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!
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Why are stepmothers so mean?
ReplyDeleteAt least part of it is historical reality. Marina Warner mentioned once that most widowers remarried within a year and there was often competition for resources.
DeleteHere's my source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKSeHHgzjns
I've seen a similar plot device in a number of films from the Golden Age, with the rather antiquated twist that the people (not always a couple) have to find ways to not sleep in the same bed and also avoid being caught creeping around the house in the middle of the night, since they're not married.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to My Magick Theatre
Such a convenient device to bring people together. I once tried to do this in real life (I was pretty young at the time), but it didn't work. I'll spare you the details. Of the folk tale, I like the ide of a hideous hag being welcomed into the bed of a hero. It says a lot about the hero.
ReplyDeletehttps://dacairns.com.au/blog/f/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-o
I liked the The Daughter of the King Under the Waves. Diarmuid is interesting. A nice guy, yet not trustworthy in the end. His loss. Why do I see him in today's men, bragging to their buddies about things their girlfriends told them in confidence?
ReplyDeleteI'm partial to the tales of my homeland - so Scottish tales, but I think it's interesting that the fact that there is only one bed, and that's taboo to share is overridden by the need to sometimes, be polite and hospitable.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting one.
Kai
My other posts are listed at The AtoZ of me and my inspirations
There is an old English folk song, King Henry. The king spends the night in a haunted hall when in comes a hag. She demands that he kill his dog, horse and hawk so she can eat - he does. He then spends the night with her and in the morning finds a beautiful woman in his arms.
ReplyDelete