ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
by
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
whirlpool
A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
and promises that the one who can recover it can also keep it. However, none of his knights and pages is willing to do so, and the king has to ask three times before an ''Edelknecht'' (
squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
) finds his courage. He deposits his sword and his coat and commends his life to God and jumps into the intimidating sea. Everyone at the shore fears that the boy will not return. After a while, he emerges with the beaker in his hand. His terrifying report intrigues the king. The king wants him to dive again and promises him a precious ring. The king's daughter tries to convince her father to stop with his cruel demands. Yet the king throws the beaker in the sea again and promises now that he will make the ''Edelknecht'' a knight and let him marry his daughter if he recovers the beaker again. The boy has a look at the girl and wants her to become his bride, so he jumps into the deep again. This time, he does not return.
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Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
set "Der Taucher" as a song for bass and piano in two versions (1813–1815, D 77 – the second version originally D 111).
Analysis
Schiller's inspiration for the poem has been the subject of debate. Several scholars including folklorist
Giuseppe Pitrè
Giuseppe Pitrè (22 December 184110 April 1916) was an Italian folklorist, medical doctor, professor, and senator for Sicily. As a folklorist he is credited with extending the realm of folklore to include all manifestations of popular life. He is ...
suggested that the ballad was connected to the folktale of Cola Pesce, which similarly has a king order a man to dive underwater multiple times after a piece of treasure, until on a final trip the swimmer dies. However, Schiller did not recognize the story as a folktale and was unfamiliar with the name "Nicolaus Pesce" when he heard it, as shown in his letters. John Edward Fletcher suggests that Schiller had originally heard an oral version of the diver's story, sans name, from Goethe.
: "Der endlich gefundene Autor einer Vorlage von Schillers 'Taucher': Christian Gottlieb Göz (1746–1803), Pfarrer in Plieningen und Hohenheim, Freund von
Philipp Matthäus Hahn
Philipp Matthäus Hahn (25 November 1739 in Scharnhausen (today part of Ostfildern), Duchy of Württemberg – 2 May 1790 in Echterdingen (today part of Leinfelden-Echterdingen)) was a German pastor, astronomer and inventor.
In about 1763 he dev ...
?" In: ''Blätter für württembergische Kirchengeschichte'', (1983/1984). Stuttgart
985
Year 985 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II (the Wrangler) is rest ...
pp. 54–96; pp. 83–96.
* Garland, Mary: "Taucher, Der". In: ''The Oxford Companion to German Literature'' by Henry (Burnand Garland) and Mary Garland. Third Edition by Mary Garland. (Oxford; New York; Athen tc.1997), p. 820, col. 2.
* Heinisch, Klaus J
achim
Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...
''Der Wassermensch. Entwicklungsgeschichte eines Sagenmotivs''. (Stuttgart 1981), pp. 313–336: Bibliographie.