Folktales for Election Time

There are always elections happening somewhere, decisions being made in all kinds of manners. But since the US elections is being followed all around the world (and I have family and friends in the US), it seemed appropriate to post this now. I gathered a short list of folktales and legends that might be useful when a storyteller is engaging in conversations of choices, leadership, and democracy.

(Links in the titles, as usual)

The Bird of Truth (Spain)

A good tale for talking about how one proves the truth, and how misinformation works. A prince, cast out with her twin sister as a baby, tries to prove to his royal father that indeed they are his real children. For that, he sets out on a quest to find the Bird of Truth. On the way he encounters many obstacles, and in the end he has to select the bird from among many that all claim to be the Bird of Truth (reminiscent of Indiana Jones' moment with the Holy Grail).

Mahakapi Jataka (India)

A story that talks about what a true leader is like. A monkey king saves his people from danger by using his own body as a bridge, even though it costs him his life. Thus, he teaches a human king a valuable lesson about being a ruler.

The king who trusted his kingdom to his daughters (Jewish)

Another tale about what a real leader should be like. A king gives each of his daughters a precious gem to see what they would do with it. The youngest daughter sells it to help a poor family, and then continues on her own, using her kindness and riches to better the life of her people.

The Deceiver (Somalia)

A dark story about how easily a greedy person can turn everyone on each other. The villain, exiled from his village, incites hatred in the animals against the humans, and with their help raids the village. Once they have the loot, he starts accusing the animals one by one, turning them against each other, until they are all gone and he can keep all the wealth.

The shy quilt bird (Myanmar)

When an evil serpent threatens the animal kingdom, all the animals band together to defeat it. Since the great Galon (Garuda) bird can't come to their aid, they all come up with a plan to pretend to be the bird itself (see also: Bug's Life). The story talks about good and bad leaders, the importance of community, and strength in unity.

The charitable maid-servant (India)

A stingy king shares no food with his people, hoarding everything for himself. He even measures the ingredients for his daily sweets to keep his servants from stealing. Still, a maidservant finds a way to pilfer some food and share it with people. When the kingdom is attacked, these stolen pastries magically defend the people from the enemy, teaching the king a lesson.

Heracles and Athena (Greece)

A lesser known Aesop's fable that I think is very much applicable to Internet arguments. Heracles finds a small apple-like object on the road, and hits it with his club. It swells to twice its size. He keeps hitting it and it keeps growing, until Athena appears, and tells him the object is Strife itself. The more you fight it the larger it gets.

How long the winter lasts (Tehuelche)

The animals gather to discuss how long the winter should be. The rhea insists that it should last as many months as he can count on his feet - twelve months. Other animals argue that it would be too long, but the rhea insists, and manages to gather followers, despite the fact that he has no logical arguments. Eventually the debate proves fruitless - and while the animals fight, the mara sets out to convey a more managable decision to the Creator.

Drop of Honey (Myanmar)

A chain of events prove that if we don't take responsibility for the small things, they can really get out of hand.

If you have any more tales to add, drop them in the comments!

And don't forget to vote, wherever you are.

Girl in the Chair: The Storyteller and the Bateleur, or, why researching animal tales is worth it

As I have mentioned before, I am busy working on my next folktale collection, focusing on animal tales. I have done a whole lot of research in the past year, making a long list of stories - and animal species - I would love to include. Right now, I am translating, retelling, and polishing the tales one by one, in writing and in telling. The latest one provided me with a bit of a research adventure, so I decided to share.

Before we get started:

1. There are a lot of animal tales out there. I could just Google "lion + folktale", find one, copy and paste, move on. Sadly, there are books on the market that do exactly that. But I do believe that the more work I put into a story, the better the book will be. And I also believe that in order to tell a story well (especially from another culture) I have to do my homework, and understand it as much as possible.

2. I set some goals for myself for this project. In order for a story to be included, it has to be enjoyable (exciting, interesting, polished), has to represent the animal in a positive way (not dumb, evil, or cursed), and the flora and fauna of the story has to match the place it comes from. The latter one is the important part for this post.

