[[quoteright:292:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alexanderafanasyev.jpg]]

Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Афана́сьев) was a Russian collector of {{Fairy Tale}}s, creating a collection of over 600 in ''Narodnye russkie skazki'' (''Народные Русские Сказки''), one of the largest tales collections ever made.

Afanasyev's tales are in the public domain. Different translations can be read [[https://fairytalez.com/region/russian/ here]], [[https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16981/pg16981-images.html here]], [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12851/12851-h/12851-h.htm here]], [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/62509/62509-h/62509-h.htm here]], [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22373/22373-h/22373-h.htm here]], [[https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34705/pg34705-images.html here]], and [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Russian_Folk-Tales here]].

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!!Tales having their own pages:
[[index]]
* "Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless"
* "Literature/TheFeatherOfFinistTheFalcon"
* "Literature/TheFireBirdTheHorseOfPowerAndThePrincessVasilissa"
* "Literature/TheFrostTheSunAndTheWind"
* "Literature/{{Kolobok}}"
* "Literature/LittleMasterMisery"
* "Literature/{{Morozko}}"
* "Literature/PrinceIvanTheWitchBabyAndTheLittleSisterOfTheSun"
* "Literature/TheSoldierAndDeath"
* "Literature/TsarevitchIvanTheFireBirdAndTheGrayWolf"
* "Literature/TsarevichPetrAndTheWizard"
* "[[Literature/TheTwelveDancingPrincesses The Secret Ball]]"
* "Literature/VasilissaTheBeautiful"
* "Literature/TheWhiteDuck"
* "Literature/TheWiseLittleGirl"
[[/index]]

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!!Tropes in other tales:
* AnimalTalk: "Literature/TheAnimalsInThePit" ([[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Russian_Folk-Tales/The_Animals_in_the_Pit link]] and [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/62509/62509-h/62509-h.htm#Page_119 link]]), a hog, a wolf, a bear (or depending on the version, a squirrel), a hare and a vixen have no problems communicating with each other.
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: At the end of "Literature/TheSoldierAndDeath" ([[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49278/49278-h/49278-h.htm link]]), the soldier tries to enter both Hell and Heaven and, being turned away from both, is left to [[WalkingTheEarth wander the Earth]] forever. The folktale was retold in English by Arthur Michell Ransome and later used as an episode of Creator/JimHenson's ''Series/TheStoryteller''.
* {{Cephalothorax}}: In "Kolobok", the titular sentient, singing runaway round bread is drawn mostly as a yellow spherical head with limbs.
* FlyingDutchman: "Literature/TheSoldierAndDeath" ([[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49278/49278-h/49278-h.htm link]]) ends with the eponymous soldier being unable to enter either Heaven or Hell, and thus condemned to walking the earth forever. To the story's credit, mentioning this doesn't actually give away anything that makes it interesting.
* OneSteveLimit: In ''Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless'', as well known as ''Marya Morevna'', both the hero's wife and one of his sisters are named Marya.
* RagsToRiches: In "[[https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/russian/russianwondertales/vasiliiunlucky.html Vasilii the Unlucky]]"/"[[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34705/34705-h/34705-h.htm#ch24 The Story of Marko the Rich and Vasily the Luckless]]"/"[[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Russian_Wonder_Tales/Wassily_the_Unlucky Wassily the Unlucky]]", an extremely poor boy called Vasily gets married to Anastasia, the daughter of the richest merchant in the kingdom.
* WickedWitch: Literature/BabaYaga appears frequently in the tales, but sometimes the main character runs into unnamed, man-eating witches.

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