Volksmärchen der Deutschen

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Volksmärchen der Deutschen (or Volksmährchen der Deutschen, "Folktales of the Germans") is an early collection of German folk stories retold in a satirical style by Johann Karl August Musäus, published in five volumes between 1782 and 1787.[1][2][note 1]

Stories[edit]

Volume Year Original title Literal translation First English translation
1 1782 "Die Bücher der Chronika der drei Schwestern" The Books of the Chronicles of the Three Sisters 1791[a]
"Richilde" Richilda 1791[b]
"Rolands Knappen" Roland's Squires 1845[c]
2 1783 "Legenden von Rübezahl" Legends of Rübezahl 1791[d]
"Die Nymphe des Brunnens" The Nymph of the Wells 1791[e]
3 1784 "Libussa" Libussa 1827[f]
"Der geraubte Schleier" The Stolen Veil 1791[g]
"Liebestreue" Love-Loyalty
4 1786 "Stumme Liebe" Mute Love 1813[h]
"Ulrich mit dem Bühel" Ulrich with the Hump
"Dämon Amor" Demon Cupid 1845[i]
5 1787 "Melechsala" Melechsala 1805[j]
"Der Schatzgräber" The Treasureseeker 1823[k]
"Die Entführung" The Elopement 1827[l]

Publication and translation[edit]

Volksmärchen der Deutschen was first published in five volumes between 1782 and 1787 by C. W. Ettinger in Gotha, Thuringia.[1][2][note 2]

After Musäus' death in 1787, his widow requested Christoph Martin Wieland publish a re-edited version of the tales, which he did as Die deutschen Volksmährchen von Johann August Musäus (1804–1805).[3][note 3]

English translations[edit]

The first English translation was Popular Tales of the Germans (1791) by Thomas Beddoes, which contained five of the stories: "Richilda", "The Book of the Chronicles of the Three Sisters", "The Stealing of the Veil", "Elfin Freaks" ("Legenden von Rübezahl"), and "The Nymph of the Fountain". This book was published anonymously, and the translation was traditionally attributed to William Beckford.[4]

In the early nineteenth century, some French translations of the Volksmärchen were translated into English. "The Lost Veil" and "Melechsala" were translated in Tales (1805) from Isabelle de Montolieu's Recueil de contes (1803), and an abridged version of "The Spectre-Barber" ("Stumme Liebe") was translated in Tales of the Dead (1813) from Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès' Fantasmagoriana (1812).[5][6]

A number of direct translations were published in the 1820s, following the interest in German fairy stories caused by the Brothers Grimm's Children's and Household Tales. This included two stories in Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (1823),[i] one in Thomas Roscoe's The German Novelists (1826),[ii] three of the "Legends of Rübezahl" with extensive footnotes in The Odd Volume (1826),[iii] with another story in The Odd Volume: Second Series (1827),[iv] three stories in Thomas Carlyle's German Romance (1827),[v] the "Legends of Rubezahl" in Foreign Tales and Traditions (1829),[vi] and one of the "Legends of Rübezahl" in Tales of All Nations (1836).[vii][7][8][9][10][11]

The 1840s saw a revival of interest in German traditions following the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840, which may have led to the subsequent new translations of Musäus' work.[8] This included The Three Sisters: A Story (1842),[viii] "Libussa" in Tales from the German (1844),[ix] two stories in Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845),[x] two in The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters (1845),[xi] seven in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845),[xii] two in The Nymph of the Well and The Barber's Ghost (1848),[xiii] one appended to Schinderhannes, the Robber of the Rhine (1848),[xiv] Melechsala (1848),[xv] one in Tales of Fairy Land (1849),[xvi] a light-hearted free verse poem version of the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters" as The Arm! – the Sword! – and the Hour! Or, the Legend of the Enchanted Knights (1850),[xvii] The Stolen Veil; or, the Tale à la Montgolfier (1850),[xviii] and two in Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also The Man Without a Name (1852).[xix][8][12][13][14][15][16]

