Even though societies have always been diverse, and modern educational institutions have been organized differently according to the standards of these different societies, there are also commonalities between them. One such example where diverse societies come together is in the telling of stories of heroes and their foes. The theme of historic stories’ good hero versus an evil foe, such as the trope of the Bible’s David versus Goliath, made its way into modern national curricula and historiography in similar ways across state borders: for centuries, nations have been inspiring their folk with tales of singular, renowned heroes who saved their nation against some outside foe. What we are going to do in this paper is present how three seemingly diverse nations – the Swiss, the Danish, and the Scottish – actually followed the same historic story-telling tactics to bring their nation together against a common foe.

William Tell, Niels Ebbesen, and William Wallace were three mythological heroes whose stories were based on actual historical figures (Ebbesen and Wallace) or folk tales (Tell). They were all regional “freedom fighters” who stood up against a larger outside force that wanted control of their “homeland.” But they were not unsung heroes. On the contrary, national Swiss, Danish, and Scottish historiographies have written their heroic, mythical stories for centuries, no matter whether those stories were actually true or not, and melding them into the historical consciousness of their societies. Songs, art, and children’s stories have been made about them, and their feats have been written into the curricula with textbooks turning them into national heroes whom students should revere (and emulate). They were the Davids versus their respective Goliaths. And just as David, they became renowned as fighters for the “right cause” who bravely faced the odds at any cost. 

In our paper, we will discuss not just the “heroes” but also, especially, the “foes.” While children have been socialized around their national “David,” how were they learning to discern and depict their “Goliath?” When William Tell resisted Austrian Habsburg rule, Niels Ebbesen stood up to the intrusive Germans, and William Wallace stood up to the English throne seekers, they were fighting with principle against some “evil,” outside enemy force that caused suffering and pain. Drawing upon Ernest Renan’s remark that “suffering” unites as much as “joy,” we argue that “arch foes” are important in two respects: they give the “heroes” a “foe” to rise against while at the same time the suffering they caused united the people behind those “heroes.” The “Goliaths” were thus just as necessary to the stories as the “Davids.”

We use a document, narrative, and discourse analysis framework in order to answer the question of how the biblical myth of David and Goliath was utilized in creating stories of national heroes and foes. Therefore, we study the cases of Swiss, Danish, and Scottish national historiographies and images and their representation within school lessons as represented by textbooks and other teaching materials. More precisely, the tale of William Tell's Swiss rebellion is looked at as it has been depicted in the imagery of mid-19th century to mid-20th century reading books, teaching materials, and school wall hangings for Swiss primary schools. Niels Ebbesen’s success in rousing the Danish and ousting the German Holsteiners from Denmark will be drawn from 19th- and 20th-century reading books, history textbooks, songbooks, and school wall charts for Danish primary schools. William Wallace’s arch enemy in the wars of Scottish independence will be examined in Scottish English, history, and geography textbooks that were published in the mid-18th and 19th centuries, following the Union of Parliaments (1707), for Scottish primary and secondary schools.

As our analysis demonstrates, historic story-telling based on the same well-known and sacred stories, such as that of David and Goliath, has been a powerful tool in bringing people together under a shared cause. As modern national educational institutions were built-up alongside their emerging nation-states, the unifying tool of the sacred story was brought into educational historiography as well. Similar tales of a historic, mythical national hero who saved the people, the nation, against a terrible foe were (re-)formulated and added to school curricula in similar ways within and across borders. These stories of “unique” or “diverse” heroes and foes were following the same, important formula for nation-building. In view of these findings, our case studies from three different European countries are also telling examples of how schools across the map used national stories to help create and promote national consciousness, “national literacy,” and, ultimately, national unity. In the end, these stories teach future citizens that if there is one thing to be learned, it is that if there is a Goliath in front of you, there must be a David inside of you.

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