Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Mermaid: Child Ballad 289



Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World

One of the side benefits of working on the SurLaLune fairy tale anthologies is that I am becoming more familiar with various Child Ballads. While I enjoy ballads, they hadn't inspired much research on my part until the last few years. (There just isn't the time to do everything that interests me!)

I previously posted about Clerk Colvill, Child Ballad 42, which I enjoyed as I edited Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World. The other ballad I included in the collected is Child 289 and I personally prefer it over Clerk Colvill. Most commonly known as The Mermaid, seven versions from Child appear in my book under various titles, including Greenland, The Seaman's Distress, and The Stormy Winds Did Blow. As I read it, Iwanted to listen to it, so I hunted some versions down on the internet.

Here's the text to Child 289B, which more closely resembles many of the modern recorded versions. Actually, most of them tend to be a hybrid of 289A, 289B and 289C. The ballad draws from the superstition that when sailors spy a mermaid, a shipwreck is imminent.

ONE Friday morn when we set sail,
Not very far from land,
We there did espy a fair pretty maid
With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
While the raging seas did roar,
And the stormy winds did blow,
While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top,
And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the land-lubbers lying down below.

Then up starts the captain of our gallant ship,
And a brave young man was he:
“I’ve a wife and a child in fair Bristol town,
But a widow I fear she will be.”
For the raging seas, etc.

Then up starts the mate of our gallant ship,
And a bold young man was he:
“Oh! I have a wife in fair Portsmouth town,
But a widow I fear she will be.”
For the raging seas, etc.

Then up starts the cook of our gallant ship,
And a gruff old soul was he:
“Oh! I have a wife in fair Plymouth town,
But a widow I fear she will be.”

And then up spoke the little cabin-boy,
And a pretty little boy was he;
“Oh! I am more grievd for my daddy and my mammy
Than you for your wives all three.”

Then three times round went our gallant ship,
And three times round went she;
For the want of a life-boat they all went down,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.

One of my favorite versions isn't a recording for purchase, but a homemade video on YouTube which I am embedding below. I enjoyed the simplicity of the tune and the variations it offered on the ballad itself. Here it is:




The Mermaid Song

As for recorded versions available for download, I preferred The Mermaid Song by the Floorbirds.

The Mermaid The Mermaid

Other versions you might prefer include The Mermaid by The Pirates of St. Piran and The Mermaid by Celtic Stew.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Grimm in Lisbon 2012 Conference (Grimm and You in Lisbon 2012)




So far, I know of three conferences dedicated to the 2012 Grimm Bicentennial. I posted about the one at Kingston University in London yesterday. I will post about the other two today including one in Kassel, Germany. This post is for the Grimm in Lisbon 2012 Conference scheduled for June 2012 in Lisbon (obviously).

Here is the call for papers which are due by September 4, 2011:

The Grimm Brothers Today

Kinder- und Hausmärchen and Its Legacy, 200 Years After

Since 1812 the Grimm Brothers’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen (KHM), translated in dozens of languages and read by children and adults everywhere, became the quintessential book of fairy tales. It also provided an enduring, if controversial, paradigm for folktale studies. As the bicentenary of the publication of KHM approaches, we invite scholars to appraise its significance today. We call for papers on all aspects of the Grimms’ tales and their legacy, from a number of distinct perspectives. The symposium comprises the following panels:

Brothers Grimm and their European contemporaries (convened by Sadhana Naithani, Associate Professor, Centre of German Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi);

Fairy tale and genre in a post-Grimm era (convened by Donald Haase, Associate Dean and Professor of German, Wayne State University, Detroit);

Filmic adaptations of the Grimm fairy tales (convened by Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota);

KHM at the intersection of learned tradition and popular literature, art and folk narrative (convened by Christine Shojaei Kawan, Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen and Arbeitsstelle Enzyklopädie des Märchens);

Metamorphosis as metaphor: Transformative magic in the Grimms' KHM (convened by Maria Tatar, John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University);

Who owns the fairy tales? Heritage, copyright, and the Grimm legacy (convened by Valdimar Hafstein, Associate Professor of Folkloristics, University of Iceland).

Other panel proposals are welcome. The deadline for panel and paper submissions is September 4, 2011. The acceptance of submissions will be announced by October 31, 2011. We expect to send out a second circular, containing an outline of the program and further details, by December 15, 2011. The meeting will take place in June 21–23, 2012.

For instructions on submissions, check here.

Looking forward to seeing you in Lisbon!

Francisco Vaz da Silva
Organizing Committee

Brüder Grimm Kongress 2012


Brüder Grimm Kongress 2012 is another conference dedicated to the Grimms' Bicentennial next year.  It is scheduled for December 2012 in Kassel, Germany. (Brrr... It'll be cold!) Most of the conference site is in German but the call for papers is in English and I will share it below. Note that the dates are given in European form, not U.S. with day/month/year.

