View source for Till Eulenspiegel

{{Short description|Fictional character from German folklore}}
{{other uses|Eulenspiegel (disambiguation){{!}}Eulenspiegel}}
[[File:Dyl Ulenspiegel.jpg|thumb|The prankster Till Eulenspiegel, depicted with ''owl'' and ''mirror'' (title page of the [[Strasbourg]] edition of 1515)]]
[[File:KneitlingenEulenspiegeldenkmal.jpg|thumb|Eulenspiegel Memorial in Kneitlingen]]
'''Till Eulenspiegel''' ({{IPA|de|tɪl ˈʔɔʏlənˌʃpiːɡəl}}; {{langx|nds|Dyl Ulenspegel}} {{IPA|nds|dɪl ˈʔuːlnˌspeɪɡl̩|}}) is the protagonist of a European narrative tradition. A German [[chapbook]] published around 1510 is the oldest known extant publication about the [[folk hero]] (a first edition of {{circa|1510/12}} is preserved fragmentarily), but a background in earlier [[Middle Low German]] [[German folklore|folklore]] is likely. The character may have been based on a historical person.

Eulenspiegel is a native of the [[Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg]] whose [[Picaresque novel|picaresque]] career takes him to many places throughout the  [[Holy Roman Empire]]. 
He plays [[trickster|practical jokes]] on his contemporaries, at every turn exposing vices. His life is set in the first half of the 14th century, and the final chapters of the chapbook describe his death from the [[Black Death|plague of 1350]].

Eulenspiegel's surname translates to "owl-mirror"; and the frontispiece of the 1515 chapbook, as well as his alleged tombstone in [[Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein]], render it as a [[rebus]] comprising an [[owl]] and a hand [[mirror]]. It has been suggested that the name is in fact a pun on a [[Low German]] phrase that translates as "wipe-arse".<ref name=wipe-arse>From the Middle Low German verb ''ulen'' ("to wipe") and ''spegel'' ("mirror"), the latter term being used in the meaning of "buttocks, behind" (used in [[medieval hunting|hunting]] jargon of the bright tail area of [[fallow deer]]); ''ul'n spegel'' would then be the imperative, "Wipe the arse!". Paul Oppenheimer, "Introduction", in ''Till Eulenspiegel: His Adventures'', Routledge, 1991, p. LXIII. See also "[[Swabian salute]]".</ref>

Modern retellings of the Eulenspiegel story have been published since the latter 19th century. ''[[The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak]]'', by [[Charles De Coster]] (1867), transfers the character to the period of the [[Reformation]] and the [[Dutch Revolt]]; the novel's ''Ulenspiegel'' (in modern [[Dutch language|Dutch]], ''Tijl Uilenspiegel'') was adopted as a symbol by the [[Flemish Movement]].

== Origin and historicity ==
[[File:KneitlingenBlickVonSüden.jpg|thumb|Kneitlingen, the place of birth of Till Eulenspiegel]]
According to the chapbook, Eulenspiegel was born in [[Kneitlingen]] in [[Lower Saxony]] near [[Braunschweig|Brunswick]] around 1300. As a vagrant (''Landfahrer''), he travelled through the [[Holy Roman Empire]], especially [[Northern Germany]], but also the [[Low Countries]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], and [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Italy]]. 
He is said to have died in [[Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein]], near [[Lübeck]] and [[Hamburg]], of the [[Black Death]] in 1350.

The first known chapbook on Eulenspiegel was printed in {{circa|1510}}–1512 in Strasbourg.  It is  reasonable to place the folkloristic origins of the tradition in the 15th century, although, in spite of suggestions to the effect "that the name 'Eulenspiegel' was used in tales of rogues and liars in Lower Saxony as early as 1400",<ref name=Michaelis>Ruth Michaelis-Jena, "Eulenspiegel and Münchhausen: Two German Folk Heroes", ''Folklore'' '''97'''.1 (1986:101–108) p. 102.</ref> 15th-century references to a Till Eulenspiegel  turn out to be surprisingly elusive.<ref name=Oppenheimer /> 
The text of the first extant edition, printed by [[Johannes Grüninger]], is in the [[High German]] language. 
There has been a debate surrounding the possible existence of an older [[Low German]] edition, now lost.
This version has been attributed to [[Hans Dorn]], the only known printer active in Brunswick at the beginning of the 16th century (active from at least 1502). Sodmann (1980) in support of this hypothesis adduced the woodcut of a fool on horseback holding a hand mirror used by Dorn in later prints, as the title illustration of his ''[[Liber Vagatorum]]'' and ''Grobianus'', which may originally have served as the title illustration of the lost Eulenspiegel edition.<ref>Hill-Zenk (2011:[https://books.google.com/books?id=4ONYUr8yfqIC&pg=PA331 331f.]</ref>