A number of new translations were published in the 1860s, including The Three Sons-in-Law (1861),[xx] Mark Lemon's Legends of Number Nip (1863),[xxi] and a new translation by him of the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters" in Fairy Tales (1868).[xxii] A few more followed, such as one in Wonder-World Stories (1877),[xxiii] all five "Legends of Rübezahl" in Number Nip; or the Spirit of the Giant Mountains (1884),[xxiv] Harriet Pinckney Huse's Roland's Squires (1891),[xxv] "The Treasure Seeker" in Andrew Lang's The Crimson Fairy Book (1903),[xxvi] one Volksmärchen Rübezahl tale in his The Brown Fairy Book (1904),[xxvii] two stories in Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book (1907),[xxviii] and an abridged version of the first of the "Legends of Rübezahl" in The Greatest Adventure Stories Ever Told (1945).[xxix][8][17][18]

More recently, Jack Zipes translated "Libussa" in Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture (1991).[19]

French translations[edit]

They were also translated into French a number of times, including as Contes populaires des Allemands (1803) by J. Lefèvre,[20] a translation of two of the stories by Isabelle de Montolieu (1803),[21] and another complete translation with an introduction by Charles Paul de Kock (1826)[22] among others.[23]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Many later sources say the first edition was published from 1782 to 1786, but the 1845 edition's "Editor's Introduction" says 1782 to 1787, and no edition of the fifth volume has been found with a date before 1787.[1]
  2. ^ The first volume was published in 1782, the second in 1783, the third in 1784, the fourth in 1786, and the fifth in 1787.
  3. ^ Wieland's re-edited edition was published by C. W. Ettinger in Gotha, in five volumes: the first in 1804, and the following volumes in 1805.

English translations[edit]

  1. ^ English translations of "Die Bücher der Chronika der drei Schwestern" include:
    • "The Books of the Chronicles of the Three Sisters" in Popular Tales of the Germans (1791)
    • The Three Sisters: A Story (1842)
    • "The Three Sisters" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
    • "Chronicles of the Three Sisters" in Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845)
    • The Enchanted Knights; or, the Chronicle of the Three Sisters (1845)
    • The Arm! – the Sword! – and the Hour! Or, the Legend of the Enchanted Knights (1850)
    • The Three Sons-in-law (1861)
    • "The Chronicles of the Three Sisters" in Fairy Tales (1868)
    • "The Story of Reinald, the Wonder-Child" in Wonder-World Stories (1877)
    • "The Enchanted Forest" in Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book (1907)
  2. ^ English translations of "Richilde" include:
    • "Richilda; or, the Progress from Vanity to Vice" in Popular Tales of the Germans (1791)
    • "Richilda" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
  3. ^ English translations of "Rolands Knappen" include:
    • "Roland's Squires" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
    • Roland's Squires (1891)
