Fairy pages in need of cleanup/rewriting:
Classifications of fairies
Mythic humanoids
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Syrian god Dagon was mistakenly interpreted by scholars as a fish god and merman-like deity.[1]
Thelma Gray edit
The Stolen Veil edit
The Stolen Veil is an example of the worldwide Swan Maiden tale. It may have inspired Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
"The original idea for the story of SWAN LAKE was based on themes from an eighteenth century tale DER GERAUBTE SCHLEIER by JK.A. Musaeus. His rather ornate story has been adapted considerably over the years, ..."
Plot
Benno the hermit
magical pool where nymphs come in swan form to bathe and renew their youth
English translations
- "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)
- ^ Singer 1992, p. 433.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Popular_Tales_of_the_Germans/hFiBeDVvjxkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=benno
The Stealing of the Veil, or the Tale A La Montgolfier. Pp. 162-264
Long ago in Germany, an elderly hermit named Benno lives next to a pool with magical properties. When the Swabian army is driven from Austria, Benno encounters a fleeing soldier and grants him refuge at his hermitage. The soldier, Friedbert, stays and becomes his servant. Every summer equinox, Benno sends Friedbert to check the pool for visiting swans.
After several years, Benno explains his past. He was once a knight, and was shipwrecked on the island of Naxos. There he fell madly in love with the queen, Zoe, and tried to confess his love. However, her jealous husband, King Zeno, had Benno thrown into prison and would have let him starve to death if not for Zoe’s pleading on his behalf. Benno was exiled from Naxos instead. However, he learned from the sympathetic palace physician that Zoe was actually part fairy—the descendant of Leda and the swan, which was one of the spirits whom the ancient Greeks knew as the Olympian gods. Every summer equinox, the swan-descended nymphs take on swan form and travel to magical pools to renew their youth and beauty. If Benno can catch Zoe at one of the pools and steal the magical veil that allows her to change shape, then she will be unable to fly away. Benno traveled to the closest pool, which was in Germany. There he built a hermitage, and people took him for a genuine holy man. However, he was there expressly to wait for Zoe, checking every summer solstice until one year she finally appeared with a group of other nymphs to bathe. Overcome with excitement, Benno called out to her without taking the veil, and the nymphs flew away in swan form. He found her glove and ruby ring on the shore and assumed it was a token of her love for him, but she never returned.
Benno dies not long after telling his story. Friedbert buries him. Many people flock to the grave since they think Benno was a saint, and Friedbert makes a fortune by manufacturing “relics,” especially toothpicks made from Benno’s staff. When the summer equinox arrives, Friedbert goes to the pool and sees three swans arrive and transform into nymphs. He snatches one of the veils and goes home. Soon afterwards, he sees two of the swans fly away, and then one of the maidens shows up. She speaks only Greek and is stranded and distraught. Friedbert welcomes her in and acts with sympathy. He even pretends to help her search for the veil. Over time, they find ways to communicate and she reveals that she is Kalliste, the youngest daughter of Zeno and Zoe of Naxos. With Friedbert constantly manipulating her, she becomes attached to him and he finally takes her home to Swabia to celebrate their wedding. He gives the magic veil to his mother for safekeeping without telling her the story. As Kalliste tries on her wedding dress, she is displeased with her veil, and Friedbert’s mother brings out the enchanted veil as a replacement. Shocked and angered by the revelation of Friedbert’s lies, Kalliste puts it on, transforms back into a swan, and flies out the window.
