Jean de l'Ours

Jean de l'Ours (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ də luʁs])[lower-alpha 2] or John the Bear,[1] John of the Bear,[2] John-of-the-Bear,[3] John Bear, is the leading character in the French folktale Jean de l'Ours classed as Type 301B[lower-alpha 3] in the Aarne-Thompson system; it can also denote any tale of this type.

This article is about the French 301B type folktale and its character. For a looser grouping of tales, see Bear's Son Tale.
Jean de l'Ours.
An artist's visualization with bear's ears.[lower-alpha 1]

Some typical elements are that the hero is born half-bear, half-human. He obtains a weapon, usually a heavy iron cane, and on his journey, bands up with two or three companions. At a castle the hero defeats an adversary, pursues him to a hole, discovers an underworld, and rescues three princesses. The companions abandon him in the hole, taking the princesses for themselves. The hero escapes, finds the companions and gets rid of them. He marries the most beautiful princess of the three, but not before going through certain ordeal(s) by the king.[5]

The character is said to be one of "the most popular tale-types in Hispanic and Francophone tradition".[6] Numerous variants exist in France, often retaining the name Jean de l'Ours or something similar for the hero. Some of the analogues in Europe that retain the names corresponding to "John" are: Jan de l'Ors (Occitan: [ˈdʒan de ˈluɾs]); Joan de l'Os (Catalan: [ʒuˈan də ˈlɔs] or [dʒoˈan də ˈlɔs]);[7][8] Juan del Oso, Juan el Oso, Juanito el Oso, Juanillo el Oso (Spanish: [ˈxwan (d)el ˈoso], [xwaˈnito el ˈoso; -niʎo]);[9] Giovanni dell'Orso (Italian: [dʒoˈvanni delˈlorso]),[10] Iann he vaz houarn (Breton);[lower-alpha 4] Ivashko Medvedko (Russian).[11][12][13][14] The tale has also propagated to the New World, with examples from French Canada, Mexico, etc.

Physical appearance
Jean-de-l'Ours as a child, here a foundling adopted by a widow abducted by a bear.
—illustration by Édouard Zier.

Several French versions explicitly comment on Jean de l'ours being covered with body hair on his entire body.[15] One Gascon version, Jan l'Oursét adds that he had "a large head just like a bear's, except for its shape".[16]

The hero is human from the waist up and bear from the waist down in a Mexican version (Juan el Oso)[17] as well as the Russian tale "Ivanko Medv(i)edko" (or "Ivanko the Bear's son").[18][19] For comparison, in the Avar tale "Bear's Ear", the protagonist has ears like a bear.[20][21]

Jean de l'Ours is a beautiful abandoned child raised by a mother bear in Henri Carnoy's version (1885).[22] Along the same vein, Jean de l'Ours was a beautiful foundling adopted by a widow according to Carnoy in another version (1885, illustrated by Édouard Zier),[23] but this, except for an altered telling of the boy's origin, is by and large identical to the tale given earlier by Hippolyte Babou (1862):[lower-alpha 5][24] In both texts he is depicted as an angel-faced, blue-eyed boy who wears a bearskin around his loins, has a lush mane like Samson's falling from head to chest, and carries a poplar sapling as a staff.[25][26]

In an artist's depiction by Jean-Claude Pertuzé Le conte de Jean de l'ours (1988), Jean appears with rounded bear's ears attached high on his head.

Tale type

"John the Bear" is categorized as Type 301 or "Three Stolen Princesses" type.[27][28][lower-alpha 6] Type 301 is also sometimes termed the "Bear' son" type,[31] although "Bear's Son Tale" in general practice is a looser term that encompasses both 301 and 650A types.[32]

The tale is classed more narrowly as type 301 B, and the whole group dubbed the "Jean de l'ours" type, especially in French folkloristics quarters,[33] whereas 301B is often called the "Strong man and his Companions" type in English-language circles.[34] And analogues of "Jean de l'ours" often get admixed with elements of another but very similar tale type, Strong John (AT 650).[35][32]

The Juan Oso tales as analyzed by the Spanish-language folklorists are described in similar vein, with certain differences. Juan Oso tales have disseminated widely to the New World, and fall widely into types 301A, 301B, 301C, or 301D.[27] And they exhibit mixing not only with the AT 650 mentioned above,[36][37] but also with Type 513 A, "Six Go through the Whole World".[37]

Type 513 A is marked by the presence of "extraordinary helpers". Cosquin believed these [lower-alpha 7] were an outside element introduced from other tales; and Clive Claudel attributed such helpers to Thompson's tale type 513 A.[38] Bertram Colgrave on the other hand believed certain companions ("treeman",[lower-alpha 8] "mountain man", "stone man", etc.) should be regarded as native to Juan Oso tales, whereas generic companions[lower-alpha 9] (such as "the runner") are "strictly speaking" foreign to it.[lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 11][39]

It has been suggested that tale types ATU 301 and Jean de l'Ours, ATU 650 ("Strong Hans"), ATU 302 ("Devil's Heart in the Egg") and ATU 554 ("The Grateful Animals") may have once comprised a single narrative, but, with time, the original story fragmented into different tale types.[41]

French versions

Soldiers' version

A key example of type 301 B noted by French scholars such as Paul Delarue or Daniel Fabre is the version told by soldiers, and first published by Vidal et Delmart in 1833.[42][43][44] No regional localization was given for the version.[lower-alpha 12] It was designated version 1 by Delarue, who gave a summary of it.[45][46] It has also been translated into English as the tale of "The Story of John-of-the-Bear".[3]

Birth and childhood [lower-alpha 13]

A woodcutter's wife looking for wood is abducted by the bear, and gives birth to a child by this bear. The child walks at four months, speaks and runs at one year, and soon even rattles the stone with which the bear plugs the cave. The boy lifts the stone at age 5 or 6, and he and his mother escape. At school, his hairiness earns him the nickname "Jean de l'Ours" from other schoolchildren. He retaliates with violence, the schoolmaster demands his parents punish him, he drops out, and enters apprenticeship under a blacksmith.[47]

His cane and companions

He leaves the blacksmith, and as compensation, obtains an iron cane weighing 800 pounds in the shaft and 200 pounds more at the pommel. He obtains two companions, Tord-Chêne ("Twistoak") and Tranche-Montagne ("Cutmountain").[lower-alpha 14][48]

Inside the haunted castle [lower-alpha 15]

Jean's party lodge at a castle, without sign of human presence, but with tables and beds prepared, and meals (and other wished-for items) that would appear as if by magic.[lower-alpha 16] They decide to go hunting, leaving one behind to sound the lunch bell. Tranche remains at the castle on the first turn, but a size-changing "little giant (petit géant)" descends from the chimney and beats him terribly with a stick.[lower-alpha 17] He blames a fall going down to the cellar for being unable to signal. Next day, another companion meets the same fate, and offers a different excuse. Jean defeats the little giant by striking him before he had the chance to grow large, and the enemy flees inside a well.[49]

