This paper presents a preliminary application of the ETS formalism to the structural representation of Russian fairy tales. We were led to this application through our interest in information retrieval. In addition to introducing a natural multi-level representational view of fairy tales, the ETS formalism suggests an explanation for the mechanism behind plot anticipation by an experienced read...

Figure 1. The ‘Kraken’ myth. Ancient tales repeatedly reported octopod-like sea-monsters attacking sea vessels. Indeed, octopuses may reach a maximum of 3 m body size, but the foundation of these ancient tales is based on giant squids (with ten rather than eight arms as depicted here) defending itself against its main predator, a sperm whale, rather than octopuses. Squids are known to leave suc...