Deutsche Sagen

Deutsche Sagen ("German Legends") is a publication by the Brothers Grimm, appearing in two volumes in 1816 and 1818. The collection includes 579 short summaries of German folk tales and legends (where "German" refers not just to German-speaking Europe generally but includes early Germanic history as well).

Deutsche Sagen followed the 1812 publication of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (known in English as Grimms' Fairy Tales). It never gained the wide popular appeal and influence of the latter, although it did influence the scholarly study of folk narrative.

The first volume contains 362 short tales, provided in short summary with a source. The source is in some cases "oral", with the region where it was collected (as in no. 1, Die drei Bergleute im Kuttenberg "the three miners in Kuttenberg", marked "oral" from Hessen), in other cases with a reference to the tale's previous publication (as in no. 362, Die drei Alten "The three old men", attributed to "Schmidt aus Lübek", im Freimüthigen 1809. Nr. 1.) The tales of the first volume tend to blend common concerns of the poor and working classes with magical realism including the attainment of wealth and status, and includes references to Frau Holle, the Wild Hunt, ghostly apparitions, and magic, the devil, dwarves, giants, kobolds, nixes, etc. Less than a dozen folk tales contain the German word for witch or witchcraft (hexen) but there are many mentions of the devil and one tale (#120) also mentions an old woman that was a magician or sorceress (ein altes Weib, das eine Zauberin war).^[1]

The second volume (entries numbered 363–579) focusses on historical legends, including numerous translations from Latin sources pertaining to Germanic antiquity, beginning with Tacitus (no 363. Der heilige Salzfluß "the sacred salt-river", Annales XIII. 57), spanning both medieval legend (e.g. no. 576. Hungersnoth im Grabfeld "famine in Grabfeld", Annales Fuldenses ad ann. 850) and early modern folkloristic records (e.g. no. 579 Die Gräfin von Orlamünde "the countess of Orlamünde", attributed to Wolfgang Lazius de migratione gentium libri VII in the edition of Waldenfels, antiquitatis selectae libri XII 1677, 4.465-474), blurring the lines between oral folk tradition and literary tradition.

Numbers 505–514 group a number of Swiss entries, including Radbot von Habsburg (505), Rudolf von Strättlingen (506), Idda von Toggenburg (507), Auswanderung der Schweizer (508), Der Bund im Rütli (511) and Wilhelm Tell (512).

A number of the stories record medieval antisemitic beliefs held by Germanic-speaking peoples. For example, The Jews' Stone, The Girl Who Was Killed by Jews, and Pfefferkorn the Jew at Halle, among others.^[2]

Twelve of the tales were translated by Thomas Roscoe (1826),^[3]^[4] three by Thomas Crofton Croker (1828),^[5] ten by William Thoms (1834),^[6] and one by Joseph Snowe (1839),^[7] but the first full translation into English was Donald J. Ward's The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm (1979).^[8]^[9] The original German collection is also freely available online.

References

^ Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, p 184
^ "Anti-Semitic Legends". www.pitt.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
^ The German Novelists. Vol. 2. Translated by Roscoe, Thomas. London: Henry Colburn. 1826. pp. 245–286.
^ Denecke, Ludwig, ed. (1997). Brüder Grimm Gedenken. Schriften der Brüder Grimm-Gesellschaft Kassel e.V (in German). Vol. 12. N. G. Elwert. p. 74. ISBN 978-3-7776-0739-9.
^ Croker, Thomas Crofton (1828). Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. London: John Murray. pp. 52–53, 63–64, 233–234.
^ Thoms, William J. (1834). Lays and Legends of Germany. Lays and Legends of Various Nations. London: George Cowie. pp. 37–40, 95–97, 117–120, 179–180, 208–210, 239–243, 257–261, 269–271.
^ "The Erection". The Rhine, Legends, Traditions, History, from Cologne to Mainz. Vol. 1. Translated by Snowe, Joseph. London: F. C. Westley. 1839. pp. 31–33.
^ The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm. Vol. 1. Translated by Ward, Donald. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. 1981. ISBN 0-915980-72-X.
The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm. Vol. 2. Translated by Ward, Donald. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. 1981. ISBN 0-915980-71-1.
^ Bruce Allen, "Grimms' legends at last in English", The Christian Science Monitor, 18 September 1980.

Deutsche Sagen. Herausgegeben von den Brüdern Grimm, Berlin (1816) (google books)
Deutsche Sagen. Herausgegeben von den Brüdern Grimm. Zweiter Teil, Berlin (1818)
Donald Ward (trans.), The German Legends of the Brothers 2 vols, Philadelphia, Pa: Institute for the Study of Human Issues (1979).

External links

The full text of de:Deutsche Sagen at Wikisource
E-text at Projekt Gutenberg-DE

[1] Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, p 184

[2] "Anti-Semitic Legends". www.pitt.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-03-09.

[3] The German Novelists. Vol. 2. Translated by Roscoe, Thomas. London: Henry Colburn. 1826. pp. 245–286.

[4] Denecke, Ludwig, ed. (1997). Brüder Grimm Gedenken. Schriften der Brüder Grimm-Gesellschaft Kassel e.V (in German). Vol. 12. N. G. Elwert. p. 74. ISBN 978-3-7776-0739-9.

