Pact with the Devil
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The widespread cultural meme Pact with the Devil, familiar in the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles is an element in many folktales. In the Aarne-Thompson typological catalogue, it lies in category AT 756B – "The devil's contract".
The bargain is always a dangerous one, for the price of the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. The tale may have a moralizing end, with eternal damnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the Devil, usually on a technical point.
In many variants of the Aarne-Thompson type 361, of which Bearskin is an instance, the hero escapes, but the devil still comes off the better: the heroine's sisters have killed themselves, and he gained two souls instead of one.
The story of Theophilus of Adana, a saint who made a deal with the devil, predates the Faust legend and is a likely partial inspiration.
The compact between human hubris and diabolical intelligence raises the old tale to its cultural peak in Goethe's Faust.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Smith outwits the Devil: a Norwegian folktale
