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MAGICIAN - MAGICIANS - WIZARD - WIZARDS Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Scroll down or click on your choice below • SOS: Searching Out Stories/Information Magician - Magicians - Wizards Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians |
SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFORMATION - MAGICIAN - MAGICIANS - WIZARD - WIZARDS
Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research)
Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them for more information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell any stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
Storytell posts are added as they are received by Story Lovers World.
1) A Book of Magic Animals
"Bull's Winter House" (Russia)
"Dolphin" (Mallorca)
"Eh! Eh! Tralala!" (Russia)
"Elsa and the Bear" (Germany)
"Jon and his Brothers" (French Canada)
"Lilla Rosa" (Sweden)
"Little Humpbacked Horse" (Russia)
"Little Barbette" (Brittany)"
"Mainu the Frog" (Africa)
"North-west Wind" (Brittany)
"Small-Tooth Dog" (England)
2) Josepha Sherman has an entire book of magician stories called Merlin's Kin. It's really wonderful because it is full of world tales of magicians -- so you would find classic and lesser known stories from many cultures. It does have two Chinese stories about magical brushes/artists.
Response:
OK, gotta plug my book: Merlin's Kin: World Tales of the Heroic Magician (World Storytelling)
. Lots of good folktales in there, if I say so m'self!
Jo S.
3) Except for "Merlin and the Magician's Apprentice," I can't think of other magicians. However, there are certainly a lot of magical elements in stories. There are many folk tales with the motif of throwing an object and having it turn into something else - "Molly and Jack," "Baba Yaga," "Whistling Tsonaquas." Throw a piece of corn and the milk turns to blood, throw a rock and it makes a huge pit, throw a comb and it turns into a forest. I'm sure there are many more.
Then there's "The Hairy Man and Mama," who were both conjurers. Hairy Man could turn into animals and make things disappear. Mama could undo the spells.
Marilyn K.
4) I came across an early version of the "Magician's Apprentice" years ago - it is an Egyptian story. Disney basically followed the story for his rendition.
Mags S.
Response:
Are you thinking of an actual Ancient Egyptian version, or the Greek story set in Egypt by Lucian, which is so close it must have been the origin?
5) There is a magician in this short Indian folk tale, "The Frightened Mouse." It is good for young children, and working with German kids I get some up and participating.
http://www.tellatale.eu/
For older listeners, there is a magician in The Black Prince (Penguin Classics)
Barest of bones:
Young boy falls in love with princess. Asks a magician to change him into a warrior, a fit match for a princess. Magician does, in exchange for the only thing the boy can offer - his flute. Princess tells him she has already fallen in love with a poor boy who played such beautiful music.
Richard M.
Response:
Here's a longer version of bones of "The Black Prince" from Bare Bones #3 - True Love.
http://www.story-lovers.com/barebonesvol3.html#51 - "The Black Prince" - a story from Egypt
[Bones taken from Laura Simm's version of The Black Prince found in Ready-to-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories from America’s Favorite Storytellers, edited by David Holt and Bill Mooney. Little Rock: August House Publishers, Inc., 1994.]Text:
In ancient Egypt, there was a boy who was thought ugly, stupid and lazy. The only thing he cared about was playing his homemade flute. He would play it all day. Even his mother thought that he was worthless.
One day the boy found a beautiful walled garden with a girl sitting by a pool of water. He fell in love with the girl and came every day to sit on the wall and play his feelings for her on his flute. She never looked at him or acknowledged him, but simply sat there day after day by the pool. He dreamed of entering the garden one day and professing his love.
One day he heard some villagers talking about the Princess Thudmos, and they described the garden where she spent her days. The boy realized that he had fallen in love with a princess. He knew a princess would never love a poor boy who was ugly, stupid and lazy. Heartbroken, he wandered all night; at dawn he heard some merchants talking about a powerful magician named Habee.The boy asked them about Habee and was told he could perform any miracle. They told the boy he lived a three-day walk into the desert.
With nothing but his flute, the boy immediately began to walk out into the desert. He walked three days without stopping until he came to an oasis. There he met Habee, the magician, and told him his story. He asked Habee to change him into someone a princess would love...a strong, mighty warrior. Habee told him that he could do that, but warned the boy that once he changed a man's soul, it could not be changed back again.
Habee asked the boy how he would pay for this service. The boy had only his flute and Habee took it. After a few days, the boy's mother assumed he was dead, thought he had fallen into the river or some other foolish thing. She held a funeral.
Three years passed, during which the Pharaoh's enemies attacked him and he lost most of his land and half of his wealth. He was about to surrender, when a handsome, strong man dressed in black came into the Pharaoh's camp. He told the Pharaoh that he was the Black Prince and if the Pharaoh would let him lead the army, he would win back the Pharaoh's lands. In return he asked only to be given his heart's desire. The Pharaoh agreed. Within weeks, the Black Prince accomplished the goal and the Pharaoh was restored to power and wealth.
