The Fool & Russia's Beloved Ivanushka-Durachok

"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool;

it gives me all the world and exiles me from it."
Ursula K. Le Guin

Happy April Fool's Day everyone!

Though today is more about Tricksters and practical jokes, we couldn't have the trick-er without the trick-ee, thus is today the day in which our 'Fool' sides (and sometimes our Knave sides!) are exposed. It's a day for fun, to check your wits are in working order and, in a roundabout way, to celebrate both the good and the bad of fooling and of being fooled.

Baba Yaga Helping the Young Ivanushka (source)

It's no coincidence that the jester - or fool - of medieval courts was beloved (usually) by the king. Under the guise of silliness, this man often had the inside track on all dealings and machinations at court and wasn't afraid to expose them. In fact, it was their job to point out inconsistencies and to make fun of situations, including the king (or Queen's) role in such. In medieval times, when the common people weren't literate or understood the languages most used for writing (eg Latin), clowns often were 'employed' to interpret what was being said by authorities for the people, kind of like a court reporter of sorts or jokester with immunity (at least to a point and why am I reminded of Jon Stewart and his Daily Show here?). What the head honchos (Kings and Priests) didn't count on, however, was that these clowns would not only interpret the words and the meanings behind them but they would also make clear the hypocrisy at play. Needless to say, clowns were banished from the church while court fools though better tolerated were in danger of a severe whipping. (See Wikipedia for other aspects of the history of the Jester HERE.) For other aspects of The Fool it's interesting to see what this archetype means in a tarot deck (see HERE for the Wikipedia entry on The Fool card in Tarot).

An unusual Fool card with a woman from The World Tarot Deck

The Fool is an important archetype in fairy tales too, sometimes substituted for the 'everyman' character, and usually triumphant where smarter, stronger, richer characters (often siblings) aren't - the Fool's advantage being his good heart. Sometimes 'Jack' (of many stories) is the lucky fool but nowhere is he more prevalent (and loved) than in Russia, going under the name Ivan the Fool or, more fondly, Ivanushka-Durachok.

Ivan and the Grey Wolf
by Viktor Vasnetsov

A more extensive research post will have to wait for next year but for today I'll point you to a starter list of 'fool fairy tales' HERE (featuring both the truly foolish and tricksters) and show you a lovely fairy tale matryoshka doll set, featuring the beloved Russian fool, Ivan.
From the description HERE, where these dolls are for sale:

Young Ivan, always deemed a fool by his elder brothers, managed to catch a golden-mane mare, depicted on the second Matryoshka nesting doll, and when the Tsar ordered him to bring a wonderful firebird, Ivan after numerous adventures, was able to fulfill the command, bringing not only the bird, bur also a lovely maiden to the court. The young girl, portrayed on the third Matryoshka nesting doll, refused to be the Tsar’s wife, and the fairy-tale ends with the happy marriage of Ivan and the charming tsar-maiden.

There are many more close-ups at the link. The site also features a Cinderella nesting egg set HERE.

There's also an interesting short article HERE, which includes a list of the Fool character as portrayed in TV, film ("The Man Who Knew Too Little" is a fun and wonderful example) and other forms of media, with Russia's lucky and good-hearted simpleton, Ivan, making a few appearances.

Firebird
by MikhailParilov

One thing is certain, there's much more to fools than meets the eye. Fools in fairy tales are not only often the winners, they're also the ones in possession of that most sought after treasure: happiness.

Fairy Tale Names

Rumpelstiltskin by Jiri Trnka

In the land of Faery names are very important - to know a person or creatures name is to have power over it and so true names are closely guarded. This sensibility is reflected to varying degrees in many cultures too and so we end up with nicknames, honorifics, and even substitute names for infants to mislead mischievous gnomes, fairies or demons from stealing their souls.

But what about fairy tales? Names aren't usually given to all the characters in a fairy tale. Sometimes only one name is used and sometimes that name is really a representation of the character in focus and not their real name at all. Names still have a certain importance in fairy tales, though not having quite the same weight as the concept does in faery myths and legends but the choosing of an infants name is often given great weight and one tale in particular makes it clear that one's name is very important indeed.

Rumpelstiltskin by Kay Nielsen

I'm talking of Rumpelstiltskin of course. This is the tale with the most names mentioned in any fairy tale ever (that I'm aware of) and is part of the whole point of the story. What I find interesting is that in many of the versions I've read, the Queen (who is unnamed in most versions), when trying to guess the little man's name, starts with exotic sounding names, moves to whimsical/nonsensical names then ends up listing common ones before announcing the true name - which is completely unique - and getting herself, and her firstborn, out of a sticky situation. (You can read the story and the names the Queen recites at the awesome SurLaLune site HERE.)

Rumpelstiltskin by Anne Anderson

Rumpelstiltskin is one of those names that, once you know it, sticks in your memory but it's interesting to see the other fairy tale names that have also 'stuck' through the ages and across cultural boundaries.

This page HERE has an interesting list of names - male and female - in fairy tales for people to consider for their children. While a good portion of them are, unsurprisingly, from Disney retellings, there are quite a few unexpected ones too. (Rumpelstiltskin isn't on the list, presumably because no parent would ever inflict such a curse on their child.. here's hoping that assumption is correct!)

Here's a sampling of some unusual ones on that page:

BABETTE — Beauty and the Beast

FINETTE — Finette Cendron

JORINDE — Jorinde and Joringel

TALIA — Sun, Moon and Talia

WINNIFRED — The Princess and the Pea

It's by no means a comprehensive list but it does get the gray matter working a little! It's certainly a baby name category you don't very often, though I think it would be a very interesting little volume to put together - especially if it were multi-cultural.

Fairy Story (Rumpelstiltskin) by Jesus Blasco

Many of the names for the heroes and heroines are 'everyman' names. For example Ivan is extremely common in Russia, just like Jack is in English. The same goes for Hansel and Gretel which, to English speaking countries sounds exotic but to Germanic people is essentially Jack and Jill. When I was researching Jorinde and Joringel for my recent retelling I found reference to the fact that their names were the equivalent of 'George', in both the feminine and the masculine (which makes you think of the tale a whole different way again).

Sometimes, though, the names are special and unique. I'd be very interested to see a collection put together. Anyone up for the job? ;)

NOTE: I should point out that fairy tale character names were discussed on the SurLaLune discussion board quite a few years ago HERE. It mainly discusses the issue of lead character names but has other interesting points too.