Fairy Tales: The Ancient Tradition of Formula Tales

Formula tales are an ancient form of folktale, involving some repetition, the same phrase repeated, or the same chain of words or sequences repeated, and a pattern that usually develops a rhythm. Because of this, they are predictable. A good example of this is:

“The Three Billy Goats Gruff”

Once upon a time in Norway, there were three brother billy goats in three different sizes: small, medium, and big, by the name of Gruff. They thought they were not fat enough, so they decide to go up a mountain to graze there and get fat together. The smallest goat went first, followed by the medium goat and finally their big brother billy goat. They walk up the mountain until they come to a gorge with a bridge over it.

The smallest goat starts to cross the bridge, trip-trap-trip-trap-trip-trap-toe, when suddenly he hears:

“Naaaah — who is that on my bridge?”

The goat says:

“Naaah — nobody!”

A troll comes from under the bridge. He says:

“I’m going to eat you up!”

“Naaaah! I’m too small. You want my big brother, he’s coming just after me,” says the goat.

“Well, okay. Go on!” says the troll.

Next, the medium billy goat comes along. As he walks across the bridge, trip-trap-trip-trap-trip-trap-toe, the troll asks:

“Who’s that tripping over my bridge?”

“Naaah — nobody!” says the goat.

Again the troll comes out from under the bridge and threatens to eat him.“Naaaah — you don’t want me. You want my big brother. He’s coming up just behind me,” says the medium goat.

“Okay,” says the troll, and he lets the medium-sized goat pass.

Finally, the biggest billy goat walks across the bridge, trip-trap-trip-trap-trip-trap-toe. When he reaches the middle of the bridge, the troll asks:

“Naaaah! Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge?”

“Naaaah — nobody!” says the goat.

The troll comes up from under the bridge and says:

“I’m gonna eat you up!”

“Naaaah! Come along. I’ve got two great spears,” says the goat. Then he charges.

The big bad billy goat slams into the troll and pushes him off the bridge into the cascading water. The goat looks over the edge and says:

“Naaah?—?that’s the last time we’ll be bothered by him.”

The goat crosses the bridge and meets his brothers on the other side. Together they go up the hill and to this day, they are there, grazing on that hill, getting fatter and fatter.

If you find them there and ask them:

“Did the troll ever bother you again?”

They will say:

“Naaaah!”

The Takeaway

Repetitions in this story include the sound of the goats’ hooves, trip-trap-trip-trap-trip-trap-toe, the troll telling the first two goats to move on, and of course, the sound “Naaaah!”

Repetition invites us into stories, making us want to tell the story together. Repetition also helps us to remember stories. Back in the days when stories were mostly transmitted orally, the repetitions helped the storytellers to remember the tales, and in a similar way, the more we repeat the phrases, the more likely it is that we will also remember the story.

Because we can learn such stories quickly and retain them more readily, formula tales are one of our oldest forms of folktales. Formula tales are easy to learn and easy to remember, they are easy to pass on from one generation to the next.

The old English folktale, Henny-penny, is another great example of a formula tale. It goes like this:

One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the yard, when, “Whack!” suddenly something hit her on her head.

“Goodness gracious me!” she says, “The sky is falling. I must go and tell the king.”

So she goes along and she goes along and she goes along until she meets Cocky-locky.

“Where are you going, Henny-penny?” asks Cocky-locky.

“Oh! I’m going to tell the king the sky’s a-falling,” says Henny- penny.

“May I come with you?” says Cocky-locky.

“Certainly,” says Henny-penny.

So Henny-penny and Cocky-locky go to tell the king that the sky is falling.

They go along, and they go along, and they go along, until they meet Ducky-daddles.

“Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky- locky?” says Ducky-daddles.

“Oh! we’re going to tell the king the sky’s a-falling,” says Henny-penny and Cocky-locky.

“May I come with you?” says Ducky-daddles.

“Certainly,” says Henny-penny and Cocky- locky.

So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles go to tell the king that the sky is falling.

So they go along, and they go along, and they go along, until they meet Goosey-poosey.

“Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky- locky and Ducky-daddles?” says Goosey-poosey.

“Oh! we’re going to tell the king the sky’s a-falling,” says Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles.

“May I come with you,” says Goosey-poosey.

“Certainly,” says Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles.

So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey go to tell the king that the sky is falling.

So they go along, and they go along, and they go along, until they meet Turkey-lurkey.

“Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky- locky, Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?” says Turkey-lurkey.

