Female Warrior Ballads

 

Source: Historie der Engelsche zee-roovers (1725)

The Warrior Women Project is a database for English-language ballads depicting female combatants. Most of these texts are known to us because of Dianne Dugaw's extensive archival work for Warrior Women and Popular Balladry, 1650-1850 (1989). As her book shows, this trope is flexible, appearing in all types of modes. A sampling of ballads proves this:

Mary Ambree is one of the oldest of these ballads. Three thousand enemy soldiers surround a troop. Amidst battle, the sergeant dies. His lover swears revenge, donning a helmet, grabbing a sword, and leading her men into the fray. She's betrayed by a member of her unit, but prevails.

The Valiant Virgin has an unusually strong homoerotic element between the disguised heroine and her lover. An heiress loves a farmer but her father wants her to marry a wealthy man. Dad has the farmer conscripted. The lovers become a soldier and a surgeon mate, respectively, aboard a vessel. After returning home, they learn her father is dead, and marry.

Susan's Adventures on a British Man of War skips the courtship period to jump into the action. A man is called to sea; his lover follows. They endure menial labor, harsh weather, and deadly battles until they return home.

William and Harriet is a largely romantic narrative with a tragic ending. A daughter and father argue over her romance with a farmer. The man decides to have the lad drafted. The lovers join the navy together, with the girl disguised as a boy. A shipwreck strands them on an uninhabited, uninhabitable island where they die.

The Female Cabin Boy, Or the Row Among the Sailors parodies the idea of a woman pretending to be a man. An adventurous maiden enters a year-long position on a boat. The captain learns the truth and gets frisky with her. She gets pregnant. Everyone celebrates.

Jack Munro gives roughly equal attention to wooing and warring. A girl in love with a sailor joins him in a war against Germany. She does well. She reveals her identity to her lover and they are married. When they return to England, she reunites with her parents and even the queen is amused by their situation.

Variants of "The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers" (ATU 451)

 

"Six Swans" by Elenore Abbott in Grimm's Fairy Tales. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920.

A group of brothers are transformed into birds and it falls to their littlest sister to rescue them. Sometimes she must remain silent for several years. Or she has to go on a long quest to reach the mountain they reside in. No matter what, the familial love and loyalty always breaks the curse.

The Twelve Wild Ducks

The Six Swans

The Seven Crows

Snow-White and Rosy-Red

The Wild Swans

The Twelve Brothers

For more information on the ATU acronym, read this post.

Variants of "The Name of the Supernatural Helper" (ATU 500)

 

People in terrible situations often resort to drastic measures escape. One method involves accepting favors from questionable individuals. Chances are, the beneficiaries will owe more than they are able - or willing - to give. But with luck, there's a loophole that'll let them keep their boon and avoid their debts.

Rumpelstiltskin

Duffy and the Devil

Gilitrutt

The Wild Jager and the Baroness

The Pretty but Idle Girl

Additional variants can be found here. An analysis of the tale type is available here.

For more information on the ATU acronym, read this post.

Folktales Throughout History

Where and when did folktales originate? That question's unanswerable because the stories likely predate literacy and printing. And contemporary folklorists prioritize function over origin. Nonetheless, scholars have unearthed old written versions of popular tales, possibly the first recorded variants of certain stories or tale types: 

1290s - 1210s B.C.E., The Doomed Prince (ATU 934 Tales of the Predestined Death)

1200 - 1194 B.C.E., The Story of Two Brothers (ATU 318 The Faithless Wife)

300 - 200 B.C.E., Book of Tobit: II 3 -7 (ATU 505 The Grateful Dead)

1 - 200 C.E., Perseus and Andromeda (ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer)

120s - 170s C.E., Cupid and Psyche (ATU 425B Son of the Witch)

850 - 860 C.E., Yeh-hsien (ATU 510A Cinderella)

1022 - 1024 C.E., About a Girl Saved from Wolf Cubs (ATU 333 Little Red Riding Hood)

1225 C.E., Ejemplo de Dos Compañeros (ATU 613 The Two Travelers)

1330 - 1340 C.E., Troylus and Zellandine (ATU 410 Sleeping Beauty)

1382 C.E., Culhwch and Olwen (ATU 513 The Extraordinary Companions)

1462 C.E., The Wright's Chaste Wife (ATU 882 The Wager on the Wife’s Chastity)

1568 C.E., The Wife of Auchtermuchty (ATU 1408 The Man Who Does His Wife’s Work)

1579 C.E., De trois jeunes garçons frères, du pays de Caux, qui danserent avec les Fées (ATU 750A The Three Wishes)

1605 C.E., Conomerus and Trifina (ATU 312 The Maiden-Killer)

This barely scratches the surface of what's out there but it's a start for reading and research. 

