"Mary's Child" (also "Our Lady's Child", "A Child of Saint Mary" or "The Virgin Mary's Child"; ) is a German

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

in '' Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 3). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 710. The

noted its similarity to the Italian '' The Goat-faced Girl'' and the Norwegian '' The Lassie and Her Godmother''.Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Hunt, M. (transl.) ''Household Tales'' " Notes: Our Lady's Child" They also noted its connection to the forbidden door and tell-tale stain of '' Fitcher's Bird''. Other tales that make use of these elements are Bluebeard and " In the Black Woman's Castle".

Origin

The tale was published by the

in the first edition of '' Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' in 1812, and has been only slightly changed in the successive editions. Their source was Gretchen Wild (1787–1819).

Synopsis

A poor woodcutter and his wife had a three-year-old daughter that they could not feed. The

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

appeared to the woodcutter and promised to take care of the child, so they gave her the child. She grew up happily in

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. One day the Virgin had to go on a journey and gave the girl keys, telling her she could open twelve doors but not the thirteenth. She opened the first twelve and found the Apostles behind them. Then she opened the thirteenth door. Behind it was the Trinity, and her finger was stained with

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. She tried to hide it, lying three times, and the Virgin Mary said she could no longer remain for her disobedience and lying. She fell asleep and woke to find herself in a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. Lamenting her misfortune, she lived in a hollow tree, ate wild plants, and tore all her clothing until she was naked. One day, a

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

found her looking beautiful but incapable of speech. He took her home and married her. A year later, she had a son. The Virgin Mary appeared and demanded that she confess to having opened the door. She lied again, the Virgin took her son, and the people whispered that she had killed and eaten the child. In another year, she had another son, and it went as before. The third year, she had a daughter, and the Virgin Mary took her to heaven and showed her her sons, but she would not confess. This time, the king could not restrain his councilors, and the queen was condemned to death. When she was brought to the stake, she relented and wished she could confess before she died. The Virgin Mary brought back her children, restored her the power of speech, and gave her happiness the rest of her life.

Variants

In other versions of this tale the plot remains the same but the religious themes are downplayed, and the Virgin Mary and other Christian figures are replaced by

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

.Lily Owens, ed. (1981). ''The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales''. pp. 7–10. Avenel Books.

References

External links

* * * {{Brothers Grimm Grimms' Fairy Tales Cultural depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus Female characters in fairy tales Child characters in literature Heaven in popular culture ATU 700-749 Folklore featuring nakedness

Origin

Synopsis

Variants

See also

References

External links