The Dance of Death.

July 3, 2003 12:21 AM

The Dance of Death. Die Totentanz: A German-language site spotlighting, for example, the dance of death in literature, graphic art, music and film. For those, like me, whose German is not so good, this page offers an English-language history of the phenomenon, and the Catholic Encyclopedia has an article too. See also Holbein's Dance-of-Death; Lübeck's Dance-of-Death; and umm, this.
posted by misteraitch (14 comments total)

*derail* It's DER Totentanz
posted by slater at 1:02 AM on July 3, 2003

While this list dutifully notes the dance of death scene from Bergman's The Seventh Seal, it neglects completely a similar scene from the Monty Python oeuvre.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:05 AM on July 3, 2003

Oops, apologies: when I said not so good, I meant virtually non-existent.
posted by misteraitch at 1:06 AM on July 3, 2003

This is really good. Thanks again misteraitch.
posted by plep at 1:57 AM on July 3, 2003

maybe he meant "die Totentanzen?" ;)
posted by y0bhgu0d at 2:08 AM on July 3, 2003

The Dance of Death and Other Plantation Favorites
posted by y2karl at 3:03 AM on July 3, 2003

The Verzeichnis der musikalischen Totentänze failed to list one of my all-time favorites, "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.
posted by alumshubby at 3:32 AM on July 3, 2003

... reminded of Camus, 'the drumming of innumerable soles timed to the eerie whistling of the plague in the sultry air above' ...

Great links, misteraitch.
posted by spandex at 3:46 AM on July 3, 2003

Good stuff as always, misteraitch. I've always been fascinated by der Totentanz. And you can take heart in knowing that most Germans can't match up articles with their nouns properly either...;^)
posted by MrBaliHai at 4:57 AM on July 3, 2003

mr_roboto: Also left out is the sublime parody of Bergman in "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey".
posted by Cerebus at 5:49 AM on July 3, 2003

On the literary front, Poe's Masque of the Red Death is a notable addition to the canon of Death-dances.
posted by JollyWanker at 6:00 AM on July 3, 2003

Less notable than Poe, but certainly more recent, Reginald Hill's Death's Jest-Book (a nod to the bizarre closet drama of the same name by Thomas Lovell Beddoes) is organized as a Dance of Death.
posted by thomas j wise at 6:07 AM on July 3, 2003

Excellent, excellent post, misteraitch, and I am a fan of your wonderful blog too. Thanks!
posted by madamjujujive at 9:30 AM on July 3, 2003

Thanks for the links, misteraitch.
posted by cobra libre at 12:57 PM on July 3, 2003