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Pied Piper of Hamelin

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"Pied Piper" redirects here. For other uses, seePied Piper (disambiguation)andPied Piper of Hamelin (disambiguation).

ThePied Piper of Hamelin(German:der Rattenfänger von Hameln,also known as thePan Piperor theRat-Catcher of Hamelin) is thetitle characterof alegendfrom the town ofHamelin(Hameln),Lower Saxony,Germany.

1592 painting of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in Hamelin
Postcard"Gruss aus Hameln"featuring the Pied Piper of Hamelin, 1902

The legend dates back to theMiddle Ages.The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in multicoloured ( "pied") clothing, who was a rat catcher hired by the town to lure rats away[1]with his magicpipe.When the citizens refused to pay for this service as promised, he retaliated by using his instrument's magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as folklore and has appeared in the writings ofJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,theBrothers Grimm,andRobert Browning,among others. The phrase "pied piper" has become a metaphor for a person who attracts a following through charisma or false promises.[2]

There are many contradictory theories about the Pied Piper. Some suggest he was a symbol of hope to the people of Hamelin, which had been attacked byplague;he drove the rats from Hamelin, saving the people from the epidemic.[3]

1909Maxfield Parrishmural of the Pied Piper of Hamelin at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco

Plot

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In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from aratinfestation, a piper dressed in multicoloured ( "pied" ) clothing appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the mayor a solution to their problem with the rats. Themayor,in turn, promised to pay him 1,000guildersfor the removal of the rats. The piper accepted and played his pipe to lure the rats into theWeser River,where all the rats drowned.[4]

Despite the piper's success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full sum (reputedly reduced to 50 guilders) even going so far as to blame the piper for bringing the rats himself in anextortionattempt. Enraged, the piper stormed out of the town, vowing to return later to takerevenge.On SaintJohn and Paul's day, while the adults were in church, the piper returned, dressed in green like a hunter and playing his pipe. In so doing, he attracted the town'schildren.One hundred and thirty children followed him out of town and into a mountains’ cave, after which they were never seen again. Depending on the version, at most three children remained behind: one waslameand could not follow quickly enough, the second wasdeafand therefore could not hear the music, and the last wasblindand therefore unable to see where he was going. These three informed the villagers of what had happened when they came out from church.[4]

Other versions relate that the Pied Piper led the children to the top of Koppelberg Hill, where he took them to a beautiful land,[5]or a place calledKoppenbergMountain,[6]or Transylvania. In yet other versions, he made them walk into theWeseras he did with the rats, and they alldrowned.Or, the Piper returned the children after extorting payment, or the children were returned only after the villagers paid several times the original payment in gold.[4][7]

The Hamelin street namedBungelosenstrasse( "street without drums" ) is believed to be the last place that the children were seen. Ever since, music or dancing is not allowed on this street.[8][9]

Background

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Further information:List of literary accounts of the Pied Piper
The rats ofHamelin.Illustration byKate GreenawayforRobert Browning's "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"

The earliest mention of the story seems to have been on a stained-glass window placed in the Church of Hamelinc. 1300.The window was described in several accounts between the 14th and 17th centuries.[10]It was destroyed in 1660. Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window has been created by historian Hans Dobbertin. It features the colourful figure of the Pied Piper and several figures of children dressed in white.[11][failed verification]

The window is generally considered to have been created in memory of a tragic historical event for the town; Hamelin town records also apparently start with this event.[citation needed]

Although research has been conducted for centuries, no explanation for the historical event is universally accepted as true. In any case, the rats were first added to the story in a version fromc. 1559and are absent from earlier accounts.[12]

14th-century Decan Lude chorus book

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Decan Ludeof Hamelin was reportedc. 1384to have in his possession a chorus book containing aLatinverse giving an eyewitness account of the event.[13][further explanation needed]

15th-century Lüneburg manuscript

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The Lüneburg manuscript (c. 1440–50) gives an early German account of the event.[14]An article byJames P. O'DonnellinThe Saturday Evening Post(December 24, 1955) tells how an elderly German researcher, Heinrich Spanuth, discovered the earliest version of the story in theLunebergcity archives in 1936.

