Description:

Poyga, a hunter of the Russian north, loses his home to Swedish conqueress and witch Kulimana. A fox works to help him get it back and marry the girl he loves. Based on the story by Boris Shergin.

The basic plot is quite similar to the well-known German folk tale, "Puss in Boots". The original story, which seems to have first been published in 1957, can be read here.

The book contains a note about the main villainess of the story (on p.265): "Karelian oral lore preserves a cycle of historical legends called 'свейские нагоны', reflecting memories of 16th-century Swedish incursions into the northern villages. That is the origin of 'Kulimana the Swede'." This note refers to the Livonian War (1558-1583), during which Sweden sought access to White Sea ports and control of eastern trade routes. Swedish detachments conducted fast, punitive strikes on riverside settlements across modern Karelia, damaging villages and carrying off goods or hostages. Survivors wove these real attacks into their storytelling. The name "Kulimana" is similar to popular surnames from Scandinavia and Germany: Kullmann, Kullman, Kuhlman. However, no other folk tales featuring this character seem to be online. This could mean that she was Shergin's literary invention, or that they are in obscure ethnographic collections that have not been digitized.

At 8:30, the fox asks for a "chetverik" ("quarter-measure") to measure grain with, as she was preparing for a wedding. Weddings were major communal events, often involving feasting for days, so it was a good idea to make sure that one could make enough bread and beer (and other foods) to feed everyone.