Ashe's analyses on the Grimms' four three nights tales (motif
D1978.4: False bride drugs bridegroom, heroine awakens him by purchasing nights from false bride):
The Singing, Soaring/Springing Skylark (Das singende, springende Löweneckerchen),
type 425A,
8th of October 2013:
Her husband was fighting a dragon, which was really an enchanted princess.
The south wind told the girl to strike the dragon with the reed, as a result her husband would be able to subdue it. After this, both dragon and lion would turn back into humans.
The girl traveled and found everything to be as the south wind had said. She plucked the eleventh reed and hit the dragon with it. The enchanted princess made a fast move though, she grabbed the prince and hopped on the griffin instead of allowing his true wife to do so. The girl was devastated, but avowed that she would go, “As far as the wind blows and as long as the cockerel crows,” until she found her husband.
She came to a castle where both the princess and her husband were living. The princess was planning on marrying the girl’s husband. There was a wedding feast to celebrate the impending marriage and the girl remembered her gifts. She opened the casket that the sun had given her. Inside was the most splendid dress. She put it on and it made the princess jealous. The princess desired to have the dress and asked if it were for sale. The girl said, “Not for money or land, but for flesh and blood.” The princess asked the price and the girl told her the price was one night with the prince. The princess agreed, because she was devious. When the time for payment came, the princess gave the prince a sleeping draught.
The girl was expecting to speak with her husband that night, but he was in a deep sleep. She was sorely disappointed. The next morning she was led out of the room with nothing to show for it. The girl went to a meadow to be sorry for herself, but remembered the present from the moon. She broke the egg open and inside was a hen and twelve chickens all of gold. The princess happened to see the girls’ golden chickens and she wanted them. She asked their price. The girl gave the same answer. The girl asked the same price.
The prince had deduced that something fishy had gone on the night before and asked the servant. The servant confessed that the princess had given him a sleeping draught. The prince told him that this time he should pour the draught out. The servant did as bidden. This time the prince was awake when his wife entered the room. The prince declared that this was his true wife and they were going to leave.
They hopped on the griffin, flew on, and made their way home.
THEMES:
There is a ton of symbolism in this story. The sun, the moon, the north wind, the south wind, the east wind, the west wind, a reed, a dragon, a beautiful dress, an egg, a sleeping potion, a chicken, the number twelve, the number seven, the number three, the number four, and so on, and so on, and so on. I could probably spend a year writing about all the symbolism in this story. This is not a study that goes that in-depth into the world of the Grimm’s stories, this is just a survey more or less. So, unfortunately, I cannot discuss all of these points here.
He could have been severely depressed for seven years or going through a drug addiction.
Who is still with him this entire time? Who searches over the entire known universe for him? His wife. When another woman tries to steal him away, she’s still there. She reminds him of their commitments. She reminds him of their life together. She reminds him of the good things. He finally comes home. Their relationship finally levels out.
This story, is a story of a marriage. This story is of one very determined woman. She is determined to keep her husband and be by him no matter what. It’s really an illustration of wedding vows, in sickness and in health, so on and so on.
OVERALL
As much as I hate to admit it, this is really a love story. It’s a story of a marriage and it’s a story of some extreme devotion. It has a lot of symbolism, which I love.
The Two Royal Children (Die beiden Königskinder),
type 313,
6th of December 2013:
Get ready for a long summary and many familiar elements.
After a while, it was arranged that the prince was to be married. The princess begged to go. She opened one of the walnuts, inside was a very beautiful dress. She went and stood by the altar. The bride-to-be saw this beautiful dress and desired it. She asked the princess how much it was selling for. The princess said it was not for sale, but that maybe it could be earned. The bride asked her to name her price. She asked to sleep outside the door of the prince for one night. The bride agreed, but commanded that the prince should be given a sleeping draught.
That night the princess poured her soul out to the prince behind the closed door. She told him how she had rescued him three times with her earth men and had turned him into three different objects, but he didn’t hear any of it because he was asleep, but a servant did.
The next day the princess opened up another walnut; it contained an even more beautiful dress. She went and stood by the altar again. The bride came in the dress from the day before, but desired the more beautiful dress. The bride asked the princess to name her price and she asked the same price. Once again, the princess bemoaned what she had done outside the prince’s door, but this night was different. The servant had given the prince a sleeping draught, but had also given him something in order to stay awake. The prince heard everything and remembered all. He wanted to go to the princess, but his mother had locked the door, so he could not.
