The Black Fox of Schiefner’s Avar Tale

Overview

The youth first saves a stranded fish, releases a deer trapped in a split tree and protects an eagle’s young from a snake. Later, on an open plain, he encounters a black fox pursued by hunting dogs. Rather than kill it, he drives away the dogs and releases the exhausted animal. The fox gives him a hair to burn when help is needed. The youth then enters a royal city, where a princess promises marriage to a suitor who can hide from her three times; failure carries a death sentence. The fish, deer and eagle each conceal him, but each attempt is exposed by an interruption or movement.

Granted a fourth attempt, the youth burns the fox’s hair. The fox changes himself into a seller and the youth into a flea, then brings him directly into the princess’s presence. Hidden on her own body, the youth escapes the outward search that defeated the three earlier helpers. She finally admits that she cannot see him, and he jumps to the ground and regains human form. The account ends with his marriage to the princess and the storyteller’s festive closing. The fox’s success therefore depends on disguise and changing the searcher’s point of attention, rather than simply hiding farther away.

Origins & earliest records

This is the fox in VII, The Black Fox, in Schiefner’s Avar collection, where a German rendering is printed beneath the Avar text. Retained prefatory pages frame the publication as linguistic research and introduce Köhler’s comparative comments. The opening prefatory page is missing from the consulted scan, so the precise teller and collection locality of this tale remain unestablished.

Records & interpretation

Complete VII, German text on printed pp.59–65, through the restored human form, marriage and storyteller’s closing; Köhler’s complete VII comparison on p.XVII is kept separate.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Awarische Texte

   Anton Schiefner, editor; comparative comments by Reinhold Köhler · 1873

   St Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, Mémoires, seventh series, XIX, no.6. Avar texts with German renderings; consulted scan has prefatory gaps.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical Avar tale collection with German renderings and comparative notesSchiefner, Awarische Texte, original 1873 editionResearch access: 2026-10-18

Image credits

The black fox after escape; species, build and landscape interpretive, human disguise omitted.

Original narrative illustration; invented visual particulars are not authenticated ethnography or a historical portrait.