There are several suggestions as to the author of the 1510 chapbook, none of which has gained mainstream acceptance. 
Candidates include [[Thomas Murner]],<ref>Authorship was first attributed to Murner by Lappenberg (1854) and was long taken for granted, but is "no longer taken seriously" (Oppenheimer 1991:xxviii).</ref> [[Hermann Bote]],  [[Hieronymus Brunschwig]], or an author collective surrounding [[Johannes Grüninger]], including Thomas Murner,  [[Johannes Adelphus]], [[Tilemann Conradi]] and [[Hermannus Buschius]].<ref>Jürgen Schulz-Grobert, ''Das Straßburger Eulenspiegelbuch'', Niemeyer, Tübingen (1999).
Authorship of Bote was suggested due to the [[acrostic]] ''ERMAN B'' being formed by the initials of chapters 90 to 95. In support of Bote being the author: Siegfried H. Sichtermann, '' Die Wandlungen des Till Eulenspiegel'' (1982). Schulz-Grobert argues against Bote's authorship, assuming that the acrostic, if genuine, more likely refers to Buschius.</ref>
The author of the 1515 edition in a short preface identifies himself only as "N". He gives the year 1500 as the date when he originally began to collect the tales, stressing the difficulty of the project and how he wanted to abandon it several times, saying that he is now publishing it after all to "lighten the mood in hard times". The preface also announces the inclusion of material from [[Pfaff Amis]] and [[Pfaff vom Kahlenberg]], but no such material is present in the 1515 edition.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ein_kurtzweilig_lesen_von_Dyl_Vlenspiegel.djvu&page=3 fol 2r.]: ''Als man zalt von Crist geburt. M.ccccc. bin ich, N, durch etlich personen gebetten worden, dz ich dise hystorien und geschichten in zu lieb sol zesammen bringen [...]'' 
"In the year 1500 counted from the birth of Christ, I, N., have been asked by several persons that I should collect these stories and tales to please them [...]"</ref>

[[File:Vlenspiegel 1515 259.jpg|thumb|upright|Owl-and-mirror rebus from the depiction of Eulenspiegel's tombstone and epitaph in the 1515 edition (fol. 130)<ref>The epitaph is given as ''Dissen stein sol niemans erhaben / Ulenspiegel stat hie begraben.'' "Let no-one lift this stone / Eulenspiegel stands buried here". Eulenspiegel "stands" rather than lies in his grave due to a mishap during his burial described in the final story of the book.</ref>]]
The literal translation of the High German name "Eulenspiegel" is "owl-mirror" (hence ''owle-glasse''). It is both innocuous and indicative of his character and has been explained as a garbled form of an expression for "wipe-the-arse".<ref name=wipe-arse/>

Many of Till's  pranks are [[Scatology|scatological]] in nature, and involve tricking people into touching, smelling, or even eating Till's excrement.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bauer |first=Ingrid |title=Till Eulenspiegel |url=http://german.about.com/od/literature/a/Till-Eulenspiegel.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112055355/http://german.about.com/od/literature/a/Till-Eulenspiegel.htm |archive-date=12 November 2010 |access-date=29 June 2023 |website=[[About.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Ashliman |editor-first=D. L. |editor-link=D. L. Ashliman |title=How Till Eulenspiegel Became a Furrier's Apprentice. Till Eulenspiegel and the Innkeeper at Cologne |url=https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/fart.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825233730/https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/fart.html |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |website=Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts}}</ref>
Scatological stories abound, beginning with Till's early childhood (in which he rides behind his father and exposes his rear-end to the townspeople) and persisting until his death bed (where he tricks a priest into soiling his hands with feces).<ref name=Oppenheimer />

In modern scholarship, there have been some attempts to find evidence for the historicity of Till Eulenspiegel's person. 
Hucker (1980) mentions that according to a contemporary legal register of the city of Brunswick one ''Till van Cletlinge'' ("Till from/of Kneitlingen") was incarcerated there in the year 1339, along with four of his accomplices, for highway robbery.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ulrich Hucker|first=Bernd Ulrich|title=Till Eulenspiegel: Beiträge zur Forschung und Katalog der Ausstellung vom 6. Oktober 1980 bis 30. Januar 1981|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VpltHAAACAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Stadtarchiv und Stadtbibliothek}}</ref>

