Goodness, this is a really thought provoking post. I firmly believe that mythology is code for history, we just have to uncover the key. You've given lots of potential keys here. Most significantly , the migration theory seems to hold water, especially with the "pied" or colourful clothing as you describe. However, one thing haunts me - the "memorable incident involving the loss of children occurred in Hamelin around 1284." As you've described, this was a "memorable incident". If it was simply migration, it would be tragic and concerning to the community, but the community apparently went to great lengths to commemorate this particular event when they "lost the children". This speaks to something more. Perhaps it was the dancing plague? Goodness, apart from the tarantella, I didn't know there was a word for this! But regardless, it seems to point to some particular traumatic event, maybe in the context of migration, when something else - something awful like perhaps drowning in the river, or worse, that happened to these children. Although it was centuries ago, I think it's still important to attempt to uncover what it was that made that community mourn those 130 children. Modern day slavery is a real thing, we can learn lessons from the past.
Thank you Debbie! You’re absolutely right. The incident feels like more than just some tragic incident...the way it was memorialized. There is definitely more to the story than all the theories we have at hand. The dancing plague theory is fascinating, it’s eerie how mass psychogenic events could intertwine with folklore. Either way, the Pied Piper’s tale is one of the strangest cautionary tales we have.
Ive been really touched by this. I think also as an Early Years teacher I find anything to do with maltreatment of children really awful, even if it was centuries ago. Keep up with the detective work. I wonder if we can really know for certain?
Gut geschrieben - well written! Thank you for the thorough analysis and presentation of the possible truths behind the myth, as well as the helpful commentary on the characteristics of fairy tales and their tendency to morph through time.
Funnily enough I'm in the middle of writing an article about a forgotten golden age illustrator for a Pied Piper book! The AI imagery is a little bizarre though when there's plenty of out of copyright illustrations available
Goodness, this is a really thought provoking post. I firmly believe that mythology is code for history, we just have to uncover the key. You've given lots of potential keys here. Most significantly , the migration theory seems to hold water, especially with the "pied" or colourful clothing as you describe. However, one thing haunts me - the "memorable incident involving the loss of children occurred in Hamelin around 1284." As you've described, this was a "memorable incident". If it was simply migration, it would be tragic and concerning to the community, but the community apparently went to great lengths to commemorate this particular event when they "lost the children". This speaks to something more. Perhaps it was the dancing plague? Goodness, apart from the tarantella, I didn't know there was a word for this! But regardless, it seems to point to some particular traumatic event, maybe in the context of migration, when something else - something awful like perhaps drowning in the river, or worse, that happened to these children. Although it was centuries ago, I think it's still important to attempt to uncover what it was that made that community mourn those 130 children. Modern day slavery is a real thing, we can learn lessons from the past.
Thank you Debbie! You’re absolutely right. The incident feels like more than just some tragic incident...the way it was memorialized. There is definitely more to the story than all the theories we have at hand. The dancing plague theory is fascinating, it’s eerie how mass psychogenic events could intertwine with folklore. Either way, the Pied Piper’s tale is one of the strangest cautionary tales we have.
Ive been really touched by this. I think also as an Early Years teacher I find anything to do with maltreatment of children really awful, even if it was centuries ago. Keep up with the detective work. I wonder if we can really know for certain?
True. Stories like this hit even harder when you work with children.
Gut geschrieben - well written! Thank you for the thorough analysis and presentation of the possible truths behind the myth, as well as the helpful commentary on the characteristics of fairy tales and their tendency to morph through time.
Thank you Joseph!🙏❤️ Glad you enjoyed it!
Funnily enough I'm in the middle of writing an article about a forgotten golden age illustrator for a Pied Piper book! The AI imagery is a little bizarre though when there's plenty of out of copyright illustrations available
That genuinely sounds like a fantastic read!