ܳپٳ쾱.” The Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889, pp. 96-99.
Tale Summary
Once upon a time, a poor Miller had an audience with the King, and, trying to make himself seem important, said that his beautiful daughter could spin straw into gold. The King demanded her presence, and locked her away in a room full of straw, commanding her to spin it all into gold by morning or she would die. While she weeps about her situation, a little man appears and asks what she will give him if he does the work for her. She gives him her necklace, and by morning all of the bobbins are full of gold. The king places her in another bigger room out of greed, and again commands she spin all of the straw into gold by the morning or she will die. And again, the little man appears, and she gives him the ring off her finger in return for his help. The next day, the king promises that if she completes this task once more, she will be his Queen, and if not, she will die. The little man appears to the miller’s daughter, who has nothing left to give him. He proposes that she give him her firstborn child if she is ever to become Queen, and she agrees. The gold is spun, and straightaway the girl is wed to the King. A year later, forgetful of the little man, the Queen has a child. When the little man appears again to claim him, the Queen weeps so bitterly that he has pity on her. He tells her that if she is able to guess his name within three days’ time, she will be able to keep her child. On the first day, she lists off every name she can think of. On the second day, she scours the neighborhood for strange and unusual names. On the third day, a messenger arrives whom she had sent away to search for names. He tells her about how near the woods, there was a little man he saw hopping around a fire on one leg crying that his name was Rumpelstiltzkin. The Queen guesses this name, and he becomes so enraged that he strikes the ground with his right foot, becomes lodged in the earth, and pulls upon his left leg so that he tears himself in two.
Fairy Tale Title
Rumpelstiltzkin
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Andrew Lang
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
George Percy Jacomb Hood
Henry Justice Ford
Common Tale Type
The Name of the Supernatural Helper
Tale Classification
ATU 500
Page Range of Tale
pp. 96-99
Full Citation of Tale
ܳپٳ쾱.” The Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889, pp. 96-99.
Original Source of the Tale
Tale Notes
In this version of the tale, Rumpelstiltzkin fully tears himself in half at the end, rather than in other versions, where he only pulls off his right leg.
Research and Curation
Kaeli Waggener, 2022
Book Title
The Blue Fairy Book
Book Author/Editor(s)
Andrew Lang
Illustrator(s)
George Percy Jacomb Hood
Henry Justice Ford
Publisher
Longmans, Green, and Co.
Date Published
1889
Decade Published
1880-1889
Publisher City
London
Publisher Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
None