Ballad of The Walled-Up Wife - Revision history

ThisTenement at 18:52, 15 October 2019

2019-10-15T18:52:38Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:52, 15 October 2019
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	[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice by immurement of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and India.		[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice by immurement of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.

Tenementofnaught at 18:51, 15 October 2019

2019-10-15T18:51:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:51, 15 October 2019
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	[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice by immurement of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.		[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice by immurement of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and India.

74.73.139.53 at 15:55, 8 December 2018

2018-12-08T15:55:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:55, 8 December 2018
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	[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.		[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice by immurement of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.

74.73.139.53: /* Regional Variations */

2018-12-08T15:51:41Z

Regional Variations

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:51, 8 December 2018
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	[[File:2013-10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Rozafa Castle, in Shkodër, Albania, purported location of the immurement documented in "The Building of Skadar".]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.		[[File:2013-10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Rozafa Castle, in Shkodër, Albania, purported location of the immurement documented in "The Building of Skadar".]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.

	One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that is was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"[https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies Who Were the “Gypsies”?]", ''United States Holocaust Memorial Museum'', retrieved October 23, 2018.</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 26</ref>		One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that it was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"[https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies Who Were the “Gypsies”?]", ''United States Holocaust Memorial Museum'', retrieved October 23, 2018.</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 26</ref>

	The Indian versions of the ballad usually tell of seven brothers who have been working on digging a water tank. After repeatedly failing to strike water, they are advised by a Jogi that, in order for the water to flow, they must sacrifice to the tank their only sister. They do this, sending her into the centre of the dry tank, which then quickly fills with water, drowning her. These versions of the tale usually end with the sister being transformed into an Upel flower, which her betrothed then passes and plucks, bringing her back to life as a semi-deity.<ref>G.A. Campbell and Cecil Henry Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 13-24.</ref> In one of these versions, the brothers’ motivation for the sacrifice of their sister is justified to the grieving mother with reference to the perpetuation of the family name through the completion of the ‘meritorious work’ of the tank, which will benefit all who pass by and use it.<ref>Ibid., 18.</ref>		The Indian versions of the ballad usually tell of seven brothers who have been working on digging a water tank. After repeatedly failing to strike water, they are advised by a Jogi that, in order for the water to flow, they must sacrifice to the tank their only sister. They do this, sending her into the centre of the dry tank, which then quickly fills with water, drowning her. These versions of the tale usually end with the sister being transformed into an Upel flower, which her betrothed then passes and plucks, bringing her back to life as a semi-deity.<ref>G.A. Campbell and Cecil Henry Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 13-24.</ref> In one of these versions, the brothers’ motivation for the sacrifice of their sister is justified to the grieving mother with reference to the perpetuation of the family name through the completion of the ‘meritorious work’ of the tank, which will benefit all who pass by and use it.<ref>Ibid., 18.</ref>

Tenementofnaught at 16:22, 2 November 2018

2018-11-02T16:22:05Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:22, 2 November 2018
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	==Interpretations==		==Interpretations==

	====Appeasement of the ~~Gods~~ for ~~Man~~'s ~~Hubris~~====		====Appeasement of the gods for man's hubris====

	Most critical interpretations of the ballad center around the theme of foundation sacrifice, whether to appease local territorial spirits or the more universal gods whose powers of creation are arrogantly usurped by man in his ambition to build.		Most critical interpretations of the ballad center around the theme of foundation sacrifice, whether to appease local territorial spirits or the more universal gods whose powers of creation are arrogantly usurped by man in his ambition to build.
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	Sharon King has also interpreted the ballad as an allegory for human will and ambition, the conception of art, and the issue of what its limits are or should be. She reads "The Master of Manole", a Romanian version of the ballad that centers around the construction of the Monastery at Arges, as a series of boundaries transgressed in the name of 'great art’.<ref>Sharon King, "Beyond The Pale”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 95-101.</ref>		Sharon King has also interpreted the ballad as an allegory for human will and ambition, the conception of art, and the issue of what its limits are or should be. She reads "The Master of Manole", a Romanian version of the ballad that centers around the construction of the Monastery at Arges, as a series of boundaries transgressed in the name of 'great art’.<ref>Sharon King, "Beyond The Pale”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 95-101.</ref>

