William Tell - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

William Tell is a folk hero

Folk hero

A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...

of Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle.

It is set in the period of the original foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Old Swiss Confederacy

The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

in the early 14th century. According to the legend, Tell was an expert marksman with the crossbow

Crossbow

A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

who assassinated Gessler

Albrecht Gessler

Albrecht Gessler was a probably legendary Habsburg bailiff at Altdorf, whose brutal rule led to the William Tell rebellion and the eventual independence of the Swiss Confederacy....

, a tyrannical reeve

Vogt

A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

of Habsburg Austria positioned in Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

, Uri

Canton of Uri

Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...

.

Along with Arnold Winkelried, Tell is a central figure in Swiss patriotism as it was constructed during the Restoration of the Confederacy after the Napoleonic era

Napoleonic Era

The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory...

The legend

There are several accounts of the Tell legend. The earliest sources give an account of the apple-shot

Shooting an apple off one's child's head

Shooting an apple off one's child's head, also known as apple-shot is a feat of marksmanship with a bow or crossbow that occurs as a motif in a number of legends in Germanic folklore...

, Tell's escape and the ensuing rebellion. The assassination of Gessler is not mentioned in the Tellenlied, but is already present in the White Book of Sarnen account.

The legend as told by Tschudi (ca. 1570) goes as follows:
William Tell, who originally came from Bürglen

Bürglen, Uri

Bürglen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.-History:Bürglen is first mentioned in 857 as Burgilla. In 1240 it was mentioned as Burgelon.-Geography:...

, was known as an expert shot with the crossbow

Crossbow

. In his time, the Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate Uri. Albrecht (or Hermann) Gessler

Albrecht Gessler

Albrecht Gessler was a probably legendary Habsburg bailiff at Altdorf, whose brutal rule led to the William Tell rebellion and the eventual independence of the Swiss Confederacy....

, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

of Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

, raised a pole in the village's central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before the hat. When Tell passed by the hat without bowing to it, he was arrested. As punishment, he was forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son, Walter; otherwise, both would be executed. Tell was promised freedom if he successfully made the shot.
On 18 November 1307, Tell split an apple on his son's head with a bolt from his crossbow

Crossbow

. Gessler noticed that before the shot Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver, not one, and after the shot asked him why.
Tell replied that if he had killed his son, he would have used the second bolt on Gessler himself. Gessler was angered, and had Tell bound. He was brought to Gessler's ship to be taken to his castle at Küssnacht

Küssnacht

Küssnacht am Rigi is a district and municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland, consisting of three villages: Küssnacht, Immensee and Merlischachen...

.
As a storm broke on Lake Lucerne

Lake Lucerne

Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.The lake has a complicated shape, with bends and arms reaching from the city of Lucerne into the mountains. It has a total area of 114 km² , an elevation of 434 m , and a maximum depth of 214 m . Its volume is 11.8...

, the soldiers were afraid that their boat would capsize, and unbound Tell, asking him to steer. Tell made use of the opportunity to escape, leaping from the boat at the site now known as the Tellsplatte.
Tell went by land to Küssnacht, and when Gessler arrived, Tell assassinated him, shooting him with his crossbow as he passed along a narrow stretch of the road from Immensee to Küssnacht, now known as the Hohle Gasse.
Tell's defiance sparked a rebellion, in which he played a leading part. The struggle eventually led to the formation of the Swiss Confederation

Old Swiss Confederacy

The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

. He fought again against Austria in the 1315 Battle of Morgarten

Battle of Morgarten

The Battle of Morgarten occurred on November 15, 1315, when a Swiss Confederation force of 1,500 infantry archers ambushed a group of Austrian soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire near the Morgarten Pass...

. Tschudi also has an account of Tell's death in 1354 according to which he was killed trying to save a child from drowning in the Schächenbach river in Uri.

Earliest mentions (15th century)

The first reference to William Tell appears in the White Book of Sarnen
White Book of Sarnen
The White Book of Sarnen is a collection of medieval manuscripts compiled in the late 15th century by Hans Schriber in the canton of Obwalden. This volume, 258 pages in length, was given its name because of the white parchment in which it is bound...

(German: Weisses Buch von Sarnen). This volume was written in 1475 by a country scribe named Hans Schreiber. It makes mention of the Rütli oath

Rütlischwur

The Rütlischwur is a legendary oath of the Old Swiss Confederacy, taken on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne near Seelisberg. The oath is notably featured in the Wilhelm Tell drama of 1804 by Friedrich Schiller.-Early accounts:...

