The Golden Bird
Encyclopedia
"The Golden Bird" is a Brothers Grimm
fairy tale
, number 57, about the pursuit of a golden bird by a king's three sons.
A French version, collected by Paul Sébillot
, is called The Golden Blackbird. Andrew Lang
included that variant in The Green Fairy Book.
It is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 550, "The Golden Bird", a Supernatural Helper. Other tales of this type include The Bird 'Grip'
, The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener
, Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
, How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon
, and The Nunda, Eater of People
.
during the night. He sets his sons to watch, and though the first two fall asleep, the youngest
stays awake and sees that the thief is a golden bird. He tries to shoot it, but only knocks a feather off.
The feather is so valuable that the king decides he must have the bird. He sends his three sons, one after another, to capture the priceless golden bird. The sons each meet a talking fox, who gives them advice for their quest: to choose a bad inn over a brightly lit and merry one. The first two sons ignore the advice and, in the pleasant inn, abandon their quest.
The third son obeys the fox, but when the fox advises him to take the golden bird in a wooden cage rather than a golden one, he disobeys, and the golden bird rouses the castle, resulting in his capture. He is sent after the golden horse as a condition for sparing his life. The fox advises him to use a wooden saddle rather than a golden one, but he fails again. He is sent after the princess from the golden castle. The fox advises him not to let her say farewell to her parents, but he disobeys, and the princess's father orders him to remove a hill as the price of his life.
The fox removes it, and then, as they set out, he advises the prince how to keep all the things he has won. It then asks the prince to shoot it and cut off its head. When the prince refuses, it warns him against buying gallowsflesh and sitting on the edge of wells.
He finds that his brothers, who have been carousing and living sinfully in the meantime, are to be hanged (on the gallows) and buys their liberty. They
find out what he has done. When he sits on a well's edge, they push him in. They take the things and the princess and bring them to their father. However the bird, the horse, and the princess all grieve for the prince. The fox rescues the prince. When he returns to his father's castle dressed in a beggar's cloak, the bird, the horse, and the princess all recognize him as the man who won them, and become cheerful again. His brothers are put to death, and he marries the princess.
Finally, the third son cuts off the fox's head and feet at the creature's request. The fox is revealed
to be a man, the brother of the princess.
A similar variant fairy tale of French-Canadian origin is "The Golden Phoenix" collected by Marius Barbeau, and retold by Michael Hornyansky. It follows the hero Petit Jean, the youngest son of the King, who discovers the thief of his father's golden apple to be a golden Phoenix, a legendary bird. Other differences include a battle with 3 mythical beasts, a Sultan's game of hide-and-seek and his marriage with the Sultan's beautiful daughter.
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...
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...
, number 57, about the pursuit of a golden bird by a king's three sons.
A French version, collected by Paul Sébillot
Paul Sébillot
Paul Sébillot was a French folklorist, painter, and writer. Many of his works are about his native province, Brittany.-Early life and art:...
, is called The Golden Blackbird. Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included that variant in The Green Fairy Book.
It is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 550, "The Golden Bird", a Supernatural Helper. Other tales of this type include The Bird 'Grip'
The Bird 'Grip'
The Bird 'Grip is a Swedish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it The Pink Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird; other tales of this type include The Golden Bird, The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener, How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon, The Nunda,...
, The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener
The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener
The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener is an Irish fairy tale collected by Patrick Kennedy in Fireside Stories of Ireland. Joseph Jacobs included it in More Celtic Fairy Tales....
, Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird...
, How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon
How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon
How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon is a Scottish fairy tale, collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He recorded it from a quarryman in Knockderry, Roseneath, named Angus Campbell....
, and The Nunda, Eater of People
The Nunda, Eater of People
The Nunda, Eater of People is a Swahili fairy tale collected by Edward Steere in Swahili Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird.-Synopsis:...
.
Synopsis
Every year, a king's apple tree is robbed of one golden appleGolden apple
The golden apple is an element that appears in various national and ethnic folk legends or fairy tales. Recurring themes depict a hero retrieving the golden apples hidden or stolen by a monstrous antagonist...
during the night. He sets his sons to watch, and though the first two fall asleep, the youngest
Youngest son
The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters....
stays awake and sees that the thief is a golden bird. He tries to shoot it, but only knocks a feather off.
The feather is so valuable that the king decides he must have the bird. He sends his three sons, one after another, to capture the priceless golden bird. The sons each meet a talking fox, who gives them advice for their quest: to choose a bad inn over a brightly lit and merry one. The first two sons ignore the advice and, in the pleasant inn, abandon their quest.
