The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk StoryGerould, Gordon Hall
General
The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story
Gerould, Gordon Hall
Dead -- Folklore; Folk literature -- Themes, motives; Grateful dead (Tale)
Since the elements left by subtracting The Grateful Dead from the
variants of the four categories thus discovered are very diverse,
we cannot postulate a parent form from which all four classes might
have sprung. Indeed, the evidence thus far obtained all points to a
separate combination of already developed themes with The Grateful
Dead. The test of this will be found in an examination of those
variants of those larger compounds, which have also traces of The
Water of Life or some allied motive.
Turning first to such versions of the combination The Grateful Dead
+ The Poison Maiden, we find eleven on our list, all of which have
already been summarized and discussed in connection with the simple
compound. [196] These are Esthonian II., Rumanian I., Irish I., Irish
II., Irish III., Danish III., Norwegian II., Simrock X., Harz I., Jack
the Giant-Killer, and Old Wives' Tale. Since we know definitely that
Danish III. (the tale by Christian Andersen) was taken from Norwegian
II., it may be left out of account. Ten variants thus remain to be
studied with reference to the subsidiary elements.
In Esthonian II. the hero releases a princess, who goes with devils
every night to church, by watching in the church for three nights
with three, six, and twelve candles on successive nights. In Rumanian
I. the hero wins a princess by explaining why she wears out twelve
pairs of slippers every night; and he accomplishes this by the aid
of his helper, who follows the lady in the form of a cat, and picks
up the handkerchief, spoon, and ring which she drops in the house of
the dragons. According to Irish I. the helper obtains for the hero
horses of gold and silver, a sword of light, a cloak of darkness,
and a pair of slippery shoes; he helps him keep over night a comb
and a pair of scissors, in spite of enchantment, and finally gets the
lips of the giant enchanter, so that the hero unspells and wins the
lady of his quest. In Irish II. the hero is joined by a green man
(the grateful dead), a gunner, a listener, a blower, and a strong
man. By the aid of the first he gives his princess a pair of scissors,
a comb, and the enchanter's head; by the aid of the others he obtains
water from the well of the western world, and is enabled to walk over
three miles of needles. Irish III. has a helper who obtains for the
hero a sword, a cloak of darkness, and swift shoes, rescues a pair
of scissors, and obtains the enchanter's head, while the hero wins
a race by the aid of the shoes. According to Norwegian II. the hero
and helper get a sword, a ball of yarn, and a hat, while the latter
follows the princess and rescues a pair of scissors and a ball,
finally obtaining the troll's head. In Simrock X. the helper secures
three rods, a sword, and a pair of wings, follows the princess, and
learns how to answer her riddles, emphasizing his knowledge by getting
the wizard's head. Harz I. has the helper give wings and a rod to the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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