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The Norka

January 01, 1970

The Norka (Russian: Норка-зверь, "Norka-Animal") is a Russian and Ukrainian fairy tale published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection of Russian Fairy Tales, numbered 132.

The Norka
The youngest prince defeats the fierce Norka by the sea cliffs. Illustration from The Red Fairy Book.
Folk tale
NameThe Norka
RegionEastern Europe
Published in
Related

Origin edit

William Ralston Shedden-Ralston indicated the story originated in the Southern Russian Empire, from the Chernigov Governorate (an area roughly consistent with the Chernihiv Oblast in modern Ukraine, but also including parts of Sumy Oblast in Ukraine and Bryansk Oblast in Russia).[1][2] Czech folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben asserts the same tale.[3]

Summary edit

The King is unable to destroy the Norka, a huge beast who is devouring his animals. He offers half his kingdom to any one of his sons who kills the Norka. The two eldest sons drink and revel instead of hunting the beast. The youngest third son, a simpleton, wounds and chases the beast. The beast escapes under a great stone. The third son descends to the underworld and meets a talking horse who calls him Ivan and takes him to a copper palace owned by a beautiful woman, a sister of the Norka. He travels to a silver palace and a golden palace, also owned by the sisters of the Norka. The third and youngest sister tells him that Norka is asleep on the sea. She gives him a sword and the Water of Strength, and tells him to cut off her brother's head with a single stroke. He cuts off the Norka's head, which says "Well, I'm done for now!", and rolls into the sea.

The three sisters are in love with him, so he takes them with him to the surface world. They change their palaces into eggs with magic, teach him how to do it, and give him the eggs. His brothers pull the three maidens up, but try to kill the third son by cutting the rope halfway up. He substituted a stone for himself, however, so he was not killed. Stranded in the underworld, he sadly wandered away as it rains. He covers some baby birds with his coat to protect them from the rain. The giant mother bird is grateful and carries him to the surface.

A tailor tells him that the two princes are going to marry the maidens from the underworld, but the maidens refuse to be married until wedding dresses are made in the underworld style, and without measuring them. The third son tells the tailor to accept the job to make the clothes for the wedding. At night, the third son turns the eggs into palaces, takes the maiden's clothes from the palaces, and turns the palaces into eggs again. He gives the dresses to the tailor who is paid richly by the King. He visits the shoemaker and other artificers and does the same thing. The youngest maiden recognizes him (in rags), grabs him, and takes him to the palace. She explains to the king what happened and that the brothers threatened to kill them if they said the third son was alive. The King punishes the two brothers. Three weddings are celebrated.

Translations edit

Folklorist Andrew Lang translated and published the tale in The Red Fairy Book. Although he gave no source for the tale, it was taken verbatim from the book Russian Folk-tales by W. R. S. Ralston,[4] published in 1873 by Smith, Elder, & co. and re-published by Kessinger Publishing in 2004.

A version published by folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben was translated as Norka, the Beast.[5]

Professor Jack Haney translated the tale as The Norka Beast.[6]

Analysis edit

Tale type edit

William Ralston Shedden-Ralston noted that this plot (the third/youngest prince descends into an underworld and rescues three maidens) "form[ed] the theme of numerous skazkas".[7]

Soon after he developed his classification of folktales, Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne published, in 1912, a study on the collections of the Brothers Grimm, Austrian consul Johann Georg von Hahn, Danish folklorist Svend Grundtvig, Swiss scholar Laura Gonzenbach and Alexander Afanasyev. According to this primary system, developed in 1910, the tale fits type 301A,[a] "The Three Stolen Princesses".[9]

Professor Jack Haney confirmed the classification of the tale as AT 301, "The Three Stolen Princesses".[10] In fact, the tale type, also known as "Three Kingdoms - Copper, Silver and Golden", is one of "the most popular Russian folktales",[11] as well as "one of the most popular in the East Slavic tradition".[12] In Ukraine alone, professor Andrejev noted that, among the "Tales of Magic", tale type 301, "The Three Kingdoms and the Stolen Princesses", was one of "the most frequently collected", with 31 variants.[13]

Motifs edit

Both William Ralston Shedden-Ralston and scholar Jack Haney pointed out that the name "Norka" must refer to the European otter, Mustela lutreola.[14][10]

