The Knights of the Fish

The Knights of the Fish (Spanish: "Los Caballeros del Pez") is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Fernán Caballero in Cuentos. Oraciones y Adivinas.[3] Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book. A translation was published in Golden Rod Fairy Book.[4] Another version of the tale appears in A Book of Enchantments and Curses by Ruth Manning-Sanders.

The Knights of the Fish
The seven-headed dragon. Illustration from Europa's Fairy Book (1916).
Folk tale
NameThe Knights of the Fish
Also known asLos Caballeros del Pez; The King of the Fishes (Joseph Jacobs)
Data
Aarne-Thompson grouping
  • ATU 303 (The Twins or Blood Brothers)[1]
  • ATU 300 (The Dragonslayer)[2]
RegionSpain, Eurasia, Worldwide
Published inCuentos. Oraciones y Adivinas (1878), by Fernán Caballero
The Brown Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang
Europa's Fairy Book (1916), by Joseph Jacobs
RelatedThe Twins (Albanian tale); Perseus and Andromeda
Princess and dragon

It is classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type 303 ("The Blood Brothers").[5] Most tales of the sort begin with the father catching a talking fish thrice and, in the third time, the animal asks to be sacrificed and fed to the fisherman's wife and horses, and for his remains to be buried underneath a tree. By doing so, twins are born to him and his wife, as well as two foals and two trees.

It is also classified as ATU 300 ("The Dragon-Slayer"),[6] a widespread tale.[7]

Synopsis

An industrious but poor cobbler tried to fish until he was so hungry that he thought he would hang himself if he caught nothing. He caught a beautiful fish. It told him to cook it and then give two pieces to his wife, and bury two more in the garden. He did this. His wife gave birth to twin boys, and two plants sprang up, bearing shields, in the garden.

When the boys were grown, they decided to travel. At a crossroad, they parted ways. One found a city grieving, because every year a maiden had to be offered up to a dragon, and this year the lot had fallen on the princess. He went to see where the princess was, and then left her to fetch a mirror. He told her to cover it with her veil and hide behind it; when the dragon approached, she was to tear the veil off. She did, and the dragon stared at his rival, identical to him. He threatened it until he finally smashed it to pieces, but as every fragment reflected him, he thought he too had been smashed. While it was still baffled, the knight killed it. The king married him to his daughter.

The princess then showed him all over the country. He saw a castle of black marble, and was warned that whoever went to it never returned. He set out the next day. When he blew his horn and struck the gate, a woman finally opened the door. Echoes warned him off. He lifted his helmet, and the woman, who was an evil witch, let him in because he was so handsome. She told him that she would marry him, but he refused. The witch showed him over the castle and suddenly killed him by dropping him through a trapdoor.

His brother came to the city, and was taken for him. He kept quiet, so he could help his brother, and told the princess that he had to go back to the castle. He demanded to know what happened to his brother, and the echoes told him. With this knowledge, as soon as he met the witch, he stabbed her with his sword. The dying witch then pled to him to save her life with magical plants from the garden. He found the bodies of his brother and her previous victims, and restored them to life. He also found a cave full of maidens who had been killed by the dragon, reviving them too. After they all left, the witch died and the castle collapsed.

Motifs

The motif of the demand for sacrifice of youngsters of either sex happens in the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.[8] However, a specific variant, where the dragon or serpent demands the sacrifice of young maidens or princesses is shared by many tales or legends all over the world: Japanese tale of Susanoo-no-Mikoto and the eight-headed serpent Orochi;[9] Chinese folktale of Li Ji Slays the Great Serpent,[10][11][12][13][14] attested in Soushen Ji, a 4th century compilation of stories, by Gan Bao.

The myth of Perseus and Andromeda is an archaic reflex of the princess and dragon theme:[15] for disrepecting the Nereids, sea god Poseidon demands in sacrifice the life of the Ethiopian princess Andromeda to the sea monster Cetus. She is thus chained to a rock afloat in the sea, but is rescued by semi-divine hero Perseus. A similar event happens in the story of Trojan princess Hesione.

The many-headed serpent enemy shares similarities with Greek mythic creature Hydra, defeated by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors. An episode of a battle with the dragon also occurs in several fairy tales: The Three Dogs, The Two Brothers, The Merchant (fairy tale), The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life, The Three Princes and their Beasts, The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin, Georgic and Merlin, the epic feats of Dobrynya Nikitich, the Polish legend of the Wawel Dragon.

The motif of the birth of twin boys by eating a magical fish shares similarities with a practice involving flower petals, as seen in the ATU 711, "The Beautiful and the Ugly Twin" (Tatterhood).