The Pharaoh was pleased and asked the Black Prince to visit him in his palace in one month. At the appointed time, the Black Prince arrived with much fanfare. Women scattered flowers at his feet and everyone gathered to catch a glimpse of the powerful warrior. When he arrived at the palace, he saw Princess Thudmos seated next to her father. The Pharaoh offered the Black Prince much wealth and power, but the Prince said he only wanted his heart's desire. When the Pharaoh asks what that was, the Prince stated that he would like to marry the Princess.
The Princess stood up, saying that if the Pharaoh commanded it, she would obey, but she warned the Prince that she would never love him, as she had already given her heart to another. She then told of a young boy who sat on her garden wall day after day, playing his flute. His music seemed to touch all the emotions of her heart. She dreamed of the day when he would come into the garden and love her as much as she loved him. But one day, he no longer came. When her servants went into the city to inquire after the flute player, they were told that he had drowned in the river.
The Princess told the Prince and her father that she would never love as deeply again and she had sworn never to marry. The Black Prince told the Princess that he, too, has once loved that deeply and that he would never ask her to marry against her will. He turned and left the palace, never to be seen or heard from again.
Contributed by Wendy G.
6) "The Enchanted Storks" - A Tale of Bagdad
[Retold by Aaron Shepard. Published as a picture book by Clarion, New York, 1995.]
Excerpt:
If favor now should greet my story,
Allah must receive the glory.
Once, in the great and glorious city of Bagdad, there was a Calif—Commander of the Faithful and ruler of all Islam. The people of Bagdad loved their ruler, yet one thing mystified them. All who came before him were amazed by his intimate knowledge of their daily lives.
“The Calif has a thousand eyes,” muttered some, glancing behind them for spies. But the Calif’s real secret was this: Each afternoon, he and his trusted Vizier, Ali ben Manzar, would disguise themselves as merchants and slip through a hidden door in the palace wall. Then they would roam the bazaars of the city, listening to the talk and gossip of the day.
One afternoon, as the Calif and his Vizier made their way through the market, an old and wizened man thrust one of his wares under the Calif’s nose.
“What a lovely snuffbox!” said the Calif, admiring the carving and jeweled inlay. “What will you ask for it?”
“Just one gold coin,” the peddler wheezed. The Calif gave him two, took the box, and walked on.
Reaching the edge of the city, the Calif and his Vizier strolled through the parks and orchards beyond. At last they stopped to rest by a quiet lake.
“I wonder if my new box holds any snuff,” said the Calif.
He opened the tiny box and found it filled with the pungent powder. “But what is this?” he said, pulling a piece of parchment from the underside of the lid.
The Vizier craned his neck to see. “What does it say, Glorious Lord?”
The Calif read,
A sniff of snuff, for wings to soar.
Casalavair for hands once more.
“Why, I believe the snuff is magic!” said the Calif. He looked longingly at the sky. “I have always wanted to see my city from the air.”
“Perhaps we should be cautious,” said the Vizier. “What if the charm fails to change us back?”
“If the snuff works, then surely the magic word will too,” said the Calif. “Come, let us try our luck!”
He held out the box, and each took a pinch of snuff. Then together they inhaled the powder.
A flurry of wings, beaks, and feathers—and there in place of the Calif and his Vizier stood two storks.
“Wonderful!” the Calif said, snapping and clattering his beak—for that is how storks talk. A human would have heard only Calap! Calap! But since both the Calif and his Vizier were now birds, Ali ben Manzar understood perfectly.
Calap! Calap! “Quite amazing!” replied the Vizier.
Calap! Calap! “Let us test our wings!” said the Calif.
The two storks rose into the air, circling higher and higher. Spread below were meadows, ornamental gardens, orchards, and fields of crops. The great river Tigris flowed slowly across the plain, sprouting canals along its length. And basking on the banks of the river was Bagdad, capital of all Islam, City of Peace.
“Breathtaking, is it not?” called the Calif. “Come, let us fly over the city.”
Soon they soared above the streets, canals, bridges, and clay-brick buildings of Bagdad. In courtyard and bazaar, people bought and sold, worked and rested, fought and prayed, stole and chased, kissed and parted, laughed and wept.
“Truly,” said the Calif, “a stork knows more of this city than the Calif himself.”
As evening drew near, the Vizier called, “Glorious Lord, we had best return to the palace.”
Back they flew to the lake, and landed by the snuffbox.
The Calif once more read the parchment, then cried, “Casalavair!”
And there stood—two storks.
“Casalavair!” called the Calif again. “Casalavair! Casalavair!”