(German: Rütlischwur), the Burgenbruch and Tell's heroic deeds.

A roughly contemporary account of Tell is found in the Tellenlied, a song composed during the 1470s, its oldest extant manuscript copy dating to 1501.
This song begins with the Tell legend, which it presents as the origin of the Confederacy, calling Tell the "first confederate". The narrative presented includes Tell's apple-shot, his preparation of a second arrow to shoot Gessler in the event of his killing his son, and his escape, but it omits the assassination of Gessler. The text then goes on to enumerate the cantons of the Confederacy, and it was expanded with "current events" in the course of the Burgundy Wars, ending with the death of Charles the Bold in 1477.

Early Modern period

Chronicles

Further reference to William Tell is found in Petermann Etterlin

Petermann Etterlin

Petermann Etterlin was born in Lucerne as the son of Egloff Etterlin, who served as chronicler of the city of Lucerne from 1427 to 1453. Although his parents had destined him for an ecclesiastical career, Etterlin never became a clergyman...

's Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation
Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation
The Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation is the oldest printed chronicle of Switzerland.The Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation was written by Petermann Etterlin’s from Lucerne...

(German: Kronika von der loblichen Eydtgenossenschaft). Etterlin's 1507 chronicle is the earliest printed version of the Tell story.

An account of William Tell's deeds is also given in the chronicle of Melchior Russ

Melchior Russ

Melchior Russ was born of an old noble family in Lucerne.In 1473, after having studied for at least two years in Basle, Russ left the University of Basle for the University of Pavia with the intention to study law....

from Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

. This book, which its author dates to 1482, is an incoherent compilation of older writings, including the Song of the Founding of the Confederation, Conrad Justinger

Conrad Justinger

Conrad Justinger was probably born in Strasbourg. Justinger, who had learned the trade of a chronicler in his home-town, appears to have moved to the city of Bern in the last quarter of the 14th century...

's Bernese Chronicle
Bernese Chronicle
The Bernese Chronicle contains information about the early history of the city of Bern.The Bernese Chronicle was composed in 1430 by Conrad Justinger from Bern...

, and the Chronicle of the State of Bern (in German, Chronik der Stadt Bern).

The version of the legend compiled by Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi was an eminent member of the Tschudi family, of Glarus, Switzerland....

from Glarus

Glarus

Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Glarus municipality since 1 January 2011 incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern....

in his monumental Chronicon Helveticum
Chronicon Helveticum
The Chronicon Helveticum is one of the oldest accounts of the early history of the Swiss Confederation.The rough draft of the Chronicon Helveticum was written by the historian Aegidius Tschudi from Glarus in 1550...

(ca. 1570) became the major model for later writers dealing with William Tell. Not only did Tschudi's chronicle become the main source for Johannes von Müller

Johannes von Müller

Johannes von Müller was a Swiss historian.-Biography:He was born at Schaffhausen, where his father was a clergyman and rector of the gymnasium. In his youth, his maternal grandfather, Johannes Schoop , roused in him an interest in the history of his country...

's History of the Swiss Confederation (German: Geschichte Schweizerischer Eidgenossenschaft, 1780), it also served as a model for Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...

's play William Tell (1804). Tschudi is known to have manipulated documents.

Veneration

A widespread veneration of Tell, including sight-seeing excursions to the scenes of his deeds, can be ascertained for the early 16th century. Heinrich Brennwald in the early 16th century mentions the chapel (Tellskapelle) on the site of Tell's leap from his captors' boat. Tschudi mentions a "holy cottage" (heilig hüslin) built on the site of Gessler's assassination. The church of Bürglen had a bell dedicated to Tell from 1581, and a nearby chapel has a fresco dated to 1582 showing Tell's death in the Schächenbach.

William Tell can be found in a Tell play (Tellspiel), whose first performance was probably in the winter of either 1512 or 1513 in Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

. The oldest existing written version of a Tell play is known as the Urner Tellspiel
Urner Tellspiel
The Urner Tellspiel is the earliest surviving written version of a William Tel play.The debut performance of Urner Tellspiel was probably held in winter 1512/1513 in Altdorf, Switzerland .However, it cannot be precluded that the story of William Tell was already...

(The "Tell Play of Uri").

The Three Tells

The Three Tells (die Drei Tellen, also die Drei Telle) were symbolic figures of the Swiss Peasant War of 1653. They expressed the hope of the subject population to repeat the success story of the rebellion against Habsburg in the early 14th century.