Descent and visit to the Underworld

They investigate the well, taking turns being lowered down riding a basket tied to a rope. Only Jean de l'Ours has courage to reach bottom. There John meets his informant, an old woman. She reveals the adversary to be a giant who abducted three princesses from Spain. Each princess is guarded separately: in a steel castle by 2 tigers, a silver castle by 4 leopards, and a gold castle by 6 lions as large as elephants. The old woman also provides a jar of ointment to cure wounds. Jean defeats the beasts and rescues the princesses. Each princess is prettier than the last. He finds them asleep, and uses increasingly gentler means to awaken them. The hero receives from the princesses a steel, a silver, and a golden ball, respectively.[50]

The hero's climb out

The companions betray Jean and let go of the rope pulling him up. He falls and suffers a bruised body and broken legs, which the ointment cures. Jean gains advice from the old woman on how to escape the Underworld, and is lifted out riding a giant eagle, which requires feeding each time it squawks. Near the end he runs out of meat, and he flays some flesh from his own thigh, but this too heals using the jar of salve.[51]

The return to the princesses

Jean reaches Madrid. His two former companions have claimed credit for saving the princesses, and the eldest is ordered to choose one of them to marry, but she is granted a stay for a year and a day. Meanwhile, they collect all the Marseilles soap in the kingdom to scrub the two men clean. The hero arrives and rolls his three balls, so the eldest knows to warn the king about their true savior. The king owns another set of the three balls, and declares marriage of his daughters to anyone who could replicate them. The hero succeeds by bringing the three balls he owns, and marries the eldest. The two treacherous companions are hanged on the high gallows.[52][46]

Cosquin's version

A version from Lorraine was printed by Emmanuel Cosquin in 1886 (listed as Delarue's version 9). Its English translation appeared in Stith Thompson's One Hundred Favorite Folktales (1968).[53][1] The plotline is quite similar to the soldier's version summarized above, with numerous differences in detail, which will be noted:

The hero's mother was already pregnant before being captured by bear,[lower-alpha 18] but still born half-human, half-bear; given the John the Bear name as a child; apprentices under three blacksmiths,[lower-alpha 19] cane is 500 pounds. Three companions: Jean de la Meule (John of the Mill) playing quoits (original: palets) with a millstone, Appuie-Montagne (Hold-up-Mountain)[lower-alpha 20] and Oak-Twister (Tord-Chêne). Here it is a giant (not a size-shifting being) who attacks whichever companion is staying at the castle on his turn (i.e., whoever is keeping house while the others hunt; this is chosen by lot). Two companions blame harm from kitchen smoke. John destroys the giant, splitting it in two with a cane.[54]

He discovers the underworld by knocking on the floor with the cane; He descends hanging on a rope;[lower-alpha 21] at the bottom, hero's informant is a fairy (fée); hero destroys little devils in two rooms[lower-alpha 22] before reaching a chamber of three princesses; companions release rope carrying the hero.[lower-alpha 23][lower-alpha 24][55]

The hero's escape from Underworld is up to a point by the "path leading to the ground above" formula, but unique in that the fairy warns him not to look back at the little light behind (lest the light vanish and make him unable to see anything).[56] Hero after regains princesses from companions yet sends them home — this is also an unusual pattern;[57] John refuses invitation to kingdom at that point, and only after princesses have forgotten about him, enters kingdom on his own volition. Formulaic test of replicating three balls[58] is solved by balls hero obtained from princesses, but in this version, each is specifically an ornate ball made with pearls, diamonds and emeralds.[59][lower-alpha 25]

Other versions

Origins of the hero

Jean de l'Ours in most cases is the child of a mother and a bear.[61] However, in some versions his origins are less clearly defined, i.e. his mother is already pregnant before being captured, and then gives birth to him, though he is nevertheless born a half-bear, half-human (Cosquin's version above).[lower-alpha 18][62]

His cane weighs from 500 pounds (e.g. Cosquin's two full versions)[63] ranging to 10,000 pounds (Carnoy ed.) in a version from Provence.[22] Provence is where not the standard French but Provençal is the traditional language spoken, and the cane's weight of 10,000 pounds matches the 100 quintals given in an actual Provençal text published by Nelli,[64][65] The cane's weight can even be 100,000 pounds, in a cognate tale from Brittany called "Yves of the iron stick", but this tale gives no bear-associated origins for the hero,[66] and belongs in a group characterized by Delarue as being in the "periphery", to be distinguished from the main group of French tales that includes the representative example (Soldiers' version).[67]

There are other examples where the hero is "John Iron-Stick", named after his cane (e.g., Jean Bâton de Fer, from a manuscript collection of tales from Nièvres,[68]) but this tale also lacks the bear-origins opening.[lower-alpha 26] From Brittany, there is also Jean au bâton de fer,[lower-alpha 27] where the hero is in the mother's womb for 3 years.[69] as well as a version given in both translation and in the Breton language original, Jean a la Bar de Fer aka Iann he vaz houarn.[70]

Other times, the cane is not iron, but an oak trunk of an equally imposing size.

The perils of the castle

The hero's adversary at the "haunted" castle is typically a dwarf (or little man) who might be caple of becoming a giant, or just a giant, or it may be the devil in some instances.[71][72] In the underworld, hordes of devils (or a devil) as enemies are a commonplace,[73] but the devil(s) can be the hero's informant[74] or both.[75]

After tabulating the variants he collected in the Philippines for a general overview of the narrative, professor Dean Fansler noted that the event of the hero fighting the dwarf or devil who beat his companions "occur[red] in nearly all the folk-tales of the 'John the Bear' type".[76]

Rescue of the princesses in the underworld

Folklorist William Bernard McCarthy, who published many variants of the tale type collected from American storytellers, noted that in all versions the rescue of the princesses from the underworld seemed to be a central part of the story.[77]

Hero Joan del'Ors releases the princess in the underground palace from her serpentine captor. Illustration by Édouard François Zier for Les Légendes de France (1883).

