X is for Kisses (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Who doesn't love a good romantic kiss scene? Pop culture is full of kisses that are memorable, or even iconic. 

THE FOLKLORE

Kissing in folklore has recently come under fire for reasons of consent: the whole "magic kiss" concept seems a bit iffy when one party is asleep (and has never seen the other party in her life). On top of that, it is not even very traditional - Disney introduced more magic kisses than the Grimms ever did. But it is still worth looking at traditional stories and the kisses that do happen.

THE STORIES

The panther skin knight (Georgian epic)

One of the best kiss scenes in all of epic poetry. A young king is separated from his beloved, and spends the entire epic trying to find and rescue her. In the end, there is a huge fight scene as he and his friends besiege a citadel where she is kept. At the end of the fight they win, and our hero hurries inside, throwing off his armor and weapons to find and kiss his beloved. Pretty epic scene (pun maybe intended).

The tyrant's daughter

This one is a legend that has its roots in ancient Greece and Rome, and was still popular during the Middle Ages. It goes like this: a tyrant (often Pisistratus) has a beautiful daughter, and a young man is in love with her. Once, he carelessly embraces and kisses her in public, in plain sight of her mother. The mother, incensed, demands that her powerful husband executes the cheeky young man. But the tyrant answers: "If we kill those who love us, what do we do to those that hate us?" And allows the young lovers to marry. You can find versions of this story here, here, and here too. More sources here.

Filenia and Hippolito

This version of the story was published by Straparola but it exists in many different versions in folklore. The tale type is ATU 1418 (Equivocal Oath). Filenia is a beautiful young woman married to a jealous, horrid old husband. She secretly keeps up an affair with a young man named Hippolito, whom she has loved since before her marriage. When her husband grows suspicious, he demands a trial: Filenia has to place her hand in the mouth of a serpent, and swear that she has been faithful. If her oath is false, the serpent will kill her. On the way to the trial, Filenia's hands are bound. Hippolito disguises himself as a madman, jumps out of the crowd and kisses her. Right after, she puts her hand in the serpent's mouth, and swears that she has never been kissed by anyone but her husband and the madman. Her oath is technically true. Her husband dies soon after, and she gets to marry her beloved.

(This legend was also told about the famous Bocca della Veritá in Rome.)

The Nymph and the Dryad

I am not entirely convinced that this is a folktale at all (despite the source's claim), but it is lovely so I'll include it. In the beginning, where fairies still lived in the world, two fairies set out on a journey and got lost. One of them grew angry, and yelled at the other - this was the first and last fight between fairies. A booming voice declared they shall be separated, one living in an oak tree and the other in the ocean, until "forest and ocean meet, and dryad and nymph kiss." The two fairies spent centuries apart. Finally, when the oak tree was about to die, the sea rose, and the water reached the forest. Dryad and Nymph kissed. Since then they continue helping people and animals together - teaching them how to resolve their quarrels.

Do you have favorite kiss scenes from popular culture?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

W is for Widows and Widowers (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

 This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

A widow or widower finding love again after suffering the great loss of their first spouse is also a common trope in romance stories. It deals with grief, loss, healing, vulnerability, and second chances.

(Image above is from the Australian TV show Love me, which I highly recommend.)

THE FOLKLORE

When one thinks of classic fairy tales, second marriages is not what usually comes to mind. But in the wider tradition of folklore, widows and widowers do find love again sometimes (and not just in the form os jealous stepmothers).

THE STORIES

The widow of Ephesus (Roman legend)

This story had a long life from ancient times (Petronius' Satyricon) all the way through the Middle Ages. It deals with a widow grieving for her husband, who slowly falls in love with one of the cemetery guards. When the guard fails at guarding the body of a crucified criminal, and is about to be executed for neglecting his duties, the widow volunteers the body of her own husband to save his life. Over the course of history, this story was often touted out as an example of the inconsistency of women, but it also has a reading where it is about saying yes to life and second chances.

The beggar and the kind boy (Hungarian folktale)

The hero of this one is a kind-hearted boy that helps and old beggar, and in exchange wins the ability to transform into the shape of three different animals. When the king needs a fast messenger to warn his daughter (the widow queen of a neighboring kingdom) of an impending attack, the boy takes on the task. During his visit, he falls in love with the queen, and leaves her a feather, a fish scale, and a piece of rabbit fur from his transformations. Later he is almost destroyed by a jealous soldier, but eventually he manages to reunite with his beloved queen.

