Showing results by author "Brothers Grimm" in All Categories

"The Valiant Little Tailor" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 20. Joseph Jacobs collected another variant "A Dozen at One Blow" in European Folk and Fairy Tales. A tailor is preparing to eat some jam, but when flies settle on it, he kills seven of them with one blow of his hand. He makes a belt describing the deed, reading "Seven at One Blow". Inspired, he sets out into the world to seek his fortune. The tailor meets a giant who assumes that "Seven at One Blow" refers to seven men.

"Faithful John" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 6. In some variants, a king on his deathbed orders his servant, Trusty John, not to let his son see a certain room, which holds a portrait of a princess. - In all variants, when the new king comes to power, he forces his way into the room. Instantly, he falls in love with the princess.

"Briar Rose" (German: Dornröschen), also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a classic fairy tale which involves a beautiful princess, a sleeping enchantment, and a handsome prince. Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children; and this they lamented very much. But one day, as the queen was walking by the side of the river, a little fish lifted its head out of the water, and said, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, and you shall soon have a daughter.

"Little Red Cap" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to the 10th century by several European folk tales, including one from Italy called The False Grandmother, later written among others by Italo Calvino in the Italian Folktales collection; the best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. The story has been changed considerably in various retellings and subjected to numerous modern adaptations and readings.

"The Goose Girl" is a German fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It was first published in 1815 as no. 3 in vol. 2 of the first edition of their Children's and Household Tales - Grimms' Fairy Tales). Since the second edition, published in 1819, The Goose Girl has been recorded as tale no. 89. The story was first translated into English by Edgar Taylor in 1826, then by many others, e.g. by an anonymous community of translators in 1865, by Lucy Crane in 1881, by LucMargaret Hunt in 1884, etc.

"The Water of Life" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 97. A king was dying. An old man told his sons that the water of life would save him. Each one set out in turn. The two older ones, setting out in hopes of being the heir, were rude to a dwarf on the way and became trapped in ravines. When the youngest son went the dwarf asked where he was going, and he told him. The dwarf told him it was in a castle, and gave him an iron wand to open the gates and two loaves to feed to the lions inside.

"Bearskin" is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, as tale no. 101. A man was a soldier, but when war ended, his parents were dead, and his brothers had no place for him. - A green-coated man with a cloven hoof appeared to him and offered to make him rich if he would for seven years not cut his hair, clip his nails, bathe, or pray, and wear a coat and cloak that he would give him. At the end, if he survived, he would be rich and free. If he died during the time, the devil would have him.

There lived a tailor who had only one son, and he was extremely small, not any larger than your thumb, and so was called Tom Thumb. - However, he was a courageous little fellow, and he told his father, "Father, I am determined to go into the world to seek my fortune." - "Very well, my son," answered the old man, and taking a big darning needle, he made a top to it of sealing wax, and gave it to Tom Thumb, saying: "There is a sword for you to use to defend yourself on your journeyings.

"Thumbling" is a German fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. There was once a poor peasant who sat in the evening by the hearth and poked the fire, and his wife sat and span. Then said he, "How sad it is that we have no children! With us all is so quiet, and in other houses it is noisy and lively.

"Little One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 130. A woman had three daughters: The eldest had one eye in the middle of her forehead, the second had two eyes like ordinary people, the third had three eyes; two on the sides of her head and a third in the middle of her forehead. Her mother and sisters scorned Little Two Eyes because she was like other people and treated her badly, leaving her only their leftovers to eat...

"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. A lonely couple, who wants a child, lives next to a walled garden belonging to an evil witch named Dame Gothel. The wife, experiencing the cravings associated with the arrival of her long-awaited pregnancy, notices some rapunzel, growing in the garden and longs for it. She refuses to eat anything else and gets sick, and the husband begins to fear for her life.

"Frederick and Catherine" (also called "Freddy and Katy Lizzy") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales, number 59. Frederick and Catherine were husband and wife. He left to do his work. She started to fry a sausage and thought she could get a beer while it cooked. In the cellar, drawing it, she realized the dog was loose and might eat the sausage, but the dog had already done so, and she chased it but could not catch it. Meanwhile, the keg of beer emptied itself into the cellar.

"Oh, If I Could But Shiver!" is a German folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 4 in the collection. It was also included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book (1889). - The Grimms' first, 1812 edition contained a much shorter version, "Good Bowling and Card Playing". - It is classified as its own Aarne-Thompson index type 326 of a male protagonist's unsuccessful attempts to learn fear, which eventually leads to his awareness of mortality. A father had two sons.

"The Frog Prince" or "Iron Henry" is a fairy tale, best known through the Brothers Grimm's written version; traditionally it is the first story in their collection. - Although the story is best known today through the Grimm Brothers' rendition of it, parts of it may extend back until at least Roman times; a version of the story is apparently referred to in Petronius's Satyricon, in which the character Trimalchio remarks that, "qui fuit rana nunc est rex" ("The man who was once a frog is now a king.").

The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm as tale number 49. A King gets lost in a forest, and an old woman helps him, on the condition that he marry her beautiful daughter. The King has a bad feeling about this but accepts anyway. He has six sons and a daughter from his first marriage, however, and fears that the children will be targeted by his new wife; so he sends them away and visits them in secret...

"Hansel and Gretel" (also known as Hansel and Grettel, Hansel and Grethel, or Little Brother and Little Sister / German: Hänsel und Gretel) is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children escape with their lives by outwitting her. Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter.

In this tale, two brothers give presents to their king. The poor brother chooses to offer the largest turnip grown on his land, whereas the rich one can afford to give far more. The response the latter receives from the king, however, is not exactly what he is expecting....

In this tale a queen wishes her naughty daughter would just turn into a raven and fly away. But as we all know, in fairy-tale land you should always be careful what you wish for....

After her aunt dies, a poor girl inherits a spindle, a shuttle, and a needle. She's quick with these tools and manages to make a decent living. One day, a prince comes into town looking for the "girl who is poorest and richest at the same time." She doesn't know it, but her spindle, needle, and shuttle have a certain magic to them that might lead the prince to her!

A strange imp appears to the unhappy miller's daughter and offers to spin straw into gold after the king orders her to. By doing so, he'll save her life and make her queen. There's just one small price to pay: her firstborn child.