So I was reading a book of the original versions (i.e. the gory and terrifying ones) of the Grimm fairy tales, and as I read, I started to wonder about a phenomenon I’ve noticed repeatedly while reading folktales and myths. Whenever you read these stories, you inevitably come upon something which the participants (and presumably the original readers of the story) find plausible, normal, funny, etc., but to which we have absolutely no cultural connection. So it appears in the story as a total non sequitur. For instance, in one story about elves, the elves had taken a baby from its crib and replaced it with a demon as a changeling. The mother, in despair, asked a wise woman what to do. The woman says, “You must make the demon laugh. Boil water in two halves of an eggshell. That should do it.” So the mother goes home and boils water in two halves of an eggshell, and for some reason the demon finds it utterly hysterical, and the elves appear with the original baby, while the demon disappears.
Now I know we should take the story for what it is, but I can’t help but wonder…what the freakin’ hell was so funny about boiling water in eggshells?
There are tons more examples, especially from the mythology of cultures that are not Western, or that we might see as “primitive.” And some of these disjunctions are so extreme as to be utterly meaningless. Like the mythological Argentinian giant who was rejected by his lover, so had no choice but to stand on his head and transform into the tallest mountain on earth. What the…?
Does anyone know if there is a name for this type of lack of cultural referent?
Dunno about the name for that kind of anachronism (assuming there is one beyond anachronism),but…
I’ve run into several versions of the changeling story you speak of. The resolution generally involves getting the changeling to reveal itself for what it is, done by the boiling the water in the eggshell or a couple of other tricks (one involving rice, and one involving burning something on a shovel) that I don’t remember off-hand.
The way I heard the story, when the water was boiled, the changeling said “I have lived for hundreds of years, and have seen many things, but never have I seen water boiled in an eggshell” This of course revealed the changeling, and forced the return of the abductee.
I blame Bowdler and his wife to start with, and other incompetents incapable of research. I suppose, to be fair, there isn’t a lot of emphasis on accuracy in children’s literature, and for many years folk tales and mythology like this were considered tales for children and ignorant old women.
I also suspect bad translations. Through considerable research, I’ve pretty sure that many European fairy tales have been translated across the continent repeatedly. Take a French fairy tale, translate it into German, then into English, and let Disney get a hold of it. A moderately gruesome little story becomes Cinderella. Fur slippers become glass slippers. And the incidents where the ugly sisters attempt to modify their feet to fit the slippers totally disappear.
Don’t get me started on what was done to the story of Sleeping Beauty.
“I’m as old as the world and I come from hell, but I’ve never seen a woman boil water in a shell.”
But the requirement for the demon to laugh was explicit.
But what I’m talking about is not, it would seem, wholly a linguistic phenomenon. I can imagine that some versions have been mistranslated, but the cultural shortfall appears in all sorts of mythology.
Just why did the Coyote dip his penis in the Mississippi River, thereby causing the oxeye daisies to bloom? Why is that an obvious thing for him to do? See what I mean? And, since that was an entirely fictional example, illustrative of my point, there’s no need to deconstruct it for fertility imagery.
For an example somewhat closer to modern times, some of the most learned Shakesperean scholars still have no idea what Big Will was talking about in certain passages, but contemporary London crowds would find them meaningful, because they played off of current events, common cultural mores, etc.
As a friend of mine put it, imagine someone watching the Elian Gonzalez episode of “South Park” 50 years from now.
Okay, I’m easy. Hadn’t run across that one at Snopes yet.
But the most common English versions of this story do indeed skip over the foot mutilation parts. And Sleeping Beauty had a whole 'nother story after she married the Handsome Prince.
Somewhere in all the copious amounts of folklore I’ve read was a statement that demons couldn’t bear laughter…but I don’t remember the full details on that.
However, this doesn’t really answer the OP, does it? Dunno what it’s called, except for cultural anachronism.
In regards to the OP, I would think it might be the irony factor… like you normally boil an egg in water, but now she’s (get this!) boiling water in an egg!
I have, somewhere, a photocopy of Aschenputel (“Ash-Cleaner”, or “Cinderella”). Bloody good story for a tot, says I. I wish I knew exactly where it is, then I can look up the shoe thing. Does anyone know where to find Aschenputel on-line in German?
For a quick version of “Aschenputtel,” try Factoid Books’ “The Big Book of Grimm.” The story is illustrated comic book style (as are all the books in the Big Book series,) but includes the foot mutilation portions.
This is actually what I was reading when I happened across the demon changeling story.
In fact, I highly recommend the Big Book series. They are extremely well-done, and are oriented toward adults, not children.
Snow White had a vindictive and bizzarre ending in the original Grimm’s - The evil queen was invited to the wedding of Snow White and The Prince and made to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she dropped dead.
I suppose, to be fair, there isn’t a lot of emphasis on accuracy in children’s literature, and for many years folk tales and mythology like this were considered tales for children and ignorant old women.