Escape from the Underworld: the flight on the eagle's back

The escape frequently involves a ride on the back of a giant bird, usually an eagle (as in the Soldier's version),[79] sometimes a Roc.[80] Versions also exist where the bird is a legendary avian creature, such as the Persian Simurgh, the Azeri Zumrud, the Arabian bird Anqa or a griffin.[81]

In regards to the journey on the eagle's back, folklorist scholarship recognizes its similarities with the tale of Etana helping an eagle, a tale type later classified as Aarne-Thompson-Uther ATU 537, "The Eagle as helper: hero carried on the wings of a helpful eagle".[82] In her analysis of Armenian tale The Son of the Gray Horse, Professor Susie Hoogasian-Villa cited two Romani variants, one from Bukovina, where the hero of unusual birth is carried by the eagle, and one Welsh, where a dwarf takes the hero to the surface world.[83]

Mythologist Mircea Eliade pointed that the motif can also be found in Siberian shamanism, and tales from Siberian folklore attest the transport of the hero by the eagle or another bird species from the depths of Hell to the world's surface.[84] The geographical distribution of tale type ATU 301 with the presence of this motif seems to be spread along "Europe, large parts of Central Asia and the Middle East, China (Miao), Canada and South America".[85]

In the same vein, Bernard Sergent suggested that the motif of a hero feeding parts of his own flesh to the eagle he uses to escape the underworld may actually show considerable antiquity. He suggested this motif, numbered B322.1 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, is the most ancient part of the tale type, being traceable to the Paleolithic.[86][87]

Greek writer Conon registered a similar story about two shepherds who find a pot of honey in a cave. One descends the hole in a basket, sends the pot of honey to his companion. However, one betrays the other, leaving him to die in the pit. The other shepherd has a vision that god Apollo instructs the man to hurt his own flesh to attract vultures. The ploy works and the vultures carry the shepherd to their nest at the foothill.[88]

Fate of the unfaithful companions

The ungrateful companions suffer various fates: either disappear, are punished, or forgiven depending on the version.

Pyrenees

Versions of the tale found in the Pyrenees region, across languages. These include for example "Joan de l'Ors" in Occitan, from the Aude province, in the French Pyrenees, Joan de l'Os in Catalan on the Spanish side,[7] and examples in Basque.

Daniel Fabre noted in his study of Jean de l'ours that there were parallels between the birth origins of the hero and the various bear festivals in the Pyrenees region, held during Candlemas or Carnival seasons.[89]

A bolder claim has been made that Jean de l'ours episodes are reenacted in these festivals.[lower-alpha 28][91]

In some legends, the Pic du Midi d'Ossau is the head of John the Bear. In the Pyrenees, 'Jean' is sometimes regarded as an Anglicized corruption of "people" (gens) or "giants" (géants), an assumption which works well in French, but not in the various other languages and dialects of the region.

Occitan

The tale type AT 301B is said to be one of the most widespread tales (plus repándu) in the Occitaine.[92] Indeed, French scholarship points that it is the region where most versions have been found so far.[93]

An Occitan version Jan de l'Ours, collected by Urbain Gibert in Sougraigne, Aude was published by René Nelli, alongside his side-by-side French translation. Nelli may have preferred the orthography "Joan de L'Ors", or at least that was the spelling he used when he was alerting his pending publication.[94][95]

Fabre and J. Lacroix also published a recitation of the tale by a conteuse from Aude (Louise Cassagneau).[96]

The 19th century writer Valère Bernard had worked the Joan de l'Orso character throughout his prodigious work la Légenda d'Esclarmonda, and there was a building on that icon, so that in the eyes of some Joan de l'Orso may have appeared as "the hero par excellence of the Pays d'Oc".[97][98]

Other Provence tales
Jean-de-l'Ours combats the archdemon who uses a shark as his mount.
—illustration by É. Zier.

Some tales from Provence were published in standard French. In Hippolyte Babou's version (1862),[24] considered to be an arranged piece of work to a large degree,[99] the hero goes to the Holy Land region into Palestine on his bearskin, and faces off with an archdemon who rides a shark.[100] (Likewise in the version close to it printed by Henri Carnoy, with illustrations by Édouard François Zier).[101]

Henri Carnoy also published a version[lower-alpha 29] in which a mother who had no food due to famine exposed her infant in the woods, but the child was raised by a mother bear that lost one of its cubs. The plotline is somewhat elaborate. A slaying of dragons rescues three princesses, Pomme d'or, Pomme d'argent, Pomme de cuivre ("Golden-Apple", "Silver-Apple", "Copper-Apple"). Although this is enough number of brides for Jean's party, the betrayal of the cut cord still ensues. Pomme d'or refuses marriage to a traitor, and wishes to wed Jean. So the two companions consult a witch on a way to murder Jean and Pomme d'or. An evil spirit with the black beard who enters into the betrayers' service is defeated and killed by Pomme d'or's guardian spirit, whom she summons by biting into her gold apple. The two companions are punished by the guardian spirit, but afterwards forgiven by Jean.[22]

Basque

The corresponding character is denoted Juan Artz [xwan arts̻], Hachko, or Xan Artz [ʃan arts̻] in Basque country.

One Basque version of the tale is Juan Artz, edited by Resurrección María de Azkue accompanied by Spanish translation.[102] The name Juan Artz denotes "Juan Bear", where hartza is the word for "bear".[103] The story begins by stating "They say that Juan was raised by a she-bear in the mountains because his mother had no breast".[104][105] This pattern where not a male but female bear is involved, and suckles the infant, is given by Delarue as one of the alternative origins for hero in the tale group, but it is not exhibited in many examples in his list.[106][lower-alpha 30] This motif of a she-bear raising the hero is paralleled by Orson in Valentine and Orson, a tale widely read in roman bleue (chapbook) form in the early modern period.[107][108]

In the tale given by Jean Barbier, Hachko eta harén bi lagunak (French: Hachko et ses deux compagnons; "Hachko and his two companions"),[lower-alpha 31] instead of a bear, it is the Basa-Jaun ([bas̺a jaun],[lower-alpha 32] French: Seigneur Sauvage[111]) who kidnaps the girl in the forest and carries her to an underground dwelling.[112][109] But Barbier's version which makes this substitution has been suspected of being an interpolation of a modern date, most probably by Barbier himself, in a study by N. Zaïkak.[113]

According to the hypothesis, Barbier based his tale on Jean-François Cerquand's version,[114] l'Ourson or Le fils d'ours ("bear cub" or "bear's son"; Basque: Hartch Ume) published in 1878 and 1882.[115][116] This version was taken down from a native of Mendive in Basse-Navarre.[lower-alpha 33][116]

Spain

Aurelio Espinosa, Sr. published three versions of Juan el Oso from Spain in his Cuentos Populares Españoles: Juanito el Oso (from Blacos, Soria in Castile and León[117] and another from Tudanca, Santander[118]) and Juanillo el Oso (from Villaluenga, Toledo).[119]

Versions found in Spain are marked by the motif of the devil's ear, or Lucifer's ear, which are present in Espinosa's versions named above. When the hero cuts the ear off the diabolical adversary, he has gained mastery over him, and thereafter, the hero can summon the devil by biting on the ear, and command him at his disposal.[117][119] In one tale the hero encounters a duende (a sort of dwarf) who severs his own ear and gives it to Juanito.[118][120] In some versions, "Lucifer's Ear" becomes the title of the tale.[121][124] This motif also occurs widely in various versions from Latin America and Spanish-speaking populace in the United States (§Versions in the Americas).

