Father Frost (russian: Морозко, Morozko) is a Russian

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

collected by

Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Afanasief, Afanasiev or Afanas'ev, russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) ( — ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer who published nearly 600 Russian fairy and folk ta ...

in '' Narodnye russkie skazki'' (1855-63).

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

included it, as "The Story of King Frost", in '' The Yellow Fairy Book'' (1894). It is Aarne–Thompson type 480, The Kind and the Unkind Girls. Others of this type include ''

Shita-kiri Suzume , translated literally into "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", is a traditional Japanese fable telling of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an injured sparrow. The story explores the effects of greed, friendship and jealousy on the characters. Andrew La ...

'', ''

Diamonds and Toads Diamonds and Toads or Toads and Diamonds is a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, and titled by him "Les Fées" or "The Fairies". Andrew Lang included it in ''The Blue Fairy Book''. It was illustrated by Laura Valentine in ''Aunt Louisa's nurs ...

'', '' Mother Hulda'', ''

The Three Heads in the Well The Three Heads in the Well is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in ''English Fairy Tales''. It is Aarne–Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include ''Shita-kiri Suzume'', ''Diamonds and Toads'', '' Mo ...

'', '' The Three Little Men in the Wood'', '' The Enchanted Wreath'', ''

The Old Witch The Old Witch is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book, ''More English Fairy Tales''. It is also included within '' A Book of Witches'' by Ruth Manning-Sanders and ''A Book of British Fairy Tales'' by Alan Garner. It is ...

'', and ''

The Two Caskets The Two Caskets is a Scandinavian fairy tale included by Benjamin Thorpe in his ''Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions''. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Orange Fairy Book''. It is Aarne- ...

''. Literary variants include ''

The Three Fairies "The Three Fairies" is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''. It is Aarne–Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls, and appears to stem from an oral source.Jack Zipes, ''The G ...

'' and ''

Aurore and Aimée ''Aurore and Aimée'' is a French literary fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Like her better known tale ''Beauty and the Beast'', it is among the first fairy tales deliberately written for children.Jack Zipes, ''The Great Fa ...

''.Jack Zipes, ''The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm'', p 543, The film ''Morozko'' was based on the fairy tale.

Synopsis

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

has a daughter, whom she loves, and a step-daughter, whom she hates. One day, the woman orders her husband to take her stepdaughter out into the winter wilderness and to leave her there to die, and he obeys, leaving her at the foot of a tree in the forest. Father Frost finds her there, and because the girl is polite and kind to him, he gives her a chest full of beautiful jewels and fine garments. Some time later, the stepmother sends the girl's father to retrieve her body for burial, and is enraged when he instead brings the girl back alive and happy and dressed in finery. Consumed by greed and envy, the woman orders her husband to take her own daughter to the same place, but when found by Father Frost the woman's daughter is rude and unkind to him, and he is inclined to punish rather than reward her. The father finds her frozen to death at the foot of the tree and carries her body back to her grief-stricken mother. In the Grimm version, the girl is covered with gold and silver coins while the rude child is covered with cement, mud, flour, and pitch.

References

External links

SurLaLune Fairy Tale site ''Father Frost''Computer Game based on Fairy Tale About ''Father Frost''
{{Russian fairy tales Russian fairy tales Fairy tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev Personifications Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities ATU 460-499