#tsarevitch ivan the firebird and the gray wolf

[thelastofthebookworms]

Sorry, there was an error in the poll, I had to start it again.

My tag for this series is 'fairy tales'.

[ineachretelling]

With the La Belle et La Bete double feature still languishing and dying of loneliness due to scheduling issues, we've decided to instead celebrate Valentine's Day with a discussion of which of our favorite relationships within fairytales, myths, and classic literature has stood the test of time, and River's gonna rank them! Who will win? The socialite and the bootlegger? The original catgirl and her immortal beloved (that are technically only public domain in Canada)? The lesbian vampire and her "victim"? The badass ladies of myth who defied Death itself to save their husbands? The princess and young man who need one very good boy's help to save them? The couple with an ending so tragic they spawned the Mid Autumn Festival? The pairing the Goddess of Love tried to tear apart to the point where even Zeus says she's gone too far? The ultimate childhood rivals to lovers? And WHY are there so many cats and dogs in this episode?? Find out on this episode of IER TLDR!  Also there might be a sneak peek to a somewhat belated Retelling the News segment at the end, who knows...

[merymoonbeam]

I might write a bigger firebird legend theory post in the future but in all of the firebird legends there is a important part...about a feather.

in the story "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" we have this:

Finally Ivan Tsarevich, the youngest son, asked to try; his father was reluctant because of his youth but consented. Ivan remained awake the entire time, and upon seeing the bird, tried to catch it by the tail. Unfortunately, Ivan only managed to grasp one feather.

And in "Suzanne Massie version" we have this

A modest and gentle orphan girl named Maryushka lives in a small village. People would come from all over to buy her embroidery, and many merchants asked her to come away and work for them. She told them all that she would sell to any who found her work beautiful, but she would never leave the village of her birth. One day the evil sorcerer Kaschei the Immortal heard of Maryushka's beautiful needlework and transformed himself into a beautiful young man and visited her. Upon seeing her ability he became enraged that a mere mortal could produce finer work than he himself possessed. He tried to tempt her by offering to make her Queen if she would embroider for him alone, but she refused saying she never wanted to leave her village. Because of this last insult to his ego he turned Maryushka into a Firebird, and himself into a great black Falcon, picked her up in his talons, and stole her away from her village. To leave a memory of herself with her village forever she shed her feathers onto the land below. As the last feather fell Maryushka died in the falcon's talons.

And in "The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa" we have this...

Irina Zheleytova translates another version, The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa. In this version a king's archer is on a hunt and runs across a firebird's feather. The archer's horse warns the archer not to touch it, as bad things will happen.

In "The golden apple" by Grimm brothers

Every year, a king's apple tree is robbed of one golden apple during the night. He sets his gardener's sons to watch, and though the first two fall asleep, the youngest stays awake and sees that the thief is a golden bird. He tries to shoot it, but only knocks a feather off.

So every one of them has a feather...from a firebird.

And we have this:

Elain paused halfway up the stairs. Slowly, she turned to look back at him. “I saw young hands wither with age. I saw a box of black stone. I saw a feather of fire land on snow and melt it.”

The fact that young hands wither with age happened with Briallyn when she was turned but cauldron aged her rather than making it her young and we havent seen the other two.

Box of black stone which I theorized could be about a book rather than a box koschei has in this post

And lastly...feather of fire land on snow and melt it...we havent seen this happen. And with the way sarah said she wants to write swan lake and vasilisa the beautiful story and we have a firebird vassa in acotar. Its a pretty big hint imo that we are having vassa as the last pratoganist of the new trilogy.

[hydrae]

wow hi i'm alive!! i burned out very very hard for a long while there and was not drawing like uhhh at all. i'm slowly easing back into it and mostly just doing small sketches and doodles 💀

anyways, some ocs belonging to me and a friend for a fables-esque setting game. kin is not yet captain hook of peter pan, and varya is ivan from tsarevitch ivan, the firebird and the gray wolf. the inspo for kin's drawing really got me after reading hooked by a.c. wise (highly recommend!!) and kinda spiraled from there lolol

[mysunfreckle]

I'm very puzzled by the artifacts that Gerard found in the spider lair, because I can only identify the fairy tale influence for two of them:

The Hood of Rushes. Clearly from the fairy tale Cap-o'-Rushes, where an exhiled princess hides her fine clothes under a garment made of rushes. Probably helps with stealth? Or maybe it grants Disguise Self?

