Bluebeard: Beards of Many Hues, Red in Particular

As you are probably aware by now, Blogger has been down and quirky for the past few days. I was a little reluctant to post anything, but it's Friday the 13th and I wanted to maintain my momentum with talking about Bluebeard Tales From Around the World.

We all know of Bluebeard by now but in the tale group, the beard isn't always blue. Sometimes there isn't a beard at all. But the beard can be another color, too. Black isn't the color of choice, we can keep that for the pirate Blackbeard for whom Bluebeard is often mistaken. In Bluebeard Tales From Around the World there is Barbe Rouge (Redbeard) from France. There is Knight Goldbeard from Switzerland. And there is Greenbeard from Lithuania. And, now that I think of it, I translated all three of these tales for the collection which gave me a particular intimacy with them.

Barbe Rouge falls easily into the ATU 312 type. There are a few quirks in this short tale however. It begins like this:

BARBE Rouge was married seven times and successively lost each of his wives after a short time of homemaking. He lived ten years in harmony with his eighth wife with whom he had two daughters and a son. But after that time, Barbe Rouge took his wife into such hatred that he resolved to get rid of her.

One Sunday, at the moment she returned from Mass, he said to her, “Jeanne-Marie, today I will kill you.”

“Allow me,” the woman replied, “to put on my wedding clothes, those in which I was married to you.”

“Then go up to your room and be quick for I am in a hurry.”

This is one of the few Bluebeard tales in which the couple live together for a long while. The idea that they have children together and he still wants to kill her is more disturbing to me for some reason although it is unfortunately quite grounded in reality. This is one of the first tales I translated for the collection and I admit it gave me my only nightmare. I'm not prone to them and after a few days became acclimated to these tales (disturbing in itself), but this one got to me and I think it was because it was so matter-of-fact about the entire killing thing after many years of marriage with children included. Barbe Rouge was a monster. His wife commits no transgression in this other than being married to him so it's not a perfect ATU 312 if there is such a thing.

I will talk more about Goldbeard and Greenbeard over the weekend, so stay tuned.

Mr. Fox, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare

Reader Shannon Knight commented on Facebook that she wanted to read more about the connection between Mr. Fox and Shakespeare. Here is an excerpt from Bluebeard Tales From Around the World. It is itself an excerpt as explained below. So the best estimate is that the Mr. Fox tale is at least 400 years old and the first evidence of it predates Bluebeard by 100+ years. I'm not going to block text this, but everything from this point is from the book, slightly edited.

The following is essentially a reprint with commentary of Halliwell’s “Mr. Fox,” that appeared in the Chambers’ A Book of Days, a bestselling miscellany of popular antiquities connected to days of the year and a bestseller in the latter 1800s. Unlike most folklore anthologists well-versed through classical education in that era, Chambers does not assume the reader is overly familiar with the referenced texts and thus provides quotations which merit its inclusion in this anthology.

IN SHAKSPEARE’S Much Ado About Nothing, Benedict (Act I., Sc. 1) alludes to “the old tale—it is not so, nor ‘twas not so, but indeed. God forbid it should be so.” It is believed by his laborious commentator, Mr. Halliwell, that Shakspeare here had in his recollection a simple English nursery story which he had probably heard in his infancy at Stratford, and of which some memory still survives. The story is given by the learned commentator as follows:

Once upon a time there was a young lady, called Lady Mary, who had two brothers. One summer they all went to a country seat of theirs, which they had not before visited. Among the other gentry in the neighbourhood who came to see them, was a Mr. Fox, a bachelor, with whom they, particularly the young lady, were much pleased. He used often to dine with them, and frequently invited Lady Mary to come and see his house.

One day that her brothers were absent elsewhere, and she had nothing better to do, she determined to go thither; and accordingly set out unattended. When she arrived at the house, and knocked at the door, no one answered.

At length she opened it and went in; over the portal of the hall was written,

“Be bold, be bold—but not too bold,
lest that your heart’s blood should run cold.”

She opened it; it was full of skeletons and tubs full of blood. She retreated in haste, and coming down stairs she saw Mr. Fox advancing towards the house with a drawn sword in one hand, while with the other he dragged along a young lady by her hair.

