Museum of Mari Fairy Tales "Silver-Toothed Pampalche"

About museum

Folk tales occupy an important place in oral folk creativity. From generation to generation, in the form of fanciful stories, they convey the history of the people to us.
As a result of many years of close contact between the Mari and other peoples, many plots from the tales of other nations have passed into Mari tales, including from Russian folk tales ('The Frog Girl', 'The Orphan Girl and the Stepmother's Daughter', 'Two Brothers').
At the same time, Mari tales have preserved their national characteristics and original plots ('The Soldier and Azyren', 'The Tsar's Daughter and the Merchant's Son', 'Why the Hare is Sad').

Thus, Mari tales allow us to more vividly appreciate relations with other peoples and to learn about the internal life and social structure of the Mari community.

One might assume that Mari folk tales are the result of a synthesis of Mari and Russian national cultures. But this is not entirely the case. Despite the influence of other peoples on the life of the ancient Mari, their tales have retained their originality and imagery. Nature and its inhabitants, traditions and the social position of the people had a great influence on the Mari people's fairy-tale imagination. All of this is reflected in the folk tales.