The Magician's Horse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Magician's Horse
Folk tale
NameThe Magician's Horse
Also known asThe Prince Who Worked as Satan's Servant and Saved the King from Hell
Data
Aarne–Thompson groupingATU 314 (Goldener)
RegionLithuania
Published in
Related

The Prince Who Worked as Satan's Servant and Saved the King from Hell (Lithuanian: Apė karaliūnaitį, kur pas šėtoną slūžyjo ir karalių išgelbėjo iš peklos)[a] is a Lithuanian fairy tale collected by German linguists August Leskien and Karl Brugmann.[1] Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book under the title The Magician's Horse.[2]

Synopsis[]

A king's three sons went hunting, and the youngest got lost. He came to a great hall and ate there. Then he found an old man, who asked him who he was. He told how he had become lost and offered to enter his service. The old man set him to keep the stove lit, to fetch the firewood from the forest, and to take care of the black horse in the stables.

The man was a magician, and the fire was the source of his power, though he did not tell the prince.

One day, the prince nearly let the fire go out, and the old man stormed in. Frightened, the prince threw another log on it and nursed it back.

The horse told him to saddle and bridle it, to use an ointment that made his hair like gold, and to pile all the wood he could on the fire. This set the hall on fire. The horse then told him to take looking-glass, a brush and a riding-whip, and ride off on him. The magician chased on a roan horse, but the prince threw down the looking glass, the horse cut its feet on it, and the magician had to go back to put new shoes on him, but then he chased the prince again. The horse had the prince throw the brush on the ground. This produced a thick wood, and the magician had to go back and get an axe to cut through it, but then he chased the prince again. The prince threw down the whip; it became a river, and when the magician tried to cross it, it put out his magical fire and killed him.

The horse told the prince to strike the ground with a willow wand. A door opened, making a hall in which the horse stayed, but he sent the prince through the fields to take service with a king. He wore a scarf to hide his golden hair. He worked as a gardener and every day brought half his food to the horse.

One day, the horse told him that the king's three daughters would choose their husbands: a great company of lords would gather, and they would throw their diamond apples into the air. The man at whose feet the apple stopped would be the bridegroom. He should be in the garden, nearby, and the youngest's would roll to him; he should take it up at once.

He did. The scarf slipped a little, the princess saw his hair and fell in love at once, and the king, though reluctant, let them marry.

Soon after, the king had to go to war. He gave the prince a broken-down nag. The prince went to the black horse; it gave him arms and armor, and he rode it to battle and won the battle, but fled before he could be clearly seen. Twice more, he went to war, but the third time, he was wounded, and the king bound his wound with his own handkerchief. The princess his wife recognized it and revealed it to her father. There was great rejoicing, and the king gave him half his kingdom.

Analysis[]

Tale type[]

The tale's collectors, August Leskien and Karl Brugman noted that it belonged to a cycle of stories wherein the hero works for a magician (or the devil) and finds a horse. The horse becomes his companion and helps him flee from the magician's clutches until they reach another kingdom, where the hero works in a menial position and the princess falls in love with him.[3] This narrative is called by scholarship Goldenermärchen, after its main feature: the protagonist acquires golden hair early in the story.[4]

The tale is classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 314, "The Goldener": a youth with golden hair works as the king's gardener. The type may also open with the prince for some reason being the servant of an evil being, where he gains the same gifts, and the tale proceeds as in this variant.[5]

Another name for the tale type ATU 314 is "The Man with Scurvy" (Le Teigneux, in French), because the hero hides his golden hair under a pig's bladder, which, according to Paul Delarue, gives him an appearance of a person with scurvy.[6] Reseacher Genevieve Massignon, on the other hand, stated that the hero hides his golden appearance under the pretense of having ringworm.[7]

Distribution[]

This particular type of tale is well known, being particularly found in Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltic, but also throughout Europe,[8][9][10][11] and appears in Asia[12][13] down to Indonesia and also in Africa.[14][15][16][17][18]

Native American variants of this type were assumed by Stith Thompson to have originated from French-Canadian sources.[19]

A similar tale is found in Thailand, as one of its most popular: Sangthong or Phra Sangthong ("Prince of the Golden Conch"). In this tale, prince Sangthong, born with a shell, is expelled from the kingdom with his mother and take refuge with an old couple. His mother breaks his shell. He departs and is taken in by a giantess. One day, he jumps into a golden well and his body acquires a gilded appearance. He disguises himself with "an ugly mask", calls himself Chao Ngo and goes to the Samon Kingdom. He marries the seventh daughter of King Samon, named Rodjana, who sees his through the disguise, but everyone else sees him as an ugly person. The king banishes his daughter after their marriage. At the end, prince Sangthong saves the Samon Kingdom.[20]

