Folk tale
A folk tale is a folk tale in which supernatural phenomena and fantastic beings, similar to folk tales and legends , are reported, which appear in or intervene in the real, localizable world of people.
As in other epic short forms, these texts are short, action-oriented or goal-oriented. There are no epic embellishments, just a simple linear structure.
history
Originally folk tales were passed down orally, later put down in writing (see below). The folk tale is often characterized by antiquated language in terms of vocabulary and idioms. Partly this is due to the time of their written fixation, partly this is also a linguistic historicization, a reconstruction of the language of earlier times that was considered appropriate for this type of text.
The interest in legends in Europe goes back to the Romantic era. Such stories exist with almost all peoples. Similar motifs appear in different countries (cf. CG Jung and his theory of archetypes ).
In Europe, folk tales were collected and recorded in the 19th century . The most important edition of folk tales before the Brothers Grimm comes from J. Chr. Nachtigal , who published folk tales from the Harz region in 1800 under a pseudonym with "Loyalty and freshness". Only a few years later, the Romantics pounced on tradition. In connection with their collections of fairy tales , the Brothers Grimm in Germany also turned to the world of legends and collected them in their book Deutsche Sagen (first edition 1816-18).
content
In terms of content, the spectrum of folk tales is broad. Folk tales often provide explanations for place names, certain localities (geographical features, names of churches, chapels, bridges), certain customs, certain events (which often took place in real life), certain historical personalities or invented personalities (e.g. legends about Rübezahl ) .
Often it is an attempt to explain natural phenomena and events that were inexplicable at the time of their formation, such as the shape of mountains, will-o'-the-wisps and the like. Ä. So z. B. in Iceland standing pinnacles (of volcanic origin) in the sea mostly depicted as petrified trolls ( e.g. Reynisdrangar near Vík í Mýrdal ).
In this respect, folk tales made a certain claim to explanation and truth , in contrast to fairy tales, whose fictional character was or is evident per se : because the fairy tale always takes place in a fantasy world . In order to underline this relation to reality in a folk tale, it often contains a local and / or temporal reference: In Cologne , ... in the time of Barbarossa , at the great battle of ...
Yet the supernatural plays an important role in many folk tales; so z. B. the appearance of: devils , monsters , dwarfs , giants , mermen , mermaids , trolls, elves , ghosts or magicians .
Folk tales are often very local. (Almost every region in Germany has its own folk tales and collections of folk tales.) Well-known examples in the German-speaking area are the saga of Kyffhäuser , the Loreley saga or the Schildhorn saga .
See also
literature
- Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 231). 8th, improved and enlarged edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-520-23108-5 .
- Nicolaus Equiamicus (Ed.) Die Geisterwelt ISBN 978-3-86608-086-7 .
