The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
Encyclopedia
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was or The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear is a German fairy tale
collected by the Brothers Grimm
. It is tale number 4 in the collection
. It was included by Andrew Lang
in The Blue Fairy Book.
The Grimms' first, 1812 edition contained a much shorter version, Good Bowling and Card Playing.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 326.
This tale type did not appear in any early literary collection.
, when asked by his father what he would like to learn to support himself, said he would like to learn to shudder. A sexton
told the father that he could teach the boy. After teaching him to ring the church bell, he sent him one midnight to ring it and came after him, dressed as a ghost. The boy demanded an explanation. When the sexton didn't answer, the boy, unafraid, pushed him down the stairs, breaking his leg.
His horrified father turned him out of house, so the boy set out to learn how to shudder. He complained whenever he could, "If only I could shudder!" One man advised him to stay the night beneath the gallows
, where seven hanged men were still hanging. He did so, and set a fire for the night. When the hanged bodies shook in the wind, he thought they must be cold. He cut them down and, while doing so their clothing caught on fire. The boy, annoyed at their carelessness, hung them back up in the gallows.
After the incident at the gallows, he began traveling with a waggoner. When one night they arrived at an inn, the inn-keeper told him that, if he wanted to know how to shudder, he should visit the haunted
castle nearby. If he could manage to stay there for three nights in a row, he could learn how to shudder, as well as win the king's daughter and all of the rich treasures of the castle. Many men had tried, but none had succeeded.
The boy accepted the challenge and went to the king. The king agreed, and told him that he may bring with him three non-living things into the castle. He asked for a fire, a lathe
, and a cutting board with a knife.
The first night, as the boy sat in his room, two voices from the corner of the room moaned into the night, complaining about the cold. The boy, unafraid, claimed that the owners of the voices were stupid to not warm themselves with the fire. Suddenly, two black cats jumped out of the corner and, seeing the calm boy, proposed a card game. The boy tricked the cats and trapped them with the cutting board and knife. Black cats and dogs emerged from every patch of darkness in the room, and the boy fought and killed each of them with his knife. Then, from the darkness, a bed appeared. He lay down on it, preparing for sleep, but it began walking all over the castle. Still unafraid, the boy urged it to go faster. The bed turned upside down on him, but the boy, unfazed, just tossed the bed aside and slept next to the fire until morning.
As the boy settled in for his second night in the castle, half of a man fell down the chimney. The boy, again unafraid, shouted up the chimney that the other half was needed. The other half, hearing the boy, fell from the chimney and reunited with the rest. More men followed with human skulls and dead men's legs with which to play nine-pins
. The amused boy sharpened the skulls into better balls with his lathe and joined the men until midnight, when they vanished into thin air.
On his third and final night in the castle, the boy heard a strange noise. Six men entered his room, carrying a coffin. The boy, unafraid but distraught, believed the body to be his own dead cousin. As he tried to warm the body, it reanimated, and, confused, threatened to strangle him. The boy, angry at his ingratitude, closed the coffin on top of the man again. An old man heard the noise and came to see the boy. He visits with the boy, bragging that he can knock an anvil straight to the ground. The old man brought him to the basement and, while showing the boy his trick, the boy split an anvil and trapped the old man's beard in it, and then proceeded to beat the man with an iron rod. The man, desperate for mercy, shows the boy all of the treasures in the castle.
When morning finally arrived the next day, the king told the boy that he could marry his lovely daughter. The boy agreed, though upset that he had still not learned how to shudder.
After being married, the boy's continuing complaints annoyed his wife to no end. Reaching her wits' end, she sent for a bucketfull of stream water, complete with gudgeons
. She tossed the freezing water onto her husband as he slept. As he awoke, shuddering, he exclaimed that while he had finally learned to shudder, he still did not know what true fear was.
, he does not fit the usual character of such a son, who normally achieves his goals with the aid of magical helpers
. Accomplishing his task with his own skill and courage, he fits more in the mold of a heroic character. The act of cutting down the corpses to let them warm themselves is similar to the test of compassion that many fairy tale heroes face, but where the act typically wins the hero a gift or a magical helper, here it is merely an incident, perhaps a parody of the more typical plot.