  4. ^ English translations of "Legenden von Rübezahl" include:
    • "Elfin Freaks; or, the Seven Legends of Number-Nip" in Popular Tales of the Germans (1791)
    • "Legends of Number-Nip" in The Odd Volume (1826)
    • "Legends of Rubezahl" in Foreign Tales and Traditions (1829)
    • "The Gnome of Hartz" in Tales of All Nations (1836)
    • "Legends of Rübezahl" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
    • "Legends of Rubezahl" in Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845)
    • "Legends of Number Nip" in Schinderhannes, the Robber of the Rhine (1848)
    • "Legends of Number Nip" in Legends of Number Nip (1863)
    • Number Nip; or the Spirit of the Giant Mountains (1884)
    • "Rübezahl" in The Brown Fairy Book (1904)
    • "How the Princess of Solesia Fooled the King of the Underworld" in The Greatest Adventure Stories Ever Told (1945)
  5. ^ English translations of "Die Nymphe des Brunnens" include:
    • "The Nymph of the Fountain" in Popular Tales of the Germans (1791)
    • "The Nymph of the Fountain" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
    • "The Nymph of the Well" in The Nymph of the Well and The Barber's Ghost (1848)
    • "The Nymph of the Well" in Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book (1907)
  6. ^ English translations of "Libussa" include:
    • "Libussa" in German Romance (1827)
    • "Libussa" in Tales from the German (1844)
    • "Libussa" in Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also The Man Without a Name (1852)
    • "Libussa" in Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture (1991)
  7. ^ English translations of "Der geraubte Schleier" include:
    • "The Stealing of the Veil; or, the Tale À La Montgolfier" in Popular Tales of the Germans (1791)
    • "The Lost Veil; or, the Lake of the Swans" in Tales (1805)
    • The Stolen Veil; or, the Tale à la Montgolfier (1850)
  8. ^ English translations of "Stumme Liebe" include:
    • "The Spectre-Barber" in Tales of the Dead (1813)
    • "The Spectre Barber" in Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (1823)
    • "The Dumb Lover" in The German Novelists (1826)
    • "Dumb Love" in German Romance (1827)
    • "Mute Love" in Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845)
    • "The Barber's Ghost" in The Nymph of the Well and The Barber's Ghost (1848)
    • "The Spectre Barber" in Tales of Fairy Land; or Legends of the Olden Time (1849)
  9. ^ English translations of "Dämon Amor" include:
    • "The Demon of the Ring" in The Enchanted Knights; or, the Chronicle of the Three Sisters (1845)
  10. ^ English translations of "Melechsala" include:
    • "Melechsala; or, the Language of Flowers" in Tales (1805)
    • "Melechsala" in German Romance (1827)
    • Melechsala (1848)
  11. ^ English translations of "Der Schatzgräber" include:
  12. ^ English translations of "Die Entführung" include:
    • "The Elopement" in The Odd Volume: Second Series (1827)
    • "The Man Without a Name" in Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also The Man Without a Name (1852)