In Juanito el Oso (Blacos version above), the bear's son has a massive ball weighing 100 arrobas (2500 lbs.) made for him, to be used as weapon. His companions are Arrancapinos y Hace sogas "Uproots-Pinetrees-and-Makes-Ropes") and Allana cerros con Culo ("Flattens-Hills-with-Buttocks").[117]

Espinosa published more versions in Cuentos populares de Castilla y León: Juanillo el Oso and Juan Os from Peñafiel, Valladolid.[125][126] And a non-ursine variant, called El Hijo Burra ("Donkey's son") from Roa, Burgos.[127]

Versions in the Americas

There are cognate tales found in various parts of the Spanish-speaking Americas. Espinosa, Sr. collected 33 tales published in his Cuentos Populares Españoles.[27]

Mexican versions

American folklorist Robert A. Barakat published in English translation his collected versions "of North Mexico". These included a tale (entitled Juan el oso) collected in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,[lower-alpha 34][128] as well as tales from natives of that city residing in the United States: a version entitled Juan Oso collected in El Paso, Texas, in 1964,[lower-alpha 35][17] and a fragmentary Juan de la burra (John of the Donkey).[129]

Frank Goodwyn had also published in 1953 a complete Juan de la burra (collected in Chicago). Here, it can be seen that not only is the animal transposed to a female donkey, it is not the hero's parent, but only his wetnurse which allowed the abandoned child to suckle.[130] It thus resembles the tale of El Hijo Burra ("Donkey's son") of Spain.[lower-alpha 36][127]

The hero's helpers in the El Paso version were Aplanacerros (Mountain Breaker) and Tumbapinos (Pine Twister), reminiscent of names in the French version, whereas in the Juan de la burra, they were Carguín Cargón (the Carrier), Soplín Soplón (the Sigher), Oidín Oidón (the Hearer), exactly as found in Fernán Caballero's La oreja de Lucifer,[122][123] which is indeed a story classified as Type 301B,[131] but one whose protagonist has no connection to a bear or any substituted animal.

In Mexican versions, the machete[lower-alpha 37][17] or a machete weighing 24 kilograms[132] has displaced the massive cane in French versions.[133] There is also a version with an "iron weapon"[lower-alpha 38][134] with which he severs the devil's ear.[17]

International distribution

According to Stith Thompson's study, the tale is found "over the whole of Europe" ("specially well known in the Baltic and in Russia"), in the Near East, North Africa and in the Americas (brought by the French and the Spanish).[135]

Europe

The tale type is said to be found "in all the Indo-European language groups of Europe", as well in the Finno-Ugric family and in Basque.[136]

It has been noted that "the story of the underground journey and the three princesses ... is ubiquitous in the Hispanic tradition", where the strong hero travels to the underworld realm with his companions with fantastical powers.[137]

Professor Susie Hoogasian-Villa claimed that the tale-type "The World Below" is "one typical Armenian folktale": the hero rescues three princesses in the underworld realm, is abandoned by his companions and hitches a ride on the eagle's back in order to return to the surface.[138]

According to Professor Bronislava Kerbelytė, the tale type AT 301B is reported to register 240 Lithuanian variants, under the banner The Mighty Man and the Fellow Travellers, with and without contamination from other tale types.[139]

In a Georgian variant, Asphurtzela ("hundred leaves"), a mother's daughter is captured by a devi and forciby married to it. Her three sons are also captured by the devi. Years later, the woman gives birth to a boy named Asphurtzela, who matures very rapidly and develops great strength. He goes to another village and rescues his siblings. Later, in his travels, he meets a "clod-swallower" and a "hare-catcher" with millstones tied to both feet. The trio sets up camp and cook their food, but three devi insist to eat it. His friends relent and let the devi eat their food, but Asphurtzela kills the devi and follow its severed head to a hole, where three princesses are being held captive. The usual narrative follows, but the avian helper of the hero in this version is a griffin, after the hero helped its young.[140]

In the Hungarian tale Fehérlófia ("Son of the White Mare"), a white mare nurses her own human child for fourteen years, until he is strong enough to uproot a tree. The mare dies and the boy departs to see the world. He wrestles with two other equally strong individuals and strike a frienship. Later, they follow a dwarf to a hole in the mountain, Fehérlófia climbs down a rope to the underground, finds three princesses, defeats their draconic captors and is betrayed by his companions. He later hitches a ride on the back of a griffin in order to return to the upper world.[141]

Eastern Europe and Asia

On the other hand, professor Jack Haney stated that the types AT 301A and 301B, "The Three Underground Tsardoms", are very popular in "the East Slavic world", and its combination with tale type AT 650A, "Strong Hans", is "very common in the Urals".[142]

Professor Dean Fansler collected nine variants from the Philippines archipelago and based on their similarities to tabulate a general overview of the narrative. He also noted that the variants he collected were connected to "two well-known European cycles of folk-tales, - 'Strong Hans' and 'John the Bear'".[143]

Middle East

Scholar Ulrich Marzolph stated that the tale type AT 301 "The Three Stolen Princesses", showed "particular prominence" in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East regions.[144]

The tale type is also said to be popular in Iraq.[145]

Americas

The tale, in the Americas, is claimed to be widespread in Andean tradition ("relato panandino") and purportedly belongs to an ancient indigenous tradition,[146] although variants exist in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Central America.[147]

Variants of the tale type have been collected from the oral tale repertoire of many Native American populations, such as the Maliseet,[148] the Shoshone, the Assiniboine and the Chilcotin (Tsilhqotʼin).[149]

Anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons recorded three variants, one from Martinica and two from Guadalupe, that mix type AT 650A (the mishaps of the hero's childhood) with type AT 301B (rescue of princesses in the underworld and flight on eagle).[150]

Literary variants

Scholarship recognizes the Spanish rhyming story Las Princesas Encantadas as belonging to ATU 301 tale type. In this story, a king locks his three daughter in a tower (instead of an underground prison) and the hero, after he is betrayed by his brothers, escapes the tower with the help of a magical flying horse.[151]

Parallels

It has been suggested that the tale of John the Bear may be connected to the legend of Georgian hero Amirani and character Sbadilòn, the hero of an Italian fairy tale.[152]

Sbadilòn

Sbadilòn, or Giovanni Sbadilòn Senzaterra, is the protagonist of a Mantova tale collected from an old female storyteller in the 1970s. Sbadilón carries a spade and meets two stong companions: Tagliaboschi, son of a charcoal burner ("carbonaio") and Darfino Ammazzacinquecento ("Darfino Crushes-Five-Hundred"). By lifting a marble tombstone, Sbadilón descends to an underworld realm (possibly Hell), kills five evil wizards and rescues a princess. In this story, the betrayal of the companions does not occur; instead, he willingly decides to stay underground, until an eagle bites his flesh and carries him back to the surface.[153]

John Bear in literature

In 1868, Prosper Merimee published Lokis, a new telling of a mysterious marriage Count, which appears to be born from the rape of his mother, and probably by a bear, these elements are gradually revealed, until the epilogue where the animal instincts of the character come to the fore. This news is written following a trip Merimee did in Lithuania and the Baltic countries where the story (or legend) was underway.