The Child Ballad The Maid Freed from the Gallows
has been retold in fairy tale form, focusing on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a golden ball in order to save his love from the noose, and the incidents strongly resemble this tale.
In his opera Siegfried
, Richard Wagner
has his title character Siegfried begin fearless, and express his wish to learn fear to his foster father Mime, who says the wise learn fear quickly, but the stupid find it more difficult. Later, when he discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde, he is struck with fear. In a letter to his friend Theodor Uhlig, Wagner recounts the fairy tale and points out that the youth and Siegfried are the same character. Parzival
is another figure in German legend that combines naïveté with courage.
is based on the protagonist of this story.
The television series Jim Henson
's The StoryTeller
features an adaptation of the tale in the episode Fearnot.
The television show Faerie Tale Theatre
did an adaption of this story but renamed it "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers".
The episodic games of American McGee's Grimm
on Gametap
debuted with "A Boy Learns What Fear Is" on July 31, 2008.
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...
. It is tale number 4 in the collection
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:...
. It was included by 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...
in The Blue Fairy Book.
The Grimms' first, 1812 edition contained a much shorter version, Good Bowling and Card Playing.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 326.
This tale type did not appear in any early literary collection.
Synopsis
A father had two sons. The youngerYoungest 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....
, when asked by his father what he would like to learn to support himself, said he would like to learn to shudder. A sexton
Sexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
told the father that he could teach the boy. After teaching him to ring the church bell, he sent him one midnight to ring it and came after him, dressed as a ghost. The boy demanded an explanation. When the sexton didn't answer, the boy, unafraid, pushed him down the stairs, breaking his leg.
His horrified father turned him out of house, so the boy set out to learn how to shudder. He complained whenever he could, "If only I could shudder!" One man advised him to stay the night beneath the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
, where seven hanged men were still hanging. He did so, and set a fire for the night. When the hanged bodies shook in the wind, he thought they must be cold. He cut them down and, while doing so their clothing caught on fire. The boy, annoyed at their carelessness, hung them back up in the gallows.
After the incident at the gallows, he began traveling with a waggoner. When one night they arrived at an inn, the inn-keeper told him that, if he wanted to know how to shudder, he should visit the haunted
Haunted house
A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
castle nearby. If he could manage to stay there for three nights in a row, he could learn how to shudder, as well as win the king's daughter and all of the rich treasures of the castle. Many men had tried, but none had succeeded.
The boy accepted the challenge and went to the king. The king agreed, and told him that he may bring with him three non-living things into the castle. He asked for a fire, a lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
, and a cutting board with a knife.
The first night, as the boy sat in his room, two voices from the corner of the room moaned into the night, complaining about the cold. The boy, unafraid, claimed that the owners of the voices were stupid to not warm themselves with the fire. Suddenly, two black cats jumped out of the corner and, seeing the calm boy, proposed a card game. The boy tricked the cats and trapped them with the cutting board and knife. Black cats and dogs emerged from every patch of darkness in the room, and the boy fought and killed each of them with his knife. Then, from the darkness, a bed appeared. He lay down on it, preparing for sleep, but it began walking all over the castle. Still unafraid, the boy urged it to go faster. The bed turned upside down on him, but the boy, unfazed, just tossed the bed aside and slept next to the fire until morning.
As the boy settled in for his second night in the castle, half of a man fell down the chimney. The boy, again unafraid, shouted up the chimney that the other half was needed. The other half, hearing the boy, fell from the chimney and reunited with the rest. More men followed with human skulls and dead men's legs with which to play nine-pins
Nine-pin bowling
Nine-pin bowling is a bowling game played primarily in Europe. European championships are held each year. Over 90,000 members are on teams in Germany, often playing in officially registered Bundeskegelbahnen to be found in almost every sizable town...
. The amused boy sharpened the skulls into better balls with his lathe and joined the men until midnight, when they vanished into thin air.
