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Friday, April 19, 2019

Q is for Quince and Kings (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

There is a folktale motif that involves a magic tree and stolen fruit. It is very common in Hungarian stories; the fruit, usually pears or golden apples (although occasionally it's bacon) is stolen every night by some mysterious force, until the hero finds a way to protect it. Here is a version from Albania:

A king has a magic tree that bears only three quinces every year. The king desperately wants to enjoy the fruit, but every time it is stolen by a dragon. The king's three sons volunteer to stand guard, but the first two, in true folktale fashion, get scared and fail miserably. The third, a "scurf-head", manages to wound the dragon, which disappears through a hole in the ground.

From this point on, the tale follows along traditional lines. The scurf-head volunteers to descend into the underworld. He meets and rescues three princesses (three Earthly Beauties), plus a princess that has just been offered to the dragon as a sacrifice. He slays the dragon, and restores water to the underground kingdom. On his way back, his brothers pull up the three girls first, but decide to leave the scurf-head in the hole, and keep all three princesses to themselves. Following sage advice from the youngest girl (and with the help of a giant bird), however, the hero gets out of the underworld, goes home, and wins his place back in the kingdom. In the end, he turns into a dashing warrior, and marries the youngest princess.

At this point I think it is safe to assume that the king finally gets to eat his quinces in peace, too.

(You can read the tale here.)

Have you ever tried quince? Do you have a good recipe?My grandma grew them in the garden, and used to make a kind of hard jam out of them (we called it "quince cheese").


16 comments:

  1. I have never knowingly eaten quince. My mother in law's neighbor had a quince bush in her yard but the fruit always came out looking insect infested. When we bought our house we had a flowering quince but it died a couple of years later.

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  2. It seems like I have had quince jelly. I don't remember ever seeing an actual quince.

    Why are those older brothers so incompetent and mean?

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  3. The older siblings are always mean! I have never seen or eaten a quince as far as I know.

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  4. It's amazing how every fruit has a legend! I made quince jelly, and let dry the pulp. So good ;)

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  5. Hi Tarkabarka.
    Yes I have had quince fruit straight from the tree, we had a rather large quince tree growing on our property in Zambia. A long long time ago.
    I can't remember the taste but remember the texture being quite powdery.
    Nice choice for the letter "Q" by the way.
    Blessings from Geoff in Africa.

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  6. I've never heard this one before. And I haven't had this fruit. Though I've heard it's the actual fruit from the tree in Eden.

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  7. I'm famous for my quince jelly, a type of jam that goes well with hot buttered toast! Yum!

    My A-Z of Children's Stories

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  8. Such a sweet little folktale. we all prefer to have a happy ending.

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  9. My father used to gather quince off a tree in the nearby cemetery (there was an apple tree too), and make what he called "quince guggel," which was nasty. But, that's because he didn't like things very sweet, so it wasn't tasty to me! I think it was just cut up and cooked in a bit of water, maybe a teeny bit of sugar. I have several flowering quince, and they from the odd fruit at times, but I don't bother with them. The flowers are better than the fruit!
    Since the prince "turned into a dashing" man, I'll assume his being a "scruf-head" is literally, and he was had a lot of dandruff!

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  10. You know, I had to look it up on Google. Apparently, it is called "Bahi Fal" in Hindi. I have never heard of it! Is it really as rare as made out to be in this fable?
    Find my Q post @ 7 Must-Try Quirky Food Combinations | Weird Food Combinations That Taste Amazingly Delicious

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  11. I never heard of this fruit. But the tale is very interesting and gripping one

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  12. This is absolutely fascinating. There are so many people who have never even heard of Quince, very good choice.
    Blessings from Geoff in South Africa.

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  13. I never have tried Quince fruit. But the folk tale is really interesting. I am glad that he became a dashing warrior and hopefully King got to eat his quince in peace! What happened to his other 2 brothers?
    Quickening

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  14. I've eaten quince jelly and quince cheese - both delicious. My younger brother treats me as the scurf-head. Guess he's ignoring folklore.

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  15. I can’t recall if I’ve had quinces fresh, only quince jam.

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  16. I have two quince bushes in my orchard. Not my favourite fruit. Great tale!

    Ronel visiting with the A-Z Challenge music and writing:Only One that fits the Q

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