| The Crystal Ball | |
|---|---|
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Crystal Ball |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 552A |
| Country | Germany |
| Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"The Crystal Ball" (German : Die Kristallkugel) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 197. It is Aarne-Thompson type 552A, the girls who married animals.
The Brothers Grimm indicated the origin of Die Kristallkugel as Friedmund von Arnim's book, as tale nr. 14, Vom Schloss der goldnen Sonne ("The Castle of the Golden Sun"). [1]
A sorceress was afraid of her three sons. She turned the oldest into an eagle and the second into a whale, and each could take his human form for only two hours a day. The youngest son fled before he could suffer the same fate and went off to seek the king's daughter, bewitched and held prisoner in the Castle of the Golden Sun. He saw two giants quarreling over a wishing cap and they asked him to settle the dispute. He put on the cap, forgot he had it on, and wished himself to the castle.
The king's daughter told him that only a crystal ball would break the enchantment. She directed him to go down the mountain and fight a wild bull beside a spring. If he killed it, a bird would spring out of it. If the bird was forced to let free an egg in its body, the crystal ball was its yolk, but the egg would light everything about it on fire if dropped on the land.
He fought the bull. The bird sprang free, but his brother the eagle harried it until it dropped the egg. This landed on a fisherman's hut, setting it ablaze, but his brother the whale drowned the hut with waves. The youngest brother took the crystal ball to the enchanter, who admitted himself defeated and told him that the ball would also break the spell on his brothers. The youngest hurried to the princess, and they exchanged rings.
Baš Čelik, meaning "head of steel", from Turkish baş for "head" and çelik for "steel", is a Serbian fairy tale, collected by Vuk Karadžić. It is similar to the Brothers Grimm's "The Crystal Orb".
"The Black Bull of Norroway" is a fairy tale from Scotland. A version titled "The Black Bull of Norroway" in the 1870 edition of Popular Rhymes of Scotland was reprinted in an Anglicised version by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book More English Fairy Tales.
"The Singing, Springing Lark", "The Singing, Soaring Lark", "The Lady and the Lion" or "Lily and the Lion" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, appearing as tale no. 88.
The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.
The Death of Koschei the Deathless or Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki and included by Andrew Lang in The Red Fairy Book. The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.
"Katie Woodencloak" or "Kari Woodengown" is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.
How Ian Dìreach got the Blue Falcon is a Scottish fairy tale, collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He recorded it from a quarryman in Knockderry, Roseneath, named Angus Campbell.
The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters.
"The Goose-Girl at the Well" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is Aarne-Thompson type 923.
"Donkey Cabbages" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 122. A man shoots birds in a forest and gains magical objects. By also ingesting the heart of one of the birds he shot, he acquires an inexhaustible source of wealth. Later on, his magical abilities and items are stolen by a trio of witches, but he regains everything thanks to a magical herb that causes one to transform into a donkey.
"The Water of Life" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 97.
What came of picking Flowers is a Portuguese fairy tale first collected by Teophilo Braga with the name Cravo, Rosa e Jasmin. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.
"The Brown Bear of the Green Glen" is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John MacDonald, a "Traveling Tinker". He also noted the parallels with The Water of Life.
The King of England and his Three Sons is a Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's In Gypsy Tents, where the informant was John Roberts, a Welsh Roma. Groome published the tale as An Old King and his three Sons in England.
"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.
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 Norka is a Russian and Ukrainian fairy tale published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection of Russian Fairy Tales, numbered 132.
The Three Enchanted Princes or The Three Animal Kings is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone. It is Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index ATU 552, "The Girls who married animals". At the end of the tale, the prince's brothers-in-law help him in defeating the dragon.
The Green Man of Knowledge is a Scottish folktale collected in 1954 and published in 1958, in the academic journal Scottish Studies. It is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale type ATU 313, "Girl Helps the Hero Flee" or "The Magic Flight".
The Beautiful Palace East of the Sun and North of the Earth is a Swedish folktale collected from Smaland by Swedish folktale collectors George Stephens and Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius. It features versions of the swan maiden, a mythic female character that alternates between human and animal shapes.
Media related to The Crystal Ball at Wikimedia Commons
