viii D EDITOR'S NOTE

when it is word final or interconsonantal (in this way Rus' and Vol 'ga will become
Rus and Volga), but before a vowel apostrophe designates y; e.g., Afanas'ev=
Afanasyev. Only the best known names, such as Pushkin, Gogol, and Chekhov,
appear below in their more or less traditional spelling. We have also retained
O. M. Freudenberg's own transliteration of her name. The only Russian word
used in the text without any explanation is bylina 'an epic lay'; the other words
worth noting are bogatyr' 'an epic hero' and knjaz' 'prince, Grand Duke.'
Everyone interested in oral literature, in the history of literature, in comparative
literature, in Russian folklore, in structuralism, in the impact of Marxist ideas
on the humanities, and in the state of the art in the Soviet Union, will find a great
deal of invaluable information in this book, and since it should inevitably appeal
to a broad range of specialists and students, the notes were written for those who
have had minimal or no exposure to old literatures, Russian history, and Russian
folklore. But the introductory article has a sophisticated reader in view and takes
the knowledge of many things for granted.
Translation of this miscellany often amounted to repeating Propp's research.
The difficult and painstaking work with Propp's sources would have been im-
possible without the constant help of two Interlibrary Loan Divisions: those of
the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Minnesota. It is also our
pleasant duty to express our gratitude to Professor Alan Dundes for his com-
ments on the manuscript and to Mr. Robert B. Ridder for his financial assistance
to the University of Minnesota Press, when Theory and History of Folklore was
only a project.