What a wolf in fairy tales by nature. Animals in Russian folk tales - images and prototypes

In culture Eastern Slavs the wolf is an animal - a myth.
The wolf belongs to the "foreign" world.

The appearance of the wolf in the legends is associated with the earth. According to legend, the Devil envied God, who molded a man. The devil fashioned a wolf out of clay. But having created the form, he could not revive it.

The devil suggested that if the wolf is directed against God, then he will come to life. The devil began to run around the wolf and shout: "Bite him!" But the wolf did not come to life. This went on until God shouted, "Bite him!"

The revived wolf attacked the Devil. The devil was frightened and climbed onto the alder tree.

But the wolf managed to grab the Devil by the heel. The blood from the wounded heel of the Devil fell on the tree trunk. Since then, the wood of the alder has been reddish.

And the Devil has become ruthless. People call him Antipka (Anchutka) the Fingerless or Fingerless.

AT folk culture the image of the wolf is associated with death and the world of the dead.

The wolf acts as an intermediary between the world of people and the forces of other worlds.

Proverbs and sayings about the wolf.

To be afraid of wolves - do not go into the forest.
And the wolves are full - and the sheep are safe.
No matter how much you feed the wolf, he looks into the forest.
The wolf can be seen in sheep's clothing.
The wolf will not eat the wolf.

Poems about the wolf.

"Wolf" Sasha Cherny

The whole village sleeps in the snow.
No hoo.
The moon disappeared for the night.
Snow is blowing.
The kids are all on ice
On the pond
Sledges squeal together -
let's go in line!
Some are in harness, some are riders.
Wind to the side.
Our convoy stretched
To birches.
Suddenly the leader shouts:
"Damn, stop!"
There were sleds. The laughter is silent.
"Brothers, the wolf! .."
Wow, they splashed back!
Like a city
Scatter everything from the pond -
Who where.
Where is the wolf? Yes, this is a dog
Our Barbos!
Laughter, roar, laughter and sense:
"Ay, yes the wolf!"

Readings about the wolf.

One, two, three, four, five.
There is nowhere for the bunny to jump.
There is a wolf walking everywhere.
He teeth - click, click!
And we hide in the bushes.
Hide, hare and you!

The wolves roar
Looking for food.
We'll catch them first
And then we'll play

Wolf Tales.

The wolf is the hero of many fairy tales. Everyone knows them.
Vladimir Propp in the book "Mythology fairy tale"writes that in Russian fairy tales there is admiration and respect for the wolf. The wolf is an assistant and friend in "The Tale of Ivan the Tsarevich, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf."

In the fairy tale "The Tale of the Chanterelle - Sister and the Wolf" the ingenuous wolf is deceived by the fox. In the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Kids", the wolf is bloodthirsty and wants to eat the kids. In the fairy tale "Teremok", the wolf, like all animals, asks for a teremok and lives together with other animals.

Mobile game "Wolves and Koloboks"

For a group of children

Purpose of the game: development of speech, development of dexterity and attention, compliance with the rules of priority.

Game progress:

All children stand in a single large circle. Each child holds an object in his hands (a cube, a circle made of cardboard, a small hoop for a ring toss, a lid of a round or oval shape bright color or another.) One half of the circle of children is "Wolves", and the second is "Koloboks". And there is a dialogue between them.

Wolves: Koloboks - koloboks,

We know that you are timid.

Get into our bag

Lock your mouths

Wait quietly for your outcome.

Koloboks: We will not climb into the bag.

We know that the wolf is cruel!

Krendelev Anton

Tales about animals are not only entertaining and funny, but also instructive.

Man attributed to animals the ability to reason and speak, but the misconceptions of people were permeated with the desire to understand the life of animals, to master the means of taming them, protecting them from attack, and ways of hunting.

The most common characters in animal tales are the fox and the wolf. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, a person most often had to deal with them in economic activity; secondly, these beasts occupy the middle in the animal kingdom in size and strength; finally, thirdly, thanks to the previous two reasons, a person had the opportunity to get to know them very closely.

