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Abstract
In the contemporary folklore of Austria, Frau Perchta (active during the twelve days of Christmas) is depicted as the rewarder of the generous and the punisher of the bad. But the punishments she inflicts, such as ripping out a person's guts and replacing them with refuse, do not seem to fit the crime. This paper links Perchta's behaviour, and that of other bogeyman figures, to their historical context. Initially Perchta was the enforcer of communal taboos, hunting down those who spun on holidays or who failed to partake sufficiently in collective feasting (a propitious act designed to ensure future plenty). However, with the growing involvement of peasant women in the market economy (particularly for textiles), Perchta's role changed to the punisher of the lazy. Yet Perchta's previous roles survive, in attenuated form, in each new incarnation.
Schweig, oder die wilde Berta kommt! (Grimm 1974, 268).
Del lavor delle feste, il diavolo si veste (Büchli 1990, 791).
Every land save feyther's was called hag-begagged, to keep us childer in proper bounds belike (Madox-Brown 1876, vol. 2, 252). [1]
Tracing Lost Links between Legendary Punishment and Offence
As any schoolgirl knows, the Danaides, fifty daughters of a fabled king of Argos, murdered their bridegrooms on their wedding night, and were condemned to pour water into sieves for all eternity. Less well known is the precise background to this punishment. In fact, the perfidious brides are vainly attempting to carry water to a nuptial bath that was never prepared for them (HoffmannKrayer and Bächtold-Stäubli 1927-41, vol. 2, 69-70 and vol. 7, 1665; Ranke and Brednich 1977ff., vol. 3, 267-70). Carrying water in a sieve or the like is a motif that does occur in at least one of the stories about Frau Perchta, but it is only marginal there. More important is that, if we seek, there turn out to be cogent reasons for the incongruous-seeming punishments meted out by Perchta and her kin, just as there are for that inflicted on the Danaides.
Who is Perchta?
Who is, or was, the Frau Perchta of southern German and Austrian folklore? A short answer might be that, like our own Father Christmas or the Italian Befana, she is a mysterious figure said to be at large at...