By Catherine T Wilson
For some years now, as I unpack my Christmas decorations, I sit this lovely ‘Santa’ in a blue coat no less, and a young woman with long blonde plaits, also dressed in blue, on my mantle. They were a gift from my brother who worked in Russia years ago when the country was safe and nice. Last year he spent Christmas with me, and I asked him their names. I wrote them down so when I unpacked them this year, I would know who they were. But did I really know? So, I decided to find out and fell down a fairy-tale rabbit hole!
DED MOROZ
The gentleman in a blue coat (which can also be red or white) is called Ded Moroz, which literally translates as ‘Grandfather Frost,’ and the young woman is his granddaughter, a snow maiden, called Snegurochka, and both their backgrounds go way back!
First, let’s look at Grandfather Frost. He is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus who has his roots in Slavic mythology. He has a long white beard and wears a heel-length fur coat, usually in blue, a semi-round fur hat, and valenki on his feet (wool-felt boots worn with rubber overshoes).
He walks with a long magic stick and often rides a troika – a sleigh pulled by three horses, all harnessed side-by-side. The middle horse is usually harnessed in a horse collar and shaft bow; the side horses only in breast-collar harness.
What makes this so unusual and noteworthy is the troika is traditionally driven so that the middle horse trots and the side horses canter. It’s often claimed to be the world’s only harness combination where the connected horses move in different gaits (paces).
Grandfather Frost is depicted bringing presents to well-mannered children, often delivering them in person in the days of December and secretly putting some under the New Year Tree on New Year’s Eve.*
The origins of the character of Ded Moroz predates Christianity. He is a ‘Wizard of Winter’ in Slavic mythology. According to some sources, Ded Moroz was a snow demon. However, before the arrival of Christianity, the term demon had no negative connotation. Like many other mythical figures, only over time were demons attributed negative characteristics. (We often think of gargoyles as demons, but they were placed on churches and buildings as protection against evil forces.)
Like many myths, Ded Moroz evolved in the changing world, and since the 19th century, the attributes and legend have been shaped by literary influences. *During the Soviet days, Christmas was banned for religious reasons, which resulted in some of the traditional celebrations being moved to New Year. Instead of a Christmas tree, they have a New Year tree, which stays up for the holidays and ‘Grandfather Frost’ became the main symbol.
SNEGUROCHKA (AKA OR SNEGURKA) or the Snow Maiden
Ded Moroz is accompanied by his granddaughter and helper, Snegurochka. Legend says she is the daughter of ‘Father Frost’ and the ‘Snow Queen,’ but we cannot be sure.
She wears long silver-blue robes and a furry cap or a snowflake-like crown and is a unique attribute of Ded Moroz, since similar characters in other cultures do not have a female companion/helper. (Sorry Mrs Claus!) And she is a snow maiden. Ringing any bells?
This is where the rabbit hole gets deeper! Firstly, did you know that all fairy tales are categorised into story types? It’s a catalogue used in folklore studies called The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index (ATU Index). They are sorted into these categories and given a number-type that denotes the kind of tale or even just a part of the story in the tale.
- Animal Tales (Types 1-299)
- Ordinary Folktales (Types 300-1199)
- A. Tales of magic
- B. Religious tales
- Aitiological tales (origin of diseases)
- Romantic tales
- Tales of the stupid ogre (Shrek? lol)
- Jokes and Anecdotes (Types 1200-1999)
- Numskull stories
And so on! The list is quite long as you can imagine.
The Snegurochka story compares to The Snow-child in the ATU Index, type 1362 – doubtful paternity, and also type 703 – The Snow Maiden, where a child really has a magical snow-related origin. Disney’s ‘Frozen’ would fall into the 703 category having been based on the Snow Maiden.
THE SNOW CHILD
The Snow-child is a widespread European folktale found in many medieval recitations and it’s a type 1362 which are stories about married couples and questionable paternity, or where the strange origins of the child are a blatant lie.