The case study

The story I am working with is a Mbaka folktale from Angola. I came across it during my Following Folktales Around the World reading challenge, and it stuck with me. It is titled The son of Kimanaueze and the daughter of Sun and Moon. The basic tale is that a great hero's son decides he wants a bride from the sky, but doesn't know how to get his letter of proposal to her. He asks various animals to help take the letter to the heavens.

The (bilingual) text mentions four animals:

Mbambi, translated as Deer,

Soko, translated as Antelope,

Kikuambi, translated as Hawk,

and Holokoko, translated as Vulture.

None of the four help the hero, actually, and they only have one line each in the tale, so I could have settled for these names and moved on. But since this whole book is about animals, I wanted to pay attention to detail, and go beyond stereotypes. 19th century British translators had a habit of labeling any bird a "pidgeon" or "eagle", and every ungulate "deer." So I looked up the book's end notes to see if these animals were really the ones they were translated into.

Obviously not. And here things got interesting.

Mbambi, according to the notes, is Cephalophus burchelii. This name, however, doesn't exist anymore. Taxonomic names can change a whole lot in a century, and it was obvious that Mbambi had swapped Latin names since 1894, but I had no idea to what. I was sure he is not a deer, given that Cephalophus refers to duikers. I also learned that the old name referenced British naturalist William John Burchell, so I started searching for terms like Burchell + antelope, Burchell + bushbuck, Burchell + Cephalophus etc. Nothing really came up, until finally I ran into an article about the catalog of Burchell's mammal collection. And there they noted the new name: Sylvicapra grimmia ssp. burchellii, common duiker. Win.

Soko was a more complicated case, given that the notes gave no Latin name at all. The translator only stated that it is some sort of an antelope, with longer horns. This was not much to go on, so I decided to look up antelop species that live in Anglola. Since Angola's borders have also changed, I looked up the regions where the Mbaka live and tried to cross-reference. Eventually I came across the Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), which matched the description, and also the role in the story (see below). I am not sure about this one, but decided to go with it until further notice. (Fun fact: antidorcas means "not a gazelle". Gee thanks.)

Kikuambi had a Latin name: Fiscus capelli. However, this one is also out of date. Luckily, my search came up with a very useful page, which led me to the current name, and another which helped me with names in different languages. This is how I found Lanius humeralis capelli - which is not a hawk at all. It's a small shrike (Northern fiscal). I also had to do some extra work figuring out what to translate it to in Hungarian, since we don't have a common name for it. But at least I had the species.

And then came Holokoko, Helotarsus ecaudatus. This one was pretty straightforward: Google told me that it is an older Latin name for Teratophius ecaudatus, the bateleur. Not a vulture. This bird:

This whole side quest took me about two hours, and resulted in finding out about four fascinating animals. With one line each in the folktale.

First off, I had to make decisions on how to incorporate them into the text. In a folktale, modern names can stick out like a sore thumb ("and then along came the Northern fiscal"). And yet, I like to tell the story with the accurate animals, and name them with their original names. So, I settled on "along came Kikuambi, a small shrike" - and put the rest in the Comments section after the tale. 

Why go to all this trouble?

Because the four lines in the story suddenly made sense in contet, and expanded into a small scene. The hero first tries to send the letter with the small and swift duiker, but Mbambi can't run up to the sky. Then he asks Soko, who can jump (pronk) very high - but not that high. Then he asks a bird who can perch in high places, but he can't help either. Finally he asks the bateleur, who can soar very high - but even he can only get halfway to the sky.

And now it all makes sense.

A lot of this was probably self-explanatory to people when the original text was collected. But if I am telling it to contemporary audiences in Hungary (or Europe), these things need spelling out. And yes, the story would still work if it was four random animals saying no to the hero - but with the specific species, and the background knowledge, the story gains richness, detail, and layered meaning.

And, honestly: I freaking enjoy doing this work. Hello, dopamine. I love the search, the discovery, the puzzle. And I love animals, I always have. So I enjoy finding out about interesting species, and doing them justice when telling people about them.

And now I am moving on to the second paragraph...

