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The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend about the abduction of many children from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Germany. Famous versions of the legend are given by the Brothers Grimm and, in English, by Robert Browning.

Pied refers to patches of two or more colors, typical dress for minstrels and entertainers in the middle ages.

Contents 1 Plot 2 History 2.1 Hypotheses for the origin of the legend 2.2 Fourteenth century Decan Lude chorus book 2.3 Fifteenth century Lueneburg manuscript 2.4 Sixteenth and seventeenth century sources 2.5 Nineteenth century versions 3 Allusions in linguistics 4 Contemporary renditions 4.1 Literature 4.2 Theatre 4.3 Opera 4.4 Music 4.5 Film 4.6 Recordings 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Plot

In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a man dressed in pie^[1] appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the townsmen a solution for their problem with the rats. The townsmen in turn promised to pay him for the removal of the rats. The man accepted, and thus played a musical pipe to lure the rats with a song into the Weser River, where all of them drowned. Despite his success, the people reneged on their promise and refused to pay the rat-catcher. The man left the town angrily, but returned some time later, seeking revenge.

On Saint John and Paul's day while the inhabitants were in church, he played his pipe yet again, this time attracting the children of Hamelin. One hundred and thirty boys and girls followed him out of the town, where they were lured into a cave and never seen again. Depending on the version, at most two children remained behind (one of whom was lame and could not follow quickly enough, the other one was deaf and followed the other children out of curiosity) who informed the villagers of what had happened when they came out of the church.

Other versions (but not the traditional ones) claim that the Piper lured the children into the river and let them drown like the rats or led the children to a cave on Köppen Hill or Koppelberg Hill. Another version is that the Pied Piper hypnotized the children into following him to the top of Koppelberg Hill were he took them to a mystery land^[2] (outside of Hamelin) or a place called Koppenberg Mountain^[3] and returned them after payment or that he returned the children after the villagers paid several times the original amount of gold.

[edit] History

The earliest mention of the story seems to have been on a stained glass window placed in the Church of Hamelin c. 1300. The window was described in several accounts between the 14th century and the 17th century. It was destroyed in 1660. Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window has been created by Hans Dobbertin (historian). It features the colorful figure of the Pied Piper and several figures of children dressed in white.

This window is generally considered to have been created in memory of a tragic historical event for the city. Also, Hamelin town records start with this event. The earliest written record is from the town chronicles in an entry from 1284 which states:

"It is 10 years since our children left"^[4]

Although research has been conducted for centuries, no explanation for the historical event is agreed upon. In any case, the rats were first added to the story in a version from c. 1559 and are absent from earlier accounts.

[edit] Hypotheses for the origin of the legend

A number of theories have been offered in an attempt to explain the meaning behind the tale.

William Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire suggests that the Pied Piper was a psychopathic paedophile. Manchester asserts that on June 20th, 1484, this criminal kidnapped 130 children from the Saxon village of Hammel and used them in "unspeakable ways." He adds that "some of the children were never seen again. Others were found dismembered and scattered in the forest underbrush or hanging from tree branches." No documenting supporting this alleged incident has ever been found, and he offers no citations for the asserted facts. His account discounts versions of the story that appear to date from at least 120 years earlier.^[5]

A number of theories suggest that children died of some natural causes and that the Piper was a symbolic figure of Death. Death is often portrayed dressed in motley, or "pied" clothing. Analogous themes which are associated with this theory include the Dance of Death, Totentanz or Danse Macabre, a common medieval type. Some of the scenarios that have been suggested as fitting this theory include that the children drowned in the river Weser, were killed in a landslide, or contracted some disease during an epidemic

Others have suggested that the children left the city to be part of a pilgrimage, a military campaign, or even a new Children's crusade (which occurred in 1212, not long before) but never returned to their parents. These theories see the unnamed Piper as their leader or a recruiting agent.