On his third and final night in the castle, the boy heard a strange noise. Six men entered his room, carrying a coffin. The boy, unafraid but distraught, believed the body to be his own dead cousin. As he tried to warm the body, it reanimated, and, confused, threatened to strangle him. The boy, angry at his ingratitude, closed the coffin on top of the man again. An old man heard the noise and came to see the boy. He visits with the boy, bragging that he can knock an anvil straight to the ground. The old man brought him to the basement and, while showing the boy his trick, the boy split an anvil and trapped the old man's beard in it, and then proceeded to beat the man with an iron rod. The man, desperate for mercy, shows the boy all of the treasures in the castle.
When morning finally arrived the next day, the king told the boy that he could marry his lovely daughter. The boy agreed, though upset that he had still not learned how to shudder.
After being married, the boy's continuing complaints annoyed his wife to no end. Reaching her wits' end, she sent for a bucketfull of stream water, complete with gudgeons
Gudgeon (fish)
Gudgeon is a common name for a number of small freshwater fishes of the families Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water....
. She tossed the freezing water onto her husband as he slept. As he awoke, shuddering, he exclaimed that while he had finally learned to shudder, he still did not know what true fear was.
First edition
In Good Bowling and Card Playing, the story begins with the king's offer to marry his daughter to whoever stayed three nights in the castle. The hero is not a fool but merely a bold young man who, being very poor, wishes to try it.Commentary
Although the hero of this story is a youngest sonYoungest 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....
, he does not fit the usual character of such a son, who normally achieves his goals with the aid of magical helpers
Donor (fairy tale)
In fairy tales, a donor is a character that tests the hero and provides magical assistances to the hero when he succeeds.The fairy godmother is a well-known form of this character...
. Accomplishing his task with his own skill and courage, he fits more in the mold of a heroic character. The act of cutting down the corpses to let them warm themselves is similar to the test of compassion that many fairy tale heroes face, but where the act typically wins the hero a gift or a magical helper, here it is merely an incident, perhaps a parody of the more typical plot.
The Child Ballad The Maid Freed from the Gallows
The Maid Freed from the Gallows
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; eleven variants, some...
has been retold in fairy tale form, focusing on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a golden ball in order to save his love from the noose, and the incidents strongly resemble this tale.
In his opera Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
has his title character Siegfried begin fearless, and express his wish to learn fear to his foster father Mime, who says the wise learn fear quickly, but the stupid find it more difficult. Later, when he discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde, he is struck with fear. In a letter to his friend Theodor Uhlig, Wagner recounts the fairy tale and points out that the youth and Siegfried are the same character. Parzival
Parzival
Parzival is a major medieval German romance by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the Middle High German language. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, is itself largely based on Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian...
is another figure in German legend that combines naïveté with courage.
Adaptations
The character of the Boy from No Rest for the WickedNo Rest for the Wicked (webcomic)
No Rest for the Wicked is a fantasy webcomic by Andrea L. Peterson. The characters are loosely based on characters from traditional fairy tales, including those by Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, and the Brothers Grimm. The plot revolves around a princess who has been an insomniac since...
is based on the protagonist of this story.
The television series Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's The StoryTeller
The Storyteller
The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
features an adaptation of the tale in the episode Fearnot.
The television show Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre is a live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales. Shelley Duvall serves as narrator, host and executive producer of the program, and occasionally stars in episodes...
did an adaption of this story but renamed it "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers".
The episodic games of American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon Grimm's Fairy Tales, designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008...
on Gametap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
debuted with "A Boy Learns What Fear Is" on July 31, 2008.
See also
- The Girl and the Dead ManThe Girl and the Dead ManThe Girl and the Dead Man is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as Ann Darroch, in Islay.-Synopsis:...
- The Boy Who Found Fear At LastThe Boy Who Found Fear At LastThe Boy Who Found Fear At Last is a Turkish fairy tale collected by Ignaz Kunos in Türkische Volksmärchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Olive Fairy Book-Synopsis:...