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IV regional youth "Philological readings"

MOU Mikhailovskaya secondary school

Krendelev Anton

MOU Mikhailovskaya secondary school, 5th grade, 11 years old

Competitive work

Genre "Research"

"Images of animals in Russian folk tales»

Teacher-mentor:

Yablokova Svetlana Vladimirovna

Teacher of Russian language and literature

Mikhailovsky village, Yaroslavl municipal district, 2010

1.Introduction 2 pages

2. Chapter "Images of animals in Russian folk tales"

1.1 The fox of the seven wolves will hold 5 str.

1.2. The wolf changes coat, but not character 7 page

1.3. A bear, though old, costs two foxes 9 page

1.4. Soft paws, and paws - tsap-scratches 11 page

3.Conclusion page 12

4. References 14 pages.

Introduction

What is a fairy tale? it beautiful world magic and transformations in which we live in childhood, where reality ends and this world begins, amazing and incomprehensible. This is a world in which good triumphs over evil, which is probably why this genre is so loved by children.

And if he speaks scientific language, fairy tale view narrative, mostly prose folklore. Her history goes back a long way. Word " story " recorded in written sources of the 16th century. From the word"say". Meaning: list, list, exact description. Modern meaning the word has been acquired since the 19th century. Until the 19th century, the word of the 11th century was used - blasphemer.

There are several types of Russian folk tales: fairy tales, household tales, fairy tales about animals.The purpose of my work is to reveal the features of the images of animals in folk tales. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to solve a number of tasks:

1. identify the place and features of the image of animals in fairy tales in fairy tales;
2. see if they are the main or secondary person;
3. consider character traits;

For writing my work, I used several sources of folk tales.

This type of fairy tale is significantly different from other types. fairy tale genre. A fairy tale about animals is a work in which animals, birds, fish, as well as objects, plants and natural phenomena act as the main characters. The question of the original origins of fantasy in animal tales has been of concern to scientists for many decades. The beliefs of the Russian people and the beliefs of the East Slavic peoples in general allow us to assume with all confidence which animals were the heroes of mythical stories and legends of ancient fables. The peculiarity of these legends was that the animals were endowed with various human qualities, but they saw animals in animals. Not all stories and traditions of this kind have disappeared from the memory of the people. Their traces are preserved in fairy tales, whichtraditionally acceptedsome of its essential features from an ancient fable. Such is the tale of the bear on the lime foot. This fairy tale is unknown in Western Europe. Its origin is purely East Slavic. The system of characters in Russian folk tales about animals is represented, as a rule, by images of wild and domestic animals. The images of wild animals clearly predominate over the images of domestic animals: these are the fox, wolf, bear, hare, and among the birds - the crane, heron, thrush, woodpecker, sparrow, raven, etc. Domestic animals are much less common, and do not appear as independent or leading characters, but only in conjunction with the forest: it is a dog, a cat, a goat, a ram, a horse, a pig, an ox, and from domestic birds - a goose, a duck and a rooster. There are no fairy tales only about domestic animals in Russian folklore.

In fairy tales about animals, animals implausibly argue, talk, quarrel, love, make friends, and quarrel: the cunning “fox is beautiful in conversation”, the stupid and greedy “wolf-wolf-hugger from under the bush”, the cowardly hare-bow-legged, the skok ".

The fox of the seven wolves will lead

Favorite Russian hero fairy tales about animals, as, indeed, and all East Slavic fairy tales, the fox became.

The image of the fox is stable. She is portrayed as a deceitful, cunning liar: she deceives a peasant by pretending to be dead (“A fox steals fish from a sleigh”); deceives the wolf ("The Fox and the Wolf"); deceives the rooster ("Cat, rooster and fox"); kicks a hare out of a bast hut (“The Fox and the Hare”); exchanges a goose for a sheep, a sheep for a bull, steals honey (“The Bear and the Fox”). In all fairy tales, she is flattering, vindictive, cunning, prudent.Lisa Patrikeevna, beautiful fox, oily fox, gossip fox, Lisafya. Here she lies on the road with glazed eyes. She was dead, the man decided, he kicked her, she wouldn’t stir. The peasant was delighted, took the fox, put it in a cart with fish, covered it with matting: “The old woman will have a collar on her fur coat” - and he moved the horse from its place, he himself went ahead. The fox threw all the fish off the cart and left. The peasant realized that the fox was not dead, but it was already too late. There is nothing to do.

The fox is true to herself everywhere in fairy tales. Her cunning is conveyed in the proverb: "When you look for a fox in front, it is behind." She is resourceful and lies recklessly until the time when it is no longer possible to lie, but even in this case she often indulges in the most incredible fiction. The fox thinks only of its own benefit. If the deal does not promise her acquisitions, she will not give up anything of her own. The fox is vindictive and vindictive.