“Oh! we’re going to tell the king the sky’s a-falling,” says Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey.

“May I come with you? Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?” says Turkey-lurkey.

“Why, certainly, Turkey-lurkey,” says Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey.

So Henny-penny, Cocky- locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all go to tell the king that the sky is falling.

So they go along, and they go along, and they go along, until they meet Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy says to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey:

“Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey- lurkey?”

And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey say to Foxy-woxy:

“We’re going to tell the king the sky’s a-falling.”

“Oh! but this is not the way to the king, Henny- penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey,” says Foxy-woxy, “I know the proper way. Shall I show it to you?”

“Why certainly, Foxy-woxy,” says Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey.

So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky- daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy all go to tell the king that the sky is falling. They go along, and they go along, and they go along, until they come to a narrow and dark hole. This is the door of Foxy-woxy’s cave, but Foxy-woxy says to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey- lurkey:

“This is the short way to the king’s palace you’ll soon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come after, Henny- penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey.”

“Why of course, certainly, without doubt, why not?” says Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey.

So Foxy-woxy goes into his cave. However, he does not go very far, but turns around to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey- poosey and Turkey-lurkey. At first Turkey-lurkey goes through the dark hole into the cave. However, he does not get far when “Hrumph,” Foxy-woxy bites off Turkey-lurkey’s head and throws his body over his left shoulder.

Next, Goosey-poosey goes in, and “Hrumph,” off goes her head and Goosey-poosey is thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. After that, Ducky- daddles waddled down, and “Hrumph,” Foxy-woxy snaps off Ducky- daddles’ head and he throws Ducky-daddles next to Turkey- lurkey and Goosey-poosey. After this horrible slaughter, Cocky-locky struts down into the cave, but he doesn’t go far when “Snap, Hrumph!” goes Foxy-woxy and Cocky- locky is thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky- daddles, dead as a Dodo.

But Foxy-woxy made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first snap only hurt him, it did not kill him, so Cocky-locky called out to Henny-penny to warn her. She hears him, turns tail and runs back home as fast as she could.

And so she never told the king that the sky was falling.

Henny-penny is a particular kind of formula tale. It is a cumulative tale which means that you start with a detail and then you keep adding on to that detail, repeating and adding as the tale progresses. For example, in this story we started with Henny-penny, but then we kept on adding animals until there was a whole flock of them.

The lesson of Henny-penny is that it is important to think for yourself and to question what others say, because they might waste your time with their nonsense and even get you killed if you follow them into the fox’s hole. It is also an “End of the World” type tale, a type of tale found all over the world wherewith storytellers make light and joke with mass paranoia and hysteria.

Have you ever followed in the footsteps of someone without thinking about where this is leading? I know I have. It warns us against the insidious effect of group psychology and herd mentality. It is hard to go against the grain and it requires courage to follow your own head and defy the herd.

The story also adds rhyme to the repetition, reminiscent of poetry, which creates an internal beat to the story, known as the ictus. Some formula tales have such a strong beat that they lend themselves to a kind of musicality, which are known as Cante tales. Cante fables have some form of song or chants built into key parts of the story, interspersed with narration. This is different from a ballad, which is sung throughout.

A good example of a Cante fable is the story of “The Gingerbread Man.” It goes like this:

There was once a little old man and a little old woman, who lived in a little old house on the edge of a wood. They had no children, and they wished for one very much. One day, when the little old woman was baking gingerbread, she cut a cake in the shape of a little boy, and put it into the oven.

A little later, she goes to the oven to see if it is baked. As soon as she opens the oven door, the little gingerbread boy jumps out, and begins to run away as fast as he could.

The little old woman calls her husband, and they both run after him, but they cannot catch him. The gingerbread boy comes to a barn full of threshers. He calls out to them as he goes by, saying:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman, A little old man, And I can run away from you, I can!”

The barn full of threshers set out to run after him, but, though they run fast, they cannot catch him. He runs on until he comes to a field full of mowers. He calls out to them as he blitzes by:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman, A little old man, A barn full of threshers, And I can run away from you, I can!”

The mowers run after him too, but they cannot catch him. He runs on until he comes to a cow. He calls out to her:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman, A little old man, A barn full of threshers, A field full of mowers, And I can run away from you, I can!”

The cow chases him too, but she, being a cow after all, cannot catch him. Soon he races up to a pig. He calls out:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman, A little old man, A barn full of threshers, A field full of mowers, A cow, And I can run away from you, I can!”

