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The Devil's Bridge: A Legend
The Devil promises a French town that he will build them a bridge for the price of a human soul.
- GenresPicture Books
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 8, 2017
I enjoy stories about tricking the Devil, and illustrations by Ness, so this book was an automatic choice for me. And so, too, maybe I'm biased: but I thought it humorous, effective, and worth saving.... That is to say, if your library has a copy of this older picturebook, please check it out so it doesn't get culled for lack of circulation! Ages 4 up would love it, possibly younger if they've learned the concepts of devil and souls.
March 1, 2020
When their bridge collapses during a terrible storm, the residents of a small French village are dismayed. Living in almost complete isolation, on the edge of a steep gorge, the bridge is their only contact with the outside world. When a well-dressed stranger offers to build a new bridge, in return for the soul of the first person to cross, the mayor and villagers reluctantly agree. But who will that first person be? Luckily, old Pierre the stone-mason has a few tricks up his sleeve, in this legend about outwitting the devil...
Legends featuring the Devil seem to be quite common in the French tradition, whether, as in The Devil's Bridge, they warn against making deals, or, like The Devil's Tail , they caution against accepting wishes. Charles Scribner's narrative, apparently based upon a number of different tales, is engaging and reads well. Evaline Ness, who won a Caldecott Medal for Sam, Bangs & Moonshine , contributes illustrations in her signature style, with black ink drawings, awash in a few repeating colors: wine-red, mustard, and a rather rosy pink.
Although The Devil's Bridge - originally published in 1978 - strikes me as being a little dated, with a different aesthetic style than is currently in vogue, I found both narrative and artwork appealing, and think that young folklore enthusiasts who are not wedded to the idea of "pretty" pictures, will feel the same. I was also struck by Scribner's afterword, in which he mentions the fact that many bridges in use in early medieval France would have been built in Roman times, their method of construction long forgotten, and therefore invested with supernatural significance. This seems like a likely explanation for the evolution of such tales, and is not so uncommon a story.
The classical Greeks, for instance, believed that the Bronze-Age Mycenaean palaces must have been built by giant Cyclopes, because they were made with such humongous stones. Hence the term, "Cyclopean architecture." As someone with a particular interest in the historical and anthropological interpretation of folklore, I find this sort of speculation about the possible antecedents of a given tale quite appealing, and I thank my friend Krista, for putting me on to this retelling!
Legends featuring the Devil seem to be quite common in the French tradition, whether, as in The Devil's Bridge, they warn against making deals, or, like The Devil's Tail , they caution against accepting wishes. Charles Scribner's narrative, apparently based upon a number of different tales, is engaging and reads well. Evaline Ness, who won a Caldecott Medal for Sam, Bangs & Moonshine , contributes illustrations in her signature style, with black ink drawings, awash in a few repeating colors: wine-red, mustard, and a rather rosy pink.
Although The Devil's Bridge - originally published in 1978 - strikes me as being a little dated, with a different aesthetic style than is currently in vogue, I found both narrative and artwork appealing, and think that young folklore enthusiasts who are not wedded to the idea of "pretty" pictures, will feel the same. I was also struck by Scribner's afterword, in which he mentions the fact that many bridges in use in early medieval France would have been built in Roman times, their method of construction long forgotten, and therefore invested with supernatural significance. This seems like a likely explanation for the evolution of such tales, and is not so uncommon a story.
The classical Greeks, for instance, believed that the Bronze-Age Mycenaean palaces must have been built by giant Cyclopes, because they were made with such humongous stones. Hence the term, "Cyclopean architecture." As someone with a particular interest in the historical and anthropological interpretation of folklore, I find this sort of speculation about the possible antecedents of a given tale quite appealing, and I thank my friend Krista, for putting me on to this retelling!
November 28, 2019
This tale has so many versions, each describing a legend of the mysterious ancient bridges dotting Europe. According to Wikipedia : "The bridges that fall into the Devil's Bridge category are so numerous that the legends about them form a special category in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales (Number 1191)."
Enough said.
If nothing else, this has prompted me to embark on a Devil's Bridge tour across Western Europe one day.
Enough said.
If nothing else, this has prompted me to embark on a Devil's Bridge tour across Western Europe one day.
September 21, 2009
Interesting French folktale about the Devil agreeing to build a bridge for the townspeople in exchange for a soul. According to an historical note at the end of the book, this tale is still popular all over France. What I'd like to find out more about is the idea that a child can spot the Devil in disguise when the adults were all fooled. Is this because children are supposed to be closer to God? I think some children would find comfort in the idea that the Devil can be outwitted, and that his evil can be turned back on him. I enjoyed Evaline Ness' simple but effective illustrations. Very interesting.
September 23, 2018
The Devil's Bridge is an old tale about a village that loses it's only connection to the world during a thunderstorm. The Devil appears and says he will build the bridge at the cost of the sole of the first person to cross the bridge. An old stonemason tricks the Devil and is the first person to cross the bridge, so the villagers get the bridge at no cost.
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September 18, 2016The devil tried to make a deal with a town who was desperate. The town agreed. The bridge was built by the devil and cursed so that the next person to cross would lose their soul. The elderly man tricked the devil into crossing the ridge so the town owed him nothing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews