The role of water fairies in slovenian an european folklore prose

V magistrskem delu smo raziskali vlogo vodnih vil v slovenski in evropski folklorni kratki prozi (v pravljicah, bajkah ali mitih in povedkah). Zanimalo nas je, kakšna je njihova vloga, ali obstajajo podobnosti in razlike v njihovi vlogi glede na vrsto folklorne kratke proze in glede na preučevan narod (slovenske vodne vile v primerjavi z vodnimi vilami drugih evropskih narodov) ter kakšne so njihove karakterne značilnosti in zunanja podoba glede na vlogo v kratkoproznih folklornih delih. Prav tako smo raziskovali, kateri motivi in teme se pojavljajo v obravnavanih delih. To smo preučevali na podlagi 25 folklornih zgodb, ki jih glede na kratkoprozne vrste uvrščamo k pravljicam, povedkam in bajkam. V teoretičnem izhodišču smo najprej definirali termina folklorno slovstvo in folklorno pripovedništvo. Opisali smo tudi posamezne folklorne kratkoprozne vrste, s katerimi smo se ukvarjali pri analizi (pravljica, povedka in bajka). V naslednjem poglavju smo pojasnili termine mitološka ali bajeslovna bitja, vodna in vilinska mitološka bitja, bajeslovna bitja vile ter vraževerje ljudi, povezano z vilami. Sledila je analiza izbranih besedil. Interpretacije se izmenjujejo s teoretičnimi opisi posameznih poimenovanj vodnih vil. V podpoglavjih so teoretično opisana posamezna sorodna poimenovanja, ki se pojavljajo v obravnavanih kratkoproznih delih: morska deklica, nimfa, sirena, rusalka in vodna žena. Teoretična izhodišča smo v sklepnem delu povezali z ugotovitvami iz interpretacij folklornih kratkoproznih del. Ugotovili smo, da pri slovenskih folklornih vrstah prevladuje povedka, ki se pojavi samo še v Luksemburgu, pri ostalih evropskih narodih pa prevladujejo folklorne pravljiceizjema je le Grčija, kjer prevladujejo bajke ali miti. Vodne vile imajo v obravnavanih folklornih proznih delih tako glavno kot stransko vlogo, pri čemer je nekoliko pogostejša glavna. Glede na njihove karakterne značilnosti prevladuje kombinacija pozitivnih in negativnih lastnosti. Kombinirani vlogi po pogostosti sledi pozitivna. Ugotovili smo, da so v obravnavanih folklornih vrstah najpogostejše tiste karakterne značilnosti vodnih vil, pri katerih gre za izražanje čustev, najljubše aktivnosti, dobre ali slabe odnose z ljudmi. Pri tematiki prevladuje tema ljubezni do bližnjega, pri motiviki pa motiv smrti. Najpogostejše teme in motivi se pojavljajo v različnih kratkoproznih vrstah in pri različnih narodih.In the thesis, we explored the role of water fairies in Slovenian and European short folklore prose (fairy-tales, fables or myths and narratives). We were interested in the following: what their role is, whether or not there are differences and similarities between various roles depending on the type of short folklore prose or the national origin of the examined texts (Slovenian water fairies compared to water fairies of other European nations), and what are their characteristics and physical appearance depending on the fairies’ role in the short folklore texts. We also explored the themes and motifs that appear in the examined texts. We examined all of the above based on twenty-five folklore tales, which are defined as fairy-tales, narratives and fables within the short prose genre. In the theoretical framework, we first defined the terms folklore literature and folklore storytelling. We described the individual short folklore prose types we used in our analysis (fairy-tale, narrative and fable). In the next chapter, we explained the following terms: mythological creatures, aquatic and fairy-like mythological creatures, mythological fairy and the superstitions related to fairies. An analysis of the chosen texts followed. The interpretations are interspersed with theoretical descriptions of the individual terms for water fairies. Subsections include a theoretical overview of related terms that appear in short prose works: mermaid, nymph, siren, rusalka and water maiden. In the conclusion, we linked the theoretical bases to our findings that stemmed from the interpretation of the short folklore prose works. We found that the most common type of Slovenian folklore prose is the narrative, which is also found only in Luxembourg. With other European nations, the folk fairy-tale predominatesthe only exception is Greece, where fables and myths are the most common. Water fairies assume both main and side roles, with the main role being somewhat more frequent. A combination of positive and negative traits the most frequent when discussing the fairies’ character. A positive role is the second most frequent role. We found that, in the folklore text types we analyzed, the most common traits of water fairies are those related to expressing emotions, favourite activities, good or bad relationships with people. In terms of themes, the most common is the theme of loving your fellow human, and in terms of motifs, death is the most common. The most frequent themes and motifs appear in various short prose types and in different nations