In a previous post we started to introduce you to the mysteries of Hungarian folktales. We discussed some of the magical numbers and their occurrences last time but today’s topic is going to be the language and the creatures that can speak it. It’s not always pixies, fairies, enchanted forests ‘n all that make a good tale but in our case it’s something close enough. It’s a rather common feature of most fairy tales that animals can talk, but once again, Hungarians went one step further and gave this ability to practically anything you meet in a folktale (trees, wells, furnaces, whatnot).

Alright, Hungarians looove to talk (especially when they can complain about something) but there must be a well-established reason behind this talking madness. Why on Earth would a furnace have the ability to discuss the weather with you? They usually want to tell you something that you wouldn’t know otherwise.

Let’s see... You have to find an old man’s heart in a mountain (it’s inside a bird, who’s trapped under a heart-shaped rock, ugh, quite bizarre, isn’t it?) and on your way to the mountain you meet a ram and a little bird. You give them some food and in exchange they promise to help you if need be. You arrive to the mountain but realise you can’t smash open the rock, and even if you could, you wouldn’t be able to catch the bird. So you remember your little dinner guests, summon them, and voilà, with their help (the super magical ram smashes the rock like it was made of cardboard then your pet bird catches the other bird for you) you can take back the heart to the old chap, everyone is happy.

So essentially, you never know what kind of help you’ll need to accomplish your quests; hence your unexpected new friends should have the ability to draw your attention to themselves. But why would they help?

Here is how it usually goes in Hungarian folktales: you set off to complete a mission, find someone, try your luck, gain XP and level up or whatever. Then you come across someone or an animal or an object that asks for your help. Sometimes they want some food, help around the house or want to be attended to their needs, e.g. a tree needs its branches to be trimmed, a furnace wants to be cleaned, etc. If you comply they’ll help you in return to finish your task (and life - or rather the storyteller - will make sure you’ll need their help, I promise). However, if you’re an arrogant git who refuses to help those in need, well, there won’t be a happy ending for you (obviously, we usually learn these life lessons through less important characters of the story, like evil step-sisters or step-mothers). So, whenever you hear “One good turn deserves another”, take that seriously, put on your best smile and make yourself useful. You can thank me later for this.

Another piece of advice for you: according to the etiquette of folk tales you should never fail to call random old ladies grandma’ (otherwise the vicious old hags would eat you alive). They would say something like “Your only luck is that you called me grandma”. An interesting way to teach people respect.

If things go well, by the end of the tale you’ll get either some loot (usually half of the kingdom) or the right to marry the princess (or both of these options). You’re happy, everyone is happy, now the storyteller has to wrap up the whole story somehow. To avoid unnecessary questions, he could simply end it by saying “If you don’t believe me find it out for yourself”, shutting non-believers’ mouths. To those who need a little extra help realising when a story is finished, they can say “That’s all, folks”. Finally, to those who seem to worry about the future of the freshly married couple the best ending would be “And they lived happily ever after”.

That’s all for now folks, see you soon.