[[File:Till Eulenspiegel-Gedenkstein (Eulenspiegel-Grab) in Mölln.JPG|thumb|upright|Upper half of "Eulenspiegel's tombstone" in [[Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein]]]]
In [[Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein|Mölln]], the reported site of Eulenspiegel's death and burial in the plague year of 1350, a memorial stone was commissioned by the town council in 1544, now on display in an alcove on the outside wall of the tower of St. Nicolai church. The stone is inscribed in Low German, as follows:
{{verse translation|lang=de
|Anno 1350 is dusse / steen upgehaven und / Tyle ulen spegel lenet / hier under begraven. / Marcket wol und / dencket dran. wat / ick gwest si up eren. / All de hir vor aver / gan. moten mi / glick weren.
|This stone was carved in 1350, and Tyl Ulenspegel lies buried underneath. Note well and remember what I have been on Earth.  All those who pass here will become as I am now.}}

The inscription (including the date of 1350) was allegedly copied from an older tombstone, now lost. This older tombstone is referred to in the chapbook of 1515, and it is mentioned as still being extant in 1536.<ref>[https://www.moelln-tourismus.de/a-eulenspiegel-gedenkstein moelln-tourismus.de]</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=March 2018}}
The 1544 stone is mentioned by  [[Fynes Moryson]] in his ''Itinerary'' of 1591.
Moryson also reports that in his time, the citizens of Mölln held a yearly festival in Eulenspiegel's honour, on which occasion they would present the clothes worn by Eulenspiegel when he died.<ref>John A. Walz, "Fynes Moryson and the Tomb of Till Eulenspiegel" ''Modern Language Notes'' '''42'''.7 (November 1927:465–466) p 465; Walz quotes Moryson's description of "a famous Jester Oulenspiegell (whom we call Owlyglasse)": "the towns-men yeerly<!--yeerly in original--> keepe a feast for his memory, and yet show the apparell he was wont to weare." 
The earliest reference to the gravestone is of the mid-sixteenth century, in [[Reimar Kock]]'s  ''Lübscher Chronik'' (1550). By the 17th century it was noted as "often renewed".{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}</ref>

== Chapbook tradition ==
[[File:Nuremberg Euelenspiegel.png|thumb|Woodcut for the 32nd chapter in the 1515 edition: Eulenspiegel is pursued by Nuremberg guards, he leads them across a broken bridge and they fall into the moat.]]
The two earliest printed editions, in [[Early New High German]], were printed by [[Johann Grüninger|Johannes Grüninger]] in [[Strasbourg]]. The first edition was unknown before sixteen folia of printing proofs  
were discovered in 1971 in the binding of a Latin edition of [[Reynard]].
Peter Honegger dated these pages to 1510/11 based on the type used,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Honegger|first=Peter|title=Ulenspiegel—ein Beitrag zur Druckgeschichte und zur Verfasserfrage|publisher=Wachholtz|year=1973|isbn=9783529044083|location=Neumünster|language=de}}</ref> but this date has since been called into question. 
Only a single specimen of the first edition has been preserved, discovered in 1975.<ref>Paul Ulrich Hucker {{year needed|date=March 2018}}, see Paul Oppenheimer, ''Till Eulenspiegel: His Adventures'' (1991), Introduction, p. xxix.</ref> Thirty folia are missing, including the title page. 
A previous owner has replaced the missing pages by pages torn from an Eulenspiegel edition of c. 1700.
It was most likely  published in 1512. The sixteen folia discovered by Honegger are likely printing proofs for this edition.
It  consists of 100 folia with 66 woodcuts of high quality.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The 1515 edition was also printed by Grüninger in Strasbourg. Its full title reads:
{{verse translation|lang=de
|Ein kurtzweilig Lesen von Dyl Ulenspiegel, geboren uß dem Land zu Brunßwick, wie er sein leben volbracht hatt, xcvi seiner geschichten.
|A diverting read of ''Dyl Ulenspiegel'', born in the land of Brunswick, how he spent his life; 96 of his stories.}}

The text is divided into 95 chapters (numbered to 96 as chapter number 42 is missing).
The 1515 edition is decidedly inferior, missing many of the illustrations of the older edition, and showing signs of careless copying of the text.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}
It is uncertain how many of these chapters were present in the earlier edition of 1510/12, although some of the chapters appear to be later additions. The initials of the final six chapters form the "acrostic" ''ERMANB'', which has been taken as a hidden reference to the book's author.
The first  chapters are dedicated to Till's childhood. In chapter nine, Till leaves his mother and begins his life as a vagrant. He takes up diverse occupations, but each chapter ends with his moving on to another place.
The final seven chapters are dedicated to his death and burial.

