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The Three Feathers
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The Three Feathers
"The Three Feathers" (German: Die drei Federn) is a story by the Brothers Grimm, in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen. It is KHM nr. 63. It is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 402, "The Animal Bride". It appeared in the first edition in 1812, and was slightly reworked for the second edition in 1819. A second variant of the tale also collected by the Brothers Grimm is "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat" (Der arme Müllersbursch und das Kätzchen), listed as KHM 106.
A king has three sons: the eldest and the middle one are brave and strong, but the youngest is gullible and naïve, so he is called Simpleton. One day, the king casts three feathers into the air, and when they land, each of his children should follow to see where it leads. Simpleton discovers the feather has landed in a lake or pond where a toad lives that speaks in rhyme.
The king asks for marvellous gifts—impossibly difficult to find, or make—for his sons to show him: a carpet, made by the finest craftsmanship and a ring of extraordinary splendour as a second gift. Simpleton manages to produce the items in front of his father, to the jealousy of his older brothers, who are against the idea that he should inherit the kingdom.
For a final task, the king asks for the princes to bring a woman or bride that can do acrobatics and pirouettes so fantastical that they can pass through a very small ring. Simpleton presents his case to the talking toad, who orders another frog of his pond to embark into a carriage pulled by mice and to present themselves in court. When the carriage arrives, out comes a beautiful princess, who performs the impossible feat and earns the hand of Simpleton and the kingdom.
The tale was sometimes translated as Dummling and the Toad in English compilations.
The tale is classified in the international Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index as type ATU 402, "The Animal Bride": a prince finds a love interest in a sapient animal of the female sex. As the story progresses, the prince - the youngest of three royal children - begins to fall in love with the magical animal, and, as his father asks for the princes to show their brides, the animal princess suggests she comes as she is. When the animal bride arrives at the palace with her fantastical carriage, pulled by other animals or dragons, she transforms into a beautiful princess.
The tale is widespread in folktale collections. The tale type of the Prince-Animal Bride love story was very popular in the salon culture of 17th century France, as attested by the presence of such motifs in the literary works of, for instance, Madame d'Aulnoy.
The same year that the Grimms published The Three Feathers, another German variant titled Das Märchen von der Padde (The Tale of the Toad) was published by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching in Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden (1812). This variant explains the toad's backstory in a segment similar to Rapunzel. Some English translators misidentified Büsching's variant as one of the Brothers Grimm's stories.
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The Three Feathers
"The Three Feathers" (German: Die drei Federn) is a story by the Brothers Grimm, in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen. It is KHM nr. 63. It is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 402, "The Animal Bride". It appeared in the first edition in 1812, and was slightly reworked for the second edition in 1819. A second variant of the tale also collected by the Brothers Grimm is "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat" (Der arme Müllersbursch und das Kätzchen), listed as KHM 106.
A king has three sons: the eldest and the middle one are brave and strong, but the youngest is gullible and naïve, so he is called Simpleton. One day, the king casts three feathers into the air, and when they land, each of his children should follow to see where it leads. Simpleton discovers the feather has landed in a lake or pond where a toad lives that speaks in rhyme.
The king asks for marvellous gifts—impossibly difficult to find, or make—for his sons to show him: a carpet, made by the finest craftsmanship and a ring of extraordinary splendour as a second gift. Simpleton manages to produce the items in front of his father, to the jealousy of his older brothers, who are against the idea that he should inherit the kingdom.
For a final task, the king asks for the princes to bring a woman or bride that can do acrobatics and pirouettes so fantastical that they can pass through a very small ring. Simpleton presents his case to the talking toad, who orders another frog of his pond to embark into a carriage pulled by mice and to present themselves in court. When the carriage arrives, out comes a beautiful princess, who performs the impossible feat and earns the hand of Simpleton and the kingdom.
The tale was sometimes translated as Dummling and the Toad in English compilations.
The tale is classified in the international Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index as type ATU 402, "The Animal Bride": a prince finds a love interest in a sapient animal of the female sex. As the story progresses, the prince - the youngest of three royal children - begins to fall in love with the magical animal, and, as his father asks for the princes to show their brides, the animal princess suggests she comes as she is. When the animal bride arrives at the palace with her fantastical carriage, pulled by other animals or dragons, she transforms into a beautiful princess.
The tale is widespread in folktale collections. The tale type of the Prince-Animal Bride love story was very popular in the salon culture of 17th century France, as attested by the presence of such motifs in the literary works of, for instance, Madame d'Aulnoy.
The same year that the Grimms published The Three Feathers, another German variant titled Das Märchen von der Padde (The Tale of the Toad) was published by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching in Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden (1812). This variant explains the toad's backstory in a segment similar to Rapunzel. Some English translators misidentified Büsching's variant as one of the Brothers Grimm's stories.
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