The stories presented in Down the Moonlit Path represent cultures across the globe. While there are many connecting images and themes between these tales, each culture brings its own unique voice, values, and storytelling methods to build its heritage of folk tales.
Because many tales come from oral traditions, much of their recorded history has been made by outsiders; this production has aimed to include as much background information to be as culturally representative as possible and source stories that can be traced back to their originating culture. Find more information on the cultures that inspired the show below. |
German
The Brothers Grimm variation of the "Hansel & Grethel" story is the most familiar tale of this type, originally written in 1812 and revised and re-translated from the Grimms multiple times. The story is based on incidents from The Great Famine of 1315-1317, which led to the death of millions across Europe and widespread child abandonment. The German term wüstungen was made to describe abandoned settlements during this era..
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Iraqi
"The Storks and the Night Owl" is a German adaptation of a story most likely lost from The Thousand and One Nights. The caliph of Baghdad in "Storks" is most likely grounded in Harun al-Rashid, the leader of Baghdad during the late 8th and early 9th Century CE. Al-Rashid led the city to its prosperous status as the central hub of the Islamic Golden Age, a time during which nearly 1.5 million people lived in Baghdad.
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Peruvian
The story of "The Hummingbird and the Shepherdess" comes from the Andes mountain region of Peru, most likely from the oral tradition of the indigenous Aymara people who live there. Regional animals play an important role in the area's storytelling, and as represented in the tale, the Andean condor--one of the largest flying birds alive today—and the tiny hummingbird are key figures.
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Filipino
The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, so water is a lasting and ubiquitous image in Filipino folk tales. "Mangita & Larina" is set along the Laguna de Bay in Luzon, the largest island in the archipelago. The plague mentioned in the story is likely cholera or smallpox, brought to the region by Spanish imperialists in the 16th century. Mariang Makiling, the protector goddess of Mount Makiling along Laguna de Bay, may be represented by the old woman who transforms to save Mangita from a terrible disease.
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Jamaican
"Cunnie-More-Than-Father" is a Jamaican adaptation of the West African trickster god, Anansi. Anansi is so popular a character that the Ghanian term Anansesem captures the "Anansi Stories" tradition that traveled across the world from Africa to the Caribbean.
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Haudenosaunee
The source for "How Morning Star Lost Her Fish" is Mabel Powers' adaptation of a traditional Haudenosaunee story. The Haudenosaunee people—named Iroquois by French colonists—are composed of six nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora). In this tale, Morning Star is more earthly as opposed to other tales that anthropomorphize the legend of "the morning star." We are also introduced to the "jo gah oh," little people who protect the land and create mischief for those who do not respect nature.
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Links
Jo Gah Oh |
Congolese
Tales of two brothers are some of the oldest in myth and legend. The Congolese tale "The Twin Brothers" was recorded by Richard Edward Dennett in 1897 from local stories by the Kongo people of what is now the Republic of the Congo (a separate country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
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Japanese
The story of "The Crane Wife" comes from the era of feudal Japan, when emperors, shoguns, and daimyo ruled over the land. Daimyo were the overseers of their own particular regions, having the most power in that region and answering only to shoguns and the emperor for much of the 10th to 19th Centuries..
Portions of "The Crane Wife" for Down the Moonlit Path have been written in traditional Japanese verse, primarily haiku and tanka forms, dating back more than 700 years. |
Norwegian
"Hans, Who Made the Princess Laugh" is an "all-stick-together" story type by the Norwegian fairy tale writer Peter Christen Asbjornsen. Asbjornsen adapted his folk tales following a period of war between Norway and Sweden which led to an uneasy union and rapidly shifting forms of government as multiple kings, rulers, and developing parliaments struggled to take power of the country. This may be a reason royalty plays such a central role in this story, as Hans allows a chance to laugh at changing rules and strictures.
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