Fairy tales, Myths and Modernity – 200 years of Brother Grimm’s Children’s and Household tales” Kassel, 17.12. - 20.12.2012.

Conference organizers: Prof. Dr. Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde, Universität Kassel, FB 02 Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften (Institut für Germanistik) / Dr. Holger Ehrhardt (Universität Kassel, FB 02 Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften (Institut für Germanistik)/ Prof. Dr. Hans-Heino Ewers, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, FB 10 Neuere Philologien (Institut für Jugendbuchforschung)

Deadline for submission of proposals and abstracts: 14.11.2011

20th December 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Brother Grimm’s first volume of their Kinder- and Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales). This work is imbued with the spirit of Romanticism. It probably represents the most famous collection of early nineteenth-century fairytales throughout the world and has proved to be one of the most frequently translated works of German literature. The Hessian cities of Hanau, Steinau, Kassel, and Marburg are the places where the Grimm Brothers were born and raised, where they received their education, where they studied and started their careers. In this region the Kinder- and Hausmärchen were collected and recorded.

Besides the general success of their fairytale collection, the Brothers Grimm played a leading role in many other areas: in Germany as well as abroad their mode of collecting fairytales, sagas, anecdotes, legends, and animal epics set a standard. They were emulated and celebrated as discoverers and editors of literary as well as legal sources and monuments of the past, as researchers of myths and dialects, as historians of languages, and as dictionary compilers.

The old narrative material, the myths, and sagas of heroes of archaic cultures and earlier times exerts a remarkable fascination even today on writers of fantasy and fiction novels. The Brothers Grimm tackled the question of how to treat old and most ancient narrative material. They maintained points of view that are still controversially discussed today.

The 200th anniversary of the first volume of Kinder- and Hausmärchen is to be celebrated with an international conference under the provisional title “Fairytales, Myths, Modern Age” to be held in Kassel from 17 to 20 December 2012. Researchers and colleagues from all over the world are cordially invited to the place where the Brothers Grimm spent more than thirty years of their lives. In Kassel they collected not only fairytales and sagas, but also started work on their famous dictionary.

Papers on the following topics are now called for:

Historical Philosophy of Romanticism and the Discovery of Vernacular Literature: Ethnic and Folkloric Studies and Modern Age
The Brothers Grimm and the Middle Ages: Imagination, Projections, and Reconstructions
The Brothers Grimm, Romanticism, and the Vormärz
The Brothers Grimm and the Origins of (National) Philology: Language and National Identity
The Brothers Grimm and the Beginnings of National Research on Myths
The Writing of Fairytales in Europe from the 16th to the 18th Centuries and the Assessment According to the Brothers Grimm
Kinder- und Hausmärchen: Ideological Premises, Sources, Contributors, Principles of Treatment, History of Editions, and Reviews
International Reception of the Kinder- and Hausmärchen: Translations, Adaptations, Arrangements, and Revisions
Fairytales and childhood: educational concepts
The Collection of Fairytales and Sagas of the Brothers Grimm as Prototype and Example for Similar Projects in other Cultures and Countries
Fairytales as Reading for Adults and Children
History of (International) Illustrations of Fairytales, Picture books of Fairytales, Fairytales in Comics and Mangas
Narrating Fairytales – Live and Recorded
Adaptations of Fairytales I: Fairytale Plays, Fairytale Dramas, Fairytale Operas, Fairytale Movies and Television Productions
Fairytales and Psychoanalysis
Work and Impact of the Brothers Grimm: national and international


Contacts:

Universität Kassel, FB 02 Geistes-und Kulturwissenschaften IfG

Frau Katharina Becker, Kurt-Wolters-Straße 5, 34125 Kassel,

E-mail: Grimm2012(at)uni-kassel.de

Homepage: www.grimm2012.uni-kassel.de

The conference at the University of Kassel will give researchers from all over the world a platform to discuss these topics and to reflect on new perspectives on the Brothers Grimm and their work.

We welcome proposals for 30 minute papers (700 words) with a short biography and current contact details. Please send them by email to grimm2012(at)uni-kassel.de in the form of a MS-word document. The deadline for the submission of all proposals is 14 November 2011.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Call for Papers: Grimm Bicentenary Conference 2012



I received this call for papers for a Grimm Bicentenary Conference 2012 from Dr Andrew Teverson. Oh, I really, really want to attend this one myself....