(Note: if you are a biologist, birder, anthropologist, or any other professional, and you see a mistake in this post, please educate me :) )

Girl in the chair: Luck, research, and wolves

It has been a while since I last did a Girl in the Chair in-depth research post. Incidentally, that one had also been about wolves. Yesterday I went deep down into a rabbit hole, and this time, luck played an important part in the process. So I decided to write down the play-by-play, to show what an adventure research can be.

It all started with trying to find folktales where the wolf is a positive character. I am working on a folktale collection that features animal tales, and I really wanted to get a good wolf story in there. This topic has come up recently at the FEST conference too, and it is a contentious point in Hungary right now, so I was extra motivated.

I went through a bunch of usual suspects - Prince Ivan and the Grey Wolf (which, I found out, has been translated at one point as The Grey Wolf and the Golden Cassowary), the Wolf Queen, Sirko and the wolf, etc. But so far most stories I have been interested in were about shapeshifter wolves, rather than the actual animal. In addition, stories where the wolf is a positive character have been rare and hard to find. And on top of that, I wanted the story to be interesting and exciting. And to say something about wolves being a useful part of the environment. NO pressure.

Then I vaguely remembered hearing a story about the creation of the first wolf, from a fellow storyteller. I only recalled that it was a Finnish (?) story, and the wolf was made of sticks, designed to be a guardian. I tried to Google Books "creation of wolf", "first wolf", etc., but came up blank. No Kalevala, no Finnish, no mythology. It was beginning to drive me crazy. After a while I decided to attack the problem from a different angle: I tried to remember who told it. Then it dawned on me that it must have been Kevin Strauss, whose awesome workshop about animal tales I have attended in the US. Once I remembered, I realized that Kevin has also published books on animal tales. I don't have his wolf book, or Tales with Tails (it has been on my wish list forever), but I thought maybe he included this story in one of those. So, I did the next best thing: I used Amazon Preview. And found out that "The First Wolf" was indeed included in Tales with Tails! Then I sent up a little prayer that Kevin, being the awesome researcher he is, included sources in the book. (And that they were visible in preview). And he did! (Thanks, Kevin! I'm buying the book). 

Kevin's source list led me to another book, The Enchanted Wood and Other Tales from Finland. And lo and behold, it had the story (this book is on Archive). Sadly, however, it did not note any sources that I could find. I was beginning to wonder if it came from a family tradition of some sort. I tried to do a reverse search, using terms from the text of the tale ("first wolf" "great wizard" "evil spirit" "burning eyes" etc.), but no hits. Then I thought maybe the source is in Finnish, so I used Google Translate to translate the search terms. Still no dice. After poking at it for a good hour, I gave up.

Next came the iffy part: if I can't find a source, but want to use a tale, I need permission. I looked up the publisher, and found out that Libraries Unlimited has recently become an imprint of Bloomsbury. Which means I need Bloomsbury's copyright permission for using the tale. I looked up Bloomsbury's permission policy, downloaded the permission request form, and got ready to work on it. However, at this point my spoons ran out, and I decided to postpone the form-filling for later.

In the meantime, I took another tack at finding other good-wolf stories. My usual go-to is to pull up the Thompson Motif Index, and search for a keyword in it. So I did Ctr+F "wolf", and started poking through the 300+ hits. I eventually came across motif G303.17.3.3: Wolf eats the devil; therefore, devil no longer lives in the world. This one sounded promising, so I pulled up the source referenced: the first volume of Natursagen by Oskar Dähnhardt. Since this was published in 1909, I went back to Archive to pull it up. Praise the gods it was not in Gothic letters, so between my rudimentary German and Google Translate, I managed to read the story on page 153. I realized that it sounded similar to the Finnish story! But not quite the same. Here, the devil created wolves too, but to spite God.

On this page, the author referenced a Ukrainian version by Dragomanov in the journal Mélusine, where other animals are also created from the wolf (bumblebees, flies, etc.). I got curious about this one, so I went on a whole side quest digging up volume IV of Mélusine, and sorting through the versions Dragomanov referenced (some in Russian). They all had the same basic structure as the Finnish story, with the Evil Spirit creating the first wolf, but they were missing a crucial part: the creation of the wolf as a guardian, rather than a monster.