Friedbert is beside himself with rage and grief, but recovers and sets out for Naxos. He arrives during the wedding festivities of Kalliste’s sister, and dresses himself as a knight and excels in the jousts. In the process, he gains the attention of Queen Zoe—now an aged widow, having not visited the magical pool in many years. She notices him wearing her old ruby ring, which he received from Benno. Friedbert lies and says he doesn’t know its history before he won it in battle, but he will give it back to her if she helps him find a bride. Zoe agrees that he may choose whichever of his attendants he likes, and shows off various girls, but Friedbert instead takes an interest in a portrait of Kalliste that hangs in the palace. Zoe, not knowing who Friedbert is, confides that Kalliste escaped from a man who kidnapped her, but still loves him and has retired to a cloister. She allows Friedbert to go and visit her. When Kalliste recognizes him, she initially reacts angrily, but is impressed by how far he traveled to find her. They tell Zoe they wish to be married, while concealing their past history. Once the wedding has been celebrated, they reveal all. They return the ruby ring to Zoe, who explains that she did leave it by the pool as a love token for Benno, but one of the other maidens betrayed her to her husband, who tore her magic veil to shreds in his rage. Friedbert lives happily with Kalliste, who remains young and beautiful while he ages.
The Truth About Dance
books.google.com › books
Shahab Nahvi · 2015
Found inside
as a storyteller to explain why the Swan Lake narrative is so wellstructured. To justify it, others believe that the work of Johann Musäus, namely his Volksmarchen der Deutschen (Fairy Tales of the Germans), is the basis of the Swan ...
The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov: Choreographer of The ... - Page 189
books.google.com › books
Roland John Wiley · 1997
Found inside – Page 189
Choreographer of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake Roland John Wiley ... ballet libretto where that character is secondary recalls the adaptation of the Moscow libretto of Swan Lake from Johann Karl August Musäus's tale, “The Pond of Swans'.
Dance and Costumes: A History of Dressing Movement
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Elna Matamoros · 2021
Found inside
... new trends would lead the Russian ballet to create new languages and the dancers would slowly change both their movements and their appearance on stage.71 The original story of Swan Lake seems to come from Johann Karl August Musäus' ...
Why a Swan?: Essays, Interviews, & Conversations on "Swan Lake"
books.google.com › books
1989 · Snippet view
Found inside
Before Swan Lake , they were the subject of a fairy tale by Karl Musäus and a play by Eugène Scribe , both of which are likely sources for the scenario of the ballet . Indeed , Swan Lake , like many 19th - century ballet scenarios ..
Landscape with Moving Figures: A Decade on Dance - Page 64
books.google.com › books
Laura Jacobs · 2006
Found inside – Page 64
overture to Swan Lake begins with a high F-sharp held out over a void. ... In his superb book Tchaikovsky's Ballets, Roland John Wiley points to nearby sources such as a folktale by Musäus called The Swans' Pond, and, more compellingly, ...
The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov: Choreographer of The ... - Page 189
books.google.com › books
Roland John Wiley · 1997
Found inside – Page 189
Choreographer of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake Roland John Wiley. into a sorcerer every night, ... In Musäus Benno is the hero drawn to the pond of swans; in the ballet he is merely a friend of Prince Siegfried. * Peterburgskaya gazeta ...
Telling Tales: The Impact of Germany on English Children's - Page 53
books.google.com › books
David Blamires · 2009
Found inside – Page 53
readership that Musäus first intended. ... 'Der geraubte Schleier' (The Stolen Veil) is a version of the swan maiden story, while 'Stumme Liebe' (Dumb Love) manages to combine a sentimental love- story with the hero's hair-raising ...
Anti-Tales: The Uses of Disenchantment - Page 28
books.google.com › books
David Calvin, Catriona McAra · 2011
Found inside – Page 28
What Musäus does do, however, is use specifically Germanic material: the legend of the mountain spirit Rübezahl, for example, and the old tale of the Count of Gleichen who marries two women. He has swan maidens and animal bridegrooms, ...
Gradlon edit
Gradlon the Great (Gradlon Meur) was a semi-legendary 5th century king of Cornouaille most famous from the story of the sunken city of Ys. He is supposed to have been the son of Conan Meriadoc.
Legend of Ys edit
King Gradlon (Gralon in Breton) ruled in Ys, a city built on land reclaimed from the sea, sometimes described as rich in commerce and the arts. He lived in a wealth palace of marble, cedar and gold. In some versions, Gradlon built the city upon the request of his daughter Dahut, who loved the sea. To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.