On the back of the last tattered page of a dusty chronicle calledThe Golden Chain,written in Latin in 1370 by the monkHeinrich of Herford,there is written in a different handwriting the following account:[15]

Here follows a marvellous wonder, which transpired in the town of Hamelin in the diocese of Minden, in this Year of Our Lord, 1284, on the Feast of Saints John and Paul. A certain young man thirty years of age, handsome and well-dressed, so that all who saw him admired him because of his appearance, crossed the bridges and entered the town by the West Gate. He then began to play all through the town a silver pipe of the most magnificent sort. All the children who heard his pipe, in the number of 130, followed him to the East Gate and out of the town to the so-called execution place or Calvary. There they proceeded to vanish, so that no trace of them could be found. The mothers of the children ran from town to town, but they found nothing. It is written: A voice was heard from on high, and a mother was bewailing her son. And as one counts the years according to the Year of Our Lord or according to the first, second or third year of an anniversary, so do the people in Hamelin reckon the years after the departure and disappearance of their children. This report I found in an old book. And the mother of the Dean Johann von Lüde saw the children depart.[16][17][18][note 1]

Rattenfängerhaus

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It is rendered in the following form in an inscription on a house known asRattenfängerhaus(English: "Rat Catcher's House" orPied Piper's House) in Hamelin:[14]

According to author Fanny Rostek-Lühmann this is the oldest surviving account.Koppen(High GermanKuppe,meaning a knoll or domed hill) seems to be a reference to one of several hills surrounding Hamelin. Which of them was intended by the manuscript's author remains uncertain.[19]

The Wedding House

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A similar inscription can be found on the "Wedding- or Hochzeitshaus, a fine structure erected between 1610 and 1617[20]for marriage festivities, but diverted from its purpose since 1721. Behind rises the spire of the parish church of St. Nicholas which, in the words of an English book of folklore, may still "enwall stones that witness how the parents prayed, while the Piper wrought sorrow for them without":[21]

The Town Gate

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A portion of the town gate dating from the year 1556 is currently exhibited at the Hamelin Museum. According to Hamelin Museum, this stone is the oldest surviving sculptural evidence for the legend.[22]It bears the following inscription:[23]

Verses in the monastery at Hamelin

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The Hamelin Museum writes:[24]

In the mid 14th Century, a monk from Minden, Heinrich von Herford, puts together a collection of holy legends called the "Catena Aurea". It speaks of a "miracle" that took place in 1284 in Hamelin. A youth appeared and played on a strange silver flute. Every child that heard the flute, followed the stranger. They left Hamelin by the Eastern gate and disappeared at Kalvarien Hill. This is the oldest known account of this occurrence. Around this time a verse of rhyme is found in "zu Hameln im Kloster". It tells about the children's disappearance. It is written in red ink on the title page of a missal. It bewails "the 130 beloved Hamelner children" who were "eaten alive by Calvaria". The original verses are probably the oldest written source of this legend. It has been missing for hundreds of years.[note 2]

However, different versions of transcriptions of handwritten copies still exist. One was published by Heinrich Meibom in 1688.[25]Another was included by Johann Daniel Gottlieb Herr under the title Passionale Sanctorum inCollectanea zur Geschichte der Stadt Hameln.His manuscript is dated 1761.[26]There are some Latin verses which had a prose version underneath:[27]

16th- and 17th-century sources

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Somewhere between 1559 and 1565, CountFroben Christoph von Zimmernincluded a version in hisZimmerische Chronik.[28]This appears to be the earliest account which mentions the plague of rats. Von Zimmern dates the event only as "several hundred years ago" (vor etlichen hundert jarn[sic]), so that his version throws no light on the conflict of dates (see next paragraph). Another contemporary account is that ofJohann Weyerin hisDe praestigiis daemonum(1563).[29]

Theories

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The Pied Piper leads the children out of Hamelin. Illustration by Kate Greenaway for Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"

Natural causes

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A number of theories suggest that children died of some natural causes such as disease or starvation,[30]and that the Piper was a symbolic figure ofDeath.Analogous themes which are associated with this theory include theDance of Death,TotentanzorDanse Macabre,a common medieval trope. Some of the scenarios that have been suggested as fitting this theory include that the children drowned in the river Weser, were killed in alandslideor contracted some disease during an epidemic. Another modern interpretation reads the story as alluding to an event where Hamelin children were lured away by apaganorhereticsectto forests nearCoppenbrügge(the mysteriousKoppen"hills" of the poem) for ritual dancing where they all perished during a sudden landslide or collapsingsinkhole.[31]

