“What big teeth you have, Grandma!” I guess you know which tale that quotation comes from, but did you know that many folk and fairy tales are much more ancient than most people think? There’ll be more about “Little Red Riding Hood” later in this article, but first we’ll go to Western Ireland for a custom known as the Wrenboys, which demonstrates how stories can migrate across continents and cultures.

King of the Birds

In a previous news article, I mentioned about attending a meeting of the druidic Hollow Hills Grove ADF. This Grove meets in Aldershot mainly on the first Thursday of the month (but on other days too) and I was overwhelmed with their hospitality. I went along to one of their lore meetings, which examined the custom of wassail, together with other seasonal traditions, such as apple howling, mumming, the krampus, perchta and the flaming tar barrels of Ottery St Mary. For more details of their schedule, see www.hollowhills-adf.org.uk.

However, while I was there, a short account of the Wrenboys was shown and the Irish celebrate 26 December as the Wren Day. In Ireland, the wren is seen as the king of the birds on account of a trick played on the eagle in a competition. This is an old legend, but what was interesting to me is that the Irish legend is identical to a tale told by the Oneida people and which I have abridged for my set of Native American tales. Here is the Oneida story of the Hermit Thrush.

Long ago, the birds had no song. It was a time when only humans had the power to sing and, each day, the people would sing a song of greeting to the sun as it rose and one of farewell as it set.

The birds admired the songs and would often stop their flight and listen to the beautiful voices. In their hearts they wished they too could be able to sing. Then, one day, the Creator decided to visit the earth.

As the Creator walked through the forest, he noticed there was a great silence and he knew something was missing. He was pondering the silence when from over the hills he heard a song from people in a village saluting the setting sun. He heard the Indian drums and the chanting of the sunset song. The song pleased the Creator, but he saw that he was not alone in listening to the beautiful song. The birds were silently listening to the villagers. The Creator immediately realised what was missing: “The birds, too, should have song”.

The next day, the Creator called the birds to a great council. Birds came from great distances, until soon the sky was filled with every variety. The birds were so numerous their combined weight bent the trees and bushes upon which they perched. When the birds grew silent the Creator spoke.

He asked the birds if they would like to have the gift of song. In one voice the birds answered the Creator, chirping a resounding “yes!”

The Creator told the birds that the next morning, at sunrise, they were to fly up into the sky, flying as far as their wings would carry them. When they could fly no farther, they would find their song. The bird to attain the highest flight would receive the most beautiful song. When the Creator finished speaking, he vanished.

Before the sun rose the next morning, the birds were preparing for their flight. Birds blanketed the earth, full of excitement. All were excited except for one, the little brown hermit thrush. The tiny bird was perched next to the eagle. As the thrush looked at the differences between himself and the eagle, the thrush despaired, believing he would have no chance to compete against so large a bird.

Suddenly, the thrush decided upon a plan. The little thrush noted the eagle’s distracted excitement and swiftly flew onto the eagle’s head and buried himself under the eagle’s feathers. The eagle did not notice the little thrush hidden in his feathers. He was busy thinking that he would win due to his great wings.

At sunrise, the birds began their flight and so many birds were trying for the most beautiful song that their presence in the sky eclipsed the sun.
Time passed and the smaller, weaker birds became tired. The little hummingbird was the first to fall out of the race. The tiny bird beat his little wings so fast that to this day if one listens closely the humming of his wings creates a constant refrain of “wait for me, wait for me” – a very simple, plain song.

The next bird to stop his ascent was the cowbird, a very fat bird. He, too, was awarded a very simple song. One after another, the birds began to weaken. As they began their descents, they listened and learned their individual songs. Finally, the sun began to set and darkness enveloped the earth. Only a few birds remained in contention for the most beautiful song. The eagle, hawk, owl, buzzard and loon (the stronger, larger birds) continued their upward climb. Throughout the night, the birds rose higher and higher into the sky.

When the next sunrise came, only one bird was left: the eagle. As the day progressed, the eagle grew weary. Believing he was the only bird left, he began to triumphantly soar toward the earth. The little hermit thrush was still hiding in the eagle’s feathers, having slept throughout the trip. As the eagle began to dip back toward earth, the little thrush awoke and hopped off the eagle’s head and started his upward flight. The eagle saw the thrush and realised what had happened, but was too exhausted to stop him.

The little thrush flew and flew until he came to a hole in the sky. He was in a beautiful place, the Land of Happy Spirits. Upon his entrance into this world, he heard a beautiful song. He stayed in this wondrous land until he had learned the song. When he was certain he knew the song completely he flew back to earth. As he began his descent, his heart beat with anticipation, so eager was he to show off his song.

