Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful is a German fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 collected by the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

, tale number 126.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa
The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa
The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful, Corvetto, King Fortunatus's Golden Wig, and The Mermaid and...

, Corvetto
Corvetto
Corvetto is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa, Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful, King Fortunatus's Golden Wig, and The...

, King Fortunatus's Golden Wig
King Fortunatus's Golden Wig
King Fortunatus's Golden Wig is a French fairy tale collected by Colonel A. Troude and G. Milin in .It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. This type is generally called "The Clever Horse," but is known in French as La Belle aux cheveux d'or, or The Story of Pretty Goldilocks, after the literary variant by...

, and The Mermaid and the Boy
The Mermaid and the Boy
The Mermaid and the Boy is a Sámi fairy tale collected by J. C. Poestion in Lapplandische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book....

. Another, literary variant is Madame d'Aulnoy
Madame d'Aulnoy
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy , also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French writer known for her fairy tales...

's La Belle aux cheveux d'or, or The Story of Pretty Goldilocks
The Story of Pretty Goldilocks
The Story of Pretty Goldilocks or The Beauty with Golden Hair is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book....

.

Synopsis

A couple had no children while they were rich, but when they became poor, they had a son, and the father could find no one for a godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...

 except a beggar. The beggar named the boy Ferdinand the Faithful, gave him nothing, and took nothing, but he gave the nurse a key and said that when the boy was fourteen, he should go to a castle on the heath and unlock it. Then all it contained would be his.

When the boy was seven, all the other boys boasted of what their godfathers had given them. Ferdinand went to his father for his gift and heard of the key, but there was no castle on the heath. When he was fourteen, he went again, and found a castle. Inside there was nothing but a white horse, but he took the horse home and decided to travel. He saw a pen on the road, passed it, but heard a voice telling him to take it, so he picked it up. Then he rescued a fish from the shore; it gave him a flute to summon him and promised to get for him anything dropped in the water.

Then he met another man, Ferdinand the Unfaithful, who had learned everything about him by wicked magic, and they went on to an inn. A girl there fell in love with Ferdinand the Faithful and told him he should stay and take service with the king; then she got him a place, as an outrider. Ferdinand the Unfaithful also got her to get him a place, because she did not trust him and wanted to keep an eye on him.

The king lamented that he did not have his love. Ferdinand the Unfaithful persuaded the king to send Ferdinand the Faithful for her. Ferdinand the Faithful thought he could not and lamented, but the horse said he needed a ship full of bread and a ship full of meat and to get them from the king. When he had, the horse and Ferdinand the Faithful set out. He appeased birds along the way with the bread and giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...

 with the meat, and with the help of the giants, he carried off the sleeping princess to the king.

The princess declared that she could not live without her magical writings, from the castle, so the king sent Ferdinand the Faithful for them, but with the horse's help, he got them by the same way. On the way back, he dropped his pen into the water. The horse said it could no longer help him. Ferdinand the Faithful played the flute and had the fish bring back the pen.

The princess married the king and became queen, but she did not love the king. One day, she said she knew magical arts and could cut off someone's head and put it back on again. Ferdinand the Unfaithful suggested Ferdinand the Faithful, and she cut off his head and put it back on again. Then the king said she could do it to him as well, and she cut off his head, pretended she could not put it back on, and married Ferdinand the Faithful.

The horse had Ferdinand the Faithful take it back to the castle and ride it around it three
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...

 times. It changed
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...

 back into a king's son.

See also

  • The Grateful Beasts
    The Grateful Beasts
    The Grateful Beasts is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Hermann Kletke. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:Three sons set out to seek their fortune...

  • The Gifts of the Magician
    The Gifts of the Magician
    The Gifts of the Magician is a Finnish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book, listing his source as Finnische Mahrchen.-Synopsis:...

  • The Gold-bearded Man
    The Gold-bearded Man
    The Gold-bearded Man is an Hungarian fairy tale collected in Ungarische Mahrchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...

  • The Two Brothers
    The Two Brothers
    The Two Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 60. It is Aarne-Thompson type 567A, the magic bird heart, and type 303, the blood brothers.-Synopsis:...

  • The Queen Bee
    The Queen Bee (fairy tale)
    The Queen Bee is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 62. It is Aarne-Thompson type 554, the grateful animals.-Synopsis:...

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