Harlequins and Pipers

 

Once I get started on mythology, I just can't stop. So here is what I know about the Pied Piper. In a travelogue from the 1930's D.H. Lawrence wrote about visiting an Etruscan tomb in the hills of Italy. He was surprised to see an elaborate painting of the Harlequin.

Not any harlequin, The Harlequin. The wandering, gruesome, yet indifferent, King of Mice demon who loves treasure and souls. This Etruscan demon migrated north with the Roman conquest of Europe until he ended up in a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

The Pied Piper tale is generally accepted to reflect the Black plague. I know the date that the real village of Hamelin accepts for the Pied Piper's visit doesn't fit, but so what? The very few people who could read and write at the time played fast and loose with facts anyway. As for the detail that only children were taken, that fits in the boogeyman category.

I know modern renditions of harlequin dolls and puppets are pretty and charming, but from what I have read about the original is that he was a mouse king who led souls to the Underground. The Harlequin wandering through Europe with the Black Plague is closer to the original character's.

Nancy Sherer

 

 


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