Instructions
The folk ballads, i.e., narrative folksongs, are indexed here
by their narrative Themes - stock ideas in the songs' narratives (See
some examples.)
To find certain
ballads - or ballad patterns - choose the relevant narrative Themes from the drop-down
menus on the Search page. Choose as many as you want. (See
examples here).
Instructions for Use
- Select
the narrative Themes (and optionally Roles) from the pull-down
menus.
- Themes are ideas which the ballads'
actions express rather than specific actions themselves that the actors
might undertake. Thus, specific actions, such as "She mounted up
behind him and away they did go" or "He rode off on the
milk-white steed, she upon the gray" both express the Theme of
"310: Elopements, Abductions, Enticements" (under heading 300 "Departures,
Quests").
- Roles reflect the social functions
and relationships of the various ballad actors, for instance as "Lovers,"
"Family," "Victims," or employees in an "Economic"
relationship. One can select which Roles are relevant from the pull-down
menus.
- You can
choose any combination. No one Theme or Role excludes another.
- Combining
the actions (Themes) and the actors' relationships (Roles)
provides a very powerful yet precise search engine.
- You can
choose as many Themes and/or Roles
as you want; the more you choose the narrower your search will become.
- Select
a Theme or Role by clicking on the check box. Behind each Theme or
Role you can click on the question mark to see a short explanation. You
can also click on the X to exclude that Theme or Role from your
search.
-
To enhance your search, you can (optionally) choose the
kinds of Roles played by the ballad actors. After all, it makes a
difference in the ballads whether "he" is killed by some
criminal or by the servents of justice.
Role Relationships reflect the role or roles that the
actors play in the social fabric of the ballad. Cowboys, knights in shining armor, sexually
overcharged millers, or "fair young maids" can all function in
the role of "Lovers," whether or not they are "successful,"
or whether they are the "active party." Roles need not be
mutual, and, like the Themes, no Role excludes another, while one actor
can also fill several roles, e.g. those of "Victim" and of "Lover."
As
with the Themes, you can refer to the explanation of the Role by
clicking on the question mark, and you can optionally exclude it
from your search.
-
- As you
select your search criteria you can follow "live" the number of Results
your search strategies yield, a listing of the applied search criteria
(which you can save for later), as well as the list of linked
references to the song descriptions directly.
-
- Clicking
on the links in the list of hits will take you to the full
description and example of the particular song type, presented in .pdf
format.
-
- By
clicking on "Saved Searches" you can retrieve previous
searches to review or modify as you please.
- Alternatively
use the "Advanced Search" under the pull-down menus to
search directly and with more precise control for Themes, Roles, ballad
titles or catalog numbers, or their call numbers at the German
Folksong Archive
(i.e., Deutsches Volksliedarchiv or "DVA").
- To learn
more about searching this catalog and the search criteria refer to the