The mermaid in the pond

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The mermaid in the pond is a fairy tale ( ATU 316, 313). It is in the children's and house fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm from the 5th edition from 1843 in place 181 (KHM 181) and is based on a fairy tale from Upper Lusatia by Moriz Haupt in his magazine for German antiquity from 1841. Ludwig Bechstein took it over the same template in his German fairy tale book as Der Müller und die Nixe (1845 No. 50, 1853 No. 41).

content

An impoverished miller meets a mermaid in his mill pond . She promises him prosperity in exchange for what has just become young in his house. The miller agrees, not realizing that this is his newborn son. The son is said to stay away from the pond since then. He grows up, becomes a hunter and marries. One day, while hunting a deer, he accidentally gets near the pond, and when he tries to wash his hands in it, the mermaid pulls him down. His wife finds out what has happened, walks around the water in her pain until she falls asleep and, stimulated by a dream, seeks out a wise old woman. She advises her to use a golden comb when the moon is full, a flute the second time and finally a spinning wheel on the bank of the pond, whereupon the head appears first, the upper body of the man appears the second time and he is finally released. The two survive the flood of the rising water by being transformed into a frog and a toad, but never find each other again. Finally, they meet as lonely shepherds abroad.

origin

Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde , 1909

Grimm's note cites the source, Haupts A fairy tale from Upper Lusatia in the magazine for German antiquity (No. 1, 1841) and also notes that the evil mermaid in other fairy tales corresponds to the devil , "as in No. 34" (more correct probably KHM 29 ). Wilhelm Grimm added verbatim speeches and descriptions of nature to the template: the woman desperately calls the man by name and the crescent moon seems "immobile" on the lake. The old woman now lives on a mountain and listens attentively, like the mermaid before. He replaces the hunted hare with a deer (as in KHM 60 , 85 , 113 , 74a ) and lets the woman circle the pond (as Joringel in KHM 69 ). His description of the mermaid is similar to that of the Loreley , as Hans-Jörg Uther notes. Wilhelm Grimm thus perfected the representation, which was appealing in the sense of Romanticism . Relatively similar was Johann Christoph Matthias Reinecke's The Mermaids Embedded in Oak Leaves or the Fairy Tales from the North (Vol. 1, 1793), as well as Johann Karl August Musäus ' The Nymph of the Well (1783) or Straparola 3,4.

The plot is similar to KHM 69 Jorinde and Joringel , furthermore KHM 12 Rapunzel , KHM 111 The trained hunter , KHM 136 Der Eisenhans , KHM 198 Jungfrau Maleen , from Irish fairy tales No. 24 The lake Corrib , No. 26 The enchanted lake . Cf. on the delivery of the child KHM 3 , 12 , 31 , 55 , 88 , 92 , 108 , on the hunt for the deer KHM 60 , 85 , 113 , on the old woman KHM 69 , 123 , 133 , on redemption with the spinning wheel KHM 49 , 67 , 59a , Ariadne .

Language and style

Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde , 1909

The miller's wealth and poverty describe the alliterative expressions “money and goods” (cf. KHM 88 , 101 , 108 , 27a , 191a ), “boxes and boxes” (cf. KHM 92 , 1st edition of KHM 31 ) or "Misfortune comes overnight". When the hunter finally “recognized” his wife (cf. Genesis 4.1), “a blanket falls from his eyes” (cf. KHM 164 , 186 ).

The action, which is indeterminate in place and time, develops three times at the magical forest lake, up to the likewise typical fairy-tale redemption in love . These turning points serve here a change of perspective first from the miller to his son, then to his wife. The retarded redemption through three kinds of miraculous gifts again emphasizes the threefolding. The symbols used match each other, e.g. B. Shotgun and flute, forest and meadow, spindle and woolly hair of the sheep. The woman calls the man by name in the half moon (at Grimm), like the mermaid called the miller at the beginning, before the magic succeeds with the full moon . The mountain meadow of the helpful old woman contrasts with the forest lake of the seductress. The fairy tale was evidently carefully edited, roughly comparable to KHM 136 Der Eisenhans .