The Golden Bridle. Golden bridles have very good fairy tale pedigree. Some kelpie's appear wearing a golden bridle, and if you manage to get it, you can control the kelpie. It also frequently shows up in stories that feature other transformed, magical or exceptional horses that you must either exclusively or never put on a golden bridle, like in Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf. Perhaps it grants a boost to animal handling? Or it could belong to a Phantom Steed?

But for these I don't know:

The Sword of Truth. Brennan has already said this isn't from a specific story but just an "archetypcal fairy tale sword", but I'm really wracking my brain for his inspiration. I'd call it an archetypal fantasy sword. I don't know many fairy tales where a specific sword holds magic power. And the only sword to do with truth I know of is the blade "Fragarach" from Irish Mythology, which apparantly could make anyone tell the truth, but I haven't found the source material for that...

The Black Velvet Cloak with Stars. I have no idea if this is supposed to refer to something. Brennan described it as having stars embroidered on the inside of the cloak, so perhaps it has something to do with hiding light or carrying the night with you, but I really don't know. Very vexing

[theragamuffininitiative]

Okay tell me ALL about your fairy tale retelling WIP, I am most curious!!

hi hi hi!

Brief lil disclaimer here: I wrote this story as my nanowrimo project back in erm 2021 and have barely looked at it since. (working on that!) Everything I am about to say is based on my memory of how the story was working at the time and a couple glances at my documents tonight - and if I say something in this post that I like better than what I originally had, I will run with it. XD

Right then!

Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf is a Russian fairytale classified as a 550 on the ATU folklore index (a fact I sprinkle in not to be pretentious but bc I recently discovered the index and it is fascinating). This basically means the story revolves around catching a mystical bird, sometimes a phoenix, and involves a princess, usually a horse, and some supernatural animal helper. In my retelling, I also take from the Grimm Brothers' The Golden Bird version.

As you know, I fell into the intrigue of this tale when visiting an art museum displaying Vasnetsov's A Knight at the Crossroads, which is a reference to this tale. Now, Vasnetsov also painted Tsarevitch Ivan on a Gray Wolf:

And it's just so????!

In my retelling of this fairytale, our hero is a bit of a simple boy. He is content with simple things and a simple life after his near-death at a young age to a mysterious wasting disease spreading across the land - a madness that robs the infected of sleep and appetite until they go insane. The only cure is the fruit of an equally mysterious tree. Ivan fears his healing may have not been complete, for he has not felt the need for sleep or food the way he ought to ever since.

When fruit begins to disappear from the closely protected tree, the threat of losing the cure drives Ivan into action. An enchantment of sleep shields the thief from being captured. Here, Ivan's curse is a boon, as he alone sees a great golden bird steal the fruit. Although a great company set out to capture the bird, Ivan becomes separated from them and lost. At an ancient crossroads that promises death in every direction, he meets the Wolf, the instrument of the crossroads' doom. When the Wolf unexpectedly takes Ivan to find his missing companions, they discover the whole company has fallen to the madness - Ivan's brother among them.

It is no disease, but a curse.

Ivan, now with the Wolf, seeks aid from his best friend, the Princess Evolett, who was to be wed to the prince of the neighboring country and seal a treaty of peace between them. But all is not as it seems in these foreign lands, and Ivan must work with the Wolf to capture the golden bird, protect the fruit tree, rescue Evolett, heal the madness, prevent war between the two kingdoms, and defeat a dark enchantment for good - if the Wolf, the madness, or a multitude of other enemies don't kill him first... [ramble continued below the cut]

I love, love, love playing around with the fairytale motifs in this story.

For example, the original fairytale has a very episodic, repetitive sort of scavenger hunt that Ivan is forced into. I messed with it a lot to give the different elements their own, interconnected importance: the tree is a magical cure, the bird has magical elements of its own, the golden cage from some versions of the tale is a metaphor for the princess's imprisonment, the inns are not merely symbolism for laziness but traps laid by a powerful enemy to serve a dark purpose, and nothing is as it would seem - least of all Ivan or the Wolf.

The characteristics for Ivan specifically came to me while watching Mal in the first season of Netflix's Shadow and Bone.

I really love Mal's stubborn tenacity, fierce loyalty, and simplistic personal goals in the face of all the complexity and conniving of everything around him. Since this fairytale showcases a "simpleton" character, I wanted to show that character at their very best.

