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!
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Too bad the hunter had to be rich before the rich girl would marry him. I suppose it's a different trope when the rich gives it all up for love.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't her choice, it was her father's, technically.
DeleteThe eternal tale - an oldie but a goodie...
ReplyDeletehttps://how-would-you-know.com/2024/04/soybeans-and-a-solage.html
I have read modern romances with singing courtship as a trope, but they are rare - likely because it doesn't come across strongly in the written medium (and copyright law). But it is a favorite of movies where they pay for the song and we can hear it.
ReplyDeleteI like the first tale the most, though the last is a close second :-)
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for S: My Languishing TBR: S
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