English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as the traditional Robin Hood tales, the Brythonic –inspired Arthurian legends, to contemporary urban legends and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.
Magical objects, magical images and magical motives play an important role in English folklore, especially in English fairy tales. We can list such magical objects as magical wand, magical pipe, magical harp, magical egg, magical sword etc. They can be classified into magic weapons, magic musical instruments, magic kitchen tools, magic jewelleries, magic dishes, magic clothes and others. In different jenres of folklore, especially in fairy tales magic objects have various functions and they mostly help and support the main heroes or the negative characters. In this article the peculiar supernatural features of some magical objects in Arthurian Legends and in English fairy tales collected by Joseph Jacobs will be analysed.
One of the groups of magical objects in folklore are magic weapons. Magical weapons are weapons that have obvious fantastic or supernatural qualities. They include magic sword, magic knife, magic spear etc.
A magic sword is one of the magic weapons and the most popular weapon used in English folklore. Magic swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords. Sometimes the sword is ascribed no powers of its own. It is famous because it is the main hero`s sword, or because of its origin, as when a god gives it to the hero. Other swords keep their owners safe or destroy their enemies.
There are two magic swords in the legend of King Arthur, in most variants. The first is the Sword in the Stone. Only Arthur could draw it out, thereby proving that he is the rightful king. In some tales, this is his only sword. In most variants, this sword was then broken, and he receives from The Lady of the Lake a new sword called Excalibur, arguably the most famous of magic swords. However, in other variants Excalibur itself is the sword in the stone. It is not clear from the various accounts of the Arthurian legend whether Excalibur itself was possessed of magical powers or merely had a magical origin, though its scabbard protected its bearer from physical harm. Many interpretations of the legend appear to endow Excalibur with a cutting strength and durability beyond that of ordinary weapons.
According to some variants of Arthurian Legend there are five magic weapons which belong to King Arthur.
- Excalibur — King Arthur`s magical war sword
- Clarent — King Arthur`s sword of peace. Also known as the Coward's Blade, as it is the sword Mordred stole and later used to kill King Arthur.
- Carnwennan — King Arthur`s dagger, sometimes described to shroud the user in shadow.
- Rhongomiant — King Arthur`s Spear
- Caliburn — The sword King Arthur pulled from the stone.
In the epic poem “Beowulf” Unferth gives a magical sword to Beowulf. This sword is called Hrunting. Beowulf uses this sword in the battle against Grendel`s Mother».But fortunately his glance fell upon a huge magic sword hanging on the wall. Beowulf killed the monster with its help». [2,p.13]
Among the fairy tales collected by Joseph Jacobs «Molly Whuppie», «Jack the Giant Killer», «Childe Rowland», «Red Ettin» have magic weapons with fantastic features.
In the fairy tale “Molly Whuppie” there is a magic sword which belongs to the giant. The giant`s power was in this sword. “The king said: “Well, Molly you are a clever girl, and you have managed well,but if you would manage better and go back and steal the giant`s sword that hangs on the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to marry.” [3,p.96] And the main character of the fairy tale Molly Whuppie manages bravely to take this sword from the giant and her sister is married to the king`s son.
“Jack the giant killer” is a fairy tale about Jack and his battles with different giants. In this fairy tale a magic sword is used and it cuts asunder whatever you strike. This sword in the fairy tale is cal led the sword of sharpness. “Jack at length got a cart- rope and cast it over the two heads of the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut off both his heads with his sword of sharpness and sent him to King Arthur.” [3, p.84] With the help of this sword Jack kills the giants.
“Childe Rowland” is also one of the English fairy tales collected by Joseph Jacobs. We can meet a magic brand (sword) in this fairy tale as well. The owner of this brand is never defeated. With the help of this sword Childe Rowland defeats the enemy and saves his sister who was in trouble.
“But he begged, and he begged, till at last the good queen let him go, and gave him his father`s good brand that never struck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the spell that would give it victory.” [3, p. 91]
He fought with the King of Elfland with the help of this brand. Child Rowland rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They fought till Childe Rowland beat the King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg for mercy. And so his sister was saved.
In the fairy tale “Red Ettin” a magic knife,which shows the condition of his owner, is used. Though the hero is far away his family can know whether he is well or not.
