| The Dog in the Sea | |
|---|---|
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Dog in the Sea |
| Also known as | The Dog and the Sailor |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | 540 |
| Country | Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Netherlands |
The Dog in the Sea, also known as The Dog and the Sailor is a northern European fairy tale classified as ATU 540, "The Dog in the Sea". [1] [2]
The common plot thread in all variants collected by German scholar Hans-Jörg Uther begins with an unhappy sailor trying to commit suicide by drowning, and meeting a talking dog that offers him help instead. The sailor and his supernatural companion sail together, and after three heavy storms the dog tells the sailor to jump into the water. Underwater the sailor finds a castle and a beautiful woman with magical powers. Warned by the dog, the sailor kills the woman and accomplishes three challenging tasks through three nights in the castle. Afterwards he cuts the dog's head off, and the dog is revealed to be a handsome prince, once enchanted by his mother-in-law/father/a witch, and now returned to human form. [3]
Variants of the tale exist in Danish, Finnish, Frisian, German and Dutch languages and have been transcribed by Nikolaj Christian Christensen , [4] Oskar Hackman, [5] Jens Kamp, [6] Jurjen van der Kooi [7] [8] [9] and Pirkko-Liisa Rausmaa . [10] All of them have been collected from late 19th to 20th century. In his work, Nikolaj Petrovič Andreev claimed that type 540 existed in Russian language, but did not provide an example. [11]
Kamp's version from Denmark, David Husmandssøn, is the longest and the most detailed of the above. It introduces the character of overprotective mother who wants her son to take up a "gentle trade", and the son purposefully makes mistakes in those apprenticeships until he is allowed to work at sea. Furthermore, the supernatural dog is stated to be a black poodle, a breed historically used as a water dog. The sailor at the end is offered "half the kingdom" by the prince's father, but rejects the offer and returns home to care for his parents.
In both Christensen and Kamp versions, not only the prince is released from the curse, but also his father, who has been turned into a lion and is held prisoner in chains in the castle, whose head and tail have to be cut off and attached vice versa again, or whose animal skin is to be cut open with a knife. In the Swedish version (Hackman), which, like the Finnish version, is only slightly related to the Danish version, the enchanted dog is not a human but a troll prince. In the Finnish version of Rausmaa, the dog disenchants itself by jumping into the water, while the second Finnish variant differs even more in its content. [11]
This fairy tale type has been included in Enzyklopädie des Märchens. [11]
It has been analyzed from a queer theory perspective, with a protagonist that could be considered gay, asexual or otherwise queer. [12]
This folktale was not added to the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature compiled by Stith Thompson, a guide that is still used worldwide today to organize and analyze folktales. [13] According to Pete Jordi Wood, Thompson held a negative view towards the LGBTQ+ community and chose to not incorporate many positive stories with LGBTQ+ themes. Thompson did incorporate tales with queer characters who were harmed or depicted as a villain. This motivated Woods to retell this story. An illustrated retelling of the story was published by Wood. An illustrated retelling of the story was published by Pete Jordi Wood. [14]
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1837 in the third edition of their collection Grimm's Fairy Tales. It was first published by Wilhelm Grimm in 1827 in Wilhelm Hauff's Märchen-Almanach. An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroline Stahl (1776–1837). Indeed, that appears to be the oldest variant; no previous oral version is known, although several have been collected since its publication in 1818. Oral versions are very limited regionally. The tale is of Aarne-Thompson type 426.
"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.
The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index is a catalogue of folktale types used in folklore studies. The ATU Index is the product of a series of revisions and expansions by an international group of scholars: originally composed in German by Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne (1910), the index was translated into English, revised, and expanded by American folklorist Stith Thompson, and later further revised and expanded by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther (2004). The ATU Index, along with Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932)—with which it is used in tandem—is an essential tool for folklorists.
"The Hut in the Forest" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book (1897). It is Aarne-Thompson type 431.
"The Old Woman in the Wood" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 123. It is Aarne-Thompson type 442.
The Lute Player, The Tsaritsa Harpist or The Tsaritsa who Played the Gusli, is a Russian fairy tale. It was published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection Russian Fairy Tales, as number 338. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book (1901).
Boots and His Brothers is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr.
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.
The King of England and his Three Sons is a Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's In Gypsy Tents, where the informant was John Roberts, a Welsh Roma. Groome published the tale as An Old King and his three Sons in England.
The Magic Swan Geese is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki, numbered 113.
The Blue Belt is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr. It is Aarne-Thompson type 590.
The Well of the World's End is an Anglo-Scottish Border fairy tale, recorded in the Scottish Lowlands, collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. His source was The Complaynt of Scotland, and he notes the tale's similarity to the German Frog Prince. Like that tale, it is Aarne-Thompson type 440, "The Frog King" or "Iron Henry".
Grateful dead is both a motif and a group of related folktales present in many cultures throughout the world.
The Fiend or The Vampire is a Russian fairy tale, collected by Alexander Afanasyev as his number 363. The tale was translated and published by William Ralston Shedden-Ralston.
"The Three Snake-Leaves" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 16. It is Aarne-Thompson type 612, "The Three Snake-Leaves".
The Motif-Index of Folk-Literature is a six volume catalogue of motifs, granular elements of folklore, composed by American folklorist Stith Thompson. Often referred to as Thompson's motif-index, the catalogue has been extensively used in folklore studies, where folklorists commonly use it in tandem with the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index (ATU), an index used for folktale type analysis.
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.
The Man and the Girl at the Underground Mansion is a Danish folktale collected by theologue Nikolaj Christensen in the 19th century, but published in the 20th century by Danish folklorist Laurits Bodker.
"The Forgotten Bride" or "The Forgotten Fiancée" is a motif of folktales recognized in several folktale motif indices.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)