Emigration

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Speculation on the emigration theory is based on the idea that, by the 13th century, overpopulation of the area resulted in the oldest son owning all the land and power (majorat), leaving the rest as serfs.[32]It has also been suggested that one reason the emigration of the children was never documented was that the children were sold to a recruiter from the Baltic region of Eastern Europe, a practice that was common at the time.[citation needed]In his bookThe Pied Piper: A Handbook,Wolfgang Miederstates that historical documents exist showing that people from the area including Hamelin did help settle parts ofTransylvania.[33]Emily Gerardreports inThe Land Beyond the Forestan element of the folktale that "popular tradition has averred the Germans who about that time made their appearance in Transylvania to be no other than the lost children of Hameln, who, having performed their long journey by subterranean passages, reissued to the light of day through the opening of a cavern known as the Almescher Höhle, in the north-east of Transylvania."[34]Transylvania had suffered under lengthyMongol invasionsof Central Europe, led by two grandsons ofGenghis Khanand which date from around the time of the earliest appearance of the legend of the piper, the early 13th century.[35]

In the version of the legend posted on the official website for the town of Hamelin, another aspect of the emigration theory is presented:

Among the various interpretations, reference to the colonization of East Europe starting from Low Germany is the most plausible one: The "Children of Hameln" would have been in those days citizens willing to emigrate being recruited by landowners to settle in Moravia, East Prussia, Pomerania or in the Teutonic Land. It is assumed that in past times all people of a town were referred to as "children of the town" or "town children" as is frequently done today. The "Legend of the children's Exodus" was later connected to the "Legend of expelling the rats". This most certainly refers to the rat plagues being a great threat in the medieval milling town and the more or less successful professionalrat catchers.[36]

The theory is provided credence by the fact that family names common to Hamelin at the time "show up with surprising frequency in the areas of Uckermark and Prignitz, near Berlin."[37]

Lokator, in hat

Historian Ursula Sautter, citing the work of linguist Jürgen Udolph, offers this hypothesis in support of the emigration theory:

"After the defeat of the Danes at theBattle of Bornhövedin 1227, "explains Udolph," the region south of the Baltic Sea, which was then inhabited by Slavs, became available for colonization by the Germans. "The bishops and dukes of Pomerania, Brandenburg, Uckermark and Prignitz sent out glib" locators ", medieval recruitment officers, offering rich rewards to those who were willing to move to the new lands. Thousands of young adults from Lower Saxony and Westphalia headed east. And as evidence, about a dozen Westphalian place names show up in this area. Indeed there are five villages called Hindenburg running in a straight line from Westphalia to Pomerania, as well as three eastern Spiegelbergs and a trail of etymology from Beverungen south of Hamelin to Beveringen northwest of Berlin to Beweringen in modern Poland.[38]

Udolph favours the hypothesis that the Hamelin youths wound up in what is now Poland.[39]Genealogist Dick Eastman cited Udolph's research on Hamelin surnames that have shown up in Polish phonebooks:

Linguistics professor Jürgen Udolph says that 130 children did vanish on a June day in the year 1284 from the German village of Hamelin (Hamelnin German). Udolph entered all the known family names in the village at that time and then started searching for matches elsewhere. He found that the same surnames occur with amazing frequency in the regions of Prignitz and Uckermark, both north of Berlin. He also found the same surnames in the former Pomeranian region, which is now a part of Poland.

Udolph surmises that the children were actually unemployed youths who had been sucked into the German drive to colonize its new settlements in Eastern Europe. The Pied Piper may never have existed as such, but, says the professor, "There were characters known aslokatorswho roamed northern Germany trying to recruit settlers for the East. "Some of them were brightly dressed, and all were silver-tongued.

Professor Udolph can show that the Hamelin exodus should be linked with theBattle of Bornhövedin 1227 which broke the Danish hold on Eastern Europe. That opened the way for German colonization, and by the latter part of the thirteenth century there were systematic attempts to bring able-bodied youths to Brandenburg and Pomerania. The settlement, according to the professor's name search, ended up near Starogard in what is now northwestern Poland. A village near Hamelin, for example, is called Beverungen and has an almost exact counterpart called Beveringen, near Pritzwalk, north of Berlin and another called Beweringen, near Starogard.