A Grimm Legacy:
The Impact of Grimms’ Tales in the English-Speaking World
6th – 8th September 2012

Call for Papers

2012 is the bicentenary of the publication of the first volume of the Kinder- und Hausmärchen by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. To mark this occasion, the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Kingston University (U.K.) is planning a series of open lectures and a conference assessing the impact of the Grimms’ collection upon literature and culture in the English speaking world. Proposals for conference papers are invited on the following subjects:

- Translations of Grimms’ tales into English
- The influence of Grimm upon British collectors of fairy tales
- The impact of Grimms’ tales upon world literatures in English
- Uses of Grimms’ tales in English-language visual media
- Uses of Grimms’ tales in English-language performing arts
- Grimms’ tales and British Romanticism
- Grimms’ tales in Victorian Britain
- Grimms’ tales in colonial and post-colonial contexts
- Illustrations and art works relating to Grimms’ tales
- Grimms’ tales in the electronic age

This will be a multi-disciplinary conference, and contributions from any disciplinary perspective will be welcome. We also welcome proposals to read creative work, screen films, mount performances and exhibit visual work.

Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Professor Donald Haase (Wayne State University) and Neil Philip (Author and Independent Scholar).

Abstract submission
Please submit an abstract of approximately 300 words, and a brief contributor’s bio online at:
www.kingston.ac.uk/activities/conferences/abstracts/

Deadline: January 31st 2012.
Enquiries: Dr Andrew Teverson, e: fass-conferences@kingston.ac.uk

Fairy Fail Theatre Presents: Beauty and the Beast by Olivia A Lukawski

Olivia A Lukawski made this short film as her final student film project and it's quite fun:

Fairy Fail Theatre Presents: Beauty and the Beast from Olivia A Lukawski on Vimeo.


Thanks for sharing, Olivia!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Price Drop on Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World


Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World

Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World in paper has dropped to $28.79 on Amazon US. I don't control the discounts on the book, but wanted to share that it is the cheapest it has ever been if you are considering it. I don't think the price will remain this low for long. It also qualifies for free shipping. I don't know why it has been so deeply discounted when Bluebeard remains at its list price.

Faerie Lore Books from a Folkloric Approach


The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries (Classic Reprint) Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures RC Series Bundle: The Fairies in Tradition and Literature (Routledge Classics)

Yesterday on the SurLaLune Discussion Board, a request for collections of faerie stories. The request was this:

Not fairy tales as in Hans Christian Andersen sorts of collections (a copy of which I already own, heh heh)--actual stories focusing on things of a fae nature. I've been interested in this topic for quite some time, actually, but most of the books I come across are the sort with pictures for children. That being said, I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for reading material--or, perhaps, even websites that were particularly interesting? Personal stories, perhaps?
I don't have a comprehensive list at the moment--don't know why I never compiled one actually--but I thought I would share some of my top picks here and perhaps add more during the week. These are my first books to consult when I am reading about faerie lore and have a place on my shelves.

First off, one of the most important books about fairies is an old one, The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries (Classic Reprint) by Thomas Keightley. It has also been published under the title The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People. It is a classic and remains one of the best books. Every other book references this one--and you should be suspicious of any book that doesn't. The best news is that this one is available all over the internet for free. I recommend either a PDF version from Google books, there are a few, here's one or the version at Sacred Texts. There are also reprints like the ones I linked to above. Yes, it is old, but that doesn't diminish its importance or significance.

RC Series Bundle: The Fairies in Tradition and Literature (Routledge Classics) An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures The Vanishing People


Another important book is The Fairies in Tradition and Literature. Katharine Briggs is important in the world of folklore and fairy tales. She was an expert in faerie lore, too. (I even wrote an article about her for Faerie Magazine last year.) She wrote a few books about faeries and their lore. The easiest to obtain these days is The Fairies in Tradition and Literature. She also wrote An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures and The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore and Legends.

Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness

Next is Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness by Carole G. Silver. This one is one of the most recent of the books listed here and important. No, this is not a collection of stories per se, but it is so wonderful to read the snippets and analysis that you really won't care.

The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries: The Classic Study of Leprechauns, Pixies, and Other Fairy Spirits

The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries: The Classic Study of Leprechauns, Pixies, and Other Fairy Spirits by W.Y. Evans Wentz is another classic and easily found for free on the internet such as at Gutenberg and Sacred Texts.

The Secret Commonwealth: Of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies (New York Review Books)

And for fun and interest, I also recommend The Secret Commonwealth: Of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies (New York Review Books). This is a short classic available all over the internet, see Sacred Texts and Google Books, and but a recent edition with an intro by Marina Warner is an excellent edition to consult.

Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth


As for collections of worldwide faerie stories, there are more encyclopedias to consult than tale collections. An excellent choice is Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia which would be quite lonely on your shelf without its companion, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth.
But as for a book with just tales similar to my Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World, there aren't many choices outside of collections aimed at younger readers. Perhaps I should consider a collection from SurLaLune someday...