The fox's triumph is often depicted in the tale. She revels in revenge, feels complete superiority over gullible heroes. How much resourcefulness and how much vindictive feeling in her! Both are so often found in people with a practical, quirky mind, overwhelmed by petty passions .. Infinitely deceitful, she uses gullibility, plays on the weak strings of friends and enemies.

Many tricks and mischief in memoryfoxes. She drives a hare out of a bast hut (“The Fox and the Hare”), changes the rolling pin for a goose, the goose for a sheep, the sheep for a bull, threatens the thrush to eat the chicks, makes him water, feed, even make himself laugh (“The Fox and the Thrush”) . The fox marries the cat governor with the expectation of seizing power in the entire forest district (“The Cat and the Fox”), learns to fly (“How the fox learned to fly”), tells the wolf to go to the oath to make sure that his words are correct: indeed whether a wolf caftan is on a sheep. The wolf foolishly stuck himself in a trap and got caught (“Sheep, Fox and Wolf”). The fox steals the stored honey ("The Bear and the Fox").

The fox is a pretender, a thief, a deceiver, evil, unfaithful, flattering, vindictive, dexterous, vengeful, cunning, selfish, prudent, cruel. In fairy tales, she is everywhere true to these traits of her character.

The wolf changes coat, but not character

Another hero that the fox often encounters is the wolf. He is stupid, which is expressed in the attitude of the people towards him, devours kids (“Wolf and Goat”), is going to tear a sheep (“Sheep, Fox and Wolf”), fattens a hungry dog ​​to eat it, remains without a tail (“Fox and wolf").More often than other animals, the fox deceives the wolf and laughs cruelly at him. Whom do the people understand in this image? In fairy tales, the wolf is infinitely stupid.Phenomenal stupidity denigrates the wolf. This image expressed not so much real features Togo human type, which the wolf personifies, how much attitude towards him.

Let's think about why the wolf takes blows from angry women who came to the river for water, why, having barely survived one misfortune, the wolf falls into another. The story ends with the death of the wolf. The wolf dies a cruel death in order to new fairy tale revive and re-accept evil death. What indestructible evil is driven out, executed by the people?

An insatiable thirst for blood, a trait of a rapist who recognizes one right - the right of the strong, the right of teeth - without this trait, a wolf is not a wolf. The social prototype of this fairy-tale character becomes clear. The people knew a lot of villains and criminals, from whom it had a hard time.

Tales about the wolf do not hide who they mean... The irony of fiction lies in the play on folk custom.

The tale of how a wolf slaughtered a pig (“The Pig and the Wolf”) depicts a cruel and implacable master in the image of a wolf, who exacted from the peasants for injury. There lived an old man and an old woman with him. They only have livestock, like a pig. Damn her, but in a strange lane - in oats. A wolf ran there, "he grabbed the pig by the bristle, dragged it by the stamens and tore it."

In such fairy tales there is that sharp social allegory that made the fairy tale interesting for adults as well. Fantastic narratives speak of social class relations. This meaning cannot be ignored if we do not want to see in fairy tales only fun.

Fantastic fiction in these tales is also associated with their ideological design. Boyar, the master is cruel as a wolf, one cannot expect mercy from him, one can only deal with him as the proverb advises: “Believe the wolf in the tori”, that is, the killed one. The fairy tale conveys, as it were, the essence of the wolf's law, according to which the weak becomes a victim of the strong. The prince, the boyar, did not have to be cunning. His right is the right of a cruel and strong master. Such is the fairy tale wolf. Storytellers took revenge on the oppressors, denounced their moral rudeness, lack of intelligence: the system of social oppression, resorting to the power of the fist, the rod and weapons, did not require mental effort from its founders and defenders.

A bear, though old, is worth two foxes

Another hero of fairy tales about animals is a bear. He personifies brute force, has power over other animals. In fairy tales, he is often called "everyone's fawn." The bear is also stupid. Persuading the peasant to harvest, each time he is left with nothing ("The Man and the Bear").