In regards to the journey on the eagle's back, folklorist scholarship recognizes its similarities with the tale of Etana helping an eagle, a tale type later classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 537, "The Eagle as helper: hero carried on the wings of a helpful eagle".[15]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ The third revision of the Aarne-Thompson classification system, made in 2004 by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, subsumed both subtypes AaTh 301A and AaTh 301B into the new type ATU 301.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ Ralston 1873, p. 86.
  2. ^ "Chernihiv gubernia". www.encyclopediaofukraine.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  3. ^ Erben, Karel Jaromír; Strickland, Walter William. Russian and Bulgarian folk-lore stories. London: G. Standring. 1907. p. 22.
  4. ^ Ralston 1873, pp. 86–92.
  5. ^ Erben, Karel Jaromír; Strickland, Walter William. Russian and Bulgarian folk-lore stories. London: G. Standring. 1907. pp. 22-26.
  6. ^ Haney, Jack V., ed. (2014). "The Norka Beast". The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev: Volume I. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 264–268. ISBN 978-1-62846-093-3. JSTOR j.ctt9qhm7n.83.
  7. ^ Ralston 1873, p. 96.
  8. ^ Uther, Hans-Jörg. The types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Folklore Fellows Communicating (FFC) n. 284. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia-Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004. p. 177.
  9. ^ Aarne, Antti. Übersicht der mit dem Verzeichnis der Märchentypen in den Sammlungen Grimms, Grundtvigs, Afanasjews, Gonzenbachs und Hahns übereinstimmenden Märchen. FFC 10. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Kustantama, 1912. p. 8. [1]
  10. ^ a b Haney, Jack V., ed. (2014). "Commentaries". The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev: Volume I. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 491–510. ISBN 978-1-62846-093-3. JSTOR j.ctt9qhm7n.115.
  11. ^ Anglickienė, Laimutė (2013). Slavic folklore: didactical guidelines (PDF). Kaunas. p. 125. hdl:20.500.12259/49262. ISBN 978-9955-21-352-9.
  12. ^ Haney, Jack V. (2013). Long, Long Tales from the Russian North. University Press of Mississippi. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-62103-923-5. Project MUSE book 23487.
  13. ^ Andrejev, Nikolai P. (January 1958). "A Characterization of the Ukrainian Tale Corpus". Fabula. 1 (2): 228–238. doi:10.1515/fabl.1958.1.2.228. S2CID 163283485.
  14. ^ Ralston 1873, p. 96 (footnore nr. 85).
  15. ^ Annus, Amar & Sarv, Mari. "The Ball Game Motif in the Gilgamesh Tradition and International Folklore". In: Mesopotamia in the Ancient World: Impact, Continuities, Parallels. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of the Melammu Project Held in Obergurgl, Austria, November 4-8, 2013. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag - Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH. 2015. pp. 289-290. ISBN 978-3-86835-128-6

Sources edit

  • Ralston, William Ralston Shedden (1873). Russian Folk-tales. Smith, Elder, & Company. hdl:2027/uc1.31158010565728. OCLC 574481117.

External links edit

  • The Norka
  • The original text of the tale, in Russian at Wikisource.