Related types[]

A less common variant, found only in Europe - according to Stith Thompson[21][22] - , opens with the hero rescuing a wild man, as in Iron John, Guerrino and the Savage Man, and The Hairy Man - tales classified as ATU 502, "The Wild Man as Helper".[23] However, professor Jack Haney stated that the tale type is said to be common in Russian and Ukraine, but "disseminated" in Western Europe. The type can also be found in India, Indonesia and Turkey.[24]

Another related set of stories was former tale type[b] AT 532, "I Don't Know" or Neznaïko (fr) (a sapient horse instructs the hero to play dumb),[25] a tale type that, according to Linda Dégh, is "particularly widespread" in the Central and Eastern regions of Europe.[26] This type happens in Hungarian tale Nemtutka[27] and Russian tale Story of Ivan, the Peasant's Son.[28][c]

These three tale types (ATU 502, ATU 314 and AaTh 532), which refer to a male protagonist expelled from home, are said to be "widespread in Europe".[30]

Author Bozena Nemcova wrote down a version named Prince Bayaya, which Parker Fillmore commented that it is "a mosaic of two or three simpler stories". In the story, twin princes are born to a king and queen. The king asks the queen for his favourite son to inherit the throne. Owing to that, the other brother journeys on his own, in the company of his faithful horse. The horse speaks to him and recommends his prince disguises himself as a peasant with a speech impediment (he should only respond with "I don't know" when asked).[31]

Variations on motifs[]

The motifs are found in many more tales. While getting a horse is a frequent quest object, it is usually the side effect of needing it for something else, as in The Death of Koschei the Deathless or The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples. It is generally a gift of the donor, as in Făt-Frumos with the Golden Hair.

When the hero is working for the villain, the usual aid comes from a woman who is the heroine -- The Battle of the Birds, The White Dove, or The Master Maid—and therefore does not end as this one does, with an additional adventure to gain a bride, as in The Hairy Man.

Compare Prince Ring.

Literary comparisons[]

Scholarship has noted similarities of tale types ATU 314 and ATU 502 with the medieval legend of Robert the Devil and its English reworking, Sir Gowther. Years after his birth, Robert/Gowther discovers his unholy parentage and exiles himself in penance in another kingdom. In this kingdom, the king's daughter, who is dumb, is demanded by a sultan. When the king refuses, the sultan prepares to go to war. Robert/Gowther, who has worked in a menial position in the castle, obtains three horses (black, red and white) to defend the kingdom.[32][33][34]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ The original name in German is Von dem Prinzen der bei dem Satan in Diensten stand und den König aus der Hölle befreite.
  2. ^ Stith Thompson doubted the independent existence of this type: "Confined, so far as now appears, to a very limited section of eastern Europe is the story of the hero called "I Don't Know." It is hard to tell whether this should be considered as a distinct tale type (Type 532), or merely as a variety of the Goldener story [Type 314]". Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  3. ^ Although folktale scholar Stith Thompson considered the former type AaTh 532 to be "very limited in Eastern Europe", Greek scholar Marianthi Kaplanoglou, on the other hand, states that the tale type AaTh 532, "I Don't Know" ("Bilmem", according to the national Greek Folktale Catalogue), is an "example" of "widely known stories (...) in the repertoires of Greek refugees from Asia Minor".[29]

References[]

