- Beneficial Aspects of Folk Tales
A Scientifical Treatise by C.Escher
- Don't go into the wood
A Story overheard in Northern Marland
Beneficial Aspects of Folk Tales
A Scientifical Treatise by C. Escher
In recent years, some interest in the superstitions and tales of the simple folk have arisen among academic circles. However, most of the work that has been done has focused on single tales and their possbile origins and connections to the customs of the respective region of His Majesties Empire. Some colleagues ewnt so far as to set traps for yet unseen creatures in order to prove their existance. This work proposes a new approach. The author has collected and analzyed a number of superstitions, paying attention to possible beneficial aspects. It is his firm believe that fairytales are a way in which valuable information has been passed on for many generations, in fact, longer than most other knowledge. In this fashion, many bright minds without a formal education or access to books have encoded their revelations to survive the time, and done so quite successfully. The thesis will be illustrated using a number of examples, in which the tale itself will be presented, along with the author’s interpretation.
An interesting example is the Urrlump. Supposedly, it is a two foot high, vaguely humanoid creature, covered in black fur, though tales are uncertain as to whether that is the original colour or a consequence of his love for all that is dirty. The Urrlump is said to be a disgusting beast, constantly surrounded by a swarm of flies, whose humming is one way to learn that there is one close by. Naturally, he lives in swamps, but as the peasants tell it, he is also attracted to human waste. The tale goes so far as to mention that the Urrlump will make its home in the latrine of a household, if a ready source of food can be found nearby. It especially likes food that has the smell of fecies on it. While not immediately harmful to humans, the beast causes sickness and is generally rather disgusting to live with. This story is an obvious warning about building the outhouse too close to your living house, let alone the kitchen, and to handle food in a sanitary manner. It is quite possible that is has saved or prolonged the live of thousands, if not millions, of poor people, who would not believe a doctor telling them about hygiene, but believe in the Urrlump with iron certainty.
Another well known myth is that of the werewolf. As the story goes, he is a normal human by day, and in fact even most nights. Only when the full moon shines does he turn into a half-wolf, half-man, with no apparent reason and an intent to kill. Any man bitten by such a beast will turn into one himself. Besides the obvious use this story has to scare children, the author proposes not one, but in fact two additonal purposes. On the one hand, turning into a beast can be prevented by burning out the bite of the beast with fire. The moral here is apparently the cleansing force of fire, which, in the absence of better suited materials, is still often used to prevent infection. On the other hand, the story hides its second meaning rather well. It is, in fact, metaphorical. In order to discover it, one has to pay attention to the fact that there are no female werewolves. It would appear that the tale also warns young girls that men, while they appear normal and calm on most days, can turn into beasts at moment’s notice, and cannot be reasoned with any more. The only escape then is to go into hiding. Continuing down this road, one can read into this the warning that the friends of a man, meaning those who “bite” him and thus infect him with the illness of discontent, can turn him from his faithful wife, if she does not pay close attention and takes care of him.
The stories about vampires are much harder to interpret; These undead people walk the earth at night, while they rest during the day. They can not continue their existance without continously drinking the blood of other humans, and frequently kill them in the process. Those murdered in this fashion will turn into a monster themselves and rise in the next night. The author would like to point out that, unlike most other fairytale monsters, the vampires seem to have many fascinating aspects as well; they appear to be in full control of their actions and have many powers that go above and beyond those of humans. Still, there are hardly any tales in which the vampire survives for long after he is discovered. Thus, one possible interpretation is the constant fight against temptation. A human being might take something from another, even his life, to gain personal benefit, yet once his doings are revealed, he will be shunned by society and eventually ruined. Another, more literal, interpretation, possibly warns against the letting of blood as a medical practice, which is unfortunately still in use even today.
In order to finish this short treatise with a story that is somewhat easier to interpret than the example just given, let us take a closer look at the Lost Ones. Those are said to be the ghosts of deceased who wander the earth for one reason or another. Most of them are malicious, often murderers who have been denied entrance to the next world. They can not interact with our material plane of existance. There is, however, one exception; they may inhabit the body of a child slain by a parent. All they have to do to keep it indefinitely is to kill the murderer. This shows that people have always, and probably will always, need encouragement to be good parents, and that the problems with the young people are not a phenomenon which we face only today. This one story offers some advice that even some scholars would do well to heed, if they do not want their children to grow up to hate them.
The author hopes to have illustrated his point, using no less than four examples. There are, of course, countless others, but the audience should not be bored. It has been shown that there is neither a need to infer stupidity in those less learned than we are nor to look for mythical creatures in the deep forests of Marland in order to explain the existance of folk tales. For futher information, feel free to contact the author himself. Furthermore, he would be thankful for any new tales and interpretations sent to him.