The human type embodied in the bear is somewhat similar to that reproduced in the image of the wolf. No wonder the wolf often replaces the bear in the fairy tale. Such are the numerous versions of fairy tales: “A man, a bear and a fox”, “A bear, a dog and a cat”, etc. At the same time, the similarity of the images is only partial. In the mind of any person familiar with fairy tales, the bear is an animal of the highest rank. He is the strongest forest animal. When in fairy tales one animal replaces another, the bear is in the position of the strongest. Such is the tale about the tower, about the animals in the pit, and other tales. One must think that this position of the bear in the animal hierarchy is explained in its own way by the connection with those traditional prefab mythological legends in which the bear occupied the most important place forest land owner. Perhaps, over time, the bear began to be seen as the embodiment of the sovereign, the lord of the district. In fairy tales, the huge power of the bear was constantly emphasized. He crushes everything that gets under his feet.

The stupidity of a bear is the strife of wolf stupidity. The wolf is slow-witted, not stupid. The stupidity of a bear is the stupidity of a person with power. The bear does not use its power wisely. There is an assumption that the bear is a person invested with power.

The bear is the owner of the forest, has great strength and a rich fur coat, which is obviously why he was assigned the role of a landowner. These tales describe the life of captivity of the Russian people, the period of serfdom. Then the peasants paid dues (half of the field of wheat, which for some reason was called a tithe) and worked out the corvée (they worked in the bear's house, sometimes it lasted for 6 days). The bear decided when to let Masha go and how much to charge the peasant. Through such a prism, it becomes clear not only hard life, once the free Russian people, but also why they constantly tried to outwit the bear, and even hunt it down with dogs. It is worth noting that in Russian fairy tales the landowner is always dumber than the peasant, the image of the landowner is endowed with the same mind - a bear. Behind these images is the thought: “maybe you are a gentleman and strong, but I am smart and will stay with my own!”

There are fairy tales where the bear gives Masha gifts and punishes her lazy sister. Here the image of a bear carries the image of nature, good and evil fate. If a person works honestly, then nature rewards him with her gifts, and whoever is lazy does not have water flowing.

Soft paws, and in the paws - tsap-scratches

Of domestic animals and birds, a cat is a positive hero in fairy tales. In a Russian folk tale, a cat (it's a cat, not a cat) is often found in the form of a savior from various misfortunes. For example, take the cycle of fairy tales" cat, rooster and fox, which A.N. Afanasiev are numbered. These stories are very similar, but essentially the same. They only change some of the characters. He acts as a brave defender of the rooster. Moreover, the cat has excellent hearing, he is smart and caring. That is, in these fairy tales, the cat acts as positive hero. Summing up the conversation about the cat, we can note common features. Firstly, everywhere animals are afraid of a cat. Secondly, the cat always has a name, and with a patronymic. The cat is disinterested in friendship. The warlike rooster is ready to come to the aid of anyone offended. However, the positivity of these characters is highly arbitrary. The tale of how the rooster drove the fox out of the hare hut (“The Fox, the Hare and the Rooster”) is basically a cheerful humoresque. The irony is that a rooster - a fox's prey - managed to scare a lover of white chicken meat. The tale “The Cat in the Voivodeship” is ironic - it makes a lover of hut heat, a baked dweller a hero by coincidence: the wolf, hiding in a pile of leaves, stirred; the cat thought that there was a mouse, jumped, the wolf jumped to the side, and a general commotion began - the flight of animals. Only in the fairy tale "The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox" is the cat really a hero. Probably, this fairy tale was created for children from the very beginning.

It should be concluded that in all the Russian fairy tales viewed, the cat is shown as dexterous, cunning. In a number of fairy tales, he is a warrior, comes to the aid of friends. He likes to warm himself on the stove and enjoy sour cream or a fresh mouse. Maybe he will arrange a "battle", or he can come to terms with death. Features of fairy tales certainly depend on the characteristics of the people of a particular region. After all, despite the fact that the people are one - Russian, people are still different.

Conclusion

In the course of working on this topic, we conducted a survey among students in grades 3-6. The following questions were asked:

1. How many animal stories have you read?
2. What animals are found in fairy tales more often?
3. What traits are present?
4. What do animal stories teach?

The survey gave the following results:

1 question: 1 fairy tale-6%

2 fairy tales -18%

Several - 76%

Question 2: wolf - 7%

Bear-18%

Fox - 75%

Question 3: Fox - cunning

Bear - stupidity

Wolf - anger

1. question: Kindness

love

Don't hurt little ones.

Summing up all of the above, it should be noted: fairy tales about animals are not only entertaining and funny, but also instructive.

