A Molbo story is a Danish folktale of the "

town of fools A town of fools is the base of a number of joke cycles found in various cultures. Jokes of these cycles poke fun at the stupidity of the inhabitants of a real or fictional populated place (village, town, region, etc.). In English folklore the bes ...

" type about the people of

Mols Mols is a small Danish gathering of hilly peninsulas in the southern part of the larger peninsula of Djursland on the east coast of Jutland. The largest peninsulas of Mols comprise Skødshoved to the west, and Helgenæs to the east. Mols' ...

, who live in eastern

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

near the town of

Ebeltoft Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,287 (1 January 2025).Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

before finally appearing in print. Christian Elovius Mangor, who by permission of the Danish monarch

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. He was affected by mental illness and was only nominally king for most of his reign. His roya ...

had started a printing press in Viborg, published the first collection, ''Tales of the well-known Molboes' wise and brave actions'', in 1771. A second edition followed in 1780. Over the years Molbo stories have been published in books for adults and children in several languages, including Danish, Norwegian and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. Similar narratives are found in other cultures.

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, for instance, has "Lazy Jack" and "The Wise Men of Gotham." In

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

there are stories about the people of Hölmölä (Hölmöläiset). In 1898 the operetta ''"Molboerne"'' (The People of Mols) by composer and lyricist Herman Petersen premiered in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The work not only had a memorable score but also references to Molbo stories, such as " The Stork in the Grain Field" and "The Mixed Legs".

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, which for nearly three centuries was part of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway, received many cultural influences from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Consequently, Molbo stories are known in both

and

, and the word “Molbo” is used in both countries as a term of disparagement. The expression "Molbo politics" is prohibited when speaking from the rostrum in Norway's parliament.

The Stork in the Grain Field

From ''Tales of the well-known Molboes' wise and brave actions'', 1771

One summer, when the grain was high in the field, the Molbo people had been visited by a stork. It had acquired the nasty habit of strutting back and forth on their fields to catch frogs. And it was bad news, because the Molbo people were very afraid that it would trample all the grain down on the field. They talked together for a long time back and forth about,... how to chase it away. In the end, they agreed that the shepherd should go into the field and drive the stork out. But just as he stood and was about to enter the grain, they discovered that he had such big and wide feet, and then they were afraid that he would step on more grain than the stork. There they stood - . Finally one of them got a good idea! He suggested that the shepherd should be carried into the field, then he could not tread down the grain. They all thought that was good advice. So they lifted the field gate and set the shepherd on it; ... and then eight men carried him into the corn, so that he could chase the stork out. That way, the shepherd did not trample down traces in the grain field with his big feet.

The

Wise Men of Chelm The Wise Men of Chelm () are foolish Jewish residents of the Polish city of Chełm, a butt of Jewish humor, similar to other towns of fools: the English Wise Men of Gotham, German Schildbürger, Greek residents of Abdera, or Finnish residents of ...

used a similar trick to prevent the city '' shammes'' to trample the beautiful, fresh snow in the early morning. The ''

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature The ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' is a six volume catalogue of motifs, granular elements of folklore, composed by American folklorist Stith Thompson (1932–1936, revised and expanded 1955–1958). Often referred to as Thompson's motif-index ...

'' includes the motif J2100: Remedies worse than the disease

The Headless Man

:The Molboes have a long way to the forest so they must rise early to collect wood. One morning some of them drove to the forest to bring home a tree they had bought. But on the way the one who drove first happened to lose his axe, and when the others saw that, they thought he threw it away on purpose, so they threw away their axes as well. Now, as they stood in the forest, they had nothing with which to chop, they didn't know what to do at all, and they certainly didn't want to come home empty-handed. Finally one of them had the brilliant idea to pull the tree down; but as they hadn't brought a rope, one of them had to climb the tree and lay his head in the cleavage between two branches then the others were to pull his legs until the tree yielded. Very well, they pulled and they pulled, and eventually they all fell backwards, including the chap they had been pulling, only he had no head. This they couldn't fathom, they went searching and searching, but no, they didn't find the head, because it was stuck in the tree. Well, that couldn't be helped, now it was time to return home. And so they laid the headless man in the wagon and took him home to his wife and asked if she was sure that her husband had brought his head when he left home this morning. "I can't remember that right now!", said the wife; but then she thought for a while: "Oh yes, he did bring his head!" she said. "He ate cabbage with it this morning before he left."''A priceless Molbo-story'' by Ariane Schjelderup and Øyvind Olsholt
''buf.no''. Retrieved: May 25, 2014. A similar story is known for the dwellers of

Fünsing Fünsing is a fictional German " village of fools". The 19th-century ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' by the Brothers Grimm defines the word Fünsinger as a silly person, a simpleton whose actions provoke laughter; Latin: ''baburnus'', '' stultus'', and c ...

Notes

References

External links

Molbohistorier 01The Molbo ColumnHayseeds And BumpkinsThe Molboes and the Hen
;Book
''Molbo- og aggerbohistorier''
;Images
Old Stories From DenmarkThose Foolish Molboes
;Streaming audio
''Serenade af Molboerne''
;Videos
''Serenade af Molboerne''''Potpourri af Molboerne''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molbo Story Danish humour Danish folklore Joke cycles Short story types Archetypal fools Towns of fools

The Stork in the Grain Field

The Headless Man

See also

Notes

References

External links