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Vasilisa Vasilyevna
(Russian Folktale)
The Gender-Nonconforming Heroine Who Kept the Tsar Guessing
The first thing the tale of Vasilisa Vasilyevna would have you know about her was that she was not like other girls: for one thing, she shot guns. For another, she dressed like a boy. But most important of all, the story notes, she was a great lover of vodka.
(yes, this is a Russian folktale, why do you ask?)
The last attribute, apparently, is what caused many to believe that this priest’s daughter was actually a priests’ son. Fully comfortable with this identity, she often went by Vasili Vasilyevich (the male form of her name).
One day, she was out hunting deer on horseback (astride, not sidesaddle, the tale notes), when she caught the attention of the local Tsar, a fella named Barkhat. Struck by her general badassitude, he exclaimed, “who is this young man?” – only to be informed by his attendant that he was actually a she.
“Oh, no, that can’t be true,” said the Tsar, who had very myopic views on gender. “I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”
He consulted his housekeeper (who, being an old Russian lady, knew all) as to the best way to reduce Vasilisa’s gender identity to a binary system determine if Vasilisa was a dude or a lady. The housekeeper told the Tsar to have Vasilisa over for dinner, and hang a gun on one wall and some embroidery on the other. Any real man, the housekeeper reasoned, would react to the gun first.
However, Vasilisa, being woke af, decided to mess with their toxic views on masculinity.
At the Tsar’s invitation, Vasilisa joined the Tsar for dinner. They ate sweetmeats and drank, but as soon as she saw the embroidery, she let out a gasp of disgust. “Whatever nonsense do you have hanging up there, Tsar Barkhat? I never saw such girlish trash in my father’s house, and I have never heard of it, and yet you find it hanging in Tsar Barkhat’s palace!”
She then left. Courteously, the story notes.
But the Tsar’s imagination still could not stretch beyond cultural gender dichotomies, and with the housekeeper’s help, he set another test. This time, he was to serve her a pie with pearls in it. If Vasilisa was a girl, they were sure, she’d take the pearls gleefully. If a boy, she’d throw it under the table, because touching a pearl revokes your man card or something, I don’t know.
So again she shows up, drinks with the Tsar (one begins to wonder how much of this was done for free food), and soon enough she found the pearls. She flung the entire plate under the table, and emasculated the Tsar for his peculiar culinary choices: “Who put these into the pie? I never saw such girlish trash in my father’s house, and I have never heard of it, and yet you find it in Tsar Barkhat’s food!”
And again, the story notes, she left. Courteously, all of her speech to the contrary.
At wit’s end, the Tsar-housekeeper duo devised the ultimate bro move: inviting Vasilisa in the bath with him. If Vasilisa was female, he reasoned, she’d never join him in the steam baths. And if male, they could just talk about sports, do some yoga, and chill.
So again, Vasilisa rode out on her old gray horse and drank the Tsar’s palace dry. Tsar Barkhat invited her the baths, and she readily agreed – however, she was far quicker than the old man. By the time he’d slipped out of his cumbersome clothes, she’d not only already been in and out of the bath, but she’d also written a letter and left it with the Tsar’s attendants. It read:
“Oh you crow, you Tsar Barkhat! The crow has not caught the falcon in the garden. I am not Vasili Vasilyevich, but Vasilisa Vasilyevna!”
And thus was the Tsar fooled, and his views on gender expanded greatly.
(enjoy the art? you can get it as a poster, shirt or phone case!)Art Notes
- The Tsar and housekeeper are in the background, amidst the numerous tests they’ve devised: a gun and embroidery frame; a pie with pearls coming out of it; and a towel hanging on the steps.
- A bottle of vodka is poking out of Vasilisa’s deep pocket.
- The story made repeat mention of her riding an old gray horse with a silver mane, so said horse is front and center.
- Given that she enjoyed guns and that the story explicitly mentioned vodka (which came to prominence in Russia in the mid-1800s, I believe), I situated the folktale setting in the late 1800s. The building here is based off the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, and the Tsar’s clothing is based off that of one from Tsar Nicholas II.
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Next Time on Rejected Princesses
Okay, this time for real, now that the book tour is over:
Two ruthless queens of the Sydney underground – but their deeds were far from Devine.
“Vasilisa” means “queen”, so must be she was the Queen of Genderfluidity? (-ness? I don’t know.)
This story’s a fun one.
Well, I mean, free food and vodka’s a hard thing to turn down. XD
I don’t know if anyone else is having trouble logging in with Patreon? I sign in as usual and click Allow, but then it won’t let me look at the concept art and stuff. Quite possibly just me, but figured I’d ask.
Hrrrmmm. Does it say you’re logged in at the top of the page? Or “X demo days left”?
19 Demo days left, and like I said, I can access the content on other entries.
Hold down the control button and refresh the page?
Everything’s behaving now, thank you!
In what language does it mean Queen? :-) Not in Russian.
I was thinking of Greek, where it has two S’s. Wiki also mentions it, but it’s with one S. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilisa_(name)]
http://www.behindthename.com/name/vasilisa – Russian feminine form of Basil.
Basil: “From the Greek name Βασιλειος (Basileios) which was derived from βασιλευς (basileus) meaning “king”. Saint
Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the
fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various
spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being
especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two
Byzantine emperors.”
I’m sorry i know this is weird but would you consider doing an article on the Nanny of the Maroons one of Jamaica’s national heroes.She escaped with her brother when they arrived in jamaica so they were never slaves for long additionally some historians think that her expert military skills she used ti help win of the maroon war was because before her capture she was an african princes.
Also great article as usual
Covered her in the book! :)
man was the tsar stupid then again they all were