In the chapbooks, Eulenspiegel is presented as a [[trickster]] who plays practical jokes on his contemporaries, exposing vices at every turn, greed and folly, hypocrisy and foolishness. As Peter Carels notes, "The fulcrum of his wit in a large number of the tales is his literal interpretation of figurative language."<ref name=Carels>Peter E. Carels, "Eulenspiegel and Company Visit the Eighteenth Century" ''Modern Language Studies'' '''10'''.3 (Autumn 1980:3–11) p. 3.</ref> (Previously, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] made a similar observation.<ref>Quoted in Paul Oppenheimer's introduction to ''Till Eulenspiegel:His Adventures'', paperback published by Oxford University Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-19-282343-4}}, page xxii.  "''Eulenspiegel: alle Hauptspässe des Buches beruhen darauf, dass alle Menschen figürlich sprechen und Eulenspiegel es eigenlich nimmt''" ("Eulenspiegel: all the chief jests of the book depend on this: that everybody speaks figuratively and Eulenspiegel takes it literally.")</ref>) Although craftsmen are featured as the principal victims of his pranks, neither the nobility nor the pope is exempt from being affected by him.

A third Strasbourg edition, of 1519, is better yet and is usually used in modern editions to provide the sections that are missing in the surviving 1510/12 copy.<ref name=Oppenheimer>Paul Oppenheimer, ''Till Eulenspiegel: His Adventures'' (1991){{page needed|date=March 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Frontispiece of Ulenspieghel (c. 1519) at Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten.jpg|thumb|Frontispiece of first Dutch language Ulenspieghel, printed by Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten, 1525–1546]]

The 'Antwerp group' of Eulenspiegel editions comprises a number of Flemish, French and English publications.  The dating of these publications is still an issue of contention.  The Antwerp printer [[Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten]] is believed to have printed the first Dutch-language version of the Till Eulenspiegel story.  In the past, the Hillen edition was dated to 1512 or 1519, but recent scholarship places it in the period between 1525 and 1546. Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten appears to have used for his translation a German text, in manuscript or printed, that is now lost, which antedated the Grüninger edition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vervliet |first1=H. D. L. Vervliet |author1-link=Hendrik Vervliet |title=The earliest Dutch edition of Till Eulenspiegel A problem of dating |journal=Quaerendo |date=1973 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=20–22 |doi=10.1163/157006973X00110}}</ref> [[Jan van Doesborch]] is believed to have printed the first English translation in Antwerp possibly as early as 1520. In this edition the name ''Ulenspiegel'' is rendered ''Howleglas'' (as it were "owl-glass"). Later English editions, derived from the Antwerp group, were printed by [[William Copland]] in London, in 1547 and 1568.<ref>Hill-Zenk (2011:[https://books.google.com/books?id=4ONYUr8yfqIC&pg=PA2 2])</ref>

''Owleglasse'' is mentioned in [[Henry Porter (playwright)|Henry Porter]]'s  ''The Two Angry Women of Abington'' (1599) and again in [[Ben Jonson]]'s  comedic play ''[[The Alchemist (play)|The Alchemist]]'' (1610).

The first modern edition of the chapbook of 1519 is by Lappenberg (1854). Lappenberg was not yet aware of the existence of the 1515 edition.
The 1515 and 1519 editions were  published in facsimile by Insel-Ferlag in 1911 and 1979, respectively.
An English translation by Paul Oppenheimer was published in 1972.<ref>
''A Pleasant Vintage of Till, Eulenspiegel'' (Wesleyan University Press) 1972, with introduction and critical apparatus; Oppenheimer, ''Till Eulenspiegel: His Adventures'' was published in the Garland Library of Medieval Literature, 1991.</ref>

Editions of Eulenspiegel in German, Dutch, Flemish, French and English remained popular throughout the early modern period. By the late 17th century, Eulenspiegel and his pranks had become proverbial, with the French adjective ''espiègle'' "impish, mischievous" derived from his name.<ref>''Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé'' reports attestation of the adjective in 1690.</ref> The German noun ''Eulenspiegelei'' (as it were "owlglassery") is recorded in the early 19th century.<ref>The plural ''Eulenspiegeleien'' used by [[Goethe]] in 1826: H. G. Gräf (ed.), ''Goethe über seine Dichtungen'' (1903),  [https://archive.org/stream/goeberseinedich11grgoog#page/n69/mode/2up p. 41].</ref>

