Epic formula

The epic formula is a typical linguistic design feature of the folk ballad . The folk ballad uses individual pre-defined word sequences, that is, formula lines, formula stanzas and entire formula sequences in the narrative function of making a plot concise, clear and understandable. Classic examples can be found in: " Bernauerin (Volksballade) " with the surprise formula , " Graf und Nun " with the formula sequence: difficult dreams, saddle strophe and meeting in front of the gate, " Girl murderer " with the kidnapping formula and " Castle in Austria " with the formula sequence Saddle strophe (saddle a horse) and meeting in front of the gate (in front of the castle) [these epic formulas are pointed out at the noted places].

Concept and literary classification

Older research regarded the formulas of folk songs as a stylistic impoverishment. Today we see a high quality poetic design component in the system of epic formulas. The stereotypical expression of the folk song (and the older epic) has long attracted attention (Richard M. Meyer, 1889; Alfred Wirth, 1897; Albert Daur, 1909; Max Ittenbach, 1944; and others). In the folk ballad, the epic formula is a relatively fixed phrase, with only limited variation and developed under the conditions of oral tradition. It is also used in several lines in the typical four-line folk song stanza and strung together as a sequence of several formulas. The epic formula, formally concentrated and easy to remember in terms of content, is a factor that stabilizes the oral tradition. On the other hand, variability in itself is a main characteristic of the genre folk song and folk poetry in general. Narrowing through the stereotypical language on the one hand, limited expansion through the variability on the other hand, form the arc of tension in which folk ballad texts are handed down and form a language level of special tradition.

The concept of analyzing folk ballad texts on the basis of epic formulas has been extended to the English-Scottish ballad tradition, with different language levels of surface structure (formal use of stereotypical elements) and deep structure (meaning to be analyzed) (Flemming G. Andersen, 1985 [mit further information]). In an additional extension, the cultural background of a heyday of the Danish and Swedish folk ballad (folkevise) during the Renaissance is included (Vibeke A. Pedersen, 1996 [with further information]).

In a sequence of epic formulas that are used again and again for the entire song tradition in the same and similar scenes, a stable, narrative framework for the folk ballad is created, which can thus be easily memorized, even apparently improvisable (memorizing, rule-based improvisation). In addition, the epic formula provides an interpretation framework for the text with a delimited, traditional understanding horizon and thus largely defined meaning in terms of content. However, this presupposes a traditional understanding of the cultural milieu of the folk ballad, and this must be made understandable for today's readers.

Parallels in other literary genres indicate that the epic formula is a common element in folk poetry (and in the high-level literature influenced by it). Similar ballad-like structures can be found in European poetry since the Middle Ages. Especially in the Danish folk ballad (folkevise) with medieval roots a highly developed use of epic formulas can be observed.

Differentiation of the epic formula from the motif

Topos (humanities) and motif (literature) are thematically oriented stylistic features of a text, the former with repeated, frequent use, the second with occasional use. They are pre-defined language images that are used stereotypically (whenever such an image is used) and thus, so to speak, displace possible individual and different formulations. The epic formula, on the other hand, is a functional category in the narrative design of the text, a text element that gives structure. It is a predefined sentence pattern for a topic, which structures the narrative flow in a certain way and is traditionally adopted whenever a corresponding action element is pending. "The motive is of internal (structural) unity, but without specifying an action [...]." It says under "Motive (literature)" in Wikipedia.de. But that is precisely what the epic formula does; it concretises and characterizes a course of action in a stereotypical, pre-defined way.

A narrative is made up of motifs. The motif is the "smallest individual unit of action". This general formulation is also at the beginning of the reflections on the epic formula. The epic formula can also contain a motif, but describes a course of action, not a single image. Individual motifs are not of interest for the folk ballad, it focuses on a theme that is oriented towards the overall plot, for example in the folk ballad by Graf und Nunne the theme of "poor and rich" as a contrast. This is concretized in the picture of the rich “count” and the poor girl, whose only way out, since she doesn't want him (without further explanation) is to go to the monastery as a “nun”. The social contrast is also described in the image of “mountain and valley” as an opening stanza. The course of the plot itself gets its structure from a sequence of epic formulas.

