Abstract
The story of King Herla (ATU 470) is characterized by three major narrative sequences: the journey to the beyond; the opposition between the subjective perception of time and its objective reality; and, finally, the violation of the prohibition with the return of the hero. This tale underwent multiple reappropriations in France and Great Britain, particularly in Wales, from the Middle Ages to the present. Reinvested by literary or folklore movements, the tale allows for a nationalist and political reading that is all the more resilient given its formal plasticity and its dreamlike richness, which guaranteed its wide European dissemination and a remarkable resistance to the test of time.
Recommended Citation
Velay-Vallantin, Catherine. "Le roi Herla au pays de Galles: Lectures nationalistes du voyage dans l’autre monde." Marvels & Tales 25.2 (2011). Web. <https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol25/iss2/6>.