Variants

The birth of the twins (triplets)

The usual tale involves the birth of twins from the ingestion of the flesh of the fish. Very rarely, there are born triplets,[16][17] such as in a variant from Brittany, France, collected by folklorist Adolphe Orain: in Les chevaliers de la belle étoile, instead of the usual twins, three sons are born when their mother is given the flesh of the enchanted eel (which replaces the fish). Each of the brothers is born with a star on the forehead.[18]

Other similar variant is Le rei des peiches, collected from Bélesta, Ariège, where there are also three sons born from the magical fish.[19]

In Czech fairy tale The Twin Brothers, the enchanted fish is described as a princess cursed into piscian form. When a woman catches her (as fish) to eat, the princess says she will be delivered from her curse "as soon as [her] body has rotted".[20]

Birth of lookalike individuals

The ATU 303 type usually involves the birth of twins (or triplets), but in variants there are born two similar-looking individuals from a rich mother (queen, lady) and a poor one (maid, servant), who both ate the magical item that, according to some in-story superstition, is said to have pregnancy-inducing properties, such as a fruit or herb. Despite their different origins, both youths hold great affection and loyalty towards each other. One example is the Swedish folktale Silfver-hvit och Lill-vacker (English: "Silverwhite and Lillwacker").[21][22]

In a Romanian fairy tale, Der Morgenstern und der Abendstern ("The Morning-Star and the Evening-Star"),[23] a king and a queen have tried to conceive a child, but no such luck. One night, the empress dreams that God told her the method: the king must catch a fish, cook it and give it to the queen, who gives birth to a boy. A maid also tastes the queen's plate and gives birth to another boy. The prince is named Busujok and the maid's son Siminok.[24]

The names of the heroes

If the characters are named in the tale, both brothers may have water-related names. For instance, in Swedish variant Wattuman und Wattusin (Wassermann und Wasserjunge),[25][26] in the Brothers Grimm tale Johann Wassersprung und Kaspar Wassersprung ("Johannes Waterspring and Casper Waterspring"),[27] in another German variant Wasserpaul and Wasserpeter,[28] or in a Hungarian variant Vízi Péter és Vízi Pál (vízi means "water" in Hungarian).[29]

In another German variant, The Two Foundlings of the Spring, or, The Story of Brunnenhold and Brunnenstark, an exiled princess finds two babies near a spring and decided that "they shall both take their names from the water": Brunnenhold, with "blue eyes and hair", and Brunnenstark, because he is stronger than his brother.[30][31] The tale of brothers Brunnnenhold and Brunnenstark was also given a somewhat abridged format by 19th century theologue Johann Andreas Christian Löhr, with the name Die Söhne der Quelle.[32]

The adventures of the twins (triplets)

The general narrative of the tale type separates the twins: one defeats the dragon and, after he marries the princesss, goes to an illuminated castle (or tower) in the distance, where a witch resides. In Iberian variants, this castle is known as "Castle of No Return" (Spanish: Castillo de Irás y No Volverás) or "Tower of the Ill-Hour" (Portuguese: Torre da Má Hora). Later, his twin (or younger triplet) defeats the witch and rescues the older brother.[33]

Some versions preserve the motif of the helping animals, attested in the pure form of ATU 300, "The Dragonslayer", where the sole hero is helped by four different animals[34] or by three powerful dogs. One example of the latter type is the Romanian variant Măr și Păr: the prince Măr names his dogs "Florian, Cioban and Frunză de megheran", and the servant's son Păr gives his hounds the names of "Bujor, Rozor and Cetina brazilor".[35]

The dragon of the tale, in Scadinavian variants, is sometimes replaced by a troll that lives in the sea.[36][37]

In a tale collected from Wallonia, Le Garçon avec Ses Trois Chiens, triplets are born from the ingestion of the fish's flesh. This variant is peculiar in that it inverts the usual narrative: the brothers' petrification by the witch occurs before the episode of the dragon-slaying. The youngest triplet rescues his older brothers and later the princess demanded by the dragon.[38]

A similar inversion of the twins' adventures occurs in Cossack (Ukrainian) tale The Two Princes: the younger twin rescues his older brother from the pagan witch that petrified him and his dog, and later the dragon-slaying episode happens.[39]

In an unsourced tale published by Andrew Lang in his The Grey Fairy Book, The Twin Brothers, an old woman reveals that the infertility of a fisherman's wife can be cured by ingesting the flesh of a gold-fish, and after some should be given to her she-dogs and mares. Male twins are born, two foals and two puppies - each brother getting a hound and a horse. When the older twin leaves home, he arrives in a kingdom and tries to woo the princess Fairest in the Land, by performing her father's three tasks. Later, he arrives in another kingdom, where a giant has blocked the flow of waters and only releases it once a year when he is given a maiden to devour.[40]