Man attributed to animals the ability to reason and speak, but the misconceptions of people were permeated with the desire to understand the life of animals, to master the means of taming them, protecting them from attack, and ways of hunting.

The most common characters in animal tales are the fox and the wolf. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, a person most often had to deal with them in economic activity; secondly, these beasts occupy the middle in the animal kingdom in size and strength; finally, thirdly, thanks to the previous two reasons, a person had the opportunity to get to know them very closely.

The wolf, like the bear, folk beliefs appears as an animal, in honor of which holidays were held. They did not call him by his real name, fearing that by doing so they would call him himself. A hostile and dangerous creature, the wolf evoked respect and fear.

From experience, people knew that the wolf is a predatory, cunning, intelligent, resourceful, evil creature. Meanwhile, in fairy tales, the wolf is stupid, it is easy to deceive him. There seems to be no such misfortune, no matter what this unlucky, eternally hungry, eternally beaten beast got into.

The respectful attitude towards the fox expressed in the beliefs also contradicts the frank mockery with which the fairy tales tell about its frequent mistakes and failures. The beliefs of the Russian people and the beliefs of the East Slavic peoples in general allow us to assume with all confidence which animals were the heroes of mythical stories and legends of ancient fables.

References

1. Anikin V.P. Russian folk tale M., "Enlightenment", 1977
2. Afanasiev. A.N. Folk Russian Tales / Ed. Georgian. - Ed. 3rd. - 1897.
3. Vedernikova N .M Russian folk tale M., "Science"

4) Fokeev A.L. "An inexhaustible source. Oral folk art, ed. "Lyceum"

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The role of animals in Russian folk art extremely large and varied. Almost all fairy tales feature some kind of animal. Among them, one can single out a fox, a bear, a wolf, a hare, a hedgehog, a magpie and others. With the help of these well-known bright characters, adults tell their children about what is good and what is bad. The first fairy tales in history appeared long before the invention of books and writing and were passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. That is why they are called folk. Let's consider the most popular animals appearing in fairy tales and compare how much their "fabulous" characteristics coincide with their description in real life.

“Fox-sister”, “Fox-beautiful in conversation”, “Fox Patrikeevna”, Lisafya, Fox gossip - this is how the Fox is affectionately called in Russian folk tales. This red-haired cheat is definitely a favorite character of all time. And invariably she is cunning, smart, quick-witted, prudent, vindictive and insidious. So, only she was able to outwit and eat the poor Kolobok, lead the stupid wolf, whose tail was frozen to the hole, and even deceive the peasant by pretending to be dead. The main idea of ​​these fairy tales is to tell children that what matters in life is not strength, but cunning. Despite this, the fox is still negative character. In some fairy tales, peaceful little animals affected by this red cheat have to work hard to outwit and teach the Fox herself a lesson.

But is the fox really so cunning and smart? The German zoologist Alfred Brehm, in his book Animal Life, argues that the cunning of the fox in Russian fairy tales is greatly exaggerated, but the mind of the wolf, on the contrary, is underestimated. Otherwise, the real common fox is in many ways similar to the "fabulous" one: red hair, a beautiful fluffy tail, the fox often hunts a hare or visits nearby chicken coops.

"Bear clumsy", "Mikhail Potapych" or simply Mishka in its popularity, does not lag behind the Fox. This character is often presented in the tale as lazy, fat and clumsy. Big and clumsy, he is slow, stupid and dangerous. Often he threatens the weak with his strength, but in the end he always loses, because it is not strength that matters, but speed, dexterity and intelligence - this is the meaning of fairy tales with the participation of Mishka. Most popular fairy tales- "Three Bears", "Masha and the Bear", "Tops and Roots". However, in real life, Brown bear not as slow as one might think. He can run very fast and, besides, he is not particularly stupid. Otherwise, his "fabulous" image has a lot to do with him. common features: he is really big, dangerous and a little clubfoot: when walking, his socks look a little inward, and his heels look outward.

photo 1

"Running Bunny", "Cowardly Bunny" or "Slanting" is also a very common hero of Russian fairy tales. His main feature- cowardice. In some fairy tales, the Hare is presented as a cowardly, but at the same time boastful, cocky and stupid hero, and in some - on the contrary, as a moderately cautious and intelligent forest animal.

For example, in the fairy tale “Hare-Bouncer” or “Fear has large eyes”, the cowardice of the Hare is ridiculed, main idea these fairy tales - you must always be brave. At the same time, in the fairy tale "Zayushkina's hut", the Bunny appears before us positive character who needs support and protection.

