Social image of the women in German Sagen of 19th century (“Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Meklenburg, Pommern, der Mark, Sachsen, Thüringen, Braunschweig”)

Abstract

The article focuses on the social image of women in the demonological stories of the folklore sammlung “North German Legends, Tales, and Customs” edited by A. Kuhn and W. Schwarz in 1848. The author studies the image of the ordinary women, women with supernatural powers (Hexen, Mahrt, Walriderske), enchanted women, giantess and demonological women (water maidens, frau Holda, Old Frick, wild woman Hinnemutter). The image of the demonological woman, to some extent, is the reversal of the image of the common woman. The last one could be punished for some misconduct or immodest behavior, but the demonological woman is often shown in the texts as dangerous by itself. Still, ordinary and some demonological women are shown as sexual objects more often than male characters of the “Nordeutsche Sagen”.