	====Spiritual ~~Animation~~ of a ~~New Building~~====		====Spiritual animation of a new building====

	Mircea Eliade, on the other hand, explores the notion of spiritual transference that takes place through the act of human sacrifice as the central motif of the ballad. “To last, a construction (house, technical accomplishment, but also spiritual undertaking) must be animated, that is, must receive both life and a soul. The ‘transference' of the soul is possible only by means of a sacrifice, in other words, a violent death. We may even say that the victim continues its existence after death, no longer in its physical body but in its new body—the construction—which it has 'animated' by its immolation; we may even speak of an 'architectonic body’ substituted for a body of flesh."<ref>Mircea Eliade, “Master Manole and the Monastery of Arges”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 82-83.</ref>		Mircea Eliade, on the other hand, explores the notion of spiritual transference that takes place through the act of human sacrifice as the central motif of the ballad. “To last, a construction (house, technical accomplishment, but also spiritual undertaking) must be animated, that is, must receive both life and a soul. The ‘transference' of the soul is possible only by means of a sacrifice, in other words, a violent death. We may even say that the victim continues its existence after death, no longer in its physical body but in its new body—the construction—which it has 'animated' by its immolation; we may even speak of an 'architectonic body’ substituted for a body of flesh."<ref>Mircea Eliade, “Master Manole and the Monastery of Arges”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 82-83.</ref>
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	This underlying ideology is in turn related by Eliade to fundamental myths around the foundation of a cosmogony—where the founding of the world itself was predicated on the killing of a primordial giant (whose scattered limbs formed the continents of the earth). Thus, every act of creation becomes linked to an act of violence, a notion that it is not difficult to apply in an architectural context, given Eliade's conception of the dwelling—be that house, palace or city—as an ''imago mundi'', a recreation of a cosmos at an intimate scale.<ref>Ibid., 83-84.</ref>		This underlying ideology is in turn related by Eliade to fundamental myths around the foundation of a cosmogony—where the founding of the world itself was predicated on the killing of a primordial giant (whose scattered limbs formed the continents of the earth). Thus, every act of creation becomes linked to an act of violence, a notion that it is not difficult to apply in an architectural context, given Eliade's conception of the dwelling—be that house, palace or city—as an ''imago mundi'', a recreation of a cosmos at an intimate scale.<ref>Ibid., 83-84.</ref>

	====Male ~~Appropriation~~ of ~~Female Creativity~~====		====Male appropriation of female creativity====

	Other writers, have examined the ballad as an allegory or male-female relations and the institution of marriage. The ballad's 'rite of passage' inscribes the working life of the male as predicated on the enclosure of the female; an enclosure that can as readily be understood in relation to the walls of the home (in the case of marriage), as the walls of the foundational monuments of a city or state (as in the varying versions of the ballad).<ref>Lyubomira Parpulova-Gribble, “The Ballad of “The Walled-Up Wife”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 169-184.</ref>		Other writers, have examined the ballad as an allegory or male-female relations and the institution of marriage. The ballad's 'rite of passage' inscribes the working life of the male as predicated on the enclosure of the female; an enclosure that can as readily be understood in relation to the walls of the home (in the case of marriage), as the walls of the foundational monuments of a city or state (as in the varying versions of the ballad).<ref>Lyubomira Parpulova-Gribble, “The Ballad of “The Walled-Up Wife”, in: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 169-184.</ref>

Tenementofnaught: /* Synopsis */

2018-11-01T16:51:34Z

Synopsis

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:51, 1 November 2018
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	==Synopsis==		==Synopsis==

