Archetypal fools

novel by the Czech author Jaroslav Hašek

satirical allegory in German verse published in 1494 by Sebastian Brant

A sotie (or sottie) is a short satirical play common during the 15th- and 16th-century in France. The word (compare modern sottise) comes from the sots, "fools", who appeared as characters in the play. In the plays, these fools would make observations and exchange thoughts on contemporary events and individuals. Shorter plays, sometimes referred to as parades, did not necessarily have any plot at all, but relied simply on a detached dialogue. The genre has its origin in the Feast of Fools and other Carnival-related festivities. The purpose of these events was to present a world turned upside-d

character from Russian folklore

an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's Republic, about a ship with a dysfunctional crew

Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev

Schlemiel (; sometimes spelled shlemiel) is a Yiddish term meaning "inept/incompetent person" or "fool". It is a common archetype in Ashkenazi Jewish humor, and so-called "schlemiel jokes" depict the schlemiel falling into unfortunate situations.

thumb | right | alt=alt=Refer to caption | The Ship of Fools by Hieronymus Bosch, between 1488 and 1510. __NOTOC__ In folklore, a simpleton is a person whose foolish actions are the subject of often-repeated stories. Simpletons are also known as noodles or fools. Folklore often holds, with no basis in fact, that certain towns or countries are thought to be home to large numbers of simpletons. The ancient Greeks told tales of stupid populations in Abdera and other cities; in Germany, burgher of Schilda are conspicuous in these stories; in Spain hundreds of jokes exist about the supposed foolish

inhabitants of Gotham who feigned idiocy according to a local legend

narrative motif documented in Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature

thumb|250px|Title page of Die Schildburger, 1854The picture illustrates the tale how the Schildburger wanted to feed a bull with the grass on the roof The Schildbürger ("residents of Schilda") are residents of Schilda, a fictional (not the actual Schilda) German town of fools, a butt of jokes in German Volksbuch (chapbook) tradition corresponding to the Wise Men of Gotham in English-language tradition.

class of joke about Sikhs

jokes about an North German population group

class of joke involving Polish stereotypes

Danish folktale