Also! I love writing Ivan and the Wolf. Ivan's plucky, irreverent sense of humor set against the Wolf's stoic, utterly dry and cold attitude is so much fun to play with. 👏

(tried to credit the images by link, not sure if that worked)

Excerpt from Ivan meeting the Wolf:

Then the wolf made a guttural, whining sound from the back of its throat, a sound which rolled forward out of its mouth and formed into four distinct words. "Will you kill me?" Ivan stared at it.  Having never met a wolf before, he couldn’t say with absolute authority that they did not speak, but he also thought that if they had, someone might have mentioned it to him once upon a time. This one, however, most assuredly had spoken. He supposed he should have asked it to repeat itself, or even agreed with the sentiment and at once lifted his weapon. Instead, he considered the question posed to him. "I don't think so," he said in the end. "Not unless I have to.”  He didn’t add that this was because he didn’t think he could beat the wolf if he tried. There was something else at work here, as he had feared, and he needed to find out what the game was. In his head, he noted that this creature was not merely a wolf, but the Wolf. The wolf made another noise, and this sounded like a quiet, “Ah, then.” “What will you do if I come down?” Ivan ventured to ask. The Wolf blinked lazily. “I have deprived you of your mount,” it stated. “I have come to take you where you must go.” That didn’t sound promising, although slightly better than admitting it wanted to gobble him up. “Are you fae?” Ivan called to it. He felt he remembered something from his father’s stories that the fae had to answer truthfully the questions you asked them directly. “I am not.” Enchanted or a liar, then. A wolf given the tongue of man. It also seemed to think something like a man, though its tone was distant and cold. “How can I trust you?” he asked it. The Wolf stared at him, not responding, and cocked its head. So maybe not the thinking of a man. Maybe the concept of trust was foreign to it still. He tried something less abstract. “Are you going to attack me?” “That is not my purpose,” said the Wolf. “There is an inn, a long distance from here. You have strayed from the path and it took me some time to find you, but I can lead you there, through ways horse hooves cannot tread, before the Wood grows dark.” “Is leading me to the inn your purpose?” “It is.” “Why?” The Wolf had to think about this, and Ivan thought again that it didn’t seem to be comfortable with questions that involved reasoning beyond cold facts. “The crossroads demand a price from everyone who passes through them. The price is set by your choice and you have chosen. Now I will take you where your path leads.”

Yes, I'll take "uneasy partnerships founded on enmity but sealed in friendship" for $500, thank you.

A messy music playlist I haven't touched since NaNo writing: here It's a story of family, loyalty, honor, and simple truths more powerful than any deep enchantment. 🥺😭

Excited to write Evolett more, she is a spitfire and impressed by no one (even when probably she should be, for her own good lol). Ivan's father was an adventurer in his own day, and I love writing little nods to his offstage capers - there's an invisibility cloak!

Ivan's brother is kind of a jerk. 🙈 But hey, still family. And he's less of a jerk than the guys in the old fairytale ok. 😅 Probably.

Ok, I feel like that's a pretty boring ramble, but I have tried to type this up about five different times so here we are! I have shed tears over Ivan and the Wolf, and lived in the nonsense from the random old woman running the dilapidated inn next to the one that breathes enchantment, and sketched out the borderlines between kingdoms and the unseen shadowy arm reaching across borders to ensnare them all, and written a lot of dog jokes. I love this one, I can't wait to get back into it. 😊

Thank you for asking and letting me ramble! 💛

[russianfolklore]

Pyotr Bagin’s illustration for the tale “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”.

[pricescigar]

Dad Perseus "What If" HC

Perseus never saw himself in becoming a father, but all of that changed when he put Elvira Wolff under his care

After being harshly mistreated by her own father, he sought to make sure she would have the best last few years of her childhood

He pretty much homeschooled her, for the duration of the school years. Teaching her meany things, along with his agents and other comrades.

Occasionally he hosted serious and important meetings, with Elvira fast asleep in his arms. Such seriousness plastered on his face, but also had a soft touch too

The first time Elvira called him "Dad" the smile never left his face, and was the happiest he could ever be in a long time

The first time he took her to a store to buy new toys, Elvira looked at him with the most confused face. Assuring to pick one of them, she eventually did. When he saw she liked another one, he got that too.

Taking her to the beach the first time? Absolutely, he helped her build a sand castle. Many actually, and made up a game he thought of too. To build shabby castle, and to dump water on them to destroy them. Let's just say Elvira had fun, constantly dumping the water on the many shabby castles she did. A little comrade in the making he'd say to his agents.

Russian Folklore & Fairy tales? Sure. Baba Yaga, the princess who never smiled, vasillia the beautiful, father frost, Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf, the death of koschei the immortal. And many more!

Was she scared of these stories? Certainly not, which Perseus found odd. But didn't pay no mind to it.