== Modern reception ==
[[File:Snakerijen van Tijl Uilenspiegel - PPN 865134189 - Image 1.jpeg|thumb|''[[:c:Category:Snakerijen van Tijl Uilenspiegel|Snakerijen van Tijl Uilenspiegel]]'' (Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel), Dutch children's picture book, {{circa|1873}}]]
[[File:EULENSP1.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Till Eulenspiegel fountain in [[Mölln]] (1951)]]

=== Literature ===
Hans Sachs (1494-1576) the renowned Meistersinger of Nuremberg drew material from the ''Volksbuch'' for 46 of his comic tales (''Schwänke'') and Carnival plays ''(Fastnachtspiele''). Thirty of the ''Schwänke'' were set to Meistersinger melodies ''(töne''). Fellow Nuremberger Jacob Ayrer (1544-1605) also produced an Eulenspiegel Carnival play.

In the eighteenth century, German satirists adopted episodes for social satire, and in the nineteenth and early twentieth century versions of the tales were [[bowdlerize]]d to render them fit for children, who had come to be considered their chief natural audience, by expurgating their many scatological references.<ref name=Carels />

''[[The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak]]'', an 1867 novel by Belgian author [[Charles De Coster]], has been translated, often in mutilated versions, into many languages. 
It was De Coster who first transferred Ulenspiegel from his original late medieval surroundings to the [[Protestant Reformation]]. In this version, Ulenspiegel was born in  [[Damme]], West Flanders and became a Protestant hero of the [[Dutch Revolt]]. The author gives him a father, Claes, and mother, Soetkin, as well as a girlfriend, Nele, and a best friend, [[Lamme Goedzak]]. In the course of the story Claes is taken prisoner by the Spanish oppressors and burned at the stake, while Soetkin goes insane as a result. This tempts Thyl to start resistance against the Spanish oppressors. Thanks to the 1867 novel, Ulenspiegel has  become a symbol of [[Flemish nationalism]], with a statue dedicated to him in Damme.

[[Alfred Jarry]], author of ''[[Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician|Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien]]'' (1911), mentions Ulenspiegel's unruly behaviour in the Appendix chapter entitled ''Les poteaux de la morale'': « Till Ulenspiegel, on s’en souvient, ne coordonnait point autrement ses opérations mentales : se dirigeant vers un faîte, il se réjouissait du dévalement futur. » ("Till Ulenspiegel, we recall, did not coordinate his mental operations differently: heading toward a cliff, he rejoiced in future downfall.")

A French edition, ''Les Aventures de Til Ulespiègle'', was published by  Constantin Castéra in 1910.
In 1927, [[Gerhart Hauptmann]] wrote the verse ''Till Eulenspiegel''.

Ulenspiegel was mentioned in [[Mikhail Bulgakov]]'s ''[[The Master and Margarita]]'' as a possible prototype for the [[black cat]] character [[The Master and Margarita#Woland and his entourage|Behemoth]].

[[Michael Rosen (author)|Michael Rosen]] adapted the story into a 1989 children's novel, illustrated by [[Fritz Wegner]]: ''The Wicked Tricks of Till Owlyglass'', {{ISBN|978-0744513462}}.

[[Daniel Kehlmann]] in his novel ''[[Tyll (novel)|Tyll]]'' (2017) places Tyll ''Ulenspiegel'' in the context of the [[Thirty Years' War]].

The Italian civil law professor [[Francesco Gazzoni]] uses the name Till Eulenspiegel as a [[pseudonym]] for himself in his book "Favole quasi giuridiche" (in English, "Semi-juridical Fables").

[[Thomas Mann]] uses Till Eulenspiegel in dialogue by the young Hans Castorp in the novel ''[[The Magic Mountain]]'' (Der Zauberberg) as a metaphor for trickery in speaking of the apparent lag between Earth's astronomical procession around the Sun and the experienced weather— that the declared start and renewal of Spring does not start after the Winter Solstice when the days begin to lengthen, and similarly that Autumn should seemingly begin after the Summer Solstice and yet that is when Summer is declared to start.

