-To begin with the analysis of time in
the text, we will make reference
to different types of time. First of all, we will focus in the
historical time.
HISTORICAL TIME:
As we have said in the introduction, there is a characteristic typical
in folktales, which are timeless to an extent, set in a medieval time,
but without specific time messages present in it. This tale is no
exception, and we can set it in the Middle Ages according to the
presence of a King who will offer his daughter in marriage to the
brave hero who will pass the test of spending three nights in a haunted
castle and return alive, so we find a King offering a quest (or a test)
to a hero, which is in fact a common man (typical of Medieval times).
-In second place, we will focus in the elapsed time from the beginning
to the end of the tale:
ELAPSED TIME IN THE TEXT:
We do not find much references to the elapsed time in the tale, but if
take a closer look we will find out how many time passes from the
beginning of the story until the end.
First of all, the youth is at home with his father and his brother.
After that, he is asked about what he wants to do to earn his bread,
and while his father is still bemoaning his son, the sexton comes into
the house and tells the father he will train the boy to ring the
churchbell. The boy spent some days with the sexton, as long as the
text says in chapter two:
"After
a few days the sexton thought to teach the boy what shuddering
is." Then he awakes the boy at midnight, and tells
him to go to ring the bell: "And so, he
awoke the youth at midnight, and bade him to go up to the churchtower
and ring the bell."
(chapter 2) After, the boy kicks the sexton down the stairs while he
dresses like a ghost to scary the youth, and the boy goes to sleep, and
the morning after the reprimand of the father, the boy leaves home: "I will leave, right
willingly./And wait only until
it is day./Then I will go forth/and learn how to
shudder."(chapter
3) "And so it went. At dawn's
arrival,(...)" (chapter
3)
So for now just a few days have passed.
After this, a man finds the errand boy and tells him to stay one night
with the seven hanged husbands of the ropemaker's daughter to discover
what shuddering is. "Stay with
them one night and you
will surely learn how to
shudder"
(chapter 4). The boy accepts, and says if he finds out what suddering
is, the man can take his 50 dollars. The next morning the man comes,
but the kid has not discoveret the meaning of shudder yet:
"The
next morning the man returned and
asked". (chapter
4)
With this, another one more day has passed.
Then, the youth finds a man on the road which brings him to an inn, and
there the innkeeper tells him the King is looking for somebody to spend
three nights in a haunted castle, the one who passes the test will be
the husband of the princess and will have wealthy treasures if he frees
them from the castle. So the next morning, the youth goes to see the
king: "The next morning, the youth went to the King and
said(...)" (chapter
6)
One more day
passes.
The next morning, the King brings the three things (again the number
three, characteristic of folktales) the youth could have with him: "The next morning the King had
these things delivered to the castle." (chapter
6)
Another day passes by. Since the beginning of
the story probably a week has passed, more or
less.
Then the youth goes to the castle to spend the first night there: "When evening approached, the
youth entered the castle." (chapter 7)
The night passes
(first night in the castle, cats and running bed) and the morning
arrives: "When daylight came the King arrived"
(chapter
7)
One more day.
Then, at night, the youth comes back to the castle to spend there his
second night: "On the second night/the boy returned to the
castle,"
(chapter 9). During the night, the boy receives the visit of the
ghouls, and plays with them to nine-pins. After that, he goes to sleep,
and next morning the King comes: "The next morning, the King came to see
him."(chapter
10).
Another day passes by, with this one we have a week and a couple of days
or a week and a half, more or
less.
At night, the boy returns to the castle for the last time: "On the third nighthe
sat down on his bench" (chapter
10). In this night (chapter 11), the youth sees six men carrying a
coffin, he sees the dead man inside and carries him to the bed to warm
him up, and after he brings it back to the coffin because the dead man
awoke and tried to strangle him. In the next chapter (12), the youth
find an old and gruesome man, with whom he goes under a test to see who
would strike an axe in an anvil harder. The boy catches the old man,
and starts striking him with an iron bar, so the old man goes away and
brings him three chests (number three again) full of gold, one for the
poor, one for the king and one for him. "Then, the clock
struck midnight and the spirit disappeared" (chapter 12).
Then: "The next morning, the King came in and
said: "You have
survived!""(chapter 13). Then, one more day has
passed.
After the chapter 13, it is not clear how many time passes since the
youth returns from the castle until he marries the King's daughter, it
could be a day, a week or a month, is open to interpretation, but we
think the preparation of the wedding should last at least some days,
then we think the whole story could last a couple or weeks, or a month
maximum, depending on the time the youth spends travelling from his
home to the inn, and the time which passes from the exit of the youth
from the castle until the wedding is celebrated, and also until the
youth finally finds out what it is "to shudder".
-And last but not least, an estimation of the time we have spent online
analysing the temporal references of the text:
ONLINE TIME:
The average person can read this tale in a linear way in less tan half
an hour, but for our analysis we have spent more than 20 hours to
obtain our in-depth temporal study, taking into account every little
temporal reference present in the text. As long as the text does not
have many explicit and specific references to time, we had to read
every line thoroughly to find them, and we have to say it has been a
hard task to do.
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