Folklore and Fable

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Lecture III: The Characteristics and History of the Oral Tale

     

    History of a Folktale - patter to print

    Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, "tall tales," ghost stories, chants, jokes, songs, "old wives' tales," spells, parables, urban legends, and, of course, fables are all part of this age-old tradition. These folk creations may circulate in cultures for centuries before they are captured in print.

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Caption:  Stone face of the Green Tree-man on old European church facade . . . 

The Green Man

Let us take the Green Man of Legend . . . .

If we look at one of the most prevalent legends throughout history, we can see how a piece of legendstock might evolve.  Probably the most persistent legend we know of is that of the fertility god.  Fertility figures are known in every culture, from the curvaceous female figurines of the Stone Age down to our own fanciful use of the Camelot Legend.

Take a look at this list:

Osiris, Enkidu, The Green Man, The Straw Man, Kirtimukha
or 'The Face of Glory', Chhepi, Jesus, Dionysius, the Fisher King, King Arthur (in several incarnations), Odin, the Green Knight, John Barleycorn, the Holly King and Thamuz of the Mesopotamians are all related to the Green Man who symbolizes the triumph of Green Life over Winter and Death. 

{We will return to more specific details about the relationship between The Green Man figures, Sir Gawain, and Arthurian Legends in Lecture VI, as we continue with literary interpretations of tales}.

First, of course, Osiris is continually represented in Egyptian graphics as green, and painted green.

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Caption:  Isis and a green Osiris in his mummified state

The legend of Osiris offers a very strange link to the continual Tree/Green/Resurrection legends that continue to appear throughout history.  When Osiris is killed the first time by the evil Seth, he is put into a boat and floated out to the sea.  Isis searches everywhere for him, and finds him in Byblos, entombed in a wooden pillar.  She rescues him from this entrapment, and brings him back to Egypt, where she is able, with the help of the god, Thoth, to revive him long enough to conceive Horus the Child.

In a quite direct link, the folklore work of James Frazer in The Golden Bough traces the kingship renewal rituals through several cultures.  [You can read this Frazer book online -  see your resources page.]

Frazer spent many years collecting folk tales on site and then published his 12-volume study in 1911-15.  He was able to reach many cultures that have changed radically in the Twentieth Century, and so his careful documentation is very valuable today.

King/fertility rituals have a certain pattern that is related to seasons, the agricultural cycle, and to perceived health and welfare of the culture as a whole.

According to Frazer, the celebration of the Tree or Forest fertility god persisted in rural Europe for centuries after Christianity was fully ensconced.  The folk traditions from the fertility god can be found today, in the maypole and May Day, and in the rituals of the NeoPagans.

At this time, life is renewing itself. Birds and animals are mating. In the fields, newly planted
seeds are beginning to grow. Great fires are lit honoring the fertility God Belenos. Some
leap the fires to show the exuberance of the season. Maypoles are erected and bright
ribbons are entwined around it. The Maypole, a phallic symbol, represents the masculine.
The soft, colorful ribbons represent the feminine. The union of the two symbolizes the union
of the God and Goddess. This is the time to fertilize your dreams with action. It is legend
that children conceived at Beltane were gifted by the gods.

Nos Galon Mai ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the month of May.
This month is named in honor of the goddess Maia, originally a Greek mountain nymph, later
identified as the most beautiful of the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. By Zeus, she is also the
mother of Hermes, god of magic. Maia's parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph.

The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular Anglicized form), which is
derived from the Irish Gaelic 'Bealtaine' or the Scottish Gaelic 'Bealtuinn', meaning
'Bel-fire', the fire of the Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced
to the Middle Eastern god Baal.

The Maypole tradition has been de-emphasized in the US ever since the conflict with Russia and the Communists' selection of May 1 for the International Holiday.  Nonetheless, we can feel the folklore roots of the old Maypole chant:

We are the flow, and
We are the ebb,
We are the weaver,
We are the web.

from Mike Harding's Page about The Green Man:  It could be that the images represent the God of the Woods, the Life Spirit, the Spirit of Death and Resurrection and, as an image, the Green Man has his counterpart in one of the oldest English Folk images, the Corn or Barley God whose beginnings stretch back to the camps of the Neolithic farmers.