Giving up on Dragomanov and his Slavic sources, I eventually wandered back to Natursagen. I decided it is a useful volume to leaf through, even if not for this particular tale. So I turned the pages back to the beginning of the Wolf chapter, to see what else is there.

And there was the damn Finnish story!

Almost word for word.

Except it's Estonian.

Bless Natursagen, this one had sources too! One was a collection of Estonian folktales from 1888, in German (also available in the public domain, but in Gothic letters. Luckily, they were good enough for the screen reader to be copy-pasted into Google Translate. Sometimes copy-paste turns Gothic into gibberish.) Another one was a collection that had Estonian and Latvian variants, and there was even a Hungarian collection referenced, although the story in this one was only tangentially related.

But! The Estonian book even came with notes that revealed some very intriguing details. For one, it finally named the "creator" as Jumah, the Estonian sky deity. For another, it specified the plant that is used for the tail as Daphne mezereum, which, funny enough, is named after wolves in Hungarian.

So. Yeah. I found the story's source after all!

Here are a few conclusions:

1. While tracing a story back to a public domain source is useful, that is not the primary reason to do it. As demonstrated above, a lot can get scrambled and lost during translation and adaptation (Jumah turns into Great Wizard, or firebirds turn into cassowaries). Also, the closer a source is to the oral tradition, the more intriguing details might be noted, as I found out in the end.

2. Even with the most dedicated research skills, sometimes luck plays a part. Turning to the right page, selecting the right motif out of 300, happening on the right workshop at the right time, or having access to the right page on Amazon Preview. I was wandering around, and lucked into something I almost gave up on.

3. Reading multiple versions of the same tale type is still a very illuminating process. There are similarities and differences, sometimes as subtle as the "evil spirit" noting that wolves are needed to protect the woods. That one line makes one version more fascinating than all the others - and more fitting for a contemporary message.

4. Wolves are awesome and deserve more positive representation!

5. I still very much love this part of my job :)

Important questions, great discussions: FEST 2024, Glasgow

This year's FEST (Federation for European Storytelling) conference took place in Glasgow, organized by representatives from four nations: Scottish, Irish, English, and Welsh. They created a great program in collaboration, running parallel to The Village Storytelling Festival with all its marvelous events.

Fun fact: this was my 10th FEST conference! I attended in 2009 for the first time. Even more fun than that, we had a whole lot of Hungarian attendees this year. I traveled with my long time friend Kata Orosz (who is a volunteer storyteller from Világszép). In addition, Meseszó was represented by Klitsie-Szabad Boglárka, Hungarian Heritage House by Sándor Ildikó, Holnemvolt (Onceuponatime) Festival by Szabó Enikő, and Világszárnya by Hajós Erika, Zámborszky Eszter, and Bedőházi Beáta. Three of us (Bogi, Enikő and I) even presented workshops. Although I didn't get to see the other two, I heard they were really popular.

I arrived in Glasgow Tuesday evening, missing the first evening's welcome events, but welcomed by friendly storytellers in the lobby of the hotel anyway. It always feels like coming home when I arrive to FEST, seeing friends from all over Europe. 

The conference program itself began Wednesday morning, with welcome speeches and keynote presentations. The organizers introduced themselves and welcomed us officially, then handed the stage over to the keynote speakers. Steve Byrne talked about intangible cultural heritage in Scotland, and the work it took to record and register traditions as such (my favorite quote: "Cultural heritage is not just what we used to have."). Dr. Stephe Harrop talked enthusiastically about creating storytelling spaces in Glasgow, and the work of women storytellers in this process. We also received a warm and friendly welcome presentation from Amadu Wurie Khan, who talked about identity as a "new Scot", as well as finding a place among cultural similarities and differences between Scotland and his native Sierra Leone. At this point, the conference program was running a bit late, but no one minded much - we heard a lot of fascinating things in one morning. During the breaks we were treated to coffee, tea, and pastries in the cafeteria; we even received reusable coffee mugs in the spirit of sustainability.

