The Orphan-Hero
The orphan-hero is the archetypal protagonist of a distinct cycle within Khmu oral literature. Fatherless and motherless, poor and often mistreated, he is the least among his community, yet the tales turn on his rise: through wit, patience, kindness rewarded, and the intervention of spirits, animals, or a celestial bride, he confounds the rich and powerful and secures fortune or a wife. Individual tellings give him no stable personal name, presenting him simply as 'the orphan,' so he functions as a recurring type-figure rather than a single biographied individual; the cycle nonetheless articulates a persistent Khmu moral vision in which the marginal and dispossessed are vindicated. Storytellers recorded in the multi-volume Kammu corpus recount many variants of his adventures.
Domains
- trickery
Powers
- outwits the wealthy and powerful
Sources
- The neglected orphan who rises through cleverness and supernatural aid is a recurring protagonist of the Kammu folktale corpus, forming a recognizable orphan-hero cycle.: Kristina Lindell, Jan-Ojvind Swahn & Damrong Tayanin, Folk Tales from Kammu, Vols. I-VI (London: Curzon Press / Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series, 1977-1998). (primary)