Local Polish telephone books list names that are not the typical Slavic names one would expect in that region. Instead, many of the names seem to be derived from German names that were common in the village of Hamelin in the thirteenth century. In fact, the names in today's Polish telephone directories include Hamel, Hamler and Hamelnikow, all apparently derived from the name of the original village.[40]

Other

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Some theories have linked the disappearance of the children tomass psychogenic illnessin the form ofdancing mania.Dancing mania outbreaks occurred during the 13th century, including one in 1237 in which a large group of children travelled fromErfurttoArnstadt(about 20 km (12 mi)), jumping and dancing all the way,[41]in marked similarity to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, which originated at around the same time.[42]

Others have suggested that the children left Hamelin to be part of apilgrimage,amilitary campaign,or even a newChildren's Crusade(which is said to have occurred in 1212) but never returned to their parents. These theories see the unnamed Piper as their leader or a recruiting agent. The townspeople made up this story (instead of recording the facts) to avoid the wrath of the church or the king.[43]

William Manchester'sA World Lit Only by Fireplaces the events in 1484, and further proposes that the Pied Piper was a psychopathicpaedophile.[44]

Adaptations

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The Lame Child. A 19th-century illustration byKate GreenawayforRobert Browning's "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"

Literature

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  • ಬೊಮ್ಮನಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಕಿಂದರ ಜೋಗಿ (Kondara Jogi ofBommanahalli) by the Kannada poet-laureateKuvempuis a poetic adaptation of the story.
  • In 1803,Johann Wolfgang von Goethewrote a poem based on the story that was later set to music byHugo Wolf.Goethe also incorporated references to the story in his version ofFaust.(The first part of the drama was first published in 1808 and the second in 1832.)
  • JakobandWilhelm Grimm,known as theBrothers Grimm,drawing from 11 sources, included the tale in their collectionDeutsche Sagen(first published in 1816). According to their account, two children were left behind, as one was blind and the other lame, so neither could follow the others. The rest became the founders of Siebenbürgen (Transylvania).[19]
  • Robert Browningwrote a poem called "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", using the 1605Versteganversion of the tale (the earliest account in English) and adopting the 1376 date. The poem was published in Browning'sDramatic Lyrics(1842).[45]His retelling in verse is notable for its humour, wordplay, and jingling rhymes.[citation needed][according to whom?]
  • Viktor Dyk'sKrysař (The Rat-Catcher),published in 1915, retells the story in a slightly darker, more Enigma tic way. The short novel also features the character ofFaust.
  • InMarina Tsvetaeva's long poemliricheskaia satira, The Rat-Catcher(serialized in the émigré journalVolia Rossiiin 1925–1926), rats are an allegory of people influenced by Bolshevik propaganda.[according to whom?][46]
  • Shel Silverstein's poem "The One Who Stayed", published as part of his collectionWhere the Sidewalk Endsin 1974, tells the Pied Piper story from the point of view of a child who was too scared to follow him.
  • Gloria Skurzynski's 1979 children's novelWhat Happened in Hamelinre-tells the Piped Piper story documenting the 1284 Hamelin events using research of medieval manuscripts, but gives the Piper an apprentice, a badly treated baker's servant, who discovers his new master's intended vengeance.
  • "Emissary from Hamelin" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison, published in 1978 in the collectionStrange Wine.
  • The paperback horror novelCome, Follow Meby Philip Michaels (Avon Books, 1983) is based on the story.
  • China Miéville's 1998 London-set novelKing Ratcenters on the ancient rivalry between the rats (some of whom are portrayed as having humanlike characteristics) and the Pied Piper, who appears in the novel as a mysterious musician named Pete who infiltrates the local club-music scene.
  • Terry Pratchett's 2001 young-adult novel,The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,parodies the legend from the perspective of the rats, the piper and their handler. It was adapted as anCGI animated filmreleased in 2022.
  • In 2014,Russell Brand'sThe Pied Piper of Hamelinwas published by Atria Books (ISBN978-1-4767-9189-0) as Book 1 of hisTrickster Tales,setting the story in a more modern era and making some of the children as (and in some cases even more) repulsive than the adults. He also narrated the audiobook version (see below in "Audio" ).
  • The short story "The Rat King" byJohn Connolly,first included in the 2016 edition of his novelThe Book of Lost Things,is a fairly faithful adaptation of the legend, but with a new ending. It was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast on 28 October 2016.
  • Piper,a 2017 liberal adaptation of the original story into aYoung Adultgraphic novelwritten byJay Asherand Jessica Freeburg and illustrated by Jeff Stokely, fromPenguinimprintRazorbill.
  • The Pied Piper is a central figure inRainbow ValleyandRilla of InglesidebyLucy Maud Montgomery,calling, or in hindsight luring, that generation of boys off towar.[47][48]

