My brother recently came across this folk tale and I decided to have a look. Apparently there is a traditional Hungarian story about two princes (brothers) who travel into the wilderness accompanied by a pack of animals (wolves, bears and lions, to be exact). They split up, and one of the brothers encounters a witch who turns him and his animals into stone with a wand. His brother, after having some remarkable adventures (complete with slaying an evil knight and rescuing a princess) comes and discovers the spot where the statues of his brother and the animals are. He discovers the witch, as well as the truth about what happened... and after taking her wand, not only un-stones his brother and the animals, but turns the witch to stone, whereupon all concerned live happily ever after (well, except the petrified witch, who is reportedly still standing on the spot to this day).
I'm not 100% sure when this story dates to, but I'm curious if Lewis ever heard it, given the elements of a witch using a wand to turn creatures to stone, then being defeated by her would-be victim's brother. My brother mentioned that there is a Serbian/Czech version of the tale in which the witch actually has a castle, but I haven't found sources on that one yet.
Do you think Lewis heard some version of this story and borrowed from it? Or is this just a weird coincidence?
This topic was modified 2 years ago by Cleander
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Topic starter
Posted : August 18, 2022 10:28 am
Well Lewis was definitely a myths man, so he could have. The magical white stag also had a counterpart in Slavic myth, but it's also featured in European myth.
I think the witch's turning creatures into statues stems from her cold and cold-hearted nature and how she tries to quash any joy or happiness in her kingdom. In the animated movie The Yellow Submarine, the minions of the Blue Meanies do the same to the inhabitants of Pepperland when they seem to come back to life (they also destroy the butterflies)
Posted : August 18, 2022 2:02 pm
Cleander liked
Tolkien said that most European fairy tales are related across the countries.
The story of the Snow Queen is very like that story (and like LWW). A child is enchanted by an evil witch, and another child goes through various adventures to save them, meeting interesting and helpful creatures along the way.
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
Posted : August 18, 2022 2:14 pm
Cleander liked
It sounds a lot like the Brothers Grimm's story, The Two Brothers. It's an unusually long story for the Grimms but worth a read if you like fairy tales and eventually it gets to a witch who turns people and animals into stone.
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Household Tales by Brothers Grimm, by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
This post was modified 2 years ago by Col Klink
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Posted : August 18, 2022 3:53 pm
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