Variants of "Sleeping Beauty" (ATU 410)

 

"Sleeping Beauty"(?) by Rene Cloke

We all know this one: an innocent woman put into a coma, then revived by further violation of her personhood. It's dark. It's tragic. It's old. The earliest stories appear in medieval times: Pandragus et Libanor, reportedly composed in February 1294 by Baudouin Butor. Every other variant seems to postdates it, but the trope of an enchanted sleeper goes back to Greek mythology with Endymion.

Troylus and Zellandine

Frayre de Joy and Sor de Plaser

Sun, Moon Talia

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

Source: Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner.

V is for Venezuela

The Horse of Seven Colors

A man's wheat field was devoured and he appointed his sons as watchmen. Two failed. The third caught the culprit - a multicolored pony - which promised to aid him in exchange for its life. Thereafter, the patriarch sent his boys to sell at the marketplace. Yet again, the youngest succeeded. His brothers left home and, wanting to be with them, the boy followed until they blinded and abandoned him. After his sight was magically restored, he reunites with his brothers, who make him their servant. Then there's a competition to win a princess bride and the boy wins with the help of the enchanted horse.

Source: Latin American Folktales: Stories from the Hispanic and Indian Tradition by John Bierhorst.

Tale Type: 530, "Princess on the Glass Mountain"

Variants: "The Thief in the Millet" and "The Princess and the Glass Mountain"

Q is for Qatar

 

Fsaijrah

One day, the girl ran into a talking fish that granted her wishes. The fish dressed her for a ball, decked her out in a fancy gown and diamond slippers, and put her on the path to meeting a prince. But, she needed to leave the party before her abusive stepfamily returned home. She dropped a shoe during her race back. The prince stumbled upon it and vowed to marry whoever it fit. He eventually found the girl and wedded her.

Source: Tales Arab Women Tell by Hasan El-Shamy.

Tale Type: 510A "Cinderella"

Variants: see this link

P is for Puerto Rico

The Carnation Prince

Three sisters tried catching a carnation. The youngest succeeded. She put the flower away and later found that it'd turned into a prince, whom she accidently enchanted. To disenchant him, she had to travel until she wore out an iron dress. She happened upon the sun, moon, and the birthing person of all animals on her odyssey, and each gifted her an item. After feeding all of her limbs to a bird, she arrived at her paramour's home and they were happily reunited and married on the spot.

Source: Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico by Rafael Ocasio.

Tale Type: ATU 425 Search for the Lost Husband.

Variants: "The Black Bull of Norroway" and "The Padlock" 

M is for Mexico

Jace's Ingenuity (2011) by Steve Argyle

The Sorcerers

An aging wizard was convinced to take an apprentice so that the community might enjoy the benefits of healing magic. He trained the grandson of another wizard. When the boy's talents exceeded his master's, the man was so enraged that he made up his mind to kill the lad. However, the boy knew of his teacher's feelings and fled. The old man hunted the boy in various animal forms until the child killed him.

Source: Wonder Tales for Men by Diego Morales

Tale Type: ATU 325, "The Magician and His Pupil"

Variants: "Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi" and "The Deceiver Shall be Deceived" and "The Battle of the Enchanters"

L is for Liberia

 

The Good Child and the Bad

Two girls helped a witch doctor spin cotton. One of them spat on her staff and had to wash it in a river or disaster would strike. During her journey, she met a cat and a rooster, who aided her because she fed  them. The girl returned home with a treasure basket. The other girl wanted a basket too so she spat on the staff and set out, but didn't feed the animals. She chose a large basket, full of dangerous creatures, and barely survived their assault.

Source: Folk-Tales from Liberia (In Abstract) by Richard C. Bundy.

Tale Type: ATU 480, The Kind and Unkind Girls.