"The Piper is coming nearer," he said, "he is nearer than he was that evening I saw him before. His long, shadowy cloak is blowing around him. He pipes—he pipes—and we must follow—Jem and Carl and Jerry and I—round and round the world. Listen—listen—can't you hear his wild music?"[47]

  • Matthew Cody has written a trilogy for young readers entitledThe Secrets of the Pied Piper,consisting ofThe Peddler's Road(2015,ISBN978-0385755283),The Magician's Key(2016,ISBN978-0385755283) andThe Piper's Apprentice(2017,ISBN978-0385755306), telling the story of two siblings who, while visiting Hamelin with their father, are transported to the Summer Isle, where the original stolen Hamelin children (who have not aged a day) now live, and must find a way to escape back to the real world.
  • In 2024,Book 1: Hamelin,the first book in theThe Children of the Piperseries by Peter Smart, was published by PiperHaus (ISBN978-1-966158-01-1) and is a fully illustrated twist on the classic tale told from the point of view of 13-year-old Sofia Müller, a girl living in Hamelin at the time. Instead of asking for gold or silver to get rid of the town's rat infestation, the piper asks for a promise instead: because the adults of the town had not been treating the children very well, they must agree to start treating them as they wished they would have been treated when they were children themselves. A year later, after the townsfolk fail to keep their promise, the piper takes the children away.

Film

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Television

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  • Van Johnsonstarred as the Piper in NBC studios' adaptation:The Pied Piper of Hamelin(1957).
  • In 1985 Robert Browning's poetic retelling of the story was adapted and directed byNicholas Meyeras an episode ofShelley Duvall'sFaerie Tale TheatrestarringEric Idleas both the Piper and Robert Browning in the prologue and epilogue narrating the poem to a young boy.
  • Gloria Skurzynski's 1979 children's novelWhat Happened in Hamelin(see above in "Literature" ) was adapted as an episode ofCBS Storybreakunder the same title and released as the 3rd episode of Season 3 on October 3rd, 1987 and is considered to belost media.
  • The cast ofPeanutsdid their own version of the tale in the direct-to-DVD specialIt's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown(2000), which was the final special to have the involvement of original creatorCharles Schulz,who died before it was released.
  • The 2003 television filmThe Electric Piper,set in the United States in the 1960s, depicts the piper as apsychedelic rockguitarist modeled afterJimi Hendrix.
  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin was adapted inHappily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Childwhere it uses jazz music. The episode featuredWesley Snipesas the Pied Piper and the music performed byRonnie Lawsas well as the voices ofSamuel L. Jacksonas the Mayor of Hamelin,Grant Shaudas the Mayor's assistant Toadey,John RatzenbergerandRichard Mollas respective guards Hinky and Dinky.[56]
  • In the American TV seriesOnce Upon a Time,the Pied Piper is revealed to bePeter Pan,who is using pipes to call out to "lost boys" and take them away from their homes.
  • In the Netflix seriesThe Society,a man named Pfeiffer removes a mysterious smell from the town of West Ham, but is not paid. Two days later he takes the kids on field trip in a school bus and returns them to an alternate version of the town where the adults are not present.
  • InTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesthere is a villain called the Rat King who uses rats as troops; like the Pied Piper he uses a flute to charm them and even turns Master Splinter on his prized students.
  • The HBO seriesSiliconValleycenters around acompressioncompany calledPied Piper.The denouement of the series depicts the company as benevolent and self-sacrificing as opposed to the extortionist depiction in the fable. One of the characters refers to the company's eponymous inspiration as "a predatory flautist who murders children in a cave."
  • Piedmon, from the first season of the animated seriesDigimon(1999), is also based on the Pied Piper. In the show, he played a pipe and was able to lure other people and Digimon to do his bidding, much like mind control.
  • The Grimm Variations,a 2024Netflixanime series, features a retelling of the story, in which the Pied Piper is a visitor to an isolated village who introduces an illicit picture to a teacher, who uses it to try and seduce a student.