Some variants skip the birth implement altogether and begin with the twin (triplet) princes going their separates ways at the crossroads, after they gather their animal retinues.[41]

Adaptations

The tale type was adapted into the story Los hermanos gemelos ("The Twin Brothers"), by Spanish writer Romualdo Nogués, with a moral at the end.[42] A second adaptation was published in Spanish newspaper El Imparcial, in 1923, titled El pez y los tres rosales ("The Fish and the Three Rosebushes").[43]

A Hungarian variant of the tale was adapted into an episode of the Hungarian television series Magyar népmesék ("Hungarian Folk Tales") (hu), with the title A kõvé vált királyfi ("The Prince who turned into Stone"). This version replaces the sacrifice of a maiden to a dragon for a fight against an invincible warrior of the enemy army.

See also

References
  1. Amores, Monstserrat. Catalogo de cuentos folcloricos reelaborados por escritores del siglo XIX. Madrid: CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS, DEPARTAMENTO DE ANTROPOLOGÍA DE ESPAÑA Y AMÉRICA. 1997. pp. 69-71. ISBN 84-00-07678-8
  2. Boggs, Ralph Steele. Index of Spanish folktales, classified according to Antti Aarne's "Types of the folktale". Chicago: University of Chicago. 1930. pp. 40-41.
  3. Caballero, Fernán. Cuentos, oraciones, adivinas y refranes populares e infantiles. Leipzig: Brockhaus. 1878. pp. 11-19.
  4. Singleton, E.; Falls, Charles Buckles; Singleton. Golden rod fairy book. New York: Dodd, M. & Company. 1903. pp. 269-281.
  5. Amores, Monstserrat. Catalogo de cuentos folcloricos reelaborados por escritores del siglo XIX. Madrid: CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS, DEPARTAMENTO DE ANTROPOLOGÍA DE ESPAÑA Y AMÉRICA. 1997. pp. 69-71-120. ISBN 84-00-07678-8
  6. Boggs, Ralph Steele. Index of Spanish folktales, classified according to Antti Aarne's "Types of the folktale". Chicago: University of Chicago. 1930. pp. 40-41.
  7. Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. p. 27. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  8. Schmidt, Bernhard. Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder. Leipzig: Teubner, 1877. pp. 236-239.
  9. Lyle, Emily. Ten Gods: A New Approach To Defining The Mythological Structures Of The Indo Europeans. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2012. p. 109. ISBN 1-4438-4156-0
  10. Gan Bao. In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, translated into English by Kenneth J. DeWoskin and James Irving Crump. Stanford University Press, 1996. pp. 230-231. ISBN 0-8047-2506-3
  11. Maeth Ch., Russell. “El Cuento De Li Ji.” Estudios De Asia y Africa, vol. 25, no. 3 (83), 1990, pp. 537–539. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40312235. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.
  12. Journey of a Goddess: Chen Jinggu Subdues the Snake Demon. Translated, edited, and with an introduction by Fan Pen Li Chen. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. 2017. p. 31. ISBN 978-14384-6-7078
  13. Idema, Wilt L. Personal Salvation and Filial Piety: Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her Acolytes. University of Hawai'i Press. 2008. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-8248-3215-5
  14. He, Saihanjula. "Critical Fantasies: Structure of Chinese Folk Tales" (2000). Masters Theses. 1609.
  15. Jacobs, Joseph. Europa's Fairy Book. New York, London: G. P. Putnam's sons. 1916. pp. 228-230 (Notes on Tale nr. III).
  16. "The Slices of Fish". In: Pedroso, Consiglieri. Portuguese Folk-Tales. New York: Pedroso, Consiglieri. 1882. pp. 100-105.
  17. Vaz da Silva, Francisco (2000). “Cinderella the Dragon Slayer". In: Studia Mythologica Slavica 3 (May). Ljubljana, Slovenija. p. 189. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v3i0.1836.
  18. Orain, Adolphe. Contes du Pays Gallo. Paris: Honoré Champion, Éditeur. 1904. pp. 109-134.
  19. [Lambert, Louis?] Contes populaires du Bélesta. Foix: Imprimerie-Librarie Gadrat Ainé. 1891. pp. 20-25.
  20. Baudis, Josef. Czech folk tales. London: Allen & Unwin. [1917.] pp. 142-151.
  21. Hyltén-Cavallius, Gunnar Olof och Stephens, George. Svenska Folk-Sagor och Äfventyr. Förste Delen. Stockholm: pa A. Bohlins Förlag. 1844. pp. 58-69.
