The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin isn’t Robert Browning’s creation, but a traditional folktale with roots in real recorded history. It is documented that in 1284, many or all of the children living in the German town of Hamelin disappeared. A plaque on one of the town’s timber houses states: “A.D. 1284, on the 26th of June, the day of St. John and St. Paul, 130 children born in Hamelin were led out of the town by a piper wearing multicolored clothes. After passing the Calvary near the Koppenberg they disappeared forever.” Additionally, the earliest known written record in the town’s archives dates from 1384: “It is 100 years since our children left.” These clues have, understandably, intrigued historians and storytellers for generations.

The earliest form of the story as we know it today dates back to the 16th century, using elements of the story already in place, such as the Pied Piper figure, and adding the rats. Historians believe this version combines two or more pre-existing tales, with the rats alluding to the black plague (which was not present in Hamelin at the time). Some scholars suggest that the story may have been a