Lady Mary had just time to slip down, and hide herself under the stairs, before Mr. Fox and his victim arrived at the foot of them. As he pulled the young lady upstairs, she caught hold of one of the banisters with her hand, on which was a rich bracelet. Mr. Fox cut it off with his sword; the hand and bracelet fell into Lady Mary’s lap, who then contrived to escape unobserved, and got home safe to her brothers’ house.

After a few days, Mr. Fox came to dine with them as usual. After dinner, when the guests began to amuse each other with extraordinary anecdotes, Lady Mary at length said she would relate to them a remarkable dream she had lately had.

“I dreamt,” said she, “that as you, Mr. Fox, had often invited me to go to your house, I would go there one morning. When I came to the house I knocked, but no one answered. When I opened the door, over the hall was written,

‘Be bold, be bold—but not too bold.’

But,” said she, turning to Mr. Fox, and smiling, “it is not so, nor it was not so.”

Then she pursued the rest of the story, concluding at every turn with “It is not so, nor it was not so,” till she came to the room full of dead bodies, when Mr. Fox took up the burden of the tale, and said, “It is not so, nor it was not so: and God forbid it should be so,” which he continues to repeat at every subsequent turn of the dreadful story, till she came to the circumstance of the cutting off the young lady’s hand, when, upon his saying as usual, “It is not so, nor it was not so: and God forbid it should be so,” Lady Mary retorts, “But it is so, and it was so, and here’s the hand I have to show;” at the same time producing the bracelet from her lap: whereupon the guests drew their swords, and cut Mr. Fox into a thousand pieces.’

It is worthy of notice that the mysterious inscription seen by the lady in Mr. Fox’s house is identical with that represented by Spenser (Faerie Queen, III. xi. 54), as beheld by Britomart in

“— the house of Busyrane,
Where Love’s spoyles are exprest.”

It occurs in the following stanza:

And as she lookt about she did behold
How over that same dore was likewise writ,
Be bold, be bold, and everywhere Be bold;
That much she mus’d, yet could not construe it
By any ridling skill or commune wit.
At last she spyde at that rowme’s upper end
Another yron dore, on which was writ,
Be not too bold: whereto, though she did bend
Her earnest mind, yet wist not what it might intend.

It cannot be said that there is much in the story of Mr. Fox; but it is curious to find it a matter of familiar knowledge to two writers like Shakspeare and Spenser: and we learn from their allusions that, rude and simple as it is, it has existed for about three centuries, if not more.

Source:

Chambers, Robert, editor. The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1879. pp. 291-292.

ATU 955: The Robber Bridegroom

Today I'm talking about ATU 955: The Robber Bridegroom, the third and final tale type in the Bluebeard group. (See my previous posts on ATU 312 and ATU 311) as part of my discussion of Bluebeard Tales From Around the World. You can read many of the tales on SurLaLune and D. L. Ashliman's site. The new book features 30 tales of this type.

From my introduction:

The third and final type, ATU 955: The Robber Bridegroom, once again claims its primary name from the Grimms’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen. However, this tale is the one with the oldest recorded history, with references to its English version, “Mr. Fox,” appearing in both Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590) and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (1600).

In this tale type, a young woman makes an unannounced visit to the home of her fiancé or beau although she has been invited and is expected at a later time. In the subtext, he has appeared to be ideal husband material, but the tale implies she is suspicious of him. She usually follows a path upon which she receives several warnings from animals, other magical elements, or even written signs, such as in “Mr. Fox” where she reads, “Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.” Once she has entered the home, usually a castle, undetected, she hides and witnesses the man and a band of thieves kill and dismember another maiden. A body part, usually a hand with a ring, comes into her possession which she takes away with her when she makes her secret escape from the horrible place. Later, after arranging a party to which the man is invited, she tells the story of her horrible adventure, disguising it as a dream, until the end when she confronts the man with her physical evidence. He is then captured and executed by the authorities she had waiting. She inherits his riches, or at least escapes with her life, and becomes a heroine who lives happily ever after. Curiosity is rarely an emphasized issue and the murderous villain is usually the least sympathetic in this tale group.