=== Comics ===
[[Ray Goossens]] had a 1945 comic strip based on ''Tijl Uilenspiegel'', where Tijl and Lamme Goedzak were portrayed as a comedic duo. The series was sometimes called ''Tijl en Lamme'' too.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/goossens_ray.htm|title=Ray Goossens|access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref>

[[Willy Vandersteen]] drew two comic book albums about Uilenspiegel, "De Opstand der Geuzen" ("The Rebellion of the [[Geuzen]]") and "Fort Oranje" ("Fort Orange"), both drawn in a realistic, serious style and pre-published in the Belgian comics magazine ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'' between 1952 and 1954. They were published in comic book album format in 1954 and 1955. The stories were drawn in a realistic style and in some instances followed the original novel very closely, but sometimes followed his own imagination more.<ref name="Willy Vandersteen">{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/v/vandersteen.htm|title=Willy Vandersteen|access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref>

Belgian comics artist [[George van Raemdonck]] adapted the novel into a comic strip in 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/r/raemdonck.htm|title=George van Raemdonck|access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref>

Between 1985 and 1990, [[Willy Vandersteen]] drew a comics series named ''[[De Geuzen]]'' of whom the three main characters are Hannes, his girlfriend Veerle and Tamme, Hannes' best friend. All are obviously inspired by Tijl Uilenspiegel, Nele and [[Lamme Goedzak]].<ref name="Willy Vandersteen"/>

=== Theatre ===
[[Kibbutz]] theatre director and producer [[Shulamit Bat-Dori]] created an open-air production of ''Till Eulenspiegel'' at [[Mishmar HaEmek]], Israel, in 1955 that drew 10,000 viewers.<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vYVAQAAIAAJ&q=Howard%20Fast%27s|title=The Jewish Labour Movement|first=Leon|last=Samuels|journal=The Jewish Quarterly|volume=3|issue=3|year=1956|page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/01374.php|title=(1904-שולמית בת-דורי (1985)) |language=he|trans-title=Shulamit Bat-Dori (1904-1985)|publisher=[[Ohio State University]]|work=Lexicon of Modern Hebrew Literature|access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>

In Moscow in 1974, [[Grigoriy Gorin]] adapted De Coster's novel as a play originally entitled ''The Passion of Tyl. A Two-Part Farcical Comedy'' (''The Passion of'' had to be removed later) which alluded to the state of the [[Soviet Union]]. Performed at the [[Lenkom Theatre]] with music by [[Gennady Gladkov]] it had elements of [[rock opera]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lenkom Theatre, Moscow State Theatre named after Lenin's Komsomol |url=http://worldwalk.info/en/catalog/476/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=worldwalk.info}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shimadina |first1=Marina |date=February 18, 2017 |title=Lenkom Theater: From Soviet utopia to post-modern dystopia |url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2017/02/17/lenkom-theater-from-soviet-utopia-to-post-modern-dystopia_704361 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518170910/https://www.rbth.com/arts/2017/02/17/lenkom-theater-from-soviet-utopia-to-post-modern-dystopia_704361 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |access-date=June 26, 2023 |website=Russia Beyond |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2019, the original libretto was restored and official soundtrack released.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Кулеш, Пётр [Kulesh, Peter] |date=18 April 2020 |title=ВИА Темп-77 «Тиль» [VIA Temp-77 "Till"] (2019) |url=http://inrock.ru/reviews/temp77-2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618035950/http://inrock.ru/reviews/temp77-2019 |archive-date=18 June 2020 |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=InRock |language=ru-RU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Геннадий Гладков, ВИА Темп-77 – Тиль [Gennady Gladkov, VIA Temp-77 - Til] |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1736874-%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D0%93%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2-%D0%92%D0%98%D0%90-%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BF-77-%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=Discogs}}</ref>

[[Clive Barker]] incorporated elements of the Till Eulenspiegel story in his 1982 play ''Crazyface''.<ref>
{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Jones (drama critic) |date=August 26, 1998 |title='CRAZYFACE' A JUVENILE EMBARRASSMENT |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-08-26-9808260263-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117055711/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-08-26-9808260263-story.html |archive-date=January 17, 2021 |access-date=June 28, 2023 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Foley |first=F. Kathleen |date=June 13, 2002 |title=More Sly Humor Than Gore in Barker's 'Crazyface' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-13-wk-foley13-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628161322/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-13-wk-foley13-story.html |archive-date=June 28, 2023 |access-date=June 28, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ehren |first=Christine |date=May 30, 2002 |title=Clive Barker's Horror Comedy Crazyface Gets West Coast Premiere May 30-June 29 |url=https://playbill.com/article/clive-barkers-horror-comedy-crazyface-gets-west-coast-premiere-may-30-june-29-com-106099 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622085732/https://playbill.com/article/clive-barkers-horror-comedy-crazyface-gets-west-coast-premiere-may-30-june-29-com-106099 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |access-date=June 28, 2023 |website=Playbill}}</ref>

=== Music ===
In 1894–1895, [[Richard Strauss]] composed the [[tone poem]], ''[[Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche]]'', Op. 28.