Qamar Al-Zamaan (Lebanese folktale)

This one is actually a quite beautiful two-part folktale I have mentioned earlier (under C). In the second part, jealous women have the hero Qamar's wife and childrne killed, and he has to go through a long journey of grief. He sets out into the world to find healing, meets a barner and befriends him, finds a home in the barber's house with his kind mother who has also suffered grief, and eventually falls in love with the princess who lives next door. 

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

V is for Vampire lover (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Come on, you know this one.

THE FOLKLORE

The other option for V was Virginity, and I am not touching that because folklore does not handle it well. And honestly, sexy and hot vampire lovers are not all that common in folklore either, contrary to popular belief. What I do have, however, are some stories that are amusing in the context of vampire romances.

THE STORIES

The snowman husband (Algonquin folktale)

A haughty maiden rejects a suitor and mocks him, so he decides to take revenge. He makes a handsome warrior out of snow and sends him to her village. She falls desperately in love with the pale and cool warrior and marries him. When they set out on a journey, she notices he is behaving strangely: he hides from the sun, keeps away from fire, and doesn't eat human food. Eventually, he melts.

This story always reminded me of this meme.

The tortoise husband (Italian folktale)

The original title is "The man who came only at night", which makes it more amusing. It's about sisters being courted by a mysterious man who only ever appears at night. Two of them refuse, but the youngest agrees to marry him - only to find out that she turns into a tortoise during the daytime. 

I always imagined it would make a fun story for a modern-day girl to expect a brooding hot vampire husband, and then boom, tortoise.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

U is for Unrequited love (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Where there is romance, there is usually unrequited love (that sometimes goes beyond the bounds of what is acceptable). It's either part of a love triangle, or exists by itself.

THE FOLKLORE

Folklore is full of love stories that don't end well, and feelings that are not returned. But honestly, a lot of these come from villains, or other unsavory characters - or, in a lot of cases, the scorned lover ends up dead.

THE STORIES

Ivar Ingimundarsson (Icelandic legend)

A talented young musician from Iceland travels to the royal court of Norway, leaving a girl he fancies behind. He promises to return to marry her. From Norway, he sends his brother to her with a message - but the brother decides to marry her instead. When Ivar finds out, he sinks into deep depression. His friend the king tries to cheer him up in all kinds of ways - but in the end, patient listening is what does the trick.

Girolles and Agathe (French romance)

I like this medieval story because in the end, the scorned suitor graciously accepts his defeat. It's about a squire in love with a lady, but her father doesn't approve of the match. When she is to be married to someone else, both suitors show up, and the squire prepares a set of riddles to win the lady. In the end, the lovers are united, and the other gentleman concludes a woman who doesn't love him would not have been a good match anyway.

The minaret of Mausum Shah (Legend from Pakistan)

A Muslim man falls in love with a Hindu woman, but she doesn't like him, and neither of them is willing to convert anyway. Still, he keeps on courting her. Finally she demands that he builds a minaret to prove his love for her. He does so, but when he fulfills his promise, she still refuses him, and mockingly tells him to jump off the tower. He does - but a divine hand catches him and saves his life. Realizing his love was misguided, he becomes an anchorite, and leads a holy life.

There are also versions of the legend of the Lady of Stavoren where she sends out a lovestruck suitor to bring her the most precious thing in the world. When he brings grain, and she mocks him, he realized his mistake, and leaves her for good.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

T is for The Two-person Love Triangle (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

This is a fun one: it's a trope about a person who thinks they are in a love triangle, only to find out that the two love interests were one and the same person all along.

THE FOLKLORE

As surprising as it is, this one exists in folklore. Mostly because there are so many cases of concealed identites.

THE STORIES

Lady Béla (Hungarian folktale)

This one is about a girl who is raised by her father pretending to be a set of twins: a feisty and strong warrior woman, and a kind and gentle maiden. In her kind form, she falls in love with a shepherd. When her castle is attacked, he joines the guard, and she tries to seduce him in her warrior-woman persona, but he stays loyal to his beloved. In the end, it is revealed she is both.

Procris and Cephalus (Greek myth)

This one is a pretty complex tit-for-tat fake adultery story. The goddess Eos wants to seduce the hunter Cephalus, but he wants to stay faithful to his wife Procris. Eos wants to prove Procris is not worth the trouble, and changes Cephalus' appearance so he can try to seduce his own wife. He succeeds (with a large sum of money) so he exiles Procris in disgust. After some adventures, Procris returns in the guise of a young hunter, and in that form, she seduces her husband (again, for a valuable gift). When they get down to business, she reveals herself, calling her husband out on his hypocrisy. They do make up, but in the end, Cephalus tragically and accidentally kills her.