The next morning, the prince went to the princess and told her everything. He asked her forgiveness. The princess opened the last walnut and inside was the most beautiful dress of them all. They dressed up, went to the church, and got married. The false bride had to depart.
“And the mouth of the person who last told all this is still warm.”
The End
OBSERVATIONS
This is a very long Grimm’s story. I tried to summarize it as shortly as possible, but unfortunately, that’s still quite long.
By the way, St. Christopher is labeled as “the Christ bearer,” as in physically carrying Christ. This pretty much symbolizes taking someone else’s burden as your own, which happens in this story. The false bride’s greed relieves the prince of getting married to her.
I have a hunch, that some of these stories that sound very similar, but aren’t exactly the same story, come from different regions. Maybe there was a little village where the story was told one way and there was another village where the story was told a different way. Over the years, the stories developed their own quirks as people traveled and created traditions belonging to that village.
The Iron Stove (Der Eisenofen),
type 425A,
30th of December 2013:
This story has many other similar elements of many other Grimm’s stories, but it still beloved by many people. There are some absolutely beautiful illustrations out there depicting this story.
A box was brought. The princess was fed and put in a beautiful and soft bed. In the morning the old frog gave her three presents. Three needles, a plough wheel, and three nuts. She would need these to go on her journey. The princess started out. She came to a glass mountain. She used the three needles to put behind her feet, then in front of her feet, and slowly made her way up the mountain. After that she came to three piercing swords. She put herself on the plough wheel and rolled over the swords. She soon came to a great lake and crossed it.
She found a beautiful castle. She asked to be a servant there, knowing her prince was there as well. As it turns out, he was about to marry another woman because he had thought the princess long dead. The princess cracked open one of her nuts and inside she found a beautiful dress. The fake-bride saw the dress and desired it greatly. She asked how much it would cost and the princess said the price was one night in the prince’s chamber. The fake-bride agreed, but gave the prince a sleeping draught before the night commenced. The princess could not wake him at all, but poured out her heart to him and all the things she had done for him.
The next day, she opened another nut. Inside was another beautiful dress. Again, the fake-bride desired it. The price was the same and all went the same except some servants had been listening. The next day the process was repeated with the final nut, but this time someone warned the prince and he did not take the sleeping draught. When he heard the things the princess had said, he knew she was his true love and they absconded in the night on a ship. They carefully made their way back home over the three swords and down the glass mountain. When they came back to the little house with the frogs, it was a great castle and the amphibians within were people now.
They got married.
A mouse did run
The story is done.
The End
OBSERVATIONS
This is very much like several other Grimm’s stories in which the woman fails somehow then has to go rescue her man, who has already found himself another woman. Essentially that’s the essence of all of these similar tales. They are kind of sweet as a romance story, but they’re also kind of off-putting if you really want to think about it.
THEMES
Here’s the formula for this type of story:
- Woman finds man in a strange circumstance (polar bear, lion, in a stove, etc..)
- Woman promises to do something for said man
- Woman breaks promise to said man
- Said man goes very far away, where he finds another woman
- Woman uses extraordinary measures to to find her husband and travels very far distances
- Woman tricks other woman into spending the night in the man’s room
- Man gets a sleeping draught
- Man finally catches on and goes away with his first woman
- The end
Yep, that’s how it works every single time. It’s a very familiar pattern. On the one hand, I like these strong, determined women and feel bad that their man has found himself another woman, but on the other hand, I kind of feel they deserved it for not keeping their promise. It seems like both parties are a little at fault here.
So it’s a common story backbone. I think it does say something about relationships. These women in these stories are pretty awesome, but they always breaks their promises. Not that breaking a promise is a death sentence. It does happen and sometimes it happens out of your control, so someone should usually be forgiving when one promise has been broken, now, ten or twelve broken promises on the other hand, might not be so forgivable. I have no evidence that this princess broke her promise in any other way, besides her father trying to play the old switch-her-roo. The “her” was totally intended. I think the prince should have been a little more forgiving. Why does he thinks she’s dead? It was nine days in the forest, maybe she’s freaking related to Bear Grylls. She survived in those woods just fine. The prince just goes off and finds himself another woman. This other woman always tends to be evil, vain or both. That’s supposed to be better than this other woman who loved you? The woman only wins her husband back because she’s got swag and bling. It’s like there is some show called “Pimp my Dress” and she was on it, now all the other women are jealous of her dress with blue lights underneath.
