ATU 326 The Youth Who Wanted to Learn What Fear Is
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The tale in brief
A youth who has never been afraid goes out to learn fear: nothing frightens him in the church tower, under the gallows or in a haunted house, until cold water, or an eel, poured over him at last makes him shudder.
Summary written for RunoVerse from Antti Aarne’s list of tale types of 1910 and the Finnic texts linked on this page.
Estonian treasure legends
Types of Estonian treasure legends that RunoVerse links to this tale type. A canonical reference rests on a catalogue number in the legend type’s name; strong parallels and experimental matches rest on a shared plot or shared motifs.
- P 326: Hirmuotsija (ATU 326). Julge mees otsib ja kogeb katsumusi, muuhulgas satub varandusekeldrisse, k... · 12 records · canonical reference
- P 336: "Ma tulen, ma tõusen!" Hoones (kindlas ruumis) on võimatu viibida hirmutavate häälte tõttu. Julge... · 71 records · strong parallel
- P 317: Varandusekelder · 166 records · experimental match
- P 306: Varandusevalvur/kurat. Keegi otsib peidetud varandust (võib olla unes juhatatud), kuid kohtub val... · 208 records · experimental match
Finnic and Finland-Swedish sources cited in the catalogue
The entries of the catalogue’s list of literature and variants that concern Finnic tradition.
Finnish Rausmaa 1982ff. I, No. 20
Finnish-Swedish Hackman 1917f. I, No. 60a
Estonian Aarne 1918
Livonian Loorits 1926
Full references:
- Rausmaa 1982ff.: Rausmaa, Pirkko-Liisa (ed.): Suomalaiset kansansadut 1–6. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1982–2000.
- Hackman 1917f.: Hackman, Oskar (ed.): Finlands svenska folkdiktning I A: Sagor. Referatsamling 1–2. Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1917–1920. Read online ↗ (National Library of Finland)
- Aarne 1918: Aarne, Antti: Estnische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. Verzeichnis der zu den Hurt'schen Handschriftensammlungen gehörenden Aufzeichnungen. FF Communications 25. Hamina: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1918.
- Loorits 1926: Loorits, Oskar: Livische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. FF Communications 66. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1926.
Motifs and related tale types
Motifs: Ghosts Haunt House E281·Ghostly Barber E571·Dead Persons Play Cards E577.2·Dead Persons Bowl E577.3·Quest: Learning What Fear Is H1376.2·Fear Test H1400·Fear Test: Staying Under Gallows at Night H1415·Fearless Hero Frightened by Being Awakened with Cold Water H1441·Fearless Hero Frightened by Being Awakened by Eels Put Down His Back H1441.1·Reward for Fearlessness Q82
Combines with: ATU 1061 Biting a Stone to Pieces·ATU 1159 The Ogre Caught in the Cleft (previously The Ogre Wants to Learn to Play)·ATU 151 A Man Teaches a Wild Animal to Play the Fiddle (previously The Man Teaches Bears to Play the Fiddle)·ATU 1535 The Rich and the Poor Farmer·ATU 1640 The Brave Tailor·ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer·ATU 328 The Boy Steals the Ogre's Treasure·ATU 330 The Smith and the Devil (previously The Smith Outwits the Devil)·ATU 332 Godfather Death·ATU 400 The Man on a Quest for his Lost Wife·ATU 505 The Grateful Dead·ATU 563 The Table, the Donkey and the Stick·ATU 569 The Knapsack, the Hat and the Horn·ATU 613 The Two Travelers·ATU 650A Strong John
Sources
Tale-type number, title, classification, related types and the Finnic sources: Hans-Jörg Uther, The Types of International Folktales (FF Communications 284–286, Helsinki 2004). · Uther 2004, part I (FF Communications 284), free online ↗
Treasure-legend links: RunoVerse’s matching of the Estonian treasure-legend types with the tale types.
Motifs and combinations with other tale types: the Trilogy dataset, from Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and the ATU catalogue.
The plot summary, the notes and the arrangement of this page are RunoVerse’s own.