Russian Sacred Fairy Tales

The shadow side of folklore. Obscene classics.

Before you is the most radical folklore project of the great Russian ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev. Parallel to his canonical collection of fairy tales, he was working on "sacred" (that is, hidden, secret) folklore: candid eros, cynical satire on power and priests, absurdist black humor. This is the voice of folk culture, cleansed of censorship, moralizing, and literary processing.

Why this edition is special:
— Selected texts in contemporary orthography, preserving all the power and color of folk speech.
— 15 detailed analyses of fairy tales by the author and cultural expert Y. R. Milovich-Sheralieva, acting as a bridge between the shocking text and today's reader, revealing depth and context.
— Exclusive illustrations inspired by the tales from the artist "thornbush" offer a new, modern interpretation of archaic plots.
— Elegant gift format: stylish design, high-quality paper, colored ribbon bookmark, and numerous illustrations.

The book will be a bright decoration of any book collection and will also make an excellent gift for lovers of Russian folklore and those ready to view culture without rose-colored glasses.