The theory with the broadest support^[6] is that the children willingly abandoned their parents and Hamelin in order to become the founders of their own villages during the colonization of Eastern Europe. Several European villages and cities founded around this time have been suggested as the result of their efforts as settlers. This claim is supported by corresponding placenames in both the region around Hamelin and the eastern colonies where names such as Querhameln ("mill village Hamelin") exist. Again the Piper is seen as their leader.

A version of the theory was published in the Saturday Evening Post.^[7] The Emigration theory is supported by writings found on the walls of old homes in Hameln which say that on July 26, 1284, a Piper led 130 children out of town and that the piper was possibly an agent of Bruno von Schaumburg, the Bishop of Olmutz who was organizing a drive to populate parts of Moravia (which is now within the Czech Republic).^[8][9] The Bishop was acting on behalf of the Bohemian King Ottokar II.^[10]

Added speculation on the migration is based on the idea that by the 13th century the area had too many people resulting in the oldest son owning all the land and power, leaving the rest as serfs.^[11] The Black Death later destroyed that balance.^[11] In any case, the motivation to leave was high and very much like the motivation for emigration to America in the 18th century i.e. freedom, opportunity, and land.

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 not uncommon at the time. In her essay Pied Piper Revisted, Sheila Harty states that surnames from the region settled are similar to those from Hamelin and that selling off illegitimate children, orphans or other children the town could not support is the more likely explanation. She states further that this may account for the lack of records of the event in the town chronicles.^[12] In his book, The Pied Piper: A Handbook, Wolfgang Mieder states that historical documents exist showing that people from the area including Hameln did help settle parts of Transylvania.^[13] Transylvania had suffered under the Mongol invasions of central Europe that date from around the time of the earliest appearance of the legend of the piper.

In the version of the legend posted on the official website for the town of Hameln, 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 professional rat catchers."^[14]

This version states that "children" may simply have referred to residents of Hameln who chose to emigrate and not necessarily to youths.

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

"After the defeat of the Danes at the Battle of Bornhoved in 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."^[15]

Udolph favors the hypothesis that the Hamelin youths wound up in what is now Poland.^[16] Genealogist Dick Eastman cited Udolph's research on Hamelin surnames that have shown up in Polish phonebooks:

"Linguistics professor Jurgen Udolph says that 130 children did vanish on a June day in the year 1284 from the German village of Hamelin (spelled Hameln in German). Professor 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 Priegnitz and Uckermark, both to the north of Berlin. He also found the same surnames in the former Pommeranian region, which is now a part of Poland. Professor 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 as Lokator who 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 the Battle of Bornhoeved in 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 Pommerania. 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."^[17]

[edit] Fourteenth century Decan Lude chorus book

Decan Lude of Hamelin was reported, c. 1384, to have in his possession a chorus book containing a Latin verse giving an eyewitness account of the event.^[18] The verse was reportedly written by his grandmother. This chorus book is believed to have been lost since the late 17th century. The odd-looking name ‘Decan Lude’ may possibly indicate a priest holding the position of Dean (Latin: decanus, modern German: Dekan or Dechant) whose name was Ludwig; but as yet he has proved impossible to trace.

[edit] Fifteenth century Lueneburg manuscript

The Lueneburg manuscript (c. 1440–50) gives an early German account of the event:^[19]

Anno 1284 am dage Johannis et Pauli war der 26. junii Dorch einen piper mit allerlei farve bekledet gewesen CXXX kinder verledet binnen Hamelen gebo[re]n to calvarie bi den koppen verloren

In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on 26 June 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced By a piper, dressed in all kinds of colours, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.

This appears to be the oldest surviving account. Koppen (Old German meaning "hills") seems to be a reference to one of several hills surrounding the city. Which of them was intended by the verse's author remains uncertain.

Reportedly, there is a long-established law forbidding singing and music in one particular street of Hamelin, out of respect for the victims: the Bungelosenstrasse adjacent to the Pied Piper's House. During public parades which include music, including wedding processions, the band will stop playing upon reaching this street and resume upon reaching the other side.