Audio

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Music

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  • Karl Weiglcomposed a children's operettaThe Pied Piper of Hamelinin 1934, with libretto by Helene Scheu-Riesz. Under the direction of Davide Casali, the Festival Viktor Ullmann mounted a dramatic performance of the operetta in 2021 in Italian rather than the original German.
  • The 1966 pop songThe Pied Piper,most notably recorded byCrispian St. Peters,is about the legend.
  • In 1970,Nicolas Flagellocomposed the operaThe Piper of Hamelin.In 1999, Newport Classics released a recording of a live performance of the opera performed by the Metropolitan School of Music Preparatory Division, featuringSesame Street'sBob McGrathas the Narrator and Brace Negron as the Piper.[62]
  • In 1972, a musical version of the story titledThe Pied Piperwas released byEMI's Starline Records (SRS 5144) as part of theDavid Frost Presentsseries, a series of LPs featuringDavid Frostnarrating fairytales and supported in song and vocal dramatization by famous British comedians of the 50s & 60s, with music byRoger Webb,lyrics byNorman Newelland featuringDoctor WhostarJon Pertweeas the Piper andMiriam Margolyes.[63]
  • In 1985,Harvey Shield's musicalHamelin: A Musical Tale from Rats to Riches,written with Richard Jarboe and Matthew Wells, was produced off-Broadway at the Circle in the Square Downtown Theatre in Greenwich Village, New York following initial productions at the Olio in Los Angeles and Musical Theater Works in New York, running for 33 performances.[64]A recording was released in 2003 under the titleThe Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Musical.
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen's 1988 operaMontag aus Licht(part of the seven-opera cycleLicht) includes aKinderfänger(German for "child-catcher" ) or Pied Piper character.
  • In 1989,W11 OperapremieredKoppelberg,an opera they commissioned from composerSteve Grayand lyricist Norman Brooke; the work was based on the Robert Browning poem.[65]
  • Demons and Wizards' first album,Demons and Wizards(2000), includes a track called "The Whistler" which recounts the tale of the Pied Piper.
  • In 2016, Victorian Opera presentedThe Pied Piper,an Opera by Richard Mills. At the Playhouse the Art Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  • The song "Pied Piper" by Korean boy groupBTSwas dedicated to their fans. It reminded them not to get distracted by said group.
  • The Pied Piper,an opera in one act based on the poem with additional material byAdam Cornfordwith music byDaniel Steven Crafts.
  • Ratcatcher,a 2022 song byGWAR,has GWAR's lead singer take credit for being the Piper and stealing the children when their bill went unpaid.

Other

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  • The Town on the Edge of the End,a comic-book version, was published byWalt Kellyin his 1954PogocollectionPogo Stepmother Goose.
  • The 1995 video gamePiperis aWesternre-telling of the original legend of the Pied Piper.
  • In the anime adaptation of the Japanese light novel series,Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?(2013), a major story revolves around the "false legend" of Pied Piper of Hamelin. The adaptation speaks in great length about the original source and the various versions of the story that sprang up throughout the years. It is stated that Weser, the representation of Natural Disaster, was the true Piper of Hamelin (meaning the children were killed by drowning or landslides).[66]
  • InEver After High,the Pied Piper has a daughter named Melody.
  • In 2019, the collectible card gameMagic: The GatheringintroducedThrone of Eldraine,a new set based on European folk and fairy tales. This set contained the first direct reference to the Piper, by being named "Piper of the Swarm". This was followed in 2023 byWilds of Eldraine,which contained further references to rats and a Pied Piper figure namedTotentanz.
  • The Pied Piper is a playable character inRavenswatch,a 2024 video game developed byPasstech Gamesand published byNaconthat features many legendary characters from folklore fighting "the Nightmare".

Allusions in linguistics

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Inlinguistics,pied-pipingis the common name for the ability of question words and relative pronouns to drag other words along with them when brought to the front, as part of the phenomenon calledWh-movement.For example, in "For whom are the pictures?", the word "for" ispied-pipedby "whom" away from its declarative position ( "The pictures are for me" ), and in "The mayor, pictures of whom adorn his office walls" both words "pictures of" are pied-piped in front of therelative pronoun,which normally starts the relative clause.