I chose to attend a fascinating presentation after the break. Peter Chand and Aoife O'Connor promised us "a provocation and a discussion", and that was exactly what they delivered. They dropped some hard truths about diversity (or lack thereof) within FEST and the larger storytelling community. The talk revolved around representation of marginalized identities (by race, nationality, gender, sexuality, ability, language, etc.), and the ways FEST and other storytelling events in Europe could be more inclusive in general - especially to young, upcoming tellers. They also touched on the topic of cultural appropriation, and doing justice to stories from other cultures - from learning to pronounce names all the way to dealing with people from colonizing countries telling stories from the groups they had colonized. The presenters didn't only open up a lot of important questions, but they also allowed time for feedback, discussion, and expressing feelings (even uncomfortable ones). The entire presentation was just the start: whoever wanted could sign up to a mailing list to continue the discussion. It was a very important session, much needed for the European storytelling community - and all the while honest, friendly, and open. The presenters held the space well. I am glad I attended.

After the lunch break there was another selection of workshops. In the first half hour I did my presentation on MythOff and bringing mythology and storytelling to new audiences. I got some great questions at the end. After my time was up, I hurried over to Dougie Mackay's workshop on wolves. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, especially because the reintroduction of wolves to Hungary sparked some debates (not to mention the shooting of a Swiss wolf by a Hungarian hunter recently...). And I love stories where wolves are not evil or dumb. Dougie led a great discussion on wolves, their importance to the environment, and the responsibility of storytellers. He also told us about his adventures tracking wolves in the wild.

I doubled down on environmental storytelling in the next session: after a coffee break I attended Cara Silversmith's workshop on environmental literacy and storytelling. Cara is passionate and enthusiastic about nature, and educating people - through stories - about our relationship with it. We got to touch some leaves and try to guess what tree they came from; we talked about different types of knowledge, and the emotions nature can evoke in us. It turned out the leaves were from an elm tree (and I was a little ashamed that I once wrote a whole article on elm trees in mythology, and yet I did not recognize the leaf). It was a lovely workshop, and great discussion.

After having dinner, we returned to the Centre for Contemporary Arts for the evening shows. Kata and I arrived early, so we got to sit and chat with people in the cafeteria - among them Ronni Gurwicz who runs a really fun podcast series, and also published a book alongside Arjen Barel and Stu Packer (yes I bought it). The evening performance I got to attend was Queens of Albion by Stephe Harrop. She masterfully combined personal stories with the foundation legends of Britain and some Greek mythology. She is a sparkling, humorous storyteller who owned the stage with minimal props - a few rocks, and a shiny jacket that transformed into various things in her hands. It was a stunning performance. I was too tired to stay for the late night shows (toddler mom), but I was happy I made it to that one.

The second full day of the conference also had a lot to offer. I chose the workshop titled Finding Your Voice run by Irish storytellers from the Leprechaun Museum. They had done a project on Erasmus+ funding, reworking traditional stories with LGBT+ youth. We got to go through a shorter version of the workshop they designed, and had great fun with it. We discussed what queer stories do exist in tradition, and what storytellers can do to queer other tales - also, what kinds of heroes and plots we would love to see in stories 100 years from now. We had a great group of people at the workshop, and it was lovely to see folklore research combined so well with creativity.

The second half of the day was Open Space - attendees could suggest topics of discussion, and we gathered in small groups all around the Centre. I joined the table where the topic was "how much can we change myths when we tell them?" We sat in the cafeteria, and we were "violently agreeing" with each other. It was great fun. Sadly, the program was running a bit late, and we soon had to return to the main room to share our thoughts.

All that was left now was to close the conference, and pass the torch on to Paola Balbi - next year we will be in Rome!

We ended the conference with singing, laughter, and gifts - but the day was not over yet. In the evening we had a gala dinner at the National Piping Centre (with some great Scottish music). We heard stories between courses, and after dessert a surprise guest appeared: a Mari Lwyd came dancing, and we all sang and cheered. It was a great way to celebrate us being together. The evening was so lovely that in the end I only said a few goodbyes and slipped out to go sleep. 

