← RunoVerse

Ema haual

Runosong type in the classification of ERAB, the Estonian Folklore Archives’ runosong database

In English: At mother's grave (a translation; the archive names the type in Estonian only)

Filed underMurelaulud (songs of sorrow) › Vaeslaps
Poems1,124
Verses37,756
Collection places110
Collected1860s to 1940s
CollectorsKarl Voldemar Rosenstrauch · Karl Viljak · Mihkel (Tori) Ostrov · Gustav Vilberg (Vilbaste) · Oskar Philipp Kallas · Richard Viidalepp (Viidebaum) · Peeter Penna · Jüri Välbe · Helene Maasen-Varik · Hans Siimer

Open this type in the song-type explorer

The archive’s description

Written by the editors of the ERAB type index and quoted as it stands, in Estonian.

ERlA 1601. Ema haual: laulutüüp «Ema haual» on mitte ainult kõige populaarsem vaeslapselaul, vaid üldse üks armastatumaid ja levinumaid laule kogu meie regivärsilises laulurepertuaaris. Üleskirjutatud variantide arvu poolest on see üks rekordtüüpe (1000 variandi ümber). Laulu levik on ülemaaline. Seejuures osutab suuremat esinemissagedust maa ida- ja keskosa — rannakihelkondadest kuni lõunapiirini välja. Lääne-Eestist (eriti aga loodest — Lääne-Harjumaalt, Läänemaalt ja Hiiu saarelt) on üleskirjutusi hõredalt.

Laialdase leviku ja suure esinemissagedusega käib kaasas laulu suur sisuline mitmekesisus. Laulul on kaks põhilist lokaalredaktsiooni, üks neist (A) on levinud valdavalt maa põhja-, teine lõunaosas. Peamine sisu ja nii-öelda «tegevuskoht» on mõlemal redaktsioonil ühine — vaeslaps (~vaeslapsed) kurdab ema (~isa, vanemate, sugulaste) haual oma mahajäetuse, vanemate hoole ja armastuse puudumise pärast, keelitades surnud ema (~isa~ema, isa)

Where it was collected

Collection places of the poems, with the number of poems of this type from each. A place may be where the song was written down or where the singer came from.

…and 50 more places

When it was collected

DecadePoems
1860s9
1870s65
1880s261
1890s353
1900s69
1910s123
1920s97
1930s80
1940s8
year not recorded59

Example poems

The opening verse of one poem from each of the ten places with the most poems of this type: the first such poem in the archive’s order. Each links to the whole poem. A poem can be filed under several types, so its opening verse may belong to another song.

Other types the same poems are filed under

The archive can file one poem under several types. These are the types most often given to poems of this type, with the number of poems they share.

TypePoems in common
Vara vaeslapseks47
Ema ja armud37
Kaks vaeslast28
Ema arm26
Vara vaeseks24
Kasvatus asjatu6
Kasvatus asjata6
Surma sajatus6
Avanenud hauad6
Nutust järv5
Imelik maja5
Ema õpetus - üldine5

Content-based similar types

Several methods each rank the song types whose poems resemble this type's poems; the combined ranking merges their lists. The first 20 are listed here.

  1. Ema haud (Mother's Grave)
  2. Eide haual (At mother's grave)
  3. Avanenud hauad (Opening graves)
  4. Avatud haud (The open grave)
  5. Pole isa olnudki - ema haual (Never had a father — at mother's grave)
  6. Kaks vaeslast (Two Orphans)
  7. Vanamehe kohus surra (Old man's duty to die)
  8. Vara vaeseks (Orphaned Young)
  9. Vara vaeslapseks (Too soon an orphan)
  10. Ema haual (isa haual) (At mother's grave (father's grave))
  11. Pole isa olnudki (As If There Were No Father)
  12. Laula, kuni elad! (Sing while you live!)
  13. Muru mulla peale (Grass upon the Soil)
  14. Arg kosija (The timid suitor)
  15. Laula, suukene (Sing, little mouth)
  16. Ema ja armud (Mother and her love)
  17. Kaks vaestlast (Two orphans)
  18. Suretamise sõnad (Words for causing death)
  19. Liiva sõel (Sand sieve)
  20. Nukumäng (Doll Game)

Open in the Similarity Explorer

Sources: the type’s name, filing and description come from the type index of ERAB, the Estonian Folklore Archives’ runosong database; the counts, places, decades and collectors are counted from the poems on RunoVerse.