	"The Building of Skadar", first published by the early Serbian folklorist Vuk Karadžić in 1815,<ref>Vuk Karadžić, "The Building of Skadar", in: Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook'' (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), 3-12. Dundes notes that German folklorist Jacob Grimm was fascinated by the "The Building of Skadar” and made his own translation of the Karadžić text, which he sent to Goethe—who was appalled by its “heathen barbarity". See: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 188</ref> represents the ballad in one of its classic forms. It takes as its subject the construction of a citadel in the ancient Balkan city of Skadar, or Shkodër, in present day Albania.<ref>The castle in the Skadar version of the ballad is usually identified as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rozafa_Castle Rozafa Castle], built during the early fifteenth century, when the city was under Venetian rule. See: "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shkodër#Modern Shkodër]," ''Wikipedia'', last modified October 22, 2018; and Theo Thimo, "[https://medium.com/@theothimo/rozafa-the-wife-mother-half-buried-within-the-citadels-foundation-533e5d29e6d7 Rozafa: The Wife & Mother Half Buried Within The Citadel’s Foundation}", ''Medium'', July 18, 2018, retrieved October 23, 2018.</ref>		"The Building of Skadar", first published by the early Serbian folklorist Vuk Karadžić in 1815,<ref>Vuk Karadžić, "The Building of Skadar", in: Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook'' (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), 3-12. Dundes notes that German folklorist Jacob Grimm was fascinated by the "The Building of Skadar” and made his own translation of the Karadžić text, which he sent to Goethe—who was appalled by its “heathen barbarity". See: Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife'', 188</ref> represents the ballad in one of its classic forms. It takes as its subject the construction of a citadel in the ancient Balkan city of Skadar, or Shkodër, in present day Albania.<ref>The castle in the Skadar version of the ballad is usually identified as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rozafa_Castle Rozafa Castle], built during the early fifteenth century, when the city was under Venetian rule. See: "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shkodër#Modern Shkodër]," ''Wikipedia'', last modified October 22, 2018; and Theo Thimo, "[https://medium.com/@theothimo/rozafa-the-wife-mother-half-buried-within-the-citadels-foundation-533e5d29e6d7 Rozafa: The Wife & Mother Half Buried Within The Citadel’s Foundation]", ''Medium'', July 18, 2018, retrieved October 23, 2018.</ref>

	Three brothers and their three hundred strong workforce have been laboring in vain on the construction of a citadel on the Bojana River; for three years anything they have built during the day collapses at night.		Three brothers and their three hundred strong workforce have been laboring in vain on the construction of a citadel on the Bojana River; for three years anything they have built during the day collapses at night.

Tenementofnaught at 16:49, 1 November 2018

2018-11-01T16:49:50Z

Show changes

Tenementofnaught at 16:24, 1 November 2018

2018-11-01T16:24:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:24, 1 November 2018
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	[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.		[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.


	==Synopsis==		==Synopsis==
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	==Interpretations==		==Interpretations==

			====Appeasement of the Gods for Man's Hubris====

	Most critical interpretations of the ballad center around the theme of foundation sacrifice, whether to appease local territorial spirits or the more universal gods whose powers of creation are arrogantly usurped by man in his ambition to build.		Most critical interpretations of the ballad center around the theme of foundation sacrifice, whether to appease local territorial spirits or the more universal gods whose powers of creation are arrogantly usurped by man in his ambition to build.
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	Sharon King has also interpreted the ballad as an allegory for human will and ambition, the conception of art, and the issue of what its limits are or should be. She reads 'The Master of Manole', a Romanian version of the ballad that centers around the construction of the Monastery at Arges, as a series of boundaries transgressed in the name of 'great art’.<ref>Sharon King, "Beyond The Pale”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 95-101.</ref>		Sharon King has also interpreted the ballad as an allegory for human will and ambition, the conception of art, and the issue of what its limits are or should be. She reads 'The Master of Manole', a Romanian version of the ballad that centers around the construction of the Monastery at Arges, as a series of boundaries transgressed in the name of 'great art’.<ref>Sharon King, "Beyond The Pale”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 95-101.</ref>