A Story overheard in Northern Marland
The children gathered round the fireplace in the living room, their cheeks still red from playing in the cold outside, the hair wet from melting snow. The oldest of them was fifteen years old, almost a man, the youngest maybe five. Outside, the first fresh white of this winter was still piling up. In a few days, it would be hard to move around outside, and they would have to take part in cleaning the snow away from the streets. Perhaps they would curse it then, but today, they had spent hours and hours playing with it. Night was falling, and all too soon it would be time for bed. Yet there was still one more ritual to observe on the first snowy night of the year. They turned to the old woman sitting in a rocking chair, so close to the flames that they almost touched her. Still, she seemed to be shivering from the cold.
“Don’t go into the wood.” Her voice was like the creaking of an old basement door whose hinges had not been oiled in a decade. The children listened to her every word. It was not the first time this story was told, and it always started with this sentence. “Your parents always tell you this. Don’t go into the wood. You can play in the courtyard, you can play in the field. You can play in the temple graveyard, if you have to, but don’t go into the wood.”
She stayed silent for a while, then took a sip from the teacup in her hand. “It seems like yesterday that my parents told me. It was the first day of snow, and I was a young girl. I had woken up so early in the morning and looked our the window. The dancing flakes enchanted me, and I just knew that this day way magic.”
Again she fell silent for a while, this time looking at her hands, crooked and covered in wrinkles. “I was young and pretty. Every day I hoped for a young soldier to come through and steal me away, or better yet a noble prince in disguise, who would notice me shining brightly in the small village. This day, when the snow danced from the sky, I knew it would be special. I could feel it. So, when it was barely light outside, I dressed in my warmest clothes and went outside. I had taken a dried flower frommy room and put it through my button hole. My parents admonished me one more time to go out, but don’t to go into the wood.
I went out into the courtyard and danced with the snowflakes for a while. Then I remembered how silly it was of me to stay in there. For how would my prince find me if I stayed in the courtyard? So I went on the street, dancing and twirling until I got all dizzy, all the time catching snowflakes on my tongue. When I stoped to look around, I saw I was but a few hundred feet from the wood. Then I saw a glimple of color there, a flash of bright red and green in a white world. I thought of my parent’s warning, but decided that going to the edge of the wood could hardly hurt. So I went closer. As I stood there, right in front of the outermost trees, I saw, but two hundred feet away, again the flash of colours. I laughed, and laughed. It was my prince, come to take me away. For who could wear such brilliant colours in such a wondrous place but him? I shouted and waved, but I only saw the colours disappear into the forest.”
Her head sank on her breast, and after a minute, when the children almost thought she had fallen asleep, they saw a single tear running down her cheek. Finally, she spoke again. “What a fool I was. I started running after him. The faster I ran, the faster he fled, it seemed. All warnings had gone from my mind, and within minutes, I had completely lost my way and forgotten where I came from. I just followed the colours.
I still don’t know how long it took, or where the place is we reached. It was a small lake, and on the banks of the lake there was a tree. The tree still had a few leaves left, green as in the middle of summer, and cusps that looked like they would soon open, ready to fight against the coming winter. I had never seen a tree just like it. And beneath it stood my prince. His colourful cloak had exactly the colours of the tree’s leaves and cusps, and his trousers the brown of bark. He saw me, and stepped towards me. When he smiled, I felt my knees grow weak. His fingers brushed my cheek, and he whispered into my ear. ‘You have come.’ That was what he said. Then he kissed me, and the kiss went on forever. Behind him, I could hear the tree grow as it spread new leaves. The cusps opened into beautiful blossoms. His eyes, of the purest green, saw deep into my sould, and I fainted.”
Another long silence, another tear running down the old woman’s cheek. The youngest child picked up a blanket and put it around her shoulders.
“When I awoke, I was lying outside the woods. I was wondering whether I had dreamed it all. The snowfall, the tree, the prince. I had been lucky to awake in time and not freeze to death. That is what I thought. I went home, hoping that I could hide from my parents how foolish I had been, that I had almost, but only almost, gone into the wood. I opened our door and went into the kitchen. When my mother saw me, she did not seem to recognize me. Then she screamed. My father went white as chalk when he turned around. I had become…” Here, her voice gave way to an ocean of sobs. The children did not need to hear more. They knew the rest of the story. Most of them had been alive when their eldest sister had gone into the wood five years ago to come back an old woman. She had told her story every year since, always on the first day of snow. And yet one of her sisters was dreaming of a prince to come and find her.