One of several possibilities (in addition to the formulaic, especially the individual design in high literature, which basically "despises" all stereotypes - but transitions exist) to structure the narrative, uses the epic formula, which is above all a characteristic of orality oriented folk literature is. (The images that are used here come from the repertoire of common cultural memory ( cultural memory ); for today's reader they often have to be explained and interpreted.) However, this does not apply in the same way to all folk literature with its various genres ; the epic formula is characteristic of the folk ballad with its end-rhyming stanzas ; it is typical of the genre, indeed it constitutes this genre. For the folk tale , which (apart from interspersed verses) is a form of prose narration, the motif is decisive; the research of traditional narrative motifs ( Aarne-Thompson-Index ) from oral tradition makes use of folk tales, not folk ballads.

Examples of epic formulas

We outline a selection of the most eye-catching epic formulas in the folk ballad. According to the structure of the plot, they can be assigned to the following scenes: situation formulas, encounter formulas, surprise formulas, formula sequence: heavy dreams, saddle strophe and meeting in front of the gate, confrontation formulas, abduction formulas

Situation formulas

Situation formulas are epic structural elements of a ballad-like course of action for opening and describing the initial situation. For example, “The day passed, the night came, the bride was brought into the room” expresses the fact that after the happy day, the onset of the evening heralds a threatening situation that gives the course of action a dramatic turn (in this case: in the "blood wedding" the bride dies that night). Formulas such as "A knight probably rode across the Rhine ...", "A noble gentleman would like to ride out ..." are functionally identical, which signal the danger of being removed from the familiar surroundings and lead to a confrontation (see there).

The “stranger” is as dangerous as evening after day. "The English king probably over the Rhine, who had ..." a daughter who spends her life unworthily as a maid ("serving sister"). "Across the Rhine ..." is an epic formula for the dangerous foreigner. It is also used generally in Slovenian folk songs to signal separation and farewell. The Rhine is (in song and in historical reality for long stretches) a typical threshold between different cultural landscapes, which in the past should not be crossed without necessity. Even marriages between Protestant and Catholic landscapes, which were separated by the Rhine, were rather unusual until the 20th century. Historical experience is processed with the image of the Rhine, although this was not the same in every region (on the Upper Rhine the river did not form a rigid border).

"A gentleman and a servant rode the wide path, the narrow bridge ...", "It rides ... probably over a wide hedge, over a narrow bridge, there [suddenly] ..." and similar superficial image connects (narrow web) with threatening content.

Another typical initial situation tells of the girl who wants to go “into the forest”. With “A girl wanted to get up early, wanted to go into the forest, wanted to go for a walk in the forest, halli, hello, go for a walk, wanted to [pick] chunks of blackberries. / And when the girl came out into the forest, she met the hunter's servant ... ”begins a variant of the folk ballad of the“ blackberry picker ”who is raped by the hunter. The forest and the heather (see: Encounter on the heather) are "dangerous" areas in the folk ballad that lie beyond the threshold of house and yard and outside of the plowed field.

This threshold is very clearly marked in the Scandinavian folk ballads, which not only appear more archaic than the German in this respect. A tragic encounter takes place at or in the gate of the courtyard and the castle, foreboding glances go out of the window and over the battlements (also in the French folk ballad the view "from the battlements" is a widespread formula, which is a pictorial formula "Madame à sa tour "corresponds). As a formula, the forest sometimes has a concrete and real background, such as in the song about the “girl murderer”: In the middle of the forest the girl finds Mr. Halewijn (pigeons and blood-red spring water warn her beforehand). It comes to the gallows forest where women are hanged. That threatens the girl too.

Encounter formulas

With “When he rode across the heath and looks at his wife Schwieger, da took ...”, a folk ballad with the epic formula sequence “ride across the heath ... / see (him) against ...” a dramatic plot . In addition to the forest, which plays a significant role in fairy tales and also appears in the Danish folk ballads as a typical place of danger, the heath is a place of threatening encounter.