[5] Croker, Thomas Crofton (1828). Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. London: John Murray. pp. 52–53, 63–64, 233–234.

[6] Thoms, William J. (1834). Lays and Legends of Germany. Lays and Legends of Various Nations. London: George Cowie. pp. 37–40, 95–97, 117–120, 179–180, 208–210, 239–243, 257–261, 269–271.

[7] "The Erection". The Rhine, Legends, Traditions, History, from Cologne to Mainz. Vol. 1. Translated by Snowe, Joseph. London: F. C. Westley. 1839. pp. 31–33.

[8] The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm. Vol. 1. Translated by Ward, Donald. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. 1981. ISBN 0-915980-72-X.
The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm. Vol. 2. Translated by Ward, Donald. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. 1981. ISBN 0-915980-71-1.

[9] Bruce Allen, "Grimms' legends at last in English", The Christian Science Monitor, 18 September 1980.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e The Brothers Grimm
Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm
Works	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Deutsche Mythologie Deutsches Wörterbuch
Notable tales	"Bearskin" "The Brave Little Tailor" "Brother and Sister" "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" "Cinderella" "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" "Doctor Know-all" "The Dog and the Sparrow" "The Elves and the Shoemaker" "The Fisherman and His Wife" "The Four Skillful Brothers" "The Frog Prince" "The Gnome" "Godfather Death" "The Golden Bird" "The Golden Goose" "The Goose Girl" "The Goose-Girl at the Well" "The Grave Mound" "Hans My Hedgehog" "Hansel and Gretel" "The Hut in the Forest" "The Jew Among Thorns" "Jorinde and Joringel" "The Juniper Tree" "The King of the Golden Mountain" "King Thrushbeard" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Mary's Child" "Mother Holle" "Old Hildebrand" "Old Sultan" "Pied Piper of Hamelin" "The Queen Bee" "Rapunzel" "The Riddle" "The Robber Bridegroom" "Rumpelstiltskin" "The Seven Ravens" "The Singing, Springing Lark" "The Six Servants" "The Six Swans" "Sleeping Beauty" "Snow White" "Snow-White and Rose-Red" "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" "The Three Little Men in the Wood" "The Three Spinners" "Thumbling" "Town Musicians of Bremen" "Trusty John" "The Turnip" "The Twelve Brothers" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Water of Life" "The White Snake" "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" "The Wonderful Musician"
Other	Grimm's law Göttingen Seven Grim Tales The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Once Upon a Brothers Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics The Brothers Grimm Grimm Tales The Sisters Grimm Fairy tale American McGee's Grimm German Fairy Tale Route Grimm Once Upon a Time The 10th Kingdom The Grimm Variations
Category Commons

v t e German folklore
Folklore of German-speaking countries
Beings	Alberich Alp (folklore) Askafroa Aufhocker Bahkauv Beerwolf Belsnickel Bergmönch Bieresel Bogeyman Buschgroßmutter Changeling Christkind Companions of Saint Nicholas Doppelgänger Drak (mythology) Drude Dwarf (folklore) Easter Bunny Ekke Nekkepenn Elwetritsch Erdhenne Erlking Ewiger Jäger Fänggen Fasolt Feuermann (ghost) Feldgeister Frau Holle Gütel Heimchen Heinzelmännchen Hemann Hinzelmann Hödekin Irrwurz Jack o' the bowl Klabautermann Klagmuhme King Goldemar King Laurin Knecht Ruprecht Kobold Krampus Lindworm Lorelei Lutzelfrau Mare (folklore) Mephistopheles Moss people Nachtkrapp Nachzehrer Nis Puk Nixie (folklore) Ork (folklore) Perchta Petermännchen Poltergeist Rasselbock Rhinemaidens Rübezahl Santa Claus Schrat Tatzelwurm Türst Uhaml Weiße Frauen Wiedergänger Wild Hunt Wild man Will-o'-the-wisp Witte Wiwer Wolpertinger
People	Albrecht Gessler Arnold von Winkelried Attila Baron Munchausen Brunhild Christman Genipperteinga Dietrich von Bern Eppelein von Gailingen Faust Frederick Barbarossa Friar Rush Genevieve of Brabant Giselher of Burgundy Götz von Berlichingen Gunther Gudrun Gundomar I Hagen (legend) Hannikel Hans von Sagan Hans von Trotha Heinrich von Winkelried Hildebrand Johann Peter Petri (Black Peter) Klaus Störtebeker Knight of the Swan Konrad Baumgarten Kunigunde von Orlamünde Lohengrin Matthias Klostermayr Nibelung Ortnit Otto the Younger Peter Klaus Peter Nikoll (Black Peter) Pied Piper of Hamelin Princess Ilse Punker of Rohrbach Rüdiger von Bechelaren Schildbürger Schinderhannes Sigurd Stauffacherin Tannhäuser The Smith of Kochel Till Eulenspiegel Volker von Alzey Walram of Thierstein Walter of Aquitaine Werner Stauffacher William Tell Witege Wolfdietrich Xaver Hohenleiter
Legends and fairy tales	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Volksmärchen der Deutschen Gespensterbuch Nibelungenlied Freischütz Hirschsprung (Black Forest) Venusberg (mythology) Vineta Walpurgis Night
See also	German folklore Swiss folklore

See also

References

External links