"The Gnome" is a German
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
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
in ''
Grimm's Fairy Tales
''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publis ...
'', tale number 91.
[Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, ''Household Tales'']
"The Gnome"
It is
Aarne-Thompson type 301A, The Quest for the Vanished Princesses.
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 and ...
,
The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)
Synopsis
A king owns a poison tree, and whoever eats a fruit from it will vanish underground. His three daughters want to see if that really happens. The
youngest says that their father loves them too much for that, so they eat the fruit and sink underground. The king becomes so worried about his daughters vanished underground, that he offers their hand to whoever saves them.
Three huntsmen set out. They find a castle with no one in it but food set out, so they watch and then eat, and agree to draw lots; one will stay and make camp while the other two will search. The eldest stays until he is confronted by a small gnome who begs for bread. The eldest reluctantly gives him a piece, but the gnome asks him for the whole loaf. At first, the eldest is confused about why the Gnome wanted so much bread, but when he refuses, the gnome suddenly beats him up until he is unconscious so that he can take away the whole loaf to chow down on. The same thing happens to the second huntsman. Later, the third one finds his companions unconscious, and accuses the gnome for ambushing them during their quest. Blamed for his wrongdoing, the gnome is forced to apologize, promising to show him how to rescue the king's daughters. He shows him a deep well without water, warns that his companions might betray him and so he has to go alone, and vanishes. The third tells the other two, and they go to the well. The eldest and next both try to be lowered, but panic; the youngest goes down and finds the king's daughters being held captive, one by a dragon with nine heads, one by one with five, one by one with four. He kills the dragons and has the king's daughters lifted in the basket. Then he puts in a rock; his brothers cut the rope and take the princesses back to the king.
The youngest finds a flute. Playing it conjures up elves, who bring him to the surface. The princesses tell the truth, and the angered King sentences the older brothers to death by
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
, yet he allows the youngest son to marry the youngest princess anyway for being the only sibling in the offspring to do the right thing for his family.
Motifs
The rescue of the princesses and the throwing down the cliff by his rivals appear also in ''
The Story of Bensurdatu
The Story of Bensurdatu is an Italian fairy tale collected by Laura Gonzenbach in '' Sicilianische Märchen''. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Grey Fairy Book''.
Synopsis
A king and queen had three daughters, and did everything to make them hap ...
''; in ''
'', the hero is also thrown down by the rival.
Footnotes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnome (fairy tale), The
Gnome
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
Gnomes
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its character ...
Gnome, The
ATU 300-399