Final Portfolio (Revised Assignments 1-3, and Introduction) Folklore

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Legend Variant: “Black Death”

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A standard variant of the Black Death legend is the case of the “Lonely survivor.” The legend is a story about a large group that fled to the mountain after the disease was discovered. However, they carried with them the plague, and in a short while, the community experienced massive deaths except for one girl. The girl was then re-domesticated and married into a good family. The girl was named Rype because she was discovered while she had wild behaviors and was the sole survivor of the mountain community. Similar to other legends and stories, the Black Death and the story of the mummer in Ireland have changed over time as generations tell new stories (Glassie, 1983). Rype also inherited the land where her community had settled before their death. Her descendants are proud owners of the land, tracing their fortune to the events of the black death.

One motif in the legend variation is the presence of a child, which is also found in many other variations of the “Black Death.” For example, those who adopted Rype found her when she was a child in the wild. The other motif is the presence of a person who survived the plaque. In the variation, Rype is the sole survivor after the disease wipes out her entire community. The variant is similar to other variants of the “Black Death,” which wiped out a large population in Asia and Europe (Kvideland & Sehmsdorf, 1991, p.344). The variation also mentions the sole survivor of the plaque, similar to other variants and myths about the disease. The traditional pattern in the variant mentions a young child who is the survivor of the disease from an entire community. The audience believes that the community from which the variant is from is mistaken, though, at the time, one can understand the community’s assumption about the disease.

Reference

Glassie, H. (1983). All silver and no brass: An Irish Christmas mumming. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Kvideland, R., & Sehmsdorf, H. K. (1991). Scandinavian folk belief and legend. University of Minnesota Press.