PREFACE 9
Background 9
The sources 10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 12
I. INTRODUCTION 13
1. Problem complex and theoretical reflections on folklore as the mirror of society 13
2. Definitions of folklore 18
3. The functions of folklore 21
4. Folklore as communication 24
5. Remarks on the socializing function of the folktale 26
6. The tale-telling Situation 30
7. The migration of the folktales 35
8. A guide to the use of folktales for educated storytellers ... 37
II. HISTORICAL SOURCES FOR THE DIDACTICS OF STORYTELLING 40
1. Folk custom, lore and legend in the Middle Ages 40
2. Legend, tale and pedagogy 44
3. In search of the “populär” tale motifs 46
III. MATRILINY IN SPAIN 60
1. Historical retrospect 60
2. The legal basis of matriliny 70
3. Isabella, the Great Matriarch (1472-1504) 78
4. The abolition of women’s rights in modern times 82
5. Culture and social Organization in modern Galicia 83
6. Geography, demography and economy of the region 88
IV. GALICIAN FAMILY SYSTEMS 91
1. The matrilineal mandate 91
2. Position of the husband 95
3. Authority in the family 96
4. Economic power 98
5. The “visiting marriage” (a congrd) 102
6. The male mandate 111
V. PATTERNS OF WORK AND BEHAV1OURAL NORMS . 117
VI. MATRIARCHAL IDEOLOGY AND FEMALE CHAUVINISM 128
VII. CULTURE AND EROS 150
1. Female aggression and male repression 150
2. Women’s sexual life: myth and reality 157
3. The queen of the house and the semi-Amazon empire . . 161
4. “Surrogate mothers”, abortion and contraception 163
5. The so-called “Century of Barrenness” 168
VIII. RELIGION AND MAGIC 173
1. The cult of nature 173
2. Christianity and paganism 176
3. Male and female fertility magic 177
4. Prenatal baptism and other women’s rites 181
5. The generative womb and the ram Symbol 186
6. The three Marias 189
7. Lycomancers 190
8. Female saints as projections of the female ego 191
9. Gender struggle among the saints 195
10. Saint Catherine’s “Wheel” 197
11. As meigas (the witches) 200
12. The Devil in the Galician witch cult 204
13. The female sexual organ as sacred object and some remarks on the words “cunt” and “prick” 206
14. Living female saints (santas) 208
15. The wise woman of Caldas de Reyes 211
16. Portrait of a “wise woman” 213
IX. THE UNIVERSE OF THE GALICIAN FOLKTALE .... 217
1. Definition of the analytical method 217
2. The matriarchal tale paradigm 220
3. The imprinting function of Symbols and their cultural message 223
4. Examples of correlation and adaptation 229
5. Family structure and gender consciousness in the tales . . 234
6. Hybrid forms 248
7. The dual perspective in the universe of the Storyteller . . . 249
8. Cultural fixations 251
X. CONCLUSION 260
NOTES 263
APPENDIX: SAMPLES OF GALICIAN FOLKTALES 281
BIBLIOGRAPHY 285