“The Smith and the Devil” may be one of the oldest European folk tales, with the basic plot stable throughout the Indo-European speaking world from India to Scandinavia, possibly being first told in Indo-European 6,000 years ago in the Bronze Age.
A blacksmith strikes a deal with a malevolent supernatural being, such as the Devil, Death or a genie. The blacksmith exchanges his soul for the power to weld any materials together. He then uses this power to stick the devil to an immovable object, such as a tree, to renege on his side of the bargain.
In Faust, the protagonist is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust is irrevocably damned
One may not have mindfulness by making a bargain with a devil in god’s dress.
This basic plot is stable throughout the Indo-European speaking world, from India to Scandinavia, according to the research.
The study said this tale could be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European society when metallurgy likely existed and there was archaeological and genetic evidence of massive territorial expansions by nomadic tribes from the Pontic steppe (the northern shores of the Black Sea) between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago.