Eli Yassif, Beer-Sheva, Israel From Jewish Oicotype to Israeli Oicotype The tale of'Tke Man wbo never Swore an Oath* One of the interesting questions in the study of Jewish folktales is the nature of the process which led to the creation of the tale repertoire of the variousjewish communities. The question whether the repertoire was mainly influenced by the folktales of the peoples among whom the Jewish communities resided or was chiefly inspired by ancient Jewish tales, is a classic one. It has also attracted the attention of scholars of international folklore 1 . A comprehensive description of the process of evolvement of the folktale repertoire in Israel would entail wide- ranging research on the sources of approximately fifteen thousand tales recorded from folk narrators of most of the ethnic groups in Israel over the past thirty years (and contained in the Israel Folktales Archives [IFA]) 2 ; their parallels in interna- tional folk literature; the chapbooks populär among the various communities; and the links between these oral tales and the Hebrew tales of the Talmudic- Midrashic period and the Middle Ages. I shall attempt to propose a model for such research, which will focus on the examination of one tale, that of The Man wbo never Swore an Oath, known in in- ternational research äs Placidas (AaTh 938). The wide distribution of this tale in both Eastern and Western literature, its various versions in medieval Hebrew nar- rative tradition, and in particular its great popularity amongjewish folk narrators from various ethnic groups in Israel, enable us to use it äs a basis for the model. It would appear self-evident that the description of a phenomenon based on one tale alone, cannot be considered valid and authoritative. The following remarks, therefore, should be regarded äs a preliminary hypothesis for the study of wider models. I The following are the main events of the story: A man of high rank (king, nobleman, great merchant) loses bis fortune. His beautiful wife is kidnapped by a shipowner, and the hero, with his two sons, sets out on travels. While crossing a deep river, they are swept away by the current and sepa- 1 Thompson, S.: The Significance of Near Eastern Folklore. In: Studies in Biblical and Jewish Folklore, ed. R. Patai/F. L. Utley/D. Noy. Bloomington 1960, 6-10; Dorson, R. M.: Foreword. In: Folktales of Israel, ed. D. Noy. Chicago/London 1963, V-XV. 2 For a description of the methods and aims of IFA see Noy, D.: Collecting Folktales in Israel. In: In the Dispersion 7 (1967) 151-167. Brought to you by | University of Arizona Authenticated Download Date | 5/26/15 7:35 PM