Some early versions blame Gradlon's sins for the destruction of the city. However, most versions of the legend present Gradlon as a pious man, and his daughter Dahut as a sorceress or a wayward woman who steals the keys from Gradlon and opens the gates of the dikes, causing a flood which destroys the whole city. A Saint (either St. Gwénnolé or St. Corentin) wakes the sleeping Gradlon and urges him to flee. The king mounts his horse and takes his daughter with him, but the rising water is about to overtake them. Dahut either falls from the horse, or Gradlon obeys St. Gwénnolé and throws Dahut off. As soon as Dahut falls into the sea, Gradlon safely escapes. In an early version by Le Grand, Gradlon takes refuge in Quimper and reestablishes his rule there.
Malgven edit
Some versions add the story of Gradlon's wife, a sorceress named Malgven. This character's first known appearance was in 1892 in the writings of Édouard Schuré, where she dies suddenly after Gradlon becomes king of Cornouaille, leaving him to raise their daughter Dahut.[2] Malgven was popularized in Charles Guyot's La Légende de la ville d'Ys d'après les anciens textes. In Guyot's version, Gradlon invades Norway and there meets Queen Malgven, who helps him enter the city and kill her decrepit, avaricious husband. She and Gradlon flee on the magical horse Morvarc'h, which can run on the water. However, Malgven dies giving birth to Gradlon's daughter, who closely resembles her. The grieving Gradlon lavishes his attention on his daughter.[3] It is debated how much of this story is traditional, with some scholars believing it totally literary and others finding possible parallels in folklore.[4]
Graelent edit
Some scholars have connected Gradlon to the Bretlon lai of Graelent. The knight Graelent, reduced to poverty after angering the queen, meets a beautiful woman at a fountain and takes her as his mistress. She restores his wealth. However, he breaks his promise to her and tells others of her existence. When she leaves, he pursues her and nearly drowns trying to follow her across a river. She relents and takes him with her to her world, leaving his horse waiting on the bank. The couple is never seen again.[5]
Kerdanet's edition of Albert Le Grand's Vies des Saints makes the connection;[6]
Family edit
In most legends, Gradlon has a daughter named Dahut or Ahes.
According to the Landevennec Cartulary, Gradlon had only one child, a son named Riwallon who died young.[7]
At Gradlon's death, his son Salomon I succeeded him, followed by his grandson, Aldrien.[citation needed]
Historicity edit
According to the sources, several historical Gradlons existed: Gradlon Meur is cited in a cartulary of Landévennec, but there is also a Gradlon Flam and Gradlon Plueneuor (Plonéour). They are generally classified as consul, which can be understood as the count , as the Latin texts translate the Breton title of mac'htiern by "tyrant". They would have most likely lived between the 5th and the 9th centuries.
In the Gallo-Roman era, the capital of Osismes, the predecessors of Cornouailles, Trégorrois and Léonards, was Carhaix. If there was a city on the Odet, it was not Quimper but a little downstream in the current Locmaria quarter.
See also edit
Media related to Gradlon Mawr at Wikimedia Commons
References edit
- ^ Bonnet, Philippe. Quimper : la Cathédrale. Paris: Zodiaque, 2003.
- ^ Schuré, Édouard (1908). Les grandes légendes de France. Paris: Perrin.
- ^ Le Roux, Françoise; Guyonvarc'h, Christian-J. (May 2000). La légende de la ville d'Is. De mémoire d'Homme (in French). éditions Ouest-France. p. 335. ISBN 978-2-7373-1413-1.
Textes précédés par 130 pages d'analyses. - ^ Matthieu Boyd, citant Édouard Schuré (1892). Les grandes légendes de France. Didier. pp. 217–219.
- ^ Varin, Amy (1982). "Dahut and Gradlon". Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. 2: 19–30 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Boyd, Matthieu (2013). "What's New in Ker-Is: ATU 675 in Brittany". Fabula. 54 (3–4): 243–244.
- ^ Varin, Amy (1982). "Dahut and Gradlon". Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. 2: 19–30 – via JSTOR.