EU Lifelong Learning Programme for International School Partnerships Comenius, Project "Media as Challenge and Possibility"

Description of Latvian fairy tales’ characters

Konya, 2014

General information about Latvian folktales

Latvian folklore is rich in different characters.

There are good and hardworking characters as Sprīdītis and Lāčplēsis, the 3rd father’s son, Godess such as Mother of Happiness, Mother of Wind.

And we also have evil charters - Devil, Dragon, Stepmother.

The 3rd father’s son In Latvian fairy tales the father usually has 3 sons- 2 of them are clever,

but the 3rd is stupid.

At the end of the fairy tale it comes out that the 3rd is the cleverest.

In Latvia in this connection is also Public Library Project

«The 3rd father’s son’».

Lāčplēsis This character as if brings features of a man and bear,it has force and power. Lāčplēsis guards his native hause, his hometown from evil forces.

Lāčplēsis is also a national simbol of Latvia. It characterises power and strength.

Animals in fairy tales Latvian fairy tales are rich in animals as main characters.They have imbodied features of humans.

For example, fox is cunning,hare is afraid,

Wolf is credulous, bear strong

and powerful.

Dragon In fairy tales usually the dragon guards

some treasury or magic key. In order

to get it the main hero struggles with

the dragon and cuts its heads. The dragon

usually has 3 or 9 heads.

Stepmother In fairy tales very often the king marries the

2nd time and his new wife becomes the

stepmother of his daughter. The step-

mother usually is mean and evil to the

Stepdaughter.

Step daughter She usually is the positive heroine in the fairy tales. Stepdaughter is kind hearted and positive hero. She does the most difficult and dirtiest works. The Stepmother with her daughters usually humiliate stepdaughter. But at the end just the Stepdaughter marries the prince.

Magic bird This bird is usually met in fairy tales where are a lot of magic events. It lives far away from real towns and villages. In order to get the bird they have to overcome many difficulties. Heroes should show their bravery and cleverness.