In 1990, Alina Reyes evokes the myth in her second novel, Lucie au Long Cours.

In 2011, the novel by Philippe Jaenada "Woman and Bear" explicitly refers to the tale.

See also

For tales about wild men and strong heroes:

For other tales about rescuing princesses:

Explanatory notes
  1. Cf. Jean-Claude Pertuzé's illustrations which depict Jean de l'ours with bear's ears.
  2. Note that final s is pronounced.
  3. It should be noted, however, that the third revision of the Aarne-Thompson classification system, made in 2004 by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, subsumed both subtypes AaTh 301A and AaTh 301B into the new type ATU 301.[4]
  4. French translation: Jean à la barre en fer, i.e. "John with the iron stick".
  5. In Babou's version, a widow is abducted by a bear who makes the sign of the cross, and she stays with the bear. She returns a year later with a 3-month old as large as she.
  6. The "Three Stolen Princesses" is something of an official title, published in Aarne-Thompson Types (1961)[29] and Uther's Types (2004).[30]
  7. Oak-Twister, Millstone-Hurler, Mountain-Pusher in the French tales
  8. In the Mexican tale, arrancador or "puller" of trees.
  9. i.e., "of the general fairy tale type" to use Colgrave's exact wording.
  10. Or, "strictly speaking, do not belong to the bear's-son saga" to put it in Colgrave's words).
  11. Colgrave provides the generic extraordinary companions with the definition that they are those that have "their senses or faculties strongly developed like the runner, the hearer, the taster, the smeller, or the man with the highly developed sense".[39] (Cf. Thompson's comment that men "endowed with some remarkable power (supernatural sight, hearing, speed, or the like", recur in tale types 513 and 514, and many others besides.[40]
  12. "Version des soldats, non localisée" (Delarue (1949), p. 315).
  13. Delarue's section heading is "II. Naissance et enfance du héros".
  14. Translated "Twistoak" and "Cutmountain" in the Borzoi Book. Tord/Twistoak used oak trees as cord to tie bundles of wood, Tranche/Cutmountain lifted boulders with pincers and smashed them).
  15. Delarue entitled the section "IV. Dans le château hanté".
  16. When a pipe to smoke is wished for, it states "Poof! And there were three pipes of excellent Maryland tobacco on the table".
  17. Fife translates "walking-stick", Delarue gives bâton.
  18. Delarue: femme enceinte avant capture), Delarue (1949), p. 323, note on version 9 (Cosquin).
  19. But staying long only with the third to learn his trade
  20. Holding up a mountain to keep it from falling and being dashed to bits.
  21. As in the soldier's version, they ring a little bell (clochette) as signal to be lifted up.
  22. 11 devils in one room, 12 in another. Compare the three types of beasts in three castles in Delarue's version 1 above.
  23. Whether cutting or releasing is still the same motif VI a1 according to Delarue's analysis.
  24. The broken leg is healed by the ointment also, which here the fairy provides.
  25. "3 boules ornée de perles, diamants, émauds," noted as unique element, Delarue (1949), p. 320–323.
  26. Delarue's IIa and b elements.
  27. "Jean with the Iron-Stick".
  28. Collado who made the claim draws on Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, but Ladurie merely analyzed the bear in these rituals as having aspects of both a flock-endangering beast, and a satyr-like sexual predator.[90]
  29. Already referred to above in #Physical appearance and regarding the weight of the cane in #Other versions.
  30. Few examples, apparently only Delarue's 5., from Birette, B. Norm., 44.
  31. Hachko means "little bear".[109]
  32. The initial /j/ may be ɟ, d͡ʒ, ʒ, ʃ, or χ.[110]
  33. In the story, a girl returning from Mendive to Otchagarria in Spain is abducted by a bear in the Irati Forest.
  34. Barakat does not clearly identify the tale type, suggesting it is contaminated by several motifs "usually found in other tale types", p. 335.
  35. Barakat says "John Bear" follows the typical plotline of type 301A. Barakat (1965), p. 335.
  36. Except the hero has no name like "Juan" in the Spanish tale from Roa, Burgos.
  37. The machete given by Mountain Jumper.
  38. The iron weapon which the grandfather (the king) provides. Barakat assumes it to be a machete in subsequent discussion (Barakat (1967)).

