Parallels King John and the Bishop

1 parallels

1.1 folklore motif type @ 922
1.2 tales same 3 riddles
1.3 other medieval parallels
1.4 literary adaptations

parallels

as child has pointed out, king john , bishop (child ballad #45) might seen part of extensive group of ballads, if common factor used criterion of containing riddle-match frame story, major stake if riddles not solved.

folklore motif type @ 922

the ballad of king john , bishop exhibits folklore motif type @ 922: shepherd substituting priest answers king s questions (the king , abbot) under aarne-thompson classification system, , primary example through motif class known.. english speaking world, according stith thompson.

to encompass of oriental examples seems, précis of motif index more loosely stated; according marzolph @ 922 constitutes schwierige fragen klug beantwortet (difficult question answered wisely).

a large group of works can classed being of @ 922 type has been examined german folklorist walter anderson, in monograph kaiser und abt ( emperor , abbot , 1923), title named after german counterpart of ballad story. in it, compiled 474 variants across asian continent , spanning german, scandinavian turkic , finno-ugric languages; of these, 410 oral, dating 19th , 20th century. among group anderson analyzed, 85% featured surrogate gives correct answers puzzles. , in 81.4% interrogator monarch: john lackland, charles quint or pharaoh sheshonk in variants.

tales same 3 riddles

the actual riddles posed in large motif group show discrepancies. in anderson s analysis, selection came off list of sixteen questions. in tales however, sets of questions , answers used extremely close 3 exchanged in english ballad.

center of earth

child noted 3 identical riddles (preceded one: center of earth? ) asked in local lore around james v; in it, king aka gudeman of ballengeigh ask these questions priest of markinch.

presten og klokkeren

the norwegian folktale presten og klokkeren (asbjornsen , moe s norske folkeeventyr ny samling no. 26) classed @ 922 matches closely in riddle content. tale appears in english under title priest , clerk (dasent tr.) or parson , sexton (patrick shaw iversen tr.). in folktale, priest in habit of shouting else swerve when travelling road gets in trouble behaving same way before king, threatens defrock him if not competent answer them. priest condescendingly says fool can stump ten wise men questions, , refuses king, clerk makes appearance. when asked how far east west? clerk replies day s journey, course sun takes between rising , setting. king s worth? -- no more 29 silver pieces (sølvpenge) since christ worth thirty pieces of silver. king s thought? -- priest stands before him, must stand corrected clerk. king s decree, clerk appointed priest , priest demoted clerk.

king worth 29 pence

the short stories (novelle) of franco sachetti (died c. 1400) include tale, in 2 forms, in 1 of questions concurs ballads: bernabò visconti asks worth, , miller appraises him no more 29 deniers. in ein spil von einem kaiser und eim apt, 15th-century fastnachtsspiel (shrovetide miracle play) emperor , abbot, miller masquerading abbot assesses kaiser s worth @ 28 pennies (or 4 groschen, after ascertaining going rate 1 gr. = 7 pfennig). 3 riddles in johannes pauli (d. after 1530) schimpf und ernst similar play s.

other medieval parallels

der stricker s tale pfaffe Âmis (13th century) english priest amis well-to-do lifestyle earns bishop s displeasure, fends off 5 questions of examination posed him; tale imperfect analogue since not substitution made , priest answers himself. in gesta romanorum (late 13th 14th century) tale of knight compelled answer difficult questions before king: in english version of gesta, number of questions seven. speculum morale (14th century) later addition vincent of beauvais s works records story of king tried relieve wealthy wise man of of riches stumping him questions, foiled. parallel noted till eulenspiegel, summoned university answer such questions how water there in sea?

by more recent scholar, ballad has been suggested possible source tale of 3 questions in john gower (d. 1408) s confessio amantis. here king guilty of envy, asks 3 difficult questions, , distant relative of inferior standing comes rescue. king sets similar time limit in ballad. riddles differ, has been suggested ballad re-written in sixteenth or seventeenth century fresh new riddles, , generate sales.

thus kindred riddle-tales existed since middle ages, , according some, originated before 850 a.d. in jewish parish in near east.

literary adaptations

the english ballad available through printing in percy s reliques of ancient english poetry (1765), , gottfried august bürger composed german adaption of entitled der kaiser und der abt (prob. 1784; translated emperor , abbot ).

retellings:

jacobs, joseph (1894). king john , abbot . more english fairy tales. david nutt. pp. 146–149.  - prose tale adapted both ballad variants.
james balwin, fifty famous stories retold (1896) - retelling.




^ cite error: named reference child-p404 invoked never defined (see page).
^ bratcher, james t. (2001). gower , child, no. 45, king john , bishop . notes , queries. 246.48: 14–15. 
^ thompson, stith (1977). folktale. university of california press. isbn 0520035372. 
^ marzolph, ulrich (1984). typologie des persischen volksmärchens. orientinstitut der deutschen morgenländischen gesellschaft,. p. 170. 
^ krappe, alexander haggerty (jul 1923). (review) kaiser und abt . journal of english , germanic philology. 22 (3): 433–436. jstor 27702737. 
^ ben amos, dan; noy, dov (eds.). 34 (three questions) . folktales of jews. 3 (tales arab lands). pp. 343–. 
^ child 1884, p. 404, citing small, andrew (1823). interesting roman antiquities discovered in fife. 
^ asbjørnsen, peter christen; moe, jørgen, eds. (1871). 86. presten og klokkeren . norske folke-eventyr: ny samling. dybwad komm. pp. 126–127.  or projekt runeberg
^ dasent, g. w.(tr.) (1874). tales fjeld. pp. 158–. 
^ iversen, pat shaw (tr.) (1990) [1960]. asbjørnsen; moe, eds. norwegian folktales. carl norman (tr.). norway: dreyer. pp. 17–18. isbn 82-09-10598-1. 
^ child 1884, p. 406
^ keller, adelbert von, ed. (1850). ein spil von einem keiser und eim apt. tübingen: l. f. fues. 
^ keller 1850 says analogue play kiaser und apt exists in gesta romanorum, in second volume in edition owns.
^ child 1884, pp. 405–6
^ child 1884, pp. 409
^ cite error: named reference rimbault invoked never defined (see page).
^ rimbault observes till eulenspiegel tells story, although calls adventures of howleglas printed copland, english translation of lower saxon tale.
^ nicolaisen, w. f. h. (1973). folklore , geography: towards atlas of american folk culture . new york folklore quarterly. 29: 3–20.  abstract (archived dead link)
^ ripley, george (1842). songs , ballads translated uhland, körner, bürger, , other german lyric poets. xiv. james munroe , co. 

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