"The Hazelnut Child" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Das Haselnusskind'') is a

Bukovinian Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also List of European regions with alternative names#B, other languages. is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical regio ...

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 ...

collected by the Polish-German scholar

Heinrich von Wlislocki Heinrich Adalbert von Wlislocki ( Hungarian: ''Wlislocki Henrik''; born 9 July 1856 in Kronstadt; died 19 February 1907 in Klosdorf bei Kleinkopisch, now in Șona) was a Transylvanian linguist and folklorist. The son of an ethnically Polish Au ...

(1856–1907) in ''Märchen Und Sagen Der Bukowinaer Und Siebenbûrger Armenier'' (1891,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

: Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei Actien-Gesellschaft).

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish 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 ...

included it in ''

The Yellow Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...

'' (1894) and

Ruth Manning-Sanders Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

included it in ''

A Book of Dwarfs Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

'' (1964).

Synopsis

A childless couple prayed for a child, though he were no bigger than a

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

, and then they had such a son. He never grew, but he was very clever. When he was 15, he said he wanted to be a messenger. His mother sent him to get a comb from his aunt. He climbed on a horse that a man was riding by, and poked and pinched it until it galloped to the village. There he got the comb, and took another horse the same way. This convinced his mother. One day, his father left him in the fields with a horse while he went back home. A robber tried to steal the horse. The hazelnut child jumped on the horse and pricked it until it ignored the robber and galloped home. The robber was jailed. When he was 20, the hazelnut child left home, promising to return when he was rich. He climbed on a stork as the storks were flying south. In Africa, he amused the king until the king gave him a large diamond. The hazelnut child took it with him when the storks flew north again, and so he and his parents were rich thereafter.

Analysis

Tale type

In his own notes to the tale, Wlislocki related it to the cycle of ''Daumesdick'' ("Thumbling"). In addition, in the late 19th century, editors of ''Jahresbericht über die Erscheinungen auf dem Gebiete der germanischen Philologie'', in a review of Wlislocki's book, equated the tale to German tale ''Däumling'' ("Thumbling"). In his 1987 study of folktales, folklorist

D. L. Ashliman Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore an ...

classified the tale as type AaTh 700, "Tom Thumb".Ashliman, D. L. ''A Guide to Folktales in the English Language: Based on the Aarne-Thompson Classification System''. Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature, vol. 11. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1987. pp. 140-141. .

References

External links

''The Hazel-nut Child''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazelnut Child Hazel-nut Child Hazel-nut Child Hazel-nut Child

Synopsis

Analysis

Tale type

See also

References

External links