  1. ^ Leskien, August/Brugman, Karl. Litauische Volkslieder und Märchen. Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner. 1882. pp. 219-223.
  2. ^ Andrew Lang, The Grey Fairy Book, "The Magician's Horse"
  3. ^ Leskien, August/Brugman, K. Litauische Volkslieder und Märchen. Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, 1882. p. 537.
  4. ^ Jones, H. S. V. "The Cléomadès and Related Folk-Tales". In: PMLA 23, no. 4 (1908): 564. Accessed August 30, 2021. doi:10.2307/456771.
  5. ^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, pp. 59-60, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977.
  6. ^ Delarue, Paul Delarue. The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956. p. 370.
  7. ^ Massignon, Genevieve. Folktales of France. University of Chicago Press. 1968. p. 251.
  8. ^ "Der starke Franz". In: Müllenhoff, Karl. Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg. Kiel: 1845. pp. 438-444.
  9. ^ "Þorsteinn mit dem Goldhaar". In: Rittershaus, Adeline. Die neuisländischen Volksmärchen. Halle: Max Niemeyer. 1902. pp. 96-102.
  10. ^ "The Widow’s Son (A Scandinavian Tale)". Pyle, Katherine. Tales of folk and fairies. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1919. pp. 35-60.
  11. ^ "Friedrich Goldhaar". In: Busch, Wilhelm Busch. Ut ôler Welt. München: 1910. pp. 96-104.
  12. ^ "The Story of the Colt Qéytās". Lorimer, David Lockhart Robertson; Lorimer, Emily Overend. Persian tales. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 1919. pp. 33-42.
  13. ^ "Feueraufpasser". In: Zaborowski, Hans-Jürgen. Märchen aus Korea. Eugen Diederichs Verlag. 1988. pp. 94-97. ISBN 3424009407.
  14. ^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 59-60, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977.
  15. ^ "The Wonderful Warrior". In: The Golden Ship and Other Tales, translated from the Swahili. With illustrations by Lillin Bell and Alice B. Woodard. [3rd ed.] London: Office of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa. 1909. pp. 75-93.
  16. ^ "The Magician and the Sultan’s Son". In: Bateman, George W. Zanzibar tales told by natives of the east coast of Africa: translated from the original Swahili. Chicago: McClurg. 1901. pp. 183-194.
  17. ^ Histoire du prince et de son cheval. In: Spitta-Bey, Guillaume. Contes Arabes Modernes. Leiden: Brill. 1883. pp. 152-161.
  18. ^ Calame-Griaule, Geneviève. "Amadou Hampâte Bâ, Il n'y a pas de petite querelle. Nouveaux contes de la savane [compte-rendu]". In: Journal des africanistes, 2001, tome 71, fascicule 1. Les empreintes du renard pâle. pp. 265-266. www.persee.fr/doc/jafr_0399-0346_2001_num_71_1_1263_t1_0265_0000_2
  19. ^ Thompson, Stith. European Tales Among the North American Indians: a Study In the Migration of Folk-tales. Colorado Springs: Colorado College. 1919. pp. 347-357.
  20. ^ Thitathan, Siraporn. “Different Family Roles, Different Interpretations of Thai Folktales”. In: Asian Folklore Studies 48, no. 1 (1989): 11-12. https://doi.org/10.2307/1178531.
  21. ^ Cosquin, Emmanuel. Contes populaires de Lorraine comparés avec les contes des autres provinces de France et des pays étrangers, et précedés d'un essai sur l'origine et la propagation des contes populaires européens. Tome I. Paris: Vieweg. 1887. pp. 138-154.
  22. ^ "Das treue Füllchen". In: Wolf, Johann Wilhelm. Deutsche Hausmärchen. Göttingen/Leipzig: 1851. pp. 268-285.
  23. ^ Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 60-1, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977
  24. ^ Haney, Jack V. The Complete Russian Folktale: v. 3: Russian Wondertales 1 - Tales of Heroes and Villains. New York: Routledge. 2000. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315482538
  25. ^ Cooper, David L. (editor/translator); Dobšinský, Pavol (collector). Traditional Slovak Folktales. Armonk, New York; London, England: M. E. Sharpe. 2001. p. 274. ISBN 0-7656-0718-2
  26. ^ Dégh, Linda (1996). Hungarian Folktales: The Art of Zsuzsanna Palkó. New York and London: Garland Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 0-8153-1337-3.
  27. ^ Arnold Ipolyi. Ipolyi Arnold népmesegyüjteménye (Népköltési gyüjtemény 13. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvénytársualt Tulajdona. 1914. pp. 196-202.
  28. ^ Steele, Robert. The Russian garland: being Russian folk tales. London: A.M. Philpot. [1916?] pp. 39-49.
  29. ^ Kaplanoglou, Marianthi. "Two Storytellers from the Greek-Orthodox Communities of Ottoman Asia Minor. Analyzing Some Micro-data in Comparative Folklore". In: Fabula 51, no. 3-4 (2010): 253. https://doi.org/10.1515/fabl.2010.024
  30. ^ Vaz da Silva, Francisco (2000). “Cinderella the Dragon Slayer". In: Studia Mythologica Slavica 3 (May). Ljubljana, Slovenija. p. 187. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v3i0.1836.
  31. ^ Fillmore, Parker. Czechoslovak Fairy Tales. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1919. pp. vii and 77-98.
  32. ^ Wells, John Edwin (1875-1943). A Manual of the Writings In Middle English, 1050-1400. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1916-1923. pp. 135-137.
  33. ^ Loomis, Laura Alandis Hibbard (1883-1960). Mediaeval Romance In England: a Study of the Sources And Analogues of the Noncyclic Metrical Romances. New ed., with supplementary bibliographical index (1926-1959). New York: B. Franklin, 1924. pp. 52-55.
  34. ^ Francisco Vaz da Silva. “The Invention of Fairy Tales”. In: The Journal of American Folklore 123, no. 490 (2010): 412-413. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.123.490.0398.
Retrieved from ""