For some reason, it is generally accepted that all kinds of vampires and werewolves came to us from the West, and meanwhile, there are many characters in Russian folklore who, too, are essentially werewolves. Remember the fairy tale about Finist Yasnoy Falcon, about the Gray Wolf, who helps Ivan Tsarevich, not to mention the fact that the Ivanes are married to the frog Princess.
The finist has the ability to turn around a bird. The gray wolf takes many guises: it can turn into a fast-footed horse and a beautiful princess, and even become a double of Ivan Tsarevich himself. And the frog princesses secretly take off frog skin from themselves and begin to perform various business duties. So they completely fall under the definition of werewolves, despite the fact that their conversion from person to animal is not associated with the lunar cycle.
In fact, the image of the frog princess is found not only in Slavic folklore. Similar stories are present in Greek folk tales and in Italian tales. For some reason, the brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault did not reach them, and croaking beauties do not meet among the brides of overseas princes. And we even have two versions of the fairy tale “The Frog Princess”. Their content is similar, but the differences are minor. So, in one version of the tale, our heroine carries out all the tasks of the tsar’s father independently, and in another, mother-nannies, whom she calls for help, are weaved and baked for her. However, it is difficult to call her independent, since the heroine uses witchcraft, which greatly facilitates her efforts. But her rivals, the wives of the brothers Ivan Tsarevich, this method is not available, so they are in a knowingly losing position.
From the point of view of justice, the image of the Frog Princess can hardly be called extremely positive. She earns sympathy because the reader is sympathetic to the fact that the rivals burned the frog skin, which is why the heroine is forced to leave her beloved husband and go to Koshchei the Immortal. Indeed, according to the plot, it was Koschey who enchanted the beauty, who was angry with her for rejecting his matrimonial plans, in other words, she refused to become his wife. Instead of continuing to courtship, the villain decided to punish his obstinate bride, turning her into a frog. Koschey himself is quite drawn to the role of the “Dark Lord”, since he is a magician, on the one hand, and on the other, constantly makes plans to capture the Universe, not disdaining the theft of beauties: he abducts Vasilisa the Wise in the image of a frog princess, then Marya Morevna .
But now we are talking not so much about Koschey, but about the ups and downs of the married life of Ivan Tsarevich. In some cases, the daughter-in-law’s tales have nothing to do with it, and the prince himself burns the frog’s skin in the hope that without this attribute his wife will cease to be a werewolf. But, as mentioned above - this is particular. And the Russian fairy tale “The Frog Princess” itself ends in the same way: Ivan the Tsarevich defeats Koshchei by cunning and frees his beautiful wife. They live, as in all fairy tales, happily ever after, and die in one day.