By the 18th century, the Drei Tellen had become associated with a sleeping hero legend. They were said to be asleep in a cave at the Rigi

Rigi

- Mt. Rigi in Art:Mt. Rigi has been featured in many works of art, including both paintings and literary publications. Perhaps the most famous paintings of the Rigi were by JMW Turner, including "The Blue Rigi, Lake of Lucerne, Sunrise"...

. The return of Tell in times of need was already foretold in the Tellenlied of 1653 and symbolically fulfilled in the impersonation of the Three Tells by costumed individuals, in one instance culminating in an actual assassination executed by these impersonators in historical costume.

Tell during the 16th century had become closely associated and eventually merged with the Rütlischwur

Rütlischwur

legend, and the "Three Tells" represented the three conspirators or Eidgenossen Walter Fürst, Arnold von Melchtal and Werner Stauffacher

Werner Stauffacher

Werner Stauffacher was supposedly the name of the representative of the canton of Schwyz, one of the three founding cantons at the legendary Rütlischwur of 1291, as told by Aegidius Tschudi....

.

In 1653, three men dressed in historical costume representing the Three Tells appeared in Schüpfheim

Schüpfheim

Schüpfheim is a municipality in the district of Entlebuch in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is part of the UNESCO Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve since 2001.-Geography:...

. Other impersonations of the Three Tells also appeared in the Freie Ämter

Freie Ämter

The Freiamt or Freie Ämter is a region in Switzerland and is located in the southeast of Canton of Aargau. It comprises the area between the Lindenberg and Heitersberg and from the terminal moraine at Othmarsingen to Reuss river in Dietwil. Today the area of the Bremgarten and Muri Districts are...

and in the Emmental

Emmental

For the cheese made in the region, see Emmental .The Emmental is a region in west central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the Emme and Ilfis rivers. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming...

.

The first impersonators of the Three Tells were Hans Zemp, Kaspar Unternährer of Schüpfheim and Ueli Dahinden of Hasle. They appeared at a number of important peasant conferences during the war, symbolizing the continuity of the present rebellion with the resistance movement against the Habsburg overlords at the origin of the Swiss Confederacy

Old Swiss Confederacy

The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

.
Unternährer and Dahinden fled to the Entlebuch

Entlebuch

Entlebuch is a municipality in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of Entlebuch. The area has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001.-Geography:...

alps before the arrival of the troops of general Sebastian Peregrin Zwyers, Zemp escaped to the Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

.
After the suppression of the rebellion, the peasants voted for a tyrannicide

Tyrannicide

Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant, or one who has committed the act. Typically, the term is taken to mean the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good. The term "tyrannicide" does not apply to tyrants killed in battle or killed by an enemy in an armed conflict...

, directly inspired by the Tell legend, attempting to kill the Lucerne Schultheiss Ulrich Dulliker. Dahinden and Unternährer returned in their roles of Tells, joined by Hans Stadelmann replacing Zemp. In an ambush, they managed to injure Dulliker and killed a member of the Lucerne parliament, Caspar Studer. The assassination attempt, an exceptional act in the culture of the Old Swiss Confederacy, was widely recognized and welcomed among the peasant population, but its impact was not sufficient to rekindle the rebellion. Even though it did not have any direct political effect, its symbolic value was considerable, placing the Lucerne authorities in the role of the tyrant (Habsburg and Gessler) and the peasant population in that of the freedom fighters (Tell). The Three Tells after the deed went to mass, still wearing their costumes, without being molested.
Dahinden and Unternährer were eventually killed in October 1653 by Lucerne troops under Colonel Alphons von Sonnenberg.
In July 1654, Zemp betrayed his successor Stadelmann in exchange for pardon and Stadelmann was executed on 15 July 1654.

The Three Tells appear in a 1672 comedy by Johann Caspar Weissenbach.
The "sleeping hero" version of the Three Tells legend was published in Deutsche Sagen
Deutsche Sagen
Deutsche Sagen is a publication by the Brothers Grimm, appearing in two volumes in 1816 and 1818.The collection includes 585 German legends.Deutsche Sagen followed the publication of Kinder- und Hausmärchen...

by the Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

in 1816 (no. 298).

Reception 1789–1945

Throughout the long nineteenth century, and into the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

period, Tell was perceived as a symbol of rebellion against tyranny both in Switzerland and in Europe.

