Dawn, Midnight and Twilight

Lore & Background

The three brothers are named after the times of day when they were born: Dawn (Zorka), Twilight (Vechorka), and Midnight (Polunochka). In the tale, a king builds an underground palace to protect his three daughters, but they are kidnapped by a whirlwind while strolling in the garden. The king issues a proclamation for heroes to rescue them. The three brothers, sons of an old widow, answer the call. While traveling, they take turns staying at a hut to cook while the others hunt. The older brothers, Midnight and Twilight, are defeated by a small but powerful man, but Dawn defeats him, and the creature escapes into a crevasse on a mountain. Dawn fashions a rope from tree bark, descends into the hole, and finds three palaces—copper, silver, and gold—each containing one of the princesses and a many-headed serpent. Dawn kills the serpents and lifts the princesses back to the surface via the rope.

Reader's Guide

The tale of Dawn, Midnight and Twilight is significant as a representative of the widespread East Slavic folktale type 'Three Underground Tsardoms' (SUS 301A,B), which corresponds to the international ATU 301, 'The Three Stolen Princesses.' Unlike many variants where the hero is betrayed by his companions, this version features the brothers working together to rescue the princesses, a detail noted as unusual by scholars. The motif of triplets born at different times of the day is characteristic of East Slavic folklore, as observed by folklorists Lev Barag and Jack V. Haney. The tale also contains the recurrent motif of the princesses' castles being transformed into portable objects such as eggs or apples, a feature linked by Vladimir Toporov to Balto-Finnic cosmogonic myths. The story has been translated by Jeremiah Curtin and adapted by Arthur Ransome, and its variants are found across Europe, including among Selkup storytellers and in the White Sea region.

Did You Know?

• The tale is classified as ATU 301, 'The Three Stolen Princesses,' but unusually features the brothers cooperating rather than betraying the hero.
• Russian folklorist Lev Barag noted that the motif of three brothers born at different times of the day is 'characteristic' of East Slavic folklore.
• The tale includes the motif of the princesses' castles being transformed into portable objects such as eggs or apples, which Vladimir Toporov linked to the 'cosmic egg' myth.