Kata and I spent the remaining day on the Isle of Arran, walking the beach, enjoying the sunshine, and visiting the Bodick Castle botanical gardens. It was a gorgeous place to visit, with friendly people. On the morning before we returned to Hungary we also got to browse some bookshops around Glasgow, and have lunch with folklorist Maggie Mackay. We made the most of our time to the last minute.

This was my second time in Scotland, and I was once again enchanted by the place, and by the storytelling community. I am sure I will be back. And next year, I'll see you all in Rome!

2024 A to Z Challenge Reflections - and Theme Reveal

 

I adore the A to Z Blogging Challenge, but this year was just not kind to me over the course of April. A bunch of work and family stuff happened in rapid succession, which means that I was mostly distracted by being on the struggle bus - and almost completely fell out of visiting other blogs. Which makes me sad, because I saw and bookmarked so many great themes this year! I only completed the challenge because I had all the posts scheduled in March. Whew!

So, to make up for the mess this April has been, I have two things planned:

1. I will go back and read those awesome themes during the Road Trip! It might take me a while, but at least I will have lots of stuff to read :)

2. I might as well announce it now that I already have my theme for next year! As I have mentioned, deciding this year's theme took a lot of work. But next year's theme just came to me and I already love it. It happened too late in March to pull off this year, because it will take a lot of reading.

So, my theme for 2025 is:

EPICS ABOUT WOMEN!

I have done an Epics A to Z theme in 2015, and I greatly enjoyed it. This time - 10 years later! - I will again read 26 epics (over the course of one year), all of them featuring women protagonists! Can you name any of them? I already have the list for all 26 letters. I'm excited!

Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me this year! Thank you for the lovely comments, the likes and shares on social media, and of course, congratulations if you participated in the Challenge! You are truly an awesome community. Thank you!

Z is for Zaddy (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

That's it, I'm officially done :D I managed to get through April, and I scheduled all these posts by March 31st! I might be scraping a little here, but Z was not very easy, in folklore terms. Thank Merriam-Webster for defining this term for me so I can use it.

(As for the image, Google has spoken.)

THE FOLKLORE

So, by the definition, a zaddy is a man who is stylish, attractive, and charming. The term is usually applied to older men (or at least men who are not in the "young adult" category). Since all this seems very subjective, I'm just going to list some of my favorite folklore characters who fit the bill.

THE STORIES

Zal (Persian Book of Kings)

Always my favorite folklore crush, the white-haired prince from the Shahnameh. Abandoned at birth in the mountains, raised by the legendary Simurgh bird, returned to his father's court as an adult to take his rightful place. Hero of an epic romance, father to the great warrior Rustam, loving husband, caring father, damn clever and honorable man through and through.

Fionn Mac Cumhaill (Ireland)

Leader of the Fianna, legendary warrior band of Ireland. Raised in the wilderness (alright I have a type sue me), blessed with wisdom, single father raising one of the most famous bards in tradition. Golden-haired, fearsome, clever. Raised by a female couple and he turned out mightly fine.

Sir Kay (Arthurian legends)

Generally known as she sharp-tongued and grumpy senechal of Camelot, he is Arthur's foster-brother and the reason all those knights have food on the table. I always liked this character because he is fundamentally flawed yet extremely interesting. Also, there is a romance (Girar D'Amiens' Escanor) that features him in falling for an equally sharp-tongued lady. SOMEONE PLEASE TRANSLATE IT.

The wild man (Austrian folktale)

This is an obscure one, but one of my favorite folktales. It features a poor charcoal burner trying to find a godfather for his newborn son. In a thunderstorm he finds a hut in the forest, and in it encounters a great strong man. The man agrees to be the godfather. He rides a giant black cat, knows the secrets of wild herbs and plants, and is inexplicably rich. He gives the boy the name Wood-Cat, and helps raise him when he enters his rebellious teenage years.

That's it, everyone! Thank you for sticking with me for another year of A to Z!

I don't think my blog search hits will ever recover. :D

If you were participating, congratulations on finishing the challenge! Pat yourself in the back! 

See you next week for Reflections!