interpretation

Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde , 1909

The text emphasizes contrasts such as day and night, eroticism and age, pond and rock. The violent exuberance of the water element is followed by loneliness in the fields for a long time. Slippery, wet, green elements such as lake, forest, hunter or frog accumulate. According to some traditions, mermaids are represented with green skin, green hair and a dripping skirt. Shotgun and flute can be interpreted as phallic symbols . The misfortune comes “overnight”, although the wealth then disappears “from year to year”. The miller wants to make it easier for his heart, the mermaid promises to make him happier than he has ever been, and he hurries home comforted. There he is shocked when he realizes that the incident is a burden on his family and confesses to his wife "with bowed head". The father warns his son about the mistake he made himself, and the latter is wary of “the mermaid's stalemates”. Only his profession as a hunter and perhaps his early marriage seem to point to his father's secret legacy. But as soon as it accidentally comes into contact with the pond, it is immediately pulled down by the hands that it has stained with the blood of a deer. That seems to indicate the contact with the mermaid that the father passed on to his son. The sycotic miasm can (e.g. after Samuel Hahnemann ) be triggered by gonorrhea , a venereal disease with greenish discharge that was particularly common in the past . In contrast, the hunter's faithful wife , who turns into a toad , seems to have a predominance of the earth element. Her gold comb (beautiful appearance) frees his head, sensual flute playing the heart, first the spindle as a symbol of constant domestic life the whole body. The anthroposophist Rudolf Meyer explains that ethereal water beings yearn for spirit-illuminated gifts of the soul, for an experience of the heart that breaks the dreamy spell, as in Fouqués Undine . In dealing with them, the soul reveals secrets of metamorphosis, according to Goethe in the song of the spirits over the waters . The homeopath Martin Bomhardt compares the fairy tale with the drug picture of Veratrum album . Psychological interpretations aim more at difficult closeness-distance regulation and affect avoidance.

Hedwig von Beit interprets the father's child sacrifice ( Jephtha motif) as an insistence on the past at the expense of the new, corresponding to the son as a weak image of the father instead of the daughter. Paradoxically, disregard for the unconscious reveals its demonic aspect. The solution takes place through the benevolent mother figure on instinctive, even crooked paths. Also Verena Kast sees the Müller sacrifice will partake of the the mermaid in supposed hedge the future life. He asks noticeably often for advice, as if he lacked autonomy, spoiled for success in an apparently originally positive mother complex. His fascination at the sight of the mermaid shows that the essential is now becoming conscious. Her near-natural eroticism is beyond his habit. Kast compares birth goddesses like Artemis , Diana , Brigid , Freya , Frau Holle , who u. a. appeared as a deer. Emotions are often expressed in water metaphors and projected e.g. B. Fear of entanglement on aquatic plants. Since there is a mere idea of ​​a solution, the problem is shifted to the son, who as a hunter (Artemis) deals with nature and yet avoids the pond, i.e. somehow practices similar skills in creative avoidance. Hunting has to do with sexuality and death, without realizing that it cannot kill passion like the deer. The wise woman as another representative of the Great Goddess always gives advice in fairy tales, v. a. on birth issues. She listens and here, with comb and music, has similar means of expression to the mermaid, as if she had been one herself. The pond scene shows an inner mourning process that opens the woman's unconscious. Kast describes similar dream images of a client whose husband had an accident. The crescent moon (supplemented by Wilhelm Grimm) fits the theme of life cycles, spinning again fits Artemis, Athene or Klotho . It means the eternal return of the same and order out of chaos. The regular activity favors fantasizing shared emotional dynamics, which was previously avoided and now lets them regress to toad and frog, like mermaids, moon and fertility symbols, transitional beings between land and water. Too rapid rapprochement also follows radical separation and cautious rapprochement. Equally, both guard what a cohesion, i. H. Means concentration. Instead of a rifle, he now has a flute to express his feelings. Also Jobst Finke understands the Mermaid as close fear of man (such as Brain princess in KHM 22 The enigma ).

