Axel Olrik: Danish Folklorist & Pioneer of Narratives - Essay Sample

Introduction

Axel Olrik is a Danish folklorist who has highly contributed to the development of folklore narratives. He was born on 1864 July 3rd in Frederiksberg, an independent municipality in the Copenhagen city which is the capital of Denmark. His father was an artist called Henrik Olrik, and his mother was called Benedicte Martinette Heiberg. Olrik married at the age of 29 years to Margrete Sofie Eleonore Hasselquist in 1893.

He had four siblings, namely Dagmar Olrik, Hans Olrik, Eyvind Olrik, and Jørgen Olrik. The siblings also became professionals in various fields; there was an artist, a historian, a judge, and a cultural historian, respectively. Olrik was passionate in his work and became a scholar of medieval historiography, and above all, he pioneered the systematic study of oral narratives. The wife died in November 1911. Following successful ear surgery, he later succumbed to pneumonia on 1917 February 17th in overdue, a suburban neighborhood located to the northern side of the capital city.

Education

Olrik’s education was majorly within the city of Copenhagen. He went to high school at the famous Metropolitan School of Copenhagen. In the same town, he pursued his higher education at the University of Copenhagen, starting from 1881 when he was registered for an undergraduate degree. In the same institution, he proceeded to do a Master of Arts in Nordic Philology in 1887 and later a PhD in 1892. After finishing his PhD, Olrik became a private teacher at the university, a position he served for a few years before he was appointed to a temporary job in Scandinavian folklore at the university. He became a professor later in 1913, April 9th. It is essential to note that Olrik his entire school life in Copenhagen. Except, the period when he went to Oslo (previously Kristiania) to study with his folklorist friend Moltke Moe, he spent his entire career at the Copenhagen university.

Rewards

In his lifetime, axel Olrik received various awards that appreciated his devotion to literature. While in school, he won the university gold medal for writing the best-rated essay on the age of the Eddic poems. Olrik was also entitled the first outside member of the finish academy of sciences in 1911

Research Works and All His Bibliography

Books

Olrik wrote a lot of books that were important in the evolution of folklore literature. They include the ‘heroic legends of Denmark,’ ‘principles of oral narrative research,’ ‘Ragnarok,’ ‘Danish ballads,’ and ‘Viking civilization’ among others.

Research Works

His research works were mostly published at the University of Copenhagen, where he developed his career. He wrote his master’s thesis in 1887 and his PhD in 1892 before becoming a teacher and later a professor in the institution (Olrik, 1992). He co-founded one of Germany is famous journals called ‘Danske Studier’ in 1904 with his friend Marius Kristensen and published many of his works.

Works Translated To Other Languages

He wrote articles translated to other languages such as the Episke love I folkedigtningen that was published in the Danske Studier in 1908 (Olrik, 1992). Another publication was the ‘Epic Laws of Folk Narrative,’ translated by Steager Jeanne from Germany to English. It was edited by Alan Dundes and published in The Study of Folklore in 1965. In 1992, he wrote the “Principles for Oral Narrative Research,” translated by Kirsten Wolf and Jody Jensen.

Danish Folklore Archives

Olrik also took part in the establishment of the Danish Folklore Archives (DFA) in 1904. The institution focused on documentation of about 1500 photographs of the immaterial culture (Benzinger, 1984). These pieces of art comprised of materials such as paintings, photographs, and drawings collected throughout the 19th century. Since then, the archives has documented about 15000 records towards the end of the 19th century (Benzinger, 1984). Most of these work credited to Axel Olrik, who was DFA’s first director despite his death in 1917. (Benzinger, 1984).

By the time of his death, many of Olrik’s vision has not been achieved, triggering the organization of a large photo project by Peter Olsen and Evald Tang Kristensen. That was the same year that DFA carried out the first and only photography contest. Later on, his efforts were suspended, and an active collection of the material stopped until the 1960s when some documentation resumed. Olrik had active participation in the literature of photography. He oversaw three major photography projects of his life that occurred in 1895 and 1908 before his death (Benzinger, 1984).

Olrik’s Epic Laws of Folk Narrative and Their Applications

Olrik summarized the hidden themes of oral narratives as epic laws that explain the reoccurring concepts within Slavic fairytales. Several instances of Olrik’s laws are highlighted in the short Russian fairytale, Baba Yaga, where a female is told by her stepmother paying a call to her aunt Baba Yaga the witch (Afanasev et al., 1945). Baba Yaga could consume kids though the female still manages to escape making use of the recommendations of her many other aunts and Baba Yaga’s cat. In general, this Russian fairytale isn’t comprehensive. Still, through greater analysis, you will find many underlying patterns and also messages which may be connected to the kind of style Slavic folklore are developed.

