The Maiden Tsar

The Maiden Tsar (Russian: Царь-девица, romanized: Tsar-devitsa, Tsar-Maiden, Tsar-Maid) is a character in East Slavic folktales. It is best known from Alexander Afanasyev's eight-volume collection Narodnye russkie skazki (1855—1863), folktale "Царь-девица"; variants recorded in Orenburg Governorate (number 232) and Perm Governorate (number 233).^[1]

The tale is classified - and gives its name - to tale type SUS 400/2, "Russian: Царь-девица, romanized: Tsar-devitsa, lit. 'Tsar-Maiden'", of the East Slavic Folktale Catalogue (Russian: СУС, romanized: SUS).^[2]^[3] The East Slavic type corresponds, in the international catalogue of the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, to tale type ATU 400, "The Quest for the Lost Wife".^[4]

Synopsis by Afanasyev, 232

The synopsis below follows version 232.^[1] In version 233^[1] the protagonist is Vasily Tsarevich, son of tsar and tsarina.

A merchant and his wife have a son who they name Ivan. The mother dies and the merchant puts Ivan in the care of a tutor, meanwhile, he marries again. The stepmother falls in love with Ivan after he comes of age. One day, Ivan and his tutor went to the sea to fish and saw a fleet. The Maiden Tsar and her foster sisters were on board and, seeing Ivan and the tutor floating on a raft, dropped anchor and invited them onto the ship. The Maiden Tsar said she was in love with Ivan and wanted to marry him, to which Ivan agreed. The Maiden Tsar asked him to return the next day, then left.

The stepmother learned of this and became jealous; she ordered the tutor to put a pin inside of Ivan’s tunic, which would put him into a deep sleep that nobody could wake him up from until the pin was removed. For three days, the tutor did this, but the Maiden Tsar figured out the ruse and wrote a letter to Ivan, telling him to cut off the man’s head and find her in the thrice tenth kingdom.

Ivan read the letter and killed the tutor before going off to the find the Maiden Tsar. He found a hut, where Baba Yaga lived, and asked her if she knew the way to the kingdom. The old woman did not know the way, but told him to visit her sister. She, also, did not know the way to the kingdom, but said that her sister might. She warned him to ask her for three horns and blow louder on each of them, or he would be eaten by her.

Ivan reached the youngest sister’s home and begged her to let him blow three horns. A firebird came and took Ivan away from the cannibal and flew him to the thrice tenth kingdom. He met a woman who asked him about his journey. She warned him that the princess did not love him anymore as she took out her heart and put it away. The woman promised to ask her daughter, who worked in the Maiden Tsar’s palace, where it was. The next day, the mother asked her daughter where the heart was, but she did not know and promised she would ask.

When the daughter came back the next day and told her mother where the heart was, Ivan went in search of it. He brought it back to the Maiden Tsar at a party and the two went back to her kingdom and got married.

Other occurrences

The motif was used in a number literary fairy tales and children's poems, e.g., Marina Tsvetaeva's poem (1920),^[5]^[6] Gavrila Derzhavin's ballad,^[7]^[8] Vladimir Odoyevsky's children's play,^[9] sometimes by title only, e.g., Konstantin Balmont's poem^[10] or Vsevolod Solovyov (1878, historical novel)^[11]

Ivan Tsarevich and Tsar Maiden, I.D.Sytin, 2014^[12]
Maiden Tsar from Pyotr Yershov's The Little Humpbacked Horse (Konyok-Gorbunok)^[13]
The Little Humpbacked Horse, 1901 revival, Lyubov Roslavleva as the Tsar Maiden (front, standing)
Pierina Legnani as the Tsar Maiden in Marius Petipa's revival of The Little Humpbacked Horse, 1895.

Translations

Alexander Afanasyev. Russian Fairy Tales. Translated by Norbert Guterman. NY: Pantheon, 1973. 229-234.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c s:ru:Народные русские сказки (Афанасьев)/Царь-девица (Wikisource)
^ Barag, Lev. "Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка". Leningrad: НАУКА, 1979. p. 128.
^ Haney, Jack V. The Complete Russian Folktale. Vol. 1: An Introduction to the Russian Folktale. Armonk, New York; London, England: M. E Sharpe. 2001. pp. 244-247. ISBN 1-56324-489-6
^ Johns, Andreas. Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale. New York: Peter Lang. 2010 [2004]. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-8204-6769-6.
^ s:ru:Царь-Девица (Цветаева)
^ Marina Tsvetaeva, Царь-девица : поэма-сказка
^ s:ru:Царь-девица (Державин)
^ Герлован О. К.: О жанре и литературных источниках "Царь-девицы" Г. Р. Державина
^ s:ru:Царь-Девица (Одоевский)
^ s:ru:Царь-Девица (Бальмонт)
^ Vsevolod Solovyov, Царь-девица
^ File:Иван-царевич и царь-девица (Сытин) 3.jpg, and further pages
^ s:ru:Конёк-горбунок (Ершов)

[sru-1] s:ru:Народные русские сказки (Афанасьев)/Царь-девица (Wikisource)

[2] Barag, Lev. "Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка". Leningrad: НАУКА, 1979. p. 128.

[3] Haney, Jack V. The Complete Russian Folktale. Vol. 1: An Introduction to the Russian Folktale. Armonk, New York; London, England: M. E Sharpe. 2001. pp. 244-247. ISBN 1-56324-489-6

[4] Johns, Andreas. Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale. New York: Peter Lang. 2010 [2004]. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-8204-6769-6.

[5] s:ru:Царь-Девица (Цветаева)

[6] Marina Tsvetaeva, Царь-девица : поэма-сказка

[7] s:ru:Царь-девица (Державин)

[8] Герлован О. К.: О жанре и литературных источниках "Царь-девицы" Г. Р. Державина

[9] s:ru:Царь-Девица (Одоевский)

[10] s:ru:Царь-Девица (Бальмонт)

[11] Vsevolod Solovyov, Царь-девица

[12] File:Иван-царевич и царь-девица (Сытин) 3.jpg, and further pages

[13] s:ru:Конёк-горбунок (Ершов)

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v t e Russian fairy tales
Key articles	Skazka Bylina Folklore of Russia Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Pushkin
Tales in Narodnye russkie skazki collected by Afanasyev	"Koschei the Immortal" "Vasilisa the Beautiful" "Vasilisa the Priest's Daughter" "Father Frost" "Sister Alenushka and Brother Ivanushka" "The Frog Princess" "Vasilii the Unlucky" "The White Duck" "The Princess Who Never Smiled" "The Wicked Sisters" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Magic Swan Geese" "The Feather of Finist the Falcon" "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" "The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life" "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What" "The Golden Slipper" "The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa" "The Wise Little Girl" "The Armless Maiden" "The Gigantic Turnip" "Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son" "Emelya the Simpleton/At the Pike's Behest" "The Fiend" "The Lute Player" "The Language of the Birds" "The Maiden Tsar" "The Sea Tsar and Vasilisa the Wise" "The Norka" "Dawn, Midnight and Twilight" "Verlioka" "Sivko-Burko" "Donotknow"
Tales by Pushkin	"Ruslan and Ludmila" "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel"
Other	"The Little Humpbacked Horse" "The Scarlet Flower" "The Snow Maiden" "The Hairy Man" "King Kojata" "The Tale About Baba-Yaga" "The Wonderful Birch" "The Girl as Soldier" "Green-Vanka"