Table Of Contentlegend and belief
legend
and
DialecticsofaFolkloreGenre
belief
Linda De´gh
indiana university press
bloomington and indianapolis
Publicationofthisbookismadepossibleinpartwiththeassistance
ofaChallengeGrantfromtheNationalEndowmentfortheHu-
manities,afederalagencythatsupportsresearch,education,and
publicprogramminginthehumanities.
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(cid:1)2001byLindaDe´gh
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Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequire-
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PermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48-
1984.
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
De´gh,Linda.
Legendandbelief:dialecticsofafolkloregenre/LindaDe´gh.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-253-33929-4(cl:alk.paper)
1.Legends.2.Urbanfolklore.3.Beliefanddoubt. I.Title.
GR78.D442001
398—dc21
00-054014
1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02 01
contents
Acknowledgments | vii
1.TheTopic,Purpose,andDestinationofThisBook | 1
2.IsThereaDefinitionfortheLegend? | 23
3.LegendasTextinContext | 98
4.Legend-Tellers | 204
5.TheLandscapeandtheClimateoftheLegend | 311
6.Texts,ContextualizedandProcessed | 400
Notes | 443
Bibliography | 461
Index | 489
Acknowledgments
Thisbookshouldnothavetakensolongtowrite,andImustapologizefor
mytardiness.Myhusband,AndrewVa´zsonyi(theatercritic,authorofnovels,
short stories, and children’s literature, doctor of jurisprudence, aestheticist,
philosopher,analyticalpsychologist,linguist,semiotician,andself-madefolk-
loristtowhomIowethanksforteachingmehowtobecomeafolklorist)and
Imadepreliminarypreparationstowritethisbookthroughbrainstormingses-
sions that resulted in six co-authored theoretical papers between 1969 and
1983. Our arguments were sharpened through fierce debates. Billy, our En-
glishfoxhound, disappearedwhen heheard loudvoices; tomakehim come
back, we had to convince him that we were not fighting. Unfortunately, I
could not resist temptation and strayed away to other folklore matters that
required less hard thinking and less discipline. Andrew died in December
1986,leavingmewithaheapofhandwrittennotesthatIcouldnotread,and
an outline of chapters that I did not follow. In writing now I am relying on
ideashewroteinasmallnotebookandonourfieldworknotesanddiaries.I
couldnothavewrittenthisbookwithouthim.
IwanttoexpressmygratitudetothemanypeoplewithwhomIspentmany
longhoursindiscussionandwithoutwhomIcouldnothavesucceeded.
First, I thank the folk narrative specialists, my teachers, colleagues, and
fellow travelers: Lutz Ro¨hrich, Hermann Bausinger, Rudolf Schenda, Utz
Jeggle, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Max Lu¨thi, Lauri Honko, Juha Penti-
ka¨inen, Bengt af Klintberg, Carl-Herman Tillhagen, Bengt Holbek, Alan
Dundes, Donald Ward, Richard M. Dorson, Jan Brunvand, Ronald Baker,
GaryAlanFine,DanBen-Amos,andHenryGlassie.
Second,Ithankmyfriendlyandtolerantfoes,withmyapologiesforbeing
soargumentative.Iwillbealwaysgratefultothemfortheirwritingsandcriti-
cismwhichmademethink,andrethink:BillEllis,BillNicolaisen,andGil-
lianBennett.
Third, I thank my former students who turned out to become my col-
leagues, and who helped me learn how to teach and keep them happy in
spite ofthe heavyload of workI imposed onthem. Iam very proudof their
perseverance.Weexperiencedandexploredanunknownnewfieldtogether—
my endeavor would not have been possible without their advice: Carl Lin-
dahl, Joe Goodwin, Sylvia Grider, Janet Langlois, Kay Stone, Elizabeth
Tucker,ChristineGoldberg,SabinaMagliocco,andLindaSpetter.Butwhy
doIwriteLinda’snameasthelastwhenshebelongsupfront,rightafterAn-
vii
Acknowledgments
Thisbookshouldnothavetakensolongtowrite,andImustapologizefor
mytardiness.Myhusband,AndrewVa´zsonyi(theatercritic,authorofnovels,
short stories, and children’s literature, doctor of jurisprudence, aestheticist,
philosopher,analyticalpsychologist,linguist,semiotician,andself-madefolk-
loristtowhomIowethanksforteachingmehowtobecomeafolklorist)and
Imadepreliminarypreparationstowritethisbookthroughbrainstormingses-
sions that resulted in six co-authored theoretical papers between 1969 and
1983. Our arguments were sharpened through fierce debates. Billy, our En-
glishfoxhound, disappearedwhen heheard loudvoices; tomakehim come
back, we had to convince him that we were not fighting. Unfortunately, I
could not resist temptation and strayed away to other folklore matters that
required less hard thinking and less discipline. Andrew died in December
1986,leavingmewithaheapofhandwrittennotesthatIcouldnotread,and
an outline of chapters that I did not follow. In writing now I am relying on
ideashewroteinasmallnotebookandonourfieldworknotesanddiaries.I
couldnothavewrittenthisbookwithouthim.
IwanttoexpressmygratitudetothemanypeoplewithwhomIspentmany
longhoursindiscussionandwithoutwhomIcouldnothavesucceeded.
First, I thank the folk narrative specialists, my teachers, colleagues, and
fellow travelers: Lutz Ro¨hrich, Hermann Bausinger, Rudolf Schenda, Utz
Jeggle, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Max Lu¨thi, Lauri Honko, Juha Penti-
ka¨inen, Bengt af Klintberg, Carl-Herman Tillhagen, Bengt Holbek, Alan
Dundes, Donald Ward, Richard M. Dorson, Jan Brunvand, Ronald Baker,
GaryAlanFine,DanBen-Amos,andHenryGlassie.
Second,Ithankmyfriendlyandtolerantfoes,withmyapologiesforbeing
soargumentative.Iwillbealwaysgratefultothemfortheirwritingsandcriti-
cismwhichmademethink,andrethink:BillEllis,BillNicolaisen,andGil-
lianBennett.
Third, I thank my former students who turned out to become my col-
leagues, and who helped me learn how to teach and keep them happy in
spite ofthe heavyload of workI imposed onthem. Iam very proudof their
perseverance.Weexperiencedandexploredanunknownnewfieldtogether—
my endeavor would not have been possible without their advice: Carl Lin-
dahl, Joe Goodwin, Sylvia Grider, Janet Langlois, Kay Stone, Elizabeth
Tucker,ChristineGoldberg,SabinaMagliocco,andLindaSpetter.Butwhy
doIwriteLinda’snameasthelastwhenshebelongsupfront,rightafterAn-
vii
Acknowledgments
drew?BecausefromthemomentofherarrivaltoBloomington,witharecom-
mendationofherteacher,ProfessorWarrenWalker,shehasbeenmystudent.
ShetookallmyclassesandsoonIdiscoveredhersuperiorqualitiesandpoten-
tial for becoming a true professional folklorist. Her devotion and loyalty to
folklorewerenevershakeninthecurrenthostileclimatewhichthreatensits
survival. She became my student assistant, and my previous two books are
proof of our harmonious collaboration as author and editor. Now she is a
Ph.D.infolklore,andthisbookshouldbeastrongstatementonbehalfofher
applicationforajobinasolidfolkloredepartment—shemightbeamongthe
veryfewwhocanrescuethedisciplinefromoblivion.
Last, but not least, I thank my computer assistants Amy Goldenberg and
Alex Tsow who helped me keep my sanity when my whimsical computer
threatenedtoerasethepagesitdisliked.
viii
legend and belief
