Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 June 7

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June 7

Russian folk tales

In Russian folk mythology, is there a character equivalent to Rapunzel? 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:E143:3EF:8DB:B5B7 (talk) 05:24, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

The Russian language version of the Rapunzel article is here. The Google translate version is far from perfect ("Rapunzel, Rapunzel, wake up, Lower your sponge down."), but it pretty clearly does not make mention of any related Russian folk tales. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but it would seem to be likely to be mentioned there if there was an obvious analogue. I suppose it would depend on what parts you want to be equivalent. Matt Deres (talk) 14:41, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

In the Russian version, the guy doesn't want to climb the tower, he just wants to tidy it up a bit. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:26, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

There is a hint in The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (p. 820) edited by Jack Zipes, which says under the Rapunzel entry: "Versions of the tale are found throughout Europe, Russia and the Americas, in which the girl is blinded or turned into a frog". Alansplodge (talk) 17:19, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

So there are stories with similar plot elements, but no obvious equivalent (such as Baba Yaga = Witch of the Forest)? 2601:646:8A00:A0B3:E143:3EF:8DB:B5B7 (talk) 01:09, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

Here's a negative-Rapunzel sorta thing in Russian Folk Tales. Not really relevant, but interesting... --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 02:34, 8 June 2019 (UTC)