But storks they remained.
“Ali ben Manzar, you try it!” said the terrified Calif.
“Casalavair! Casalavair!” cried the no-less-terrified Vizier.
But no matter how they called and hopped and flapped their wings, nothing changed.
At last they stood exhausted. “It seems,” the Vizier said, “some enemy has lured us into this enchantment.”
“But what can we do?” asked the Calif...
[Click below for the rest of the story...]
•••••
The rest of this lively story may be found at:
http://www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/GOS04.html
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/019.html
Commentary about this story may be found at:
http://www.aaronshep.com/extras/Storks_note.html
[Excerpt printed with the kind permission of Aaron Shepard.]
7) In James Stephens' Traditional Irish Fairy Tales
Jane D.
Response:
"Mongan's Frenzy" may be found at:
http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/irish10.htm
8) There is a distinction between supernatural wizards, whose power is innate, and those who have acquired power, either by study or by transfer. The former include the fairy folk (People of the Sidhe etc, who could cast a glamour over mortals) and former gods (e.g. Gwydion & Math, who created Blodeuwedd out of flowers). Wonder-working giants too, such as Utgard-Loki who tricked Thor on his journey to Jotunheim, one kind of Gruagach (a Gaelic/Irish term for several supernatural beings) and perhaps those who with a separable heart.
The latter includes many actual scholars, poets and wise men whom popular belief transformed into magicians, only some of whom might have claimed the title for themselves.
Those who studied or are said to have studied magic arts include Merlin, Roger Bacon, Pope Sylvester, Dr John Dee, Faust/Dr Faustus, Sir Francis Drake, Owain Glyndwr.
Those said to have acquired magic by eating or drinking include Taliesin (probably a real poet, but a late legend says that he drank the three golden drops from the Cauldron of Inspiration boiled up by Ceridwen), Michael Scot & Paracelsus (each said to have eaten a white snake).
There is the story of "The Wizard of Alderley Edge" (identified as Merlin when the Sleeping King is identified as Arthur, but neither are named in the original story).
Philip A.
9) Oh yes, and that reminds me of the magician in one of my favorite stories, The Blue Faience Hippopotamus
Marilyn K.
10) Also the Breton legend of "Dr Coëthalec," who with his friend, and later rival, the Baron of Penarstang, studied under the Devil, but tricked him into seizing only his shadow. That's not just a Breton tale: Versions can be found in Icelandic and Scottish folktales.
Jo S.
Response:
I know of two in "Salamanca." One is a short one about a local marquis and is the version known locally (by those few who know it), and the other longer one is Basque, starting in Salamanca and finishing in Navarre. The shadow-losing episode in both versions takes place at the Cave of Salamanca, where the Devil held his black arts classes. Michael Scot (13th century) rang the bells of Notre Dame from there by magic. (The Pope offered Scot the post of bishop of Cashel in Ireland, but he turned it down because he didn't speak Irish.) The Cave was closed by royal decree in the 16th century because of the nefarious goings-on, but you can still see the blocked-up entrance.
An Irish variant has an O'Donoghue who loses his shadow and is the progenitor of the line called ever after the Black O'Donoghues because they have no shadows.
Richard M.
11) I'm surprised that no one brought up one of my Favorites- Michael Scott! Rides a Hell Horse to the Vatican! Gets transformed into a rabbit and chased by his own hounds, later goes and dances the witch to death. (Great Scottish Wizard story.) I think there are a lot of Hoodoo people in stories - Biddy Early, and so on. Usually described as a Fairy Doctor,Hen Wife, a Person with the Sight, etc. etc. But a lot of times they are unnamed. Anybody know of some Appalachian examples of magicians?
And let's se e- Satirists...some of them have....demanded an eye from a one eyed king, incite the warp spasm, demanded the wife of a king, satire rats to death and get the wrath Irusan, King of Cats, use the dhu fhuill? The wisp of madness, raise 7 boils of seven colors, shame best friends to fight one another, get the noble ladies to have a foot-race....Bricrui, Levorcham,...Even Laeg and Taliesin get some shots in. Oh yeah...never piss off a bard, cuz your name is funny, and it rhymes with something! - True
Zworp! kilhra'etrehh rhae!
Robert S.
12) "The School of Salamanca"
"Petronella" (in Jack Zipes' Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England
Rinah S. 11/20/05
13) There are so many stories you could use, many folktales/fairy tales contain some sort of magic. The first one that came to mind for me was The Magic Pomegranate: A Jewish Folktale (On My Own Folklore)
Also, check out "Tales of Magic" within Aarne/Thompson's category of "Ordinary Folk Tale" to locate some suggestions.
Karen C. 11/18/05
Created 2005; last update 12/20/09
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