Some researchers believe that the tale has inspired the common English phrase "pay the piper".[67]This phrase implies that the person who provides payment or funding for something has the authority to dictate how it should be done. However, the phrase "pay the piper" may also be acontractionof the Englishproverb"he who pays the piper calls the tune."[67]This proverb, in contrast to the modern interpretation of paying a debt, suggests that the person who bears the financial responsibility for something also has the right to determine how it should be carried out.[68]

Modernity

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The present-day city of Hamelin continues to maintain information about the Pied Piper legend and possible origins of the story on its website. Interest in the city's connection to the story remains so strong that, in 2009, Hamelin held a tourist festival to mark the 725th anniversary of the disappearance of the town's earlier children.[69]The Rat Catcher's Houseis popular with visitors, although it bears no connection to the Rat-Catcher version of the legend. Indeed, the Rattenfängerhaus is instead associated with the story due to the earlier inscription upon its facade mentioning the legend. The house was built much later, in 1602 and 1603. It is now a Hamelin City-owned restaurant with a Pied Piper theme throughout.[70]The city also maintains an online shop with rat-themed merchandise as well as offering an officially licensed Hamelin Edition of the popular board gameMonopolywhich depicts the legendary Piper on the cover.[71]

In addition to the recent milestone festival, each year the city marks 26 June as "Rat Catcher's Day". In the United States, a similar holiday for exterminators based on Rat Catcher's Day is marked on 22 July, but has not caught on.[72]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^O'Donnell translates the name "Johann von Lüde" as "John of Luede" (the original Latin sentence goes: "Et mater domini Johannis de Lude decani vidit pueros recedentes" ), uses the description "Calvary Cross", and makes no mention of an execution place. O'Donnell also writes that the piper plays on a "magic silver flute". Both O'Donnell and Wolfgang Wieder write "the Weser Gate" instead of "the West Gate". All three sources translatedecaniwith "deacon", but he was a Stiftsdechant, which in German can also be written Dekan and Dekant. In English this position is called Dean. Johann von Lüde was a dean, not a deacon.
  2. ^Catena Aureain Latin is the same asThe Golden Chainin English

References

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  1. ^Hanif, Anees (3 January 2015)."Was the Pied Piper of Hamelin real?".ARY News.Retrieved6 June2015.
  2. ^"Pied piper – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary".Merriam-webster.Retrieved7 December2011.
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Further reading

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  • Marco Bergmann:Dunkler Pfeifer – Die bisher ungeschriebene Lebensgeschichte des "Rattenfängers von Hameln",BoD, 2. Auflage 2009,ISBN978-3-8391-0104-9.
  • Hans Dobbertin:Quellensammlung zur Hamelner Rattenfängersage.Schwartz, Göttingen 1970.
  • Hans Dobbertin:Quellenaussagen zur Rattenfängersage.Niemeyer, Hameln 1996 (erw. Neuaufl.).ISBN3-8271-9020-7.
  • Stanisław Dubiski:Ile prawdy w tej legendzie?(How much truth is there behind the Pied Piper Legend?). [In:] "Wiedza i Życie", No 6/1999.
  • Radu Florescu:In Search of the Pied Piper.Athena Press 2005.ISBN1-84401-339-1.
  • Norbert Humburg:Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Die berühmte Sagengestalt in Geschichte und Literatur, Malerei und Musik, auf der Bühne und im Film.Niemeyer, Hameln 2. Aufl. 1990.ISBN3-87585-122-6.
  • Peter Stephan Jungk: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Recherchen und Gedanken zu einem sagenhaften Mythos. [In:] "Neue Rundschau",No 105 (1994), vol.2, pp. 67–73.
  • Ullrich Junker: Rübezahl – Sage und Wirklichkeit. [In:] „Unser Harz. Zeitschrift für Heimatgeschichte, Brauchtum und Natur ". Goslar, December 2000, pp. 225–228.
  • Wolfgang Mieder:Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Die Sage in Literatur, Medien und Karikatur.Praesens, Wien 2002.ISBN3-7069-0175-7.
  • Aleksander R. Michalak:Denar dla Szczurołapa,Replika 2018.ISBN978-83-7674-703-3
  • Heinrich Spanuth:Der Rattenfänger von Hameln.Niemeyer Hameln 1951.
  • Izabela Taraszczuk: Die Rattenfängersage: zur Deutung und Rezeption der Geschichte. [In:] Robert Buczek, Carsten Gansel, Paweł Zimniak, eds.:Germanistyka 3. Texte in Kontexten.Zielona Góra: Oficyna Wydawnicza Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego 2004, pp. 261–273.ISBN83-89712-29-6.
  • Jürgen Udolph:Zogen die Hamelner Aussiedler nach Mähren? Die Rattenfängersage aus namenkundlicher Sicht.[In:]Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte69 (1997), pp. 125–183.ISSN0078-0561
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