Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman), Part A

An image of an illustrated book of the many stories popularized by the Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm are an iconic piece of almost everyone's childhood, even still today, and many may be unaware of many stories that are actually by the Brothers Grimm, such as Little Red Cap (Riding Hood) and Rumpelstiltskin. In this unit, many stories, including those two previously mentioned are covered in depth. In The Wolf and Seven Kids, a mother goat has seven kids. She goes to the forest, and warns the kids to keep an eye out for the wolf, who can be recognized by his black feet and rough voice.The wolf comes knocking and disguises his feet and voice. The kids all scramble to hide, but he finds and gobbles up all but the youngest. Mama goat returns and is distraught to only find the youngest at home. They locate the wolf snoozing, and suspect that the other kids are still alive in his belly. The wolf is sleeping so deeply they cut open his belly, and out leap the kids, all safe and sound. They stitch stones into the wolf's belly, and he drowns when he goes to take a drink in the well. In Rumpelstiltskin, a miller, who happens to be talking to the king, brags that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king has her brought to the castle, and tells her that she'll be killed if she doesn't fulfill this task. She weeps until a little man appears, and agrees to spin for her if she'll give him her necklace. Et voilà! A room full of gold. The same thing happens again, with an even larger room full of straw. This time the little man agrees to take her ring as payment. The third time, the king says she will become his wife if she succeeds. And this time, the little man wants their first-born child. The maiden agrees—what is she gonna do, just die?—and the king marries her. When she gives birth to a child, the little man reappears and reminds her of their bargain. She tries to offer him the kingdom's riches instead, but he prefers a living being. Finally, after she cries a whole lot, he agrees to give her a chance to get out of the bargain by guessing his name in three days. So she spends the next few days guessing every ridiculous name she can think of, while also sending out servants to search far and wide for clues. Finally, on the third day, a messenger gets back to her and says that on a mountain at the edge of the forest, he saw a little man hopping around and chanting a rhyme that contained his name. The queen slyly guesses a few incorrect names before asking whether it's Rumpelstiltskin. The little man is so furious that he tears himself in two.

Bibliography: Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales by Dan Ashliman. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-brothers-grimm.html