Variants: "The Fairy" and "Frau Holle" and "The Twelve Months"

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

E is for Ethiopia

The Ungrateful Snake

A man encountered a talking snake. It whined about slithering over rocks and the man took pity on it. He carried the reptile on his head. However, the man grew tired and asked the snake to descend. It refused and threatened him. Terrified, the man persuaded the snake to allow someone else to settle their dispute. They asked an elephant, a lion, a leopard, a hyena, a baboon and a buffalo, and all sided with the snake because they feared its poisonous bite (can you say 'juror bias'?).

Then they asked a fox. It duped the snake into coming down so the man could beat it to death. The man promised his savior a sheep as payment for the help. On his way home, he decided that he was too poor to surrender a whole sheep, and brought his dog to kill the fox.

Source: Ethiopian English Readers

Tale Type: ATU 155, "The Ungrateful Snake Returned to Captivity"

Variants: "The Ungrateful Snake, the Fox, and the Man" and "The Man and the Snake" and this curated list.

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"

B is for Brazil

Why Misery Remains in the World

Aunt Misery was an old woman, constantly pestered by the neighborhood kids. Apart from giving her that insulting nickname, they climbed her beloved pear tree and snatched its fruits.

One day, a stranger came to her house. In exchange for her hospitality, he granted her wish: that nobody who climbed her tree could descend without permission. Later on, the kids tried stealing pears, and she trapped them. They begged for their freedom and Misery consented - after getting them to promise that they'd never come back.

Death arrived soon after and told Misery that it was her time. She tricked the goddess into fetching her one last pear and kept her stuck to the tree. This caused elderly and sick people to live forever and the situation worsened until Misery released Death. However, she forced the Reaper swear an oath to never return. Thus, Misery is everlasting.

Source: Elder Tales: Stories of Wisdom and Courage from Around the World by Dan Keding.

Tale Type: ATU 330, "The Smith and the Devil"

Variants: "Godfather Misery" in Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane.

Variants of "Jack and the Beanstalk" (ATU 328A)

Jack Seized the Hen by Warwick Goble (1923)

Ah, the tale of a plucky boy who climbs a plant that reaches the clouds! Storytellers have turned it into an SF novel, a TV miniseries, and a mural, among other things. If you want to adapt this tale then check out the classics:

Jack and the Beanstalk in English Fairy and Folk Tales by E. S. Hartland

Jack and the Beanstalk in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Jack and the Beanstalk in What They Say in New England by Clifton Johnson

Jack and the Bean-pole in Tales from Maryland and Pennsylvania by Elsie Clews Parsons

Jack and the Beanstalk in English Fairy Tales by Flora Annie Steel

Jack and the Bean-stalk in Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith

Jack and the Beanstalk in Mountain White Folk-Lore: Tales from the Southern Blue Ridge by Isabel Gordon Carter

Bonus: scholarly writings.

“Jack and the Beanstalk” by Humphrey Humphreys in The Study of Folklore.

“Jack and the Beanstalk” by William Desmonde in The Study of Folklore.

“Jack and the Beanstalk: An American Version” by Martha Wolfenstein in The Study of Folklore.

Jack In Two Worlds: Contemporary North American Tales and Their Tellers by William Bernard McCarthy.

The Composition of "Jack and the Beanstalk" by Christine Goldberg

For more information on the ATU acronym mentioned in the title, read this post.

Variants of "The Dragon Slayer" (ATU 300)

St. George and the Dragon by Donato Giancola (2010)

Ever heard the tale of a brave soul who vanquished a beast and saved its intended victim? It's one of our most popular folk narratives. Writers looking to tell their own version should start by reading these:

Perseus and Andromeda in The Library of Greek Mythology by Pseudo-Apollodorus and Robin Hard.

Li Chi Slays the Serpent in In Search of the Supernatural by Gan Bao, Kenneth J. DeWoskin & J.I. Crump.

The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin in Myths and Folk-lore of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin.

The Blind Man and the Hunchback in Some Folk-Lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja by R. Sutherland Rattray.

Schippeitaro in The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang.

Nikita the Tanner in Russian Folk-Tales by Leonard A. Magnus.

Scholarship:

A Sixteenth Century Version of The Dragon-Slayer

The Three Suitors of the King's Daughter: Character Roles in the Estonian Version of the Dragon-Slayer

Related Posts:

For an explanation of the ATU acronym mentioned in the title, read this post.