References
Citations
  1. Thompson (1968), pp. 3–9.
  2. Creighton, Taft & Caplan (1993), pp. 81-88.
  3. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 45-65.
  4. Uther, Hans-Jörg. The types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Folklore Fellows Communicatins (FFC) n. 284. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia-Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004. p. 177.
  5. Delarue (1949), pp. 318-320: analysis of themes for sections II ~ VII (applicable to Type 301 B)
  6. McCarthy, William Bernard. Cinderella in America: a book of folk and fairy tales. The University Press of Mississippi. 2007. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-57806-959-0
  7. Maspons y Labrós (1871), pp. 11–17.
  8. Amades (1974), pp. 3–8.
  9. Espinosa (1924), pp. 275–283.
  10. Visentini (1879), pp. 157–161.
  11. Afanasief, A. N. (1860–63) Naronuiya Russkiya Skazki, Moscow, VIII, No. 6
  12. Chambers, Raymond Wilson (1921), Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem, The University Press, pp. 371–375
  13. "Ivan the Bear’s Son." In: The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev: Volume I, edited by Haney Jack V., 359-61. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2014. doi:10.2307/j.ctt9qhm7n.99.
  14. "The Bear, Moustaches, Mountain Man, and Oakman Bogatyrs." In: The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev: Volume I, edited by Haney Jack V., 321-29. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2014. doi:10.2307/j.ctt9qhm7n.91.
  15. Delarue's element II c, "II a le corps couvert de poils", Delarue (1949), p. 318, seen in versions 1, 4, 9, (Cosquin's no. 1), etc.
  16. Delarue's 67, Delarue (1949), p. 334, Duffard (1902), "Jan l'Oursét (Jean l'Ourset)", L'Armagnac Noir, ou Bas-Armagnac, pp. 211– 230.
  17. "John Bear" (Juan Oso) from Leopold Gemoets, then 19 years old, resident of El Paso, Texas, collected in 1964. He had heard it from a gardener in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Barakat (1965), pp. 331–332, and note 18.
  18. Cosquin (1876), p. 88, citing Gubernatis.
  19. Haney, Jack V. (1999), "Ivanko the Bear's son", The Complete Russian Folktale: Russian animal tales, ISBN 9781563244902
  20. Cosquin (1876), p. 88, citing Schiefner.
  21. Schiefner, Anton (1873), "C'il'in (Bärenohr)", Awarische Texte, Mémoires de l'Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Petersbourg, series 3, vol. XIX, No. 6
  22. Delarue's 71 Jean l’Ours et ses compagnons, Carnoy (1885a), pp. 23–38.
  23. Carnoy, É. Henri (1885b), Édouard Zier (illustr.), "Jean-de-l'Ours: l'Hercule gaulois", Les légendes de France, A. Quantin, pp. 193–220
  24. Babou (1862), pp. 198–208. Delarue's 66, Delarue (1949), p. 334, summarized in Jourdanne, Gaston, (1900) Contribution au folk-lore de l'Aude, p. 124.
  25. Carnoy (1885b), p. 195.
  26. Babou (1862), p. 199.
  27. Barakat (1965), p. 330.
  28. Thompson (1977), p. 287: "Three Stolen Princesses".
  29. Aarne, Antti; Stith, Thompson (1961), The Types of the Folktale, Helsinki, pp. 90–93, cited by Barakat (1965), p. 330
  30. Uther, Hans-Jörg (2004), "The types of international folktales. a classification and bibliography", FF Communications, 284: 176–
  31. Thompson (1977), pp. 33, 85.
  32. Bierhorst, John (2016), Duggan, Anne E.; Haase, Donald; Callow, Helen J. (eds.), "Bear's Son", Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World (2 ed.), ABC-CLIO, 1, p. 105, ISBN 9780313334429
  33. Fabre (1968), pp. 28-29.
  34. Stitt, J. Michael (1992). Beowulf and the bear's son: epic, saga, and fairytale in northern Germanic tradition. Garland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8240-7440-1.
  35. Collado (1993), p. 343.
  36. Hansen, Terrance Leslie (1957), The Types of the Folktale in Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, and Spanish South America, pp. 24–25, 75–77, cited by Barakat (1965), p. 335 and note 6
  37. Espinosa (1987), p. 467.
  38. Claudel, Calvin (1952), "Some Comments on the Bear's Son Tale", Southern Folklore Quarterly, XVI: 186–191
  39. Colgrave (1951), p. 411.
  40. Thompson (1977), The Folklore, p. 280 and note 17.
  41. Frank, R. M. (2019). "Translating a Worldview in the longue durée: The Tale of “The Bear’s Son”". In: Głaz A. (eds). Languages – Cultures – Worldviews. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp. 68-73. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28509-8_3
  42. Delmart & Vidal (1833), pp. 223–253.
  43. Delarue (1957), pp. 110–133.
  44. Fabre (1968), pp. 28-36.
  45. Delarue (1949), p. 332.
  46. Delarue (1949), pp. 315-317.
  47. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 45-49.
  48. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 49-50.
  49. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 50-55.
  50. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 55-60.
  51. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 60-63.
  52. Delarue & Fife (tr.) (1956), pp. 63-.
  53. Cosquin (1886), pp. 1–27.
  54. Thompson (1968), pp. 4–5.
  55. Thompson (1968), pp. 5–6.
  56. It is commonplace theme VI e8 "par une route qui ramène à la terre", but Delarue noted the additional "ne doit pas regarder derrière", Delarue (1949), pp. 320, 323.
  57. Delarue notes, after VII a that "Chasse ses compagnons, princesses rentrent chez le roi".
  58. Delarue's theme VII c3, Delarue (1949), pp. 320, 323
  59. Thompson (1968), p. 6.
  60. Delarue (1949), p. 318.
  61. Element II, b. "Il naít d'un ours et d'une femme enlevée".[60]
  62. Delarue (1949), p. 323.
  63. Delarue's versions 9 and 10, Cosquin's No.1, summarized above, and Cosquin's No. 52, La canne de cinq cents livre, Contes populaires de Lorraine II, p. 195 =1886 ed., II, p. 135, although in the latter the hero is a boy with no given name.
  64. Nelli (1941), pp. 91–98.
  65. Delarue's 65, citing Folkore, April 1941. This is Nelli (1941)'s edited text.
  66. Delarue's version 42., Le Dot (1906), "Yves et son bâton de fer", Revue des traditions populaires, XXI (12): 469–474 (in French)
  67. Delarue (1949), pp. 339–340.
  68. Delarue's version 26., Ms. Millien-Delarue, version J.
  69. Delarue's version 40. Luzel, F. M. (1906), "Jean au bâton de fer", Revue des traditions populaires, XXI (12): 465–467 (in French)
  70. Troude, Amable; Milin (1870), "Iann he vaz houarn (Jean a la Bar de Fer)", Le conteur breton, ou Contes bretons (in Breton and French), pp. 132–179 (Delarue's 38)
  71. Delarue's element IV c is adversary with a tiny body, c3 is him growing ever larger, c4 is him coming from the devil. Delarue (1949), p. 328