Y is for Years of waiting (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

There are romances where one party has to wait for the other for a long time before they can be reunited in love. Sometimes, they have to wait for years and years.This is a trope of consistancy and faithfulness.

THE FOLKLORE

Staying faithful while waiting for long periods of time is actually a much valued strength in folktales.

THE STORIES

The tortoise husband (Italian folktale)

Returning to this story for a moment after V, because it also features a patient wife. To break the curse, the tortoise husband has to travel around the world, and she has to wait for him to come back. She does wait, faithfully and patiently, and defends herself cleverly from  various men who want to seduce her.

The pigeon's bride (Balkan folktale)

This one is the same tale type as the Italian Canary Prince: a princess lives in a tower, and a pigeon keeps visiting her in secret. When he bathes in a bowl of milk he turns into a prince. She promises never to betray him, but eventually tells her secret to her parents, and the pigeon disappears. She wears out three pairs of iron shoes looking for him but fails. Then she opens an inn and waits for a long time for someone to bring her news of her beloved. Finally a girl does, and the lovers are reunited.

Lindu in the sky (Estonian legend)

Lindu is a girl who directs the flight of birds. Many celestial beings court her: the sun, the moon, the north star. However, she falls in love with the Northern Lights, because they are free and ever-changing, and she loves her freedom. They get engaged, and he promises to return, but fails to appear again. She waits and she waits, and finally after a long wait her father lifts her into the sky. Her wedding veil becomes the Milky Way. There, she can sometimes meet her beloved again and dance with him, although they never get married.

The three pieces of advice

This one is actually a whole folktale type. It usually features a man who has to go on a long journey, either for service or for military duty. After his work is completed, he is given three pieces of advice - one of which usually states he should never act rashly in anger. He travels home, goes through many adventures, and makes good use of the advice he got. In the end he arrives home, and sees his wife embracing a young man. He flies into a jealous rage, but remembers not to act rashly, and questions his wife first. It turns out the young man is his own son who has grown up while he was away.

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!

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!

Q is for Queen and Soldier (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

So this one is a general type of romance where a soldier/guard/someone who serves royalty falls in love with the royal lady high above their station. That they are supposed to protect, more often than not.

THE FOLKLORE

Once again, this one is by far not unheard of in folklore (sue me). Soldiers, especially veteran soldiers often end up making their fortune in folktales, and that sometimes involves winning a princess. However, I went looking for a queen instead, and those were not as common. Still, I get to include one of my favorite folktales, so here we go.

THE STORIES

The green dragoon (Hungarian folktale)

A widow queen who rules a country marches her army to war. One dragoon steps out of line to relieve himself, and accidentally gets trapped in an enchanted forest. By the time he is free, the war is over, the queen lost, and she has been trapped inside a cursed castle for 77 years. The soldier decides to go and save her, and he puts up with three nights of horrible hauntings to break the curse.

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!

P is for Post-fight Patch-up (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 refers to scenes where someone is injured, and their (prospective) romantic interest gently tends to their wounds. It shows care and intimacy. Big strong men who take bullets witout slowing down usually hiss and fuss, because it shows vulnerability. You know this trope.

THE FOLKLORE

I had some obvious choices for this one, but it was still fun to do more digging.

THE STORIES

Diarmuid and Gráinne (Irish legend)

I promised we would get to these two, right? Can't miss one of the great love stories of tradition. Gotta admit, my favorite part of this entire runaway-bride epic is the part where they finally get together. Long story short: Irish princess Gráinne escapes her own wedding to legendary hero Fionn Mac Cumhail by putting a much younger and more handsome hero, Diarmuid, under a magic obligation to elope with her. Fionn and his men hunt them high and low, and for a long time, Diarmuid holds out, not touching the woman that made him break his loyalty to Fionn. He always leaves unbroken bread behind to signal he has not slept with her. One stormy night, they seek shelter in a cave and get into a quarrel, at the end of which Gráinne stabs Diarmuid in the leg. He runs out into the rain, and she looks for him all night. They finally meet, make up, confess their love, and she takes the knife out of his leg. 

After that, there is no unbroken break left behind anymore.