One of these laws will be the law of patterning or maybe repetition, and it is properly demonstrated in Baba Yaga. For example, the fairytale’s plot has the little female visit one of her personal aunt’s house before going to her stepmother’s daughter, who’s also the aunt of her (Afanasev et al., 1945). The aunt advises her that when she gets there, a birch will lash at her eyes, so she should connect it with a ribbon. The gates will bang and also creak at you but do you put plenty of oil all over their hingesg (Afanasev et al., 1945). Not merely can there be repetition in aunts but additionally the events which the first aunt advises come out to be the very same situations the little female is invested by Baba Yaga. These events are repeated once more when Baba Yaga would go to scold everything that betrayed her.

Moreover, another epic law is portrayed in the Russian fairytale, which claims the law of two to a scene. It is not difficult to find good examples because it can be found after reading a couple of paragraphs. It opens when the girl and her stepmother, after which visit the little female the great aunt, and to the young female and Baba Yaga, after which the little female with the maid, and subsequently the small female with the cat (Afanasev et al., 1945). Mainly in the previous section are there more than two characters when the female is telling the dad of her about the way the stepmom nearly had her killed. In reality, you will find four characters here because the final line claims the unknown narrator had also been there; I was there and also drank mead and beer; it ran down my mustache.

Additionally, one of Olrik’s laws, the law of opening and closing, is contained in Baga Yaga (Afanasev et al., 1945). The fairytale opens up with Once upon a time. There existed a male and the wife of his. When the male evolved into a widower, he married another wife. The very first section opens up with a male losing the wife of his and marrying a brand new body, and also the previous section, the closing, talks about the male recording the new wife of his for trying to eliminate the child of his. Essentially there’s an opening and closing scene, and they’re associated because the male turns into a widow once more and comes back to a similar job he began in.

In most narratives, like Slavic folklore, you will find reoccurring character types that mirror the job which they play in the story or perhaps novel. For example, there’s typically often the major character, the protagonist, that the story builds around. In this particular situation, the little female is the principal character of ours since she’s there from beginning to end and also the story developments with her (even though the name is named after Baba Yaga). Baba Yaga, the witch, plays the enemy job in this particular fairytale, the antagonist since she’s the obstacle which the little female should overcome to be able not to be consumed. A Witch is generally portrayed as an evil, and then evil character, along with Baba Yaga, likewise satisfies this particular kind of job in the Russian fairytale.

Moreover, in fairytales, we often tend to experience and evil stepmother that’s plotting against someone in favor of their plan. The wicked stepmother disliked the female, beat her, and also pondered exactly how she may kill her. It seems quite harsh, but this specific kind of character role is seen not just in Baba Yaga but also in various other common fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White. Some other figures, like the father, maid, and cat, play small roles but continue to be crucial to the plotline of the story.

Although this Russian fairytale is slightly more than two pages in length, you can find a few common moral messages which the market can understand from examining Baba Yaga. The very first, and most likely, the most obvious one, is do not dig the yummy grave. Do not be oblivious and walk right into a hole possess some kind of clue about what you are being led into. The story states, the female wasn’t dumb and went to her aunt first, and this vital choice ended up saving the life of her (Afanasev et al., 1945). This note might have been intended towards a young audience to provide them with a feeling of having better judgment abilities and also make smarter choices, so they can remain of trouble.

A message which is very easy to discover is that acts of generosity are, in turn, reward with much more kindness. Using the information provided by the great aunt, the young female managed to present the obstacles which were going to stop her, and in return, they allow her to spend freely. Even when Baba Yaga scolded the cat for betraying her, it told her I had served you for a lot of years, and also you haven’t provided me also a bone, though she gave me a portion of ham. The cat kindly explained to the female just how she could stay away from getting found by Baba Yaga since she was good to the cat first (Afanasev et al., 1945). This message speaks to other kinds of audiences and also demonstrates an act of kindness and generosity can go quite a distance.

The quick Russian fairytale, Baba Yaga, was a fast read and never really plot-heavy at all. That said, by close reading through the book, several examples of reoccurring ideas, themes, and patterns can be uncovered. These include types of Olrik’s laws, specific type’s character types, as well as moral messages, which have a meaning that’s related within Slavic traditions as well as potentially different universal cultures. Regrettably, I actually couldn’t find good proof of dual faith in this particular story even though there had been several confusing instances of magical practices and superstition. Like just how did the great aunt understand what was going to happen at Baba Yaga’s house? Just how was the cat in a position to speak with the female? How does Baba Yaga fly on her pestle and mortar?

References

Afanasev, A. N., Guterman, N., Jakobson, R. & Alexeieff, A. (1945). Russian fairy tales. New York: Pantheon.

Benzinger, L. S. (1984). Axel Olrik (1864-1917): The romantic folklorist in post-romantic Denmark.Bottom of Form

Folklore University of California, Berkeley.

Olrik, A. (1992). Some principles for oral narrative research. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.