Love spell (Ludwig Tieck)

Liebeszauber is a story by the romantic Ludwig Tieck . It was created in 1811 and appeared in his Phantasus collection in 1812 .

content

The melancholy Emil often argues with his life-hungry friend Roderich. He wants to confess his love for the neighbor girl, but she wants to drag him to a carnival ball. Outside the church he overhears an old woman's order in the dark, who is selling something to two men. The two men ask about the effect of this "love spell." At home he observes the neighbor through the window, whose love he doesn't suspect, and sees an ugly old woman with her instead of her foster child. He watches the old woman kill the child and faints when "a green sparkling eye" meets his gaze.

At their wedding a few months after his fever, Emil is very serious. To cheer him up, Roderich shows him a second, poor bridal couple. Emil gives her presents. He wonders about an ugly old woman in his bride's staff. Roderich wants to scare the bride in her room in a witch costume that he bought second-hand. Emil stabs her with Roderich's knife and throws himself to death with the witch from the gallery.

reception

The story is mentioned in the fourth volume of the Serapionsbrüder by ETA Hoffmann : "[the] horrible story of our wonderful Tieck".

literature

• Thalmann, Marianne: Ludwig Tieck. The fairy tale from Phantasus. Dramas. Darmstadt 1978. pp. 83-111. Pp. 895-897. (Scientific Book Society)
• Tieck, Ludwig: love magic . In: Kalju Kirde (ed.): In Laurin's view. The book of German dreamers. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Darmstadt 1982, ISBN 3-424-00729-3 , pp. 15-46.
• Tieck, Ludwig: love magic . (= Cabinet of Fantastics. Vol. 42). Edited and with an afterword by Heiko Postma . Jmb-Verlag, Hannover 2013, ISBN 978-3-944342-19-1 .