Why is the hero of Russian fairy tales Ivan the fool and what is the secret of his popularity

The most famous and beloved hero of Russian folk tales is Ivan the Fool, or as he is affectionately called - Ivanushka. Despite an unsightly name, an even less prestigious nickname, as well as low intellectual abilities, this hero is quite successful. He copes with the most difficult tasks, finds new friends and, as a rule, marries a princess. How did this unusual hero appear and why is he a fool?

No one knows when the first fairy tales appeared. Stories with fantastic plots, thickly mixed with pagan beliefs, were intended not only for children, but also for adults. Some of them had piquant details and were designed only for an adult audience.

Ivan in Russian fairy tales is the youngest son in a peasant family. This is the most disenfranchised, downtrodden child, living as if by inertia. His older brothers, and sometimes his father, make fun of him, and sometimes offend the poor guy. The life story of Ivan the Fool reflects the medieval family order of Russia.

By right, the farm is inherited from the father to the youngest son. But there is one caveat — if the brothers lived together, then the eldest became the head of the family. He controlled everything. The next in rights was the middle son, and the youngest, who seemed to have everything, turned out to be not the owner of his inheritance.

Therefore, in life, as in a fairy tale, the youngest son often left home. Sometimes the sovereign's service became the lot of a voluntary exile. In the fairy tale, Ivanushka received the most incredible tasks from the tsar and coped with them with honor. But in real life, success was not always waiting for such Ivanov.

The younger son had much more chances not to marry the princess, but to lay down his head in a foreign land. But let's not talk about sad things, because the stories of fabulous Ivanov always ended with happy endings. The village fool defeats sorcerers and robbers, exposes treacherous boyars, saves girls and kills evil spirits.

In fairness, it must be said that the resourceful and brave younger son is sung not only in Russian fairy tales. Every nation of the world has its own stories about the disenfranchised offspring of a large family, who achieved everything with his work and ingenuity.

But not everywhere the hero is absolutely positive — in other cultures he often has repulsive features, for example, a tendency to lie or thievery. Only in Russia Ivan the Fool is an absolute good, unselfish and completely honest even with enemies.

Folklorists believe that Ivan got phenomenal popularity because he is funny. Everything goes awry for him, at least until the middle of the fairy tale. In Russia, from time immemorial, fools and ordinary simpletons have been loved. In Dahl's dictionary, "fool" is a fool, so everything matches. Ivanushka is a fool, in addition, he also comes from the people, which provides additional sympathy for the audience.

Although at the beginning of the fairy tale Ivan usually does not cause positive emotions. He is stupid, lazy and untidy, and instead of working, as older brothers do, he lies on the stove. In fairy tales, it is clearly seen that this hero is not used to thinking, but relies on luck and intuition. He even goes "where his feet will carry" or "where his eyes look".

All difficult and not very difficult things for Ivan the fool are done by magic assistants. Their use is the main and only superpower of the hero. He talks to animals that were totems in the pre-Christian era. Moreover, he can communicate even with inanimate objects, such as plants, huts and stoves.

Experts in the field of folk art believe that Ivan the fool is a character-priest. He was inherited from the pagan faith and retained many of the abilities attributed to the servants of the ancient Slavic deities. He easily enters the otherworld, and if necessary, he acquires superhuman strength. It happens that Ivan even resurrects with the help of living and dead water.

Of course, a kind of superman in bast shoes cannot but be a favorite of the people. That's why Ivan the Fool became the central figure of Russian folklore. And he embodies the ancient dream of many — to live without bothering yourself, and then get all the benefits at once. After all, it is known that a fool enters a fairy tale to beggars and oppressed fools, and by the end receives a royal daughter, honor and half of the kingdom.

Did you know that almost all fairy-tale characters and even objects have their own secrets?