Ivan Tsarevitch is a hero with royal blood, who is seen in a number of Russian fairy tales. He is the son of Nastasya the Golden Braid and has three sisters, Anna, Maria, and Olga. His brothers-in-law are all shape-changing wizards who accompany him on his adventures as various kinds of animals, usually birds. Ivan seems to have the help of the forest animals on a regular basis. He also carries the sword Kladenets. In “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” Ivan falls in love with Marya Morevna and accidentally sets free the evil wizard Koschei the Deathless. After Marya is kidnapped by Koschei, Ivan is forced to find a way to free his love and kill the unkillable wizard.
Appearance List Russian Fairy Tales by Alexander Afanasyev (1855–1863); Russian Folk-Tales (1873) by William Ralston Shedden-Ralston; The Red Fairy Book (1890) by Andrew Lang [Internet Archive]; Russian Folk-Tales trans. by Leonard Magnus from Afanasyev (1916)
Description Ivan Tsarevitch is a hero with royal blood, who is seen in a number of Russian fairy tales. He is the son of Nastasya the Golden Braid and has three sisters, Anna, Maria, and Olga. His brothers-in-law are all shape-changing wizards who accompany him on his adventures as various kinds of animals, usually birds. Ivan seems to have the help of the forest animals on a regular basis. He also carries the sword Kladenets. In “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” Ivan falls in love with Marya Morevna and accidentally sets free the evil wizard Koschei the Deathless. After Marya is kidnapped by Koschei, Ivan is forced to find a way to free his love and kill the unkillable wizard.