Books[edit]

  1. ^ Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (1823) was translated anonymously, and published by John Henry Bohte. It included "The Treasure-Seeker", and "The Spectre Barber" ("Stumme Liebe").
  2. ^ The German Novelists (1826) translated by Thomas Roscoe included "The Dumb Lover" ("Stumme Liebe") in volume 3.
  3. ^ The Misses Corbett's The Odd Volume (1826) was published anonymously, and included a very abridged translation of the first legend as an introduction to Rübezahl, followed by two more of the legends.
  4. ^ The Misses Corbett's The Odd Volume: Second Series (1827) was published anonymously, and included a translation of "Die Entführung" as "The Elopement" with a waltz score inserted in the middle of the story. "The Elopement" was reprinted in Robert Seymour and Robert Cruikshank's Odd Volume (1835), with additional illustrations.
  5. ^ Thomas Carlyle's German Romance (1827) included "Dumb Love", "Libussa", and "Melechsala", and these were reprinted many times in various collections of Carlyle's work.
  6. ^ George Godfrey Cunningham's Foreign Tales and Traditions (1829) included the "Legends of Rubezahl". It was republished in 1854.
  7. ^ "The Gnome of Hartz", a translation of the second of the "Legends of Rübezahl", was published with an illustration in two parts in the magazine Tales of All Nations, issues 19 November and 26 November 1836. It was included when the magazine stories were republished as a book Tales of All Nations; or, Popular Legends and Romances (1848) by T. Allman.
  8. ^ William Domville had printed a new translation of the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters" for private circulation only as The Three Sisters: A Story (1842).
  9. ^ John Oxenford translated "Libussa" in Tales from the German (1844).
  10. ^ Hazlitt's Holiday Library series, edited by William Hazlitt, included Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845), published by Joseph Cundall, including the "Legends of Rubezahl" and "Chronicles of the Three Sisters".
  11. ^ An anonymous translation by A. Sagorski of "The Three Sisters" along with "The Demon of the Ring" ("Dämon Amor") was published by Hugh Cunningham as The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters (1845).
  12. ^ Select Popular Tales from the German of Musaeus (1845) was translated anonymously by Adolf Zytogorski as part of Burns' Fireside Library series, with remaindered copies later reissued by Edward Lumley. It contained "Mute Love", "The Nymph of the Fountain", "⁠Peter Block" ("Der Schatzgräber"), "⁠The Three Sisters", "⁠Richilda", "⁠Roland's Squires", and the first three of the "Legends of Rübezahl".
  13. ^ Adolf Zytogorski published new translations of "Die Nymphe des Brunnens" and "Stumme Liebe" as The Nymph of the Well and The Barber's Ghost (1848) under the name Adolphus Zytogorski.
  14. ^ Leitch Ritchie included a translation of the "Legends of Rübezahl" as "Legends of Number Nip" appended to Schinderhannes, the Robber of the Rhine (1848).
  15. ^ Melechsala (1848) was a literal translation of "Melechsala" by W. S. M. E. that was privately printed by W. Thiselton in Ramsgate.
  16. ^ Tales of Fairy Land; or Legends of the Olden Time (1849) contained "The Spectre Barber" and was an anonymous collection of stories, later republished in 1852, and again with engravings in 1857 and 1860.
  17. ^ M. G. Kennedy's The Arm! – the Sword! – and the Hour! Or, the Legend of the Enchanted Knights (1850) was a light-hearted free verse poem version of the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters".
  18. ^ The Stolen Veil; or, the Tale à la Montgolfier (1850) was a literal translation of "The Stolen Veil" by W. S. M. E. that was privately printed by W. Thiselton in Ramsgate.
  19. ^ Adolf Zytogorski translated "Libussa" and "Die Entführung" in Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also The Man Without a Name (1852) under the name Adolphus Zytogorski; this was reprinted under his assumed name J. T. Hanstein in 1858, 1863, and 1866.
  20. ^ A. F. Frere's The Three Sons-in-Law (1861) was a free translation the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters".
  21. ^ Mark Lemon's Legends of Number Nip (1863) was a revision of Beddoes' 1791 translation of the "Legends of Rübezahl".
  22. ^ Mark Lemon's Fairy Tales (1868) included a new translation of the "Chronicles of the Three Sisters", illustrated by Charles Bennett.
  23. ^ Marie Pabke and Margery Deane's translation of "Chronicles of the Three Sisters", "The Story of Reinald, the Wonder-Child" was published in Wonder-World Stories (1877), and reprinted in Alfred Henry Miles' Fifty-Two Fairy Tales (1892).
  24. ^ Mary C. Rowsell's Number Nip; or the Spirit of the Giant Mountains (1884) was a collection of many Rübezahl stories from various sources, including the five from Volksmärchen der Deutschen.
  25. ^ Harriet Pinckney Huse's Roland's Squires; A Legend of the Time of Charlemagne (1891) contained illustrations.
  26. ^ Andrew Lang's The Crimson Fairy Book (1903) included "The Treasure Seeker" translated by Leonora Blanche Alleyne.
  27. ^ Andrew Lang's The Brown Fairy Book (1904) included "Rübezahl" translated by Leonora Blanche Alleyne and, attributed to "Volksmährchen der Deutschen".
  28. ^ Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith included translations of "Chronicles of the Three Sisters" as "The Enchanted Forest", and "The Nymph of the Well" in Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book (1907).
  29. ^ "How the Princess of Solesia Fooled the King of the Underworld", an abridged version of the first of the "Legends of Rübezahl", was included in Arnold Shaw's The Greatest Adventure Stories Ever Told (1945).

