Legend and Life: Examples from the Biographies of ‘Ā'ishah Bint Abī Bakr, Mary Carleton, and Friedrich Salomo Krauss

Abstract

Contemporary legends correspond to the concerns of our times. It is a well-known fact, however, that many of them are updatings of older stories. Here three antecedents of contemporary legends are discussed. The widespread legend of “The Wife Left by the Roadside” is paralleled by an episode from the life of Muammad's favourite wife, ‘Ā'ishah. While the modern legend is often used to ridicule women, ‘Ā'ishah's adventure gave rise to slander and political intrigues. An antecedent for a legend that may be called “Expensive Tickets” is found among the exploits of the so-called “German Princess,” a famous seventeenth-century swindler and thief. It is a good example of how legends are developed and modified over time. Finally, an episode from the life of the nineteenth-century Austrian folklorist Friedrich Salomo Krauss, told by himself as a means of self-excuse and self-stylisation, is considered in the light of the folklore of disease.