Russian Fairy Tales

The Russian story telling tradition is one of the oldest and richest in the world. The astonishing variety and breadth of Russia's peoples, stretching from the Baltic coast to the furtherest reaches of Siberia, contributed countless fantastic tales comprising a shared folk heritage. These stories, or skazki, were passed down orally until finally recorded in print in the late 18th century. They draw on the myths of a deep pagan past, a past in which the winters of the broad, windswept steppe held both an enchantment and a dread, a time in which the darkening forest cast longer shadows than they do today. Illustrated in black and white, this book is filled with tales of magic animals, bold heroes, and one of the most chilling witches ever to reach the page.