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Klee, Julius Ludwig (1845). "Einleitung des Herausgebers". Volksmährchen der Deutschen (in German). p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Bottigheimer, Ruth B., ed. (2012). Fairy Tales Framed: Early Forewords, Afterwords, and Critical Words. State University of New York Press. p. 237. ISBN 9781438442228.
  3. ^ Oxenford, John; Feiling, C. A. (1844). "Introduction". Tales from the German. p. viii.
  4. ^ Zachs, William (1998). The First John Murray and the Late Eighteenth-Century London Book Trade. Oxford University Press. p. 378.
  5. ^ de Montolieu, Isabelle (1805). Tales. London: C. Chapple.
  6. ^ van Woudenberg, Maximiliaan (17 January 2014). "Frankenstein and Fantasmagoriana, Story 1: L'Amour muet". Romantic Textualities. Cardiff University Press. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  7. ^ Jefcoate, Graham (2020). An Ocean of Literature: John Henry Bohte and the Anglo-German Book Trade in the Early Nineteenth Century. Georg Olms Verlag. p. 380. ISBN 348715840X.
  8. ^ a b c d Blamires, David (2009). "Musäus and the Beginnings of the Fairytale". Telling Tales: The Impact of Germany on English Children's Books 1780–1918.
  9. ^ Killick, Tim (2008). British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century: The Rise of the Tale. Ashgate. pp. 107–115. ISBN 9780754664130.
  10. ^ Vijn, J. P. (1982). Carlyle and Jean Paul: Their Spiritual Optics. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 179. ISBN 9027222037.
  11. ^ Seymour, Robert; Cruikshank, Robert, eds. (1835). "The Elopement". Odd Volume; or, Book of Variety.
  12. ^ The National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints. Vol. 593. Library of Congress. 1978. p. 167. ISBN 9780720107845.
  13. ^ Alderson, Brian (1994). "Some Notes on James Burns as a Publisher of Children's Books". Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 76 (3): 115, 122.
  14. ^ E., W. S. M. (1848). Melechsala. Ramsgate: W. Thiselton.
  15. ^ E., W. S. M. (1850). The Stolen Veil; or, the Tale à la Montgolfier. Ramsgate: W. Thiselton.
  16. ^ Bridgwater, Patrick (2004). De Quincey's Gothic Masquerade. Brill. p. 62. ISBN 9789401202114.
  17. ^ Pabke, Marie; Deane, Margery (1877). Wonder-World Stories: From the Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindoostanee, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish. New York: G. P. Putnam's. pp. 65–119.
  18. ^ Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith; Smith, Nora Archibald (1907). Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book. New York: The McClure Company. pp. 60–86, 87–99.
  19. ^ Zipes, Jack (1991). Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture. pp. 199–232.
  20. ^ Contes populaires des Allemands. Translated by J. Lefèvre. Leipzig: Friedlein. 1803. containing "La Chronique des trois Soeurs", "Les écuyers de Roland", "Le Voile enlevé", "L'Amour muet", "Rubezahl", "Libussa", "Melechsala", "La Nymphe" etc.
  21. ^ Recueil de contes. Translated by Isabelle de Montolieu. Geneva: Paschoud. 1803. containing "Le voile enlevé ou les cygnes" and "Melechsala".
  22. ^ Contes de Musaeus. Translated by David Ludwig Bourguet. Paris: Moutardier. 1826. containing "La Chronique des trois Soeurs", "Richilde", "Les Écuyers de Roland", "Libussa", "La Nymphe de la Fontaine", "Le Trésor du Hartz", "Légendes de Rubezahl", "La Veuve", "L'Enlèvement (Anecdote)", "La Poule aux OEfs d'or", "L'Amour muet", "Le Démon-Amour", "Mélechsala" and "Le Voile enlevé".
  23. ^ These include:
    • Contes populaires de L'Allemagne. Translated by Comte de Corberon. Paris: Bureau de l'Époque. 1836. containing the five "Legends of Rübezahl" with two additional ones from other authors
    • Contes populaires de L'Allemagne. Translated by Alphonse Cerfberr de Médelsheim. Leipzig: Gebhard & Reisland. 1845. containing "Rubezahl", "Damon-Amor", "La nouvelle matrone d'Éphèse", "Le Chercheur de trésors", "Ondine" and "Melechsala"
    • Contes populaires de Musaeus, traduits de l'allemand. Translated by A. Materne. Paris: Hachette. 1848.
    • Contes populaires tirés de Grimm, Musaeus, Andersen, Herder et Liebeskind (feuilles de palmier). Translated by D. E. Scherdlin. Paris: Hachette. 1874.
    • Richilde ou le miroir magique. Translated by Léon Daffry de La Monnoye. Paris: Firmin-Didot. 1882.
    • Contes choisis. Translated by Charles Sigwalt. Paris: Garnier frères. 1889. containing "Légendes de Rübezahl", "L'Hospitalité du chevalier Bronkhorst" and "Chroniques des trois soeurs"
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