Antoine-Marin Lemierre

Antoine-Marin Lemierre was a French dramatist and poet.He was born in Paris, into a poor family, butfound a patron in the collector-general of taxes, Dupin, whose secretary he became. Lemierre gained his first success on the stage with Hypermnestre ; Titre and Idomne failed on account of the...

wrote a play inspired by Tell in 1766 and revived it in 1786. The success of this work established the association of Tell as a fighter against tyranny with the history of the French revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

The French revolutionary fascination with Tell was reflected in Switzerland with the establishment of the Helvetic Republic

Helvetic Republic

In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...

. Tell became, as it were, the mascot of the short-lived republic, his figure being featured on its official seal. The French Navy also had a Tonnant class

Tonnant class ship of the line

The Tonnant Class was a class of eight 80-gun ships of the line designed in 1787 by Jacques-Noël Sané. From 1802 a new group was begun of slightly modified design, of which more than 24 were begun....

ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

named Guillaume Tell, which was captured by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

in 1800.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

learned of the Tell saga during his travels through Switzerland between 1775 and 1795. He obtained a copy of Tschudi's chronicles and considered writing a play about Tell, but ultimately, gave the idea to his friend Friedrich von Schiller, who in 1803–04 wrote the play Wilhelm Tell, first performed on March 17, 1804 in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

. Schiller's Tell is heavily inspired by the political events of the late 18th century, the French and American revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

s, in particular. Schiller's play was performed at Interlaken

Interlaken

Interlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...

(the Tellspiele) in the summers of 1912 to 1914, 1931 to 1939 and every year since 1947. In 2004 it was first performed in Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

itself.

Gioachino Rossini used Schiller's play as the basis for his 1829 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

William Tell
William Tell (opera)
Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...

. The William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...

is one of his best-known and most frequently imitated pieces of music; in the 20th Century, the "coda" of the Overture became the theme for the radio, television, and motion picture incarnations of The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....

, a fictional Western hero.

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...

, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

, was inspired by Tell. Lamenting the negative reaction to his action, Booth wrote in his journal on April 21, 1865 "with every man's hand against me, I am here in despair. And why; For doing what Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...

was honored for and what made Tell a Hero. And yet I for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew am looked upon as a common cutthroat."

Following a national competition, won by Richard Kissling

Richard Kissling

Richard Kissling was a Swiss sculptor.Born in Wolfwil, Switzerland, Kissling went through apprenticeship as a plasterer before moving to Rome for 13 years, studying under the sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth. At the 1883 National Exhibition in Zurich, Kissling showed a portrait bust of the Swiss...

, Altdorf in 1895 erected a monument to its hero. Kissling casts Tell as a peasant and man of the mountains, with strong features and muscular limbs. His powerful hand rests lovingly on the shoulder of little Walter, but the apple is not shown. The depiction is in marked contrast with that used by the Helvetic Republic, where Tell is shown as a landsknecht

Landsknecht

Landsknechte were European, predominantly German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern Europe.-Etymology:The term is from German, Land "land, country" + Knecht...

rather than a peasant, with a sword at his belt and a feathered hat, bending down to pick up his son who is still holding the apple.

The first film about Tell was made by French director Charles Pathé

Charles Pathé

Charles Pathé was a major French pioneer of the film and recording industries.The son of a butcher shop owner, Charles Pathé was born at Chevry-Cossigny, in the Seine-et-Marne département of France. In 1894, together with his brother Émile, he formed Pathé Records...

in 1900; only a short fragment survives.
A version of the legend was retold in P.G. Wodehouse's William Tell Told Again
William Tell Told Again
William Tell Told Again is a retelling of the William Tell legend in prose and verse, with illustrations. The main, prose element was written by P. G. Wodehouse, while Philip Dadd supplied the frontispiece and 15 full-page illustrations, all in colour. The 15 illustrations were accompanied by...

(1904), written in prose and verse with characteristic Wodehousian flair.

The design of the Federal 5 francs coin

Swiss franc

The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

issued from 1922 features the bust of a generic "mountain shepherd" designed by Paul Burkard, but due to a similarity of the bust with Kissling's statue, in spite of the missing beard, it was immediately widely identified as Tell.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

was enthusiastic about Schiller's play, quoting it in his Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...

, and approving of a German/Swiss co-production of the play in which Hermann Göring

Göring

- People :* Albert Göring, a German businessman, brother of Hermann Göring* Carin Göring, first wife of Hermann Göring* Carl Göring, German master of chess and philosopher* Emmy Göring, German actress and second wife of Hermann Göring...