The third son obeys the fox, but when the fox advises him to take the golden bird in a wooden cage rather than a golden one, he disobeys, and the golden bird rouses the castle, resulting in his capture. He is sent after the golden horse as a condition for sparing his life. The fox advises him to use a wooden saddle rather than a golden one, but he fails again. He is sent after the princess from the golden castle. The fox advises him not to let her say farewell to her parents, but he disobeys, and the princess's father orders him to remove a hill as the price of his life.
The fox removes it, and then, as they set out, he advises the prince how to keep all the things he has won. It then asks the prince to shoot it and cut off its head. When the prince refuses, it warns him against buying gallowsflesh and sitting on the edge of wells.
He finds that his brothers, who have been carousing and living sinfully in the meantime, are to be hanged (on the gallows) and buys their liberty. They
False hero
The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is, therefore, always of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presents some claim to the position. By...
find out what he has done. When he sits on a well's edge, they push him in. They take the things and the princess and bring them to their father. However the bird, the horse, and the princess all grieve for the prince. The fox rescues the prince. When he returns to his father's castle dressed in a beggar's cloak, the bird, the horse, and the princess all recognize him as the man who won them, and become cheerful again. His brothers are put to death, and he marries the princess.
Finally, the third son cuts off the fox's head and feet at the creature's request. The fox is revealed
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...
to be a man, the brother of the princess.
Variants
In The Golden Blackbird, the king's son set out because the doctors have prescribed the golden blackbird for their ill father. The two older brothers are allured into the inn without any warning, and the youngest meets the talking hare that aids him only after he passes it by. The horse is featured only as a purchase, and he did not have to perform two tasks to win the Porcelain Maiden, the princess figure. Also, the hare is not transformed at the end of the tale.A similar variant fairy tale of French-Canadian origin is "The Golden Phoenix" collected by Marius Barbeau, and retold by Michael Hornyansky. It follows the hero Petit Jean, the youngest son of the King, who discovers the thief of his father's golden apple to be a golden Phoenix, a legendary bird. Other differences include a battle with 3 mythical beasts, a Sultan's game of hide-and-seek and his marriage with the Sultan's beautiful daughter.
See also
- The Water of LifeThe Water of Life (German fairy tale)The Water of Life is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 97.It is Aarne-Thompson type 551.John Francis Campbell noted it as a parallel of the Scottish fairy tale, The Brown Bear of the Green Glen.-Synopsis:...
- The Golden MermaidThe Golden MermaidThe Golden Mermaid is a German fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Green Fairy Book, attributing it to the Brothers Grimm, but there are noticeable differences between it and the common Grimm version of The Golden Bird.-Synopsis:...
- The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of LifeThe Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of LifeThe Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.-Synopsis:...
- The Sister of the Sun
- Laughing Eye and Weeping EyeLaughing Eye and Weeping EyeLaughing Eye and Weeping Eye or The Lame Fox is a Serbian fairy tale collected by A. H. Wratislaw in his Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources, number 40. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- The Nine Peahens and the Golden ApplesThe Nine Peahens and the Golden ApplesThe Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples is a Serbian epic poetry. It was published for the first time as a fairy tale by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić in 1853. Later on it was published as a Bulgarian fairy tale by A. H...
- The Golden-Headed FishThe Golden-Headed FishThe Golden-Headed Fish is an Armenian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Olive Fairy Book.-Synopsis:A king was going blind. A traveller said that if a golden-headed fish, found in the Great Sea, was brought to him within a hundred days, he would prepare an ointment from its blood to save...
- The Little Green FrogThe Little Green FrogThe Little Green Frog is a French literary fairy tale, from the Cabinet des Fées. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- Prâslea the Brave and the Golden ApplesPrâslea the Brave and the Golden ApplesPrâslea the Brave and the Golden Apples is a Romanian fairy tale collected by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor.-Synopsis:...
- The Story of BensurdatuThe Story of BensurdatuThe Story of Bensurdatu is an Italian fairy tale collected by Laura Gonzenbach in Sicilianische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- The Brown Bear of the Green GlenThe Brown Bear of the Green GlenThe Brown Bear of the Green Glen is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John MacDonald, a "Traveling Tinker." He also noted the parallels with The Water of Life....
- The King of England and his Three SonsThe King of England and his Three SonsThe King of England and his Three Sons is a Gypsy fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's In Gypsy Tents, where the informant was John Roberts, a Welsh gypsy....
External links
- The Golden Blackbird A fairytale interpretation following v. Franz's school