Ilbrec of Ess Ruadh (Irish legend)

This one concerns another hero of the Fianna, Caoilte the Swift. He gets injured in battle, hit in the thigh with a poisoned spear. He goes in search of healing to the Sidhe hill where his foster-brother lives. He is seeking Bebind, a famous healing woman. He has to complete various battle quests to pay for the healing. Bebind works on his wound over the course of several days until he is healthy again. There are versions of this legend where they also become lovers by the end. (One is expertly told by Daniel Allison in this book.)

Guigemar (Medieval romance)

This 12th century romantic tale, based in folklore and written by Marie de France, starts a hero who knows nothing about love. Which is a problem, because he gets hurt in a hunting accident, and a deer tells him his wound can only be cured by his true love. He sets out to find love, and ends up in the castle of an old man who jealously keeps his beautiful wife locked up. With the help of servants, Guigemar meets the lady, and - predictably - they fall in love as she tends his wound. When the husband finds out they are torn apart, but fate brings them together again in the end. 

(Note that Tristan and Iseult also meet when he is seeking help to cure his poisoned wound.)

Dietwart and Minne (German legend)

Roman emperor Dietwart is looking for a wife, and he ends up in Westernmer to court King Ladmer's daugher Minne. She refuses to say yes to him until she gets to know him better; and despite his protests that women shouldn't hunt, she joins the hunt organized in his honor. She turns out to be quite the accomplished "mighty huntress". However, when she scares up a dragon, she almost dies - util Dietwart arrives to save her and kill the beast. He is seriously wounded in the fight. He is between life and death, but Minne slowly nurses him back to health with a magic ointment. When he regains his wits, he finds out she got the ointment from her mother - only to be used on someone she loves. That's one hell of a confession. 

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!

O is for Only one bed (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

If there is a "most often quoted" romance trope, THERE IS ONLY ONE BED would probably be it. Also known by the more general term of "forced proximity", it is a trope where the prospective lovers just have to share a bed for a night. For... purely logistical purposes. Sometimes it's a closet, or some other enclosed space, but the results is the same: a whole lot of tension.

THE FOLKLORE

This one is tricky from a folklore perspective, because folktales either tend to be somewhat conservative about unmarried people sharing a bed - or get straight down to business. There is also an entire related trope with a sword placed between people when they share a bed, as a show of chastity. (You can read a study of this motif in Tristan and Iseult here.) But there are some tale types where a shared bed plays an important role between people who are in love, or trying to be.

THE STORIES

Oh wall, my wall (Judeo-Spanish folktale)

A rich (but shy) young man refuses to get married, and he turns down all brides proposed to him. Finally a wise old woman suggests three poor sisters who might be fitting for him. The two elder, when they visit him and they share a bed for the night, are scared because he places a sword between them. The youngest girl, however, stays. When the boy refuses to talk to her, she pretends to talk to the wall - and he answers, doing the same. They slowly grow to like each other. When she helps a poor child, he finally speaks to her, won over by her gentleness. When her evil stepmother tries to kill her, her husband saves her.

The Daughter of the King Under the Waves (Scottish folktale)

This story features the legendary warriors of the Fianna. One stormy night a hideous hag knocks on their door and begs to be let in (in other versions, it's their hunting tents). Each hero refuses her in turn, except for Diarmuid (who is a great favorite with women anyway). He lets her in and shares his bed with her. Of course she turns into the most beautiful woman ever seen. She promises to stay with him as long as he doesn't mention in what state he found her. Obviously, he eventually breaks his promise. The story goes on, but in the end, he saves her, but they don't marry.

Alessandro and the abbott (Decameron)

This story is from the Decameron, which does use a lot of folktale motifs and elements. A young Italian man, down on his luck, is on his way home to Tuscany when he joins the retinue of a young abbott on the road. The abbott (headed to Rome) takes a liking to him, so Alessandro agrees to accompany them at least to Florence. However, one night at an inn there is no bed left for Alessandro, so the innkeeper lodges him in the abbot's room. At night, the abbott makes advances at Alessandro... and soon reveals that she is actually a princess in disguise, fleeing from an unwanted marriage. They go to the Pope together, and win his consent to marry.

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!