Note that in two of the three variants—the lesser known ones—the heroine arranges her own escape as well as the capture of the villain. Her curiosity is not a fatal flaw but a heroic attribute which saves her own life and that of any future victims. This is in contrast to the more popular Perrault tale of Bluebeard in which the heroine relies upon her brothers or another outside force for her rescue. The references to the tales in early literature as well as their similarities to several old ballads led ballad scholar Francis Child to speculate that the tales of ATU 311 and 955 were older. He writes:

That the woman should save her life by her own craft and courage [first German form, ATU 311 & 955] is certainly a more primitive conception than that she should depend upon her brother [second German form, ATU 312], and the priority of this arrangement of the plot is supported, if not independently proved, by the concurrence, as to this point, of so many copies among so many nations, as also by the accordance of various popular tales. The second German form must therefore, so far forth, be regarded as a modification of the first.

This tale is one of the best horror stories in the fairy tale canon, in my opinion, of course. It even usually has a gory death on screen, including dismemberment, sometimes cannibalism, too, for good measure. This isn't a bedtime tale for toddlers! But it is empowering for the heroine outwits the robber and his band, bringing them to justice and doing so in a prudent and effective manner. She doesn't jump out and try to rescue the girl being murdered. That is problematic, to be sure, but she also knows she is no match for them. It will be two lives lost, not one, if she does, so her decision is justified. We can argue that she is instead saving several future victims from a horrible death by saving herself first. Even the warning, "Be bold, be bold, but not too bold" seems to advise she do just that. Go and see but don't confront until you have backup. It's the stuff of good detective and police work but storytellers, even Hollywood today, seems to think that is not dramatic enough. Instead the heroes (or heroines) jump right in and provide foolish action that would get them killed in real life. Not so with this heroine for she gives us a dramatic escape and a wonderful confrontation for the denouement.

So she goes home and gathers forces to defeat the evil she has witnessed and provide justice, carrying damning evidence with her despite her fear. It's stunning actually. I can't think of many stories like this. There is never a question of whether she is a silly female weakened by curiosity. The story even implies she is suspicious of her suitor and acts accordingly, using caution and investigating him before committing to him, perhaps despite pressures from family and community to accept this charming, apparently wealthy man.

And it is an old, old tale. Dating back to pre-Spenser and Shakespeare but we don't know just how far back. But isn't that a lovely redemption of the usual accusation that fairy tale heroines are bad examples?

And I must admit I rather hope one of those new fairy tale inspired tv series uses this plot in one of their episodes.  (Hoping that they both get picked up first.) Wouldn't that be delicious?

The Story Behind the Stories: A History of the Fairy Tale Princess by Angela “Cookie” Oswald

Kate Crackernuts by Trina Schart Hyman from The Serpent Slayer*

Okay, this one made me happy all around. It is about fairy tales receiving the proper perception and it comes out of Maryville where I lived when I started SurLaLune. Maryville is about a fifteen minute drive from the UT Knoxville campus--or it was then--I don't know how many more lights might be along the Alcoa Highway now. John and I lived in a little cottage along a river, our little house of dreams as newlyweds back then. So cool beans and such but keep reading to see why I am even happier about the news story.
From MC history major receives top undergraduate award for essay by Chloe Kennedy:

Maryville College senior Angela “Cookie” Oswald won the “Top Undergraduate Paper Award” for her essay, “The Story Behind the Stories: A History of the Fairy Tale Princess,” at the Tennessee regional meeting of Phi Alpha Theta, a national history honor society.

****

Oswald, who is double majoring in history and English literature with a minor in American studies, presented an excerpt from her Senior Study, a 300-page “feminist, socio-cultural and historicist interpretation” of 12 fairy tales and folk tales she collected from France, Great Britain and Italy.

“I am particularly interested in doing research concerning the common misconception that most princess characters have been ‘damsel in distress’- type personalities until the Women’s Liberation Movement, when stronger female characters began to emerge in popular fairy tales,” said Oswald, MCHS president. “My argument is that strong female characters in fairy tales have always existed; they have just been forgotten or ignored over time, especially due to the influence of the Victorian era.”

****

Oswald said she agonized for weeks over which section of her thesis to present at the conference, and she ultimately chose one French fairy tale from the second chapter of her thesis.

