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Azerbaijani fairy tales are works of folklore by the Azerbaijani people. They vary in context and subject and include tales from the heroic past of the Azerbaijani people and struggles with local and foreign oppressors. Spiritual, moral, social and philosophical views are reflected throughout these tales.
The tales hand down ancient national traditions and customs whilst depicting the natural beauty of Azerbaijan; its green valleys and pastures, magnificent mountains, purling rivers and blossoming gardens. [1]
According to Horst Wilfrid Brands in Enzyklopädie des Märchens , there exists some connection between the narrative corpus of Azerbaijan and Turkey (even Turkmenistan). [2]
The first recorded fairy tales are found in the heroic Oghuz Kitabi Dede Korkut ("The book of grandfather Korkut") of the 10th-11th centuries. For instance, there is a narrated tale about a monster-man who eats "two people and five thousand sheep" per day in Tepegoz's (a translation from Turkish – Cyclop) story.
Jirtdan is the most popular fairy tale character among children's tales in Azerbaijan, meaning "small" when translated from Azerbaijani. Many fairy tales are based on this character, who is distinguished for his keenness of wit, courage and bravery. He can simultaneously be an idler, but also very brave. The Div ('giant') is another popular character. Little Jirtdan acquires courage and bravery when he meets Div. [3]
Another popular character of the Azerbaijani tale corpus is hero Mälik Mähämmäd (or Mälikmämmäd). [4]
Azerbaijani fairy tales are divided into three types in essence and content: fairy tales about animals, fairy tales about common people and magic fairy tales.[ citation needed ]
The second edition of National fairy-tales from Azerbaijan was published by Verlag Dr.Koster Publishing House (Berlin) on the initiative of the Azerbaijani embassy in Germany. Liliane Grimm is an Austrian researcher of Azerbaijani studies and author and translator of the book, whose first acquaintance with Azerbaijan was held at an exhibition of Azerbaijani artists in Vienna. [5] Seventeen national fairy tales of Azerbaijan and The Fox’s Pilgrimage [6] (parable by Abdulla Shaig) were included in the book.
The Tales of Malik-Mammed, a play written for children by Chris Bartlett (writer) inspired by Azerbaijani fairy tales, ran at Chelsea Theatre in London in March 2015 as part of the Buta Festival.
"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.
Snow-White-Fire-Red (Bianca-comu-nivi-russa-comu-focu) is a Sicilian fairy tale collected by Giuseppe Pitre and translated by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales.
"Thirteenth" is an Italian fairy tale originally collected by Sicilian folklorist Giuseppe Pitrè and published by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales. It is Aarne-Thompson type 328, "The Boy Steals the Giant's Treasures".
Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree is a Scottish fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his Celtic Fairy Tales. It is Aarne-Thompson type 709, Snow White. Others of this type include Bella Venezia, Nourie Hadig, La petite Toute-Belle and Myrsina.
The Mermaid and the Boy is a Sámi fairy tale first collected in the mid-19th century. It tells the story of a prince unknowingly promised to a mermaid before he was born, then obtains magical powers to transform into animals later in the story.
Molly Whuppie is an English language fairy tale set in Scotland. It was first published in 'Three Folk-Tales from Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire' in "Folklore" (6.2.1884). Rev. Walter Gregor said that the tales had been 'communicated to me by Mr. Moir, Rector of the Grammar School, Aberdeen. He had them from his mother, who kindly wrote out " Mally Whuppie " and " The Red Calf" at my request.' Anglicising the name to "Molly" from "Mally" Joseph Jacobs used this source of the story in his English Fairy Tales. A Highland version, Maol a Chliobain, was collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Jacobs noted the relationship between the two tales, and an Irish variant, "Smallhead," and concluded that the tale was Celtic in origin.
The Green Knight is a Danish fairy tale, collected by Svend Grundtvig (1824-1883) in Danish Fairy Tales (18??) and by Evald Tang Kristensen (1843-1929) in Eventyr fra Jylland (1881). Andrew Lang included a translation of Kristensen's version in The Olive Fairy Book (1907).
The Sea-Maiden is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John Mackenzie, fisherman, near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it in Celtic Fairy Tales.
Sapia Liccarda is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone. It is not known whether he had a specific source, either literary or oral, for this tale.
Anthousa, Xanthousa, Chrisomalousa or Anthousa the Fair with Golden Hair is a Greek fairy tale collected by Greek folklorist Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece. Other variants were collected by Michalis Meraklis and Anna Angelopoulou.
The Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two centuries of research into the folk narrative tradition. It was begun by Kurt Ranke in the 1960s and was continued by chief editor Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, both of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.
Little Wildrose is a Romanian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
Sindhi folktales play an important part in the culture of the Sindhi people of southern Pakistan. Pakistan's Sindh province abounds in fairy-tales and folktales that form its folklore. Some of these folktales are particularly important for the development of higher literature in Sindhi, since they were to form the core of mystical tales of Sindh immortalized by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, and are generally known as Heroines of Shah.
Lutz Röhrich was a German folklorist and scholar studying topics relating to literature, oral stories, and similar types of media. He enjoyed a long and prestigious career, starting as a professor at the Philipp University of Marburg in 1967 and experiencing his stature growing decade by decade. His peers as well as those that he taught referred to him as "ein lebendiges lexikon", "the living encyclopedia", due to his deep knowledge and friendliness in discussing many different aspects of his work.
Max Lüthi was a Swiss literary theorist. He is considered the founder of formalist research on folk tales.
Hans-Jörg Uther is a German literary scholar and folklorist.
In folkloristics, "The Animal as Bridegroom" refers to a group of folk and fairy tales about a human woman marrying or being betrothed to an animal. The animal is revealed to be a human prince in disguise or under a curse. Most of these tales are grouped in the international system of Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index under type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband". Some subtypes exist in the international classification as independent stories, but they sometimes don't adhere to a fixed typing.
Adventures of a Boy is the title of an Azeri folktale first collected in Russian language in the early 20th century.
The Prince and the Foal is a Greek folktale from Epirus, first collected by Austrian consul, Johann Georg von Hahn and published in the mid-19th century. It deals with a friendship between a king's son and a magic horse that are forced to flee for their lives due to the boy's own mother, and reach another kingdom, where the prince adopts another identity.
Nemtudomka is a Hungarian fairy tale, first published in the mid-19th century by author János Erdélyi. It is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 314, "Goldener". It deals with a friendship between a king's son and a magic horse that are forced to flee for their lives due to the boy's own mother, and reach another kingdom, where the boy adopts another identity by only uttering the words "Nem tudom".