Dear Learned Ones,
I am hoping someone on the list may be able to help me with further
information on a narrative motif that is perhaps a variant of the Four
Daughters of God.
In this narrative it is the Holy Ghost who has six daughters, and founds
a convent for them. In his absence, Satan sends his own daughters in and
they take over the convent, then the Holy Ghost returns and restores
order. I came across this while doing some work on the French texts of
the Abbey of the Holy Ghost. The French and English versions have only
the second part of the story, where Satan's daughters infiltrate the
convent. In this version, the Holy Ghost is the Visitor of the convent,
not the father of the nuns. The story as I have outlined it above occurs
in some 15th century German manuscripts.
What I am hoping someone may be able to tell me is whether this story,
or parts of it, occur anywhere else, in exempla for instance. One of the
German manuscript versions has quite a folk-tale feel to it: the Holy
Ghost sets up the convent, then tells his daughters he is going away for
a while and not to let anyone in during his absence. Of course, the
interdiction is broken and disaster ensues.
Many thanks,
Jan Pinder
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