The relationship between the dead princess and the Seven Heroes is way more complicated than you'd think. Spoiler alert: it's not exactly a brotherly love story. I mean, they're all after her, and she's got to die in the end (thanks for the spoiler, guys). And why's her coffin made of crystal, anyway?Why do the next in line for the throne get locked away in towers or dungeons?Who's the real deal behind Zmey Gorynych and Koshchei the Deathless?And that's just the tip of the iceberg.... welcome to the enchanted world of fairy tales.

LANGUAGE AND ENGAGEMENTI'll give the author credit - their conclusions are super interesting. But let's be real, this book is a bit of a slog to get through. I'm not saying you're not smart enough to handle it, but this isn't just a fun, pop-science read. It's a serious historical and typological study that requires some effort to get through. The book's structured like a traditional academic work - the author poses a problem, studies it, analyzes it, and offers a solution. The language they use is pretty typical of academic writing, too. So, you'll need to get used to the way they're writing. It's not exactly page-turner material.

One of the purposes of the ritual was to prepare the young man for marriage. It turns out that the initiation rite was performed by representatives of a different clan group, one that the young man would eventually marry into.

I have to admit, I struggled to keep track of the terms - exogamy, endogamy... I found myself frequently looking up definitions online.

At first, I was a bit bored reading the early chapters, as the author kept referencing a colleague, anthropologist James Frazer, and his work 'The Golden Bough'. I won't lie, it was a challenge to get through, but I managed to power through, and I didn't find it too interesting to revisit the same points later on. However, as the book progressed, Propp started analyzing different questions that Frazer hadn't addressed, and I was blown away by his conclusions. By the end of the book, he even claimed that Frazer had been following the wrong lead.

Anthropologists often reference fairy tales, but they don't always understand them. This is particularly true of Frazer. The grand structure of 'The Golden Bough' is built on assumptions that are based on a misunderstood and under-studied fairy tale. A closer study of the fairy tale could lead to significant revisions and even challenge the foundations of Frazer's work.

Was it all for nothing that I read 'The Golden Bough'? Sigh...

I've got to say, the book's compact edition in a soft cover with no illustrations is a real winner. It's a 538-page beast that you can easily tackle in a week if you're motivated.

THE VERDICT

Well, my world will never be the same. Every time I read a fairy tale now, I look at it from a completely different angle. I highly recommend this book, "Historical Roots of the Enchanted Fairy Tale", to anyone who's into ethnography and folklore, or just wants to dive deeper into the world of magical stories.

Thanks for reading!

And while we're on the topic of Frazer, I'd like to suggest checking out a review of one of his other books. I'm not likely to write a review of "The Golden Bough" anytime soon (that would be a bit too biased), but if you're curious about the roots of biblical stories, you can read more here