The Seven Ravens
Encyclopedia
The Seven Ravens is a German fairy tale
collected
by the Brothers Grimm
.
It is tale number 25, and Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds. Georgios A Megas collected another, Greek variant in Folktales of Greece. Other variants of the Aarne-Thompson type include The Six Swans
, The Twelve Wild Ducks
, Udea and her Seven Brothers
, The Wild Swans
, The Twelve Brothers
, and The Magic Swan Geese
.
An animated feature film
based on the story was released in 1937 (see The Seven Ravens
).
When the sister was grown, she set out in search of her brothers. She attempts to get help first from the sun, then the moon, then the morning star, and the star does help her, giving her a chicken bone (in the Italian) or a bat's foot (in the Greek) and tell her she will need it to save her brothers. She finds the Glass Mountain where they are. In the Greek version, she opens it with the bat's foot; in the German, she has lost the bone, and chops off a finger to use as a key. She gets into the mountain, where a dwarf tells her that her brothers will return. She takes some of their food and drink and leaves in the last cup a ring from home.
When her brothers return, she hides, and they turn into human form and ask who has been at their food. The last one finds the ring, and hopes it is their sister, in which case they are saved. She emerges, and they return home.
, The Six Swans
, and Brother and Sister
, features a woman rescuing her brothers. In the era and region in which it was collected, many men were drafted by kings for soldiers, to be sent as mercenaries. As a consequence, many men made their daughter their heirs; however, they also exerted more control over them and their marriages. The stories have been interpreted as a wish by women for the return of their brothers, freeing them from this control. However, the issues of when the stories were collected are unclear, and stories of this type have been found in many other cultures, where this issue can not have inspired them.
Some folklorists connect this tale to the more general practice of ultimogeniture
, in which the youngest child would inherit.
composer
Josef Rheinberger
based an opera on the tale, which was premiered in 1867.
, The Seven Ravens, and The Twelve Brothers
while building a new narrative for the sister character found in all three versions.
A musical version of The Seven Ravens, written by Wolfgang Adenberg and Alexander S. Bermange
was presented at the Amphitheater Park Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau, Germany as part of the Brothers Grimm Festival in 2007.
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
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
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...
.
It is tale number 25, and Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds. Georgios A Megas collected another, Greek variant in Folktales of Greece. Other variants of the Aarne-Thompson type include The Six Swans
The Six Swans
The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 49. Andrew Lang included a variant in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 451: the brothers who were turned into birds...
, The Twelve Wild Ducks
The Twelve Wild Ducks
The Twelve Wild Ducks is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds.-Plot summary:...
, Udea and her Seven Brothers
Udea and her Seven Brothers
Udea and her Seven Brothers is a Northern African fairy tale collected by Hans von Stumme in Märchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451.-Synopsis:...
, The Wild Swans
The Wild Swans
"The Wild Swans" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a princess who rescues her eleven brothers from a spell cast by an evil queen....
, The Twelve Brothers
The Twelve Brothers
The Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...
, and The Magic Swan Geese
The Magic Swan Geese
The Magic Swan Geese or is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451...
.
An animated feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
based on the story was released in 1937 (see The Seven Ravens
The Seven Ravens (film)
The Seven Ravens is a German stop motion-animated fairytale film directed by the Diehl brothers. It was released in Germany on 2 December 1937...
).
Synopsis
A peasant had seven sons and no daughter until finally a daughter was born, but she was sickly. He sent his sons to fetch water for her—in the German version, to be baptized; in the Greek, from a healing spring—but in their haste, they dropped the jug in the well. When they did not return, their father thought they had left it off to play and cursed them. Unexpectedly, it turned them into ravens, as he said.When the sister was grown, she set out in search of her brothers. She attempts to get help first from the sun, then the moon, then the morning star, and the star does help her, giving her a chicken bone (in the Italian) or a bat's foot (in the Greek) and tell her she will need it to save her brothers. She finds the Glass Mountain where they are. In the Greek version, she opens it with the bat's foot; in the German, she has lost the bone, and chops off a finger to use as a key. She gets into the mountain, where a dwarf tells her that her brothers will return. She takes some of their food and drink and leaves in the last cup a ring from home.
When her brothers return, she hides, and they turn into human form and ask who has been at their food. The last one finds the ring, and hopes it is their sister, in which case they are saved. She emerges, and they return home.
Analysis
This tale, like The Twelve BrothersThe Twelve Brothers
The Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...
, The Six Swans
The Six Swans
The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 49. Andrew Lang included a variant in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 451: the brothers who were turned into birds...
, and Brother and Sister
Brother and Sister
Brother and Sister is a well-known European fairy tale which was, among others, written down by the Brothers Grimm in their collection of Children's and Household Tales ...
, features a woman rescuing her brothers. In the era and region in which it was collected, many men were drafted by kings for soldiers, to be sent as mercenaries. As a consequence, many men made their daughter their heirs; however, they also exerted more control over them and their marriages. The stories have been interpreted as a wish by women for the return of their brothers, freeing them from this control. However, the issues of when the stories were collected are unclear, and stories of this type have been found in many other cultures, where this issue can not have inspired them.
Some folklorists connect this tale to the more general practice of ultimogeniture
Ultimogeniture
Ultimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance by the last-born of the entirety of, or a privileged position in, a parent's wealth, estate or office...
, in which the youngest child would inherit.
Commentary
In the original oral version, there were three, not seven ravens; one study of German folk tales found that of 31 variants collected after the publication of Grimms' Fairy Tales, only two followed the Grimms in having seven ravens.In Music
The LiechtensteinLiechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Josef Rheinberger
Josef Rheinberger
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger was a German organist and composer, born in Liechtenstein.-Short biography:...
based an opera on the tale, which was premiered in 1867.
Modern Interpretations
Black Feather by K. Tempest Bradford (published in the Interfictions anthology, 2007) references commonalities between The Six SwansThe Six Swans
The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 49. Andrew Lang included a variant in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 451: the brothers who were turned into birds...
, The Seven Ravens, and The Twelve Brothers
The Twelve Brothers
The Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...
while building a new narrative for the sister character found in all three versions.
A musical version of The Seven Ravens, written by Wolfgang Adenberg and Alexander S. Bermange
Alexander S. Bermange
Alexander S. Bermange is an English musical theatre composer and lyricist. He has often served as musical director and pianist for his own productions. He is also a regular broadcaster on UK radio.-Career:...
was presented at the Amphitheater Park Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau, Germany as part of the Brothers Grimm Festival in 2007.