Receptions

Illustration by Robert Anning Bell , 1912

Ludwig Bechstein's The Miller and the Mermaid reproduces Haupt's original very faithfully. Instead of “last with his shot”, the hunter kills the hare “with one shot”, the hunter's wife blows the flute and lays “her” on the bank (not “himself”), which could also be mistakes in the original.

Similar, somewhat parodic, is The Merchant and the Mermaid in Ulrich Jahn's folk tales from Pomerania and Rügen (No. 62), probably from 1886.

Film and theater

Internet research revealed theater performances for children at the Marmelock puppet theater , the Alzenau Castle Festival or the Eva Johne puppet theater in Dresden .

literature

  • Hedwig von Beit : Symbolism of the fairy tale. Volume 2: Contrast and Renewal in Fairy Tales. 2nd, improved edition. Francke, Bern 1965, pp. 102-103.
  • Brothers Grimm: Children's and Household Tales. With 184 illustrations by contemporary artists and an afterword by Heinz Rölleke . Complete edition, 19th edition. Artemis and Winkler, Düsseldorf et al. 2002, ISBN 3-538-06943-3 , pp. 741-746.
  • Brothers Grimm: Children's and Household Tales. With the original notes of the Brothers Grimm. Volume 3: Original notes, guarantees of origin, epilogue (= Universal Library 3193). With an appendix of all fairy tales and certificates of origin, not published in all editions, published by Heinz Rölleke. Reprint, revised and bibliographically supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-15-003193-1 , pp. 265, 510.
  • Verena Kast : The mermaid in the pond. Danger and chance of erotic passion. Kreuz-Verlag, Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-268-00172-6 .
  • Verena Kast: Paths out of fear and symbiosis. Fairy tales interpreted psychologically. 9th edition. Walter, Olten 1991, ISBN 3-530-42100-6 , pp. 81-100.
  • Heinz Rölleke: Grimm's fairy tales and their sources. The literary models of Grimm's fairy tales are presented synoptically and commented (= literature series literary studies. Vol. 35). 2nd, improved edition. WVT, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-88476-717-8 , pp. 406-417, 577.
  • Hans-Jörg Uther : Handbook to the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Origin - Effect - Interpretation. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 , pp. 373-375.

Web links

Wikisource: The Mermaid in the Pond  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brothers Grimm: Children's and Household Tales. With the original notes of the Brothers Grimm. Volume 3. 1994, pp. 265, 510.
  2. ^ Rölleke: Grimms fairy tales and their sources. 2004, pp. 406-417, 577.
  3. ↑ Uther: Handbook on the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. 2008, pp. 373-375.
  4. ↑ Lothar Bluhm , Heinz Rölleke (ed.): "Speeches of the people, to which I always listen". Fairy tale - proverb - saying. On the folk-poetic design of children's and house fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. New edition. S. Hirzel Verlag, Stuttgart et al. 1997, ISBN 3-7776-0733-9 , pp. 154-155.
  5. ^ Rudolf Meyer: The wisdom of German folk tales. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1963, pp. 214-217.
  6. ^ Martin Bomhardt: Symbolic Materia Medica. 3. Edition. Verlag Homeopathie + Symbol, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-9804662-3-X , p. 1397.
  7. ↑ from Beit: Symbolism of the fairy tale. Volume 2: Contrast and Renewal in Fairy Tales. 1965, pp. 102-103.
  8. ↑ Kast: The mermaid in the pond. Danger and chance of erotic passion. 1995.
  9. ^ Jobst Finke: Dreams, Fairy Tales, Imaginations. Person-centered psychotherapy and counseling with images and symbols. Reinhardt, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-497-02371-4 , pp. 196-198.
  10. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marmelock.de
  11. ↑ http://www.alzenauer-burgfestspiele.de/auffuehrungen/1752.asp
  12. ↑ https://www.kulturkalender-dresden.de/veranstaltung/die-nixe-im-muehlteich-puppentheater-eva-johne