Mother Trudy

Last updated
Mother Trudy
Folk tale
NameMother Trudy
Aarne–Thompson groupingATU 334 (At the Witch's House)
CountryGermany
Published in Grimms' Fairy Tales

"Mother Trudy" (German: Frau Trude) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 43. [1] It is Aarne-Thompson type 334, at the witch's house. [2]

Contents

Plot

A willful little girl will not obey her parents and, having taken it into her head that she wants to see Frau Trude, goes in spite of all their warnings. She arrives terrified, and Frau Trude questions her. She tells of seeing a black man on her steps (a collier, says Frau Trude), a green man (a huntsman), a red man (a butcher), and, looking through her window, the devil instead of Frau Trude.

Frau Trude says she saw the witch in her proper attire, and that she had been waiting for the girl. She turned her into a block of wood and threw her onto the fire, and then warmed herself by it, commenting on how bright the block made the fire.

Commentary

The tale is unusual in that the evil witch triumphs in the end; the child is defeated. However, a common theme in Grimm tales is that children who do not obey their parents are punished, making it a signature Grimm story. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brothers Grimm</span> Brother duo of German academics and folklorists

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of folk tales, popularizing stories such as "Cinderella", "The Frog Prince", "Hansel and Gretel", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Snow White". Their first collection of folk tales, Children's and Household Tales, began publication in 1812.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stepmother</span> Female stepparent

A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a non-biological female parent married to one's preexisting parent. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hansel and Gretel</span> German fairy tale

"Hansel and Gretel" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of Grimm's Fairy Tales. It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rumpelstiltskin</span> German fairy tale

"Rumpelstiltskin" is a German fairy tale. It was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales. The story is about a little imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a girl's firstborn child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapunzel</span> German fairy tale

"Rapunzel" is a European fairy tale most notably recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Brothers Grimm's story was developed from the French literary fairy tale of Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force (1698).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Goose Girl</span> German fairy tale

"The Goose Girl" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1815. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 533.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frau Holle</span> German legendary creature and fairy tale

"Frau Holle" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Children's and Household Tales in 1812. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480.

<i>Grimms Fairy Tales</i> Collection of German fairy tales

Grimms' Fairy Tales, originally known as the Children's and Household Tales, is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first published on 20 December 1812. Vol. 1 of the first edition contained 86 stories, which were followed by 70 more tales, numbered consecutively, in the 1st edition, Vol. 2, in 1815. By the seventh edition in 1857, the corpus of tales had expanded to 200 tales and 10 "Children's Legends". It is listed by UNESCO in its Memory of the World Registry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jorinde and Joringel</span> German fairy tale

"Jorinde and Joringel" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is Aarne–Thompson 405. The tale is found virtually exclusively in Germany, barring a Swedish variant, although Marie Campbell found a variant in Kentucky, "The Flower of Dew". The story is known in many English translations as "Jorinda and Jorindel".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans My Hedgehog</span> German fairy tale

"Hans My Hedgehog" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. The tale was translated as Jack My Hedgehog by Andrew Lang and published in The Green Fairy Book. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 441.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Juniper Tree (fairy tale)</span> German fairy tale

"The Juniper Tree" is a German fairy tale published in Low German by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. The story contains themes of child abuse, murder, cannibalism and biblical symbolism and is one of the Brothers Grimm's darker and more mature fairy tales.

"Foundling-Bird" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 51.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Three Little Men in the Wood</span> German fairy tale

"The Three Little Men in the Wood" or "The Three Little Gnomes in the Forest" is a German fairy tale collected in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book (1890) as "The Three Dwarfs," and a version of the tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs (1964) by Ruth Manning-Sanders.

"The Three Little Birds" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 96. The story is originally written in Low German. It is Aarne-Thompson type 707, the dancing water, the singing apple, and the speaking bird. The story resembles Ancilotto, King of Provino, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, and The Sisters Envious of Their Cadette, the story of the 756th night of the Arabian Nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Girl Without Hands</span> German fairy tale

"The Girl Without Hands" or "The helpless Maiden" or "The Armless Maiden" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 31 and was first published in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales. The story was revised by the Grimm brothers over the years, and the final version was published in the 7th edition of Children's and Household Tales in 1857. It is Aarne-Thompson type 706.

"The Willful Child" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm as tale number 117. As a legend, it is widely distributed in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Old Witch</span>

The Old Witch is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book, More English Fairy Tales. It is also included within A Book of Witches by Ruth Manning-Sanders and A Book of British Fairy Tales by Alan Garner.

"The Pink" or "The Carnation" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 76.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary's Child</span> German fairy tale

"Mary's Child" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 710.

"Lazy Henry" or "Lazy Heinz" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales, number 164. It was first added in the third edition.

References

  1. Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, SurLaLune Fairy Tale site "Frau Trude" Archived 2014-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  2. D.L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"
  3. Maria M. Tatar, "Beauties vs. Beasts", p. 141, James M. McGlathery, ed., The Brothers Grimm and Folktale, ISBN   0-252-01549-5.