Reception of the proverb – “Wittiness defeats strength, if a man has it” – in certain Georgian folktales

Abstract

In its essence, fairytale, is universal throughout the folklore of the peoples of the world. In it are concentrated people's wisdom, experience, existential knowledge and human empirical ambition to be compatible with life. In fairytales are collected those models and traditions of behavior, that are the achievements of people as of a society "owning" unique wisdom. A fairytale teller never speaks from a subjective point of view, he is the "trumpet" of the people, therefore, claiming to speak the objective truth.

The proverb - “Wittiness  defeats strength, if a man has it” - is declared in many Georgian folktales. Instead of having and using great physical strength a folktale protagonist, often neutralizes the antagonist with wit and acumen. The main character often confronts the rough magical or physical power of negative characters of a fairytale with "cunningness" and comes out victorious.

Fairytales show the existential wisdom that a person must possess in order to survive in this world. It is a fact that the more open, kind and honest a person is, the more vulnerable he is to the surrounding world. That is why, a storyteller says that flexibility and wittiness are one of the essential qualities of a person. And the main sense of the proverb - “Wittiness  defeats strength, if a man has it” - is one of the main driving mechanisms of the basic behaviors of fairytales’ characters.

I can cite numerous examples from Georgian folktales, where flexibility, wittiness, vigilance and cunningness are discussed in a positive context. Moreover, these qualities ensure the victory, survival, livelihood, gratitude and revenge of fairytale characters.

The research method of this paper is hermeneutics and comparative analysis of the text. The following Georgian folktales are used as the main research materials: Natsarkekia, Khutkunchula, A Lad with Three Hands, Death and the Robber, The Bear and the Fox, The Fate Searcher.