The tailor's daughter (Folktale from Iraq)

A tailor's clever daughter outwits a sultan, so he decides to marry her, and then promptly forgets about her. When he goes on journeys abroad, she always sneaks after him in disguise, and seduces him three different times, giving birth to three children. When the sultan decides to marry someone else, she sows up at the wedding with the children, and the reveals that she had managed to seduce her own husband three times as three different people.

(This story type exists in many places - I have seen versions from Azerbaijan, from Israel, and also from Sicily, the latter a very intriguing variant from this book where the heroine, Catarina the Wise, escapes jail three times to seduce her husband.) (Sadly, I don't much love this tale type, because the husband is always a jerk.)

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

S is for Serenade (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Serenading the one you love is an age-old form of courtship.

THE FOLKLORE

Serenading the one you love is an age-old form of courtship.

THE STORIES

Sadko (Russian folktale)

This story exists in a lot of versions, but Arthur Ransome's retelling is more romantic than the others. Sadko is a musician who loves to admire the Volkhov river, playing music and serenading her like a lover. He wins the favor of the Tsar of the Sea, and visits him in his underwater realm. There he gets to meet his beloved river in the form of a princess.

Lautenthal (Legend from the Harz Mountains)

A rich girl is rescued in the mountains by a young hunter, and they fall in love. She sneaks out into the forest to play her lute, and he always finds her following her music. When she is to be married to someone else, they meet once more, and listening to her love songs, he hears an echo. They discover a cave full of silver - he becomes rich, and they can marry.

Hinemoa and Tutanekai (Maori legend)

Probably the most famous Maori love story, about a girl who bravely swims across the lake, following the sound of the beloved's music.

The Ginkgo Fairy (Chinese folktale)

A young coalmaker falls in love with a mysterious young woman in the mountains who echoes all his songs. Eventually they meet and marry - and she turns out to be the spirit of a ginkgo tree.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

R is for Reincarnation romance (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

This trope features a pair of lovers that are reborn (sometimes over and over again) and always find each other. The idea is that they are meant for each other over several lifetimes.

THE FOLKLORE

In cultures where reincarnation is part of the belief system, stories like this do exist.

THE STORIES

The quiet girl (Tibetan folktale)

Three men court a girl, but she refuses the first two, and seems uninterested in marriage. When the youngest man meets an old woman on his way to visit the girl, the woman tells him her secret. The girl has been reborn again and again, alongside her husband, in the form of various animals, but their families always died in tragedy. Armed with this knowledge, the young man manages to win her heart. It is left up to interpretation whether he is actually her husband reborn again, but they do live happily.

The weaverbird princess (Thai folktale)

A variant of the previous story. A weaverbird couple loses their chicks, and the wife blames the husband. In their next lives they are reborn as humans. The wife is a princess who is promised to marry whomever can make her talk. Her husband shows up as a prince and manages to make her talk with his stories. Later, an evil mentor steals the prince's body and puts his own soul into it, but the couple maganes to find a way to set things right.

There is also a Hmong version of this same story, except in that one the husband is actually to blame. Also, the couple goes through a series of missed opportunities when they are not reborn in compatible bodies.

Midir and Étaín (Irish legend)

Probably the most famous reincarnation romance in Europe. When Midir (an immortal Sidhe prince) sets his first wife apart for Étaín, the ex-wife curses the woman to be turned into a fly and blown away by the wind. Étaín eventually lands in the cup of a chief's wife, and swallowed. The wife then gives birth to a girl, who is Étaín reborn. When she grows up, she is married to a king, but Midir manages to find her and win her back.

Indra as a cat (Legend from India)

At a wild party in the heavens Indra offens a visiting Brahman, and the Brahman curses him to die and be reborn as a cat in a hunter's house. His wife searches for him, and manages to convince the Brahman to tell her where her husband is. When she finds him, she prays to the goddess Káliká, who agrees to ease the curse: she puts cat-husband and wife to a deep sleep until the term of the 12-year rebirth is over. (Very Sleeping Beauty. But who wouldn't want a 12-year nap with their cat?)

Reincarnation also features into the famous love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!