Father Tales

 

"The Holy Family with a Little Bird,” Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Ca. 1650.

It's Father's Day and in order to celebrate, we're going to look at some of the best dad-related folktales in the oral and literary traditions.

1. Untitled myth about Ares. The Library by pseudo-Apollodorus mentions an incident where a son of Poseidon tried to assault one of his daughter. Ares killed the guy to protect her. When Poseidon took Ares to court, he was acquitted.

2. "The Black Dragon and the Red Dragon." In this Turkish narrative, a man's children are kidnapped and he goes on an epic quest to retrieve them. He also helps a mother dragon reunite with her young.

3. "The Good Stepmother." Despite the title, this Icelandic tale features a wonderfully thoughtful king. After his wife dies he refuses to remarry because he fears that a stepmother will abuse his daughter. It's not until his brother vows to find a good woman that he relents. His fiancée even ends up saving the princess.

4. "The Doomed Prince" This ancient Egyptian text, with its lost ending, begins with a pharaoh wanting to know his son's destiny. The prophetesses tell him that the boy will die. He tries to keep his son in a tower in an effort to protect him, but eventually allows the boy to leave and live his own life.

5. "The Smith and the Fairies." A Scottish changeling tale in which a boy is abducted and enslaved by the fair folk and his father ventures into their domain to rescue him.

Fun fact: biological fathers experience sympathetic pregnancy symptoms.

W is for Wales

"The Castle of Melvales" (1894) by John D. Batten

An Old King and His Three Sons in England

A king fell sick and the only thing that could heal the man was a magic apple. His three sons went in search of it. The youngest, Jack, made it to the enchanted castle with the help of three old Romani brothers who tested his resolve. He finds a Sleeping Beauty in the palace and switches her garter, handkerchief, and watch with his (and kisses her). After escaping the castle, rejuvenating the old men, and arriving at the rendezvous point, he falls asleep. His big bros steal his apples. They trick their father and condemn the youngest prince to execution. The butcher spares him leaves him in the woods. The princess eventually shows up - with an army! - and she exonerates her man before they return to her castle.

Source: Gypsy Folk Tales by Francis Hindes Groome

Tale Type: 551, "The Water of Life"

Variants: "The Rose of Bakawali" and "The Water of Life"

G is for Germany

Pearl Tears

The Blessed Virgin became a godmother to a girl, Maria, whose mother died shortly after and was replaced by an evil stepmom. The Holy Mother spirited the girl away to a mountainside palace and made her into a servant, on the condition that she not enter a room or she'd be sent back. Maria broke the taboo and returned to her stepfamily. They learned that her tears became pearls and her laughter produced flowers. Naturally, they tortured for more. Maria and her nursemaid relocated and Mary informed her that she was blessed with romantic disinterest and that she'd live her life helping people in a sanctuary. Maria fulfilled her duties until her death.

Source: The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar.

F is for France

Boudin-Boudine

A woman sent her son to give food to their neighbors and visit Grandma. He met a wolf who asked where he was going. It arrived at the old lady's house before the boy. Thankfully, the child got indoors unharmed.

Grandma attacked the wolf and made it run away, though it still had intentions to eat the child. The boy stayed with his grandmother for so long that his father went for him, but fell into a ditch. Meanwhile, the boy headed out and the wolf pursued.

Father and son reunited, raced home together, and the man of the house killed the predator.

Source: Folktales of France by Geneviève Massignon and Jacqueline Hyland.

Tale Type: ATU 333, "Little Red Riding Hood"

Variants: "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Little Red-Cap" and "The Grandmother"

Scholarship: The Phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood

D is for Denmark

 The Pig

Four women were minding their business when a pig started eating their cabbages. Mama sent her oldest after it. She got lost in the woods. The pig turned into a human and offered her refuge. Lacking better options, she agreed. Same thing happens to the middle child. 

The youngest chased the swine into the woods in which fogginess, lostness, and marriage ensued. But despite her newfound wealth, the girl regretted leaving her mother and decided to escape. Oh, and she found her sisters!

When the werepig returned home one evening, he complained of feeling cold, and his wife said her parents (her father was suddenly present) probably did too. Piggy delivered coal to his in-laws not realizing his wife stuffed her sister inside the bag. Or that she repeated the process with her other sister. And herself. When he discovered the truth, he exploded into pebbles.

Source: The Danish Fairy Book by Clara Stroebe and Frederick Herman Martens.

Tale Type: ATU 311, "Rescue by the Sister"

Variants: "The Old Dame and Her Hen" and "How the Devil Married Three Sisters"