Žito a MacGill aneb staroskotský tagheirm v moravské pověsti

• Authors: Daniel Dědovský

Title variants

EN

Sorcerer Žito MacGill or early Scottish tagheirm in a Moravian legend

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In the first third of 19th century the romantic movement inspired interest in folklore. Folk art was collected, published and reworked by professional artists, especially as concerned epic folklore genres. Authentic legends, published in Vienna by Alois Mednyanský, include a romantic novella in a remarkable way utilising a folklore theme from two different European cultures. The study traces and analyses the folklore theme used for the story and tries to reconstruct the path through which the theme from the remote Scotland reached Mednyanský. The novella intentionally creates an impression to be a historic legend set in the times of Hussite wars, being interlaced with strongly pro-Catholic criticism of the period happenings. The story adopts the character of the Bohemian sorcerer called Žito 74 and uses elements of Moravian life and institutions. A Moravian patrician in the role of a romantic pilgrim sets off for a dangerous journey with a tragic end. The description of Scottish life documents profound knowledge and understanding of Scottish legends and local names by the author. In addition it documents period fascination with Scottish history. Past of the novella analyses the ritual of taghairm nan caht - its variants and functions in the traditional Gaelic culture - its description is the literary apogee of the novella and was probably taken over from the London paper The Literary Gazette.

Keywords

EN

legend; Sorcerer Žito; Moravia; Scotland

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: Czech Ethnological Society
• Journal: Národopisný věstník
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 30_(72)
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 43-69
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Daniel Dědovský

• Česká národopisná společnost, z. s., Národní třída 3, 117 20 Praha 1, Czech Republic