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The Red Ettin or The Red Etin is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs. It was included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book .
Two widows lived in a hut, and one had two sons and the other had one—or a single widow had three sons. One day the eldest son was told by his mother to fetch water for a cake, because it was time for him to seek his fortune, and the cake was all she could give him. The can was broken, the water he brought back little, and so the cake was small. The mother offered him all of it with her curse, or half with her blessing, and he took the whole. He left behind a knife, and said if the blade grew rusty, he was dead.
He met a shepherd, a swineherd, and a goatherd; each of the three told him the Red Ettin of Ireland had kidnapped the king of Scotland's daughter, but that he was not the man to rescue her. The shepherd also told him to be wary of the beasts he would meet next. They each had two heads, with four horns on each head, and the man fled them and hid in a castle. An old woman told him that it was the castle of the Red Ettin, who had three heads, and he should leave, but he begged her to hide him as best she could, for fear of the beasts.
The Red Ettin returned, soon found him, and asked him three riddles; when he could answer none of them, the Ettin turned him to stone. At home, his knife grew rusty. In the variants with three sons, the younger brother went after the elder, and met the same fate. The youngest son, or the son of the other widow, set out after him, or them. First, a raven called over his head to look out as he brought the water, and so he patched up the holes and brought back enough water for a large cake. Then he left half with his mother for her blessing.
He met an old woman on the way who asked for a piece of his cake, and he gave it to her. She, being a fairy, gave him a magical wand and a great deal of advice on what to do, and vanished. The shepherd, swineherd, and goatherd told him of the Red Ettin and the king of Scotland's daughter, and said that he was the man to defeat him. He walked boldly through the beasts to the castle, striking one dead with the wand, and stayed at the castle.
The Red Ettin asked him his riddle, but the man answered it correctly and was thus able to cut off the Ettin's three heads. He then restored his petrified brother/brothers to life and freed the women whom the Red Ettin had held prisoner. Soon afterward he was rewarded by the king with his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Joseph Jacobs collected a version with the three men, but suppressed one because it was repetitious. Andrew Lang included all three young men.
The word etin or ettin is related to Germanic Jötunn . [1]
The incident of the life token is also present in variants of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther tale type ATU 303, "The Twins or Blood Brothers". [1] [2]
The Wonderful Birch is a Finnish/Russian fairy tale. A variant on Cinderella, it is Aarne–Thompson folktale type 510A, the persecuted heroine. It makes use of shapeshifting motifs. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.
The Langs' Fairy Books are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections of fairy tales also known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors. In all, the volumes feature 798 stories, besides the 153 poems in The Blue Poetry Book.
"The Three Princesses of Whiteland" is a Norwegian fairy tale, collected by Norwegian writers Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their collection of folktales and legends Norske folkeeventyr (1879). Scottish poet and novelist Andrew Lang collected it his The Red Fairy Book (1890).
Farmer Weathersky is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.
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 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.
Tritill, Litill, and the Birds is a Hungarian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
"The Hut in the Forest" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book (1897). It is Aarne-Thompson type 431.
The Adventures of Covan the Brown-haired is a Celtic fairy tale translated by Dr. Macleod Clarke. Andrew Lang included it in The Orange Fairy Book.
The Dragon and the Prince or The Prince and the Dragon is a Serbian fairy tale collected by A. H. Wratislaw in his Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources, tale number 43. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
The Gold-bearded Man is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Laszlo Arany. It was translated and published as Der goldbärtige Mann by Elisabeth Rona-Sklárek in Ungarische Volksmährchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
The Mermaid and the Boy is a Sámi fairy tale first collected in the mid-19th century. It tells the story of a prince unknowingly promised to a mermaid before he was born, then obtains magical powers to transform into animals later in the story.
The Ram is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy.
Prunella is an Italian fairy tale, originally known as Prezzemolina. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 310, the Maiden in the Tower.
The Green Knight is a Danish fairy tale, collected by Svend Grundtvig (1824-1883) in Danish Fairy Tales (18??) and by Evald Tang Kristensen (1843-1929) in Eventyr fra Jylland (1881). Andrew Lang included a translation of Kristensen's version in The Olive Fairy Book (1907).
The Three Dogs is a German fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Green Fairy Book, listing his source as the Brothers Grimm. A version of this tale appears in A Book of Dragons by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
"The King of Lochlin's Three Daughters" is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as Neill Gillies, a fisherman near Inverary.
Jack and His Golden Snuff-Box is a Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's In Gypsy Tents.
Half-Man is a French fairy tale collected by Achille Millien and Paul Delarue.
The Princess Who Was Hidden Underground is a German fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.