In real life, the hare, like his "fairytale" character, is long-eared, fast, agile, cautious and attentive. Due to the special position of the eyes, the hare can look not only forward, but also backward. While chasing, the hare may "squint" its eye to calculate the distance to its pursuer. For this ability, the hare was nicknamed Oblique. Main enemy a hare, as in fairy tales, is a fox.

"The gray wolf - with its teeth", "The wolf-wolf - from under the bush", "The wolf-fool" is presented in most cases as a negative character, stupid, angry, hungry and dangerous. But, in most cases, he is so stupid that, in the end, he is left with nothing. For example, "The Tale of the Fox and the Wolf" or "The Wolf and the Seven Kids". In these fairy tales, the wolf is the embodiment of evil, and the main message for children is that good always triumphs over evil. Nevertheless, in some fairy tales, the wolf appears before us as a wise and faithful friend of man, always ready to help, an example of this is the fairy tale "Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf."

In real life, the wolf can indeed be extremely dangerous. Often he is hungry and wanders through the forest in search of food. But his intelligence is grossly underestimated. The wolf is an intelligent and organized animal, a clear structure and discipline can be traced in the wolf pack. Wolves create incredibly strong couples, their unions are strong, and the wolves themselves are a real personification of loyalty and love for each other. A tamed wolf can indeed become a faithful and devoted friend for a person.

Prickly Hedgehog - has long appeared before us in the form of a kind, quick-witted old man, wise in life. Despite his small stature and small legs, he always comes out the winner thanks to his extraordinary mind and cunning. So, for example, in the fairy tale “The Hare and the Hedgehog”, the hedgehog outwitted and killed the poor Hare, with whom they allegedly ran a race, and in the fairy tale “The Magic Wand”, the Hedgehog taught the Hare various life tricks, explaining what is needed first to survive just think with your head.

In real life, the Hedgehog is not distinguished by an outstanding mind, but he is not stupid either. When in danger, the hedgehog curls up into a prickly ball, which makes it inaccessible to predators, as stated in fairy tales.

The image of the wolf
Russian folk
fairy tales
Vekshin Yaroslav 3a class

Purpose of the study
The purpose of my research was to understand why
The wolf in fairy tales is always portrayed in different ways. That
like a stupid and narrow-minded animal, then how
faithful friend and helper, then as a creepy and
vicious enemy.
Let's try to figure it all out.

Wrapped in a peculiar aura of mystery, wolves are not in vain
became the heroes of legends and horror films, songs and novels.
They are credited with mystical abilities and incredible strength.
Which, in fact, they don't have. Yes, wolves can smell prey.
or each other at a distance of 1.5 km, and they, if necessary,
many hours pass tirelessly.
Besides the fact that wolves are still one of the most dangerous
predators (yes!), they also contribute huge contribution into cleansing
territory of their residence from the sick, weak and even dead
animals. “Orders of the forest” is not in vain they were given such a nickname.

All over the world, people tell stories to entertain each other.
Sometimes fairy tales help to understand what is bad in life, and
what well. There were fairy tales long before the invention of books, and
even writing.
In fairy tales about animals, they implausibly argue, talk,
quarrel, love, make friends, animals quarrel: the cunning "fox - with
beautiful conversation, "silly and greedy" wolf-wolf - from under the bush
grabbing", "mouse-gnawing", "cowardly hare - bow-legged, according to
slide. All this is unbelievable, fantastic.
The appearance of various characters in Russian fairy tales about animals
originally due to the circle of representatives of the animal
world, which is characteristic of our territory. That's why
logical is the fact that in fairy tales about
animals we meet with the inhabitants of forests, fields, steppe
expanses (bear, wolf, fox, wild boar, hare, hedgehog, etc.). AT
In fairy tales about animals, animals themselves are the main characters -
characters, and the relationship between them determines the character
fabulous conflict.

In fairy tales about animals, one of
main characters is
wolf. It's straight
the opposite of the image
foxes. In fairy tales, the wolf is stupid,
easy to deceive. No, it seems
such a disaster, no matter what
got this unlucky,
perpetually beaten beast. So,
the fox advises the wolf to catch
fish, dropping its tail into the hole.
The goat offers the wolf
open your mouth and stand under
mountain so that he can jump into
mouth. Goat overturns
wolf and runs away (the fairy tale "Wolf-
fool"). The image of the wolf in fairy tales
always hungry and alone. He
always gets into the funny
ridiculous position.

