The Pied Piper of Hamelin
A Tale of Insupportable Loss
The book The Pied Piper and Other Fairy Tales of Joseph Jacobs is introduced by W.H. Auden. In his introduction, he writes, “Most of these tales are very, very old, and it is possible that some of the characters and happenings in them refer to people who actually lived and things which actually happened.” The fairy tale, The Pied Piper, is one fairy tale where a great deal of effort has been put into determining the ‘historical’ roots of the story.
The story of the Pied Piper was made popular in the English-speaking world when Robert Browning wrote his children’s poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin in 1849. Perhaps because of the English connection of both Browning and Auden, Auden writes that the story most likely came from Newtown on the Isle of Wight. He goes on to suggest that you could tell the story to your friends, use a town common to you, and change the amount of the reward to millions of dollars. His argument is clear. How can we possibly know where the story originated since these stories were spread by word of mouth and were often claimed and reshaped to meet the needs of the storyteller?
Auden has a valid point. However, there are some fascinating theories about the roots of the story.
The English Connection
The earliest English version of the Pied Piper comes from Richard Rowland Verstegan whose version was published in Restitution of Decayed Intelligence. However, Verstegan does not list his source. His story suggests that the children ended up in Transylvania.
Some sources state that Browning’s poem was based on Verstegan’s story and a copy of Verstegan’s story, which was included in Nathaniel Wanley’s Wonder of the Visible World from 1687. Other sources attribute Browning’s original source to the brothers Grimm whose version is a compilation of 11 different sources.
The German Story
The more popular and certainly more well researched history of the Pied Piper is the version that places it in the town of Hamelin, Germany. The oldest original source for the story dates back to around 1430-1450 when it was written as an addendum to a 14th century manuscript from Luneburg.
Tradition states that the events took place in Hamelin on June 26, 1284. Most people are familiar with the story of the rat infestation that brought a piper to town seeking the reward for removing the pests. When the piper was denied his reward he retaliated by luring all the town’s children away. Of course, the legend, as told, could not possibly be true. However, theories to what events caused the townsfolk to resort to legend, abound. Clearly, the event was the traumatic loss of most of the children, but how?
- An accident occurred that killed most of the town’s children, perhaps a flood or a landslide.
- There was an epidemic and the children all became ill. Consequently, they were led out of town in order to protect the rest of the population.
- The children were part of a pilgrimage or a children’s crusade and never returned home. The leader of this crusade would obviously be the Piper.
- Similar to the previous suggestion is that the children willingly left home to start their own village during the colonization of Eastern Europe. Again, the leader would obviously be the Piper. This theory is supported by the fact that place names of certain Eastern European colonies resemble Hamelin.
Most modern scholars feel that the emigration theory is the most probable basis for the legend and that the Pied Piper was the townspeople’s designation for the recruiter.
There is a fascination in the story of the Pied Piper which draws us in. For children, the fascination is wonder. They wonder at the magic that led those children of long ago and they wonder about what wonders those children must have found. For adults the fascination is that of horror. The loss of all the little ones in such a fashion is incomprehensible and the question of ‘What would I do?’ haunts the listener.
Auden, W.H. The Pied Piper and Other Fairy Tales of Joseph Jacobs. The Macmillan Co
Kate Greenaway Ilustration
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