January 01, 1970
norka, russian, Норка, зверь, norka, animal, russian, ukrainian, fairy, tale, published, alexander, afanasyev, collection, russian, fairy, tales, numbered, youngest, prince, defeats, fierce, norka, cliffs, illustration, from, fairy, book, folk, talenameregione. The Norka Russian Norka zver Norka Animal is a Russian and Ukrainian fairy tale published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection of Russian Fairy Tales numbered 132 The NorkaThe youngest prince defeats the fierce Norka by the sea cliffs Illustration from The Red Fairy Book Folk taleNameThe NorkaRegionEastern EuropePublished inRussian Fairy Tales by Alexander Afanasyev 1865 Russian Folk Tales by William Ralston Shedden Ralston 1873 RelatedThe Three Kingdoms fr Dawn Midnight and Twilight Contents 1 Origin 2 Summary 3 Translations 4 Analysis 4 1 Tale type 4 2 Motifs 5 See also 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 Sources 9 External linksOrigin editWilliam Ralston Shedden Ralston indicated the story originated in the Southern Russian Empire from the Chernigov Governorate an area roughly consistent with the Chernihiv Oblast in modern Ukraine but also including parts of Sumy Oblast in Ukraine and Bryansk Oblast in Russia 1 2 Czech folklorist Karel Jaromir Erben asserts the same tale 3 Summary editThe King is unable to destroy the Norka a huge beast who is devouring his animals He offers half his kingdom to any one of his sons who kills the Norka The two eldest sons drink and revel instead of hunting the beast The youngest third son a simpleton wounds and chases the beast The beast escapes under a great stone The third son descends to the underworld and meets a talking horse who calls him Ivan and takes him to a copper palace owned by a beautiful woman a sister of the Norka He travels to a silver palace and a golden palace also owned by the sisters of the Norka The third and youngest sister tells him that Norka is asleep on the sea She gives him a sword and the Water of Strength and tells him to cut off her brother s head with a single stroke He cuts off the Norka s head which says Well I m done for now and rolls into the sea The three sisters are in love with him so he takes them with him to the surface world They change their palaces into eggs with magic teach him how to do it and give him the eggs His brothers pull the three maidens up but try to kill the third son by cutting the rope halfway up He substituted a stone for himself however so he was not killed Stranded in the underworld he sadly wandered away as it rains He covers some baby birds with his coat to protect them from the rain The giant mother bird is grateful and carries him to the surface A tailor tells him that the two princes are going to marry the maidens from the underworld but the maidens refuse to be married until wedding dresses are made in the underworld style and without measuring them The third son tells the tailor to accept the job to make the clothes for the wedding At night the third son turns the eggs into palaces takes the maiden s clothes from the palaces and turns the palaces into eggs again He gives the dresses to the tailor who is paid richly by the King He visits the shoemaker and other artificers and does the same thing The youngest maiden recognizes him in rags grabs him and takes him to the palace She explains to the king what happened and that the brothers threatened to kill them if they said the third son was alive The King punishes the two brothers Three weddings are celebrated Translations editFolklorist Andrew Lang translated and published the tale in The Red Fairy Book Although he gave no source for the tale it was taken verbatim from the book Russian Folk tales by W R S Ralston 4 published in 1873 by Smith Elder amp co and re published by Kessinger Publishing in 2004 A version published by folklorist Karel Jaromir Erben was translated as Norka the Beast 5 Professor Jack Haney translated the tale as The Norka Beast 6 Analysis editTale type edit William Ralston Shedden Ralston noted that this plot the third youngest prince descends into an underworld and rescues three maidens form ed the theme of numerous skazkas 7 Soon after he developed his classification of folktales Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne published in 1912 a study on the collections of the Brothers Grimm Austrian consul Johann Georg von Hahn Danish folklorist Svend Grundtvig Swiss scholar Laura Gonzenbach and Alexander Afanasyev According to this primary system developed in 1910 the tale fits type 301A a The Three Stolen Princesses 9 Professor Jack Haney confirmed the classification of the tale as AT 301 The Three Stolen Princesses 10 In fact the tale type also known as Three Kingdoms Copper Silver and Golden is one of the most popular Russian folktales 11 as well as one of the most popular in the East Slavic tradition 12 In Ukraine alone professor Andrejev noted that among the Tales of Magic tale type 301 The Three Kingdoms and the Stolen Princesses was one of the most frequently collected with 31 variants 13 Motifs edit Both William Ralston Shedden Ralston and scholar Jack Haney pointed out that the name Norka must refer to the European otter Mustela lutreola 14 10 In regards to the journey on the eagle s back folklorist scholarship recognizes its similarities with the tale of Etana helping an eagle a tale type later classified as Aarne Thompson Uther ATU 537 The Eagle as helper hero carried on the wings of a helpful eagle 15 See also editPraslea the Brave and the Golden Apples Romanian fairy tale The Story of Bensurdatu Italian fairy tale Dawn Midnight and Twilight Russian fairy tale Jean de l Ours The Gnome German fairy tale Footnotes edit The third revision of the Aarne Thompson classification system made in 2004 by German folklorist Hans Jorg Uther subsumed both subtypes AaTh 301A and AaTh 301B into the new type ATU 301 8 References edit Ralston 1873 p 86 Chernihiv gubernia www encyclopediaofukraine com Retrieved 2023 07 11 Erben Karel Jaromir Strickland Walter William Russian and Bulgarian folk lore stories London G Standring 1907 p 22 Ralston 1873 pp 86 92 Erben Karel Jaromir Strickland Walter William Russian and Bulgarian folk lore stories London G Standring 1907 pp 22 26 Haney Jack V ed 2014 The Norka Beast The Complete Folktales of A N Afanas ev Volume I University Press of Mississippi pp 264 268 ISBN 978 1 62846 093 3 JSTOR j ctt9qhm7n 83 Ralston 1873 p 96 Uther Hans Jorg The types of International Folktales A Classification and Bibliography Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson Folklore Fellows Communicating FFC n 284 Helsinki Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia Academia Scientiarum Fennica 2004 p 177 Aarne Antti Ubersicht der mit dem Verzeichnis der Marchentypen in den Sammlungen Grimms Grundtvigs Afanasjews Gonzenbachs und Hahns ubereinstimmenden Marchen FFC 10 Helsinki Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Kustantama 1912 p 8 1 a b Haney Jack V ed 2014 Commentaries The Complete Folktales of A N Afanas ev Volume I University Press of Mississippi pp 491 510 ISBN 978 1 62846 093 3 JSTOR j ctt9qhm7n 115 Anglickiene Laimute 2013 Slavic folklore didactical guidelines PDF Kaunas p 125 hdl 20 500 12259 49262 ISBN 978 9955 21 352 9 Haney Jack V 2013 Long Long Tales from the Russian North University Press of Mississippi p 297 ISBN 978 1 62103 923 5 Project MUSE book 23487 Andrejev Nikolai P January 1958 A Characterization of the Ukrainian Tale Corpus Fabula 1 2 228 238 doi 10 1515 fabl 1958 1 2 228 S2CID 163283485 Ralston 1873 p 96 footnore nr 85 Annus Amar amp Sarv Mari The Ball Game Motif in the Gilgamesh Tradition and International Folklore In Mesopotamia in the Ancient World Impact Continuities Parallels Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of the Melammu Project Held in Obergurgl Austria November 4 8 2013 Munster Ugarit Verlag Buch und Medienhandel GmbH 2015 pp 289 290 ISBN 978 3 86835 128 6Sources editRalston William Ralston Shedden 1873 Russian Folk tales Smith Elder amp Company hdl 2027 uc1 31158010565728 OCLC 574481117 External links editThe Norka The original text of the tale in Russian at Wikisource Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Norka amp oldid 1196982972, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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