Promotional Information

Overviews the history of the Pied Piper legend and discusses its lasting significance in literature, art, popular culture, and political criticism.

Table of Contents

Introduction One Definition and Classification "The Pied Piper" as Folktale Origin of "The Pied Piper" History and Dissemination Significance and Survival The Phrase "To Pay the Piper" The Pied Piper as Ambivalent Symbol Two Examples and Texts Early Variants of "The Pied Piper" "The Pied Piper" and the Brothers Grimm Later Variants of the Folktale The English "Pied Piper" Tradition "Pied Piper" Folk Songs Three Scholarship and Approaches Comprehensive Studies Historical Analyses Folkloristic Investigations Literary Reconsiderations Four Contexts Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" "Pied Piper" Poems Prose, Drama, Music, and Film Adaptations Caricatures, Cartoons, and Comic Strips Art, Cards, Stamps, and Puzzles The Pied Piper in Advertisements "Pied Piper" Book Titles and Headlines The Folklorism of Hamelin Glossary Bibliography Publications on "The Pied Piper" General Folktale Scholarship Additional Illustrative Materials Web Resources Index

About the Author

Wolfgang Mieder is Professor of German and Folklore at the University of Vermont. His numerous books include Proverbs: A Handbook (Greenwood, 2004).

Reviews

Mieder explores the folktale through its seven centuries of oral and written transmission and more recent appearances in such media as film, cartoons, and advertisements. Following the series format, he covers definition and classification, examples and texts, scholarship approaches, and modern contexts.
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