The hermit thrush’s happiness was not to last. As he approached the earth, he saw before him all the birds gathered around council rock and, perched upon the rock, was the eagle glaring up at him. A great silence came upon them as they waited for the thrush to reach the ground. Now the little thrush felt shame, not glory. He knew he had cheated to receive the beautiful song and he began to fear the eagle’s anger.

Instead of flying to the council rock and facing the eagle (and the other birds), the hermit thrush flew into the deep woods. In shame and with a heavy heart, he hid under the branches of the largest tree. 

The hermit thrush remains hidden in the woods to this day. His shame is great, because he realised he cheated, but sometimes he cannot restrain himself and he sings his beautiful song. When this happens, the other birds fall silent. They know they cannot compete against the thrush’s song from the Spirit World; a song that causes the sun to shine upon the hearts of those entering the dark forest.

So, which came first – the Irish or the Oneida legends? Or, are we talking about a commonality of experience across continents?

Little Red Riding Hood

I promised that we’d return to this popular tale, because many people believe that such stories were collected about 200-300 years ago by the Brothers Grimm or Charles Perrault. This is not true, because Dr Jamie Tehrani (a cultural anthropologist at Durham University) has studied 35 versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” from around the world.

Whilst the European version tells the story of a little girl who is tricked by a wolf masquerading as her grandmother, the Chinese version features a tiger instead of the wolf character. In Iran, where it would be considered odd for a young girl to roam alone, the story features a little boy. 

Contrary to the view that the tale originated in France shortly before Charles Perrault produced the first written version in the 17th century, Dr Tehrani found that the variants of the folk tale shared a common ancestor that dated back more than 3000 years. 

By 2009, Dr Tehrani identified 70 variables in plot and characters between different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. He found that the stories could be grouped into distinct families according to how they evolved over time. 

He said: “Over time these folk tales have been subtly changed and have evolved just like a biological organism. Because many of them were not written down until much later, they have been misremembered or reinvented through hundreds of generations. By looking at how these folk tales have spread and changed it tells us something about human psychology and what sort of things we find memorable. The oldest tale we found was an Aesop fable that dated from about the 6th century BC, so the last common ancestor of all these tales certainly predated this. We are looking at a very ancient tale that evolved over time.” 

The original ancestor is thought to be similar to another tale, “The Wolf and the Kids”, in which a wolf pretends to be a nanny goat to gain entry to a house full of young goats. 

Stories in Africa are closely related to this original tale, whilst stories from Japan, Korea, China and Burma form a sister group. Tales told in Iran and Nigeria are the closest relations to the modern European version. 

Charles Perrault’s French version was retold by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century. Dr Tehrani said: “We don’t know very much about the processes of transmission of these stories from culture to culture, but it is possible that they may be passed along trade routes or with the movement of people.” 

Trickster tales

Trickster tales are common to all types of ancient fables and folk tales and can be found on every continent. Examples of trickster deities include Isis, Loki, Iktomi, Old Man Coyote, Anansi, Elegua, Gwydion, Eris, Dolos, Laverna and Lugh. Some of these tales have common strands, such as can be seen below.

1. Several trickster gods are seen as old men or women, akin to the crone stage in some Wiccan beliefs or the wise women/cunning men of Saxon tales. Old Man Coyote of some Native American tribes or Elegua from Yoruba are examples.
2. A key attribute of tricksters is the ability to change shape at will, e.g. Loki, Laverna and Lugh.
3. Iktomi is the spider deity of the Sioux, but Anansi is also a trickster spider, found in both Jamaican and West African traditions. In the case of Anansi, the stories were told orally and went with the slaves from West Africa to the plantations of the West Indies.
4. Many cultures designate certain animals to be tricksters within folk tales, e.g. crows, ravens, foxes, wolves and even Brer Rabbit!
5. Some of these gods play pranks or jokes on humans to mislead them, e.g. Dolos, Veles (Poland and the Czech Republic) and Eris.
6. Other tricksters seek to deceive their fellow gods, e.g. Isis, Loki or Gwydion.

Conclusion

Not all similarities in folklore and fairy tales can be attributed to mass migrations like the slave trade or settlers moving from one continent to another. To be fair, some cross-cultural influence can be seen from such migrations and it is possible that, in a century or so, some common folk tales in Western Europe will have their roots in Syrian folklore.

What is certain is that the oldest known fairy/folk tales in written form date from ancient Egypt in about 1300 BCE, but the key fact is that most such tales were delivered in the oral tradition. The role of storytellers was vital to many ancient communities as a news service as much as a type of entertainment. Storytellers were people who told and wrote stories, were prized by early settlements and were probably responsible for the spread of tales across countries. Did these folktales travel across continents with the earliest Scandinavian explorers or Phoenician slavers? That is a question for future research.