's mistress Emmy Sonnemann

Emmy Sonnemann

Emma Johanna Henny "Emmy" Göring was a German actress and the second wife of Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief Hermann Göring...

appeared as Tell's wife. But on June 3, 1941, Hitler had the play banned. The reason for the ban is not known, but may been related to the failed assassination attempt in 1938 by young Swiss Maurice Bavaud

Maurice Bavaud

Maurice Bavaud was a Roman Catholic Swiss citizen who in 1938 attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler.-Background:...

(executed on May 14, 1941, and later dubbed "a new William Tell" by Rolf Hochhuth

Rolf Hochhuth

Rolf Hochhuth is a German author and playwright. He is best known for his 1963 drama The Deputy and remains a controversial figure for his plays and other public comments, such as his insinuation of Pope Pius XII's sympathies for Hitler's extermination of the Jews in the 1963 play The Deputy and...

), or the subversive nature of the play. Hitler is reported to have exclaimed at a banquet in 1942: "Why did Schiller have to immortalize that Swiss sniper!"

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

painted The Old Age of William Tell and William Tell and Gradiva in 1931, and The Enigma of William Tell in 1933.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

parodies William Tell in his famous 1928 silent movie The Circus (film).

Reception after 1945

Max Frisch

Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...

in his "William Tell for Schools" deconstructed the legend, portraying the bailiff as a well-meaning administrator suffering from being placed in a barbaric back-corner of the empire, while Tell is a simpleton who stumbles into his adventure by a series of misunderstandings.

Spanish playwright Alfonso Sastre

Alfonso Sastre

Alfonso Sastre is a Spanish playwright, essayist, and critic. He was an outspoken critic of censorship during the reign of General Francisco Franco...

re-worked the legend in 1955 in his "Guillermo Tell tiene los ojos tristes" (William Tell has sad eyes); it was not performed until the Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

regime in Spain ended.

William Tell lives on as a hero in popular culture. He is still a powerful identification figure, and according to a 2004 survey, 60% of the Swiss believe that he existed.

Historicity debate

François Guillimann, a statesman of Fribourg

Fribourg

Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...

and later historian and advisor of the Habsburg Emperor Rudolph II, wrote to Melchior Goldast

Melchior Goldast

Melchior Goldast ab Haiminsfeld was a Swiss writer and an industrious though uncritical collector of documents relating to the medieval history and constitution of Germany....

in 1607: "I followed popular belief by reporting certain details in my Swiss antiquities [published in 1598], but when I examine them closely the whole story seems to me to be pure fable."

In 1760, Simeon Uriel Freudenberger from Luzern anonymously published a tract arguing that the legend of Tell in all likelihood was based on the Danish saga of Palnatoki. A French edition of his book, written by Gottlieb Emmanuel von Haller (Guillaume Tell, Fable danoise), was burnt in Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

.

The skeptical view of Tell's existence remained very unpopular. Friedrich von Schiller used Tschudi's version as the basis for his play Wilhelm Tell
Wilhelm Tell (play)
William Tell is a drama written by Friedrich Schiller in 1804. The story focuses on the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell as well as on the Swiss struggle for independence from the Habsburg Empire in the early 14th century...

in 1804, interpreting Tell as a glorified patriot assassin. This interpretation became very popular, especially in Switzerland, where the Tell figure was used in the early 19th century as a "national hero" and identification figure in the Helvetic Republic

Helvetic Republic

, and later in the beginnings of the Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft
Switzerland as a federal state
The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on September 12, 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution, which was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg...

, the modern democratic federal state that developed. When historian Joseph Eutych Kopp dared to question the legend in the 1830s, his effigy

Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

was burnt on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne

Lake Lucerne

where—according to the legend—the oath was sworn that concluded the alliance between the founding cantons of the Swiss confederacy.

Historians continued to argue over the saga until well into the 20th century. In 1891 Wilhelm Öchsli published a scientific account of the founding of the confederacy (commissioned by the government for the celebration of the first National holiday

National Day

The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called "National Day"...

of Switzerland on August 1, 1891), dismissing the story as fiction. Still, 50 years later in 1941, when Tell had again become a national identification figure, historian Karl Meyer tried to tie the saga's events to known places and events. Modern historians generally regard the saga to be fiction, since neither Tell's nor Gessler's existence can be proven. The legend also tells of a Burgenbruch, a coordinated uprising including the slighting

Slighting

A slighting is the deliberate destruction, partial or complete, of a fortification without opposition. During the English Civil War this was to render it unusable as a fort.-Middle Ages:...

of many forts; however, archeological evidence shows that many of these forts were abandoned and destroyed long before 1307–1308.

