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| Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful | |
|---|---|
| Folk tale | |
| Name | Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 531 |
| Country | Germany |
| Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 126. [1]
It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa , Corvetto , King Fortunatus's Golden Wig . [2] Another, literary variant is Madame d'Aulnoy's La Belle aux cheveux d'or, or The Story of Pretty Goldilocks . [3]
A couple had no children while they were rich, but when they became poor, they had a son, and the father could find no one for a godfather except a beggar. The beggar named the boy Ferdinand the Faithful, gave him nothing, and took nothing, but he gave the nurse a key and said that when the boy was fourteen, he should go to a castle on the heath and unlock it. Then all it contained would be his.
When the boy was seven, all the other boys boasted of what their godfathers had given them. Ferdinand went to his father for his gift and heard of the key, but there was no castle on the heath. When he was fourteen, he went again, and found a castle. Inside there was nothing but a white horse, but he took the horse home and decided to travel. He saw a pen on the road, passed it, but heard a voice telling him to take it, so he picked it up. Then he rescued a fish from the shore; it gave him a flute to summon him and promised to get for him anything dropped in the water.
Then he met another man, Ferdinand the Unfaithful, who had learned everything about him by wicked magic, and they went on to an inn. A girl there fell in love with Ferdinand the Faithful and told him he should stay and take service with the king; then she got him a place, as a postilion. Ferdinand the Unfaithful also got her to get him a place, because she did not trust him and wanted to keep an eye on him.
The king lamented that he did not have his love. Ferdinand the Unfaithful persuaded the king to send Ferdinand the Faithful for her. Ferdinand the Faithful thought he could not and lamented, but the horse said he needed a ship full of bread and a ship full of meat and to get them from the king. When he had, the horse and Ferdinand the Faithful set out. He appeased birds along the way with the bread and giants with the meat, and with the help of the giants, he carried off the sleeping princess to the king.
The princess declared that she could not live without her magical writings, from the castle, so the king sent Ferdinand the Faithful for them, but with the horse's help, he got them by the same way. On the way back, he dropped his pen into the water. The horse said it could no longer help him. Ferdinand the Faithful played the flute and had the fish bring back the pen.
The princess married the king and became queen, but she did not love the king. One day, she said she knew magical arts and could cut off someone's head and put it back on again. Ferdinand the Unfaithful suggested Ferdinand the Faithful, and she cut off his head and put it back on again. Then the king said she could do it to him as well, and she cut off his head, pretended she could not put it back on, and married Ferdinand the Faithful.
The horse had Ferdinand the Faithful take it back to the castle and ride around it three times. The horse changed back into a king's son.
In Slavic mythology and folklore, the Firebird is a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird from a faraway land which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor.
The Golden Bird is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm about the pursuit of a golden bird by a gardener's three sons.
Farmer Weathersky is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.
The Story of Pretty Goldilocks or The Beauty with Golden Hair is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.
The Two Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 60. It is Aarne-Thompson type 303, "The Blood Brothers", with an initial episode of type 567, "The Magic Bird Heart". A similar story, of Sicilian origin, was also collected by author and folklorist Andrew Lang in The Pink Fairy Book.
The Grateful Beasts is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Georg von Gaal in Mährchen der Magyaren (1822). The tale was also published by Hermann Kletke in Märchensaal, Vol II (1845).
"The Queen Bee" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 554.
The Golden Crab is a Greek fairy tale collected as "Prinz Krebs" by Bernhard Schmidt in his Griechische Märchen, Sagen and Volkslieder. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.
The Bird 'Grip' is a Swedish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird; other tales of this type include The Golden Bird, The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener, How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon, The Nunda, Eater of People, and Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf.
"The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life" is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. The tale and is variants are numbered 171-178 in the first volume of the three-volume collection.
"Tsarevich Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Russian Fairy Tales.
The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. It is one of many tales written about the mythical Firebird.
The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener is an Irish fairy tale collected by Patrick Kennedy in Fireside Stories of Ireland. Joseph Jacobs included it in More Celtic Fairy Tales.
"The King of the Golden Mountain" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales.
"Corvetto" is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the "Pentamerone".
The Three May Peaches is a French fairy tale collected by Paul Delarue. He collected more than thirty French types of this tale, which is known in Europe, North Africa, and Asia as far as India.
In fairy tales, a donor is a character who tests the hero and provides magical assistance to the hero upon their success.
"King Fortunatus's Golden Wig" is a French fairy tale collected by Colonel A. Troude and G. Milin in Le Conteur breton ou Contes bretons.
The Gifts of the Magician is a Finnish fairy tale, first published by Eero Salmelainen. This tale, in particular, is actually titled Paholaisen antamat soittoneuwot [soittoneuvot]. It was translated into German by Emmy Schreck as Die Gaben des Unholds. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book (1903), listing his source as Finnische Mahrchen.
Brother Lustig KHM 81 is a lengthy German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812. It contains elements of Aarne–Thompson type 785: Who Ate the Lamb's Heart?; type 753A: The Unsuccessful Resuscitation; type 330B: The Devil in the Sack; and type 330: Entering Heaven by a Trick.
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