"The Bridegroom from a Foreign Land": a Sami fairytale of a prophetic dream and longing for home in the new episode of "The Faraway Kingdom"

The National Centre RUSSIA presents a new episode of its animated project "The Faraway Kingdom" ("Tridevyatoye Tsarstvo"). This time, viewers can discover the Sami folk tale "The Bridegroom from a Foreign Land" — the story of a young woman whose prophetic dream came true, but who found happiness unattainable in a foreign land. The episode is available on the National Centre RUSSIA's social media.

The story takes viewers to the seashore, where a beautiful young Sami woman lives, surrounded by her parents' love. Many suitors seek her hand, but she turns them all down: she dreams of a "special destiny". One day, she tells her mother about a dream in which her bridegroom arrives from across the sea with three ships and, without proposing marriage, simply takes her by the hand. Her mother weeps and watches the sea for three days without looking away. On the third day, she sees three white swans in the sky, but her daughter understands: these are three ships with white sails — her destiny.

The ships do indeed arrive. A bearded stranger comes ashore, walks up to the turf hut and silently takes the young woman by the hand. He looks "as though through her" — his eyes seem empty to her. Without a word, he leads her aboard a ship along carpets laid out on the ground. The carpets are rolled up, the sails are raised, and the ships head out to sea. Her mother weeps.

The stranger brings her to a wealthy country full of wonders, but locks her in a dungeon and teaches her his language. Her captivity lasts three years: she has learnt the language, but her husband will not let her out, while he sails away to wage war "beyond three seas". Left alone, she weeps and sings — of her parents, her prophetic dream and the ships with white sails. She also sings of the country's wealth, its wonders and the fine clothes her husband has given her — but nothing can take the place of her homeland.

"The Faraway Kingdom" is a series of short animated videos that bring little-known tales of Russia's peoples to life. Each episode becomes a vivid visual journey into a world of folk wisdom accessible to viewers of all ages. The animation does more than retell ancient tales through a contemporary visual language: it invites viewers to explore the nature, culture, history and traditions of our country's peoples in depth, reminding them of the timeless values that unite us.