A possible historical basis of the legend was suggested by Arnold Schärer in 1986. He identified a Wilhelm Gorkeit of Tellikon (modern Dällikon

Dällikon

Dällikon is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-History:Dällikon is first mentioned in 870 as Tellinghovon.In 1843 the village of Dänikon left Dällikon to become an independent municipality.-Geography:...

in the Canton of Zurich

Canton of Zürich

The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...

) as the real William Tell. "Gorkeit", he claimed, was a version of the surname Armbruster (crossbow

Crossbow

maker). Historians were not convinced, but the theory was once referred to by Rudolf Keller, at the time president of the nationalistic right Swiss Democrats

Swiss Democrats

The Swiss Democrats are a right-wing political party in Switzerland.The party is not represented in the Federal Assembly, but has two members of the Grand Council of Aargau....

on 1 August 2004 in Basel.

Comparative mythology

The Tell legend has been compared to a number of other myths or legends, specifically in Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, involving a magical marksman coming to the aid of a suppressed people under the sway of a tyrant.
The story of a great hero successfully shooting an apple from his child's head is an archetype

Archetype

An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...

present in the story of Egil

Egil

-People:*Agilaz, a legendary archer of Germanic mythology and a brother of Völund.*Egil, a character in the poem Hymiskvida.*Egill Örn Egilsson, also known as Eagle Egilsson, Icelandic director and cinematographer....

in the Thidreks saga (associated with the god Ullr

Ullr

In early Germanic paganism, *Wulþuz appears to have been a major god, or an epithet of an important god, in prehistoric times....

in Eddaic tradition) as well as in the stories of Adam Bell

Adam Bell

Adam Bell was a legendary English outlaw.He and his companions William of Cloudsley and Clym of the Clough lived in Inglewood Forest near Carlisle and were figures similar to Robin Hood...

from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Palnatoki from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

and a story from Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

.

Such parallels were pointed out as early as 1760 by Gottlieb Emmanuel von Haller and the pastor Simeon Uriel Freudenberger in a short leaflet with the title William Tell, a Danish Fable (German: Der Wilhelm Tell, ein dänisches Mährgen).

Rochholz (1877) connects the similarity of the Tell legend to the stories of Egil and Palnatoki with the legends of a migration from Sweden to Switzerland during the Middle Ages. He also adduces parallels in folktales among the Finns and the Lapps (Sami). From pre-Christian Norse mythology, Rochholz compares Ullr

Ullr

In early Germanic paganism, *Wulþuz appears to have been a major god, or an epithet of an important god, in prehistoric times....

, who bears the epithet of Boga-As ("bow-god"), Heimdall

Heimdall

In Norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers...

and also Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

himself, who according to the Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...

(Book 1, chapter 8.16) assisted Haddingus by shooting ten bolts from a crossbow in one shot, killing as many foes. Rochholz further compares Indo-European and oriental traditions and concludes (pp. 35–41) that the legend of the master marksman shooting an apple (or similar small target) was known outside the Germanic sphere (Germany, Scandinavia, England) and the adjacent regions (Finland and the Baltic) in India, Arabia, Persia and the Balkans (Serbia).

The Danish

Denmark

legend of Palnatoki, first attested in the twelfth-century Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...

by Saxo Grammaticus

Saxo Grammaticus

Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...

. is the earliest known parallel to the Tell legend. As with William Tell, Palnatoki is forced by the ruler, (in this case King Harald Bluetooth

Harald I of Denmark

Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. He died in 985 or 986 having ruled as King of Denmark from around 958 and King of Norway for a few years probably around 970...

) to shoot an apple off his son's head as proof of his marksmanship. A striking similarity between William Tell and Palnatoki is that both heroes take more than one arrow out of their quiver. When asked why he pulled several arrows out of his quiver, Palnatoki, too, replies that if he had struck his son with the first arrow, he would have shot King Harald with the remaining two arrows.

External links

Wilhelm Tell Festival, New Glarus
William Tell, Swissinfo special
The Legend of William Tell by Markus Jud.
The birth of the Swiss Confederation.
William Tell is a lie; "Coopzeitung" 28/2004, interview with historian Sablonier, Zurich, translated
Translation of Grimm's Saga No. 298 "The Three Tells"

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

The legend

Earliest mentions (15th century)

Early Modern period

Chronicles

Veneration

The Three Tells

Reception 1789–1945

Reception after 1945

Historicity debate

Comparative mythology

See also

External links