Children in Global Folk Tales

By Robert Escobar

Children in Global Folk Tales attempts to do something new, however small and simple, within the realm of folklore. It is a collection of folk tales about children instead of just for children. One of the many joys of reading folk tales is the globetrotting aspect of it all. Tales from countless cultures are ready to be enjoyed. So, why not pick a subject and follow it, seeing how different people at different times told stories about the same thing? It is fascinating to see how storytellers have treated a single subject, in this case children, throughout history in that treasure trove of wisdom, humor, language, caution and culture that we call folklore. 35 tales from around the world have been collected and sequenced to provide a collection of traditional stories unlike any other. This book is a window into the past, into humanity and the different ways humanity has seen its younger self.
Additionally, care was taken to group stories not simply by country or geographic region as is customary. Instead, they are meant to rhyme if you will, to work together and create a coherent reading experience that is more than the sum of its parts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098349363

Book preview

Children in Global Folk Tales

Copyright © 2020 by Robert Escobar

ISBN: 9781098349363

All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is for a review, wherein a short excerpt may be quoted.

The images and quotations presented are used solely for analysis, criticism and commentary. Any that are not in the public domain are copyright of their respective owners and are presented solely for editorial purposes. This book in no way attempts to infringe on any copyrights.

E-book formatting by Maureen Cutajar (www.gopublished.com)

CONTENTS

Introduction

1: Trolls, Changelings and Cruelty

2: An Unexpected Party

3: Three Egg Omelet

4: Divine Birth, Noble Death and Hungry Demons

5: The Shoemaker’s Son

6: Melancholy Myths

7: A Strange Helper

8: Giants, Dwarves and Presents

9: Love and Theft

10: A Broken Heart

11: More Precious Than Gold

12: Giant Strength

13: Under the Waves

14: Under the Well

15: Stories of Siblings, Siblings in Stories

16: Bad Parents

17: The Opposite of Youth

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.

Sue Monk Kidd

This book is the first installment in a series that attempts to do something new, however small and simple, within the realm of folklore. It is the first anthology in an envisioned series, a collection of stories that together are one part of a greater collection. Now one of the many joys of reading folk tales is the globetrotting aspect of it all. Tales from countless cultures are ready to be enjoyed. So, why not pick a subject and follow it, seeing how different people at different times told stories about the same thing? Following a given thread in this way makes each tale part of a cohesive if unintended whole. This in turn adds more interest to each entry as you can’t help but note the similarities and differences in the stories that together span myriad regions, countries, continents, centuries and ethnicities. What explains the many similarities that we’ll encounter in the following pages? It could be prehistoric cultural diffusion, Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, the fact that human beings from any time and place process stimuli through the same kind of neural network or any combination of those factors (along with any others that can be posited). Regardless, it is fascinating to see how storytellers have treated a single subject throughout history in that treasure trove of wisdom, humor, language, caution and culture that we call folklore.

Now it is perhaps more than a little surprising that this hasn’t been previously done. Granted, it seems less surprising when I reflect for even a moment on the work it took to create just this initial outing. I wouldn’t say for a moment that I have saved the old tales you’re about to read from extinction as they had already been heroically rescued, first by folklorists generations ago and then by digital archivists in more recent times. However, these stories are for the most part obscure and difficult to find. It is unlikely anyone other than a scholar or student would ever find many of these bits of lore in the various and cumbersome scanned texts where they were for the most part found, and then transcribed.

The original and charmingly out of date grammar, punctation and spelling have been preserved as much as possible, much to the consternation of my word processing software. As you might be able to guess, I love old books (and own quite a few of them). That is partly how this entire project started. When reading an obscure antique book, or even the electronic image of one, I often wish someone else… anyone else… would enjoy the same story or turn of phrase that is currently catching my fancy. Well, here is a patchwork quilt for you, stitched together from many of those moments.

Fairy tales are important not because they show children how life is, but because they give form to deep fears and dreams about life through fantasy.

Sally Goddard Blythe

CHAPTER 1:

Trolls, Changelings and Cruelty

Fairytales were a part of growing up for most of us, but not just because they were something children needed; it was as natural as learning to walk and talk. But it seems that the world – with its strength of science and logic, needs to be reminded of why it still needs its quota of magic.

Sarah Anjum Bari And Shama Sania Shiblee

Why Children?

Once my purpose was set, it wasn’t difficult to decide to make children the thread that runs throughout the tapestry of this book. How many folk tales, fairy tales or whatever you’d like to call them were made for children over the millennia? And how many feature them as the protagonists? The number is of course unknowable and vast. Is this a simple matter of making fictional children the stars of the show in order to get real ones to pay attention? Perhaps, but I suspect there is more to it than that. Adults themselves have after all fallen in love with stories featuring children over and over throughout history and even in modernity. From Peter Pan to Dorothy Gale to Little Orphan Annie to Harry Potter, the appeal never dies.