			====Spiritual Animation of a New Building====

	Mircea Eliade, on the other hand, explores the notion of spiritual transference that takes place through the act of human sacrifice as the central motif of the ballad. “To last, a construction (house, technical accomplishment, but also spiritual undertaking) must be animated, that is, must receive both life and a soul. The ‘transference' of the soul is possible only by means of a sacrifice, in other words, a violent death. We may even say that the victim continues its existence after death, no longer in its physical body but in its new body—the construction—which it has 'animated' by its immolation; we may even speak of an 'architectonic body’ substituted for a body of flesh."<ref>Mircea Eliade, “Master Manole and the Monastery of Arges”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 82-83.</ref>		Mircea Eliade, on the other hand, explores the notion of spiritual transference that takes place through the act of human sacrifice as the central motif of the ballad. “To last, a construction (house, technical accomplishment, but also spiritual undertaking) must be animated, that is, must receive both life and a soul. The ‘transference' of the soul is possible only by means of a sacrifice, in other words, a violent death. We may even say that the victim continues its existence after death, no longer in its physical body but in its new body—the construction—which it has 'animated' by its immolation; we may even speak of an 'architectonic body’ substituted for a body of flesh."<ref>Mircea Eliade, “Master Manole and the Monastery of Arges”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 82-83.</ref>

	This underlying ideology is in turn related by Eliade to fundamental myths around the foundation of a cosmogony—where the founding of the world itself was predicated on the killing of a primordial giant (whose scattered limbs formed the continents of the earth). Thus, every act of creation becomes linked to an act of violence, a notion that it is not difficult to apply in an architectural context, given Eliade's conception of the dwelling—be that house, palace or city—as an imago mundi, a recreation of a cosmos at an intimate scale.<ref>Ibid., 83-84.</ref>		This underlying ideology is in turn related by Eliade to fundamental myths around the foundation of a cosmogony—where the founding of the world itself was predicated on the killing of a primordial giant (whose scattered limbs formed the continents of the earth). Thus, every act of creation becomes linked to an act of violence, a notion that it is not difficult to apply in an architectural context, given Eliade's conception of the dwelling—be that house, palace or city—as an imago mundi, a recreation of a cosmos at an intimate scale.<ref>Ibid., 83-84.</ref>

			====Male Appropriation of Female Creativity====

	Other writers, have examined the ballad as an allegory or male-female relations and the institution of marriage. The ballad's 'rite of passage' inscribes the working life of the male as predicated on the enclosure of the female; an enclosure that can as readily be understood in relation to the walls of the home (in the case of marriage), as the walls of the foundational monuments of a city or state (as in the varying versions of the ballad).<ref>Lyubomira Parpulova-Gribble, “The Ballad of “The Walled-Up Wife”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 169-184.</ref>		Other writers, have examined the ballad as an allegory or male-female relations and the institution of marriage. The ballad's 'rite of passage' inscribes the working life of the male as predicated on the enclosure of the female; an enclosure that can as readily be understood in relation to the walls of the home (in the case of marriage), as the walls of the foundational monuments of a city or state (as in the varying versions of the ballad).<ref>Lyubomira Parpulova-Gribble, “The Ballad of “The Walled-Up Wife”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 169-184.</ref>

Tenementofnaught at 16:09, 1 November 2018

2018-11-01T16:09:25Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:09, 1 November 2018
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	==Regional Variations==		==Regional Variations==

	[[File:2013-10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Rozafa Castle, in Shkodër, Albania, purported location of the immurement documented in ''The Building of Skadar''.]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.		[[File:2013-10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Rozafa Castle, in Shkodër, Albania, purported location of the immurement documented in "The Building of Skadar".]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.

