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Author
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Comment
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Angie
Registered
User
(12/20/05 3:38 am)
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Folk, FairyTales, Folklore and References to Home Sciences
Greetings to all Sur La Lune Members, :)
I'm relatively new to this discussion board having joined in July. I have thoroughly enjoyed browsing through discussion topics on this discussion board and find it very inspiring for my creative pursuits indeed.
I am collecting references of home sciences in folk or fairy tales, in particular my interest is in embroidery, sewing and cooking. The only tales I can think of are 'The Three Spinners' and 'Rumplestiltskin'. If anyone knows of any folk, fairy or folklore references to the above mentioned tasks, could you please add your suggestions here?
Thanks and kindest regards,
Angie
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midori
snyder
Registered
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(12/20/05 7:58 am)
ezSupporter
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Re: Folk, FairyTales, Folklore and References to Home Scienc
What about "Seven Swans"? where the heroine must stitch seven shirts from stinging nettles inorder to end the enchantment of her seven brothers?
would you include weaving in that as well? There's wonderful tales that deal with the skill of weaving.
The current issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts on Endicott Studio website
is on food. I have an article In Praise of the Cook
which discusses a number of fairytales that have a cooking as an important part of the narrative. "Talia, Daughter of the Sun" and variants of "Tattercoats" and on the flip side "The Juniper Tree" .
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Chris Peltier
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(12/20/05 12:02 pm)
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Re: Folk, FairyTales, Folklore and References to Home Scienc
Traditionally Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, which causes her to fall into an enchanted sleep.
In
The Odyssey
, Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus, keeps unwanted suitors at bay by insisting that she finish weaving a funeral shroud for the corpse of her hushand's father, Laertes. After spending the day weaving, each night she would unravel her work.
~Chandra~
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Rosemary Lake
Registered
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(12/20/05 1:46 pm)
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chores, spinning
There are quite a few versions of Rumplestiltskin at Ashliman's site under the heading "The Name of the Helper."
Other household things....
The magic mill that reproduced any food ("Why the Sea is Salt")
Fetching water from the well (in a seive)
A fable about "When the Husband Kept the House"
In "Mother Holle" the main actions are taking bread out of an oven, picking apples, milking a cow. And MH shakes her feather bedding which makes snow.
In an Italian Red Riding Hood there's cake-baking and the child is sent to return a seive to the grandmother.
Hm, for something far out, there are early versions of Red Riding Hood where the monster cooks the grandmother and serves different dishes to the child: teeth are called beans, etc.
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Mirjana1
Registered
User
(12/20/05 1:58 pm)
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Re: chores, spinning
In the Serbian version of "Cindarella", she spins wool from the mouth of a cow who is helping her.
I'll look up more, there must be far more in Serbian folk tales.
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dlee10
Registered
User
(12/20/05 4:27 pm)
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Re: chores, spinning
Don't forget the Elves and the Shoemaker!
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Midori
Unregistered User
(12/20/05 6:49 pm)
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Path of Needle and Pins
Ah, how could I forget, Terri's great article on Little Red Riding Hood and it's sewing imagery:
The path of Needles and Pins
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Rosemary Lake
Registered
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(12/21/05 12:29 am)
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Many-Fur, convent of cats
Stories like "Many-Fur" have a lot of cooking: the heroine hides her tokens in food she prepares for the prince, but her regular job is cleaning the kitchen.
In Calvino there's a convent of cats or something like that, where they all work at housekeeping.
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Angie
Registered
User
(12/21/05 3:32 pm)
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Re: Folk, FairyTales, Folklore and References to Home Scienc
I just wanted to say a very big THANK -YOU :D for the wealth of knowledge you all have shared with me in regards to these references. You have all provided me a great basis for which to start my exploration process for my current little creative project, recovering from sugery I now have lots of time to spend exploring some writing and drawing . I have been a bit shy about initiating a discussion so to find so many helpful responses has been elating for me!
Oh yes! There is also The Lady of Shallott and the Legend of La Befana who declined the invite of the three wise men to find the Christ child as she had too much housework to do! Tomie dePaola wrote a beautiful rendition of this folktale.
I wish you all a very Happy Festive Season :)
Angie
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Rosemary Lake
Registered
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(12/22/05 12:56 pm)
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magic tablecloth etc
There's also a tale that has a magic treasure that makes food: sometimes a table, sometimes a table cloth iirc. It's often one of three treasures: one makes money ('gold-dung donkey') and one is a weapon the hero uses to get the other two back after they're stolen.
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Angie
Registered
User
(12/22/05 4:59 pm)
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Re: magic tablecloth etc
Regarding the Magic Tablecloth, do you know the origin or the name of this tale? I'll do a websearch and see what I come up with.
Cheers,
Angie :D
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Writerpatrick
Registered
User
(12/23/05 8:24 am)
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Re: magic tablecloth etc
I seem to recall reading a Grimm tale involving it.
I did a quick search and came across this one:
www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm036.html
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aka Greensleeves
Registered
User
(12/23/05 4:18 pm)
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Re: magic tablecloth etc
Nobody's yet mentioned the beginning of "Snow White," which often involves Snow's mother doing needlework (I've always pictured her with an embroidery hoop, but I suppose she could just as easily be sewing)--as she's stitching, she gazes out the window and imagines her child-to-be: skin white as snow, hair black as (crows, the window frame, etc), when she pricks her finger with the needle and endows the baby with lips as red as blood.
(This is also a fine example of the "sympathetic magic" believed to affect pregnant women... the snow and the blood transform the baby.)
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