All of life starts with youth. The young are more vibrant, innocent and imaginative than their elders, but also more dependent on help, more defenseless. Maybe it’s that dichotomy that makes them great heroes in stories. They’re bold enough to dream up and then attempt things a sober-minded adult wouldn’t. Those who have grown up have been conditioned to dream smaller instead of bigger, to accept limitations rather than challenge them. The central characters in some of these stories therefore set off to do things their parents wouldn’t think of; or try if they did. Yet success is a long shot for these boys and girls. Is that why divine aids of one kind or another so often assist them? Or is that just the standard trope from the overall hero’s journey template? I suppose we’ll never know.

Regardless, not all of the fictions that follow hew to the hero’s journey structure. Sometimes the kids are bystanders, sometimes they are victims, sometimes the entire story revolves around one who is never seen. These then aren’t just stories featuring children but birth, youth, growth, parenting and all the requisite accompanying emotions. The stories about them say a lot about the human view on the subject itself, what we as adults see when we look at the young. Not every tale in this book ends with happily ever after, but when one does it surely ties back to that concept. When looking at the young, we intuitively wish them the best. We want them to be happy and we want them to stay that way, now and ever after.

The Troll Labor (Sweden)

In the year 1660, when I and my wife had gone to my farm (fäboderne), which is three quarters of a mile from Ragunda parsonage, and we were sitting there and talking a while, late in the evening, there came a little man in at the door, who begged of my wife to go and aid his wife, who was just then in the pains of labor. The fellow was of small size, of a dark complexion, and dressed in old gray clothes.

My wife and I sat a while, and wondered at the man; for we were aware that he was a troll, and we had heard tell that such like, called by the peasantry Vettar (spirits), always used to keep in the farmhouses, when people left them in harvest time. But when he had urged his request four or five times, and we thought on what evil the country folk say that they have at times suffered from the Vettar, when they have chanced to swear at them, or with uncivil words bid them go to hell, I took the resolution to read some prayers over my wife, and to bless her, and bid her in God’s name go with him.

She took in haste some old linen with her, and went along with him, and I remained sitting there. When she returned, she told me, that when she went with the man out at the gate, it seemed to her as if she was carried for a time along in the wind, and so she came to a room, on one side of which was a little dark chamber, in which his wife lay in bed in great agony. My wife went up to her, and, after a little while, aided her till she brought forth the child after the same manner as other human beings. The man then offered her food, and when she refused it, he thanked her, and accompanied her out, and then she was carried along, in the same way in the wind, and after a while came again to the gate, just at ten o’clock.

Meanwhile, a quantity of old pieces and clippings of silver were laid on a shelf, in the sitting room, and my wife found them next day, when she was putting the room in order. It is to be supposed that they were laid there by the Vettar.

Editor’s Note- I love that this story was reported as fact. And it’s easy for us to forget that that’s often how folk tales were told. This still happens today. I’ve been told more than one wonderfully outrageous tale in South Texas when visiting family (Devil spotted at a Tejano bar, glimpses of imp-like creatures indicating money is hidden nearby) with no hint of irony. Incidentally, we see here that trolls were just as anxious about the safety of their children as we are.

The Gors Goch Changeling Legend 1 (Wales)

There was once a happy family living in a place called Gors Goch. One night, as usual, they went to bed, but they could not sleep a single wink, because of the noise outside of the house. At last the master of the house got up, and trembling, enquired, What is there, and what is wanted? A clear sweet voice answered him thus, We want a warm place where we can tidy the children. The door was opened when there entered half full the house of the Tylwyth Teg, and they began forthwith washing their children. And when they had finished, they commenced singing, and the singing was entrancing. The dancing and the singing were both excellent. On going away they left behind them money not a little for the use of the house. And afterwards they came up pretty often to the house, and received a hearty welcome in consequence of the large presents which they left behind them on the hob. But at last a sad affair took place which was no less than an exchange of children. The Gors Goch baby was a dumpy child, a sweet, pretty, affectionate little dear, but the child which was left in its stead was a sickly, thin, shapeless, ugly being, which did nothing but cry and eat, and although it ate ravenously like a mastiff, it did not grow. At last the wife of Gors Goch died of a broken heart, and so also did all her children, but the father lived a long life and became a rich man, because his new heir’s family brought him abundance of gold and silver.

