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42 Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series
6
THE TWO SISTERS (Child, No. 10)
Three good texts and two fragments of this ballad have been recovered in this state. All of them belong with Child R*
For American texts, see Campbell and Sharp, No. 4; Cox, No. 3 (fragment); Gray, p. 75; Hudson, No. 3; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 68; Journal, XVIII, 130; XIX, 233; XXX, 286; XLIV, 295; Pound, Ballads, No. 4; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 164; Shearin, p. 4; Shearin and Combs, p. 7 (fragment); Thomas, p. 70; Smith and Rufty, p. 2; Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 9-13; BFSSNE, III, 21; VI, 5; VII, 14; IX, 4-6; X, 10; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 38; Cox, Traditional Ballads, Mainly from West Virginia, pp. 6, 8; JFSS, I, 253; II, 283; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 65; PTFLS, X, 141; Stout, Folklore from Iowa (MAFLS, XXIX), p. 1; Botkin, The American Play-Party Song, pp. 338, 339; Neal, Brown County Songs and Ballads, No. 37; Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks, p. 211.
The ballad is widespread in the Scandinavian countries, where it is known as "Systrarna," "Den talende Strsengeleg," "Dei tvo systar," "Den talende Harpe," "Den underbara harpan," "Systermordet," "Horpu-rima," etc. For Scandinavian versions, see Grundtvig, Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, II, 512-17; III, 875-78; Jyske Folkeminder, X (1889), 69-71, 375-78; Geijer and Afzelius, Svenska Folkvisor (ed. Bergstrom and Hoijer), I, 72; III, 16; Arwidsson, Svenska Fomsdnger, II, 139 f.; Skattegraveren, IV (1885), 161; Sandvik, 0. M., Folke-Musik i Gudbrandsdalen, pp. 102-3; Rancken, J. O., Ndgra prof af folksdng och saga i det svenska Osterbotten, pp. 10-12; Wigstrom, Skdnska Visor, Sagor och Sagner, p. 4; Andersson, Den Aldre Folkvisan (Finlands Svenska Folkdiktning, V1), pp. 75-86; Lindeman, Norske Fjeldmelodier, I, 9; II, 103.
The motif of a murder's being revealed through an inanimate object made from the corpse or associated with it, present in only three or four American texts of the ballad, appears frequently in the oral literature of many peoples. See, e.g., RTP, II, 125, 365 f.; IV, 463; V, 178; VI, 500; VII, 223; Archivio per lo studio delle trad, pop., Ill, 71; Romania, VI, 565; Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Marchen, No. 51; de Gubernatis, Le tradizioni popolari di S. Stefano, p. 154 f.; de Vasconcellos, Tradicoes populares de Portugal, p. 125 f.; Coelho, Contos populares de Brasil, p. 57 f.; Nigra, Canti del Piemonte, No. 19; Journal, IV, 267 ("La Stregha Chitarra"); (his Volksleven, II, 67; VII, 83; Monseur, Bulletin de Folklore Walien, I, 39 f.; Dykstra, Uit Frieslands Volksleven van vroegeren alter, II, 99; de Mont and de Cock, Vlaamsche Wondersprookjes, p. 195 f.; Melusine, I, 423; Doncieux, Romancero frangais, p. 36; Meyrac, Traditions, coutwmes, legendes et contes des Ardennes, p. 486 f.; Sebillot, Litterature orale de la Haute-Bretagne, pp. 220-26; Camoy, Litterature de la Picwdie, p. 236 f.; Grimm, No. 28; Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum, III, 35; Erk-B6hme, IAederhort, I, 26; Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern u. Rilgen, pp. 399-401; Schneller, Mdrchen zu Sagen aus Walschtirol, No. 51; Afanasjew (Afan- |
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