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