	One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that is was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"Who Were the “Gypsies”?", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, retrieved October 23, 2018. https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 26</ref>		One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that is was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"Who Were the “Gypsies”?", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, retrieved October 23, 2018. https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 26</ref>

Tenementofnaught at 16:08, 1 November 2018

2018-11-01T16:08:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:08, 1 November 2018
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	[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad ~~exist~~ across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.		[[File:Dundes-walled-up.jpg\|240px\|thumb\|right\|Alan Dundes, ed., ''The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook''. The book's cover illustration, "The Bridge of Arta", is by Spiros Kardamakis.]]'The Walled Up Wife' is a folkloric ballad of Eastern European and Indian origin that tells of the sacrifice of a female victim in order that the construction of a citadel or other built structure might successfully be completed. The ballad exists in many different forms, varyingly concerning the construction of a castle, a monastery, a bridge or a well. Versions of the ballad have been recorded across the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and India.

	==Synopsis==		==Synopsis==
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	==Regional Variations==		==Regional Variations==

	[[File:~~Manastirea~~ - ~~Curtea de Arges~~.jpg\|thumb~~\|200px~~\|right\|~~The Cathederal of Curtea de Arges~~ in ~~Romania is said to be the~~ location of the ~~"Monastery of Arges" version~~ of ~~the ballad~~.]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.		[[File:2013-10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Rozafa Castle, in Shkodër, Albania, purported location of the immurement documented in ''The Building of Skadar''.]]The ballad is most typically considered of Balkan origin, but there are many regional variations. Several versions exist native to the Santal peoples of India, where the tale usually concerns the construction of a water tank.

	One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that is was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"Who Were the “Gypsies”?", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, retrieved October 23, 2018. https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 26</ref>		One theory for the geographic spread of the ballad is that is was carried by Sinti and Roma ‘gypsies' who arrived in Europe from northern India in the early fifteenth century.<ref>"Who Were the “Gypsies”?", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, retrieved October 23, 2018. https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-and-resources/sinti-and-roma-victims-of-the-nazi-era/who-were-the-gypsies</ref> Alan Dundes points out how the gypsy peoples were often employed as masons.<ref>Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 26</ref>

	The Indian versions of the ballad usually tell of seven brothers who have been working on digging a water tank. After repeatedly failing to strike water, they are advised by a Jogi that, in order for the water to flow, they must sacrifice to the tank their only sister. They do this, sending her into the centre of the dry tank, which then quickly fills with water, drowning her. These versions of the tale usually end with the sister being transformed into an Upel flower, which her betrothed then passes and plucks, bringing her back to life as a semi-deity.<ref>G.A. Campbell and Cecil Henry Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Alan Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), 13-24.</ref>		The Indian versions of the ballad usually tell of seven brothers who have been working on digging a water tank. After repeatedly failing to strike water, they are advised by a Jogi that, in order for the water to flow, they must sacrifice to the tank their only sister. They do this, sending her into the centre of the dry tank, which then quickly fills with water, drowning her. These versions of the tale usually end with the sister being transformed into an Upel flower, which her betrothed then passes and plucks, bringing her back to life as a semi-deity.<ref>G.A. Campbell and Cecil Henry Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Alan Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife : A Casebook (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), 13-24.</ref> In one of these versions, the brothers’ motivation for the sacrifice of their sister is justified to the grieving mother with reference to the perpetuation of the family name through the completion of the ‘meritorious work’ of the tank, which will benefit all who pass by and use it.<ref>Campbell and Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 18.</ref>

	In one of these versions, the brothers’ motivation for the sacrifice of their sister is justified to the grieving mother with reference to the perpetuation of the family name through the completion of the ‘meritorious work’ of the tank, which will benefit all who pass by and use it.<ref>Campbell and Bompas, "Three Santal Tales”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 18.</ref>

