The tradition & historical record
2 min read · 2 sourcesIvan Tsarevich (Russian: Ива́н Царе́вич or Иван-царевич) is one of the main heroes of Russian folklore, usually a protagonist, often engaged in a struggle with Koschei. Along with Ivan the Fool, Ivan Tsarevich is a placeholder name, meaning "Prince Ivan", rather than a definitive character. Tsarevich is a title given to the sons of tsars. He is often, but not always, the youngest son of three. In the tale "The Three Tsardoms" he is a son of Nastasya the Golden Braid. Different legends describe Ivan with different wives, including Yelena the Beautiful, Vasilisa the Wise and Marya Morevna. 1
Ivan is the main hero of multiple Russian folktales. He is almost always portrayed either as the third son of a peasant family or as the third son of a king. In the latter stories, he is called Ivan Tsarevich, which means "tsar's son". ("Ivan" is one of the most common Russian forenames.) The friends and foes of Ivan Tsarevich are often mythic figures, from magical animals to deathless beings. The most famous folktale featuring Ivan as the protagonist is "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf". In this story, a magical wolf aids Ivan as he captures the firebird and wins the hand of a beautiful tsarevna. The firebird inspired Igor Stravinsky's 1910 ballet of the same name. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ivan Tsarevich”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Ivan Tsarevich is Russian folk hero, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 2