Perseus would call her Elvira or "Little comrade." Or the odd Russian Nickname here and there

Letting her get the books all she wanted in the shop, and he would get it for her

She was his little comrade after all

[mistysworldboutique]

Link to my shop.⁣ https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com ⁣ This is a painting from 1880 titled "The Flying Carpet" by Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov. He was known for his paintings from Russian folklore.⁣ ⁣ It shows a scene from the Russian Fairy Tale "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf". Tsarevitch (Son of the Tsar) Ivan is the main character of a number of Russian Fairy Tales. In this one, he sets out to catch the firebird for his father. After screwing up a few times, he succeeds. ⁣ ⁣ In the version shown in this painting, he is assisted by a witch named Baba Yaga who gives him this magical carpet, and we see Ivan riding it, with the firebird in its cage. ⁣ ⁣ Baba Yaga is well known in Slavic folklore. She travels above the thick forests in a mortar while propelling herself with a pestle. That seems like a very uncomfortable way to travel, and I have no idea why she'd do so if she had a flying carpet at her disposal.🤷🏼‍♀️⁣ ⁣ When most people think of flying carpets, they think of Middle Eastern Tales from the Islamic Empire. Their history goes back further though.⁣ ⁣ Two separate stories credit King Solomon with having one. In one, such a carpet was a gift from the Queen of Sheba, and in another, a carpet capable of carrying 40,000 men was a gift from God. ⁣ Obviously such a device would make a good weapon, and by some 2nd Century accounts, King Phraates II of Parthia used one to rain down fire on his enemy, Antiochus.☄️ I have no idea how he got the fire up there with him.🔥⁣ ⁣ In another story, Shapur, 3rd Century ruler of the Sassanian Empire used such a carpet to sneak into a Roman camp and abduct Emperor Valerian, who was killed in captivity. ⁣ ⁣ Lots of people associate a magic carpet with "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," but the original tale had no carpet. The story was only added to the "Thousand and One Nights" in the 18th Century, by Antoine Galland, French scholar and Ambassador to Constantinople. He wrote that he'd heard it from a Syrian storyteller in 1709. In the original story, when Princess Badroulbadour and her bridegroom were kidnapped on their wedding night, they were carried through the air by the genie of the lamp, on their wedding bed.🛏🧞‍♂️🪔

[featherdownmoor]

Russian folktale and fairytale illustrations according to the seasons, all by Ivan Bilibin. 

Ivan and the Firebird (from epic folktale “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”)

The Red Horseman (from folktale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”)

The Black Horseman (from folktale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”) 

Vasilisa (from folktale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”)

Baba Yaga 

The Snow Maiden 

Father Frost

[spacesuitsforemergency]

🐧 + Nina ? please ?

Their favourite Disney/Pixar movie: Anastasia (it’s on Disney+ I’m counting it-)

Their go-to style of clothing: Goth/E-Girl

Their favourite vacation memory: She went on a mission to Morocco with the Widows, and they ended up staying for a week or two just relaxing (and she actually got some sun for once)

Their favourite fairy tale: Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf

One hidden talent of theirs: She can laugh without moving her face at all, like her face is neutral but she’s laughing and it creeps some people out

One thing they've kept since childhood days: She doesn’t really have anything left, the oldest thing she owns is some of her sister Kavya’s stuff and that’s only from a couple years ago

Their favourite holiday memory: Yule/Winter Solstice back in her old village, basically it’s a huge feast cause Vikings will use anything to have a giant ass feast that lasts for days

Their first crush: Wayde

Something they would never admit to anybody: Eh, she has nothing to hide and she’s shameless

Their favourite wild animal: Wolves are cool, her parents hunted them when she was little and she used to have a wolf fur coat

[boarix]

7 Day S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

7. Last Orders at the Dugout

Starring: Sole Survivor Wraith, Dogmeat and the brothers Bobrov (Fallout 4)

  “We need a room.” Wraith and Dogmeat were absolutely filthy: covered head to toe in that cement-like mixture of mud and worse, common to adventures. Obviously tired, she sagged into a seat and laid her head down on the table, “And food, please.”

“You look like you might be needing a bath most of all.” Yefim crinkled his nose and frowned down at the footprints they were leaving across his floor.

Vadim shook a finger at his brother “Ah, Yefim, you are too harsh! Welcome, Minutemen’s General,” He held his arms out expansively, “what can I get for you and your four-legged friend?”

Wraith’s voice was muffled as she spoke to the tabletop, “Dogmeat, you order. I’m too tired.”

Scarlett had already left for the evening and so the German shepherd sauntered up to the bar, and placing his front paws on the counter, proceeded to place their order, “Grroww uf. Yaff grrrfff. Yuff grrr yip yip!”

