Grateful dead (folklore)
Grateful dead (or grateful ghost) is a folktale present in many cultures throughout the world. The most common story involves a traveler who encounters a corpse of someone who never received a proper burial, typically stemming from an unpaid debt.[1][2] The traveler then either pays off the dead person's debt or pays for burial. The traveler is later rewarded or has their life saved by a person or animal who is actually the soul of the dead person; the grateful dead is a form of the donor.
The "grateful dead" story is Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 505.[3]
The oldest known variant is Cicero's account of Simonides.[4] Another old variant is the Book of Tobit.[4] The chivalric romance Amadas has the title knight pay his last coins for such a burial.[4] It appears in various fairy tales, such as the Italian Fair Brow,[5] the Swedish The Bird 'Grip' and H. C. Andersen's The Traveling Companion.
[edit] References in popular culture
- The folktale was the inspiration for the name of the American rock band, the Grateful Dead.
[edit] References
- ^ "Grateful dead". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
- ^ "Dead FAQ: How did they get the name?". Retrieved 2007-12-14.
- ^ D.L. Ashliman. "The Grateful Dead: folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 505". Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ a b c Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p74 New York Burt Franklin,1963
- ^ Italo Calvino, Italian Folktales p 725 ISBN 0-15-645489-0
[edit] External links
- Gerould, G. H. The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story, Folk-Lore Society, 1908. D. Nutt, London.
- The Grateful Dead: folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 505, various folk tales
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