The pig pursues him, but alas, being a pig, the pig cannot catch him. The little gingerbread man runs until he comes across a river, and on the edge of the water sits a fox.

“I’ve run away from a little old woman, A little old man, A barn full of threshers, A field full of mowers, A cow and a pig, And now there is this wide river!”

“I will take you across,” says the fox. “Get on my back.”

The little gingerbread man jumps on the fox’s back and he begins to swim across the river. As the fox neared the middle of the river, the water started to creep up onto the fox’s back.

“I am getting wet” cried the gingerbread man.

“Hop on my head” said the fox.

Soon the water got close to the fox’s head.

“I am getting wet” cried the gingerbread man.

“Hop on my snout” said the fox.

The gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s snout. With a flick of his snout, the fox caught the gingerbread man in his mouth and began to eat him up.

“Oh dear! I’m quarter gone!” says the gingerbread man.

“Crunch,” the fox takes another bite.

“Oh, I’m half gone!” says the gingerbread man.

“Crunch,” the fox takes another bite.

“I’m three-quarters gone!” says the gingerbread man.

“Crunch,” the fox took another bite.

“I’m all gone!” said the gingerbread man and that was the last words he ever spoke.

There are many different versions of this story. In the above tale I combined the American story with the ending of an Irish tale. In the German and Norwegian versions, the oldest versions of this story, the running piece of food is a pancake. In Scotland it is a bread roll, in Ireland it is a little cake, and in Russia, perhaps the darkest version, it is a piece of bread that gets possessed by the Devil.

Another example of a formula tale is the story of “The Little Red Hen.” It goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was a little red hen. She scratches with her feet near the barn, when she finds a little grain of wheat. She calls to the rest of the animals in the barnyard and says:

“Bwaaak — look at that! Hey everyone, who will plant this wheat?”

“Not I,” says the rat.

“Not I,” says the cat.

“Not I,” says the dog.

“Not I,” says the duck.

“Not I,” says the pig.

The little red hen shrugs and says:

“I will, then.”

She plants the grain of wheat. Soon enough it sprouts up as extremely pretty, plump, and nice grain. She reaps the wheat and calls out again to the other animals in the barnyard:

“Who will take this wheat to the mill to be ground into flour?”

“Not I,” says the rat.

“Not I,” says the cat.

“Not I,” says the dog.

“Not I,” says the duck.

“Not I,” says the pig.

Again, the little red hen shrugs and says:

“I will, then.”

She takes the wheat to the mill, where they ground it into flour for her. Alone, she carries the heavy sack of flour back home, mixes it up, and kneads it into warm, puffy dough.

Once again, she calls out to the animals in the barnyard:

“Who will bake this bread?”

“Not I,” says the rat.

“Not I,” says the cat.

“Not I,” says the dog.

“Not I,” says the duck.

“Not I,” says the pig.

Again, sad, the little red hen says:

“I will, then.”

She puts the dough into the oven and when the bread is baked and its warm, inviting smell fills the air, the little red hen calls out to the barnyard animals:

“Who will help me eat this bread?”

“I will,” says the rat.

“I will,” says the cat.

“I will,” says the dog.

“I will,” says the duck.

“I will,” says the pig.

But the little red hen smiles and says:

“Oh no you won’t!”

She picks up the bread, runs off with it, and enjoys it on her own.

What can we learn from this?

It’s a tale that touts the virtue of hard work. Wishes get you nowhere, but work will help you make progress. None of the animals except the hen worked, and she was the one who rightly got the reward.

It reminds of the short poem:

“The things are

Mighty few on earth

That wishes can attain;

Whatever we want

Of any worth

We’ve got to work

To gain.”

The rhythms of formula tales, for example those noises made by the talking animals, are fun to join in with. That’s part of the charm of formula tales and one of the reasons why this ancient genre of tale is still with us to this very day.

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Thank you.

Bibliography

Harvey, H.B. (2017). A Children’s Guide to Folklore and Wonder Tales. The Teaching Company. Chantilly.

Henny-Penny: Old English Folktale Available online at:

https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/English_folktale_20.html#gsc.tab=0 [Accessed: 8th of April, 2024].

The Little Gingerbread Man. Available online at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25877/25877-h/25877-h.htm [Accessed: 8th of April, 2024].

https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type2025.html#gingerbread [Accessed: 8th of April, 2024].