Jeremiah Curtin was a folklorist and and translator from America. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1835, he had a poor childhood in Wisconsin as the eldest of eight children. After his father died, he sold his shares of the farm to finance his education at Harvard. It was there that he first studied folklore, and when he graduated, he moved to New York City, and eventually traveled to Russia. On a trip to Wisconsin, he met his future wife, Alma, and the two traveled to Russia, writing and traveling.
The duo traveled back to the States, and began ethnographical work in California, and Curtin began translating Polish works, however, one of his greatest interests was folklore and this would culminate into several collections of folk tales. While Alma wrote with him, Curtin rarely gave her credit, thus all of their works are in his name. Their collections included Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs and Magyars, Hero Tales of Ireland, and more. They would collect these tales from local residents of the areas they traveled in, and then mark them down for generations to enjoy. After her husband’s death in 1906, Alma published several books based on his notes and their travels. The epitaph of his gravestone was written by Theodore Roosevelt and claims Curtin spoke over 70 languages.
There was a man called DOnWEnWA. This man wouldn’t let anyone come into his house. He had two nephews old enough to hunt small game: birds, squirrels and coons. The boys lived in a house near their uncle’s and each morning he called to them, saying, “Up, boys! or the game will be gone.” The…
A MOTHER and her two daughters lived in an opening in the woods. When the daughters became women the mother said, “You must marry. Make twenty loaves of green corn bread, tie up the bread in husks and go to the house of two brothers, who live not far from here. Their house has a…
DAGWANOEnYENT (Whirlwind), an old woman, the oldest of all her people, lived in the forest with her two grandchildren, a boy and a girl. One day when the grandmother was out digging roots a GÉNOnSKWA (Frost and Great Cold) woman came to the cabin, picked up the little girl and, after speaking kindly, telling her…
OKTEONDON lived in the woods with his uncle HAIENTHWÛS. The young man lay fastened under the roots of an elm tree which grew through his uncle’s bark house. When very small, his uncle had hidden him there so nobody could carry him off. There were persons in the South who came North to steal the…
A BROTHER and sister lived together. The brother loved his sister so well that he did not want her to work; he did all the work himself. Each morning when he was starting off to hunt he said to her. “You mustn’t go out,” and he fastened the door. When he came home in the…
In a cabin at the edge of a village lived a grandmother and her grandson. The grandmother was old and the grandson was young and they were so poor that they ate scraps given them by their neighbors. Once, when a hunting party was starting off, the little boy followed it. The hunters traveled five…
SKAGÉDI lived on a hill and a man-eater lived at the foot of the same hill. The man-eater had a little kettle and a piece of chestnut. One day he scraped some of the chestnut into the kettle and taking a stick whipped the kettle till it was of the size he wanted and was…
There was a village where it was the habit of the people to fight a great deal; they were warlike. A boy came to that village. He was perhaps four years old. No one knew where he came from. He wandered around staying here and there; first one family kept him a while, then another….
There was a king in Tir na n-Og (the land of Youth) who held the throne and crown for many a year against all comers; and the law of the kingdom was that every seventh year the champions and best men of the country should run for the office of king. Once in seven years…
There was a king in a land not far from Greece who had two daughters, and the younger was fairer than the elder daughter. This old king made a match between the king of Greece and his own elder daughter; but he kept the younger one hidden away till after the marriage. Then the younger…