  22. Stroebe, Klara; Martens, Frederick Herman. The Swedish fairy book. New York: Frederick A. Stokes company. 1921. pp. 40-57.
  23. Kremnitz, Mite, and Mary J Safford. Roumanian Fairy Tales. New York: H. Holt and company. 1885. pp. 121-129.
  24. Kremnitz, Mite. Rumänische Märchen, Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Friedrich. 1882. pp. 204-212.
  25. Hyltén-Cavallius, Gunnar Olof och Stephens, George. Svenska Folk-Sagor och Äfventyr. Förste Delen. Stockholm: pa A. Bohlins Förlag. 1844. pp. 70-89.
  26. Hyltén-Cavallius, Gunnar; Stephens, George. Schwedische Volkssagen und Märchen. Wien: Haas. 1848. pp. 94-123.
  27. Grimm, Jacob, Wilhelm Grimm, JACK ZIPES, and ANDREA DEZSÖ. "JOHANNES WATERSPRING AND CASPAR WATERSPRING." In: The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition. pp. 238-40. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014. Accessed August 28, 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctt6wq18v.81.
  28. Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Kinder Und Hausmärchen: Gesammelt Durch Die Brüder Grimm. 3. aufl. Göttingen: Dieterich, 1856. pp. 102-106.
  29. László Merényi. Eredeti népmesék (1. rész). 1st part. Pest: Kiadja Hecknast Gusztáv. 1861. pp. 79-122.
  30. Grimm, Albert Ludwig. Fairy tales, from the German, with illustrations by Cruikshank. London: Charles Tilt. 1827. pp. 67-142.
  31. Grimm, Albert Ludewig. Lina’s Mährchenbuch 1–2. Band 2, Grimma 21837. pp. 2-82.
  32. Löhr, Johann Andreas Christian. Das Buch der Maehrchen für Kindheit und Jugend, nebst etzlichen Schnaken und Schnurren, anmuthig und lehrhaftig [1–]2. Band 2, Leipzig [ca. 1819/20]. pp. 257-280.
  33. Vaz da Silva, Francisco (2000). “Cinderella the Dragon Slayer". In: Studia Mythologica Slavica 3 (May). Ljubljana, Slovenija. pp. 189 and 191. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v3i0.1836.
  34. "Palkó és a boszorkány". In: Antal Horger. Hétfalusi csángó népmesék (Népköltési gyüjtemény 10. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvénytársulat Tulajdona. 1908. pp. 145-152.
  35. Pop-Reteganul, Ion. Măr și Păr  (in Romanian) – via Wikisource. In: Pop-Reteganul, Ioan. Poveşti Ardeleneşti: culese din gura poporului. Partea IV. Ediţia II. Brassó: Editura librăriei Ioan I. Ciurcu. 1913.
  36. Hyltén-Cavallius, Gunnar; Stephens, George. Schwedische Volkssagen und Märchen. Wien: Haas. 1848. pp. 94-123.
  37. Vaz da Silva, Francisco (2000). “Cinderella the Dragon Slayer". In: Studia Mythologica Slavica 3 (May). Ljubljana, Slovenija. p. 191. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v3i0.1836.
  38. Gittée, Auguste; Lemoine, Jules. Contes populaires du pays wallon. Gand, 1891. pp. 26-31.
  39. Bain, Robert Nisbet. Cossack fairy tales and folk tales. London: G.G. Harrap & Co. 1916. pp. 209-216.
  40. Lang, Andrew. The Grey Fairy Book. New York: Longmans, Green. 1905. pp. 322-331.
  41. Jones, W. Henry; Kropf, Lajos L.; Kriza, János. The folk-tales of the Magyars. London: Pub. for the Folk-lore society by E. Stock. 1889. pp. 110-117.
  42. Nogués, Romualdo. Cuentos para gente menuda. segunda Edición. Madrid: Imprenta de A. Pérez Dubrull. 1887. pp. 56-63.
  43. "El Gato con Botas" (nom de plume). "El pez y los tres rosales". Los Lunes de El Imparcial (7-I-1923).

Bibliography
  • Amores, Monstserrat. Catalogo de cuentos folcloricos reelaborados por escritores del siglo XIX. Madrid: CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS, DEPARTAMENTO DE ANTROPOLOGÍA DE ESPAÑA Y AMÉRICA. 1997. pp. 69-71. ISBN 84-00-07678-8
  • Boggs, Ralph Steele. Index of Spanish folktales, classified according to Antti Aarne's "Types of the folktale". Chicago: University of Chicago. 1930. pp. 40-41.

Further reading
  • Ranke, Kurt. Die zwei Brüder: Eine Studie zur vergleichenden Märchenforschung. Helsinki: 1934 (Folklore Fellows Communications, 114).
  • Rubow, Mette. "Un essai d'interprétation du conte-type AaTh 303: Le roi des poissons ou La bête à sept têtes". Fabula 25, 1-2 (1984): 18-34. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/fabl.1984.25.1-2.18
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