Tritill, Litill, and the Birds is a Hungarian fairy tale.

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 o ...

included it in ''

The Crimson 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 ...

''. A version of the tale also appears in ''

A Book of Ogres and Trolls A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', by

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 lifeti ...

. That version is said to come from

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Synopsis

A king's beautiful daughter vanished without a trace. The king proclaimed that whoever returned with her could marry her. Near, a peasant couple had three sons; the older two were indulged, and the youngest always had to give way to his brothers. The oldest set out to seek his fortune. He refused food to two beggars and threw stones at birds that looked for crumbs. He went to sleep in a cave, but an

ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

ss returned. She agreed to let him stay only if he would do a task in the morning, and then she set him to sweep out the cave. The dirt would not move, and the ogress hit him over the head, killing him. And the second brother followed and met the same fate. The parents continued to mistreat their youngest, so he also set out. He gave some food to the first beggar, who told him to call his name, Tritill, if he needed help, and the same with the second, Litill, and he crumbed some of his bread for the birds, who also told him to call for help. He found the same cave and realized from bones and scraps of cloth that it was an ogress's lair, but remained. When she set him to sweep the floor, he called on Tritill, who did it for him. The next day, the ogress set him to spread the feathers from her pillows to dry them and put them all back. He spread them out, a breeze carried them off, and he called on Tritill, Litill, and the birds. They put the feathers back. The next day, the ogress set him to slaughter one of her fifty oxen, but she would not tell him which one. He called on Tritill and Litill, who slaughtered one and told him to ask for what lay on the bed, the chest at her bed's foot, and what lay under the cave's side. These proved to be the princess, a chest filled with gold and jewels, and a magical ship that moved over land and sea. He brought this all to the king, who agreed to the marriage.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tritill, Litill, And The Birds Hungarian fairy tales

Synopsis

See also

External links