# Márya Moryévna — Russian Folktales character guide

> Márya Moryévna in Russian Folktales by A. N. Afanasyev.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0046-m-rya-mory-vna

## Snapshot

A warrior queen who marries Iván Tsarévich after two nights in her tents, then guards a forbidden lumber-room holding a chained and starving Koshchéy.

## Who they are

Márya Moryévna commands her own kingdom and hands it to her new husband before riding to war, asking only that he never open one door. She is generous with power but exacting about trust, and her secret prisoner is the hinge on which her marriage turns. Her captivity of Koshchéy sets the whole search in motion once Iván's pity undoes it.

## In the story

### [The Dun Cow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/the-dun-cow)

The Tsar's daughter, mistreated by her stepmother, who uses the magic dun cow to survive and eventually marries Iván Tsarévich.

### [Márya Moryévna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/m-rya-mory-vna)

Warrior queen who marries Iván, is kidnapped by Koshchéy, and later helps Iván learn the secret of Koshchéy's horse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se/characters/marya_morevna
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se/characters