Beginning in the 1840s, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth collected folklore of the Upper Palatinate (German Oberpfalz, in eastern Bavaria). He published only part of his collection, three volumes of legends, folk beliefs, and other traditions (1857-59), loosely modeled on Jacob Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology. His papers were preserved in the municipal archive in Regensburg. Among them, in 2009, Erika Eichenseer discovered hundreds of unpublished folktales. The Turnip Princess contains a selection of the unpublished tales along with some excerpted from the published collection, Sitten und Sagen.
The seventy-two in The Turnip Princess tales are divided into sections, the first two of which consist of magic tales. The third contains mostly supernatural legends; the fourth, legends with a religious component; the fifth, humorous tales; and the sixth, mythological legends. The tales range in length from half a page to three or four pages. Their style tends to be direct (the introduction calls it brisk). Some of the tales have already been published in German (von Schönwerth 2010), so it is possible to see that the translator, Maria Tatar, occasionally elaborates by, for example, turning a word into a phrase or a phrase into a clause, to make for smooth reading.
The longest tales have an episodic structure in which events are punctuated by dialog. Other texts are pleasant enough to read but seem more like a summary than a full-fledged piece of entertainment. The briefest evoke some haunting image—snow the color of snowdrops, a saint’s statue full of gold, a girl taking care of a weasel.
In the commentary section, Tatar restates the theme of each tale and often relates it to other tales from various better-known sources. The notes section gives the source of each tale, whether it comes from the archives at Regensburg or Marburg or from a printed source, and for some it indicates the place where Schönwerth collected it. Tale type (ATU) numbers are given along with occasional other references. For example, three texts assigned to the catch-all type ATU 444*, Enchanted Prince Disenchanted, are relatively uncomplicated magic tales of the sort that appear to be flights of fancy rather than repetitions of traditional plots. This is also the case for the title tale, “The Turnip Princess.” The tale type index, because it is mainly a list of traditional plots, is unsuited to characterize such texts. In addition, in the notes section here, a few type numbers are misapplied: for example, the type, The Grateful Animals (ATU 554), refers to an episodic plot as found here in “The Figs,” but this designation has also been used for tales with any sort of grateful animal motif. Motif numbers are more useful than type numbers for components and details. Below is a list of some replacement and additional notes.
An advance selection like this one does not necessarily represent the whole collection from which it has been taken, more especially since the extent of the whole is not yet known, even (probably) to Eichenseer, who is working in conjunction with an organization, the Schönwerth Gesellschaft. We would hope that a definitive edition of the whole collection, along with notes and finding aids, will be published soon. In the introduction to The Turnip Princess, Tatar praises Schönwerth’s tales for the absence of some of the literary qualities and gender stereotypes that distinguish the Grimms’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen. This observation would also apply to many other collections of German regional folklore. English-language fairy tale scholars have usually chosen to focus on highly-polished texts. Any researchers who wish to find more seemingly-natural tales will find references in Bolte and Polívka.
Some additional notes:
The Turnip Princess, p. 3: mot. R45.3 Captivity in cave; B435.4, Helpful bear; D1252.1.2 Magic nail; D1880, Magic rejuvenation; T543.7 Birth from vegetable.
The Enchanted Quill, p. 6: AT 425N, Bird Husband (now included in ATU 425B).
The Beautiful Slave Girl, p. 22: Recognition by penmanship; mot. K1931.6 Imposter abandons hero on island; H16 Recognition by describing or producing object of common knowledge.
The Three Abducted Daughters, p. 33: ATU 301, The Three Stolen Princesses; KHM 91.
The Weasel, p. 73: D2103 Silver magically produced; D310 Transformation: wild beast to person.
The Mark of the Dog, Pig, and Cat, p. 83: mot. K2115, Animal-birth slander; S451 Outcast wife at last reunited with husband and children.
The Three Spindles, p. 107: mot. F337 Fairy grateful to mortal for saving his life; F340 Gifts from fairies.
The Flax Flower, p. 109: mot. Q86, Reward for industry; cf. ATU 480, The Kind and Unkind Girls (for the plot but not for the details).
Woodpecker, p. 112: mot. D712.2.1 Disenchantment by throwing [jumping] into fire.
Twelve Brides, p. 121: mot. F302.5 Fairy [mermaid] mistress and mortal wife.
The Howling of the Wind, p. 125: C31.1.2 Tabu: looking at supernatural wife on certain occasion (Melusine).
The Belt and the Necklace, p. 130: mot. D1410.4 Posession of mermaid’s belt gives power over her; F420.5.2.2 Water-spirits kidnap mortals and keep them under water.
Drunk with Love, p. 132: mot. F420.5.2.1 Water-maiden enamors man and draws him under water.
Anna Mayala, p. 135: mot. F420.5.2.1 Water-maiden enamors man and draws him under water.
In the Jaws of the Merman, p. 40: mot. B82, Merman.
Nine Bags of Gold, p. 148: mot. F330 Grateful fairies [elves].
The Devil and the Fisherman, p. 161: mot. S211 Child sold (promised) to devil; F771.5.2 Castle guarded by giants; D1094 Magic club [staff].
Woud and Fried, p. 171: mot. T230 Faithlessness in marriage.
The Mouse Catcher, or the Boy and the Beetle, p. 175: mot. D1427.1 Magic pipe [whistle] compels one to follow.
The Wind and His Wife, p. 205: mot. Z115 Wind personified.
The Ice Giants, p. 208: mot. F122 Journey to land of giants; F531.1.9 Frost-giants.
Why Snow Is White, p. 210: mot. A1135.2 Origin of snow; Z140 Color symbolism.
The Sun Takes an Oath, p. 211: mot. A736.1.4 Sun and moon married.
The Sun’s Shadow, p. 213: mot. Z111 Death personified.
What the Moon Tried to Wear, p. 214: mot. A750, Nature and condition of the moon.
The Singing Tree, p. 215: mot. P441, Tailor; Q285 Cruelty punished.
Works cited:
Bolte, Johannes, and Georg Polívka. 1913-32. Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Bruder Grimm. 5 vols. Leipzig: Dieterich.
von Schönwerth, Franz Xaver. 1857-59. Aus der Oberpfalz: Sitten und Sagen. 3 vols. Augsburg: Rieger.
______. 2010. Prinz Roßzwifl und andere Märchen aus der Sammlung von Franz Xaver von Schönwerth. Regensburg: Peter Morsbach Verlag.
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[Review length: 1073 words • Review posted on February 3, 2016]