  72. Delarue lists the devil (IV c4) Delarue's version 27., Millien-Delarue version K, version 30., ms. version N; "little devil (diablotin)" in version 46. Sébillot, Paul (1881), "Jean de l'ours", Littérature orale de la Haute-Bretagne (in French), pp. 81–86; a seven-headed devil (of which Jean breaks three heads) in Delarue's 59, Seignolle, Claude, ed. (1946), "Jean de l'ours (No. 7)", Contes populaires de Guyenne, G.-P. Maisonneuve, pp. 63–
  73. Delarue's element Ve
  74. Delarue's element VI b "he asks how to escape from an old woman", b1 "from another being in the Underworld". Delarue's 26., Ms. ver. J,
  75. Delarue's 21., Ms. Millien-Delarue ver. E.
  76. Fansler, Dean Spouill. Filipino Popular Tales. The American folk-lore society. 1921. pp. 27-28.
  77. McCarthy, William Bernard. Cinderella in America: a book of folk and fairy tales. The University Press of Mississippi. 2007. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-57806-959-0
  78. Delarue (1949), p. 320.
  79. Delarue's element VI c is his climbing out, c1 by a monster or quadruped, c2 by an eagle or some other bird.[78]
  80. Delarue's 58., Seignolle, Claude, ed. (1946), "Jean de l'ours (No. 6)", Contes populaires de Guyenne (in French), G.-P. Maisonneuve, pp. 53–
  81. Róna-Sklarek, Elisabet. Ungarische Volksmärchen. Neue Folge. Leipzig: Dieterich 1909. pp. 294-295.
  82. Annus, Amar & Sarv, Mari. "The Ball Game Motif in the Gilgamesh Tradition and International Folklore". In: Mesopotamia in the Ancient World: Impact, Continuities, Parallels. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of the Melammu Project Held in Obergurgl, Austria, November 4-8, 2013. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag - Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH. 2015. pp. 289-290. ISBN 978-3-86835-128-6
  83. Hoogasian-Villa, Susie. 100 Armenian Tales and Their Folkloristic Relevance. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 1966. p. 506.
  84. Navet, Éric. "Les Ojibway et l'Amanite tue-mouche (Amanita muscaria). Pour une ethnomycologie des Indiens d'Amérique du Nord". In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 74, 1988. pp. 174 and 178 (footnote nr. 28). [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/jsa.1988.1334]; www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1988_num_74_1_1334
  85. Ermacora, Davide. "Invariant cultural forms in Carlo Ginzburg’s «Ecstasies»: A thirty-year retrospective". In: Historia Religionum: an international Journal 9. Pisa, Roma: Fabrizio Serra, 2017. p. 82. Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/10.19272/201704901005
  86. Sergent, Bernard. Le premier héros: Gargantua, Jean de l'Ours et de Dénicheur d'Oiseaux. La Begude de Mazenc, 2010.
  87. Sergent, Bernard. "De Jean de l'Ours à Persée ou de quelques modalités de la disjonction". In: Routes et parcours mythiques. Des textes à l'archéologie. Collection Langues et cultures anciennes 17. Bruxelles, Belgique: Éditions Safran. 2011. pp. 267-286. ISBN 978-2-87457-039-1
  88. The book of Greek and Roman folktales, legends, and myths. Edited, translated, and introduced by William Hansen; with illustrations by Glynnis Fawkes. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2017. pp. 98-99. ISBN 9780691195926
  89. Fabre (1968), pp. 10-11.
  90. Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel (1979), Le Carnaval de Romans, p. 342
  91. Collado (1993), pp. 348.
  92. Pelen, Jean-Noël. "Béraud-Williams (Sylvette). — Contes populaires de l'Ardèche, 1983 [compte-rendu]". In: Le Monde alpin et rhodanien. Revue régionale d'ethnologie, n°2-3/1985. pp. 153-154. www.persee.fr/doc/mar_0758-4431_1985_num_13_2_1278_t1_0153_0000_4
  93. Loddo, Daniel. "Le conte occitan en Midi-Pyrénées d'après les collectes du Cordea/la Talvera". In: Horizons Maghrébins - Le droit à la mémoire N° 49, 2003. Conte, conteurs et néo-conteurs. Usages et pratiques du conte et de l'oralité entre les deux rives de la Méditerranée. p. 89. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/horma.2003.2159]; www.persee.fr/doc/horma_0984-2616_2003_num_49_1_2159
  94. Nelli (1941), pp. 91-98.
  95. Gardy, Philippe (2005), "À la recherche d'un " héros occitan " ? Jean de l'Ours dans la littérature d'oc aux" (PDF), Lengas: Revue de sociolinguistique (56): 273, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03 (S2)
  96. Fabre, Daniel; Lacroix, Jacque (1979), "Récit, discours, texte: une conteuse en action", Via Domitia, XX–XXII: 70 (47–80)
  97. Gardy (2005), pp. 269-270.
  98. Bernard, Valère (1936), la Légenda d'Esclarmonda, Societat d'Estudis Occitans
  99. Delarue (1949), p. 349, Delarue's 66, "très arr. (arrangé)".
  100. Babou (1862), p. 202.
  101. Carnoy (1885b), pp. 212–213.
  102. Listed under Type 301B by Amores (1997), pp. 65–67
  103. Zaïkak (2014), p. 103, Juan Artz 'Juan l’Ours', and p. 142, note 184, glossing hartza.
  104. Azkue (1942), II, p. 196, Basque and Spanish. "Mendian, amak bularrik ezeukalako, artz batek ezi eieban Juan (Dicen que a Juan le crió en el monte una osa porque sua madre no tenía pecho)".
  105. Collado (1993), p. 368, this opening sentence retranslated into French.
  106. Theme IIb2 or b3 and b4, Delarue (1949), p. 318
  107. Delarue (1949), p. 337.
  108. Collado (1993), p. 368.
  109. Fabre (1969a), pp. 18–19.
  110. Trask, R. L. (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Basque, Wheeler, Max W. (ed.), University of Sussex, p. 35, archived from the original on 2018-04-27, retrieved 2017-11-28
  111. Zaïkak (2014), p. 165.
  112. Barbier (1931).
  113. Zaïkak (2014), pp. 142-143: "On peut même supposer que le conte de Barbier est plus tardif et qu’il est résultat d’une substitution de l’ours par Basa-Jaun".
  114. Zaïkak (2014), p. 87: Zaïkak proposes three scenarios: the second is the case where Barbier's informant who had read Cerquand created an interpolated version. The third scenario where Barbier adapted from Cerquand, is the case Zaïkak deems as most likely.
  115. Cerquand (1878) Mélusine I, p. 160 (gives Basque title as "Hartch Ume")
  116. Cerquand (1882) Légendes 2, pp. 11–14; 148–149
  117. 133. Juanito el Oso from Blacos, Soria, Espinosa (1924), p. 275–278
  118. 134. Juanito el Oso from Tudanca,Espinosa (1924), pp. 278–280
  119. 135. Juanillo el Oso from Villaluenga, Toledo, Espinosa (1924), pp. 280–283
  120. Goodwyn (1953), p. 154.
  121. Amores (1997), pp. 65–67 collects Caballero's La oreja de Lucifer from Andalucia and Fasternath's La oreja del diablo from Seville in his tale type list.
  122. Caballero (1859), pp. 51–58.
  123. Caballero & Ingram (tr.) (1887), pp. 88–98.
  124. La oreja de Lucifer, a literary version by Fernán Caballero.[122][123]
  125. Espinosa (1987), pp. 100–108.
  126. Espinosa (1987), p. 17
  127. Espinosa (1987), pp. 108–110.
  128. "John the Bear" (Juan el Oso) from a 20 years-old resident of Ciudad Juarez, collected in 1964, Barakat (1965), pp. 333–334, and note 19.