The big Russian nodded sagely, “Ah, I see. Now, will you be wanting those rare?” He gave a short, barking laugh, “What am I even asking for? Of course they should be rare!”

“Bark, ufff grruf!”

After about ten minutes, Vadim brought out two plates; each with a perfectly “cooked” brahmin steak and mountains of mashed tatos and carrots, “Your order, tovarisch.”

Wraith was asleep: her arms limp to either side of her and a small pool of drool was forming on the tabletop from her open mouth. She was snoring as well. All of which the bartender politely ignored.

Dogmeat was torn between letting her sleep and making sure she was fed. He sat for a moment, cocking his head this way and that, before making a decision. Letting out a low whine he placed his cool nose into her palm.

She snorted, sat up like a Jack-in-a box and looked around, confused, “Where is this?!” After blinking furiously she shook her head, and smiled down at the dog, “What would I ever do without you, buddy?” She got up and pulled another chair closer to her table so he could sit and eat with her.

Vadim thought this was hilarious; his bombastic laughter echoing throughout the bar. His brother was less approving and after making several loud unhappy noises, announced he was going to bed and that Wraith could just “take whatever room you want and pay me in the morning”.

The bar was empty save for the three of them and after she had eaten, Wraith offered to help clean up. They made short work of any mess and then Vadim offered her a drink “on the house”. The two humans sat quietly sipping moonshine in the empty bar until Wraith hefted the dog up on her lap and nuzzled him affectionately.

“Ahh to be friends with a wolf. Ha! This reminds me of Russian folklore. Have you ever heard ‘Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf’?”  

Though tired and worn, Wraith smiled her encouragement and nursing her drink, listened to her friend spin tails of his ancestral homeland until the wee hours of the morning.

This was a lot of fun! Many thanks go to @theartofblossoming for creating this prompt list and for the tag! :) 

All 7 days are canon within Wraith in the Ruins Thank you for reading! =^..^=

[franticbindings]

A Chuubo’s Quest For A Character I’m Probably Not Gonna Get To Play

Ivan and The Wolf: 0/35 XP

You’ve been cursed by the Student Council. You know that you’re now sharing your mind/body/soul with… something. You can feel it corrupting you even while it grants you strength. You’re trying to come to terms with this change in your circumstances and discover just what kind of being you’re stuck with. It mostly doesn’t feel intelligent, but sometimes you’ll do something and you’ll feel a pulse of recognition from it. You earn XP for this quest by coping with your passenger, trying to discover things about your passenger and re-enacting things significant to your passenger. By the end of the quest you will have discovered that you have been bound to The Wolf King, an ancient monster out of a fairy tale who was trapped by your ancestors in a gusli when they still lived in the old country. 

Major Goals:

You discover the truth of what you’ve been bound to.

Someone asks if you’re OK and you actually tell the truth.

You’re about to accomplish something important, only to get completely sidetracked

Quest Flavor:

You deflect or hide how much you’re suffering

You propose a theory about what you’ve been bound to.

You lay out the options for someone / You get to choose, but all the options are bad

You carry someone / Someone carries you

You give someone a warning / You ignore a warning

You make a bad first impression / You make a good first impression

You act out of vengeance / You are betrayed

(This quest is based off of the Russian fairy tale “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”, except in the universe of the game the Wolf was unable to bring Ivan back to life and decided to swear vengeance against the family that betrayed and killed him. For the quest flavors separated by a slash, the one on the left is something the wolf does in the story and the one on the right is corresponding action of Ivan.)

[sahaminiloki]

Sheith GrayWolf-AU

AU based on a Russian fairytale “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”

[dejavidetc]

my piece for wonderful @inkedfairytales Zine!  My fairy tale was Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf and I’ve made it a noir AU

[theragamuffininitiative]

🎶

Ooh boy, two asks! 😅

Ok uhhh here we go....!

This song is strongly linked in my mind to my story, The Wolf, the Madness, and the Golden Bird. Specifically, the connections between the protagonist Rian, the Wolf, and the evil enchanter:

The Wolf stood next to the enchanter as though standing were the only thing it was still capable of doing. Its legs shook with effort and its eyes were cloudy and pained; the sharpness of them was gone, replaced by an empty, hungry stare. Its tail was tucked around its back leg as it hunkered beside the enchanter, a snarl fixed on its face as it watched Rian, its ears low and twisting with annoyance or fear.

(Ugh, I really, really need to dive into the worldbuilding of this one and finish it. 😭 It's my retelling of "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf.")