	"The Bridge of Arta" is another well-known variant of the ballad, of Greek origin. Here again, three brothers are laboring over the construction of a bridge over a river, and it is the master builder who must sacrifice his wife. As with the Skadar tale, the wife brings lunch to the construction site, and is led down into the foundations of the bridge on the pretext of helping her husband search for his wedding ring, which he claims to have dropped there.<ref>B.J. Gilliat Smith and W.R. Halliday, "The Song of the Bridge”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 27-34.</ref>		"The Bridge of Arta" is another well-known variant of the ballad, of Greek origin. Here again, three brothers are laboring over the construction of a bridge over a river, and it is the master builder who must sacrifice his wife. As with the Skadar tale, the wife brings lunch to the construction site, and is led down into the foundations of the bridge on the pretext of helping her husband search for his wedding ring, which he claims to have dropped there.<ref>B.J. Gilliat Smith and W.R. Halliday, "The Song of the Bridge”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 27-34.</ref>
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	==Foundation Sacrifice==		==Foundation Sacrifice==

	[[File:~~2013~~-~~10-03 Rozafa Castle, Shkodër 0328~~.jpg\|thumb\|right\|~~Rozafa Castle,~~ in ~~Shkodër, Albania, purported~~ location of the ~~immurement documented in ''The Building~~ of ~~Skadar''~~.]]Traditional beliefs in the necessity of a ‘foundation sacrifice’ in order to secure the stability of a new building exist worldwide.<ref>See: Paul G. Brewster, "The Foundation Sacrifice Motif”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 35-62.</ref> In the Old Testament, Hiel the Bethelite is said to have laid his firstborn son in the foundations when he was rebuilding Jericho.<ref>"In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun." 1 Kings 16:34, ESV.</ref> In ancient India, a pregnant woman was the favored sacrificial victim—as, it is said, at the sacred wall at Hampi. Legend has it that St Columba buried St Oran alive in the foundation of his monastery at Iona, in order to secure its stability and longevity.<ref>"Oran of Iona", Wikipedia, last modified June 27 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oran_of_Iona.</ref>		[[File:Manastirea - Curtea de Arges.jpg\|thumb\|200px\|right\|The Cathederal of Curtea de Arges in Romania is said to be the location of the "Monastery of Arges" version of the ballad.]]Traditional beliefs in the necessity of a ‘foundation sacrifice’ in order to secure the stability of a new building exist worldwide.<ref>See: Paul G. Brewster, "The Foundation Sacrifice Motif”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 35-62.</ref> In the Old Testament, Hiel the Bethelite is said to have laid his firstborn son in the foundations when he was rebuilding Jericho.<ref>"In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun." 1 Kings 16:34, ESV.</ref> In ancient India, a pregnant woman was the favored sacrificial victim—as, it is said, at the sacred wall at Hampi. Legend has it that St Columba buried St Oran alive in the foundation of his monastery at Iona, in order to secure its stability and longevity.<ref>"Oran of Iona", Wikipedia, last modified June 27 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oran_of_Iona.</ref>

	Human skeletons uncovered during excavations or demolitions at ancient sites appear to confirm that this was indeed a widespread practice. In 1844, a wall was broken open at a location where, legend held, a maiden was walled into the castle at Nieder Manderscheid in Germany: a skeleton was found embedded inside. When the bridge gate at Bremen was demolished, a child’s skeleton was revealed; and during a restoration of the parish church at Holsworthy in England, a skeleton was found—and evidence of hastily completed brickwork around that portion of the wall even suggested that a live immurement had taken place.<ref>Brewster, "The Foundation Sacrifice Motif”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 37-38.</ref>		Human skeletons uncovered during excavations or demolitions at ancient sites appear to confirm that this was indeed a widespread practice. In 1844, a wall was broken open at a location where, legend held, a maiden was walled into the castle at Nieder Manderscheid in Germany: a skeleton was found embedded inside. When the bridge gate at Bremen was demolished, a child’s skeleton was revealed; and during a restoration of the parish church at Holsworthy in England, a skeleton was found—and evidence of hastily completed brickwork around that portion of the wall even suggested that a live immurement had taken place.<ref>Brewster, "The Foundation Sacrifice Motif”, in: Dundes, ed., The Walled-Up Wife, 37-38.</ref>