[edit] Sixteenth and seventeenth century sources

In 1556, De miraculis sui temporis (Latin: Concerning the Wonders of his Times) by Jobus Fincelius mentions the tale. The author identifies the Piper with the Devil.

Somewhere between 1559 and 1565, Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern included a version in his Zimmerische Chronik.^[20] This appears to be the earliest account which mentions the plague of rats. Unfortunately 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).

The earliest English account is that of Richard Rowland Verstegan (1548-c. 1636), an antiquary and religious controversialist of partly Dutch descent, in his Restitution of Decayed Intelligence (Antwerp, 1605); unfortunately he does not give his source. (It is unlikely to have been von Zimmern, since his manuscript chronicle was not discovered until 1776.) Verstegan includes the reference to the rats and the idea that the lost children turned up in Transylvania. The phrase 'Pide [sic] Piper' occurs in his version and seems to have been coined by him. Curiously enough his date is entirely different from that given above: July 22, 1376; this may suggest that two events, a migration in 1284 and a plague of rats in 1376, have become fused together. Verstegan's account was copied in Nathaniel Wanley's Wonders of the Little World (1687), which was the immediate source of Robert Browning's well-known poem (see nineteenth century below). Verstegan's account is also repeated in William Ramesey's Wormes (1668) — "...that most remarkable story in Verstegan, of the Pied Piper, that carryed away a hundred and sixty Children from the Town of Hamel in Saxony, on the 22. of July, Anno Dom. 1376. A wonderful permission of GOD to the Rage of the Devil".

[edit] Nineteenth century versions

In 1803, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a poem based on the story that was later set to music by Hugo Wolf. He incorporated references to the story in his version of Faust. The first part of the Drama was first published in 1808 and the second in 1832.

Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, siblings known as the Brothers Grimm, drawing from eleven sources included the tale in their collection "Deutsche 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).^{[citation needed]}

Using the Verstegan/Wanley version of the tale and adopting the 1376 date, Robert Browning wrote a poem of that name which was published in 1842. Browning's verse retelling is notable for its humor, wordplay, and jingling rhymes.

Verse 2

Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles

[edit] Allusions in linguistics

In linguistics pied-piping is the common, informal 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 called Wh-movement. For example, in "For whom are the pictures?", the word "for" is pied-piped by "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 the relative pronoun, which normally starts the relative clause.

Some researchers believe that the tale has inspired the common English phrase "pay the piper", although others disagree.^[21] To "pay the piper" means to face the inevitable consequences of one's actions, possibly alluding to the story where the villagers broke their promise to pay the Piper for his assistance in ridding the town of the rats. The phrase sometimes refers to a financial transaction but often does not.

Also, some experts on pedophilia, such as Ken Lanning, in writing about the seduction of children by some pedophiles, have used the term the "Pied Piper effect" to describe a "unique ability to identify with children."^[22]

[edit] Contemporary renditions

This article contains too many minor or trivial fictional references. Mere trivia, or references unimportant to the overall plot of a work of fiction, should be deleted. See also what Wikipedia is not.

[edit] Literature

• The Pied Piper story is heavily referenced by the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva in her poem The Ratcatcher, first published in 1925.
• Eric Frank Russell's short story "The Rhythm of the Rats", published in the July 1950 issue of Weird Tales, is a retelling of the Pied Piper legend as a 20th century horror story.
• In his poem, "The One Who Stayed" (in the collection Where the Sidewalk Ends, 1974) Shel Silverstein tells the story of a child who stayed behind while the rest of Hamelin's children followed the piper's song.
• Harlan Ellison's "Emissary from Hamelin" (included in his collection Strange Wine, 1978) tells of a descendant of the original pied piper coming back seven hundred years later to lead all the adults away as punishment for centuries of "making the world a bad place". While the piper does not explain what he means, the narrator understands this to mean violence, pollution, lying, crime, and a lack of empathy.
• The Ratastrophe Catastrophe (1990) by David Lee Stone is a parody based on the Pied Piper about a boy called Diek who takes away the children of a town because a voice in his head told him to.
• What Happened in Hamelin (1993) by Gloria Skurzynski is a young adult novel in which ergotism from contaminated rye crops helps explain the mystery of what happened there.
• The story provides the basis for the central plot and several characters in the 1998 debut novel King Rat by China Miéville.
• After Hamelin (2000) by Bill Richardson is a children's book that picks up the story where Browning's poem left off. It is written in the voice of the deaf child in the poem, whom Richardson names Penelope.
• Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001) is a humorous take on the Pied Piper.
• In 2005, Adam McCune and Keith McCune, a father–son writing team, published The Rats of Hamelin, in which an eighteen-year-old Pied Piper faces a hidden enemy with powers like his own.

