Abstract
AETIOLOGY means the accounting for something remarkable and/or unusual which for some reason demands an explanation, an explanation which is arrived at with the help of fantasy.' Aetiological legends, then, are a well-defined type of legend, and the material is very extensive. This cannot be wondered at, as human curiosity has always prompted the endeavour to give an explanation of the origin of remarkable objects in our vicinity. In dealing with legends, and not only aetiological ones, it is striking to note that some motifs occur again and again, for example the drowning of impious people, the prohibition against looking back, and the rejection of a request. It must, however, be remembered that in an aetiological legend the actions will always result in some physical feature coming into being. 'Local [aetiological] legends are brief, their motives few and for ever recurring;2 i.e. they are composed of relatively few episodes. Regarding their relation to each other, it would seem natural to consider the narrator's situation. If in the first episode of a legend a cause is felt to be lacking, the audience will ask: 'How did that come about?' and, correspondingly, if the final episode seems to lack a satisfactory outcome, it will ask: 'And what happened next?' Thus the legend will normally appear as a chain of episodes
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