External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Ridere of Riddles is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands , listing as his informant John Mackenzie, a fisherman near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it, somewhat altered, in More Celtic Fairy Tales.
A king's queen died when his son was born. He remarried, and his new wife also had a son. The stepmother tried to poison the first son so her son would inherit, but her son warned his brother. The first son decided to flee before she succeed, and his brother went with him. They tried the drinks she had given the older brother on their horses, and found they were poisonous. Then twelve ravens came to eat the dead horses and died as well. They took the ravens' bodies and had them made into pies. When they went on, they were waylaid by robbers; they claimed to have no purses but some food. The robbers took the pies, ate them, and died. The brothers took their gold and silver and went on to the Ridere (or Knight) of Riddles, whose beautiful daughter would marry whoever asked a riddle her father could not guess.
There, they asked, "One killed two, and two killed twelve, and twelve killed four and twenty, and two got out of it." The ridere could not guess, and sent maidens to wheedle the answer out. Twelve maidens lost their plaids to the younger brother, but could not get the answer. Finally, the princess herself went, and got the answer from the older brother, but left her plaid. The ridere would have executed them, but the older brother told the story of how his brother had shot twelve hares and got their hides, and he had shot a fine one and gotten her hide, so the ridere married him to his daughter. The younger brother went on, and the older gave him the right to the throne at home.
Three giants lived nearby, and the ridere told his son-in-law that if he had spirit, he would kill them. He did it, and was named the Hero of the White Shield, and went to live on the giants' lands. His brother heard of him, without knowing who he was, and went to fight with him. They fought, and neither one won, and they told each other their names.
The brother went home, but on the way, he saw twelve young men playing at shinny and learned they were his twelve sons, by twelve different mothers. He took both the young men and their mothers home with him.
Both Jacobs and Campbell noted the similarity between this and Grimms' The Riddle, but that there is no information to discern which is the source.
A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a female non-biological 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.
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.
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 Old Woman in the Wood" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 123. It is Aarne-Thompson type 442.
The Battle of the Birds is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He recorded it in 1859 from a fisherman near Inverary, John Mackenzie and was, at the time, building dykes on the Ardkinglas estate.
The Three Princes and their Beasts is a Lithuanian fairy tale included by Andrew Lang in The Violet Fairy Book. The actual source was Von den drei Brüdern und ihren Thieren from August Leskien und K. Brugman, in Litauische Volkslieder und Märchen (1882).
King Kojata or The Unlooked for Prince or Prince Unexpected is a Slavonic fairy tale, of Polish origin. Louis Léger remarked that its source was "one of the most important collections of Polish literature".
"The Riddle" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1819. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 851.
"The Water of Life" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 97.
The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen is an Irish fairy tale collected in Hibernian Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.
"Conall Cra Bhuidhe" or "Conall Yellowclaw" is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands.
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.
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.
"Niels and the Giants" is a Danish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.
"The Rider Of Grianaig, And Iain The Soldier's Son" is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860–1862), listing his informant as Donald MacNiven, a lame carrier, in Bowmore, Islay; the story was written down by Hector MacLean on 5 July 1859. Andrew Lang included it in The Orange Fairy Book (1906) as "Ian, the Soldier's Son".
What Is the Fastest Thing in the World? is a Greek fairy tale collected by Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece.
"The Peasant's Wise Daughter", "The Peasant's Clever Daughter" or "The Clever Lass" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 94. It has also spread into Bohemia and Božena Němcová included it into her collection of Czech national folk tales in 1846.
"The Pink" or "The Carnation" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 76.
"The Two Kings' Children" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales, tale number 113.
"The Sea-Hare'" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 191.