The Golden Stag (
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
: ''Cerbul de aur'') is a
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
.
Source
The tale was originally collected in late 19th century by Romanian folklorist with the title ''Cerbul de aur''. He sourced it from a man named Costache Georgescu, from Telega.
Synopsis
An old woman told her husband that he had to lose his two children, a son and a daughter, by his first marriage, in the
woods. The first time, the boy had been playing in the ashes, and the children came back, but the second time, the old man succeeded in losing them. They could not find water anywhere, until they came to the tracks of a fox where water was welling, but the sister warned her brother that drinking that would turn him into a fox. At the tracks of a bear, she warned him again. At the tracks of a stag, she warned him again, but he was too thirsty and drank. He became a golden
stag
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
. He carried off his sister in cradle in his antlers, and made a nest for her, up in a tree, where she grew up.
One day, a prince saw her and fell in love. He promised a fortune to whoever wooed that girl for him. An old woman saw the golden stag and did not know how to address it, so she lured the girl down by pretending to be foolish with her cook fire, and carried her off to the prince. When the stag followed, the sister said that he was her brother, and the prince gave him a fine stable with plenty to eat. They were all happy except a gypsy girl who had been the prince's favourite. She lured the sister into the forest where she went to sleep. Then the gypsy dressed herself as the prince's wife and disguised her face, but the stag knew her at once. The prince and his men followed the stag and retrieved the girl; then he had the gypsy girl stoned to death.
Analysis
Tale type
The tale is classified in the international
Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 450, "
Little Brother and Little Sister".
The method of luring the bride down from the tree is also found in "
Little Wildrose
Little Wildrose is a Romanian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Crimson Fairy Book''.
Origin
Mite Kremnitz stated that the tale was penned by Romanian author , and published in the magazine ''Convorbiri Literare''.
Translations
Mite ...
". More commonly, as in "
Brother and Sister
"Brother and Sister" (also "Little Sister and Little Brother"; German: ''Brüderchen und Schwesterchen'') is a European fairy tale which was, among others, written down by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 11). It is a tale of Aarne–Thompson Type 450. In ...
", "
The Six Swans
"The Six Swans" (German: ''Die sechs Schwäne'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 49). It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451 ("The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers"), commonly found throug ...
", or "
Mary's Child
"Mary's Child" (also "Our Lady's Child", "A Child of Saint Mary" or "The Virgin Mary's Child"; German: ''Marienkind'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 3). It is of Aarne-Thompson type ...
", the hero succeeds in luring her away himself.
See also
*
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
*
The Glass Coffin
"The Glass Coffin" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 163. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Green Fairy Book'' as ''The Crystal Coffin''.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 410, Sleeping Beauty. Another variant is ''The ...
References
Romanian fairy tales
Fiction about shapeshifting
ATU 400-459
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