Look relationships can be rocky. Both parties can be really at fault in a disagreement. There are those times when one person is right, but the other is wrong. There are times it’s the other way around. There are times when nobody is right and there are times when nobody is wrong. You have to learn to get over those disagreements, not that I’m an expert. The princess tries so hard. She gives so much. She works her butt off. She puts her heart, her mind, and her body into getting her man back, but here he is sitting in luxury with another woman already. Does he deserve her? I don’t really think he does, but she loves him, so she crosses the world to be with him.
I think it was amazing that this princess accomplished all of this. You go girl! But, seriously, I don’t think the man deserved it. He didn’t deserve her. What did he do for her? Name something. Buy her flowers? Nope. Rescue her from certain death? Nope. She was two hours away from home, if you remember. She would have found home eventually. Give her chocolates? Nope. Let her visit her family often? Nope. Buy her nice things? Nope. She got her nice things from some frogs.
OVERALL
With all this said, I do still like this story formula. I love all the things the women in these stories accomplish. These are probably some of the more women positive stories in the Grimm’s tales, not that any of them are overly woman positive.
The Drummer
(Der Trommler),
type 313,
20th of June 2014:
This story is really long, but it’s about a drummer. Sadly, I don’t really know any names of drummers. I’m more of a guitar and piano fan myself.
The maiden then said that the drummer could marry her. They wouldn’t need any money because there was plenty inside of the house. They gathered up some riches and the drummer was going to take her back home on the saddle, but she said, “No thanks, I have my magical ring.” She wished them back home, but outside of his parents house she told him not to kiss his parents on the right cheek, otherwise he would forget her. She said she would wait for him.
He went home, but the time he had been away had really been three years and not just three days. His parents were relieved that he was alive. He kissed them, but he kissed them on the right cheek. He emptied his pockets and showed them all the riches he had. They built a big castle. In the meantime, the princess was still waiting. The drummer’s parents arranged a marriage for him.
The maiden had been waiting this whole time. She knew that he must have kissed his parents on the right cheek. She then heard around town that the drummer was to be married. She thought that she could win him back.
On the first day of the wedding ceremonies she used her magic ring to wish for a dress as bright as the sun. She wore it to the festivities and the bride-to-be saw it and wanted it. The princess said the bride could have it, but she must exchange a night by the door of the room in which her husband-to-be slept. The bride made the deal, but gave the drummer a sleeping potion before he went to sleep. The princess sat outside the door and lamented:
“Drummer, drummer, I pray you hear!
Have you forgotten you held me dear?
That on the glass mountain we sat hour by hour?
Did you not plight your troth to me?
Drummer, drummer, hearken to me!”
But he didn’t hear because he was in a deep sleep.
On the second day of the wedding festivities, the princess wished herself a dress as silvery as the moon. The bride to be saw the dress and had to have it, so she once again made a bargain with the princess. The same thing happened all over again. Sleeping potion, lamentations, and no progress.
On the third day, the princess wished for a dress that glittered like the stars. The bride had to have the dress and made the familiar trade with the princess. As it turned out people had heard the woman bemoaning her fate outside of the drummer’s door the past couple of nights and began to talk. The drummer happened to hear some of this talk and poured his sleeping draught behind the bed. That night, the princess gave her same lamentations, but the drummer heard them.
He remembered her and scolded himself for being unfaithful. He wondered over how a kiss of joy in greeting his parents could have led to such unhappiness. He led the princess by the hand to his parents’ bedroom and told them that this was his real wife and that he couldn’t marry anyone else. Once they had heard the story, they said it was ok. They switched out brides at the wedding and the former bride was content with her new dresses.
The End
THEMES
This story has many similar elements from other Grimm’s stories. We have a woman who laments by her love’s door for three nights. We have three dresses in the three degrees of glory. We have a woman who is so vain that she would trade a night with her boyfriend to a random woman for a dress.