"The grazer looks out of the window, there she sees ..." combines the situation formula with a follow-up formula for the encounter. The seemingly accidental view out of the window brings people together, and this often leads to a dialogue between these people as the next scene. Again, the relationship is mostly tragic. Similarly, it says "The lady at the pinnacle stood and looked out at the window, she saw ..." for a subsequent fateful encounter. The individual expressions can be assigned to a larger formula field, which combines terms with the same meaning in terms of content, but variable expressions: "look far out", "look so far", "out the window", "look from the pinnacle", "at the pinnacle stand ”and so on.

We know another situation formula that leads to an encounter with the "girl who wanted to draw water in a deep well ...", "fetch water in a deep well ..." The encounter at the well is one in the whole Popular motif in literature (also often used in the story of the Bible, for example) and a typical ballad scene. Fetching water at the fountain used to be part of daily housework, and the fountain was therefore a natural place to meet and exchange ideas. This creates a scene that is well suited as the starting point for further action.

The same applies to the bridge, which is suitable as a meeting place (mostly tragic): "A shepherd drove across the bridge, a nobleman rode towards him ..." ("Nobleman and shepherd").

Surprise formulas

With “And as ...” the folk ballad marks a sudden, surprising encounter (see also: Encounter on the Heath). Grammatically, it is a small but typical element for increasing tension, but also for contrasting two people who face each other (mostly with hostile intent).

The text also marks heightened tension with the question “What ...”. "What did she take from her head, a golden royal crown ..." in the text of "There were two royal children" when the king's daughter gives up in despair and commits suicide. The same applies to "what did she pull off her finger ...", "what does he see ...", "what did he pull out of the vagina? A sword of gold red and stabbed ... ”and so on.

The formulation is similar in approach to that in the surprising encounter. Almost never is a small act such as B. the stripping of a ring, expressed directly (for example: Now she took the ring), but the wording with the little preamble "What ..." always demands attention. This increases the dramatic tension selectively (but only on the linguistic level; the following plot is hardly surprising for the listener; the plot is known). This inconspicuous but typical element of increasing tension is very common; the question phrase is part of the basic language of the popular ballad language.

“And how he came, there stood ...”., “And how he came up to the middle, there ...”, “and when she came, there she saw ...”, “and when they came, then they heard ... "," and when they rode in, they carried ... "," and how came, there he brought ... "and so on is a field of epic formulas with the most frequently used tools for a dramatic representation: the surprising encounter between the two main characters, introduced with the minimal signal “and as” (“and how”). The folk ballad language is able to build up dramatic tension with the simplest means in a highly concentrated form.

Formula sequence: heavy dreams, saddle strophe and meeting in front of the gate

Epic formulas like “At midnight, he had a very difficult dream ...”, “And when it was midnight, the young count had such a hard dream ...” (“Count and nun”), “It was probably on the third Day, the Lord dreams it so hard ... "give an alarm that often follows the formulaic" situation "and" confrontation "in the narrative sequence (see this).

The dream stanza is often followed by the saddle stanza; the alarm goes into action: “Stand up servant and frolic, saddle our two horses ...” (again in the prime example “Count and nun”) or “The count said to his servant: Saddle us two horses .. . ”(“ Count and Maid ”).

It is a frequently used formula (with minor modifications) that introduces new dramatic events when the scene changes. It follows e.g. B. a tragic "encounter" "on the heath". The saddle stanza is a typical alarm formula (or an action that is already beginning), which can be continued by a series of encounter and kidnapping formula. An abrupt change of scene is typical of the "erratic" style of the folk ballad. Epic formula sequences create such a change of scenery.

A third epic formula can follow; With the stereotypical execution, three stanzas are chained together and thus easy to memorize. The “meeting in front of the gate” signals arrival or reception with epic formulas that can vary within a formula field with the same meanings: “She came in front of a woman's landlady's door, and she knocked softly for it. The landlady said: Who is outside my door ... "," You are riding in front of your house ... "," When you came to the gate ... "and so on. The reception is designed in a similar way: “They ride together into the courtyard, the mother-in-law yells at them ...”, “... rode in to the gate, came towards him ...” and the like. The word “surprising” is not used, but such formulas are intended to mark a corresponding dramatic tension, which is then followed by the confrontation.