The Tale –
One version is a merchant returns home after an absence of two years to find his wife with a newborn son. She explains that one snowy day she swallowed a snowflake while thinking about her husband which caused her to conceive. Pretending to believe, her husband raises the boy until one day he takes the boy on a trip and sells him into slavery. On his return, he explains to his wife that the boy melted in the heat.
Another version has childless peasants, Ivan and Marya, make a snow doll, which comes to life. The child, Snegurka (another name for Snegurochka), grows up quickly. A group of girls invite her for a walk in the woods, after which they make a small fire and take turns leaping over it. When Snegurka’s turn comes, she starts to jump, but only gets halfway before evaporating into a small cloud.
The tale first appears in the 11th-century Cambridge Songs (a collection of copied songs from around the Norman conquest (1066) but also includes Goliardic Latin (satirical poems from the 12th and 13th centuries, some questioning the inconsistencies within church teachings).
The tale also appears in Medieval fabliaux, (comics) and was used in school exercises of rhetoric. A Fabliau (plural fabliaux) is a comic, often an anonymous tale written by medieval minstrels in northeast France between c.1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual obscenity (as often seen in medieval marginalia), and by a set of contrary attitudes to the church and to the nobility. Several were reworked by Giovanni Boccaccio for the Decameron and by Geoffrey Chaucer for his Canterbury Tales. Some 150 French fabliaux are in existence, the number depending on how narrowly fabliau is defined.
THE SNOW MAIDEN
The Snow Maiden is a teenage girl with a heart of ice whose very existence offends the Sun-God. Only when she learns to love and her heart melts, will the Sun-God be appeased and so bring about the arrival of summer.
In another version, she is the daughter of Spring the Beauty and Ded Moroz, but she yearns for the companionship of mortal humans. She grows to like a shepherd boy named Lel, but her heart is unable to know love. Her mother takes pity and gives her this ability, but as soon as she falls in love, her heart warms and she melts.
Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are very popular figures come New Year and can be seen amusing the children at the many events held, similar to how the Western world takes children to visit Santa’s ‘workshop.’
Perhaps I should leave out an extra glass of milk and biscuits this year in case Santa Claus, Father Christmas or Grandfather Frost is aided by a helper! Just so long as my naughty ‘Elf on the Shelf’ doesn’t drink it!
‘Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen. On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen – dash away, dash away, dash away all,’
Or is it, ‘giddup horses, horses, horses!’
One final word… A movie was made called ‘Father Frost – Battle of the Mages’ though it may be hard to track down.
Below is a link to the trailer
Pause the video and click on the CC button (on the Youtube screen) to turn on subtitles (it will underline it) then go to the Settings button > subtitles >auto-translate and search for English and click. It’s a rough translation but you can get the idea. Maybe there’s a better subtitled version somewhere.
Synopsis
Young Masha is tormented by visions of flying fiery monsters. Her mother worries about her, her classmates chuckle. But one day, Masha sees a battle of winged fiery monsters with young people who call themselves magicians. One of them saves Masha from an attack by a chimera and she is accepted into a secret corporation, where she learns that Santa Claus (Father Frost) really exists. He leads an army of magicians who can control snow and ice and protects the Earth from the invasion of dark forces.
The New Year holiday is a magical ritual that people all over the world enjoy every year, never suspecting that they are participating in the largest battle between good and evil. Santa Claus informs Masha that the fate of our world hangs in the balance, and it depends upon her as to who will win – light or darkness.
Catherine A Wilson co-writes with Catherine T Wilson (no relation). Their first book, The Lily and the Lion, was based upon their true-life accidental meeting and resulting friendship. All four books in their ‘Lions and Lilies’ series have won first place prizes in the Chatelaine/Chaucer Awards in the US and in 2019, The Traitor’s Noose won the Grand Prize Chaucer Award.
Lions and Lilies 