The Gors Goch Changeling Legend 2 (Wales)

When the people of the Gors Goch one evening had gone to bed, lo! They heard a great row and disturbance around the house. One could not at all comprehend what it might be that made such a noise at that time of night. Both the husband and the wife had waked up, quite unable to make out what there might be there. The children also woke but no one could utter a word; their tongues had all stuck to the roofs of their mouths. The husband, however, at last managed to move, and to ask, Who is there? What do you want? Then he was answered from without by a small silvery voice, It is room we want to dress our children. The door was opened, and a dozen small beings came in, and began to search for an earthen pitcher with water. There they remained for some hours of washing and titivating themselves. As the day was breaking they went away, leaving behind them a fine present for the kindness they had received. Often afterwards did the Gors Goch folks have the company of this family. But once there happened to be a fine roll of a pretty baby in his cradle. The Fair Family came, and as the baby had not been baptized, they took the liberty of changing him for one of their own. They left behind in his stead an abominable creature that would do nothing but cry and scream every day of the week. The mother was nearly breaking her heart, on account of the misfortune, and greatly afraid of telling anybody about it. But everybody got to see that there was something wrong at Gors Goch, which was proved before long by the mother dying of longing for her child. The other children died broken hearted after their mother and the husband was left alone with the little elf without anyone to comfort them. But shortly after, the fairies began to resort again to the hearth of the Gors Goch to dress children, and the gift which had formerly been silver money became henceforth pure gold. In the course of a few years the elf became the heir of a large farm in North Wales, and that is why the old people used to say, Shoe the elf with gold and he will grow. (Feddaw gwiddon yn fawr ond ei bedoli ag aur).

The Gors Goch Changeling Legend 3 (Wales)

The wife of Garth Uchaf, Llanuwchllyn went out one day to make hay, and left her baby in the cradle. Unfortunately, she did not place the tongs crossway on the cradle, and consequently the fairies changed her baby, and by the time she came home there was nothing in the cradle but some old decrepit changeling, which looked as if it were half-famished, but nevertheless, it was nursed.

Editor’s Note- In the third story, the detail of placing, tongs crossway refers to a belief that making a cross out of tools or other objects would protect a baby from being replaced by elves, etc. when left alone. The religious protection note was also present in the second installment where we note that an unbaptized baby was especially ripe for plucking.

The Three Little Blue Stones (Portugal)

There was once a king who was married but had taken a great dislike to his queen because they had no family. The queen for this reason was always in great distress of mind, and often prayed to God to give her at least a son. Soon after she found herself with child, and when her hour had arrived and she was on the point of being delivered a poor man came to the palace gate begging for alms. The lady in waiting refused to give him anything, and the beggar said that he knew she refused him then because the queen was in labor and about to give birth to a girl; but he would foretell her that at the age of fifteen a large bird would come and take the girl away in his beak. The lady in waiting went in, but told no one what she had heard. All the inmates of the palace were rejoicing, and fondled and caressed the little princess, and kissed her often, but this lady was the only one who wept when she did so, which surprised everyone and they asked her why she wept. The lady in waiting at first did not wish to state her reason, but in the end she related what had passed between her and the beggar, and how he had said that, when the little princess should arrive at the age of fifteen, a bird would come and carry her away in his beak. On hearing this everyone in the palace felt much distressed and grieved. As the princess grew up her chief amusement was to play with a table placed in the center of a garden. A certain prince having arrived at the palace one day to pay his respects to the king, saw the little princess, and was charmed with her pretty ways, and he gave her as he was going away three little blue stones as a keepsake and remembrance. In the course of time the princess attained her fifteenth year, and the period had arrived for the accomplishment of the prophecy respecting her fate. The child never went out anywhere and did nothing but play with the little blue stones on the table.

One day the king and queen left the palace to travel, and the child remained alone under the care of the lady in waiting. She was amusing herself playing in the garden when a large bird flew close to her and asked her when would she prefer to go through and accomplish her destiny, in youth or in old age. The lady in waiting advised her to say that she would prefer it in her youth rather than in her old age. The bird then instantly laid hold of the little princess with his beak and flew away with her. The bird took her through the air and left her alone in a great and dense forest. When she had been there one night and a day she began to weep because she felt very hungry and cold. There was a city near this forest to which a certain prince was in the habit of going once a month to hunt in the neighborhood. It so happened that on this same day the prince came to hunt in the forest, and as he was traveling it he heard what appeared to him suppressed sobbing. He asked his chamberlain to accompany him, and went searching until he came upon the princess. He was delighted to find her, and he put her up on his horse and took her to the palace and then locked her up in a room without anyone knowing it. But the queen, suspecting the prince because he was always in that room, waited until one day when the prince had gone out, and opened the door to see what was there, and found the princess in the chamber. She scolded the prince very much for his conduct when she saw him, but he begged her not to ill treat the princess. Neither the queen his mother nor his sister liked the princess in the least, but she continued to live in the palace. One day she found herself with child, and gave birth to a boy, just at the time when the prince had been obliged to take a journey. The queen took up the child and cut off one of his little fingers, rubbed the princess’s lips with the blood from it, and putting the child in a basket ordered it to be thrown into the sea. When the prince returned the queen told him that the princess had eaten up the child. The prince went up close to her and asked thus: Then you ungrateful girl, you have had a boy, and you have eaten it up? The answer she gave was to tell him that she prayed to God to discover the truth. The prince then said to her that, if such a thing should happen to her a second time, he would kill her. After the lapse of some time the princess again found herself with child, and when her hour had come the