“I discussed and explicated it from a historical perspective in order to provide an example of a fairy tale that features a strong female character in it so that I could illustrate the contrast between the fairy tales that I collected and the fairy tales that feature weaker female characters in them that most people are familiar with,” she said.

When Oswald presented, she was “very pleasantly surprised” by the positive reaction from the judges – two professors who specialize in women’s history.

Oswald’s paper and presentation received the highest score among all of the undergraduates who presented, earning the “Top Undergraduate Paper Award.”

Now I really want to read her paper and thesis. Congrats to Angela “Cookie” Oswald and thank you for furthering the fairy tale cause!

*Because Kate Crackernuts is a strong fairy tale heroine!

Chris Hemsworth in 'Snow White and the Huntsman'?

I haven't seen Thor and doubt I will. John went to see it this past weekend, however, and had a good time but wasn't clamoring about it either. From 'Thor' Star Chris Hemsworth in Talks to Join Kristen Stewart in 'Snow White and the Huntsman' at the Hollywood Reporter:

Chris Hemsworth, coming off a $65 million dollar opening with his Marvel movie Thor, is in negotiations to star with Kristen Stewart in Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman.

The negotiations with the Australian actor put the big-budget fairy tale adaptation back on track after it had some trouble hunting down its co-star.

Viggo Mortensen was in negotiations for the role in the winter but the on-again and off-again dealmaking never took root. Michael Fassbender was in the running before Mortensen while Hugh Jackman entertained an offer after Mortensen. The studio spend time casting a net, pulling in actors like Joel Edgerton, although nothing ever materialized on that front either.

Hemsworth, who began building buzz for his star-making role in Thor in the weeks before the movie’s release, began talks with Universal last week. The studio entered negotiations today.

This retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale plays up the Huntsman, a secondary character in the centuries-old tale, who now becomes Snow White's protector and mentor.

Fairy-tale characters take the stand to teach children about the law

I haven't seen one of these articles in a while but they are appearing more frequently now. Must mean summer is coming for the fairy tale mock trials seem to come with the higher temperatures and longer days. This particular entry was especially fun.

From Fairy-tale characters take the stand to teach children about the law by Melissa Dribben:

The mock trials took place Friday, the final day of an annual celebration of the American legal system, coordinated by the Philadelphia Bar Association's young lawyers division. Judges Sandra Mazer Moss, Annette M. Rizzo, Sheila Woods-Skipper, Gary Glazer, Teresa Sarmina, Marlene Lachman, and Fox presided over the fairy-tale cases - fairy tale, in these instances, in its literary sense rather than indicating any bias for or against the validity of the plaintiffs' claims.

During the week, the association also arranged for volunteer lawyers to give free legal advice and information to library patrons; give high school students tours of the city's courts; and talk with students about careers in law.

The three pigs were represented by Todd Zamostien of the personal injury firm Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky (which represents the plaintiffs in the duck-boat accident).

Wolf retained Beth Goodell, a defense lawyer from Community Legal Services.

On the witness stand, Wolf, a.k.a. Richard Vanderslice, who bought his hairy, sharp-clawed paws on Amazon.com, testified that he only was trying to make friends with the pigs and felt terrible that his sneezing blew down their homes.

Under questioning, he admitted that because he has no kitchen in his den, "I have to eat out a lot."

One of the tensest moments came when Wolf's physician, a Dr. Lupine, testified that her house was made of sticks and straw. This raised doubts among some astute jurors who wondered why a legitimate allergist would live in a building constructed of such noxious materials.

After deliberating for nearly 10 minutes in Common Pleas Courtroom 426, five of the six juries from the third-grade class from C.W. Henry School determined that Wolf neither intimidated the plaintiffs nor willfully destroyed their property. The sixth panel ended in a hung jury.

Juror Thomas McGill of Mount Airy tried to raise his hand and object during closing arguments, but was asked by the judge to wait.

After the trial, Thomas said he could relate to Wolf's predicament.

"I think B.B. Wolf is innocent because he has allergies," he said. "I have allergies, too!"

Fitcher's Bird Comic at SplitLipComic

I also discovered this 18 page online comic for Fitcher's Bird at SplitLipComic. I'll share the first four pages here and then leave it up to you to click through and see it all.