“Then he took his brother aside, and gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he might be sure that the owner of it was well, but if it grew dim and rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him.” [3, p. 98]
Magic musical instruments play very important role in English fairy tales, they make fairy tales more expressive. There are English fairy tales that have magic musical instruments such as magic harp, magic pipe, magic trumpet.
In «Jack the Giant Killer» a magic golden trumpet is used and its function is to break the black enchantment. The main hero Jack finds this golden trumpet upon the gates of the castle and it was hung by a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved:
«Whoever shall this trumpet blow,
Shall soon the giant overthrow,
And break the black enchantment straight;
So all shall be in happy state» [3, p.85]
After reading these lines Jack blew the trumpet and the castle trembled. The giant and conjurer were in horrid confusion, knowing their wicked reign was at an end. So the enchantment was broken, and all the ladies and lords who had been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. Thus the golden trumpet saved the people.
«The Pied Piper» is a fairy tale about a piper who has a magic pipe with a certain peculiarity. According to the fairy tale the town of Franchville was in trouble because of rats. The town was so infested with rats that it was impossible to live there. The Pied Piper promised the Mayor of the town to get rid of every single rat. As he blew his pipe all the rats of the town came out of each hole and they followed the tune. The piper went into the water and all the rats were drowned.
"... he was at the water`s edge he stepped into into a boat, and not a rat as he shoved off into deep water, piping shrilly all the while, but followed him, plashing, paddling, and wagging their tails with delight. On and on he played and played untill the tide went down, and each master rat sank deeper and deeper in the slimy ooze of the harbour, until every mother`s son of them was dead and smoothered» [3,p.199] So the town got rid of the rats. But this was not the only feature of the pipe. After not being paid for his service the piper used another tune, because he could pipe many kinds of tunes. The next tune was joyous and resonant, full of happy laughter and merry play. At first all the children and the elders laughed and mocked and they followed the piper to the cool green forest full of old oaks and wide- spreading beeches. Gradually the laughter of the children broke and fade and died away deeper and deeper as into the green wood the stranger went, the children followed. Neither the children, nor the piper were seen again. The piper was very angry and that`s why he used the next tune for a negative purpose.
«Tattercoats» is another fairy tale with a magic pipe. It is about a girl who was ignored by her grandfather, because at her birth her mother died. He hated her bitterly and would never look on her face. The girl was always in rags and so she was always mocked by others and called «Tattercoats». Nobody made friends with her except a gooseherd. The girl goes to the ball organized by the prince. The gooseherd plays the pipe and the girl`s rags change into beautiful clothes. The prince falls in love with the girl and they marry.
".....the Herdboy put his pipe to his lips and played a few low notes that sounded like a bird singing far off in the woods; and as he played, Tattercoat`s rags were changed to shining robes sewn with glittering jewels, a golden crown lay upon her golden hair, and the flock of geese behind her, became a crowd of dainty pages, bearing her long train» [3,p.236]
In some fairy tales such as «Binnorie», «Jack and the beanstalk» we can come across with magic harp with different functions. In «Binnorie» the harp is made of the bones and golden hair of a princess killed by her sister. And when the harper plays this harp, it retells everything that happened to the princess and that her sister killed her.
«Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what it sang out loud and clear:
And there sits my sister who drowned me
By the bonny mill-dams o` Binnorie
And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more». [3, p.44]
In «Jack and the beanstalk» the golden harp sings itself when the giant asks to sing. The harp sings very beautifully. When Jack steals the harp, it calls out its master aloud.
«Then he said «Sing!«and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it went on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder» [3, p.57]
To sum up, magical objects in the fairy tales fill the development of events with mysteriousness and strenthen their literary expressiveness. Often they become the factor of the development of the plot and serve to open the characteristic features of the heroes of fairy tales. Early beliefs and traditions of the folk are surely the foundation for the personification of the magical objects.
References:
- Ўзбек халқ эртаклари I-боб. Т.: Ўқитувчи, 2007.
- Bakoeva M., Muratova E., English literature. Tashkent, 2006.
- English fairy tales collected by Joseph Jacobs. Pennsylvania State University, 2005.
- English folk tales. M.: Iris Press, 2002.
- Internet. www.wikipedia.com.
