Who is The Princess of the Seven Knights?
The princess in “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” is a heroine of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who never gives her a personal name. She finds shelter with seven bogatyrs, the knights of Russian tales, and her fiancé, Prince Yelisei, sets out to find her.
A mirror, an apple and a house in the forest turn up in more than one fairy tale. In Pushkin’s tale, the princess lives with seven knights, and her fiancé Yelisei searches for her. Compare the characters and helpers in Pushkin’s tale and in “Snow White”: it helps a child notice that a similar beginning doesn’t make it the same story.
About the story: Wikipedia: The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights.
Map Prince Yelisei’s road
Our own activity ideas inspired by the story — for drawing, toys and telling stories aloud.
- Draw Yelisei’s road and invent three kind clues from nature. What will the sun tell him, what will the moon notice, and what will the wind hear?
- Build a forest house for a big group of toys. Plan a shared room, a place to rest and an activity everyone can join in.
Talk about it together: How is Yelisei’s journey different from the Snow White story you know? Who helps him look for the princess?
Let’s play!
A story about a lost road
Make a map where several helpers each know part of the way. Each one gives only one clue, and you have to put the clues together. For a new mystery, use our story about the missing crown and change the setting and the characters.
A question about the heroine
What is the princess’s name in the tale of the seven knights?
Pushkin never gives her a personal name. In the text she is simply the tsarevna, the princess. Snow White belongs to a different fairy tale.