The Dragon as a Household Spirit: Witchcraft and Economics in Early Modern and Modern Sources

IF 0.2 4区社会学 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Magic Ritual and Witchcraft Pub Date : 2022-09-01 DOI:10.1353/mrw.2022.0024

J. Dillinger

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Abstract

Abstract:Many early modern sources from Eastern Germany and the Baltic mention a household spirit in the shape of a flying snake. This so called dragon allegedly brought money and produce to its owner. Everything it brought it stole from somebody else. This household dragon appears in early ethnological literature, in scientific treatises and in witch trials. Early modern authors agreed that the household dragon was a demon in the shape of a snake-like monster. Even scientists who suggested alternative explanations for alleged dragon sightings failed to reject the demonological explanation outright. Alleged contact with such a dragon provoked a number of witch trials. Persons accused of being in contact with a household dragon were profit-oriented social climbers who had accumulated wealth quickly. Their neighbors maintained that they had become rich simply because the dragon had provided them with money and produce. Folk tales collected in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries presented essentially the same motifs. In both, early modern sources and modern folk tales, dragon narratives were an extremely aggressive form of social criticism that condemned profit-oriented economic behavior.

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龙作为一种家庭精神:早期近现代的巫术和经济学

摘要:许多来自东德和波罗的海的早期现代文献都提到了一种飞行蛇形状的家庭精神。据说这条所谓的龙给它的主人带来了钱和农产品。它带来的一切都是从别人那里偷来的。这条家常龙出现在早期的民族学文献、科学论文和女巫审判中。早期现代作家一致认为，家龙是一种蛇形怪物。即使是对所谓的龙目击事件提出其他解释的科学家也没有完全拒绝恶魔的解释。据称与这样一条龙的接触引发了一系列的女巫审判。那些被指控与家龙有联系的人都是以利润为导向的社会攀高者，他们迅速积累了财富。他们的邻居坚持认为，他们之所以变得富有，仅仅是因为龙给他们提供了金钱和农产品。19世纪和20世纪收集的民间故事基本上呈现出相同的主题。在早期现代文献和现代民间故事中，龙叙事都是一种极其激进的社会批评形式，谴责以利润为导向的经济行为。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Magic Ritual and Witchcraft HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

0.20

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0.00%

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