These notes are based off Rumpelstiltskin which is from The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L Ashliman.
- This was my favorite story when I was a kid. I read a bunch of different versions from the library and watched versions of it on TV.
- It just so fun. The depictions of the little Rumpelstiltskin man are so great.
- After reading this translation, I understand the changes that people have made in their retellings.
- The most common change is the addition of the prince! In this story, the king is the one who marries the maiden.
- In the retellings, there's a prince that tries to help the princess. He gives her advice, and he's the one that figures out the name of Rumpelstiltskin. It makes the story cute and a bit less creepy. It adds the love element.
- I would follow these changes if I wrote my own version of this story.
- The moral of the story is probably, "don't lie". This whole mess happens because the miller lies about his daughter being able to spin straw into gold.
- The king (obviously) doesn't believe him, so he takes the miller's daughter in order to prove the lie
- He puts her in a room of straw and demands that she spins all of the straw to gold. Or else she will die
- Right when she starts to freak out, in comes a little man (there's not a description of him)
- I could add one!
- I wonder how he knows what is going on
- Maybe he's like a fairy or something
- Anyway, here is where where the trouble starts!
- He offers to spin the straw to gold in exchange for something
- The first time is a necklace
- Is the baby thing his plan the whole time?
- Maybe the message of the story is to not make strange deals with strange men
- They make the deal, and the man spins the straw to gold.
- The king comes back and is so happy, BUT he is greedy for more gold
- Now he brings her to an even bigger room, filled with even more straw
- Here comes the little man again! He is for sure a magic being
- This time they trade a ring, and the man agrees to the deal
- When the king arrives, he takes her to an even bigger room!
- This is the last time
- When the man comes again, the daughter has nothing left to offer
- "Then promise me, after you are queen, your first child"
- The daughter agrees
- When the king comes again, he marries her, in hopes that she will make him rich
- A year later, she has the baby! She almost forgets about the little man, but he appears!
- She tries to offer him riches and wealth, but he refuses. He wants the baby (to eat)
- not directly stated, but implied
- She cries and he takes pity. The deal is that if she can guess his name, he will not take the baby
- He has such a weird name that he knows that it'll be impossible to guess
- The queen thinks of all the names
- He gives her 3 days and 3 guesses
- For 2 days she tries, but cannot guess.
- She sends a messenger (in the retellings, it's usually the prince)
- The messenger sees the little man jumping around a fire and singing
- Today I'll bake; tomorrow I'll brew,
Then I'll fetch the queen's new child;
It is good that no one knows,
Rumpelstiltskin is my name. - When the queen guesses the name, Rump stamps and creates a whole in the ground. He then rips himself in half (that part is usually left out of the kids version...)
- It would be cool to either focus the story on Rump or maybe the messenger (how he discovers the secret)
Image Information:
Rumplestiltskin
Illustration from Andrew Lang's Fairy Tale book
Found on: Wikipedia
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