  129. "John of the Donkey" (Juan de la burra), only the concluding portion, collected in La Union, New Mexico, 1963, from Francisco Melendez, age 78, Barakat (1965), p. 334 and note 20.
  130. Goodwyn (1953), pp. 143–154.
  131. Amores (1997), pp. 65–67.
  132. Goodwyn (1953), p. 145.
  133. "European variants hero a magic sword or walking stick; Mexican versions give him a machete", Barakat (1965), p. 330
  134. "John of the Bear (Juan del Oso)" from Sandra Maria de Jesus Padilla, age 28, in: Barakat (1967), pp. 3–6
  135. Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  136. Frank, R. M. (2019). "Translating a Worldview in the longue durée: The Tale of “The Bear’s Son”". In: Głaz A. (eds). Languages – Cultures – Worldviews. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. p. 56. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28509-8_3
  137. McCarthy, William Bernard. Cinderella in America: a book of folk and fairy tales. The University Press of Mississippi. 2007. pp. 351-352. ISBN 978-1-57806-959-0
  138. Hoogasian-Villa, Susie. 100 Armenian Tales and Their Folkloristic Relevance. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 1966. pp. 500-505.
  139. Skabeikytė-Kazlauskienė, Gražina. Lithuanian Narrative Folklore: Didactical Guidelines. Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus University. 2013. p. 30. ISBN 978-9955-21-361-1
  140. Wardrop, Marjory Scott. Georgian folk tales. London: D. Nutt. 1894. pp. 68-83.
  141. László Arany. Eredeti népmesék. Pest: Nyomatott Landerer és Heckenastnál. 1862. pp. 202-215.
  142. Haney, Jack V. The Complete Russian Folktale: v. 3: Russian Wondertales 1 - Tales of Heroes and Villains. New York: Routledge. 2000. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315482538
  143. Fansler, Dean Spouill. Filipino Popular Tales. The American folk-lore society. 1921. pp. 17-29.
  144. Marzolph, Ulrich; van Leewen, Richard. The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia. Vol. I. California: ABC-Clio. 2004. p. 417. ISBN 1-85109-640-X (e-book)
  145. Annus, Amar. (2009). "Review Article: The Folk-Tales of Iraq and the Literary Traditions of Ancient Mesopotamia". In: Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 9: 94. 10.1163/156921209X449170.
  146. Taylor, Gerald. "Juan Puma, el hijo del oso. Cuento quechua de La Jalca, Chachapoyas". In: Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines, vol. 26, núm. 3, 1997. Institut Français d'Études Andines; Lima, Organismo Internacional. pp. 349-350. ISSN 0303-7495
  147. Robin, Valérie (1997). "El cura y sus hijos osos o el recorrido civilizador de los hijos de una cura y una osa". In: Boletín del Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos. Número especial: “Tradición Oral y mitologías andinas”. Lima, 1997, Tomo 26, Nº 3.
  148. Mechling, W. H. "Maliseet Tales." The Journal of American Folklore 26, no. 101 (1913): 234-247. doi:10.2307/534815.
  149. Boas, Franz. "Notes on Mexican Folk-Lore". In: American Folklore Society. Journal of American Folklore. Volume XXV. Washington [etc.]: American Folklore Society. 1912. pp. 251 and 254-258.
  150. Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews. Folk-lore of the Antilles, French And English. Part 3. New York: American Folk-lore Society. 1943. pp. 293-295.
  151. Beltrán, Rafael. (2017). "El romance en pliego de Las princesas encantadas (s. XVIII) y las variantes hispánicas de dos cuentos maravillosos: Three Stolen Princesses (ATU, 301) y Goldener (ATU, 314)". In: Boletín de Literatura Oral 7 (2017). pp. 9-42. 10.17561/blo.v7i0.1.
  152. Bottani, Giorgia. "Sbadilon in Islanda: Il Contesto Iniziatico Di Tre Racconti Lontani". In: La Ricerca Folklorica, no. 46 (2002): 117-23. doi:10.2307/1479920.
  153. Bottani, Giorgia. "Sbadilon in Islanda: Il Contesto Iniziatico Di Tre Racconti Lontani". In: La Ricerca Folklorica, no. 46 (2002): 117-23. doi:10.2307/1479920.
Bibliography
―texts (France - Langues d'oïl)
―(France-Provence/Occitan)
  • Babou, Hippolyte (1862), "Jean-de-l'ours", Les payens innocents: nouvelles (in French), Poulet-Malassis, pp. 195–208 (Delarue's 66)
  • Carnoy, É. Henri (1885a). "Jean l'Ours et ses compagnons". Contes français (in French). Ernest Leroux. pp. 23–38. (Delarue's 71.)
  • Duffard, Paul (1902), "Jan l'Oursét (Jean l'Ourset)", L'Armagnac Noir, ou Bas-Armagnac (in Occitan), pp. 211–230 (Gascon) (in French) (Delarue's 67.)
  • Nelli, René (1941), "Recherches sur Jean de l'Ours" (PDF), Folklore (in Occitan and French), XXX (22): 91–98 (Delarue's 65.)
―(Catalan)
―(Spain)
―(Basque)
―(Italy)
  • Visentini, Isaia (1879), "Joan de l'Os", Lo Fiabe mantovane, Canti e racconti del popolo italiano, E. Loescher, VII, pp. 157–161, ISBN 9781895415285
―(Mexican versions)
  • Colgrave, Bertram (1951). "A Mexican Version of the 'Bear's Son' Folk Tale". The Journal of American Folklore. 64 (254): 409–413. doi:10.2307/537011. JSTOR 537011. JSTOR 537011
  • Barakat, Robert A. (1965). "The Bear's Son Tale in Northern Mexico". The Journal of American Folklore. LXXVIII (310): 330–336. JSTOR 538440
  • Barakat, Robert A. (1967). "John of the Bear and 'Beowulf'". Western Folklore. 26 (1): 1–11. doi:10.2307/1498482. JSTOR 1498482.
  • Goodwyn, Frank (1953). "Another Mexican Version of the 'Bear's Son' Folk Tale". The Journal of American Folklore. LXXVIII (260): 143–154. JSTOR 537328
―(English Canada)
  • Creighton, Helen; Taft, Michael; Caplan, Ronald (1993), "John of the Bear", A folk tale journey through the Maritimes, Breton Books, pp. 81–88, ISBN 9781895415285 (Acadian Tales and Mrs. Laura McNeil, West Pubnico, N. S.)
―secondary sources

Further reading
  • Decourt, Nadine. "Les Quatre saisons de Léon et Jean de l’Ours : entre conte et film d’animation, questions de transmission et de réception". In: Textes et contextes 8 (2013).
  • Fourtané, Nicole. "La conception du héros dans les contes hispaniques et dans ceux des Andes péruviennes: le cas de Juan [el] Oso". In: América: Cahiers du CRICCAL, n°13, 1993. Les frontières culturelles en Amérique latine (deuxième série) pp. 39-56. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ameri.1993.1133]; www.persee.fr/doc/ameri_0982-9237_1993_num_13_1_1133
  • Liégeois, Catherine. "Miklos fils de jument: état d'une recherche". In: Littérature orale: paroles vivantes et mouvantes. Martin, Jean-Baptiste (dir.); Decourt, Nadine (dir.). Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon, 2003. pp. 281-295. ISBN 2-7297-0725-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pul.11735.
  • McDowell, John H. "The True Lineage of “Juan Oso”." Journal of Folklore Research 46, no. 3 (2009): 325-49. doi:10.2979/jfr.2009.46.3.325.
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