German Folklore_ Adam Zaraszczak, Zaporrah Agee, Mattea Krejci (1)

German Folklore

By: Adam Zaraszczak, Mattea Krejci, and Zaporrah Agee

Common Themes

● Listen to directions
● Think about your actions before you do them
● Good things take time to happen
● If you are offered help, make sure to accept it
● Successful marriage

Narrative Patterns

● Evil / bad is punished at the end of the story; a just end
● Things occurring in three

○ The Dark Monks - Three monks on the Ferryman’s third
encounter

○ The Staff that Became a Tree - Ezzo has to win three chess
games in a row

○ The Magic Feather - Crow wakes up a rider sleeping for three
years, and asks for one of his three sisters’ hands.

● Good triumphs evil
● Quests that the character must perform

Archetypal Characters

● Hero
● Villain
● The Trickster

○ The Devil and the Card-players: The devil is the trickster

Symbols / Motifs

● Symbols of animals are usually positive

○ The Magic Feather - Crow brings fortune
○ The Frankfurt Rooster - Rooster symbolizes honesty
○ Spring Water - White horse symbolizes purity and a

cure

● Birds are mentioned a lot
● Symbols relate to life (birth / death)
● Storms symbolize punishment

Cultural Values

Disliked Valued:

● Kidnapping ● Marriage

○ The Pet Raven: The knight that ○ The Staff that Became
kidnaps the princess is killed in a a Tree: God allows the
duel with the prince. staff to grow into a
tree to prove He
● Cheating/Tricking people

accepts earthly
marriage.
● Religion