However, in ancient
cultures image of a wolf
associated with death
so in fairy tales this
animal character
often eats someone
("The wolf and the seven Young goats")
or disturb the peace
animal life ("Zimovye
animals"). But in the end good
fairy tale characters
Russian fairy tales always
cheat or win
wolf. For example, the wolf
fairy tale "Sister Chanterelle
and the wolf" remains without a tail.

“... meets a young
warrior grey Wolf…" It
also a symbol. Symbol of the
Perun. Mighty Storm God
god of justice, light and
military prowess,
appearing on earth
prefers the form of a wolf.
Wolf-Perun is wise, brave and
very fast. It's on him
other tales of Ivan Tsarevich
covers huge
distances. Moreover, Perun
becoming a hero is not easy
friend, but brother. O
what does that say? That,
having in brothers himself
Peruna, Russian hero
able to crush someone
whatever.

So now let's think
why is the wolf in all fairy tales
so different? For this you need
remember that fairy tales originally
no one recorded
transmitted exclusively from
mouth to mouth. And only in a narrow circle.
It's impossible to imagine that
the son of a merchant was listening
a fairy tale from an ordinary peasant.
And who could be afraid of wolves?
That's right, peasants. Wolves
could attack livestock, people,
and the peasants could bear from this
terrible losses. For these people
terrible wolf, that's in their fairy tales
he was scary, but still
victorious. Yes, and peasant
children were told such stories,
so that it would be discourteous in the forest
walk "a gray top will come
and bite on the flank."

The wolf in Russian folk tales in most cases is a negative character. He is a strong and dangerous opponent, but at the same time he is a naive and not very intelligent hero. Often gets into trouble because of his stupidity, malice, excessive trust in the Fox and other more intelligent characters. In rare narratives, the wolf still becomes true friend and a protector.

Wolf in Russian folk tales

The positive and negative role of the wolf in fairy tales: its origins

The ambiguous image of the character is associated with the same fuzzy attitude towards the animal among the people. In fairy tales, he often becomes collectively endowed with strength and stupidity at the same time. By using instructive stories it is demonstrated that the physical strength of the opponent is not yet the main quality for winning the fight. Successfully complements this character with the proverb “There is power - you don’t need mind!”. But at the same time, when in a fairy tale the cunning Fox mocks the wolf, we empathize with him. His innocence is closer to us than the insidiousness of a red-haired cheat.

The image of a simple-hearted wolf is refuted in some fairy tales. For example, in the story about Ivan Tsarevich, the wolf hero, on the contrary, demonstrates wisdom, unexpectedly takes the side of good, plays the role of an adviser and assistant. But this is more the exception than the rule.

In picture fairy wolf people have moved far away from the real qualities of the animal. If the quality of cunning given to the fox, and cowardice to the hare, seem quite logical, then it is completely incomprehensible why stupidity was attributed to such a dangerous predator. In nature, the wolf is an excellent hunter. He even brings some benefits as a forest nurse. The quality of straightforwardness attributed to him can only be connected with the fact that he is able to face danger face to face. Also, his manner of hunting speaks of ingenuity: the wolf does not chase the victim for a long time, attacks more often in a flock and only on the weakest individuals from the herd.

The character of the wolf in folk tales

First of all, the wolf is a villain character. But in some fairy tales, he is a threat to other heroes, while in others he is harmless and even useful.

• "How the wolf was taught the mind"- the wolf character in this story is stupid and lazy. He shows a straightforwardness that could be regarded as positive trait, if it were not associated with stupidity.
• "Wolf and Goat"- here he is a malicious deceiver, ruthless and greedy, but still not without naivety.
• "Sister Fox and the Wolf"- the wolf hero is displayed as a stupid and naive character who, despite his evil disguise, suffers from the tricks of the Gossip-Fox.
• "Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf"- portrayed as a conscientious villain who decided to repay his crime good deed and help a person with advice and deed. Here he is revealed as a kind and disinterested character.
• "Wolf, cat and dog"- here the character demonstrates unsophisticated tricks, this is one of the few stories where his ability to deceive is shown. Not as skillful as Lisa's, but still capable of causing harm.

As you can see, the gray wolf is the most instructive, both in a positive and negative form.