Confrontation formulas

In the folk ballad, the confrontation is preceded by the “situation”, the ballad-like description of the initial situation. Epic formulas are used for this, such as “look out of the window, and there ...”, “ride into the courtyard ... mother-in-law stepped towards” (a formula of encounter, see above). A special type of confrontation is described with a situation in which one of the acting partners is sitting “at the table”, mostly dining happily, when suddenly an alarming message is brought to him or his opponent approaches him directly “in front of the table”. "And since she came in before Regensburg, probably in front of the high gates, there the Margrave sits up at the table, who speaks ..." ("The Swabian Daughter"). In the folk ballad, the table often plays a role as a barrier between a happy feast and dangerous, externally threatening action. This image is also used in the Old Norse and Middle High German epics and also has an image formula as an equivalent.

Abduction formulas

In the Volksballad, the reaction is the conclusion of a chain of formulas as a ballad-like description of a dramatic development. One reaction formula is the “saddle stanza” mentioned above, another a final manslaughter stanza (not detailed here). A typical reaction with which an action is concluded is kidnapping. "Then he took her by her skirt and put her on his horse behind him," "he'll grab her with her skirt, he'll swing her on his high horse," "he took her by her right arm, he swung her open his high horse ... “and similar formulations from various folk ballads depict such kidnappings. The same signaled “He took her by the hand, by her snow-white hand. / He leads you to the end ... "

Formula use

What the texts seem to lose through the use of a stereotyped (formulaic) language (and what older research has accused them of: the "original" text would have been lost with the oral tradition), namely the individuality and uniqueness of authentic poetry, they gain ( in our view today) the conciseness of one-dimensional, dramatic representation. The event is not explained, not questioned, but tragic fate is taken for granted. Understanding the meaning of the formulaic language of the folk ballad is a key to the interpretation of this genre of folk poetry in general. The use of epic formulas turns out to be a core definition of the genre.

Literature (selection)

• Richard M. Meyer : The old Germanic poetry described according to its formulaic elements , Berlin 1889.
• Alfred Wirth: The typical and formulaic elements in the Anglo-Scottish folk ballads , Halle 1897.
• Albert Daur: The old German folk song viewed according to its fixed forms of expression , Leipzig 1909.
• Max Ittenbach: The folk ballad strophe. A study on German, Dutch and French folk songs , Amsterdam 1944.
• Otto Holzapfel: Studies on the formulaic character of the medieval Danish folk ballad , Frankfurt / M. 1969 (microfiche edition 1994).
• Otto Holzapfel : "The epic formula in the German folk ballad". In: Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung 18 (1973), pp. 30–41.
• Otto Holzapfel, Det balladeske , Odense 1980 (in Danish).
• Article "Formula character, formula theory". In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales , Volume 4 (1984), Col. 1416-1440.
• Flemming G. Andersen: Commonplace and Creativity. The Role of Formulaic Diction in Anglo-Scottish Traditional Balladry , University Press, Odense 1985.
• Vibeke A. Pedersen: Formler uden grænser? Studier i Dronning Sophias visebog , Odense 1996 (in Danish).
• Otto Holzapfel: Das große Deutsche Volksballadenbuch , Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf 2000 (the above ballad titles and text citations refer to the collection of folk ballad texts there; there is also an explanatory list of formulas and comments).
• Otto Holzapfel: Liedverzeichnis , Volume 1–2, Olms, Hildesheim 2006 ( ISBN 3-487-13100-5 ) = Otto Holzapfel : Liedverzeichnis: The older German-language popular song tradition . Online version since January 2018 on the homepage of the Folk Music Archive of the District of Upper Bavaria (in PDF format; further updates planned), see lexicon file “epic formula”.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Motif (literature) [Access: November 2014]
2. ↑ Otto Holzapfel: Studies on the formulaic character of the medieval Danish folk ballad , Diss. Frankfurt am Main 1969, p. 59.
3. ↑ Otto Holzapfel: German folk songs: ballads / German folk songs with their melodies , Volume 8 [DVldr No. 155 "Graf und Nun"], Freiburg i. Br. 1988, p. 237 f., Chapter individual topics and motifs . ISBN 3-7806-0388-8 .
4. ↑ This characterization does not apply to topos and motifs; The literary motif in particular can / would like to be an “ingenious” individual invention, as it is valued in the context of high literature.