 

Phil Lister writes: Silvanus (god of the forest) at the Abbey of Saint Denis, France; and Oceanus (both god of the sea and a satyr) in Mundanya, Istanbul.  This has led many to seek clues in myth, legend and religion. John Barleycorn - celebrated in song - shows the same themes of death and rebirth, as does the Green Knight in the Arthurian story of Sir Gawain.  Medieval legends of the Wild Men - dressed in leaves, living in the forest and venturing forth to take food, have been connected with the Green Man.  In some stories of Robin Hood - the robber and hero dressed in green - he attains godlike status and links with the Horned God Hermes.  Present-day Western pagan thought identifies the Green Man as the symbol of the qualities of godhood within the male, as well as being an expression of the life/death/rebirth cycle and its relationship with the transcendent life-force, the Goddess, the female expression of godhood.  . . . . So, who is the Green Man?

Well, the Green Man persists in many forms--both oral and written.  We will examine the several early print versions that have to do with the Grail and Sir Gawain in Lecture VI.

But here are just a sampling of the books that have used material from the Arthurian Legends:

A listing of just the A's and B's of books that have been written using the Arthur material--

Anderson, Dennis Lee. Arthur, King. New York: Harper, 1995.
Arthur follows Mordred to World War II to retrieve Excalibur and Merlin's book of prophesy. He becomes a Spitfire pilot while Mordred infiltrates the Luftwaffe.

 
Attanasio, A. A. The Dragon and the Unicorn. New York: Harper, 1996.
This third-person version of the saga begins in 422 and recounts the story of Arthur's conception, birth, and infancy. Many chapters begin with epigrams from the book of Job.


---. The Eagle and the Sword. New York: Harper, 1997.
This third-person (and present-tense) sequel to The Dragon and the Unicorn describes Britain through Arthur's childhood. Many characters are significantly unlike the usual accounts, for example the Furor (Odin) and Lailoken (Merlin). (Published in England in 1995 with the title Arthor.)


---. The Wolf and the Crown. New York: Harper Prisim, 1998.
The sequel to The Eagle and the Sword. This novel (also with third-person narration) begins when Arthur pulls Excalibur from the stone and describes the first year of his reign. Between many of the short, titled chapters Arthur's thoughts appear as prayers to "Mother Mary."

Barrron, Thomas. A. The Lost Years of Merlin. New York: Philomel, 1996.
Merlin narrates this story of his youth. ---. The Seven Songs of Merlin (Book Two of the Lost Years of Merlin). New York: Philomel, 1997. Merlin narrates this part of his story as he searches for the seven songs of wisdom that will allow him to realize his
potential as wizard and to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Tuatha.

Barthelme, Donald. The King (@ ). New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
(With illustrations by Barry Moser.) This novel has a third person omniscient narrator who describes the presence of Arthur and other characters of the legends during World War II.

Berger, Thomas. Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel. New York: Delacorte, 1978.
This novel treats the legend ironically, making Lancelot suicidal, for example.

Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon (**). New York: Knopf, 1982.
Whole saga told from the point of view of the female characters.

Bradshaw, Gillian. Hawk of May. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980.
First novel in a series of three concentrating on life of Gawain (here called Gwalchmai). The other two novels are Kingdom of Summer and In Winter's Shadow. Gwalchmai narrates.

---. Kingdom of Summer. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981.
Second in a series of three novels covering the life of Gawain (here called Gwalchmai). The first is Hawk of May,the last In Winter's Shadow. Rhys narrates.

Burgess, Anthony. Any Old Iron. New York: Random House, 1989.
Set in 20th century, this novel follows the history of Arthur's sword and the people who possess it (and those who want to). It refers only marginally to the usual characters and events of the legends.

Continue with Lecture III.