Vasilisa the Beautiful

The tale of **Vassilissa the Beautiful** was collected by the Russian folklorist **Alexander Afanasyev** and published in his great collection *Russian Folk Tales* (1855–1863). This written version forever fixed the story that had been transmitted orally from generation to generation.

The strangest object in the tale is a skull with flaming eyes mounted on a stick, which **Baba Yaga** gives to Vassilissa. Brought home, it burns the stepmother and the two cruel sisters with its fiery gaze, freeing the heroine from her persecutors.

The magic doll bequeathed by the dying mother is a typically Slavic motif: fed a little bread and water, it accomplishes impossible tasks during the night. Ethnographers see it as an echo of the protective dolls that Russian peasant women actually made for their children.

When Baba Yaga learns that Vassilissa is protected by her 'mother's blessing,' the witch immediately drives her out: she cannot tolerate any blessed being in her house. This detail shows that, even with the ogress, Russian folklore opposes the sacred to the world of dark forces.

In the final part of the tale, Vassilissa weaves linen so fine and white that no one at court dares to work it; she herself sews shirts from it for the **tsar**, who falls in love with her and marries her. Skill at the loom, a cardinal virtue of the traditional Russian woman, seals her fate.