In 1902, [[Emil von Reznicek]] adapted the story as an [[opera]], ''Till Eulenspiegel''.

In 1913, [[Walter Braunfels]] adapted the story as an opera, ''[[Ulenspiegel (opera)|Ulenspiegel]]''.

In 1916, the [[Ballets Russes]] adapted the story as a ballet, later re-adapted by [[George Balanchine]] for [[Jerome Robbins]] at the [[New York City Ballet]].

In the late 1930s or early 1940s, the Russian composer [[Wladimir Vogel]] wrote a drama-oratorio, ''Thyl Claes'', derived from De Coster's book.

In 1983, the Soviet composer [[Nikolai Karetnikov]] and his librettist, filmmaker [[Pavel Lungin]], released a ''[[samizdat]]'' opera, ''[[Till Eulenspiegel (Karetnikov opera)|Till Eulenspiegel]]'', which received its official release in 1990.<ref>{{discogs release|id5546360name=''Thyl Ulenspiegel''}}</ref>

The Polish [[poet]] [[Jacek Kaczmarski]] wrote an epitaph to Eulenspiegel in 1981 "Epitafium dla Sowizdrzała".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kaczmarski.art.pl/tworczosc/wiersze/epitafium-dla-sowizdrzala/|title = Epitafium dla Sowizdrzała www.kaczmarski.art.pl| date=8 September 2015 }}</ref>

=== Magazines ===
Between 1945 and 1950, a German satirical magazine was called [[Ulenspiegel (magazine)|''Ulenspiegel'']].
The satirical magazine  [[Eulenspiegel (magazine)|''Eulenspiegel'']] was published from 1954 in Berlin, [[East Germany]].

=== Dance ===

In 1916, choreographer [[Vaslav Nijinsky]] created the ballet [https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200185223/ ''Till Eulenspiegel''] set to ''[[Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche]]'', Op. 28. by Richard Strauss. The libretto was by Vaslav Nijinsky, after [[Charles De Coster]] and the costumes were by Robert Edmond Jones. The work premiered on 23 October 1916 at the Manhattan Opera House in New York City.

=== Films ===
In 1956, the film ''[[Les Aventures de Till L'Espiègle]]'' was made by [[Gérard Philipe]] and [[Joris Ivens]], which adapted De Coster's novel. (English title: "Bold Adventure"). The film was a French-East German co-production.

In 1965, the [[Belgium|belgian]] animated short ''Chomophobia,'' made by [[Raoul Servais]], features Eulenspiegel. 

In 1973, [[Walter van der Kamp]] directed ''Uilenspiegel'', a Dutch film.

[[Rainer Simon]] directed ''Till Eulenspiegel'' in 1975, which was an East-German production made for State Television. Due to Nudity, it was not suitable for children as State Television banned airing the film before 7pm (this version is an adult version).

''Ulenspiegel (Legenda o Tile)'', was a 1976 Soviet film, based on De Coster's novel, and directed by [[Aleksandr Alov]] and [[Vladimir Naumov]], "The Legend of Till Ullenspiegel" (1976).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074784/ Legenda o Tile (1979)], [[IMDb]].com</ref>

In 2003, [[Eberhard Junkersdorf]] adapted the story into a feature-length animated film.

In 2014, [[Christian Theede]] directed the film ''{{ill|Till Eulenspiegel (2014 film)|de|Till Eulenspiegel (2014)|lt=Till Eulenspiegel}}''.

=== Television ===
In 1961, the BRT (nowadays the [[Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie|VRT]]) made a children's TV series, ''Tijl Uilenspiegel''.

=== Museums ===
There are three museums in Germany featuring Till Eulenspiegel. One is located in the town of [[Schöppenstedt]] in Lower Saxony, which is nearby his assumed birthplace Kneitlingen. The second is located in the supposed place of his death, the city of [[Mölln]] in Schleswig-Holstein, and the third in Bernburg (Saale), Sachsen-Anhalt. In the town of Damme, Belgium, there is also a museum honoring him, and there is a fountain and statue featuring Till Eulenspiegel in the Marktplatz of Magdeburg, capital city of Sachsen-Anhalt.

