# Vasilísa the Wise — Russian Folktales character guide

> Vasilísa the Wise in Russian Folktales by A. N. Afanasyev.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Vasilísa

**First appearance:** 0057-the-sea-tsar-and-vasil-sa-the-wise

## Snapshot

A pope's daughter who rides astride, drinks vodka, and passes as a man named Vasíli Vasílyevich, outwitting a tsar's spy-frame with a scolding.

## Who they are

Vasilísa Vasílyevna lives in male clothing and male name, hunting with a gun while few suspect she is a maiden. When Tsar Bárkhat sets an embroidery-frame and a flintlock as a trap, she spots the snare instantly and turns it back on him with contempt. Her cleverness makes her the story's answer to every riddle a king can devise.

## In the story

### [The Sea Tsar and Vasilísa the Wise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/the-sea-tsar-and-vasil-sa-the-wise)

Daughter of the Sea Tsar; she aids Iván with magic and transforms into a spoonbill, duck, and church during their escape.

## Links

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