[edit] Theatre

• The 2006 DVD version "O Flautista", choreographer by Iolanda Rodrigues, dance show performed by CeDeCe - Companhia de Danca Contemporanea. This DVD was directed by Joao Tocha.
• In the play The Pillowman written by Martin McDonagh, the main character had written a story explaining the origin of the lame child who could not follow the Piper. He claimed that it was the Piper himself who chopped off the child's toes, because the child had showed him kindness, and the Piper did not want to punish the child.
• A musical entitled The Pied Piper of Hamelin, written and composed by Harvey Shield and Richard Jarbot, was produced and performed at the Olio Theater in Los Angeles in 1984; the original title was 1284, the year in which the actual Pied Piper visited Hamelin. A recording of the soundtrack was released in 1984 on Panda Digital with Harvey Shield, John Mostetter, Jodi Mitchell, J.D. Ellis, Joey Sheck, Susan Holmes, Del Appleby and Lesley Sachs.
• In 2002, the ballet The Contract (The Pied Piper) composed by Michael Torke, libretto by Robert Sirman and choreographed by James Kudelka was created to celebrate the National Ballet of Canada's 50th Anniversary season. Taking as its inspiration the story of the Pied Piper, The Contract centers its story around the character of "Eva", a charismatic faith healer who is contracted to rid a small community of a mysterious illness that afflicts the town's young people. She succeeds, but when the town's elders find reason to disapprove of her private conduct, they refuse to honor the contract, precipitating an even greater tragedy. In May 2003, the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra recorded a CD of Michael Torke's original music for The Contract.

[edit] Opera

• Der Rattenfänger von Hameln, a grand opera in five acts by Viktor Nessler to a German libretto by Friedrich Hofmann based on a poem by Julius Wolff (Leipzig, 19 March 1879).
• Another opera of the same name by German-American composer Adolf Neuendorff to a German libretto was produced in 1880 but has disappeared from the repertoire. However, a recording of one of the arias from this opera, "Wandern, ach, Wandern," by Fritz Wunderlich is to be found on the EMI album, Fritz Wunderlich – Der Grosse Deutsche Tenor, a three CD set.
• An opera entitled The Piper of Hamelin, written and composed by Nicolas Flagello in 1970, was performed and recorded live by the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division in March 1999 and released on Newport Classics [NCD 60153]. The production was conducted by Jonathan Strasser, and the performers included Bob McGrath of Sesame Street fame as "The Narrator", Brace Negron as "The Piper", Troy Doney as "The Mayor" and Nicole McQuade as "The First Woman (soloist)". This opera differs in its ending from the Browning poem; while the Piper leads the children from town, he later returns alone and is freely given the promised 1,000 guilders by the distraught and repentant townspeople, and the children are reunited with their parents.
• Friedrich Cerha's 1987 opera Der Rattenfänger is based on Carl Zuckmayer's 1975 play.
• Mark Alburger's opera, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2004), with a libretto after the Robert Browning poem, was premiered at Thick House Theater in San Francisco (2006), with the Piper in the guise of George W. Bush and the Rats as terrorists.
• George Benjamin's opera, Into The Little Hill, with libretto by Martin Crimp, was commissioned by the Festival d'Automne à Paris, and first performed at the Festival d'Automne, Paris on 22 November 2006.