=== Other ===
[[The Eulenspiegel Society|TES]], the first [[BDSM]] organization founded in the United States,<ref name="Weiss2011">{{cite book|author=Margot Weiss|title=Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dR7bTc1aXbcC&pg=PA8|date=20 December 2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-5159-7|pages=8–}}</ref> formerly known as The Eulenspiegel Society, took its original name from Till Eulenspiegel. TES was founded in 1971 and had the name "The Eulenspiegel Society" until it formally changed its name to "TES" in 2002. The original name was inspired by a passage from [[Austria]]n [[psychoanalyst]] [[Theodor Reik]]'s ''Masochism in Modern Man'' (1941),<ref name=about>{{cite web|title=About TES|url=http://www.tes.org/whats-tes/about-tes/|publisher=The Eulenspiegel Society|access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref> in which he argues that patients who engage in self-punishing or provocative behavior do so in order to demonstrate their emotional fortitude, induce guilt in others, and achieve a sense of "victory through defeat". Reik describes Till Eulenspiegel's "peculiar" behavior—he enjoys walking uphill, and feels "dejected" walking downhill—and compares it to a "paradox reminiscent of masochism", because Till Eulenspiegel "gladly submits to discomfort, enjoys it, even transforms it into pleasure".<ref>{{cite book|title=Masochism in Modern Man|last=Reik|first=Theodor|year=1941|author-link=Theodor Reik}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Hershele Ostropoler]]
* [[Nasreddin]]
* [[Sly Peter]]
* [[Akhu Tönpa]]
* [[Reynard the Fox]]
* [[Petrica Kerempuh]], a similar character in [[Croatian literature]]
* [[Charles De Coster]], (1827 – 1879) one of the authors who rewrote some of the Till Eulenspiegel stories.
**"[[The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak]]" by Charles De Coster
* [[Erich Kästner]] (1899–1974), another of the authors who rewrote some of the Till Eulenspiegel stories.

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
*Hill-Zenk, Anja (2011) ''Der englische Eulenspiegel: Die Eulenspiegel-Rezeption als Beispiel des englisch-kontinentalen Buchhandels im 16. Jahrhundert''
*Lappenberg, J. M. (1854) ''Dr. Thomas Murners Ulenspiegel'', Leipzig.
*Lukner, R. F. (2009) ''Eulenspiegel: Eine Auswahl aus tiefenpsychologischer Sicht'' Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-89821-981-5}}
* [[Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie|Mackenzie, Kenneth R. H.]] (trans.) (1859) ''Master Tyll Owlglass: His Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits'', London: [[George Routledge]], 1859; Boston: [[Ticknor and Fields]], 1860.

== Further reading ==
* Blamires, David. "Reflections on Some Recent "Ulenspiegel" Studies." The Modern Language Review 77, no. 2 (1982): 351-60. doi:10.2307/3726817.
* Classen, Albrecht. 2022. “The Continuation of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Print Period. With an Emphasis on Melusine and Till Eulenspiegel.” ''Publishing Research Quarterly'' 38 (4): 623–41.

== External links ==
*{{commons-inline}}
* [https://archive.org/details/tilleulenspiegel0000unse/mode/2up Till Eulenspiegel: his adventures] translated, with introduction and notes, by Paul Oppenheimer, New York, Garland Publishing, 1991 at [[Internet Archive]]
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43599/43599-h/43599-h.htm A collection of Till Eulenspiegel stories on Project Guttenberg: "A Picture-book of Merry Tales, by Anonymous"]
{{NIE Poster|Eulenspiegel, Till|Till Eulenspiegel|year=1905}}
* [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/fart.html Two example Eulenspiegel Stories translated to English among others]
* [http://www.stein-collectors.org/library/articles/Eulenspiegel/Eulenspiegel.html Till Eulenspiegel the merry prankster by John M. Gaustad and Walt Vogdes]
* [http://news.coinupdate.com/german-coin-celebrates-500th-anniversary-of-till-eulenspiegel/ German Coin Celebrates 500th Anniversary of Till Eulenspiegel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ialRLv2otk Till Eulenspiegel story in creation of Russian artist Lev Russov (VIDEO)]
* {{Cite EB1911 |last=Robertson |first=John George |author-link=John George Robertson|wstitle=Eulenspiegel, Till|volume=9| page= 887|short=x}}
* [http://www.florentine-society.ru/Bagritsky.html P. Barenboim, B. Meshcheryakov — Flanders in Moscow and Odessa:: poet Eduard Bagritskii (Bagritsky) as the Till Eulenspiegel of Russian literature.]

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