Early Medieval Tales and Legends

Types of Narrative Writing  

Medieval Jewish narratives came in several forms, some of which had precursors in the late antique world. The Talmud and early midrash, for example, include rabbinic tales and parables. During the early medieval period, many more were composed, found mainly in a surprisingly abundant group of texts conventionally called the “minor midrashim.” In many cases, these works cite fantastical material or offer ideological interpretations of historical events. It is often clear that some versions of these legends were used in oral performance. 

Fictionality and Fantastical Tales

Other texts fall into the category of what we would today call fiction, a term that is difficult to define in this period. Legends or stories of a fantastical nature come closest to what would be considered fiction writing today. These are generally extended narratives that do not purport to be historical writing, such as legends about individuals, allegorical tales, fables, and parables. Some stories involve demonstrably fictional characters with made-up names, and others are parables meant to convey an allegorical meaning. Yet other texts feature characters who may actually have existed, but the exaggerated or impossible elements of the tales suggest that their composers did not believe that they portrayed real historical events. Conversations with talking animals, for example, suggest fiction. A large number of apocalyptic texts, too, were written during this period, and these present imaginary and imaginative accounts of the events that will characterize the end times. A number of them were produced in Palestine during the seventh century in reaction to the tumultuous events of that time. Making veiled allusions to contemporary events, they provide insights into the ways that Jews perceived their Byzantine and Islamic overlords.

The Hebrew Maqāma

The maqāma—a form of narrative written in rhymed prose interspersed with poetry and often used for fictional tales—was borrowed from Arabic literature and transposed into Hebrew. These tales often feature stock characters engaging in entertaining romps. In Hebrew versions, the authors emphasize the literary dimensions of the maqāma, using the form as a place to boast of their literary skills through wordplay, poetic interludes, and eloquent language. In some of the later rhymed-prose narratives, the author himself steps in to point out the fictional nature of his story, as if his readers might be in doubt about its veracity or fictionality—or to heighten the reader’s appreciation of his own art. He may also be simply reveling in the literary exercise of constructing and removing fictional frames, highlighting the multiple degrees of the text’s distance from reality.