I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t like fashion that much. I’m not going to trade my husband for a nice dress, but I might consider it one day if he gets too annoying. Women don’t go around letting other women borrow their men. Oh you can have him on alternate Thursdays. Nobody does that.
Obviously if you’re willing to trade your man for a dress, you don’t care for your man very much. This all points to the idea of “true love” circulating around in these tales. The other woman would never trade the man for a dress, but the fake bride totally would. The true love would stay outside her love’s door for three nights detailing all the things they had been through. The new love would let the old love have three nights with her man. Part of what these stories is trying to say is that the false love is willing to let go of the man while the true love isn’t willing to let go no matter what.
Sure, you may call this true love, but some people would call this stalking. This princess is like the ex that never goes away. The man is about to get married for crying out loud, they’re celebrating the wedding festivities, but she shows up and steals the man back. Hasn’t she ever heard the phrase, “If you love something let it go”? Sometimes, if you really, really care for a person you have to be willing to let them go. Sometimes, you look at them and see they would be happier in another situation or with somebody else. It just comes to a point when it’s selfish on your part to continue that relationship. I think the adult thing for this woman to have done would have been to go away and find herself another man. It sounds kind of harsh, but this man had already built a new life. His had a castle. He was a respected man in the community. He provided for his parents. He had found a new wife and I can guarantee you that he knew her longer than three days before marrying her.
Say you do love someone…wouldn’t you want them to happy even if that meant not being with you? If you did have them and you could see it made them very unhappy would you feel ok with that? Sure, you satisfied your selfish need to have them around, but they’re over there languishing in depression because they’re not with the person they want to be with.
OVERALL
This could be on an episode of Maury.
General remarks, 31st of July 2014
In most epic stories, the man rescues the woman, but that isn’t always the case, even with the Grimm’s stories. There are actually more stories than you would think where a woman rescues a man in the Grimms' collection. A woman being the rescuer isn’t as common as the man being the rescuer, but it happens. The main difference between the rescue scenarios, besides frequency, is the relationship status between the rescuer and the rescuee.
The men go around rescuing potential wives, as in not a wife yet, merely a girlfriend and in most cases a woman they had just met recently. The women rescue their husbands, with one exception that I remember where the woman rescues her fiancé. What does that say about these stories? What does that say about society?
Now, the women–some of them do some rescuing. They don’t fight dragons or anything like that, but they do go on very long journeys, wear disguises, and trick enchantresses. They may not kill dragons, but they’re still pretty awesome. These men they’re rescuing are not boyfriends. These men are their husbands. They’ve known them for years. They have kids together. This is not some guy they just met. This man means a lot to these women. They have memories together. They have a life together. These women are literally trying to save their world.
Why not save a boyfriend? Honestly, is your boyfriend worth it? As a woman, I know I’ve had some alright boyfriends and some pretty great boyfriends, and then there are those guys you don’t even want to dignify with the title boyfriend. We generally have a few specimens to compare our men to.
Now think about what these women did. They traveled hundreds of miles, maybe thousands. They often watched their men with another woman. They fought as hard as they could to get their man back. Is a mere boyfriend worth all of that trouble? Maybe I haven’t had very good boyfriends, but I don’t think there is really one of them that I would travel thousands of miles for on foot, maybe on a plane, but not on foot. For a man who isn’t even committed to you, that would be a lot of struggle on your part.
A husband on the other hand, is committed to you, at least on paper. It would make sense to sacrifice for the father of your children. It would make sense to fight that hard for your relationship.
The whole thing is also a societal expectation. Women were expected to drop everything and have their life revolve around their husband.
Women historically have given up a lot for men. When I say these women were fighting for their entire life, they were really fighting for their entire life. Everything they were was dependent upon their husband. If it were you, you would fight just as hard because it’s not only this man who you may care about, but maybe not, but it’s your everything. Unfortunately, these women had to have this particular man to continue the life they knew. You better believe they fought.
This whole thing was also a double-standard. It was ok for a man to be chivalrous, if you want to call it that, but it wasn’t ok for any woman to pay any man much attention unless she was married to that man. If a woman sacrificed anywhere remotely near what these women were sacrificing for their husbands, there would be some awful rumors floating around. Maybe she just really liked the guy, but society would start saying things like, “Well, maybe she’s just really pregnant with the guy’s baby, out of wedlock.”
