“Go to That Azure Tree, Climb It.” (On the Issue of the Image of the Tree in Russian Fairy Tales)

Abstract

The article discusses the fairy tale motifs with the image of the tree that are most frequently encountered in various types of the Russian fairy tale. The author poses a question whether it is reasonable to compare the fairy tale image of the tree with archetypal mythology images such as the world tree and tree of life. Drawing on fairy tale studies and some typological parallels, the author analyzes the interrelations between the image of the tree and various characters and their actions (including widespread motifs of the hero cutting the tree or the hero’s climbing up the tree to the nest of the big bird). She examines traces of notions about reincarnation which are related to the image of the tree if fairy tales.