[edit] Music

• John Corigliano composed The Pied Piper Fantasy (1979-82), a concerto for flute and orchestra. The work, by flute virtuoso James Galway, premièred on February 4, 1982 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles performed by Galway (as the flutist) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The world première recording was made on December 8 and December 9, 1985 and released on RCA Victor, performed by Galway and the Eastman Philharmonic, conducted by David Effron. Another version is available on Koch International Classics, performed by Alexa Still and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and conducted by James Sedares.
• Folk singer Donovan, who starred in the 1972 film The Pied Piper as the title character, recorded the song "People Call Me the Pied Piper" which was included in his album Pied Piper, released on the Music for Little People label.
• "Pied Piper" is a song composed by Ian Anderson, released on Jethro Tull concept album Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! (1976).
• Italian singer and songwriter Edoardo Bennato recorded the album E' arrivato un bastimento based on the Pied Piper fairy tale.
• Crispian St. Peters had a 1966 hit calling for us to follow him as 'The Pied Piper'

[edit] Film

The story has been depicted many times on film:

• The 1933 adaptation was produced as an animated Walt Disney Silly Symphony short. Changes to the story include the rats being lured by a mirage of cheese created by the Piper's music and made to disappear into thin air (rather than being drowned in the river), and the children being "rescued" by the Piper from the bad upbringing being given by their selfish parents and brought them to a land of candy and games hidden in a cave. In this version the lame child gets cured the moment he sees the cave and runs inside.

• The 1957 made-for-television special The Pied Piper of Hamelin was a musical version in color, using the music of Edvard Grieg, and starring Van Johnson in the title role. Claude Rains and Jim Backus also star in this film.

• The 1972 film The Pied Piper was not a musical per se, although it contained music by Donovan, who also played the title role. This was an especially dark and realistic version of the tale, set this time in the 14th Century during the time of the Black Plague. The film was directed by Jacques Demy and also starred Jack Wild, Michael Hordern, Donald Pleasance and John Hurt.
• A stop-motion "claymation" half-hour version was made in 1981 in the United Kingdom by Cosgrove Hall, directed by Mark Hall and narrated by Robert Hardy, following the Browning poem exactly. This version was shown on PBS.
• In 1985, Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre adapted the story in the episode The Pied Piper of Hamelin, written and directed by Nicholas Meyer with original music by James Horner, and starring Eric Idle in both the title role and as "Robert Browning". All of Browning's poetry was preserved

[edit] Recordings

• Gene Kelly read Robert Browning on a 2 record 78rpm set "MJ 34 01" on Columbia Records in 1947.
• Dick narrated Robert Browning's poem in a 78rpm recording released in the 1950s on Columbia Records, later re-released in LP format on Harmony Records.
• Decca Records issued a 78rpm recording of the Browning poem read by Ingrid Bergman with music composed and directed by Victor Young.
• Boris Karloff performed a reading of The Pied Piper & The Hunting of the willies, released on Caedmon Records.
• Radio personality Harry Von Zell narrated the story on the July 21, 1946 broadcast of Columbia Workshop.
• Keith Baxter is the narrator of The Pied Piper and Other Stories, recorded and released in 1994 by HarperCollins Publishing.
• Anton Lesser reads Browning's poem in the 2056 Naxos Audiobooks recording of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Other Favorite Poems.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pied piper

• Professor Ashliman of the University of Pittsburg quotes the Grimm's "Children of Hamelin" in full, as well as a number of similar and related legends.
• Linguistics Professor Jonas Kuhn's Pied Piper page
• Wilson's Almanac article on the Pied Piper of Hamelin
• An 1888 illustrated version of Robert Browning's poem (Illustrated by Kate Greenaway)
• Ingrid Bergman reads The Pied Piper of Hamelin
• The Pied Piper (film character) at the Internet Movie Database
• The 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper in 2009